The Smiley Smile Message Board

To quote Ginger Baker, "Now this is serious!" Over the past couple of months, aeijtzsche (Joshilyn Hoisington) has been regaling us with some wonderful and wonderfully enlightening and inspirational videos. Now, my spies tell me that her computer is on the verge of giving up the ghost. It would be a crying shame if these videos were to stop. Crowdfunding could be the answer, not just for the computer but for her "Power Mower" project as a whole.

And now Joshilyn has a GoFundMe fundraiser page:

gf.me/u/xfaccv (http://gf.me/u/xfaccv)

She will tell you more when you get there.

Thanks for this, JK.  Yes, it's true, my laptop is dying and I can't really produce music on it any more.

I sure would love to keep doing videos for you (and for me) so if my videos have meant anything to you, it would mean a lot to get a donation.  I promise that any donation will go directly to the recording laptop and directly result in more (and hopefully better videos.)

I don't really have anything in the can to entice you with, but here is a very very rough demo of the guitars only "In the back of my mind" recorded transcription I have been working on.  None of the tracks are finished, I'll probably do things differently when it comes time to put it all together.  You can already hear the effects of my dying laptop--the occasional sync issues, some out of tuneness that creeps in because I couldn't listen to myself and record at the same time.  But I hope you enjoy it.

Here is the clip:
https://voca.ro/iY3ohnEL6mM (https://voca.ro/iY3ohnEL6mM)

Three guitars, all very differently used to great effect.  Carl's guitar on Today was often very, very minimal--almost as though he was really there to listen, but plugged his Rickenbacker in just in case anything came to mind.  Here, it is adding small touching until the very end, when it suddenly becomes the featured instrument around which the whole structure of the coda is hung.

I wish I could articulate what these videos mean to me, and what I want them to mean to others.  But it is too hard.  When I got in the Beach Boys, I immediately gravitated toward the stack-o-tracks and stack-o-vocals mixes.  Because here is what they did--they brought me to another time--closer to the people that made the records.  When you look at the personnel for a 60s Beach Boys track, often everybody but Brian has passed away.  The track mixes and then the session tape brings them back.  It allows you to become their friends as you spend hours with them.

I realize this might not be everybody's cup of tea.  But regardless of becoming friends with dead musicians, what I am trying to do with my videos is construct a way to experience and think about the music of Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys, and the clique of wrecking crewers in a way similar to how musicologists deal with the music left to us by more distantly historical composers and musicians.

With Bach, or someone much more recent like Stravinsky, say, we have the score.  We have the music they wrote in a fixed and very discretely presented way; if I want to know how Stravinsky wrote a wind octet, I just look at the score.  If I want to know what the bassoon is doing, I look at what he wrote for the bassoon to do.  This is how composers have learned about music for centuries.

But with popular music, we don't have that.  And some people who want to learn about it don't have the ability to read a score anyway.  So what I want to do is create sort of living scores.  Because this is music that is worth thinking about seriously.  And it is not just about the parts themselves.  I don't care what instrument plays the intro to Wouldn't It Be Nice because it'd just be neat to know.  (Though, of course it would be neat.) . I want to know because it reflects a number of choices and sociological conditions.  What circumstances brought Barney Kessel into the booth at Gold Star that day, and what put that particular instrument in his hand?  What prompted Brian to create that part with him?  These are questions with ramifications far beyond a simple answer like "oh, it was a Fender XII" or "oh, it was a Gibson 12-string mandolin."

And I want to make these questions alive for you, while at the same time, yes, giving you something neat to listen to.  I guarantee you that nobody has spent more time with this music in this way than I have.  And I assure you that nobody has, or will transcribe this music more accurately than I have.  I wish that were not true because it's hard and frustrating sometimes and I wish I could go up to somebody who knows the answer better than I do.

Anyway.  If any of this means something to you, please feel free to donate at the link above, or here.

gf.me/u/xfaccv (http://gf.me/u/xfaccv)


Incidentally, once I get up and running again, here's what to expect:


Complete Pet Sounds LP guitars in isolation, basses in isolation, and togther.
Select Today, Summer Days, and Smile guitar and bass isolations.
Random other guitar and bass isolations and walk-thrus.

Then we will move on to Keyboards.  I will present my transcriptions of the Beach Boys most memorable Keyboard performances, in isolation.

Once we get through that, I hope to be able to do complete production breakdowns of some stuff, including some hypothetical complete "what-if" multitracks that you could mix yourself.

Thank you so much for reading this, and for your support.

I'll share the GoFundMe link on my BB Facebook page. There should be BB-themed stuff like this online. There are 37 kajillion YouTube channels doing this sort of stuff for the Beatles.

Just to throw future ideas out there; while I know the videos have plenty of 60s and early 70s material that it could focus on, I also would love to see eventually a dig into a hand full of the later 70s and even 80s tracks that, at least occasionally, had some still intricate, interesting arrangement things going on. Something tackling "Goin' On" for instance might be fun. But like I said, that's probably not high on the priority list with the dense 60s arrangement stuff to dig into.

Sterling work as always, and the most worthy of endeavors.

When you say "keyboard performances", would that include things like the synth lines on Love You?

Thank you!  I agree that there should be things on the internet like this!  In fact, it was the Beatles videos that inspired me to do mine.  I wanted there to be beach boys versions; there weren’t, so I made them myself.

I would love to get into later stuff.  I plan to go through every era and tell, ultimately, a long, sweeping epic tale.


Thank you.


Yes, absolutely, and in fact having a good recording computer will really enhance that because I’ll have access to powerful emulators of all the synths Brian and Friends used.  I’m very excited about showing how the way Brian used keyboards went from pounding at the piano, to something a little more subtle, to the Chickering, to his sort of clavinet/roxi phase, to the advent and then full use of modular synths.  Heck I’ll even go all the way to DX stuff in the 80s!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEHx3aHZVAI&feature=youtu.be (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEHx3aHZVAI&feature=youtu.be)

Here's a little video about this.  There's some BBs music involved.

Here's another little iso clip:

https://voca.ro/mDwTw5k7fn6 (https://voca.ro/mDwTw5k7fn6)

Great idea, JH, and nicely done! That should stir folks into action.

And, I changed browsers and now I can listen to your "ITBOMM" and "YSBIM" clips. Wonderful stuff, particularly "ITBOMM"! It makes one hope for more before too long.

I have something to say about your fundraising campaign but I still need to find the right words. When I do, I'll post it in the Welcome thread (http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,24035.msg657396.html#msg657396). ;)

Nope. This is too important to tuck away; it needs saying here, out in the open:

You see, folks, I'm a little confused. Are there really just six people in the world who would like this series to continue? There are over 50 subscribers to Joshilyn's YouTube channel. There have been well over 10,000 views of her video-related topics on Smiley alone, to say nothing of the warm and encouraging comments along the way.

I find this hard to reconcile with the number of donations so far. For a message board with a heck of a reputation in Beach Boys Land one would expect a little more commitment from its members. If this falls through, we all stand to lose, including Joshilyn herself.

This series is literally making history. As HeyJude points out on their Facebook page (see HJ's signature) the "Power Mower" project is in all likelihood unique. In my opinion it’s the best thing that has happened to BB fandom in years. Just look at the list of goodies Joshilyn has lined up for future videos. Please don't let this golden opportunity go to waste. If the funding process stops now (despite a magnificent first donation), we'd be throwing that opportunity away, maybe for ever.

Please, folks, help push the amount raised so far into four figures--that would be a wonderful start.

It would be a tragedy if JH's "Power Mower" project were to be allowed to founder, particularly when we can do something about it now. Let's face it--we may never see its like again.

I tried to donate, but it appears that GoFundMe does not accept my card.

Would it be of help to subscribe instead to Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/joshilyn (https://www.patreon.com/joshilyn)), which accepts paypal?

Certainly, if you feel moved to contribute to the patreon, I would be grateful, and that would go toward the recording setup.

Thank you for lobbying on my behalf, JK.  And thanks to those that have donated.

Regardless of the donation stuff, I am very interested in exploring the state of Beach Boys fandom.  Why is it that the Beatles versions of what I'm doing is so wildly popular--several channels with hundreds of thousands of subscribers, thousands of comments, massive engagement...

Are Beatles fans just...geekier?  I know, I know, these people have been doing it longer than I have, just gotta give it time.  It's just interesting how the internet works, and interesting how fandoms work.

For instance, here is a video that came out just two weeks ago:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAg-DYlcbhg (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAg-DYlcbhg)

It is the isolated transcription performance of the percussion on the Beatles' "And I love Her."  It's done by the wonderful folks at Ably House--I love their videos.  It has 2500 views.  That is my goal for my videos.  Maybe it's the silly Beach Boys/Beatles "Competition" thing that I'm falling prey to.  But I really want to show the world how smart and brilliant the Beach Boys music is.  Frankly, the parts are often way more interesting that what was happening on Beatles records (which of course means nothing in the overall effect of the final track, necessarily.)

Anyway--just some thoughts.

Great! Just subscribed  :)

I feel you're more likely to find yourself in uncharted territory when trying to fathom out Brian's arrangements. (I experienced this myself not too long ago!) I don't get that feeling nearly so much with The Beatles (again, with all due respect).

And you're welcome, JH. There can never be too many lobbyers on behalf of your wonderful venture. I hope others are linking it like crazy all over the Internet!

PS: One major shout-out to Wata!   

The Beatles musicality has been written about virtually since they started - dissertations have been written on the topic, there are entire DVDs worth of material about it, documentaries, books...

The biggest difference between the two bands? The Beatles had a very high standard, where most songs would be a 9/10.
The Beach Boys had some higher highs, but also, many lower lows than the Beatles.

Don't be put off though, the vast amount of people listening to the bands aren't musicians and never will be.

I don't agree, but I also think you don't need be a practising musician to appreciate what aeijtzsche is doing. A love of music is enough--and an enquiring mind.

True. I don't think my father has touched an instrument in his life and I showed him the Sloop John B guitar video, and he was blown away -- he loves that kind of breakdown, watches Brian Wilson/Beatles/Bob Dylan documentaries, etc. While I do think musicians would find this interesting on a deeper musical level, there is room for enquiring non-musician minds to appreciate this stuff as well.

*IF* that's true, surely it's because the Beach Boys had a much longer career than the Beatles?

I'm actually interested in writing a doctoral dissertation on orchestration in mid 1960s Los Angeles pop.  I'm looking for an advisor who would be down and a good stipend...

That's cool; I'm really glad he liked it.  I really want to aim the videos at everybody--there should be stuff for music nerds to enjoy, but also content for non-musicians to like.  Sloop John B works really well for that because it is a musically interesting arrangement, but it's also just really pretty to listen to the parts.

Exactly!

In a fair world, and maybe in a more enlightened country, someone with your talents would have had that stipend as a matter of course (to say nothing of the advisor). I hope it happens for you, JH.

Edit: On the subject of musicians, I noticed a pertinent remark of yours at EH. It's too relevant to your videos not to quote here:

"[That] is certainly something I'm glad to help with: preparation for performances of these works.  So many people play things 'wrong.'  And though re-interpretations can be cool, sometimes it's just better playing the original chord, or lick, or whatever."

One more good reason to keep this project afloat!

One thing that is certainly true of the Beatles vis-à-vis Beach Boys--there are a lot more Beatles tribute bands that really go for hyper accuracy in all aspects of the presentation.  Not really a culture of that for the Beach Boys.  Nevertheless, there are people that play Beach Boys covers, and I do hope to be a service to such people.

I'm sure you are already, JH, and even more so when your project gets back on the road!

On the subject of Beatles tribute bands, The Analogues, whom we saw recently on Dutch TV celebrating 50 years of Abbey Road, use period-correct instrumentation to get the most authentic sound possible. Most impressive they were too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGGQe3gUCsM

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Analogues (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Analogues)

A side effect of Joe Public not knowing what the Beach Boys look like ("Something to do with stripey shirts? A surfboard? Hawaiian shirts?").

"No one knew who Elvis's drummer was, but everyone knew Ringo." The same could be said for the Beach Boys, but every member.

Returning to where I suspect aeijtzsche is coming from, it's Brian's playing of the studio (add George Martin to JPG&R) that will earn The BBs a permanent place in music history, not their collective visual presence in the media--or onstage.

And I think you'll find that a good many members of Jo(e) Public are indeed aware of the existence of Brian Wilson! (But perhaps not that of B.J. Fontana.)

That’s more or less correct; what the lack of interest in my project has gone to show me is that people, and even hardcore fans, are much more interested in the personalities in the band, collecting memorabilia, boots, talking about circumstances surrounding the music.  [EDIT- Which I should add, are all perfectly valid ways to enjoy a band.]  But few are interested in the music, per se.  To me it doesn’t matter who made the music or whether they like each other.  Heck, I love music that is literally anonymous.  If you actually like the music it shouldn’t matter if it’s Ringo, a drum machine, Dennis Wilson, Shelley Manne, or Animal off the muppets.  But I don’t think culture separates music from the people that made it.  Maybe it never has but now there’s a huge disconnect; see for example, the Grammys.  Literal non-musicians won Grammys now.

I'll concede it's valid but it seems to be missing the point! I wish I could be as philosophical about it all as you.


This.

D.J. Fontana.

And my donation to the Power Mower should arrive tomorrow.

That's most encouraging, ASL. It's about time there was some good news on that front. :)

If that's the effect my gaffes have, I'll be making another later in the day. :lol 

Odd to see that the mods have yet to grace this topic with their presence. Billy and Craig, if you were just to give aeijtzsche's crowdfunding campaign your blessings, it would be a huge encouragement for others to join in and perhaps donate.   

Forget I'm the OP and think of Joshilyn's videos, and what we're all missing. Spread the word around, folks. You never know who might donate.

It's quite simple: no funding, no videos. Consider what we'd be throwing away.

And by Godfrey we're there!!! I'm lost for words.

Still slightly shellshocked. I mean, am I dreaming this?? :o

Now there is no excuse for most folks not to donate $20--$10 if your committments simply don't permit more and $5 if times are really hard. But most folks can easily handle $20, certainly knowing what they'll get in return. The four-figure hurdle has been taken and the target figure is in sight. Please donate.

That includes you, EH peeps. ;D

Hey JK and aeijtzsche,

At the moment I've had to financially cut back on most of my entertainment subscriptions, I also haven't been able to contribute to help other content creators that I listen to/watch regularly. It's just a rough time of the year for me. But when I am financially able I will donate something.

I'm not sure what type of computer you're aiming for, but my MacBook Pro (and even my 10 year old iMac) run Logic Pro flawlessly. Perhaps you're using a more sophisticated program, but I think that Logic Pro has become quite popular in professional music circles in recent years (and a plethora of plug-ins are available for it). I mention this because you can get a refurbished Apple Computer (from their official site) with 8 gigs of memory, 1tb of HD space, and one year warranty for a little over $1000. I once had Logic Pro perfectly running 37 separate tracks (each horrendously full of plug-ins) on my (at the time) 7 year old iMac (with just 4 gigs). Logic Pro is $199. Though I'm sure the plug-ins/extentions you'll be buying to emulate certain sounds will cost a bit as well. I'm sure you've factored all that in, I just thought I'd pass along that information.

I’m flabbergasted at the generosity of those who have given.  It is humbling and exciting that a few people like my work enough to do that.  I take that sacrifice very seriously and that’s why it is very important for me to consider my work as part of a system of custodianship of this music that demands my best.

Rab, thanks for the input.  I’ve been a Logic user for years; it’s a great program.  My issue is mainly disc size, processor speed, and especially RAM.  I could get a cheaper computer, but I believe that making allowances for excellence is a vital part of this project.  That’s why I want to make absolutely sure I’m good to go for a few years at a level that reflects my reverence for the source material. 

And while I certainly plan to run exquisite plug ins, those are not part of the donation campaign—but accommodating for running them at a professional level is.

In some ways, I consider it my duty to keep this stuff alive.  And now that the original engineers are passing away, and the ones that are still around feel like they’ve said enough, I kind of feel like it’s up to me to keep the flame alive.

I am looking forward to showing you not only the instruments and arrangements, but the production ethos that elevated these things to something worth thinking about 60 years later.  I am so excited to show you.

And yes, while I’d much prefer analog stuff, the digital emulation world is just getting better and better now.  When I’m up and running I’ll be able to demonstrate reverb techniques using very good emulations of Chambers, Plates, and Tanks from United/Western, Sunset Sound, and Capitol Records.

Similarly I can add the sound of the tracking rooms of those studios.  Nobody has physically demonstrated how this all works together before.  I’ll show you so much!!!  And I’m so excited to!!


Since I haven’t been able to record at all, I’ve spent time preparing and writing episodes.  Here are some potential forthcoming episodes.

If you’d like to see them sooner rather than much later, please feel free to donate anything.  Even 50 cents is a treasured gift.


Episodes 2020:

Wouldn’t it be nice to know:  the story of the introduction to Wouldn’t it be Nice

Dano perfectly well I’m not where I should be:  Brian Wilson, the Wrecking Crew, and the electric bass

Getcha Tack: the tack piano in The Beach Boys music

Rocksichords, Clavinets, and Rhodes, Oh My:  the home studio electric keyboards

Be Synth Me:  Dennis Wilson’s use of synthesis

Moog to my Baby:  how synthesizers infiltrated then took over Brian Wilson’s arrangements and WHY

AND MUCH MORE!

Completely understandable. On a side note, one thing I've been pretty impressed by is how often Logic has been updated over the last 7 years. Logic Pro X has been out since 2013 and I've never had to pay for an update since then - and they've consistently added more and more great content. Anyways, glad to see a fellow Logic user!

I'm really looking forward to your upcoming episodes. I have shown many people your Sloop John B video - they were blown away by what they heard. I can't wait to show off more of your work!

Thank you so much!

Logic is surprisingly good, yeah.  My entree to it, as it were, was by GarageBand, which, while free, is really terrible for certain things. Good at others though!  I was quite relieved to find that Logic does everything I want it to.

I started recording on my parents consumer tape deck in the late 80s.  I rigged it so I could overdub which blew my mind.

Then I started using various Tascam type 4 tracks until I was introduced to Cool Edit Pro in 1998.

I live that program, and used it until well after it became adobe audition.

Then I wanted to do more outside the box type work, so I got a digital 24-Track that I really loved.  But it was soooo much work to use because I don’t have the routing to handle that many tracks.

Enter GarageBand.  Then logic.

And now I’m increasingly blown away by the digital audio people.  The ones that do it right really do do it right.  Haha, do do!

It’s really exciting and really adds another dimension to my project.  For the first time, I am comfortable that, say, an emulation of Western’s reverb chamber, or Sunset Sound’s EMT Plate will behave in a way that honors what they are emulating.

This!


But not this! JH is being kind, but folks just a little more than that would be cool! 8)

An afterthought: Wouldn't it be wonderful if this project helped draw back together what is regrettably a fractured BB community? There is already a certain amount of inter-forum interaction on the subject. Let's hope this positive development continues.

Folks we're two-thirds of the way there. We need $656--that's thirty donations of $20 with the odd $25 thrown in.

After a spiffing start to the campaign, $2000 seemed an impossible goal for a long time. That certainly isn't the case now. I'm sure there are those (including myself) who would be willing to fill in the last gaps once we're close enough to the target figure.

What seemed so far away and so unattainable is now within reach! Those of you who haven't donated yet and are prevaricating, please act now. if you do, it may be a matter of weeks before aeijtzsche posts her next long-awaited isolation video. The fate of this project is in your hands.

If you still need convincing, read the warm and enthusiastic comments in any of JH's isolation video threads. This "landmark series" (Don Malcolm's words) deserves to succeed.

So please take that step and make it succeed. :violin :thewilsons

Just wanna continue to thank people for supporting and donating.  We are so close now!

When I am able to get up and running again, I really am excited about all the things I hope to do.

I think that I am really gonna take a hard turn toward sunflower, to keep everybody’s spirits up as we await something more official.  So you can look forward to that.  Highlights will include how to get your cowbell to sound like a cricket, as on Slip on Through, a thorough dissection of All I Wanna Do, and an attempt to show you how to make a water sounds keyboard for Cool Water.

If you are moved by that, feel free to donate—either a one time donation or support me as a patron on my patreon.  To my knowledge I am the only person in the world creating scholarly Beach Boys A/V content.  And yes, I know that has less to do with me and more to do with the fact that its not exactly cutting edge studying music from 50 years ago...

Thanks to all, though!!!  Very appreciative and I really want to make stuff that you like!!

Really looking forward to that dissection of my all-time favourite BB song! And the other Sunflower tidbits. Oh, and everything else. :P

Please make it sooner rather than later, folks. ;)

The fourteen donors (yes, some splendid person has donated twice) are beginning to feel lonesome. They long for company!

Please give them some and help shake off the absurd notion that only fourteen people in the world care about aeijtzsche's project.

Here's a reminder of what you will be missing in future if you don't chime in and help out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrBWTRQEKgI

https://www.gofundme.com/f/recording-computer-for-joshilyn (https://www.gofundme.com/f/recording-computer-for-joshilyn)

And, to keep this thread visible, a further reminder of what we've had and what we can expect:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UeP0dXHS14

This thread looks likely to reach a third page, possibly thanks to this post.

Please, folks, don't let it have to extend to a fourth page. The target figure should be in long before then!

gf.me/u/xfaccv (http://gf.me/u/xfaccv)

We are indeed so close to making some videos and other goodies possible again.  One final push!  I am so grateful and so flabbergasted, really, that I got anything.  And I promise you, the only reason I keep asking for help is that I am excited as a huge fan of the group's music to add a new dimension to the collective knowledge base, and to recognise just how revolutionary the band's music could be.  No one will be disappointed.  Just today I was thinking about how many jaws will drop when more curtains are pulled back on the arrangements.  Can't wait!!!

I donated  :hat

Thank you, you wonderful person, and welcome! :)

These are historic times in Beach Boys Land. ;)

Folks, this is what you'll be seeing first when the series starts in earnest:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbGk_vhCa0Y

Please click here to make it happen! (https://www.gofundme.com/f/recording-computer-for-joshilyn)

If someone as paranoid about the combination internet/money as I am can donate, so can you, even if it's just this one time.

You'll be making a whole bunch of people very happy if you do.

Please keep this in mind and donate today!

Thank you, JK, for continuing to promote my work.

I just wanted to pop in here and say that, indeed, I am very close to 100 subscribers, which is not that many compared to many channels, but seems like a lot to me!  Thanks to all who have subscribed and are interested.  The Beach Boys have been a light in the darkness for me many times (for whatever reason) and I continue to hope that I can help their music be a light for you during one of the darkest times in human history.

To celebrate 100 subscribers, I will do some sort of celebratory video, so subscribe if you haven't yet, and also look forward to part one of the Sunflower Boxed Set pregame series about Slip on Through.

Well--within the last six hours two donations have pushed the total up to $2,030!!!!!

Such generosity is heart-warming--and right on time. Now JH can buy herself a uke for her "Help Me, Ronda" tutorial.


Postscript: This was my last post in this topic. I'd like to think it served a purpose for a while in helping to promote Joshilyn's work at Smiley but the flurry of activity greeting each new JH tutorial proves it has now run its course. And that's as it should be. ;)