Looking for a Band

I'm currently looking for a band in Knoxville, TN (or close). I don't have too much available time, so it must be something quite relaxed.

In a perfect world, I'd be looking either for a band that plays (old fashioned) progressive rock (think like Yes, Genesis, Kansas, ELP, Jethro Tull, etc.), instrumental (rock/jazz/fusion) or classic rock. But I am open to almost anything, as long as it is fun and relaxed (and I can play it).

You can check my samples below. Concact me at if interested.


Background

I am 41 years old (younger in spirit, older in taste) and have been playing guitar since I was 13. I am originally from Brazil, but have been living in the US since 1997 and in Knoxville since 2006.

I am partial to progressive rock, but grew up listening to classic rock in general. Here are some of the bands I enjoy the most: Yes, Kansas, Deep Purple, Genesis, Pink Floyd, Big Big Train, The Flower Kings, Spock's Beard, Karmakanic, Peter Gabriel, Eric Johnson, Tears for Fears, Kate Bush, Toto, Rush, Alan Parsons.

And here are a few of the guitarists I enjoy the most: Eric Johnson, Ritchie Blackmore (note that the link is for his new stuff, which I am not very familiar with), Scott Henderson, Eddie Van Halen, Steve Lukather, Allan Holdsworth, Jeff Beck.


Back to the top.

Gear

Recording Gear

Guitars

I've been a "strat guy" for my whole life, so my main guitar is a Suhr Classic (Strat). I have two pickguards for it: one with Suhr's V60's and one with DiMarzio Virtual Vintage (noiseless) pickups.

My second guitar is PRS Custom 22, which I also quite like. I use it mostly for heavier music.

Amplifier

I've been using a Mesa Boogie DC-3 since I've moved to the US. It is small but quite powerful, with decent clean and distorted tones. (Although I do like it, it is one piece of gear I'd like to replace.) I usually connect it to a Jenkin's 2x12 cabinet.

Effects

My main effects processor is a T.C. Electronic G-Major. I use an old Voodoo Lab's Ground Control to change its patches (and switch amp channels).

For pedals I usually use a Way Huge Saffron Squeeze (compressor) and a Fulltone Fulldrive FD-2 (overdrive). Sometimes I also use an SIB Varidrive (tube distortion) if I want an alternative to the second channel of the DC-3.


Back to the top.

Recordings

Below are some of my recordings, old and new.


Current Demo Recordings (2014/2015)

These were done so that I could have something current and varied to show bands interested in "hiring" me. (And because it was fun to do it.) They were very quickly made, without too much care with the production value. (You can clearly hear the guitar humming in many places.)

Also, despite many takes, I left some mistakes, as it would take me a long time to get it all perfect. Most of the recordings were one night's work, and I mostly forced myself to live with the results (despite my OCD kicking in).

In my defense (for the mistakes), I did not practice any of them before hand, but practiced them as I recorded.

In a few cases I fixed/redid a few things the next night, after listening to the results really awake. But I felt it would be more honest of me leaving the mistakes in, since in a live situation there would be plenty of them!

The recordings were mostly done with backing tracks from youtube. I've used simply Audacity (running on Linux!) to record my track(s) and mix.

The guitar was connected to a Ibanez TS-9 (modified by AnalogMan), then to the DC-3 amp (running silent). I used the DC-3's "Recording Output" to send it to a Digitech Genesis 3.

I used the Genesis 3 for effects (all of them, except for the TS-9) and cabinet emulator only. (No amp simulator, as I ran it through the DC-3.) The set up was pretty noisy, but I've decided to live with it.

Overall the tone was not great, but I thought it was pretty good for quietly recording direct to the computer (no mics) and overall much better than using simply the amp simulation from the Genesis 3.

All the songs below, except when noted otherwise, were recorded with the Suhr with the DiMarzion Virtual Vintage pickups.


For the Love of God

I've been playing this song, by Steve Vai, since the early 90's. I quite like this song and enjoy playing it. It took a lot of practice to get it close to the original and there are parts there are not that close.

In this recording, the outro solo starting at 5:42 is my own improvisation.

This is the only one of these recordings that was done all in a single take. (No editing!) It did take about a million takes to get two that I liked. But still, nothing was fixed and one can hear a few mistakes here and there. But, I am quite happy that I could get anything I liked in a single take.

Here is the backing track I've used.


'Cause We've Ended as Lovers

This lovely ballad was written by Stevie Wonder and recorded by Jeff Beck in his "Blow by Blow" album. I've always liked it but never played it with a band. I've tried to be mostly faithful to the original, but there are variations, especially on the main theme.

Here is the backing track I've used.


Spain

This is a piece by Chick Corea that I also quite like. I hadn't played it in a long time (and I think it shows). :-) It is a challenging one!

I thought it would be a good addition as it is different from most of the rest. (And I really like playing it!)

Solo starts at 1:38 and it is an improvisation. (Many takes until I could get one I more or less liked. I am not too proud of this one, but it was the best I got that night. I might try to redo it at some point.)

Here is the backing track I've used.


Another Brick in the Wall Part 2 (Solo)

I guess this one needs no introduction. A classic from Pink Floyd.

I've been playing this solo for a long time (I must admit that I probably have messed it up most of the time), but I've never gotten tired of it. I just love it! I tried to make it as close to the original as possible as I believe the original cannot be improved!

That being said, here are some improvisations on it: Take 1, Take 2 and Take 3. These are all different, but share some common ideas. It was a lot of fun to make my own solos on this backing track! (The best thing was hearing "Wrong! Do it again!" in the end of each take. (It seemed that the voices in my head were getting loud.)) :-)

Here is the backing track I've used.


Toccata and Fugue in D Minor

This is (something perhaps somewhat similar to a possible version of) a piece by J. S. Bach (for the organ). More like a very free interpretation/adaptation of it.

I started playing this a long time ago (88 or 89). I borrowed the sheet music from a keyboard player and tried to make a version of it. I hadn't played it in a very long time and it was hard to get this version, especially since I haven't been using tapping that much in recent years.... (There are some clear problems with it, but it is hard to edit, and I thought I would just live with them.)

I used to play it when we had a guitar solo in a concert. I thought it would be nice to have it here for some variety (some classical music!).

I've used a pitch shifter (from the Genesis 3) with an octave down to give the more ominous feel. (The organ is also played in octaves, but they can use two hands.)


Crazy Train

A classic Ozzy Osbourne song with Randy Rhodes on the guitar. I wasn't really planning on recording this one, but I used to play it and found a backing track with the original recording!

Since I knew it already, it was relatively quick to get done. The rhythm guitar is a bit shaky at times and perhaps the lead also would deserve another take, but I think it is good enough.

I tried to play the solo pretty close to the original, but did change a few things, mostly because I did not remember exactly how it went. (I did not really bother listening to the original. Maybe I should, but I'm afraid it would make me want to redo it.)

For this one I broke out the PRS! I hadn't played it in a long time and I felt the scale length difference, but I thought it sounded better for this song.

Here is the backing track I've used.


Dreams

One of my favorite Van Halen songs! (Unlike apparently most, I much prefer their Sammy Hagar era.) I used to play it and it was always fun to do it. The backing track is not from the original and has no vocals, so I almost dropped it, but I had fun just playing and decided to go for it. And I thought it would be nice to have a Van Halen song in the recordings.

Since I've played this one a lot before, it was also relatively quick. I try to play very close to the original, but there are certainly differences. Notably the harmonics in the very beginning were replace by "regular notes". With me playing, I always felt it sounded better this way, even though I was aware that the original was done with harmonics.

I also played the PRS with this one.

Here is the backing track I've used.


Highway Star

A song by Deep Purple I listened to a whole lot when I was young. And a great solo by Ritchie Blackmore!

Again, I was lucky to find a backing track with the original song and it was so much fun playing with it!

I recorded most of the song relatively quickly, since I knew it so well, even most of the solo. The sixteenth notes in the middle of the solo were a nightmare, though, and took me several days.

The problem is not even that it is too fast (although it is quite fast!), but that the pattern is not one natural to me (and apparently most). I also played it wrong for many years, and it is hard to break a bad habit... I had to practice for a while until I could get it right! (To be honest, it was hard for me to even tell if it was right or not!) I almost broke my computer with my guitar with frustration with this one!

But, now it's done and I'm proud of it. :-) (Thanks to my good friend, ex-teacher and excellent guitarist and musician, Ciro Visconti, for the help with this!)

Here is the backing track I've used.


Manhattan

A lovely, jazzy piece by one of my favorite guitar players, Eric Johnson. He wrote it as a tribute to Wes Montgomery and I thought it was, again, something different to add to the recordings.

I am not too proud of this one, but I like it and wanted to have it among these recordings. And, as it is a difficult one (for me), I decided to cut myself some slack and hope that others would too. :-)

It was hard to get a decent clean sound, and it is still not that great. This feels especially bad as EJ's tone is simply gorgeous. This one I did rerecord a few times (in different nights), as the first takes were below satisfactory... I think this final take is good enough, though.

I tried to make the two solos similar to the orignals, but definitely, again, they are not note-by-note the same, which is fine with me. :-)

Here is the backing track I've used.


Opus 10

This is a very sad ballad I wrote a long time ago. I don't usually write pieces like this (guitar only), but I thought it would be good to show something original.

Someday I will actually record a good version of this piece, but I guess it is good enough for now.


Mood for a Day

This was also added for the sake of variety of styles. This is a Yes piece (or, more precisely, a Steve Howe piece) from Fragile. I always liked it and one day decided to learn it, even though it is an acoustic piece, and I don't play the acoustic very well (or at all). So, this is the only acoustic piece I know, and it is quite hard for me.

As to be expected, it is not the best version, but I liked the idea of having something so different and, at the same time, a Yes piece.

It was actually recorded with an electric guitar (the Surh) through the Genesis 3's acoustic simulator. So, the tone does not help either, but it is OK.


Back to the top.

Studio Session (2003)

Here is my one and only "studio session": Unknown.

Credits:

The song, which I don't know the name of, was written by the singer, whose name I also don't know. :-) The lyrics, in Portuguese, are quite nice and I like the song.

This only happened by accident. I was rehearsing with friends, when on vacation in São Paulo (Brazil), in the drummer's (Paulo B.) studio and left my guitar there for a while after we were done. (I don't remember if I forgot it there or if I was going somewhere and did not want to carry it around.) When I came back to pick it up, Paulo B. was recording this song with the singer. He asked me if I would record some guitar for it and, since I didn't have anything to do, I was glad to oblige.

The singer showed me the chords and I went in to record. I've done three takes of the whole song (without stopping). The first was bad, both in playing (I was still cold) and in recording. We liked the second and third takes. I then asked to do one more take for the outro solo, but it did not turn out well. Since we were happy with the other takes, we decided to stop there.

I've never been so quick to record something and, perhaps because of that, I'm pretty proud of it. :-) (It is not usual for me.) But I also simply like the result.

I also quite like the tone, even though it was done with very cheap gear. The guitar was a Brazilian made "Spanich" (yes, with "ch"), which is not very good at all. But, it had a Schaller Floyd Rose tremolo, Fender tuners and, most importantly, Lindy Fralins PAF pickups, which helped a whole lot. The guitar went through my trusty FD-2 and then to a cheap small transistor Fender combo (I don't remember the model) they had at the studio. I've used its gain channel throughout and only added the FD-2 in the longer fills and outro solo. I've also used its own reverb. (If any other effects were added, they were added in the mixing.) I was really amazed that it actually sounded good!

With the two good takes we could chose which one had the best longer fills. (The shorter ones are both from the same take, but I don't remember which.) We liked both outro solos, but eventually chose the one you hear in here (from the first good take). I wish I had a version with the second good take, as I also liked it. (By the way, I was told that the song would fade out, so I wasn't too worried about the ending of it.)


Back to the top.

Tequila Mockingbird Live (2003-2004)

Credits:

I played with this band (which still exists, but unfortunately without Tom) when I was living in Santa Barbara, California, and it was a really great band. (My first and only band in the US!) All were good musicians and very nice people! No stress, just fun. :-) I truly enjoyed my time with them! The music was very eclectic, and although many of the songs we played would not have been chosen by me, it was always fun and sounded good. Bob was a great front man and Tom and Jim were very good at backing vocals (an area that was somewhat lacking in most of my previous bands), besides being very good at their own instruments. Steve was also great and had one of the best drum sounds I've ever heard (with his fantastic DW set).

These are live recordings, so the sound can be a bit bad at times and there a few mistakes. They were recorded with my current gear.


Carry On Wayward Son

Recorded at the Creekside Tavern, Santa Barbara in 2004.

I am a huge Kansas fan and lobbied for us to play this song! We did not have keyboards, so I played some of the keyboard parts, including the solo. (The main riff is played by Tom, as well as the very last guitar solo.) I played it with the PRS.

This version has a few very evident mistakes, but since I really like the song I wanted to post it anyway. :-)


Time

Recorded at the Creekside Tavern, Santa Barbara in 2004.

We've played this Pink Floyd song with a shortened intro. The solo is close to the original. Of course, played on the Suhr Strat. It's always nice to play David Gilmour's solos!


Superstition

Recorded at Dargan's Pub, Santa Barbara 2004.

This is our version of Stevie Wonder's classic song. The main riff is played by Tom, while I play some of the horn parts. We've added two guitar solos to it (one in the middle and one in the end). I played this one with the PRS.


Back to the top.

Parsec Demo (1997)

Credits:

This (and its predecessor, Ponto de Fuga) was the band for me! (It was back in São Paulo, Brazil.) Its name was Ponto de Fuga until the previous singer and drummer left, when we decided to change the name to Parsec.

Pietro, Alexandre and I were (and still are) close friends with very similar taste. In particular, we shared a love for progressive rock and most of the bands I listed above. We played covers from Yes, Genesis, Rush, Pink Floyd, Peter Gabriel, Jethro Tull, among others, and wrote our own songs.

Bruno and Caio came in later, but were both excellent!

I can't say enough good things about all of them, and feel like I might have taken them for granted. Hearing them playing in these recordings is such a pleasure. I am blown away by how good they were (are)!

We recorded these two songs in a rented 24 track studio. We did not have too much money, so we did not have too much time. To make things worse, for what felt like an eternity, we had to wait until some rain storms passed by, as they were affecting the recording gear. On the positive side, Caio recorded his tracks incredibly quickly (and well). I think he must have done two takes per song...

I've recorded these songs with a Marshall amp set up (JMP-1 preamp, 9200 power amp and 1960A 4x12 cabinet) and an Alesis Quadraverb for effects. I recorded with a friend's Fender Strat 54 Reissue, since my guitar at the time (an Ibanez 540S with Seymour Duncan pickups) had just been stolen.

I remember having some initial difficulty getting a decent tone. I had to tweak it while feeling the pressure of the clock ticking. In the end I've left the guitar pretty dry, especially on When You Go Away (below). But, other than that, I like the tone in the end.

I was suppose to sing the backing vocals myself, but it was not sounding good (it never did!) and so Bruno himself recorded them, with a much better result that I could ever get!


When You Go Away

Credits:

This is a song that I wrote for another band, called Corsário. (Also a great band! I wish I had some decent recordings of it.) I think is uncharacteristic for Parsec, but we chose as we thought it would have a greater "commercial" appeal. In retrospect, I deeply regret it, as we had much better songs and more representative of our style. (Not that I don't like this one.)

It pains me to no end that on the very intro of this song I bend a note out of tune. (Which, I must admit, it is not a terribly rare occurrence, but we would certainly have it fixed if we had heard it! The solos were the last things to be recorded and we were all tired and in a hurry.) I also think that the guitar and piano clash a little bit. But, I still like the result. I quite like Pietro's fretless bass lines!

The lyrics have serious English problems and Bruno's English is also not that great, but I do quite like his vocals.


Perpetual Love

Credits: Music and lyrics by Pietro Bergamo.

A much better representative of our style and a great song by Pietro! Pietro and Caio really do a fantastic job on this one. Great bass line (as usual) and a great bass solo! Alexandre, also as usual, got some very nice keyboards parts. This one was always so much fun to play!


Back to the top.