John Caputo

An Album. Are You Serious?

noreply@blogger.com (John Caputo) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 01:00:00 +0000

Yes, I'm serious. Or at least I'm going to give it the old college try. I've tried the RPM Challenge once before, but it wasn't really a smart timing choice. This time I'm prepared. I've got my 10 tracks written, and everything in place to just press record in February.

Even if I don't make it, I'll have a good handful of new tunes for my live show. It's somewhat liberating to compartmentalize writing and performing. I've also taken a new approach to instrumentals; basing them off of poems and reflections from my journals, rather than improv sessions. This is great for inspiration, but chaos on titles. Some of my favorites include: Bucky's Wing Shack, Djibouti, and Sparkle.

Regardless of the outcome, I'll post the finished album at some point this year.

Acoustic Music and a Return to Electricity

noreply@blogger.com (John Caputo) — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 01:24:00 +0000

I'll be breaking in my electric kalimba next month at Saxbys - mixed in with the normal selection of acoustic instruments. It's a great sound that I've been playing with for some time, built in electronics just make things easier. And I still think it makes the ultimate poor man's hand pan drum.

Following that, I hope to pull out my electric for some retrospective music in June. I've been working since January at building an Ableton Live set of all the music I've written in the past 10 years, that's never been played live. So all those recordings are hitting the road. More info on that as summer begins.

Bad Elf Is Back

noreply@blogger.com (John Caputo) — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 20:20:00 +0000

Bad Elf is back, for the first time. That's right, we're trying it again. Even though we got snowed out last year (as in the whole town shut down), we're giving it the old college try. I'm gathering the players and off we go. Well, at the very least, I'll be there with my piano as long as the roads are open. Come and enjoy the music Saturday December 18, 7pm at Saxbys Doylestown.

Bad Elf is a slight play on The Bad Plus, a jazz piano trio known for unorthodox arrangements of pop/rock songs. Never fear, we'll be sticking fairly close to spirit of the music.

It's time to be thankful and celebrate the holiday season. Take a break from all the hustle and bustle and come out and see Bad Elf. Who knows, we might even wear funny hats.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all!

Music This Fall

noreply@blogger.com (John Caputo) — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 01:41:00 +0000

I've invited a few friends to the show this week. And you may be saying to yourself, "hey, that looks suspiciously like an electric guitar". Yep. It is. And it'll be out and about Saturday night. Joining me for a selection of great summer rock tunes will be John Weisbrot, Bill Mullen, and Veronica Caputo.

We still need to come up with a moniker. Will we survive past Saturday? Who knows. Who cares.

December will see an encore performance by Bad Elf. More info on that as the weather gets chillier.

Mid Summer Update

noreply@blogger.com (John Caputo) — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 18:22:00 +0000

I have a few fun projects going on this summer, musical and craft related. We're still planning a September ensemble performance and I'm hoping to get together with Mr. Scalfaro in the coming months. I just got my guitar back from the shop, so it'll be all Mitchell this Saturday night.

I'm in the middle of working on a new kalimba. With any luck it will be ready for the weekend. I'm going with a more traditional bridge design, and may incorporate mbira designs in the future.

In limbo is a new record that's getting attention when I'm not working on the live show or a new kalimba (which seems to be all the time).

Have a wonderful summer.

Caputo / Scalfaro Cancelled

noreply@blogger.com (John Caputo) — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 19:53:00 +0000

Due to circumstances beyond our control, the previously scheduled Caputo / Scalfaro show in July will not be taking place. We're trying to setup a future engagement. I'll be playing solo July 17th at Saxbys.

Caputo / Scalfaro

noreply@blogger.com (John Caputo) — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 13:22:00 +0000

I'm very excited to be playing with percussionist Kevin "Animal" Scalfaro on July 17th.

We'll be doing an evening of orignal music with acoustic guitar, congas, bongos, assorted percussion, 8 string guitar, ukulele, loops, kalimbas, coffee cups and anything else we can get our hands on.

If we hear it, we'll be fusing it together in Doylestown. "Experimental World Jazz" is about as far as I dare categorize this.

So come on out, have a frozen yogurt and a cup of coffee, hang out with everyone and enjoy the ride. We will.

Aloha and have an awesome summer.

Electric Kalimba

noreply@blogger.com (John Caputo) — Fri, 21 May 2010 15:58:00 +0000

Electric kalimba, number one. This took about two weeks to build, given I was working on it as my schedule allowed. It's designed to be an electric instrument and to experiment with. As such, it has a few interesting features that aren't readily apparent.

The resonating box is oak. The frame is designed to support and reinforce the thin top, and the box has no bottom. No bottom? No, it doesn't need it. I'm just interested in getting the top to vibrate for the pickup. As such it's got great sustain and is very lively. Another reason for having no bottom is so the pickup can be moved around as desired. Though the strongest signal is at the bridge, you can get some interesting variations by moving it closer to the end of the body. Additionally, I want to be able to swap out the electronics as desired.

Amusingly, the kalimba is very loud acoustically. Bonus.

The bridge is oversize for the number of tines, allowing one extra hole next to the mounting screws. This lets me tie on the leather mute. Yes, it's a mute, not decoration. This kalimba is built for experimentation with different tine materials, lengths, etc. I may not always want to cut tines down; thus retaining a broader possibility of tunings. You need some way of stopping the discordant vibration going on at the other end of an uncut tine. The leather mute can be wrapped around long tines to remove the unwanted "harmony".

The initial tuning is G Caribbean.

This is my standing design going forward. I'm calling it a Series II kalimba. Series I kalimbas will be of the "plank" variety; but will incorporate the lower profile bridge design from the Series II.

This kalimba gets it's public debut Saturday night at Saxbys.

Deliver the Galaxy

noreply@blogger.com (John Caputo) — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 02:43:00 +0000

I originally started writing this record as an entry into the RPM Challenge. The idea is that you write and record an album in one month. In this case, that mean putting everything together in February. I thought this would be a fun project to calm my nerves as we awaited the birth of my son. I was correct. However, I got expectantly dereailed upon his arrival. It's hard to lay tracks down in a hospital room.

So it's with a sense of closure that I present Deliver the Galaxy. I managed to write and record the record in February. Mixing and mastering took a week longer. And then there was the search for some fun cover art. That took forever. Since I already blew the end of February deadline, I decided to take my time.

Deliver the Galaxy features some tunes that are live staples. Honu always closes the night these days. I wanted to explore a more organic production direction. This record is very raw (for me) and taps into the joy of live performance. It's fascinating. When you have a newborn in the house, you're suddenly motivated to nail things on the first take. There might not be a take two for awhile.

Additionally, I thought I would do something a bit conceptual. (I know, everything I do is conceptual compared to my live show.) Deliver the Galaxy: B-Sides is entirely piano. Well, one piano tune and then a collection of four thumb piano (kalimba) tunes. In putting together the kalimba (and actual piano) pieces, I was thinking about what I might play for my son at bedtime. These melodies are what came to mind. Cute, eh?

I hope you enjoy these tunes and have a wonderful summer.

Deliver the Galaxy is available as a free download in the Music section.

Kalimba Prototype

noreply@blogger.com (John Caputo) — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 01:31:00 +0000

This is the prototype for some kalimbas for my live show. Why would I start making my own? Custom tunings and electricity come to mind. Sure, you can adjust the tunings of commercial kalimbas, but having complete control over tine length opens up odd intervals and low bass notes without cannibalizing several kalimbas for parts. Just cut your tines to taste.

I wanted to work out the instrument itself before playing with electronics, and I think I have a good base model. This kalimba is solid oak. The bridge is an electrical grounding bar and the tines are from an electrician's fish line. I did experiment with more conventional bridge designs like the vise and U channel. Ultimately, I like grounding bar because it's the most precise to tune (dead simple with a strobe tuner) and provides the ability do use different tine materials, in combination, on the same instrument.

This kalimba is tuned to E minor pentatonic has a hollow, resonate sound, slightly reminiscent of a kettle drum. It sits rather well in a live mix.

I have some specs for pickup construction, and hope to get to that in the next month or so

Bad Elf

noreply@blogger.com (John Caputo) — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 20:07:00 +0000

This is the third year that I've been blessed the ability to put together an ensemble to perform Christmas music. This year's format is a piano trio, which is really exciting for me as I never seem to take the piano out of the studio.

It should be noted that we usually only play once a year. This year's performance will be at Saxbys Coffee in Doylestown. We're calling ourselves Bad Elf.

Bad Elf is a slight play on The Bad Plus, a jazz piano trio known for unorthodox arrangements of pop/rock songs. Never fear, we'll be sticking fairly close to spirit of the music.

Joining me will be the lovely Veronica Caputo on electric bass and the master of space and time, John Weisbrot, on drums.

It's time to be thankful and celebrate the holiday season. Take a break from all the hustle and bustle and come out and see Bad Elf. Who knows, we might even wear funny hats.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all!

Rockin' the Kalimba

noreply@blogger.com (John Caputo) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 20:54:00 +0000

I've had thumb pianos (aka kalimbas) for awhile. There's a great little store in Peddler's Village that sells Goshen kalimbas, and they got me hooked. But recently I discovered Hugh Tracey kalimbas. They've been around for 40 years or so (but they're new to me). I picked up a treble kalimba and though, "hey, how do I amplify this thing"? After some success, I'm starting to use the kalimba in my live show. Here's my recipe for electrified kalimba bliss.

I'm using a Dimarzio Acoustic Model piezo pickup. I didn't stick it to the back of the kalimba, since I might want to use it on other instruments. Instead, I made a little holder out of some wood and velcro straps. I just belt the pickup on, and it's on to the electronics.

Since it would be too simple to just plug straight in, I'm running my kalimba through a MXR Carbon Copy analog delag, Boss RV-5 Reverb Pedal into a RC-20XL loop station (usually placed before the RV-5). That's right, live looping with a kalimba. It's fun.

There's just one more component of the sound, and that is the "buzzers". Just about all kalimbas in South Africa have some type of "buzzer" on the tines to spice up the sound. I added jump rings (normally used in jewelery making) to my tines. They're quite lite and really sizzle. It kinda sounds like the rain or the ocean's waves.

So that's it. Since my ukulele apparently wasn't small enough, I've officially added the kalimba to my arsenal.

Sandals in July

noreply@blogger.com (John Caputo) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 16:34:00 +0000

We're running out of summer at an alarming pace; and I thought I'd take a minute to celebrate the warmth. I've really been into the ukulele for some time now, and there are several tunes that I always come back to. My favorite players or the instrument have really become Jake Shimabukuro, Daniel Ho, and Herb Ohta Jr. These are they guys I think of when "modern" ukulele music is brought up.

I found some time, amidst teaching, to record some of my favorite tracks by these artists, and also work some other material into the idiom. The result is Sandals in July. Had I actually published these tunes in July, that might be a more apt title, but I digress.

I hope you enjoy these tunes. I enjoyed playing them and you'll hear them in my live set pretty consistently. Enjoy the few remaining days of summer and strum a little ukulele.

Sandals in July is available for free download on the Music page.

Some like it hot. Sauce that is.

noreply@blogger.com (John Caputo) — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0000

I've wanted to get into hot sauce for awhile, and since we now have a garden full of peppers, the time is right. In with my homemade brand, I proudly offer my Kiss of the Yeti sauces.

Kiss of the Yeti
Your basic red hot, though mine is orange

15 Cayenne peppers
5 Jalapeno peppers
4 cloves garlic
1 medium onion
salt
vegetable oil
2 cups water
1 cup distilled white vinegar

Chop up the peppers, garlic, and onion and saute them with the salt and oil for 3 minutes. Add the water and cook until just about all the liquid is gone. Then add to the food processor and puree for 15 seconds (until smooth). Add in the vinegar while the processor is on. Strain and bottle. Let it rest in the fridge for at least 2 weeks.

An Acoustic Summer

noreply@blogger.com (John Caputo) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 01:19:00 +0000

It's been a great musical summer so far. I've been playing some all acoustic sets at Saxbys and will be playing Manayunk's Second Saturday in August. Check out the Live page for info on Manayunk.

I'm also working on some new music; very much in the acoustic vein of my live show. Hopefully that will be done and up in July. I'm including some of my favorite ukulele arrangements as well as some guitar and looping.

Hope everything has a great summer!

Shaking the Dust Off

noreply@blogger.com (John Caputo) — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 02:10:00 +0000

In my ongoing effort to simplify, I decided to trim up my website. The awesome, retro, logo is courtesy of Stuart Romanek. You can contact him for graphic design work at http://www.howromanek.com.

Working on a New Photo Gallery

noreply@blogger.com (John Caputo) — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 02:08:00 +0000

As I start to work through my rather sizable collection of photographs, I'm starting to transition them to my MobileMe hosting. I've got a few galleries up now, and plan to add the rest by the end of June. You can check it out here: http://gallery.me.com/johnandveronica

Some partial galleries will also be posted to Facebook.

New Photo Portfolio Available

noreply@blogger.com (John Caputo) — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 16:04:00 +0000

I've posted a collection of my favorite pictures in the Photo Gallery section. Some of this year's Grand Canyon photos are in there as well. I'll be taking some shots of the "Grand Illumination" at Peddler's Village this weekend (with my new toy). Hopefully I'll be able to get start a trend of getting photos up in a timely fashion.

Neo-African Drums and Dance

noreply@blogger.com (John Caputo) — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 13:12:00 +0000

As a great perk to my new job, I started playing djembe in LaSalle University's Neo-African Drums and Dance. This picture was taken at the University of Pennsylvania's museum. We were playing a reception for around 1000 people in the Egyptian wing.

I'm really having a lot of fun learning new rhythms and approaches to music. For a string player, taking a way pitch is an interesting thing. It's really let me focus on my timing and articulation; so I guess I'm practicing without really practicing.

We've got another gig coming up on November 6th on campus. It's a bit longer; we'll see how my endurance holds up.

Recording My Live Looping Set

noreply@blogger.com (John Caputo) — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 21:11:00 +0000

This week I've started recording some of the compositions from my live looping set. I'm hoping to get them done and online in the next couple of weeks. They're a mix of 8 string guitar, six string bass, and percussion (just like my live set).

New Acoustic Rock Tunes

noreply@blogger.com (John Caputo) — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 13:29:00 +0000

Rick and I have been hard at work on some new tunes (well not really, music isn't work). You can download them from the Music section over at everyonelovesmahoney.com.

We've got a mix of tunes from our live set, as well as a couple full arrangements. They're free to download, as always.

ELM Tracking Finished

noreply@blogger.com (John Caputo) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 18:06:00 +0000

Rick and I finished up some tracks last night (some new, some old). We'll be mixing and mastering them over the next week or so. There's some cool stuff in there, including our "concept" pieces Where an Angel Sleeps and Waking the Devil.

Everyone Loves Mahoney Recording New Music

noreply@blogger.com (John Caputo) — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 15:02:00 +0000

Rick and I are recording some tunes for our acoustic duo. Tracking should be done this week. Mixing and mastering should be completed by the end of July.

We're trying a very organic approach to recording to replicate our live sound. In other words, "we don't need no stinking click".

The music will be free to download the ELM website in August.

Recording 6 and 8

noreply@blogger.com (John Caputo) — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 14:30:00 +0000

I've begun recording some 6 string bass and 8 string guitar tunes that I've been honing at open mic night. No idea when I'll finish them (as always), but I'm hoping to make it a summer project. I'm also psyched to be playing Zendrum on them as well.

Solo Acoustic Gigs

noreply@blogger.com (John Caputo) — Tue, 13 May 2008 12:15:00 +0000

I'm excited to announce that I've started to book some solo acoustic shows. Just me, my guitar, my ukulele, and a few pieces of technology for good measure. Please check the Live section for shows as they are listed.

I'm also planning to record some material to support these shows this summer.

Of course, I'm still playing with my friends in Cool Animal Ed, Everyone Loves Mahoney and a certain "as yet unnamed" jazz trio. This is just a way for me to perform my compositions that don't fit into any of those ensembles.