Sunday, October 22, 2023

From the Recording Studio: Stubborn God Productions YouTube Channel Update

Greetings all - welcome to, or back to, the mighty Gauntlet of Balthazar.

I have to admit right upfront that I've been finding that no matter how much I promise myself, it just seems harder and harder to find the time to post pretty much anything here since 2021. Frankly speaking this is probably because I've made a concerted effort to intentionally pull away from social media - which in my opinion is a fairly toxic influence on culture in general, and personally, I also find it a wonderful time-thief that just takes away from my various artistic endeavors. 

Anyway, the writing aside from here is going well, art is being made, and music is being worked on - which is fulfilling in various respects. I know that I've mentioned here before that I would be putting more attention to evolving Stubborn God Productions presence on Youtube, and as a result I have indeed placed a number of new official music videos to that channel. 

However, I thought I'd take the time today to mention the newest video featured on that channel, which is a piece of live modal guitar music called "Terrible Beauty 01". While most of the other videos thus far have been industrial-electronic, soundtrack, or acoustic guitar-driven singer-songwriter folk-rock tunes, this track stands out as something different.

I mean, I'm no guitar mad aficionado who can't get enough of some dude churning out break-neck wanky chops littered with "hammer ons", whammy bar, and that same old sound that everyone else imitates. I am also not a music theory purist, nor a gear head addict. I'm just an artist who happens to play a number of instruments, largely intuitively, and thus, I kind of know what I'm doing most of the time, even if have to think about it to define it. 

Regardless, this track is what I think is a fairly catchy modal solo with some interesting turns and surprises played on my classic Fender American Heritage Stratocaster through a Roland Guitar Synth and Peavey Amp, with a capo and wooden pick. My style itself is a weird combination of slides, bends, plucks and once and a while some motivic development or sudden modulation. I perceive this piece as Prog Rock meets World Music meets Metal, but if you feel otherwise, let me know. 

Ironically, though I was more involved in the Punk and Industrial Music scenes, I've always held a place in my heart for classic Progressive Rock guitarists such as Robert Fripp, Phil Manzanera, and Dave Gilmour, and who knows, maybe this is a bit of a tribute to that side of my musical influences. 

So, enjoy, and if you'd like - subscribe to the Stubborn God Productions YouTube Channel and like, comment, and share. Because that would be nice!

Till next time

Tuesday, March 28, 2023

From the Recording Studio: New Release Tuesday - Amalia Rose "You're A Doll" Single

Welcome to, or back to, the insipid yet zesty Gauntlet of Balthazar for another post celebrating the larger Gauntlet network - in this case the debut single by my daughter, Amalia. 

We collaborated on the track in December and released it around New Year on the 391 & the Army of Astraea's Bandcamp page and her new Spotify account

The writing of the song was done over just a few hours one weekend and both the music and the singing were first take recordings. After a modicum of post-production fiddling the piece was deemed a decent demo, and was issued under the name "Amalia Rose". 

Needless to say she intends to record and release more songs in the future, and has mentioned re-doing this number. Likewise, I can't imagine that I might take the Gauntlet off and come up with some weird remix of the song, or something.

Anyway, the embed is below, and please feel free to visit her Spotify page, as well as the rapidly expanded Stubborn God Productions YouTube Channel.

Thanks as always, Gauntletarians. Till next time.


Sunday, March 26, 2023

Online Autism (ASD) Personal Coaching Sessions for Parents/Caregivers

Greetings everyone and welcome to, or back to, the mighty Gauntlet of Balthazar for a self-promotion focused post, or rather, a not so much "self"-promotion, but that of a Gauntlet family / network member.

While I'm usually quite shameless about pushing my own literary, artistic, film, and music projects, in this outing I'd like to instead focus on Michelle Rott Rosenblum's (MS, MSed) YouTube presence and her recent announcement offering online coaching sessions for the parents and caregivers of those on the Autism Spectrum.

To quote her in her own words: "Looking forward to helping you see the light at the end of the tunnel! There are always new things we can do to help our child to have a better life and I’m here to offer many ideas that I’ve gained from both being a teacher/guidance counselor and mom to my beautiful son on the spectrum. I’m also here to give ideas for taking better care of yourself and your other children who often take a backseat to their ASD sibling. Can’t wait to get started!"

For more information about and / or scheduling a personal coaching session with Michelle (in English only, sorry), please email: Mrosabum@aol.com

Below is her video featuring the announcement. Till next time.