CHRISTMAS WALK - video clip

Believe it or not, I composed the core of this song in 15 min on Christmas night in 2011.
That night I had a long and pleasant walk in Paris to clear my head and enjoy the lovely parisian Christmas atmosphere.

I went out for just a couple of hours, ...this turned out to be a 5-hour walk. The lights, the smooth and dry air, everything was just perfect.

Once in my home studio I came up with a simple and swaying groove that would express the meditative state I experimented in that walk. The keyboards melody just adds a little touch of melancholy.

The guitar solo is the longest I've ever recorded (so far...). I deliberately chose a Fender Telecaser on that tune for the rawness of its woods. When overdriven, its single coils deliver a screaming bitterness that is nicely balanced by the obsessive, low-end background rythms.

This composition is also the first time I've ever considered music and video so closely intertwined. Before I recorded the first note of the guitar solo I had in mind exactly how the video would look like in the end.

Hope you'll enjoy.
xxx
JF

CHRISTMAS WALK - Making Of (Part 2/2)

This is the second and final installment of the preparation sessions for a new tune, "Christmas Walk".

Same guitar effects (OCD Fulltone + xotic RC Booster S. Henderson), same DAW (Ableton Live), same need for experimentation, same instruments... except the balalaika is replaced by a classical guitar.

The electric guitars are a Valley Arts Custom Pro and a Fender Telecaster (w/Hepcat pickups). The classical guitar was built by Pascal Quinson, a French luthier.

Enjoy
xxx
JF

www.soubelet.com 

CHRISTMAS WALK - Making Of (Part 1/2)

This is just me, stretching my horizon on a new composition called "Christmas Walk".

Whenever I consider composing and recording a new guitar solo, I always go through numerous improvisation sessions. Just grab a guitar, push REC and let music do the talking...

Hour after hour, this allows me to experience several moods and to visualize the atmosphere I'll put in the final version. Not to mention I also have opportunities to come up with crazy ideas, to make mistakes, to surprise or scare myself.

When you don't know how the next five seconds will be, when you let music flow through you without any judgement, that's what makes music REALLY exciting to me.

In this video I've tried several electric guitar combinations with single coils and humbuckers, and wandered a little bit with acoustic stuff. Well anyway... I enjoyed myself A LOT doing this video.  :)))

I hope you'll enjoy it too!
xxx
JF

www.soubelet.com