Thanks to all- Closing Blog down

Greetings friends, followers and fans.

Its been over 4 years since i first started this Blog. Originally intended for friends and family to view photos from my travels worldwide. This was, ofcourse, well before Facebook! The Blog certainly has come a long way since i started using it in 2008 and the current trend of blogs make mine look somewhat dated! With many other sites to update the blog has slipped for me in the past couple of years, with very few posts, despite many followers from allover the world!

Its safe to say this blog has done pretty well, even though its intention was never to gain thousands of unique visitors! With approximately 15,928 total page views to date! :)

 Ive decided to officially shut down the blog, i will keep everything 'live', but ill no longer post here or add any updates. The last 2 years have been very productive for me, alot has happened, and changed in all aspects of my life. Im glad to say, all these changes have been for the better! :)

Im currently working on several 'projects'. If you wish to keep up to date with all that im doing, personally and in my work, music and business life please view the links below.

Thanks to everyone who has viewed, followed and took the time to view my blog here. Some great memories for me that i feel proud and lucky to of experienced are shared here. Its a great feeling to know so many people take an interest and the statistics of this blog show that (hence the photo).

So, thanks to everyone and follow the links below to find even more 'cool stuff'.

Warm Regards,

Nick

Able Towers,
Newcastle Upon Tyne Thursday 22nd November 2012, 21.59

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My personal Facebook Page - I only accept requests from people i know personally :)

https://www.facebook.com/nickable

My Facebook Guitar Page

https://www.facebook.com/NewcastleUponTyneGuitarLessons

My Personal Website

http://nickablemusic.com

My Guitar Website

http://newcastle-guitar-lessons.co.uk

My Learn Indian Music Website

http://learnindianmusic.com

My Twitter

https://twitter.com/NickAble

My YouTube Channels
http://www.youtube.com/newcastleguitar

http://www.youtube.com/user/nickablemusic

http://www.youtube.com/user/learnindianmusic

My LinkedIn

http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/nick-able/11/218/2a1

From India to Spain and El Libertador A showcase of new works in progress by North East based artists. From India to Spain From India to Spain explores the encounter between two musical cultures. Through diaspora there were people who left India and settled in the South of the Iberian Peninsula, having a vital influence not only on Flamenco music but also Flamenco palos and dances.The project features Nick Able (sitar) who has travelled the world with Anouska Shankar, Mayte Beltrán (Flamenco dancer) who performed in the Carlos Saura film Flamenco-Flamenco, Spanish ethnomusicologist/guitarist, Paco Bethencourt and multi-talented musician/percussionist Jeremy Bradfield. Co-commissioned and supported by GemArts and ¡VAMOS! El Libertador Simón Bolívar was the seminal, influential and contradictory figure behind the independence of Latin America from Spanish colonial rule. He liberated Bolivia, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama and Peru and fought to establish a unified republic in the form of Gran Colombia. Ultimately his vision and dream was rejected and it withered away and he died a bitter and lonely man. This monologue performance with actor Alex Elliot is presented as a work in progress in both Spanish and English. It has been written and directed by Nikolas Barrera and Alex Elliot. With elements of the script based on Bolívar’s speeches, the work mediates on universal themes of ambition, dreams and failure. El Libertador is supported by Arts Council England

Jam Tracks for Musicians!

Click the banner below to check out some amazing jam tracks for Guitar, Bass and Drums from some top players!!

Some cool FREE content to download from the site as well as articles and jam track packages to purchase.

Definitely the best jam tracks out there!!

9 years ago today

Today, the 3nd Janurary 2012 marks 9 years since i left the UK, traveled to India to live and study with the legendary Maestro Ravi Shankar in New Delhi.

So much has happened in the past 9 years and the time spent with my Guru (Guru-ji is the term we use to address the teacher) has taught me so much, and continues to have an impact on my daily life.

Thinking back it was a very exiting but terrifying journey. Id never really traveled before apart from one trip to the USA and one family holiday when i was about 12. To make matters worse my fight from Newcastle to New Delhi via Amsterdam was delayed for 12 hours! I was stuck in Schiphol Airport with not much to do apart from think about what was ahead of me. When i finally arrived in New Delhi i was stunned, the first thing that hit me, just as i stepped out the plane was the smell. When i got my luggage and made my way to the exit i was shocked yet again by the several hundred people outside, many of whom came over to me in a very forceful manner, taking my bags, trying to get me into their taxi etc. It was complete madness! I was picked up by Guruji's driver and taken to The Ravi Shankar Centre, the title given to The Shankars home where i would be living for the next 4 months. It was early afternoon, sun shining and upon arrival i met Guruji for the first time. I was taken to my room which was very basic compared to the rest of the house. I had a single bed, three shelves and a bathroom with a shower and a bucket. The walls were bare apart from one framed photograph of Guruji. It was clear this was a place made for serious practice and study of music, nothing else. I smiled to myself when i went into the bathroom to put out my personal items and found some plastic toy bugs, spiders and cockroaches in the sink! The Shankars has placed them there to try to scare me as id shown a big fear of big bugs and was worried id see a lot of them in India! I was told to rest as id had a long journey and i spent the evening settling in.

The next morning i was told to come to the music room at 11am, where id meet with Guruji for my first lesson. I was loaned a sitar as mine was being made and would take some time. I went into the music room very nervous, Guruji was sat on the carpet along with Kenji Ota, another student from Japan, and Gaurav Mazumdar, a senior student of Guruji who would be coaching me in the first few weeks.

Guruji's first words to me, once i sat on the floor opposite him with the sitar on my lap were

'Ok lets see what you can do'

My jaw dropped.

Stay tuned for more soon...

New Endorsements!

I'm really pleased to announce that i am now endorsed by IK Multimedia and Arobas Music-Guitar Pro!!

Thanks so much to both these companies for their support!

New Project!

Library Album | Teaser Trailer from Dominik Johnson on Vimeo.

Collaborating with fellow Ethnic/World musician on a new Library Album. Here is a short trailer featuring the musicians and producers who are taking part in the project.

Ravi Shankar Celebrating His 10th Decade!

Tomorrow night in Manchester at the Bridgewater Hall, Maestro Ravi Shankar, my Guru will be performing a concert in celebration of his 10th Decade. Im very happy and proud to be part of this event, its been over 8 years since i went to India and became a disciple of Ravi Shankar where i began studying sitar and indian classical music.

Continuum wins 'Best of IFF'11' at Immersive Film Festival 2011

Continuum won 'Best of IFF'11' in the short film category at this years Immersive Film Festival in Portugal. For more information see here

The work has also been programmed at the 'Fulldome Festival 2011', taking place at the Zeiss Planetarium, Jena, Germany from 12-14 May.

New Endorsement from Toontrack!

Im happy to announce that i am now endorsed by Toontrack! Ill be using all their plug-ins in my work from now on and will also be doing some tutorials on EZDrummer, Superior Drummer, EZ Mix etc etc. Please click here to visit the Toontrack website.

Anoushka Shankar 'Rise' Tour- Europe, Summer 2006

YouTube channel for Nick Able Music

Still not managed to get back into the habit of updating the blog on a regular basis. However, i am now starting to upload videos to my YouTube channel. I have about 20 DV tapes to edit, as well as footage from my camera so theres plenty on its way. Ill also be doing some tuition videos for guitar, sitar and music production.

Please remember to SUBSCRIBE to the channel to get updates when i upload a new video as i wont be posting each one here. Thanks!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpNS_EOkbN0

Continuum 2011 Screenings

Continuum has been programmed into this years Newcastle Science Festival on 14th March at Centre for Life where it will be sharing an evening with the preview of 'Primitive Streak'. The work has also been programmed at Fulldome Festival UK 2011, (12th - 13th March). The event will be held at Thinktank Birmingham and has been coordinated by Plymouth based organisation GaiaNova.

The work has also been submitted to the International Fulldome Festival in Portugal and The 5th Fulldome Festival at the Jena Zeiss Planetarium in Germany.

For a Fulldome UK 2011 press release, click here

Download Newcastle Science Festival 2011 brochure here

Ravi and Anoushka Shankar Live at Salisbury Cathedral in 2003

From my first ever tour with Ravi (Guruji) and Anoushka Shankar back in 2003! This clip is from Salisbury Cathedral where we did a special concert.

What's on my desk (or sofa) today???

Two brilliant books on guitar technique. These books are by far some of the best available for guitar studies.

New Update January 2011

Well..again its been a loooong time since i updated the blog. Just not got back into the swing of it but i will be updating it regularly from now on. While im at it, does anyone out there know if a good app to upload direct from iPhoto?? It would make it sooo much easier for me since i already upload to Facebook, Flickr etc direct from iPhoto.

Anyways my first post is my current reading pile...Quadrivium, The Optimum Nutrition Bible, Multiple Streams of Income, Introducing NLP, Dragons Den, A Dictionary, The Dawn of Indian Music in the West and Derren Browns latest book....in addition to this im also working through Tony Robbins Get The Edge and Personal Power 2 audio courses...

Whats on my desk today???

New Update

Hi readers and friends. Its been a while since i updated the blog. Its been a busy last few months. Did a great tour with Anoushka Shankar back in April/May allover the USA and Europe. Halfway through the tour my MacBook Pro laptop died which caused alot of problems for my work, as you can imagine. Will post some photos from the past few months work and activities before getting back into the swing of updating the blog as regularly as possible. I also have created a Flickr account where i have started uploading alot more photos- its much easier as there is a direct upload button from within iPhoto. Check it out here.

Photos from Changeling at Globe Gallery

Photos by Andrzej Wojtas

Changeling to be shown at Globe Gallery, click here for information

Changeling

Changeling from Paul Grimmer on Vimeo.

A portal to an unspecific place opens to reveal glimpses of a body form that constantly mutates. Changeling explores themes of control, ambiguity and the constructed self, challenging and transforming perceptions of beauty and perfection.

Peer through the looking glass into another world, an unseen world, some things seem familiar, some strange, like a dream. Here, in this other world a body moves, in and out of focus, suspended, opening and closing, forming and re-forming, seeking perfection, struggling to fit between ends always unknown.

Changeling is a gallery adaptation of the fulldome work Continuum and part of a larger body of work Mutations. The work was developed during residencies with the Medical Research Council, Virology Unit, Glasgow (2008), Allenheads Contemporary Arts, Northumberland (2009) and Dance City, Newcastle (2009).

Supported by: Allenheads Contemporary Arts, Arts Council England, Dance City, Globe Gallery & Medical Research Council.

After Effects Editor: Andrzej Wojtas
Sound Composition: Nick Able

Continuum

Continuum from Paul Grimmer on Vimeo.

Continuum is an immersive fulldome video work with 5.1 surround soundscape created specifically for immersive planetarium environments. The work is a meditation on notions of beauty, perfection and difference focusing on a body, physically and digitally modified and transformed. As the body moves in and out of focus, suspended, it is glimpsed, not seen, taken apart, re-ordered and replicated into new, exotic forms. The work was developed during residencies with the Medical Research Council, Virology Unit (Glasgow 2008), Allenheads Contemporary Arts (Northumberland 2009) and Dance City (Newcastle upon Tyne 2009).

Mentor/Outside Eye: Fiona Wright
Movement Research/Director of Photography: Wendy Erickson
Camera: Ian Bailey
Camera Assistant: Aaron Blenkin
Grip: Paul Kemp
Lighting: James Froment
Prosthetic and Make Up: Satinder Chumber
Costume Design: Jo Brossman
Technical Support: Daniel Barella
Storyboards: Paul Grimmer
Editor: Andrzej Wojtas
Dome Technician: Chris Hudson (Centre for Life)
Audio Production & Sound Design: Nick Able, Benjamin Freeth
Engineering, Mix and Master: Nick Able
Additional Engineering: Benjamin Freeth
Recorded, Mixed and Mastered: Nick Able Music Studio
Additional Recording: Culture Lab, Newburn Surgery
Filmed at: Dance City

New Update

Friends,

Not been updating the blog for a while now. Been very busy with Anoushka- two months touring the USA and Europe. My laptop died whilst on the European tour which left me helpless! Took a while to get things up to date upon my arrival home, transferring files to Mac Pro, backing up data etc etc. Now in London with Anoushka and got new laptop so i can start to update the blog again whilst im on my travels. Going to make the updates less frequent though as i find it very time consuming (can anyone recommend a good plug in for iPhoto to make updates easier??). Also because i have TWO new websites coming out very soon. They have been delayed somewhat due to my laptop problems as i had planned to spend the month of the European tour updating and adding all the content. Also i recently made a Flickr account where i will start to upload many of my photos- there is a great feature in iPhoto that enables a direct upload so its much easier for me to use and i can upload alot of photos compared to this! I still hope you all continue to visit the blog as it will feature content not displayed on other sites.

Please bookmark and check these other sites...

http://www.flickr.com/people/nickablemusic/

http://www.youtube.com/user/nickablemusic

Also follow me on Twitter @NickAble

Warm Regards,

Nick.

Continuum Press Release

Photo by Colin Davison

Public preview of:

Continuum
A fulldome video art work by Paul Grimmer
Featuring a commissioned 5.1 surround soundscape by Nick Able and Benjamin Freeth

‘Continuum’ will preview at the Planetarium, Centre for Life, Newcastle upon Tyne on Friday 25th June as part of ‘Identity Masquerade’ between 18:30 - 21:00.

Newcastle based artist Paul Grimmer will be premiering his new video work in the unique immersive environment of the Planetarium at Newcastle’s Centre for Life. Grimmer developed the work during artist residencies with the Medical Research Council, Virology Unit in Glasgow (2008) and Allenheads Contemporary Arts in rural Northumberland (2009).

‘Continuum’ has been created specifically for the 10-metre diameter hemispherical screen at Centre for Life’s Planetarium, the largest in the region. Created with support from the development team at Life, ‘Continuum’ uses fulldome technology to create an immersive experience for the viewer, placing them inside of the work. The Centre is currently celebrating 10 years of excellence in the field of genetic research, which has been another influence for Grimmer’s work.

The artist says...

“The work explores the gaps between what we see and understand and what remains unseen and incomprehensible. ‘Continuum’ imagines another world, perhaps a microscopic world, like that of the virus or one that is as unimaginably vast as the universe. These extremes can only be visualised with the help of science and yet retain a sense of wonder and magic, they live in the imagination”

“Certain genetic mutations manifest themselves visibly, others are invisible but are mutations nonetheless. To the virus mutation is key to survival. Viruses are deadly and dangerous, yet highly ordered and beautiful, I am interested in these dualities”

“The Planetarium is designed and best equipped to display astronomical information and 3D animation. Learning how to adapt video for this setting was extremely challenging but also exciting as it offers a unique level of immersion for the viewer”

Complementing the visuals is a 5.1 surround soundscape produced and mixed for the planetarium by composer and musician Nick Able and multi-media artist and musician Benjamin Freeth, both based in Newcastle. The soundscape was created with support from Culture Lab and Newburn Surgery where recordings were gathered from the artist’s body as source material.

During his residency at Allenheads Grimmer contacted prosthetics sculptor Satinder Chumber with a strange request, to make him a tail. This unusual body modification was to be worn during the video shoot for Continuum. The transformation also involved the artist being painted gold from head to foot, creating a body both beautiful and grotesque. Working with movement, researched and developed at Dance City (2009), ‘Continuum’ explores mutation, difference and notions of beauty.

Project supported by:
Allenheads Contemporary Arts, Arts Council England, Centre for Life, Culture Lab, Dance City, Medical Research Council, Newburn Surgery, Newcastle Science Festival 2010

Location:
Life Science Centre, Times Square, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne & Wear, NE1 4EP
For directions see - http://www.life.org.uk/life-science-centre/visit-us

Tickets:
Tickets for the ‘Identity Masquerade’ event cost £5 and are available from Centre for Life, for bookings contact: Niamh on 01912438223

For further information, full resolution images or interviews contact:
Paul Grimmer on 07919568432 or at paul@paulgrimmer.co.uk

www.paulgrimmer.co.uk

Sailing in the Bay Area...

I feel like im in the film 'Dead Calm'- but where's Nicole Kidman????

Two and a half days off in San Francisco

Jordan Rudess at Pyramind- San Francisco

Jordan Rudess and Moldover
Jordan performing on his iPhone
Wizbot- Jordan's iPad/iPhone App.
Sneak view of a new App Jordan is designing, inspired by the Haken Continuum!! Cant wait to try this!!

Apple's iPad!!!

The Apple iPad is a great little device. I must admit when it first came out i was somewhat disappointed. No iSight camera, and its basically a large iPod Touch. However, upon seeing and holding one in my hands...i LOVE it....needless to say i wont be coming home with one. But when Apple bring out the 2nd Generation, ill be getting one for sure!!

Arrival in San Francisco after 3 shows in a row!

Our hotel in San Francisco- The Fairmont
View from the room 1
View from the room 2
Lobby
Soo many hills....