George Ludwig [instrumental music]

SOPA, PIPA, ACTA, and Stanley Clarke.

George Ludwig — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 07:32:34 +0000

Stanley Clarke is one of the world’s foremost bass players, and a personal hero of mine. I still remember getting his first solo album and spending hours learning to play “Lopsy Lu”. I have an 8×10 promo of him hanging on my wall right now.

Just tonight, I saw a Facebook update from a bass player friend of mine that he was at Yoshi’s in San Francisco to see Stanley. Somehow I missed that gig announcement. So I went to the Yoshi’s website to see if I could get a ticket for Saturday’s show. On the schedule page at Yoshi’s was a link to a video of his current band. I clicked the link, and guess what I got? “This video is no longer available because the YouTube account associated with this video has been terminated due to multiple copyright infringements.”

Awesome.

Even without SOPA and PIPA, the content industry is already shooting itself in the foot! They are making life difficult for everyone because they have failed to come up with a working business model for the internet age, and what’s worse, they don’t seem to be trying. For all practical purposes, they are still in the 1940′s.

Thankfully, SOPA and PIPA have been shelved for now. However, an even greater danger is coming up in the form of AFTA. I’ll let the following article and video from Mashable explain what ACTA is and why it is so dangerous. And after watching it, please let your elected representatives know how you feel about it!

Explanation of ACTA on Mashable

New video by Justice, for “Audio, Video, Disco”

George Ludwig — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 21:57:33 +0000

I only recently became familiar with the duo Justice, when I came across an excellent music video of theirs for their upcoming album. It’s the title track, “Audio, Video, Disco”.

I really appreciate the quirkiness and variety of the rhythmic elements, and the vocal arrangement is exquisite. I recently began fooling around with vocoders, so I’m a sucker for that sound. I also like the way they mix orchestral elements in to the music.

This duo is an interesting contrast to fellow French duo, Air. Each group brings an almost whimsical sensibility to the music. Air with more whimsy, and Justice with more edge.

These guys are definitely going on heavy rotation here!

George Ludwig in San Francisco on 09/19/11

George Ludwig — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 18:42:38 +0000

I’ll be playing a short set in San Francisco to benefit The Rock For Kids Andrew Bird Scholarship. The scholarship is to provide music education to children in need.

I love Andrew Bird’s music, and admire his use of looping technology. I will play a few songs using a DL-4 looping pedal, and my brass-bodied Tri-Cone resonator. It will make for some psychedelic and spacey Delta Blues.

So come on out for a good cause!

Everyone is responsible (except for Rupert Murdoch)

George Ludwig — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 20:59:48 +0000

Since this is a music blog, I prefer to write about music. However, there are events outside of music that inspire me to write. Sometimes in a negative way. I read the following in a Los Angeles Times article describing Murdoch’s testimony before the English Parliament, during which he was attacked with a Shaving Cream Pie:

“This is the most humble day of my life,” the powerful mogul said.

But Murdoch — wearing a blue pinstripe suit and blue tie — a few minutes later told members that he did not think he was ultimately responsible for the phone-hacking scandal that brought down the News of the World tabloid, a 168-year-old institution, and now threatens his global media empire.

If not him, then, who was responsible, Murdoch was asked.

“The people I trusted and the people they trusted,” Murdoch said emphatically, alluding to the people he felt should take the fall for the crisis that has torn through the United Kingdom, led to the closure of a tabloid a week ago and derailed a $12 billion-dollar deal. The out-of-control crisis has led to two high-level resignations and even an arrest of a top executive at News Corp.

What gets me about this is that Murdoch feels everyone but him is responsible. He is willing to hold those he trusted, and those that they trusted, accountable.

But in his world the buck stops just before it gets to him.

Does he really not see the issue here? If he is willing to hold his underlings responsible, even if they personally did nothing wrong, because people beneath them did something wrong, why does he believe the responsibility propagates up but ends just before it gets to him?

There is a concept called Command Responsibility, which is the doctrine of hierarchical accountability in cases of war crimes, and has been used to determine when commanders are responsible for atrocities committed by those under their command. I believe this concept is perfectly applicable to Murdoch’s situation.

The test is simple:

1) those committing the atrocities/war crimes were under the command of the defendant
2) the commanders knew or should have known, based on the surrounding circumstances at the time, that their subordinates were engaging in impermissible conduct; and
3) the commanders did nothing to prevent or punish those responsible for the commission of such crimes.

It seems that Murdoch’s case meets these tests.

In Ron Johnson’s book, The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry, he describes the traits of psychopaths, and cites research indicating that 4% of CEO’s are psychopaths, which is four times the percent for the general population. Failure to take responsibility is a known trait of a psychopath, and now I must wonder about Mr. Murdoch and his media empire.

Suddenly, his manipulation of the media to his own ends becomes a little more understandable.

I will send you a FREE CD!

George Ludwig — Fri, 20 May 2011 19:56:56 +0000

I’ve been spending a little time marketing my CD “Rise Time”, something I should have done from the beginning, and I had an idea…I will send you a free CD, and in return I would appreciate it if you would do a few things for me.

First, “like” my blog if you don’t already. There’s a link in the upper left of the home page. Just click it!

Second, “like” my facebook fan page at: https://www.facebook.com/georgeludwigmusic

Third, follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/georgeludwig and give me a “shout out”

Finally, share my music with your friends who you think would enjoy it! Feel free to rip it to iTunes or whatever, and share it however you see fit. You have my blessing! Just ask your friends who enjoy it also do the above things (like my blog, like my fan page, and follow me on Twitter).

And if they want, they can purchase the record at these places…
iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/rise-time/id379971515
CDBaby: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/GeorgeLudwig

And of course anyone who would like to purchase a CD can always email me and I’ll personally send one out.

Some people have noted that they live very far from me, and shipping a CD will cost $$$. I don’t mind!! It would be sweet to have people from other countries chilling to my music.

Scott Walker: 30th Century Man

George Ludwig — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 00:19:56 +0000

I watched this movie on Netflix the other day, and was blown away. How could I have never heard of Scott Walker? David Bowie himself expressed in the film his surprise that Scott Walker was considered a marginal figure by the mainstream public.

I had long wondered where David Sylvian had come from. I’ve always loved his work (post-Japan), especially his collaborations with Ryuichi Sakamoto and Robert Fripp, and believed that what he was doing was very original and without precedent. As I listened to Scott Walker, I suddenly realized where Sylvian had come from! This is in no way to put down David Sylvian…I still love his work, but now I can at least see his roots. There’s nothing wrong with that.

And now the questions is…where did Scott Walker come from?

Check him out on YouTube

Thievery Corporation/Massive Attack

George Ludwig — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 20:42:28 +0000

I just saw Thievery Corporation and Massive Attack, at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley. It was a great show! I was a little surprised that Thievery was primarily dub, and they reminded me a lot of The Orb in their heyday, only more energetic. Equally surprising was how industrial Massive Attack has become. I know of them only from their trip-hop days, and as they played, I couldn’t help but compare them to The Revolting Cocks or Ministry in their prime years. Their light show was also excellent. The industrial edge is completely lacking in their latest release, Heliogland.

I was inspired by this show. I noticed that the bass players for both bands were having a blast! And it made me want to play the bass again. Years ago I quit the bass in favor of the guitar, but I think it’s time to go back. I’ve since tuned up my vintage-70′s MusicMan Stingray bass, and have been playing enough to make my fingers sore. My next record will definitely feature real bass playing on every track.

Also, I shot some photos with my newish Kodak Zi8 and posted them on my Flickr account. Check it out: http://www.flickr.com/photos/georgeludwig/sets/72157625208647301/ The pics mostly suck because I was so far away, but I thought I’d put them out there for anyone interested in how the camera performs under low-light and long distance conditions.

Satie’s influence

George Ludwig — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 03:57:53 +0000

From Ravel’s one and only lecture on music, given in 1928 at Rice University: “Another significant influence, somewhat unique, and deriving at least partially from Chabrier, is that of Erik Satie, which has had appreciable effect upon Debussy, myself, and indeed most of the modern French composers. Satie was possessed of an extremely keen intelligence. His was the inventor’s mind par excellence. He was a great experimenter . . . these experiments have been of inestimable value. Simply and ingeneously, Satie pointed the way, but as soon as another musician took to the trail he had indicated, Satie would immediately change his own orientation and without hesitation open up still another path to new fields of experimentation. He thus became the inspiration of countless progressive tendencies. . . . Debussy held him in the highest esteem.”

It is clear to me now why I have been drawn to Satie over Debussy and Ravel!

New Links section

George Ludwig — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 22:14:26 +0000

I just added a “Links” section to the website. It has links to some of my favorite artists, such as Bruce Kaphan and Zoe Keating, as well as links to equipment manufacturers whose gear I especially love, like Ableton, Wayne Joness and Z-Vex.

Unfortunately, I am not currently sponsored by any of these manufacturers. Hint hint.

Pictures from Periscope Cellars

George Ludwig — Wed, 26 May 2010 05:34:49 +0000

I uploaded some pictures from the gig on 5/15 at Periscope Cellars to Flickr. Several of the exhibiting artists were caught on camera! I really had a great time playing this show. I had just ordered a pair of QSC K8′s, and UPS dropped them off just as I was loading out. K8′s performed flawlessly, and the Moog Guitar never sounded so good live.

I also started tossing in some pre-recorded loops that I created using the Roland MKS-80. It’s opened up some great possibilities, though I need to be careful not to over-do it.

Here’s the pics:

Justin Kohn

J.B. Lowe and Sherwin Viray

A nice little crowd.

Anita Gay and Brendan Eliason

Jeremy French and Sarah Windler