Category Archives: Musical inspiration

Video: ‘Bassoforte’ by Diego Stocco

In this video, Diego Stocco re-purposes the keyboard of the dismantled piano that he keeps in the garden and builds a new instrument by combining it with some other parts he had laying around.


Diego writes:

I ended up with this mechanical hybrid thing I thought to call “Bassoforte” (bass + pianoforte). The neck is from a broken electric bass, as a bridge I used a cabinet handle, the pickups are from a guitar, and the part at the top where the strings are attached is a chimney cap, which works as resonator as well as percussive sound. The track I created is a tribute to my Dad who is a big fan of Western comic books and “spaghetti western” films, and because of him I am too.

Diego Stocco’s website
You can buy the song on Diego’s Bandcamp page
He also has a gallery with a longer video, pictures, and more detailed descriptions here

Hat tip to my Dad for sharing this with me.


Video: What do you do when the band breaks up? iPad Band to the rescue.

Geoff Kaiser (Geoff has played keys live for Eric Beverly and the Sunday Best) put together this cool video showing ways to use the iPad to create music. Check it out. Geoff writes: “The band broke up? It’s OK, I’ve still got my iPad…! This band can play any style.”




Click here to see Geoff playing keys with Eric Beverly and the Sunday Best.



Looking for the right chord? Randomchord.com may help

I came across this site and thought it might be helpful to musicians who are looking to find the right chord in a progression or simply looking for inspiration. Here’s how it works according to the site http://www.randomchord.com/:

“A useful resource for all musicians — improvisers can make sure they can play over any harmony; songwriters can find that elusive lost chord to complete their chord progression. Each chord comes with its own looped backing track and an explanation of the scale choices that fit with it. Choose a chord from the drop down menus and click ‘Go’, or click ‘Random’ to have a random chord generated for you.”


Top five things I learned from going to see live music tonight

This is a follow up to my previous post and highlights the top five things I learned from going to see live music tonight.

5. Get out of the house

  • I often get song ideas while driving around town. Tonight, I didn’t get a new song idea, but I did hum a few of my older songs.

4. Break a routine, develop a habit

  • I don’t see live shows as often anymore. Since a body in motion tends to stay in motion (and a body at rest tends to stay at rest) I got moving. It felt good to get out and see a show.

3. Support a friend

  • I’m went to see Jess Klein tonight. She’s a recent transplant from NYC and a talented songwriter. Jess sounded great plus it was her birthday!

Jess Klein

2. Catch a live performance

  • There is nothing better than a live performance. A recording never captures the experience of being in the room while music is made, plus you never know what’s going to happen.
  • I enjoyed the audience participation. Maybe it’s this way in other towns, maybe not–the crowd broke into multiple harmony parts.
  • I didn’t enjoy the cell phone induced interference in the sound system, but the band soldiered on and even joked about it during the song.

1. Learn from others in the music community

  • It’s always great to learn more about how others write their own songs and to see the impact that a song can have on an audience.
  • The night had an opening act (Ashley?) from the guitargirlaustin group, which is a group for women who want to learn to write songs/improve their songwriting powers. To find out more about the group, visit http://www.girlguitaraustin.com/


Top five reasons to go see live music tonight (or right now)!

I’m headed out tonight to soak up some live music here in Austin, Texas. I thought I should quickly tap out my top five reasons for going to see live music as a way to kick off this Songwrite Blog.

5. Get out of the house

I often get song ideas while driving around town.

4. Break a routine, develop a habit

I don’t see live shows as often anymore. A body in motion tends to stay in motion and a body at rest tends to stay at rest. I want to be in motion.

3. Support a friend

I’m going to see Jess Klein tonight. She’s a recent transplant from NYC and a talented songwriter.

2. Catch a live performance

There is nothing better than a live performance. A recording never captures the experience of being in the room while music is made, plus you never know what’s going to happen.

1. Learn from others in the music community

It’s always great to learn more about how others write their own songs and to see the impact that a song can have on an audience.