I recently purchased this TankDrum from "tankdrum.com" and have been
having tons of fun playing with it. These tankdrum's are created out of
propane tanks and each note is tuned to a specific key so there are no
'wrong' notes. The tankdrum is a solution based on the "hang drum" which
is very hard and expensive to obtain, it also is a similar idea as a
steel drum you would hear in the islands but these are played by hand.
The propane tankdrum has an amazing metallic percussion sound and the
individual notes ring out in soothing tones. This is a great instrument
to get others involved in music since it is relaxing, fun to play, and
requires very little 'practice' or 'learning' to make some great sounds!
If you are interested, go check out all the models and demos at
http://www.tankdrum.com and tell them Brainphreak sent ya! :P You can
even buy multiple drums with complimentary keys so together you can make
even more amazing sound combinations.
I find myself playing the tankdrum just before bedtime and it is a nice
relaxing way to wind down after a long day. Below is a sample I recorded
on my
wedding day improvising shortly after I received this amazing
instrument. Technically this drum in the video is an A7 tuned model with
only 7 notes including an A in the middle spot. Ignore all the weird
faces I may be making and listen to the sounds this thing can make! I
have since ordered another one that is double sided... a B17! (17 notes)
Brand new song by my two man band/project "Strangling Marilyn". It is a song about the end of the world, so it may be a bit dramatic! This one also has some odd time signatures and may be interesting to those geeky musician types out there.
Also available on iTunes and other digital stores for your iDevices and MPX Players.
Here is a new song from my band Strangling Marilyn. I spent some time experimenting in Bryce3D since the program is now FREE!! Made a cool SM logo and then started experimenting more in After Effects animation and 3D stereo rigs. The result is the following video which took me about 1 week just in computer rendering time! Rockit was really crunching the numbers!
The above video was created for 3D viewing, but you can turn off 3D through the options below the video. I also messed with the camera angles a bit and re-rendered in just 2D so it can be at full resolution on youtube (or as best as youtube allows). Here is the native 2D version
Here is the song streaming from bandcamp. Surrender is also available on itunes and cdbaby and most all of those other digital music stores.
Here is a clip of me playing my custom Halo 8-string guitar. I set up the iphone and captured this one with a pre-programmed drum track to play along to. I wrote this song for my band "Strangling Marilyn". This is the electronic/instrumental version with a messy ending :)
Nuclear Rabbit is one of my favorite bands for at least the past 15+ years. I originally found them searching for bands on the original "mp3.com" website when it was still flooded with local bands giving away free music. They have been around since 1989! Since I discovered them I have introduced COUNTLESS open minded fans of music to their sound and the majority have LOVED it. Even my girlfriend and 13 year old step daughter sing along to their silly songs. I hear people compare them to everything from Mr. Bungle and Primus, to Death and Minute Men, they have a VERY unique sound with Greg Parrish's wide range of vocals, and Jean Baudin on the 11 string bass!
After all these years and all the shows I have seen, I never had the opportunity to catch them playing live! I scoured the internet searching for live footage, and even after the invention and flooding of youtube and other video sharing sites, I could find nothing more than a couple short 30 second cell phone clips. Nothing worth hearing or watching. I could only imagine how they pulled off the songs live. About 5 years ago I moved to the bay area and hoped one new advantage would be that I have a better chance of one day catching them live along with many other amazing bands who play in SF bay area.
Due to the fact these guys just appear and play a show or two, then disappear for YEARS... It was never in the cards for me to see them in person UNTIL recently! In October I had the rare opportunity to catch Nuclear Rabbit live in Berkeley, California! Since I knew this was possibly a once in a lifetime opportunity, I grabbed my 3D camera and decided I would go right to the front and capture as much of the show as I could, to share with the world of fans who are deprived of the rabbit.. and to preserve the night for myself to watch many times over. Which I have.
I had such high expectations after all these years, and let me tell you, each member of the band BLEW me away! This is quite possibly the most underrated band I have ever had the pleasure of discovering. The combination of all 4 members is perfection, some of the best drum and bass combinations possible, and the guitar riffs are as unique as they come. Greg is all over the place vocally telling stories, and switching seamlessly from clean heartfelt clean vocals to death metal screams and then on to some doo wop all sounding like it was inspired by too many cartoons and hallucinogens.
Below is the 2d and 3d versions of the first time I ever got to see Nuclear Rabbit this past October in Berkeley. The vocals were very low due to how close I was to the stage, and it may be a bit chaotic, but I think it is well worth the watch, rare footage indeed of NR, and a mighty fine performance!
