tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8925872944620944562012-02-16T04:23:17.591-05:00I've always had a perspective on music and guitar playing, but never really had an outlet to express it, until now. In addition to focusing heavily on the progress of my new band with the boys at 1474 Tremont St., you'll read plenty from me about the guitar, the most interesting, popular and diverse musical instrument this country has ever had.Matt Dolloffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01690436389891195028noreply@blogger.comBlogger341100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-892587294462094456.post-82734792125017423962007-11-30T16:33:00.000-05:002007-12-09T03:36:56.420-05:00

I'm sitting in my bedroom right now, staring at my computer screen, and ironically, for the first time this semester, I am at a loss for words. As I get the ball rolling on this reflection that's bound to change, but right now my feelings about this blog and blogging in general are mixed. When I had the time, patience or effort to sit down and write something on this blog, I loved every second

Matt Dolloffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01690436389891195028noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-892587294462094456.post-10452284734662026302007-11-29T18:29:00.000-05:002007-11-29T18:36:57.741-05:00

Last night at 1474 Tremont was a truly spectacular one. Our close friend Patrick celebrated his 21st birthday in style, dipping his head into a bucket filled with goodies and presents that we, rather unceremoniously, made him bob for. He was a good sport about it and we all had a fun time watching.The most surprising part of the night, however, was that Mike, James and I got in a jam session

Matt Dolloffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01690436389891195028noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-892587294462094456.post-69735889811235922102007-11-29T18:28:00.000-05:002007-11-30T10:43:26.354-05:00

In guitar, the art of shredding is something many players can imitate, but few can master. To reach that level, one needs to show just as much, if not more creativity than technique. Jason Becker, who was spotlighted last week, was the partner of the man to the left in the heavy metal band Cacophony during the 1980s. Marty Friedman has been a veteran of heavy metal lead guitar for about 25 years

Matt Dolloffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01690436389891195028noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-892587294462094456.post-62452042793858587222007-11-28T19:22:00.001-05:002007-11-28T19:48:38.805-05:00

Whoever's out there still reading my blog must be wondering where all the jams went. I'm disappointed to say the aspirations I had at the beginning of this semester have shriveled up like a raisin in the sun. It's nobody's fault; you can only say that these things happen.For this class blog, I'm required to write a reflective essay to comment on my experience so far as a blogger. This is NOT

Matt Dolloffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01690436389891195028noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-892587294462094456.post-34885131015653476162007-11-27T01:44:00.000-05:002007-11-27T11:12:06.990-05:00

That's not a typo in the title. My next blog will be entitled ScreenDreams, to satisfy my need for a cinema-related blog topic. I am hoping to make some very low-budget shorts in the future, and I plan on documenting the process...At least the interesting parts! I will provide reviews to movies I see, and I plan to approach each type of movie differently. I'm not going to look at serious dramas

Matt Dolloffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01690436389891195028noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-892587294462094456.post-80433164385731204182007-11-24T14:45:00.000-05:002007-11-24T16:37:03.093-05:00

Unfortunately, in real life the heroes aren't always the victors. Strange, unexplained and horrible things can happen to even the best of people. The world of rock music and rock guitar players is no stranger to such tragedies. Jason Becker, co-founder of the short lived rock group Cacophony, came along in the mid-1980s as a true master in the art of guitar shredding, only to have his

Matt Dolloffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01690436389891195028noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-892587294462094456.post-37352265708083633322007-11-22T17:53:00.000-05:002007-11-22T18:01:56.568-05:00

Thought I'd check in after a 5-day absence, that okay with you? In all seriousness, it's been yet another hectic week full of job interviews and serious work deadlines in some classes, including a midterm paper and one final exam. I have, however, have had some time to play guitar, and I'm hoping to put a version of Jimi Hendrix's "The Wind Cries Mary" up on Youtube sometime this weekend.This

Matt Dolloffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01690436389891195028noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-892587294462094456.post-81669588322055091772007-11-16T11:00:00.000-05:002007-11-16T11:24:45.314-05:00

Blues is a universal musical style and institution of rock. There are so many great musicians in the style of blues it is difficult to even keep track of them. But when it comes to blues on the guitar, a special group of individuals can be selected from the pack to be included in the pantheon of guitar legends. Buddy Guy, B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Albert Collins, Jimi

Matt Dolloffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01690436389891195028noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-892587294462094456.post-27245485353738059512007-11-14T22:38:00.000-05:002007-11-16T10:39:25.769-05:00

The film I have anticipated more than any other this year has finally been released, and I am giving a special review of No Country for Old Men. It only made me anticipate it more after seeing the amount of raves coming in from critics, and I have to say the Coen brothers have hit a home run. They took Cormac McCarthy's modern classic novel and created a western/crime drama/thriller hybrid that

Matt Dolloffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01690436389891195028noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-892587294462094456.post-40896179122519830762007-11-14T18:16:00.000-05:002007-11-14T22:37:45.419-05:00

It's been far too long between posts.Last week was incredibly hectic for me. Three job interviews, two papers due...And plenty of on-campus work and classes. I had time at certain points to make posts, but my mind was such a blur, this blog was unfortunately not one of the things to cross my mind. I also had to drive home and back again a couple times, which took up plenty of time I could have

Matt Dolloffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01690436389891195028noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-892587294462094456.post-23009267847342587702007-11-06T10:04:00.001-05:002007-11-06T10:44:38.646-05:00

Sunday night was the first jam session in over a week between myself, Justin and James. We all took our typical instruments, Justin and I played guitar with James on drums. Overall I think we sounded pretty good. It was a healthy mix of just straight improvisation and practicing of songs we are working on. Next time we jam I plan on bringing my condenser mic and recording software so I can record

Matt Dolloffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01690436389891195028noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-892587294462094456.post-81213725542935321962007-11-04T13:03:00.000-05:002007-11-04T13:18:56.563-05:00

It's 1:04 p.m. Sunday, November 4, 2007, which means we are only three hours away from the biggest regular season game the NFL has ever seen. I am ecstatic just to be a part of it, let alone a big fan of the favored team. My beloved Patriots are rolling over their competition, yet are also the victims of double standards the last few weeks, in an attempt by the media to create controversy and

Matt Dolloffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01690436389891195028noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-892587294462094456.post-72395177296849717012007-11-01T09:54:00.000-04:002007-11-01T11:04:57.163-04:00

I was originally going to spotlight Stevie Ray Vaughan, but I'll save him for later. Dressing up like Ozzy Osbourne for Halloween made me think hard about Rhoads, Ozzy's original guitar player for his solo group. Believe me, Ozzy was not alone in his act; Rhoads began playing with Ozzy at age 23 and immediately established himself as one of the rock world's premiere axemen. What made him an

Matt Dolloffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01690436389891195028noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-892587294462094456.post-79326900851702725682007-10-30T17:55:00.000-04:002007-10-30T18:17:36.960-04:00

I got out of class today at the perfect time to catch the World Championship parade for the Red Sox; I brought my camera along to capture whatever I could. I started at Fenway Park, where the parade began, but I had a pretty bad view of all the duck boats rolling along. Whoever decided to stay there was a sucker. I started running after the parade, literally. Whenever I found an opening to run,

Matt Dolloffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01690436389891195028noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-892587294462094456.post-77716161207853975172007-10-30T10:20:00.001-04:002007-10-30T11:29:54.786-04:00

The photo to the left is courtesy of the Boston Globe's Barry Chin, and it is of game 4 Red Sox starter Jon Lester, who beat lymphoma just nine months ago, then beat the Rockies to deliver Boston its second World Championship in 4 seasons. My beloved Red Sox finally ended the extraordinarily painful 86-year period of suffering at the hands of the Curse of the Bambino in 2004, and this year they

Matt Dolloffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01690436389891195028noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-892587294462094456.post-29925419509829881182007-10-27T15:08:00.000-04:002007-10-27T15:19:21.910-04:00

With Halloween falling in the middle of the week this year, this weekend is the time for all the Halloween parties. I plan on going to one tonight in Boston, and I'll be going as the godfather of heavy metal himself, Ozzy Osbourne! I was disappointed that every single store I went to was out of decorative rubber vampire bats, because I wanted to use one as a prop to simulate Ozzy's past

Matt Dolloffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01690436389891195028noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-892587294462094456.post-38700795642121656852007-10-25T14:23:00.000-04:002007-10-25T14:52:44.536-04:00

I've stated many times before that Jimi Hendrix is my all-time favorite guitar player. Well, because of the man in the picture to the left, I might not have been telling the whole truth. Eddie Van Halen would have to be number 1b at this point, with Jimi at 1A. Like Hendrix, Van Halen is a true god on the axe. He took over as the undisputed greatest guitar player alive as soon as Van Halen burst

Matt Dolloffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01690436389891195028noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-892587294462094456.post-57186695633051907752007-10-23T11:16:00.000-04:002007-10-30T18:17:02.112-04:00

This is an exciting moment for myself and this blog. I've uploaded my first podcast. I guess it's technically not a real podcast because you can't subscribe to it, but let's say you can't subscribe to it yet. In the inaugural podcast, I feature an audio sample of an original work by myself, a cover of Hendrix's "Little Wing", and I comment on both of those. After that, I comment on how the jam

Matt Dolloffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01690436389891195028noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-892587294462094456.post-58114824873215100112007-10-22T20:43:00.000-04:002007-10-22T20:44:42.335-04:00

That was a little sample of a new song I’m working on called “Broken Light”, which is clearly blues and funk-inspired. The effect I have on the guitar that you hear is a phaser, which makes the same effect as a wah pedal but it does it rhythmically and you can adjust the speed and intensity of it. I turned the speed way down here because this is a sort of calm, subdued piece, and blues in the

Matt Dolloffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01690436389891195028noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-892587294462094456.post-62987889602111552762007-10-20T12:37:00.000-04:002007-10-20T12:45:39.425-04:00

Justin and I got together yesterday for the first jam session in over two weeks. Those weeks felt like an eternity, but there was finally some free time for us to get together and play. With my amp still in limbo, I needed to use the Fender amp while Justin used the Mesa/Boogie rectifier you can see in the picture. We got a new song going while messing around a bit, and it sounds promising.

Matt Dolloffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01690436389891195028noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-892587294462094456.post-42261647208009643072007-10-16T11:08:00.000-04:002007-10-16T11:13:48.593-04:00

This has been a slow couple of weeks for us. Only one small jam session has taken place in about 12 days, and James, Justin and Mike have all been swamped with midterm work. Almost every time I called to see if anyone wanted to jam, they all said they had either a paper to write or big test to study for. They weren't lying; they all have midterms for all their classes this week. James is

Matt Dolloffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01690436389891195028noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-892587294462094456.post-88912844418614147522007-10-12T16:33:00.001-04:002007-10-12T17:07:06.521-04:00

I found a website at zshare.com that allows me to upload and host audio files, so now I can embed them in my posts. Here's my personal rendition of Jimi Hendrix's "The Wind Cries Mary". I apologize again for not singing, that will happen in due time...But I worry more about the guitar work anyway. Here it is:If the embedded file doesn't work, click here to download the MP3.Hopefully it does

Matt Dolloffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01690436389891195028noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-892587294462094456.post-62472591099721268442007-10-09T10:58:00.000-04:002007-10-12T17:06:15.491-04:00

Yesterday was a pretty miserable day for me. Not to mention the weather was disgusting, I had to go get my broken Line 6 head at the house to bring it somewhere for repair. I searched up and down the internet to, almsot fortuitously, run into a music repair shop right on campus at Berklee College of Music. If there were any group of people I'd trust 100% with fixing my equipment, it would be

Matt Dolloffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01690436389891195028noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-892587294462094456.post-86370470386081486872007-10-08T13:07:00.000-04:002007-10-08T13:19:17.733-04:00

So I got the jam session I was hoping for Saturday night, but it was cut painfully short by the unprecedented third malfunction of my amp head. I'm not sure of the technical terms for what happened to it, but it has something to do with a fuse inside the power supply to the head. It burned out, which I knew immediately due to the musty smell of static electricity. So now I'm without my own

Matt Dolloffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01690436389891195028noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-892587294462094456.post-30639367573316908312007-10-06T19:26:00.000-04:002007-10-06T19:39:00.507-04:00

With tomorrow full of extravagant plans involving the Patriots and Red Sox, tonight is the last night of this weekend where we can jam. Last night, the Tremont boys had a little party, and for about 20 minutes I jammed some A blues with James on bass and his brother's friend Amary on drums. Amary was an amazing drummer, he seemed to be mostly educated in jazz styles. I was pretty much in the

Matt Dolloffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01690436389891195028noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-892587294462094456.post-11786399989392159812007-10-04T18:29:00.000-04:002007-10-04T18:45:29.156-04:00

I'm sitting here in the office of the Disability Resource Center as the day, and my work week, is winding down...With about 30 minutes left and not much business around here I have some time to post about some things on my mind. As far as jam sessions on Tremont go, they got a lot better and easier today when my footswitch for my amp arrived in the mail. Now I can change my guitar tone on the

Matt Dolloffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01690436389891195028noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-892587294462094456.post-81333482744727478102007-10-03T12:48:00.000-04:002007-10-03T13:21:15.992-04:00

Last night's jam session was only myself and Justin switching off. James and Tyler had schoolwork to do, which is understandable. School always comes first. I've uploaded a video of myself playing Jimi Hendrix's "Castles Made of Sand" with Justin on drums. I apologize for the subpar video quality, but this was recorded on an old digital camera. The audio was a lot better than I was expecting

Matt Dolloffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01690436389891195028noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-892587294462094456.post-77106255909306212952007-10-02T19:33:00.001-04:002007-10-02T19:38:57.625-04:00

Monday wasn't a good day for jamming. The Patriots are always first priority when they are playing, no matter what. We ran out of time to jam Monday night, and we're all usually tired by the end of the day anyway on Monday. Hopefully tonight Justin and/or James will agree to have a session, because my new footswitch arrived in the mail today! Now I can change my guitar tone in the middle of

Matt Dolloffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01690436389891195028noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-892587294462094456.post-28570481084478135182007-09-30T18:21:00.000-04:002007-09-30T18:47:48.341-04:00

Sorry for the recent lack of pictures, I've just been forgetting to take it out. I had another busy weekend, including the big 2-1 on Saturday! Friday morning I felt very sick (which will explain why I didn't make class Friday morning, sorry!), but I was able to get home in the afternoon. I drove up to Foxwoods with a friend from home Friday night, and midnight Saturday rolled around right

Matt Dolloffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01690436389891195028noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-892587294462094456.post-20985880134320629802007-09-26T09:37:00.000-04:002007-09-26T09:59:43.164-04:00

Well, it hasn't really been that long, but when you fire out posts at a fast rate like I did last week, six days can feel like an eternity. I had a pretty busy weekend, which was taken up mostly by my cousin's wedding Saturday. Typical ceremony, it went without any problems, and the reception was really fun. I actually danced at a wedding for the first time; my mom was quite excited about that. I

Matt Dolloffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01690436389891195028noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-892587294462094456.post-1320578279894214032007-09-20T18:15:00.001-04:002007-09-20T18:43:29.862-04:00

The latest jam session happened last night. That's me in my favorite shirt (Pink Floyd's The Wall) playing my own guitar for a change. It's an ESP Viper-301 with EMG HZ pickups and 24 frets. Pretty good for soloing and heavy music, but it cost me less than $500, so I plan on upgrading as soon as I'm not a poor college student anymore. That's Tyler playing bass on the right. He should be

Matt Dolloffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01690436389891195028noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-892587294462094456.post-37485036342797102552007-09-18T11:13:00.001-04:002007-09-18T11:22:32.937-04:00

Sunday night was a sort-of wake-up call for myself and Justin, as we realized we are being a little lax about our future plans with the group. We have a couple tunes semi-written, so we're in good shape in that regard, but there are still no covers we have learned and mastered. We decided to being working on Third Eye Blind's "Crystal Baller" as our first cover. We and our whole group of

Matt Dolloffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01690436389891195028noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-892587294462094456.post-24252334746740027512007-09-17T18:47:00.001-04:002007-09-18T11:27:02.946-04:00

Last night was most certainly more about our beloved Patriots thrashing their biggest threat in the AFC 38-14 on Sunday Night Football, but we still found some time to hook up the guitars and play away.Our jam space underwent a huge operation before this set-up was established. There was a small wooden barrier- sort of like a wall, but more just a general annoyance- that was really cramping our

Matt Dolloffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01690436389891195028noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-892587294462094456.post-704012483536853532007-09-14T10:43:00.000-04:002007-09-14T11:07:12.636-04:00

My name is Matt and I study journalism at Northeastern. I first picked up a guitar 12 years ago, and now I am finally writing about it! My friends and I have a band coming together at 1474 Tremont St. in Boston, and this blog will be a comprehensive look at our progress as a group. There will be pictures, audio samples and occasional video samples, with analysis of our work in a given day and,

Matt Dolloffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01690436389891195028noreply@blogger.com0