Prog Bach BWV 1060R Mov. 1
That thumbnail is terrifying, isn’t it?
In December 2013, I released a math-rock/progressive cover version of one of my favorite Bach compositions, Concert for Violin and Oboe Mov. 1, Allegro (BWV 1060R) . It's a total shred-fest.
If you like it, please purchase this song on iTunes
This performance features:
- Sebastian Lanser of Panzerballett on drums
- Andy West of the Dixie Dregs on bass
- Adam Strand (an organist I met at my church) on keyboards
- Bryce Bickham of Crimsontone Amplifiers , who re-amped all my guitar parts through his awesome handmade amps
Sebastian's drum parts are jaw-dropping. Andy's bass parts are so fun. Adam's arrangement contributions brought new life to my too-technical work.
How and Why
This is a piece of music I've loved for many years and always knew I wanted to record my own version. I put my stamp on it by messing around with the rhythm of the main motif, which is in 11/8. It took about 10 months to complete the arrangement.
It's incredibly complex and difficult to perform, well beyond anything I'd previously recorded. There were several parts I couldn't easily perform as originally written, so I translated those parts into different time signatures and added notes to make them playable. Some parts require some pretty tricky finger-tapping on both hands. It's more like playing a keyboard on a fretboard than finger-tapping like Eddie Van Halen.
I entered all the notes into Logic Pro and used its tablature features to determine the best way to play (and memorize) the various parts. Then I recorded all the parts direct into Logic and sent them to Bryce to re-amp through his beautiful Crimsontone Amps.
Sebastian, Andy, and Adam each told me that this was one of the hardest songs they'd ever performed. I guess that's some sort of stamp of honor. Heh.
