The Iron Bug's Blog

Trying the double bass - first steps

2009-05-04T17:08:00.004+06:00

It was a long time without news, yeah...
Though, I didn't waste my time and played a lot, both cello and the double bass. Now I try to achieve the state when I can express my feelings, my ideas freely, just directly express them in sound, without thinking about fingers and bow. This is not too easy yet, I'm not that skilled at playing with bow. But I make first steps toward this ease.
Here're some raw records - playing double bass, recorded at home, without any sound engineering at all. But I like the feeling the "huge violin" makes. I really enjoy the depth of bass sound and I gonna practice more to get it "mine".

All records are in ogg format.

Record 1 1.9 Mb
Record 2 4.16 Mb
Record 3 865.72 Kb
Record 4 2.63 Mb
Record 5 836.31 Kb

17th, November, 2008. Cello and violin. Experimental improvisation.

2008-11-18T11:43:00.003+05:00

Here's the record we made yesterday. Violin, cello, mad vocal. I added a bit of reverb and converted it to ogg.

Sample 20081117_01 (15.24 Mb, ogg format)

Videos. Psychodelic on classic instruments: cello and violin

2008-11-11T12:15:00.006+05:00

We have recorded something outstandingly psychodelic. That's a kind of sound that may screw your head!!! Especially the Sample III. That's crazy, I think it really is! The Sample II was not that great, but I let it be anyway.

This chaos harmony was recorded on november, 10th, 2008.

2008.11.10 - Sample I (54.96 Mb, avi format) - cello, violin, vocal
2008.11.10 - Sample II (7.21 Mb, avi format) - cello, violin
2008.11.10 - Sample III (18.77 Mb, avi format) - cello, violin
2008.11.10 - Sample VI (24.53 Mb, avi format) - cello, violin, vocal

The last track was not recorded fully - again the lack of space on camera's memory card...

Videos from november, 7th, 2008: experiments with cello, trumpet and violin.

2008-11-10T13:34:00.010+05:00

Here's some videos we recorded at studio on 7th of November. Experimental music with classic instruments: I play cello and Vampire plays trumpet and violin.

2008.11.07 - Sample I (25.92 Mb, avi format) - trumpet, cello and crazy vocal
2008.11.07 - Sample II (18.64 Mb, avi format) - trumpet, cello and crazy vocal
2008.11.07 - Sample III (49.77 Mb, avi format) - violin, cello and crazy vocal
2008.11.07 - Sample IV (13.42 Mb, avi format) - violin, cello and crazy vocal

I myself like the Sample III the most.
The last sample was not recorded till the end - the camera we used has a card for only about 20 minutes total.

Old Theagony records

2008-11-05T12:56:00.003+05:00

I discovered archive records of old Theagony project, recorded over 7 years ago. Have uploaded them online:

The Experimentalist (part) (0.5 Mb, mp3)
Temple of Emptiness (instrumental) (1.8 Mb, mp3)

some really OLD records (almost 10 years ago):

Main part for the Pyramids thing (0.8 Mb, mp3)
Some unnamed stuff ( 1.2 Mb, mp3)
One more unnamed stuff ( 1.38 Mb, mp3)
Summer night dream (brutal riffing joke) ( 0.5 Mb, mp3)
Very very old intro in celtic style ( 1.1 Mb, mp3)

this is our history :)

Some more videos: Vampire and me playing experimental music

2008-10-29T16:48:00.003+05:00

Here's some more records, made on 27th, october, 2008 at studio.
Vampire plays his custom made invention - a violin with springs and I play electric bass and do vocals.
Records were made with common camera and the sound turned out not that great, especially considering Vampire's "violin". But anyway.

WARNING: WILD MUSIC!!!

Part I (38.6Mb, avi format)

Part II (31.7 Mb, avi format)

Part III (40.0 Mb, avi format)

Videos. Vampire and me playing our crazy music at studio.

2008-10-21T17:10:00.013+06:00

I have recorded a couple of video files of Vampire and me playing absolutely crazy things. That is our usual improvisation style, it varies every time we play. These are quite peaceful and quiet samples of our mad music.
The video files were taken by Canon G9 camera and then compressed for smaller size, appropriate for the internet usage. I personally like the "Part II" the most.

WARNING: WILD MUSIC!!!
Don't get scared too much :)))

So, Iron Bug and Vampire playing live at studio. 20th, october, 2008 :

Part I (21.3Mb, avi format) - cut trumpet, acoustic bass, mad vocal
Part II (34.8Mb, avi format) - modified violin, acoustic bass, mad vocal
Part III (28.6Mb, avi format) - modified violin, acoustic bass, mad vocal
Part IV (38.7Mb, avi format) - modified violin, acoustic bass, mad vocal

Splitting the band and my new precious standup bass

2008-10-15T17:06:00.005+06:00

Today I must comment the strange split that happened in our project Ad Lux Tenebrae that lately had more and more strange interweavings inside. Practically, it came to a point when one of old members of Ad Lux Tenebrae said he did not want any bass sound in their music and denied to play with me. Although he did not attend our playings for some last months, but I decided I wouldn't insist so there will be another project we work on together with Vampire, the original member and the founder of Ad Lux Tenebrae. perhaps, the sound will be more "classic" in some way, I mean using instruments like acoustic bass, violin, trumpet, cello and so on, but the same experimental and unusual music.
And I also have really great news: I've got a real standup bass (double bass), at last! I got it all of a sudden, at very low price, but it's an excellent old czech bass. so now in addition to my experiments with cello I will add some spice with the double bass :)

Some records together with Vampire

2008-09-18T12:45:00.004+06:00

Hello to all my friends.
Finally, I got something recorded together with my friend Vampire (Ad Lux Tenebrae).
It's a home jam session for two basses. The samples were recorded at my home, 10th of september, 2008, with a simple mixer plugged into the line input of my soundcard. I played Washburn AB-45 and Vampire played Schecter Omen-5.
I didn't edit records at all, they're here as they were recorded. So sometimes beginnings and endings of the samples are clumsy. But I'm so damn lazy!!! Actually, I have not much time for sweating over mixing all down well and all that sound producing tricks. Anyway, I hope you'll like the things we recorded, I personally do like them a lot.
Here're the links (all samples are in ogg format)

sample 00 (2,558 Kb)
sample 01 (5,624 Kb)
sample 02 (2,227 Kb)
sample 03 (4,582 Kb)
sample 04 (3,905 Kb)
sample 05 (3,580 Kb)
sample 06 (2,180 Kb)
sample 07 (4,078 Kb)
sample 08 (3,306 Kb)
sample 09 (2,912 Kb)
sample 10 (6,005 Kb)
sample 11 (1,916 Kb)
sample 12 (3,431 Kb)
sample 13 (5,935 Kb)

P.S. Please, feel free to leave your comments on my topics. I have comments alowed all throughout the blog.

Many jam records by Theagony uploaded online

2008-06-29T13:23:00.005+06:00

I have uploaded some more things. All recorded at Theagony band's practice, while jamming together. Sometimes our jam sessions are quite long, though :) Here're many of them, I won't describe each of them. I would say I like the thing 'sample_080606_18_2461_2931.ogg' the most, because of its chaotic sound. Though, this is just my opinion.
Here's the full list of my recent uploads:

sample_080314_15_2218_2413.ogg (6,153 Kb)
sample_080404_01_0637_2222.ogg (50,703 Kb)
sample_080523_02_0255_0643.ogg (12,483 Kb)
sample_080523_17_1418_1823.ogg (13,136 Kb)
sample_080523_40_2495_2771.ogg (8,921 Kb)
sample_080606_00_0260_0462.ogg (6,463 Kb)
sample_080606_01_0504_01372.ogg (27,696 Kb)
sample_080606_18_2461_2931.ogg (15,101 Kb)
sample_080606_21_3161_3355.ogg (6,248 Kb)
sample_080613_01_0181_0483.ogg (9,764 Kb)
sample_080613_03_0513_0922.ogg (13,017 Kb)
sample_080613_18_1768_1797.ogg (2,032 Kb)
sample_080613_21_1884_2037.ogg (4,928 Kb)
sample_080613_32_3035_3195.ogg (5.152 Kb)
sample_080620_05_0186_0349.ogg (5,241 Kb)
sample_080620_06_0348_0480.ogg (4.235 Kb)
sample_080620_13_0853_1017.ogg (5.286 Kb)
sample_080620_14_1023_1406.ogg (12,276 Kb)
sample_080620_15_1406_1576.ogg (5,449 Kb)
sample_080620_45_2535_3143.ogg (19,515 Kb)
sample_080620_46_3144_3238.ogg (3,031 Kb)

* As always, all files are in ogg format, the approximate size of each file is shown in brackets after the corresponding link.

Ad Lux Tenebrae

2008-05-30T16:59:00.003+06:00

I joined the project named 'Ad Lux Tenebrae' (To the light of Darkness), that was the band for which my friend Voron played before. That is shamanic dark music, total improvisation on extraordinary custom made instruments with crazy brutal vocals. I will play fretless bass and do some vocals there. Principally, the band does not compose any things, everything is pure improvisation. I hope the project is the right choise for me. Still, I continue to work on my Theagony project, and things go well about music.

R.I.P. Voron

2008-05-15T20:52:00.003+06:00

Today I learnt that one of the most talented musicians, excellent drummer and my old good friend Voron has left this world. It's really deep sorrow and pain to know I never see him again.

R.I.P., my friend...

An old record - bass solo, intro to Pyramids

2008-05-09T13:46:00.003+06:00

I managed to upload one of old files that were lost with my page about older project online. It's not that easy with my net connection. But at least that. I like this thing. It's an old bass solo, played for thing named Pyramids that we played many many years ago with my old band. It was played on my old bass, 4-sringed Jackson.
Here's the link: Bass solo - intro to Pyramids (the file is in mp3 format, about 1.3Mb in size).

"Death'n'roll" song - the first record

2008-04-19T15:26:00.003+06:00

I have composed the next crazy song. Here's the link to it:

Death'n'roll - the first home record, bass and vocal

Well, the vocal is not the best yet, since it's the very first try to record the new song, but anyway.
Maybe it doesn't seem that brutal on this record, but we started to work on it with my drummer and it sounds killer death metal with drums and a little more aggressive vocal line.

Geocities killed my page

2008-04-19T13:53:00.007+06:00

I updated lost links that didn't work here in my blog. Damn, they killed my page about the old project on geocities and something is wrong with files stored on Theagony band's old page. so I had to move my files to other different places, which is nearly impossible task with my bad net connection. Now the most links must work. If some don't, please inform me, I will try to fix this problem.
The link to site about my former project is inavailable now - there's not that page anymore and this is not my fault. I don't know how to remove one single link from the list, so it's still in my links, although it doesn't work. In a month or so I gonna get my old records and put them somewhere online.

Some more raw records online

2008-03-31T19:55:00.003+06:00

Yay! I changed my job and here I get a little better access to the internet than before. At least, I can upload more files. The downloading is still very limited. But I have just discovered the uploading was quite available and hence I uploaded almost everythign that I had here on my PC at the moment. This is without any edition, just as it was recorded at band pactice during past month. That all records were made at studio, improvised just on the way, nothing too special.
The links are below, with approximate file sizes:

sample_080314_16_2424_2616 (6,105 Kb)
sample_080314_14_2144_2212 (2,208 Kb)
sample_00_0406_0747 (10,942 Kb)
sample_01_0780_1109 (10,534 Kb)
sample_09_2213_2572 (11,579 Kb)
sample_080222_02_0609_1159 (17,631 Kb)
sample_080222_06_1324_1688 (11,715 Kb)
sample_080222_07_1743_2106 (11,666 Kb)
sample_080222_13_2462_2754 (9,396 Kb)

Some more by Theagony online

2007-12-29T13:10:00.000+05:00

Today is the lucky day! I managed to upload more files online. While something went wrong with our server and it doesn't count internet traffic :)
So in the sake of music let the server go wrong for a little while, while I'm uploading my files :)
So, here's the next imporvisation by Theagony. Yeah, improvisation is our best loved thing to do at studio. This is kind of fusion, I figure. Though, I doubt how to describe this style.

Theagony - warming up at band practice, 14th, dec, 2007

The file is in OGG format, packed to ZIP.It is large - about 8Mb in size.

A vocal record is put online: Iron Lady song

2007-12-29T11:02:00.000+05:00

I put the 'Iron Lady' song in Diamanda Galas' style (actually, that's her variant of the 'Iron Lady' song) on mediafire free hosting. The file is packed in ZIP format (I can't upload mp3 files here, alas). The file is about 3.2Mb in size, mp3 file inside the ZIP.

Iron Lady (vocal)

Theagony on Myspace.com

2007-12-10T01:34:00.000+05:00

I have created a little page on myspace.com:

Theagony band on myspace.com

So this page will be my band's place on myspace.
I hope ppl won't have troubles with downloading my samples from there.

For a while I put there two samples that were recorded on two past band practices at studio where we play.
One is pure jam with one gutiar, bass and drums and the other is a sketch for one of our songs, recorded with full band cast: two guitars, bass and drums and I also made some mastering of this record.

Comments are allowed for everyone

2007-11-27T12:22:00.000+05:00

hey, I allowed comments feature for anybody who visit the blog.
I hope that works but doesn't attract spam bots, though.
So you may leave your comments to the topics of my blog if you want.

Some of our jam records online

2007-11-08T14:52:00.000+05:00

Phew! I've done with putting some of our samples online. These are raw records, made at live jam sessions at Theagony band practice. That all was recorded with primitive old Zoom 708 II gizmo, so the quality is not the topmost. Well, anyway that is a kind of proof of our utter musical madness :) Nothing of death metal, though. Totally free-style thing.

P.S. A little help for my english-speaking friends. Alas, the ifolder.ru doesn't have english interface. So I will try to explain how to download files from there. I hope this issue can help some.
After you click the link in my blog, the ifolder.ru site page appears.The first page on ifolder.ru in the lower part of the page there's a pic with numbers and an edit field to the right. That is a spam protection. The idea is to put the numbers from the picture in the box and then press the link with a small red arrow that is situated right below the edit box for numbers (the link is named Далее, that means Next).
The next ifolder.ru page contains the direct link to the file. The link looks like http://ifolder.ru/download/ and then some numbers. Clicking on that link opens file save dialog so you can save the file on your PC and then listen to it. The link is computer-specific. That means, it works only on your PC. That's why I can't put direct links here.
Alas, I can't make the downloading faster. I promise I will put my files on some english site soon.

Here're the links:

Bass jam alone (6.57Mb, ogg format)

Jam with two guitarists, acoustic-like style (1.71Mb, ogg format)

Jam with my guitarist, jazz-like style (1.57Mb, ogg format)

Mega crazy jam with my guitarist(9.69Mb, mp3 format)

A new song, the first try.

2007-08-10T10:36:00.003+06:00

I've composed a new song. It's a way weird, I would say. Well, I like it, anyway. Can't define style. Death metal mixed with something like Diamanda Galas' songs. Jazz vocal applied to heavy tunes, my experiments. Here's the first try record - bass and vocal:
Kill Your Christ (first record) (3.60 Mb, ogg format)
And here's one remake I accidentally made playing with SoundForge delay plugins. It's funny:
Kill Your Christ (delay effect) (3.67 Mb, ogg format)
Remark: The files are in ogg format, that is better than mp3 - so I used it.
Important!!! Files are not in plain stream format. This means the server won't send the files to your PC automatically on mouse click. To download the files pick 'save file' in your browser (usually the point from a dropdown menu on right mouse click on a reference), save them somewhere on your disk, then unpack from zip and listen.

Legacy Note

2007-05-25T11:46:00.000+06:00

after browsing through blogs about music I came to decision I have to add this note to my blog:

all of the music files found on the links to my projects here have been recorded by myself. it's my intention to support legal free downloading. the purpose of this blog is to allow people to determine which music is worth listening. the music shown here should be removed from your computer within 24 hours after downloading if you didn't like it. the music on links in this blog is intended for review purposes and should not be seen as a final variant because I may change any bass line at any time (due to my addiction to improvising) and have too little time to update that on the net.

The Beginning

2007-05-24T13:17:00.000+06:00

well, I've just created the blog. what for? maybe it's some kind of SETI program: if there's some kind of intellect over there, in outer space.
as it's seen from my brief resume in the profile, I'm a bassist. also a programmer, mathematician by education, exactly (thus, bassists with high IQ level exist, despite of all rumors around this :]). programming is all right, but the space I'm living in is mainly death metal and all around it. again, I don't consider death metal something primitive. the thing that have been grasping my attention lately is experimental metal music, like, for instance, mixing such styles as death and jazz. it doesn't seem like loads of materials on this theme on the net. public chats and forums are crowded with weirdos that don't make much sense, in general. maybe it's foolish but I still have hope somewhere there're ppl interested in philosophy and heavy music on the net. I would like to find that rare species.
what about myself? well, I like to play my basses, two ones: Schecter Omen-5 - fretted 5-stringer and Carvin LB75PF, custom fretless. the most opinions I've heard about bass is that it's the background instrument and should go as more simple as possible. well, my point of view is a way different, also as it's different considering the music itself. as it's said in the profile, I play for progressive death metal band Theagony(it's my project, as a fact, that I tried to gather for quite long time) and also play bass for brutal death metal and grind bands. maybe this is not usual for metal player, but I always liked good jazz. so, I don't mind to play it at all. and as far as I like heavy tunes, I try to mix that styles.
I haven't had that good access to the net lately, but try to get online at least sometimes on ICQ and yahoo. so maybe the blog could help find ppl that share the same views.

I created this blog in english, for it's the international language and many ppl can speak it. but I also fluentely speak russian, for it's my native language - so there's no problem contacting me in any of these languages.

this all above is the preview for this blog.