Sal Talks About "Great Exploits"

As soon as "Nevertheless" came out, we did some shows to promote it and I soon after went to work on writing the material for my follow-up CD called "Great Exploits" Right smack in the middle of the preproduction of the record, the whole 9/11 disaster hit and along with the whole world, had a profound effect on me spiritually. I decided to dedicate the whole record to all the brave men and women who risked and in many cases lost their lives to save as many as possible that day.
I wrote in the Cd this dedication:

Great Exploits:n. deeds that are striking or notable:feats or heroic acts.

On September 11,2001, our nation experienced a great tragedy that touched all of our lives. It drove us to our knees and brought us closer to God and to one another. I am amazed by the great exploits of individuals who risked, and in many cases gave their lives to save as many as possible on that horrific day. It has and will always require great exploits to take a stand for truth and righteousness: to live out a purpose that transcends this life and to see as many people saved along the way. This recording is dedicated to the men and women throughout history who have chosen such a purpose.

As far as the recording process, I finally decided to chuck that PC computer out the window and bought a Yamaha hard disk recorder. Of course , I had to deal with the learning curve of learning a new piece of gear but it was worth it. I didn't have the thing crashing on me every hour. So, I began preproduction with my Triton and my new Yamaha and got about 6 or so tunes rolling, then I brought them to Tom Waltz. He then jumped on board and we collaborated on the rest of the project. The process was a simpler one. I recorded all the guitars and keyboards, then I had Joe Santerre and Mike Mangini come in and play on all the tracks. All we had in addition was Pat Loomis who played alto sax on 2 cuts.

Arrows of Victory

I opened this song with some nice open spread voicing on the guitar with some pads behind it. On the melody I used this sliding technique where I would start hi on the neck and slide backward on the guitar into the melody note. Now in the B section I played the melody over this counterpoint line in which I used an Ebow slide. It gave it a very cool effect. In the solo I played fast scales all in Ionian using hammer-ons a la Satriani. Then the tune builds at the end when I play the melody using harmony and doubling with a solo lead over it.

Stones

This song is so industrial man! On this tune I used a guitar tuned down a fifth. So of course the tone is in sub levels and the strings were so loose and slinky that is was very hard to play and to keep it in tune. But we made it work and got a real cool effect. Mike played the crap out of this tune. We also used some programmed drums and bass. The A Section of this song is in 4/4 and the B section is is 5/4. It was weird trying to solo with the guitar tuned the way it was but it worked. Mike plays some incredible fills in my solo that are mind boggling!

Don't Open That

This song opens up with a cool sound effect from my Triton. The meter of the A section of this tune is 13/8. After the A sections Mike would play a fill over 2 bars of 4/4. On the melody I kept it simple while using some cool harmonies. The B Section is in 4/4. I used some heavy whammy bar action on the solo. The last section is the melody with lead lines over it. then we go out with the same sound effect as the beginning.

My Little Guys

This song is a ballad that I wrote for my 2 sons Gianni and Marco, hence the name "My little guys" although they aren't so little anymore. I used some volume swells in the Intro using a volume pedal. This has some basic chord changes which makes all the more easy to wail on it. I did a chicken picking guitar rhythm in the background. I kicked on the wah wah in the chorus to give me a little more juice.

Lion Face

This song opens with some programmed drums, then Mike's drums come in fairly quickly on top of some nice programmed percussion things. Then the layered melody comes in and I am using the wah wah. We also used a mixture of synth bass and real bass. The programmed drums and bass give it a bit of a tech-no kind of sound. On the bridge of the song I use slide guitar. Then back to the wah for the guitar solo. I also used a cool funky clavinet sound on the keyboard rhythm track.

Snowy Day

This tune is in 6/8 meter. It opens with a slick synth bass line. Then Joe comes in with some awesome fret-less bass lines along with some tasty fills from Mike. On this tune I also use my guitar tuned down a fifth just like one of the previous songs "Stones". Again a little challenging to control those slinky strings but pretty cool effect none of the less. I love Mike''s Drum Solo in this song, pretty sick!

Groove Cakes

This opens with another cool sound effect from my Triton. This song has more involved chord changes than some of the other material. Just a little more "jazzy". I use the neck pickup on my guitar to get a meatier tone on the melody. The guitar solo goes into a nice key change progression which gives the tune a forward motion. Then right out of that we go back to the verse progression for the Alto Sax solo by my long time friend Pat Loomis. Then we do some nice solo line trades with Mike adding some nice fills. Then it ends with the same Sound effect as the beginning.

We're Going Home

This song is a Rockin' shuffle in "E". I use a harmonizer on the melody. I also use the whammy bar and pull it the opposite way (backwards) to get that cool effect. In the B section I play the E minor pentatonic with harmonics. Joe kills it with a smoking bass solo. Then we go back to the opening riff then into an outro solo. I love going off with Mike because he just compliments what I do so well. Check out is little rhythm modulation near the end of the fade. Very hip!

Take the Land

Tom Waltz had some fun with this one and took a bunch of little guitar riffs and did some nice pro-tools cutting and pasting. We used some synth bass with Joe adding some cool fills in the A section. Then real bass for the the B sections and choruses. Then Pat Loomis doubles the guitar line with me in the chorus. I really like the B section. I played some counterpoint lines against the melody. Then we go into a different chord progression in the guitar solo which gives the song a nice climax. Then we hit the Chorus again and Pat just does an awesome job soloing out on the tune a la David Sanborn!

Armed for Battle

On this song we just went crazy. Tom was like a mad scientist with he pro-tools. I love the verse, I get this sort of bag pipe effect with the guitar part. The song has this sort of Battle Cry feel and it closes out the Great Exploits Recording

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