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[TRANSLATED]
Thanks, Tobacco: You Killed My Mom
[TRANSLATED]
Thanks, Tobacco: You Killed My Mom
This video was created over a one-year period. At first, it was just random use of a video
This video was created over a one-year period. At first, it was just random use of a video camera, plus a few pictures taken during a visit in September of 2006. Of course, this was before we knew that Mom had a collapsed lung. She went in for tests, and it was discovered that she had Stage IV Lung Cancer. As we learned of the cancer diagnosis in October of 2006, we tried to get Mom down to California (from Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada). It was a race against logistics and paperwork (i.e. obtaining documentation in order to cross a border and travel), which we unfortunately lost. Mom suffered a stroke, ironically on the same day as she received her birth certificate, which would have allowed her to travel to Southern California. The stroke left her left side completely paralyzed, and she was stuck in the hospital, no longer the independent woman she once was. We were summoned to fly up immediately, as we were told by her doctors that her death would not be far behind. Mom proved them all wrong, and lived for four more months. Of course, the quality of life was minimal at best. There was no treatment, since the cancer was discovered so late, and due to the stroke. We have since learned that often times, a biopsy can knock loose cancerous material within a tumor, which can cause a stroke. It was extremely difficult to watch her suffering in a hospital bed, and wondering why her last months had to be made that much worse due to the stroke. So, Mom never did get to come see where we live in California. We continued to videotape the entire ordeal, so that family (who couldn't be with us at that time) could see everything. We ended up with approximately 90 minutes of raw footage, which has been edited down to the 10 minutes allowed here. First, we have done this to honor Mom's last wishes: tell people not to smoke. Second, we have completed this very emotional project to honor her memory, and to help us as we continue through the grieving process. Finally, we are aware that much of the anti-smoking media is not so real to life--it doesn't show the suffering, what the families go through, and the pain that cigarettes actually cause. This documentary is "non-Hollywood". We have omitted certain things that one might find offensive, including her IV, vomiting, bodily functions, and her actual death itself, which was obviously painful. Instead, we have brought many different segments together, which still conveys our overall message: DON'T SMOKE!
In a letter dated September 24, 2006, from Mom: "Try not to worry about my health. I go for a CAT-SCAN on October 4th. I should have the results about a week later. The appointments are taking a long time, so I must not be in such dire shape, or they would rush them. I'm glad you never really had the desire to smoke. What do your lungs look like after all of those years of second-hand smoke? I can't wait to see you and Patti more often. Gotta go for now. Love Forever, Mom" To conclude, one can compare smoking cigarettes to a slow-motion car accident. At any time, you can get out of the car before it crashes. It is your choice. Furthermore, you may be driving your own car, but please remember that you take passengers along for the ride. (more) (less)
Added: 1 year ago
Views: 156,083no rating
09:58
[TRANSLATED]
Whammy Pedal Wankage
[TRANSLATED]
Whammy Pedal Wankage
Recorded September 2006
This is just me trying out a Digitech Whammy pedal before I bou
Recorded September 2006
This is just me trying out a Digitech Whammy pedal before I bought it at Guitar Center in Buffalo, NY. I had a lot of fun editing it into a bunch of cool effect scenes. I hope you enjoy my insanity, Aaron (more) (less)
Added: 1 year ago
Views: 120,473
07:11
[TRANSLATED]
Aaron's Guitar Center Rampage
[TRANSLATED]
Aaron's Guitar Center Rampage
I was up visiting my friends and family for a week late August/September 2006. I decided t
I was up visiting my friends and family for a week late August/September 2006. I decided to get some video of me playing on this new amp I was trying out in Guitar Center in Buffalo, NY. Since I am left-handed, I had a hard time finding a guitar to play with until I found this slightly beat-up Ibanez RG-1570 to wank on. It had no whammy bar and the lock tuners at the headstock were missing.
I have a blast editing this video and I hope you enjoy it. My old drummer John Sakars is the camera man and can be seen in many of my videos uploaded here and on my myspace profile. www.myspace.com/aaronshawngray or at his: www.myspace.com/johnsakars (more) (less)
Added: 1 year ago
Views: 50,252
07:04
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[TRANSLATED]
Memories of Mom: A Loving Journe...
[TRANSLATED]
Memories of Mom: A Loving Journey in Her Honor
This video was made to pay tribute to my mother, Charlotte Patricia Gray, who many of you
This video was made to pay tribute to my mother, Charlotte Patricia Gray, who many of you know is the lady in the THANKS TOBACCO: YOU KILLED MY MOM video.
It's been over a year since her passing and the video we filmed has no doubt saved hundreds of lives and I couldn't be more proud of what we did. The video is being watched close to 500 times a day and is up over 130,000+ views as of yesterday. It's in the hands of health teachers at schools, workers at American Lung Association Clinics, and being utilized by so many professionals as a teaching aid across the Country. It has become projects for students, inspiration to quit and to help others quit smoking and also to prepare some of the people that are about to go through this personally. It has been a comment forum to share our hearts and souls as there are too many of us out there that lost a loved one like this. Though my emotions are always a roller-coaster having to tend to the daily comments of the video, I am so glad we got this out there in the world to make a difference. It was her deepest wish to help save lives. It has helped me come to terms with the emotions and have closure knowing her death was not in vain. She made a difference in my life beyond measure and I appreciate her more everyday that I am alive...I can only imagine how she will be looked upon by the countless people that she helps with the video. Your gratitude is already clearly evident to a point where I am overwhelmed by the comments that I in no way can even keep up with. My only desire in making this picture slideshow with some happy video of her talking about personal stuff was to show ONLY THE HAPPY MOMENTS BEFORE SHE WAS DIAGNOSED WITH LUNG CANCER AND BEFORE SHE HAD HER STROKE. I wanted a video of her that embraced her unconditional love for all people as that was her very being her whole life. She was a selfless giver to her own detriment. Now, I know if she were still alive, she'd be telling me not to show off her *toothless* pictures after her false teeth needed replacement, but I couldn't bear to leave out heart-warming memories over a toothless grin or two. lol Besides, a lot of 50-something folks are toothless. ;) She was also a good artist that stopped doing it for most of her life and just picked it back up her last year alive and I thought they were amazing so I highlighted them at the end of the video. I am a musician, so I added my personal recordings of ideas that were improvised over the years and found what I thought was the best emotional fit. I was going to use *Dust in the Wind* by Kansas for the slide show, but I didn't want to illegally use someone else's song as my Mom wouldn't steal a penny candy so it didn't make sense to sully her flawless soul. I wanted to get this up for Mother's Day as well as I can't think of a better way to show the world my deep love for my Mom. Many of you folks in the Niagara Region (Ontario, Canada) know her personally and will appreciate a glimpse into her life before things got sad for her. That's the memories I want to leave you all with. I know *Thanks Tobacco* made a lot of people cry from heart-wrenching sadness...now I hope I've created the antidote to that sadness with a video that is the complete opposite and if there are any tears, they will be happy tears. I could go on and on about how much I love my Mom, but I think the video does a better job of saying what's in my heart. Thanks for reading this message and watching my beautiful Mom's video. Take care and God Bless you all, Aaron Gray (more) (less)
Added: 2 months ago
Views: 1,004
07:47
[TRANSLATED]
AARON'S GUITAR SLIDESHOW & LIVE RIG
[TRANSLATED]
AARON'S GUITAR SLIDESHOW & LIVE RIG
Are you all ready for this!
All my guitars and amps in one 'Eye-Popping' slideshow for
Are you all ready for this!
All my guitars and amps in one 'Eye-Popping' slideshow for your enjoyment and envy. I've been painstakingly preparing to record a bunch of songs with various tunings so I needed to fix up some of my un-maintained guitars because they were out of intonation, adjustment and had some issues that needed tending to before recording with them. After spending the last 2 weeks overhauling my entire guitar collection, I decided to photograph them all against a green screen. I intended to make a slideshow, but didn't really foresee that I would put so much into it. I got a little carried away, but had a lot of fun perfecting my video editing skills. Below is the history behind my guitar collection followed by a highly detailed explanation of my maintenance regimen for recording or gigging. Instrument Biography: #1 Westone Dimension IV Electric I bought this from Central Music in 1989 when they were still in St. Catharines. It was my second guitar replacing a destroyed HONDO strat copy that my Mom bought for me at RJ's music in Niagara Falls when I was 16. #1 was the first guitar I played out live with (Aqua duck and Sam's to all you Niagara Regional's) and is really 'Fugly' up close. It has survived some serious torture...the worst being thrown down a flight of stairs (not in a case) when I was still dealing with anger issues. I tune this to Drop C# and it still plays like a beast of true Metal Mayhem. #2 Ibanez Proline Electric My old girlfriend Kim bought this for me in 1990 at Ostanek's Music St. Catharines and it became my main guitar as it was in better shape than my Westone and I could solo easier with this one. This guitar has a replacement tremolo (blocked) because the saddles were worn out and I won it from Ebay cheaper than buying new parts from Hoshino (Ibanez) as they rape you on replacement parts and music stores rarely stock what you need anyway. It is tuned Drop C#. The pickguard is just some mirrored stickers to change the look of it from the old red sticker that used to be on it...as seen in previous pictures on myspace. I will always value the smooth Ebony fingerboard on this guitar. #3 Ibanez RG 560 Electric I bought this guitar in 1992 from Ostanek's Music in St. Catharines. I could not believe my eyes seeing it hanging up high on the wall. I was the first to play it as it was just brought in. This guitar is the guitar that has seen the most live and studio action and became the feel and look that I desired in a guitar. It really needs a fret job too, but I'll get to that in good time. The Low-Pro Edge, in my opinion, is the best tremolo to ever exist on a guitar. It holds in tune (E-flat) after going apes on it and it still flutters likes butter. #4 Carvin AC175 Acoustic/Electric This guitar was/still is the most expensive instrument I ever purchased Direct from Carvin in 1994. It has a neck-through body with a deep purple glossy finish. It is just a beautiful guitar to look at and hold and a dream to play. It is really thin like an electric and the action is almost as good tuned up to E-flat using D' Addario bronze 80/20 .011 through .052 gauge. I can shred on it or strum folk songs. It's the ultimate in playable guitars. I'd probably buy more Carvin's but they are so expensive. #5 Fender DG -- 10LM Acoustic I bought this acoustic dreadnought in 1995 at Murphy's Audio in Niagara Falls to have a guitar to strum acoustically at parties as the Carvin was too thin to project any volume acoustically without using a PA system or amp. This is a lower end model that plays like shit. The action is high and it buzzes still. The intonation is off too and it just isn't worth modifying. You can't perfume shit you know. lol I am using it for an open string drone guitar in the key of B-flat...like a baritone with a .068 gauge string for the B and I had to file out the nut to handle the girth of the thicker strings. It has a good tone, so I'll keep it around for the time being. #6 Ibanez RG 550 Electric I bought this used from a pawn shop in Niagara Falls in 1996 and it was almost as nice to play as my blue RG 560. It is my only maple fingerboard in my collection. The paint job isn't original either...some fool did it with soft paint that dings up real easy. This is now tuned as a B-flat Baritone with the fatter gauge of strings I mentioned above. The trem is in good shape because I merged the best parts from my old Proline edge into this one. #7 Peavey Tracer Electric I bought this from Ostanek's Music in 2000 and it was originally glossy black with chips and dings in it. I sanded it down to bare wood and stained it hunter green...with a satin clear coating. This guitar is heavy and well made. I also cut out more of the lower horn to get up to the higher frets, but it still feels a little clunky on the 22nd fret. The Kahler Spyder Bridge is an excellent bridge comparable with a Floyd Rose or Edge, but the saddles are no longer available and mine is in rough shape. I decided to block this trem so it would stay in tune and forget finding a left-handed whammy bar for it. I tune this Drop-A-flat with the low A-flat being a .068 gauge string. I turn to these home made baritones when I'm frustrated with my 7-strings, as sometimes 7 strings are one too many, but I want the lowness. #8 ESP H-201 Electric I bought this at Steve's Music while in Montreal, Quebec on a trip for my Fiance Visa interview in 2001 with Patti. This guitar looks like a dream and plays nice. It doesn't have that heavy wood feel that I prefer like the Ibanez guitars...after doing some research on guitar synths, I realized that this was the most suitable guitar for the Roland GK-3 pickup as it had enough space between the bridge saddles and the bridge pickup. I still kind of regret the synth purchase as it plays absurdly unpredictable even after repeat setups on the guitar and GR-20. You'll never see me live with the Roland or this guitar for that reason...unless I write nursery rhyme simple melodies at grindingly slow tempos. lol I will try to program my sequencer this way just to see if that is more successful than playing it live. #9 Ibanez RG 470 Electric I bought this on Ebay used in 2003 as a backup for my other blue RG. It is a cheaper Korean knockoff of my Japan made RG 560. The tremolo is a lower grade than the low-pro edge. I actually drilled out the screw-in whammy bar socket and replaced it with the 'edge' 'push in style' of tremolo arm sockets because I despise a rattle-y loose sound from the screw in jobs. The playability however is better than the Japan made RG 560 because they revamped the neck to body joint to remove the struggle to nail those last high frets. I actually should swap tremolos with the other laser blue RG and make this my main guitar. #10 Ibanez RG 7420 Electric I bought this guitar on Ebay new in 2003 and dremeled out the pickup cavities to house these EMG 707's because they are deeper and longer than any stock guitar pickup for a seven string. They are basically bass humbuckers. I tune this guitar Drop-A-flat because I just can't play a 7-string tuned normal because I am so used to playing my 'fake' baritone tuning. With 7-strings, you are facing a lack of fingers to get all the notes you want to hear minus the ones you don't while chording. The answer is to drop the string and voila! You can play seven string chords without any foul notes slipping in there. #11 Ibanez RG 7420 Electric Déjà vu...I bought this guitar on Ebay used in 2003 to use as a backup to my first one above. I also 'dremeled out' the pickup cavities to house the beastly EMG 707 pickups. I tune this guitar Drop-A-flat as well. The only difference besides all the f-in paint chips on this one is I wood blocked the tremolo for tuning stability and proper intonation for recording my heavy riffs...as heard in this slideshow. #12 Brice V2 6-string Bass Electric I bought this bass new online from Rondo Music in 2003 because the price was right...$200. I wanted to try and record the bass to my tunes instead of programming on my Boss Dr. 660 drum machine. It is difficult to play this monster and it buzzes like a cheap instrument tends to do. I tune it an octave lower than my 7-string guitars so my fingerings are exactly the same. I only wish my hands were big enough to play this well. I still am debating buying EMG's for this as well because I think the pickups are weak or I might sell this and get a 5-string bass to get my hand around the neck better. #13 Valencia CG 190CE Nylon String Classical Guitar I bought this new online at Rondo Music on the same purchase date as the Bass because I'd save on shipping and it was only $100. I couldn't believe an acoustic-electric nylon string classical for one hundred bucks was a steal. You know the "you get what you pay for" theory? Well, its intonation BLOWS and won't hold tuning well and I had to file the nut and sand the saddle down to get the action within a playable tolerance. I'll have to see if I have a use for this in any future recordings...if I don't, it's gone! I don't see the point in having a guitar collection you can't use...right? #14 Carvin C850 Acoustic/Electric Dreadnought I bought this guitar direct from Carvin in 2004 as it was the most affordable thing for a Lefty in acoustics. I was debating shelling out $500 more to go to the customs like my purple guitar, but wanted a full-bodied sound and not just another thin-bodied shredder. This guitar really puts my Fender acoustic to shame on all levels. The intonation is decent (not perfect) and it is very playable. It is harder to riff out on this, so it is more of the strummer for my softer side. I do get up higher on the neck with the very roomy cutaway. It sounds amazing acoustically or through the on-board transducer pickup. Carvin is an amazing company. Well worth the money. #15 Ibanez Prestige I bought this guitar used on Ebay in 2006 to be my main Drop-C# guitar. I paid $500 and it came with the Prestige case and all. New, this guitar was pushing $900 so I got a good deal. The tremolo is stellar as it is the improved version of the Low-Pro Edge found on my RG 560. This tremolo is why the guitar costs $300 more than the cheaper models. It's worth it though. The tuning is perfect and the action is wicked! The neck is effortless to the last fret, so I just may write some better solos to make use of that. That's all I have so far in my collection, other than a parts bin that could almost make another guitar or two. Now onto the meticulously described process of how I got my instruments in shape to be record-worthy...and for some folks new to guitar playing, you will find some good tips and advice in there. All the non-musicians and pros can gloss over the next chapter. haha! My electric guitar maintenance process was basically this: Removed the old corroded strings and recycled them Lemon oiled the neck applied using an old toothbrush (Barry's Tip) Polished the frets with super-fine steel-wool while covering the fingerboard (Barry's Tip) Tightened every loose screw on the guitar (my OCD kicked into high gear) Dismantled the bridge, replacing stripped out parts and thoroughly cleaned with alcohol Put new strings on and completely setup guitar (see below for details) Polish the entire guitar and take a picture of it. The Finer Details: I Restrung with D'Addario XLS Light top/Heavy Bottom Strings .010-.013-.017-.030-.042-.052 on my E-flat/drop C# tuned guitars I used the same as above for my 7-string guitars with the addition of adding an Ernie Ball .068 gauge string for the low B-flat/Drop A-flat tunings (it's just cheaper that way than buying 7-string sets) ...besides I wanted fat momma's for strings for extra heavy tone. I also made a few 6-string guitars 'Fake' Baritone guitars by stringing the same as the 7-string guitars minus the high E string. That is how I recorded my Low-B songs in the studio before 7-strings became readily available for LEFTYS. I then adjusted the truss rod and bridge height for optimum action without BUZZ...I hate buzz and I play hard so my action has to be set high. Then I made sure all frets played without buzzing and didn't fret out on bends or whammy pull ups. Then I adjusted the pickup heights to give even volume over all the strings and between pickups Once the strings were stretched out (by pulling hard on them and retuning) I intonated them in the position I'd be recording in (seated) A few of my guitars tremolos are just so beat-up that they go out of tune when using them floating, so I blocked the tremolo with wood. They are now like fixed bridges with the added fine tuning precision. I removed the springs and claw out of the rear of the tremolo and cut two pieces of hard wood to wedge on either side of the tremolo block. This way you don't have to have strings on it to keep the bridge in place and you can bend notes like a hard tail without going flat on the ringing strings not bent at the same time. Don't get me wrong, I love whammy bar wanking, but not if the guitar tuning gets out of whack. The guitars that are still floating are that way because they held in tune within acceptable tolerances on my tuner when comparing a dive bomb recovery to a whammy bar pull-up. I should point out a few other tricks that I incorporated into my setups that I feel add to their sound quality: I used foam/sponge under the strings at the headstock end to prevent that horrible high-frequency ring from the headstock section of the strings that would resonate when playing hard and heavy. Next, on the guitars that have floating tremolos, I folded up about 2' of toilet paper and placed it between the tremolo springs and the plastic trem cover. This takes away that other awful high-frequency spring resonation and doesn't hinder the tuning stability. All this extra effort gives me a guitar that can play 'dead-silence' muted chord chops without the computer editing. It also takes away the feedback issues associated with sympathetic vibrations at high-volumes. I use EMG active pickups exclusively for their quiet performance and added low-frequency clarity. I can also get the cleanest-clean sound out of them as they don't color the tone of my amp with any gain or fuzz. I always wire these pickups myself and have to reverse all the wiring diagrams and pots so my knobs work properly (counter-clockwise for high volume) for me. Some guitars even needed dremeling to remove enough wood to fit them in place. Luckily I'm a handy guy with tools. As for the (x) in my pickup explanation: that means non-functional. I have no real use for the middle position pickup on any of my electric guitars because they get in my way of picking, so I lower that pickup out of the way. I generally leave a 'dummy' pickup in this position in my conversions to EMG as to not leave a gaping hole behind...seeing as active and passive are not compatible on the same guitar, without going into a separate signal path. There would be no point because the pickup is lowered too far from the strings to have any real affect anyway. Well, that's pretty much a wrap on what I wanted to explain to the vast unknown public and to my dear musician friends. I'll spare all of us the tedious task of an explanation for my live rig. Take care of yourself and cherish what you have in life, no matter how little or excessive it is. Aaron (more) (less)
Added: 1 year ago
Views: 60,159
02:23
[TRANSLATED]
Live Ancient Gig Medley 2000 - 2001
[TRANSLATED]
Live Ancient Gig Medley 2000 - 2001
RADIOSLAVE + SONIC BONDAGE LIVE at: MALIBU JACKS HIDEAWAY, St. Catharines, CANADA
This
RADIOSLAVE + SONIC BONDAGE LIVE at: MALIBU JACKS HIDEAWAY, St. Catharines, CANADA
This is my second and final video compilation in the Ancient Gig Medley series from old VHS tapes. This compilation is comprised of 2 different gigs in my past original band line-ups from Niagara Falls, Canada. I formed and called my last two original bands RADIOSLAVE and finally switched to SONIC BONDAGE after finding out a band in Chicago also had that name too. The conversion was simple Radio = Sound and Slave = Bondage...don't worry it wasn't reference to anything sexual. Lol I made the old name because bar patrons always screamed out for covers and I remember saying I don't want to be a juke box or a slave to the radio. That was why I focused on so much original music with only about 40% cover songs. Sonic Bondage had a slightly different meaning which sums up as *music that grabs a hold of you and doesn't let you go* I also considered "Sonic Bond" at one time, but we stuck with the Sonic Bondage version. Who knows I may still use that band name in the future or make a new one or call it *The Aaron Shawn Gray Band*...like Dave Mathews did. Lol This later gig era was after I had begun to shave my head, as I was thinning in the back and was sick of everyone *needing* to tell me that I'm going bald. :) That is why after the main title, I sub-titled it: 2000 - 2001 the HAIRLESS Metal Era. I've since grew back my hair and wear it in the *bald hiding spot* ponytail, as I was sick of the top of my chrome dome burning from sun exposure when I moved to Southern California. Lol The first few chunks of video are from our first live appearance in (2000) at MALIBU JACKS HIDEAWAY off Linwell Ave., in St. Catharines, Ontario CANADA. The final video segments are also at the same bar in 2001 but it was our own gig and John (the drummer) finally got to play his own kit...which I'm happy about, as I thought the drums off to the side of the stage looked stupid and distanced me too far from the drums of which I prefer to be near. I had John mail me the VHS tape so I could digitize it and make a DVD. The video for the most part is high-quality except for some tape damaged sections. I would have loved to get my hands on the original camcorder tape that our bassist: Jeremy's father Sean Senier taped for us. I am really grateful for him videotaping this as he did a good job and kept it visually exciting. I continued in the guitar solo and instrumental chunk medley as before for all the same reasons, but I'll reiterate a condensed explanation those in case you are reading this first: *I didn't just want to put one specific song out there on YouTube. The other consideration was that I no longer live in the same Country as my past band mates of my original bands so I didn't want anyone in the public thinking we are still a band and asking me where and when we are gigging.* Here's a little background in my music life: My focus for the last 5 years (since my move to California) has been home recording instrumentals...Primarily because I wanted to get as many songs written before piecing together a band out here. I've been a little shy in forming bands that have to write together as I do most of writing instrumentally before anyone hears it and it can get frustrating and time-consuming trying to teach parts to band mates. All my previous bands have met with the same fate...we learn 25-30 songs, gig a few times, break-up, reform (replacing certain members) and try again and again and again. Lol It's exhausting and devastating to my drive to go through that, so for now, I'll be just writing on my own until the right opportunity, musicians or band comes my way and we can merge together to create something on a more permanent level and not need therapy like Metallica. :) Check out my other videos as they are more recent and have an improved quality of sound and video as I used a digital camcorder and did all editing on a PC. Take care, Aaron \m/ (more) (less)
Added: 3 months ago
Views: 801no rating
05:29
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[TRANSLATED]
San Fran MUSIC VIDEO (Part 9)
[TRANSLATED]
San Fran MUSIC VIDEO (Part 9)
Pier 39, Sea Lions, Birds + Battle Ship Music Video
(((VIDEO 9 NOTES)))
We begin on the
Pier 39, Sea Lions, Birds + Battle Ship Music Video
(((VIDEO 9 NOTES))) We begin on the sidewalk near Pier 39 with a bongo player. Then we are at the actual pier getting a nice view of the sea lions at 0:22. Next at 2:34 I play with slow-motion effects to maximize the detail of the birds flying around. It took a lot to get all the stuff looking timed with the music to be poetic. I hope it looks good to you. lol At 3:10 I slowly zoom in on a Battle Ship. Weird thing is the birds are having a battle for the post the one is standing on, but he won't give it up. lol 3:22 is some homemade FX to simulate that the ship is firing a canon. There is also some old movie FX to make it look like it was filmed from a past period. I end on a new view up close by the ship and added some interesting colors to the video. I can't help feel that my bitter-sweet music is intensifying the Irony of Fighting for Peace. (((MUSIC 9 NOTES))) I stuck some reverse guitar over the bongo player and faded into a guitar riff I had made just as an idea before the video came to be. I caught some man with an English accent on tape saying; "It's just the strangest thing" so I had to qualify that for him. lol I tried to make the music line up with the bongos too and it creates a polyrhythm that super-imposes my guitar's feel. 0:22 Begins actually with the tail end of another song idea I used on the beginning of Video 12. It was a program I created on my Boss DR-660 drum machine a few years ago and have yet to write guitar for it. I left the Sea Lion sound in as that adds to the realism of the footage. You'll notice it is pretty progressive in its arrangement for even being chopped in half. At 2:34 I play a mellow clean idea over the video with the flying birds. At 3:10 I use a heavy riff and drum beat to solo over. I call it "Contradiction" and I want to make a real song out of it. The rhythm guitar is a major mode, but the melody over top is not...but it works to my ears. The title is the sound and will also be the lyrical concept if I write lyrics. (((SAN FRAN VIDEO SERIES INFO))) The seventeen (17) segment series took 3-months to edit and mix for your viewing pleasure. This footage is from our December 2007 SAN FRAN vacation video that I created original music for and heavily-edited the video with some wild effects (FX) using SONY Vegas DVD+ Movie Studio on my PC to be more of a music video than your 'typically shitty' home-movies with crap for sound. lol The 17 Snack-Sized Videos were broken down from my 68-minute DVD. The smaller files allowed me to render at 3Mbps, which means its High-Quality Resolution + Sound. Of course you have to select "WATCH IN HIGH-QUALITY" to benefit from that. Choosing that triples the sound and video quality. For smooth playback, hit pause and wait for the red progress bar to get a good head start before watching it. I say go pop some popcorn; get a drink; dim the lights; hit full-screen and take a mini-vacation with me. :) (more) (less)
Added: 1 week ago
Views: 36
04:20
[TRANSLATED]
San Fran MUSIC VIDEO (Part 10)
[TRANSLATED]
San Fran MUSIC VIDEO (Part 10)
Pier 39 Boat Tour of the Golden Gate Bridge Music Video
(((VIDEO 10 NOTES)))
Let the Tri
Pier 39 Boat Tour of the Golden Gate Bridge Music Video
(((VIDEO 10 NOTES))) Let the Trip begin...not acid. lol I admit the video editing is pretty wild, but it went well with the music. This type of video coloring takes me somewhere outside the edge of reality and into a dreamlike state. I hope my mind manipulation took you there too. ;) The video goes back to normal at 0:19 but I can't promise the music did. lol At 0:57 I mess with the video speed for a "Benny Hill" British-inspired comedy bit effect. It might hurt some brains though. lol 1:21 enters with a new scene of the Golden Gate Bridge. The light rays are phenomenal! At 1:46 I focus on some sail boats with the Bridge proudly sitting in the background. At 2:33 I am underneath the bridge and getting all kinds of mind-blowing close-up footage. A bird even gives me a little show. At 3:23 I am getting some wicked sunset shots that are backlighting the bridge into a black silhouette. At 3:51 I pan the camcorder up to show a bird flying along with us overhead. (((MUSIC 10 NOTES))) This was a test recording of my new PODx3 sounds on this wild preset that sounded like you were underwater. At 0:19 I brought back the sound of the guided tour as the PA had some recorded guy periodically saying something about the tour. I went "sicko" on the audio and looped it around to be timed to the music that begins at 0:27 "This is where We-Be-Belong" The music itself is rather demented on its own as I was trying to be obnoxious with the whole tone scale. lol 1:21 begins with my 6-string bass as I mess around with the new PODx3 some more for bass tones. At 1:46 I start a clean E major pentatonic idea with the new PODx3 on my clean electric Ibanez guitar. It sounds Asian a bit on purpose as I love that happy vibe the scale creates. At 2:33 I wake everyone up with my idea of what alternative sounds like. ;) I was trying to not be technical or Metal-sounding. At 3:51 I fade back the original audio of the camcorder to show that the bird was flying with us overhead with the majestic music blaring on the PA. How Cool! (((SAN FRAN VIDEO SERIES INFO))) The seventeen (17) segment series took 3-months to edit and mix for your viewing pleasure. This footage is from our December 2007 SAN FRAN vacation video that I created original music for and heavily-edited the video with some wild effects (FX) using SONY Vegas DVD+ Movie Studio on my PC to be more of a music video than your 'typically shitty' home-movies with crap for sound. lol The 17 Snack-Sized Videos were broken down from my 68-minute DVD. The smaller files allowed me to render at 3Mbps, which means its High-Quality Resolution + Sound. Of course you have to select "WATCH IN HIGH-QUALITY" to benefit from that. Choosing that triples the sound and video quality. For smooth playback, hit pause and wait for the red progress bar to get a good head start before watching it. I say go pop some popcorn; get a drink; dim the lights; hit full-screen and take a mini-vacation with me. :) (more) (less)
Added: 6 days ago
Views: 26no rating
04:17
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San Fran MUSIC VIDEO (Part 11)
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San Fran MUSIC VIDEO (Part 11)
Boat Tour of ALCATRAZ Music Video................
(((VIDEO 11 NOTES)))
This video is ent
Boat Tour of ALCATRAZ Music Video................
(((VIDEO 11 NOTES))) This video is entirely devoted to the enigmatic island of Alcatraz. So much history is here and it has extended to the big screen in some great Hollywood movies. Each scene gets progressively closer to Alcatraz, but I edited it to seem more dynamic and to make it short enough to not be boring. At 1:06 I get into plenty of close-ups of the front side of the Island. At 2:22 there is an intimate view of the back side of Alcatraz. I thought the rear of the Island was incredible as it was my first time ever seeing that and I had no idea how much stuff was going on there. I learned quite a bit just from the boat audio and that's why I left it in for everyone else to learn. We wanted to get on the Island, but that boat cruise was booked past our trip plans. We chose this cruise as it got real close to Alcatraz and did a more detailed coverage of the Island than the Alcatraz boat. That boat goes straight to the dock of Alcatraz and misses a lot of the angles we got to see. In the end we got rare video footage that can't be beat. (((MUSIC 11 NOTES))) I used the PODx3 for the bubbly underwater guitar sound and improvised the weirdest music I could think of on electric guitar. I added in sections of the boat tour audio where it was of benefit to the video. I had to trim a lot of wind noise, and people talking out to make the intense visuals the focus. I did my best to keep the audio timed originally where it was in the video with the slight manipulation to work best with the music. At 3:04 I go into a dark-sounding guitar melody. It went well with all the crazy stuff the Boat PA was blasting out its speakers. At 3:49 I transition the music and the PA voice into a low and scary-sounding thing. That's when the focus is off the Island and back on the water as we head away from Alcatraz towards shore Pier 39. I use my Boss DR-660 drum machine for the bass and drum patterns. That is actually just a snippet of the music that I use for the music to Video Segment #12. On The DVD it stays all one piece and makes more sense. lol (((SAN FRAN VIDEO SERIES INFO))) The seventeen (17) segment series took 3-months to edit and mix for your viewing pleasure. This footage is from our December 2007 SAN FRAN vacation video that I created original music for and heavily-edited the video with some wild effects (FX) using SONY Vegas DVD+ Movie Studio on my PC to be more of a music video than your 'typically shitty' home-movies with crap for sound. lol The 17 Snack-Sized Videos were broken down from my 68-minute DVD. The smaller files allowed me to render at 3Mbps, which means its High-Quality Resolution + Sound. Of course you have to select "WATCH IN HIGH-QUALITY" to benefit from that. Choosing that triples the sound and video quality. For smooth playback, hit pause and wait for the red progress bar to get a good head start before watching it. I say go pop some popcorn; get a drink; dim the lights; hit full-screen and take a mini-vacation with me. :) (more) (less)
Added: 6 days ago
Views: 27no rating
04:20
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[TRANSLATED]
Thanks, Tobacco: You Killed My Mom
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Thanks, Tobacco: You Killed My Mom
This video was created over a one-year period. At first, it was just random use of a video
This video was created over a one-year period. At first, it was just random use of a video camera, plus a few pictures taken during a visit in September of 2006. Of course, this was before we knew that Mom had a collapsed lung. She went in for tests, and it was discovered that she had Stage IV Lung Cancer. As we learned of the cancer diagnosis in October of 2006, we tried to get Mom down to California (from Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada). It was a race against logistics and paperwork (i.e. obtaining documentation in order to cross a border and travel), which we unfortunately lost. Mom suffered a stroke, ironically on the same day as she received her birth certificate, which would have allowed her to travel to Southern California. The stroke left her left side completely paralyzed, and she was stuck in the hospital, no longer the independent woman she once was. We were summoned to fly up immediately, as we were told by her doctors that her death would not be far behind. Mom proved them all wrong, and lived for four more months. Of course, the quality of life was minimal at best. There was no treatment, since the cancer was discovered so late, and due to the stroke. We have since learned that often times, a biopsy can knock loose cancerous material within a tumor, which can cause a stroke. It was extremely difficult to watch her suffering in a hospital bed, and wondering why her last months had to be made that much worse due to the stroke. So, Mom never did get to come see where we live in California. We continued to videotape the entire ordeal, so that family (who couldn't be with us at that time) could see everything. We ended up with approximately 90 minutes of raw footage, which has been edited down to the 10 minutes allowed here. First, we have done this to honor Mom's last wishes: tell people not to smoke. Second, we have completed this very emotional project to honor her memory, and to help us as we continue through the grieving process. Finally, we are aware that much of the anti-smoking media is not so real to life--it doesn't show the suffering, what the families go through, and the pain that cigarettes actually cause. This documentary is "non-Hollywood". We have omitted certain things that one might find offensive, including her IV, vomiting, bodily functions, and her actual death itself, which was obviously painful. Instead, we have brought many different segments together, which still conveys our overall message: DON'T SMOKE!
In a letter dated September 24, 2006, from Mom: "Try not to worry about my health. I go for a CAT-SCAN on October 4th. I should have the results about a week later. The appointments are taking a long time, so I must not be in such dire shape, or they would rush them. I'm glad you never really had the desire to smoke. What do your lungs look like after all of those years of second-hand smoke? I can't wait to see you and Patti more often. Gotta go for now. Love Forever, Mom" To conclude, one can compare smoking cigarettes to a slow-motion car accident. At any time, you can get out of the car before it crashes. It is your choice. Furthermore, you may be driving your own car, but please remember that you take passengers along for the ride. (more) (less)
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Memories of Mom: A Loving Journe...
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Memories of Mom: A Loving Journey in Her Honor
This video was made to pay tribute to my mother, Charlotte Patricia Gray, who many of you
This video was made to pay tribute to my mother, Charlotte Patricia Gray, who many of you know is the lady in the THANKS TOBACCO: YOU KILLED MY MOM video.
It's been over a year since her passing and the video we filmed has no doubt saved hundreds of lives and I couldn't be more proud of what we did. The video is being watched close to 500 times a day and is up over 130,000+ views as of yesterday. It's in the hands of health teachers at schools, workers at American Lung Association Clinics, and being utilized by so many professionals as a teaching aid across the Country. It has become projects for students, inspiration to quit and to help others quit smoking and also to prepare some of the people that are about to go through this personally. It has been a comment forum to share our hearts and souls as there are too many of us out there that lost a loved one like this. Though my emotions are always a roller-coaster having to tend to the daily comments of the video, I am so glad we got this out there in the world to make a difference. It was her deepest wish to help save lives. It has helped me come to terms with the emotions and have closure knowing her death was not in vain. She made a difference in my life beyond measure and I appreciate her more everyday that I am alive...I can only imagine how she will be looked upon by the countless people that she helps with the video. Your gratitude is already clearly evident to a point where I am overwhelmed by the comments that I in no way can even keep up with. My only desire in making this picture slideshow with some happy video of her talking about personal stuff was to show ONLY THE HAPPY MOMENTS BEFORE SHE WAS DIAGNOSED WITH LUNG CANCER AND BEFORE SHE HAD HER STROKE. I wanted a video of her that embraced her unconditional love for all people as that was her very being her whole life. She was a selfless giver to her own detriment. Now, I know if she were still alive, she'd be telling me not to show off her *toothless* pictures after her false teeth needed replacement, but I couldn't bear to leave out heart-warming memories over a toothless grin or two. lol Besides, a lot of 50-something folks are toothless. ;) She was also a good artist that stopped doing it for most of her life and just picked it back up her last year alive and I thought they were amazing so I highlighted them at the end of the video. I am a musician, so I added my personal recordings of ideas that were improvised over the years and found what I thought was the best emotional fit. I was going to use *Dust in the Wind* by Kansas for the slide show, but I didn't want to illegally use someone else's song as my Mom wouldn't steal a penny candy so it didn't make sense to sully her flawless soul. I wanted to get this up for Mother's Day as well as I can't think of a better way to show the world my deep love for my Mom. Many of you folks in the Niagara Region (Ontario, Canada) know her personally and will appreciate a glimpse into her life before things got sad for her. That's the memories I want to leave you all with. I know *Thanks Tobacco* made a lot of people cry from heart-wrenching sadness...now I hope I've created the antidote to that sadness with a video that is the complete opposite and if there are any tears, they will be happy tears. I could go on and on about how much I love my Mom, but I think the video does a better job of saying what's in my heart. Thanks for reading this message and watching my beautiful Mom's video. Take care and God Bless you all, Aaron Gray (more) (less) 
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The Wedding Singer...
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The Wedding Singer...
I wanted to get some video up of me performing, so the following is a video taken at my br
I wanted to get some video up of me performing, so the following is a video taken at my brother's wedding in Buffalo, NY. I was also in the wedding party, thus the fancy purple dress. This type of music is one of my favorite genres, as my grandmother had a similar voice, and I can remember her singing opera throughout the house, shaking the glass within the cabinets. I can only hope that I make her proud!
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Aaron's Guitar Center Rampage
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Aaron's Guitar Center Rampage
I was up visiting my friends and family for a week late August/September 2006. I decided t
I was up visiting my friends and family for a week late August/September 2006. I decided to get some video of me playing on this new amp I was trying out in Guitar Center in Buffalo, NY. Since I am left-handed, I had a hard time finding a guitar to play with until I found this slightly beat-up Ibanez RG-1570 to wank on. It had no whammy bar and the lock tuners at the headstock were missing.
I have a blast editing this video and I hope you enjoy it. My old drummer John Sakars is the camera man and can be seen in many of my videos uploaded here and on my myspace profile. www.myspace.com/aaronshawngray or at his: www.myspace.com/johnsakars (more) (less) 
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John Sakars Drumming
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John Sakars Drumming
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Whammy Pedal Wankage
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Whammy Pedal Wankage
Recorded September 2006
This is just me trying out a Digitech Whammy pedal before I bou
Recorded September 2006 This is just me trying out a Digitech Whammy pedal before I bought it at Guitar Center in Buffalo, NY. I had a lot of fun editing it into a bunch of cool effect scenes. I hope you enjoy my insanity, Aaron ( |