Brainium Sounds Off

Brainium is well-known (sort of) as one guy playing guitar and one playing keyboards. So how did we learn to play our instruments? And what other instruments can we play? And how fun is it? (Hint: very.)

Brainium used drum machines for its sound. That's one way of having drums in a band. More common, especially when playing live, is having a live drummer. What's it like having or playing drums in a band? The Boys of Brainium share their thoughts. You might even say they "sound off".

Continuing our exploration of cover songs that Brainium performed back in their "playing out" days. 

Technology has always been used in making music, some think not always for the better. Increasingly, pitch correction is being used by artists--even established ones--to "fix" their vocals to be spot-on when singing. It's used on recordings, but also used by some artists when performing live. Is this a good thing? Brainium sounds off.

It's time to explore the origins and development of another Brainium song. We're pretty sure this is our only "ballad" (or "power ballad"). Includes plenty of discussion of Thom's guitar solo!

We've talked about playing bass and playing keyboards in a band. Now it's time for guitar and that means...it's Thom Time! 

Pretty much all local bands starting out play "covers" ... songs written and performed by other (successful) bands. Primarily because that's what people usually want to hear (as opposed to original music). In this episode, we discuss three of those songs and include snippets of each to illustrate how a two-man band played these things. We have more songs to review in future episodes!

Those great band performances you see live don't just happen. Before ever getting on that stage, bands will spend many hours (or in Brainium's case, a few minutes) rehearsing the songs they are going to perform. (And probably a few extra.) What's that all about?

AI (Artificial Intelligence) is being used for more and more tasks, not always for the best. What about music? Specifically, creating music. Does AI have a place in the creative process? You just know Brainium has some thoughts about that!

Any time you have people working together, conflicts are bound to occur. These can be creative, technical, administrative, etc. But sometimes it's just a conflict of personalities. That can certainly happen in bands and is a big reason many of them break up. (Unlike Brainium, of course.) How do these personality conflicts play out (pun intended) in local bands? Just ask the boys from Brainium!

Lyrics are the words to songs. Guys like Bach and Beethoven didn't use them, but more modern music almost always does. What do the boys of Brainium think about them?

Playing keyboards is much different than playing piano. Except when the keyboards are playing just piano sounds, of course. Learn about the behind-the-scenes duties of the unsung (but possibly singing) keyboard player.

Costumes aren't a big thing for local bands, but you have to wear something! And what about successful bands that wear elaborate costumes? Let's Sound Off!

Who would have thought we could do an entire episode on guitar picks? Brainium Sounds Off about these little tools that are so important to playing stringed instruments. (And keyboards???) Believe it or not, after we finished recording this episode, Thom thought of a couple of other picks he could have discussed. Could there be a Part Two? (No.)

It's time to explore the origins of another Brainium classic, the song "Bad Decisions". 

Bass is an integral part of most rock music. Most common is the bass guitar, but there's also standup bass, keyboard bass, and more. Let's talk low frequency!

Tough time naming this one. It's about equipment we either made ourselves or modified in some significant way. "Do it yourself" is close enough.   Oh, and we had the same stupid recording problem we had once before where one mic wasn't recording so the levels are way off (despite some effort to fix it in post...it was worse!). At least it's a short episode.

Against all odds, this podcast has made it through a whole year! We review every episode of the first year. Ah, the memories!

Some bands use some prerecorded backing tracks to enhance their live sound. Brainium did a little of this (plus all of their prerecorded drums) but a number of touring bands today do it as well. The Boys of Brainium discuss the pros and cons (in their meandering opinions) of playing live with backing tracks.    And congratulations to us for reaching one year of podcasts!

Thom recently saw the band Ghost live, then joined Gary less than a week later to see the band The Warning. Hear our thoughts on both concerts!

The term "lo-fi" has been around almost as long as "hi-fi" although its meaning has evolved over time. All of Brainium's recordings from the 80s (which is almost all of their recordings) would be considered "lo-fi", at least at some point in that evolution continuum. 

It's time for the band to play, but what songs will we perform? It depends on multiple factors as discussed by the boyz of Brainium. And the songs we decide to (maybe) play are on ... a set list!

Is it a song or a meme? The iconic Brainium classic "Elephant Head" has its story told at long last!

Most bands--especially small, local bands--play "covers" ... songs that were recorded by other artists. Sometimes bands only play cover songs. But other bands--like Brainium--play "originals" ... songs the band wrote themselves. The Boys of Brainium discuss the difference.

Our first crack at answering listener questions, not necessarily related to the podcast. Or music. Or reality. But we do our best with them anyway. Have a question for Brainium? Send it to podcast at brainium.band

We've mentioned it many times, now we finally talk a little bit about "The Musical" (as we cleverly refer to it). Almost 50 years (so far) in the making. Will it be worth the wait? Of course not, but hopefully it won't stink. In any case, at least we have this podcast episode about it. Hopefully it doesn't stink either. Confidence!

Brainium is only two guys so the guitar gets plenty of work in producing the band's inimitable sound. That guitar was (and is) Thom's Fender Stratocaster, aka "The Strat." Thom tells more than anyone could possibly want to know about this legendary axe.

Brainium, as a two-man band, used a drum machine both in recording sessions and live gigs. But we've also played with live drummers. What's the difference?

Being on stage looks fun (and it usually is) but someone in the band needs to manage the performance and interact with the crowd. (Even if it's a small one.) The Boys of Brainium discuss what it's like to do the job (not always well) in a local band.

Sometimes bands play live, sometimes in a studio. (And with Brainium, sometimes "live" to tape in a basement with no audience.) What's the difference? Plenty, actually. The Boys of Brainium (especially Thom) discuss their own experiences with playing live vs. the studio.

While Thom's Fender Strat provided almost all of the guitar sounds for Brainium (to date), another guitar shows up now and then played by Gary--the keyboard player who can't really play guitar (or keyboards, but that's another story). It's old and cheap (like Brainium?) but recently had some work done (unlike Brainium) so it seemed like a good time to showcase this obscure instrument.

Another in our series discussing the origins of specific Brainium songs. This one might be considered the band's "anthem" as it includes "Brainium" in the lyrics. (It also includes "pseudointellectual" but that's irrelevant.) A snippet from this song is the outro for our podcast episodes. Now you can hear the whole thing!

Big, successful bands have crews of sound people setting everything up and making sure it all sounds good during the performance. Most bands don't have that luxury. Brainium didn't. (Not yet, anyway.) So how do other bands (like Brainium) run their sound?

Getting into a band usually (but not always) requires an audition. Brainium talks about their audition experiences...both having them and giving them.

Believe it or not, things don't always go as planned during a gig. Shocking, right? In this episode, the boys of Brainium tell stories of some of their "uh oh" incidents. Unsurprisingly, this episode ran a little long even though we only hit the highlights (or lowlights) at Brainium and non-Brainium gigs.

In a previuos episode, we talked about some of our favorite Brainium gigs. Now it's time to talk about favorite gigs playing in other bands. While nothing can truly compare to playing a Brainium gig, there were still some good times for each of us playing in other bands. Just ask Thom!

Another Song Origins episode features the song "I'm A Monk." We discuss how the song originated and evolved into the new (for now) Brainium version. (The "new" version is from the late 1980s.) Hear the difference "Brainiumizing" the song made! Note: This episode is a little longer than usual. We'll strive to be more concise in the future. We do tend to ramble...

Hear about all the steps, from start to finish, that went into Brainium playing out live. There's a lot more to it than just the performance, especially when you're just two guys with no crew.

Brainium didn't play many live gigs, but all of them were fun, and some were particularly memorable. Sure they were decades ago but the boys of Brainium remember them well! (Sort of.)

Ever wonder what that local band you saw at the bar had to bring to their gig? Brainium tells you what they brought to their gigs! Hint: It's probably more than you think.

An in-depth look at the making of the song "People" from the early instrumental concept through Thom's first exposure to the new band and the 8-track studio recording. As best we can remember...it was a long time ago!

Brainium discusses their process (or lack thereof) for writing original music.

How Brainium recorded their music, starting with simple cassette decks back in the 80s and continuing through to the 2020s.

Brainium talks about how they got into music and how they ultimately got together to form the band Brainium.