Brainium Sounds Off

Continuing the seemingly endless list of keyboards and related equipment such as tone generators and keyboard controllers. And more. Because it's seemingly endless. But there won't be a Part 3. At least, not unless we get more stuff.

Brainium famously (or infamously) has only two guys: a guitarist and a keyboardist. While one guitar ("The Strat") has consistently spanned our catalog, lots of different keyboards have come and gone. Let's talk about some of them. And hear them, too!

Playing in a band is a lot of fun but can also be a lot of work, especially for a small, local band. Hear what's involved, especially as it was back in Brainium's (first) heyday. Plus, Thom tells stories!

Wow, we made it through two whole years! Kudos to our sponsors. And our listener(s), of course. In this episode, we do a (relatively) quick recap of all the episodes we published in year #2. A couple of them we even remember!

Another Brainium song from the archives; this is one of Thom's favourites. We have a recording that predates Brainium (just keyboards), a studio version, and a "live" Basement Brainium version that you can hear in its entirety. Enjoy! 

We've covered Brainium instruments guitar, bass, keyboards, and drums. One more main instrument to cover: the voice. This one presents some unique challenges, especially live (and without a dedicated sound person). 

We're back with another episode on microtonal math rock band Anjine de Poitrine. Last time, we talked about how they use looping to build their sound. Now it's time to talk about the "microtonal" part of their music. Fun stuff!

The band Angine de Poitrine has exploded onto the music scene this year with a musical style described as "microtonal math rock" and funky, interesting costumes and visuals. They make use of "digital looping" to create complex music far beyond what you'd expect from two players. So how does that looping work? The boys of Brainium try to explain it.  This episode was recorded away from the "studio"...

Keeping time is usually pretty important when playing music. Help is available, for practice or live performances. From early metronomes to modern annotated click tracks, we Sound Off. 

Back in Brainium's early years, circa 1988, bands sent their music to record companies in an effort to secure a recording contract. Younger listeners may have no idea what that means. That's OK...we barely knew either. But we're here to talk about our experience and how it differs from bands today. (Hint: a lot.)

We saw The Warning last year in Chicago, this year in New York City at their only headline performance of the year. What did we think? Anyone who listens to this podcast knows we probably liked it! But listen to be sure and to hear plenty of rambling...mostly on topic!

Two more from Brainium's cover song history: another from Led Zeppelin and one from ... Elton John??

Bands don't always just go on stage and play music. Depending on the venue and the band, there may be lights, smoke, video, choreography, and more. Maybe even a picnic table!

Brainium is well-known (sort of) as one guy playing guitar and one playing keyboards. So how did we learn to play our instruments? And what other instruments can we play? And how fun is it? (Hint: very.)

Brainium used drum machines for its sound. That's one way of having drums in a band. More common, especially when playing live, is having a live drummer. What's it like having or playing drums in a band? The Boys of Brainium share their thoughts. You might even say they "sound off".

Continuing our exploration of cover songs that Brainium performed back in their "playing out" days. 

Technology has always been used in making music, some think not always for the better. Increasingly, pitch correction is being used by artists--even established ones--to "fix" their vocals to be spot-on when singing. It's used on recordings, but also used by some artists when performing live. Is this a good thing? Brainium sounds off.

It's time to explore the origins and development of another Brainium song. We're pretty sure this is our only "ballad" (or "power ballad"). Includes plenty of discussion of Thom's guitar solo!

We've talked about playing bass and playing keyboards in a band. Now it's time for guitar and that means...it's Thom Time! 

Pretty much all local bands starting out play "covers" ... songs written and performed by other (successful) bands. Primarily because that's what people usually want to hear (as opposed to original music). In this episode, we discuss three of those songs and include snippets of each to illustrate how a two-man band played these things. We have more songs to review in future episodes!

Those great band performances you see live don't just happen. Before ever getting on that stage, bands will spend many hours (or in Brainium's case, a few minutes) rehearsing the songs they are going to perform. (And probably a few extra.) What's that all about?

AI (Artificial Intelligence) is being used for more and more tasks, not always for the best. What about music? Specifically, creating music. Does AI have a place in the creative process? You just know Brainium has some thoughts about that!

Any time you have people working together, conflicts are bound to occur. These can be creative, technical, administrative, etc. But sometimes it's just a conflict of personalities. That can certainly happen in bands and is a big reason many of them break up. (Unlike Brainium, of course.) How do these personality conflicts play out (pun intended) in local bands? Just ask the boys from Brainium!

Lyrics are the words to songs. Guys like Bach and Beethoven didn't use them, but more modern music almost always does. What do the boys of Brainium think about them?

Playing keyboards is much different than playing piano. Except when the keyboards are playing just piano sounds, of course. Learn about the behind-the-scenes duties of the unsung (but possibly singing) keyboard player.