This new instrumental started out a s a goof, a rig test, and evolved into a sort of homage to the old raga rock would-be psychedelic excursions of the mid 60s.

I’d heard a bit on NPR about an Indian American who’d written a book on applying sitar and Indian music techniques to guitar. He was using a fretless guitar in combination with fretted guitars.

When I’d experimented with sitar-like sounds in the past, I’d always used a slidem so I thought it might be amusing to follow this guy’s lead and try it without, tuning my guitar to open fifths.

I ran a couple minutes off onto the computer and forgot about it until later, when I had a few minutes to put a droney bass synthesizer and some fake talking drums on it… even though it was never intended to be a keeper… I almost didn’t hit the save button.

Just to add a certain, even more chaotic element to the mix, I took a section of the main guitar improv, made a copy, reversed it, and dropped the whole thing in more or less where it came from (only backwards, of course).

My Second Mistake

Internet Archive page for this recording

 

And set to video — featuring the photos of award-winning travel photog, Ken Lee, by permisson of the artist…