General Music Chat

It wasn't everything I could ever have dreamed for, by any stretch.

Sound man sucked.

The first 1/2 of the set went extremely well, but then all the energy just seemed to drop out, for some reason...perhaps it was cuzza the sound man tweaking stuff & we couldn't hear anything right anymore.

I was fighting myself, trying to stay upbeat, & ppl commented on my stage energy, but man, trust me, it was forced!

Guitars were constantly going out of tune. The guys were using amps that they didn't know how to use. Volumes were up & down & sideways. This one was a chore for the whole hour & a half. (Hour & a half? It doesn't sound so bad when I put it like that, does it?)

But at least I got paid! Yay for me!

Met some cool ppl, too.

Onward and upward.

Was the show outside?

Yep. I know...outside gigs are the toughest for the sound guy...& the guitars...& thus, my take on things...

On another note - the Flamingo Road guitarist that I always bitch about just released a solo CD...& he put a lil thank you in it for me, for some reason...(perhaps he was reminded to tune his axe?)...& for some reason I feel a little shamed that I've been so rough on him...not that it wasn't deserved, mind you, but the thank you hit me in a soft spot, esp since I had nothing whatsoever to do with his project.

I'd love to play open air again. I really miss that.

If it's melting hot outside, you gotta let them 6 strings get up to air temp before you fight with the tuning.
Otherwise ya got tuning nightmares as you go along cuz the wood and all is heating up.

It's a bich. And it taint exactly good for your instreemunt.
I've seen peoples synths and digital effects units just not work at all due to the heat. Or act possessed.

Truthfully, it wasn't even that hot out...around 80-85 in the shade, & we had shade. Nice breeze. Steady temps. The guitars had been left out of the cases for over an hour before we started...plenty of time for them to settle in.

Some ppl just don't know how to tune a guitar. I always tune UP to the right pitch, NEVER down. The string gets stuck in the nut when you do that, often, & as soon as you start bangin' away, it pops out, gets loose, goes flat, & sounds all poopy. This is even a worse problem on 'lectrics, cuz they don't have as much tension on the strings. BOTH of these guys do that, to their detriment, & they've been playing for over 60 years, if you combine their experience.

I'll never understand why ppl don't just listen to me & do what the f*ck I tell them without question, cuz it's oh so obvious that I'm ALWAYS right!

The amp prob's just pissed me off. The lead guy had even taken the red Twin home to work out his tones, & it was clear that he had no frikken clue what to do to make the sound acceptable. I don't think he even tried to set up his tone, just plugged in, set his volume, & went with it. (He's normally a flat-top bluegrass picker, & doesn't have much experience with 'lectrics & amps, outside of working with us for the last 6 years or so. I've often set up his stuff for him, & I prolly shoulda done it today, I guess.)

The Telly would never match up with that Peavey practice amp in any decent way, either, & I've said so...but of course no one listens to the bass guy...until it's too late!

Then, of course, the sound guy actually walked onstage while we were playing, & twisted knobs on amps! It was the most unprofessional thing I've ever seen in my life, & if he had touched my amp without my permission & REQUEST, I'd have banged him with my bass up-side his headbone.

So yeah..it was a tad frustrating...

At least I solved one of the problems in the foreseeable future, after this debacle. The one guy will return to his strength - acoustic - cuz I made it pretty plain that what he was doing with the Telly wasn't ever gonna work.

I hope the next gig goes better for you Philby. It is very frustrating when your bandmates don't think things thru and bring new gear that they haven't even plugged into before the gig. I have been thru that and it just adds more uneeded stress. Personally I don't miss the open air gigs ONE BIT I have been playing them for 10 years. I have the sound worked out thats not the problem its that Damn weather. The heat 100 degrees plus, the rain outs (though I have tarps for that) and then there is the 20 degree gigs when grabbing your guitar feels like your picking up a block of ice and trying to play with numb fingers. To me its a trade off, the outdoor gigs end earlier and I am usually home by 12:30am but there's that weather thingy. Then you have the indoor gigs when I don't get home until 4:00am but never broke a sweat. We played Fri. and Sat. both of the gigs were inside and I loved it!

I don't remember ever doing an outdoors gig that I really enjoyed as a musical experience. Sound is crappy, lighting is crappy, little audience-musician intimacy and equipment doen't always cooperate. But for some reason they're still fun.

Yeah, normally, outdoors is a blast, in the right circumstances.

In the sound guy's defense, we were playing at a high school, with lotsa buildings in odd configurations. So I'm sure there were tons of echoes & other off the wall problems. I really shouldn't gripe too much about him, except for the on-stage tweaking stuff. In my experience, he should have advised, rather than just stepped in, cuz in some ways he only made things worse for everyone.

When I've played at parks, or farms in the hippie festivals, it's always been in an open area, & at times there was even a natural arena kinda thing happening. I LOVED playing them!

This was a logistics nightmare from the get-go.

"I always tune UP to the right pitch, NEVER down. The string gets stuck in the nut when you do that, often, & as soon as you start bangin' away, it pops out, gets loose, goes flat, & sounds all poopy. This is even a worse problem on 'lectrics, cuz they don't have as much tension on the strings. BOTH of these guys do that, to their detriment, & they've been playing for over 60 years, if you combine their experience". -Philby

You'd be surprised how many musicians do not seem to get this concept.

TUNE UP, NOT DOWN. You'd think that people that play regularly already know this all too well.. lol DOH!

Before I play a gig. I tune my guitar, if my strings are sharp I always go flat and then tune to pitch and then I ALWAYS stretch them to make sure there is no slack between the nut and tuning machines. I Never have problems getting guitars tuned to pitch as a result of this technique!

Yeah, normally, outdoors is a blast, in the right circumstances.

Outdoors can be a blast if you have a good stage mix on the moniters ... otherwise it can be hell.

Yeah, normally, outdoors is a blast, in the right circumstances.

Outdoors can be a blast if you have a good stage mix on the moniters ... otherwise it can be hell.

AAAAAAAAGH... oh, excuse me, was just a nightmare remembrance

It all comes down to the talent of the sound techs in the end, but if the stage gear is whack then it's up to the alcohol ingestion



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