General Music Chat

Hey John .. I have this happen a lot .. don't know what does it .. humidity .. temperature .. aliens .. or my ear are just not working .. don't know

Hey John .. I have this happen a lot .. don't know what does it .. humidity .. temperature .. aliens .. or my ear are just not working .. don't know

We use to say it's the barometric pressure "yeah thats the ticket"! Seriously I have been told it is due to eardrum compression. When you first start playing as your eardrums compress the sound seems to change. In the recording studio engineers know to start with the headphone volume low and bring it up a little as the artist starts performing. I have also heard it is due to ear fatigue. Your eardrums just get tired, but that sounds like compressed eardrums. Hell who knows?

Its kind of a whole different subject, our ears.

I have tintinitus or how ever you spell it. I have a constant buzzing that seems to get aggravated by flourescent lights, I can actually hear them! Sometimes it gets loud.

Ive also noticed in the morning when I get up, sometimes it feels like pressure in my ears, and I can ussually yawn, wiggle my jaw and it clears up.

Another thing is sometimes its like one of my ears will stop working, its like one side just cuts off for a few seconds.

I had a physical a couple of years ago and they checked my ears with one of those freguency devices and other than some midrange the guy said my ears were fine for someone my age that had been in the army shooting cannons. LOL! I said Ive never been in the Army, he said OH!

stage fright's never been a problem for me. i'm pretty confident (not cocky...just confident) in my skills and ability to land on my feet no matter what. even when playing songs i haven't played or even heard. as long as i have a good chart, or i can see the rhythm gtrst's or keyboardist's hands and watch the drummer...i'm game.

a few yrs ago i did a cpl of gigs w a talented and beautiful 24 yr old lady from brazil. note....i'm a fool for both brazilian music AND beautiful women w accents.

anyway...she plays authentic brazilian style gtr (sambas, bossas) and could really sing. some newer norah jones, and alison krauss stuff but also lots of classic bossa nova Jobim tunes from the 60's. i was playing backup gtr (fills, solos, sketching out some bass lines). so, i know SOME of that stuff but it ain't like i grew up playing it and know these tunes cold.

we get on the gig and she's a total basketcase. it's just a gig at a local restaurant where folks aren't even paying that much attention but she's sweating bullets and wants to bail before we've played a note! i convince her the show must go on and she'll be fine. and after EVERY tune it's the same thing...she's freaking out and wants to bolt. i literally have to talk her down after each tune!

so, three tunes in she tells me she can't play gtr anymore and that i need to accompany her and lay it down. and i don't know half these tunes that are really pretty involved and complex. oh, did i mention the charts absolutely SUCKED and were pretty much useless?

funny, as stressed as she was, she still had the wherewithall to wag a finger at me and scold me every cpl of tunes "don't mark the time so much". yeah, honey...you don't like the way i'm comping ..YOU lay it down.

well, we got thru the gig somehow. i decided i would not be going thru another night like that w her...accent be damned.

well, she called a month later to hire me for another gig and swore up and down that she got her feces together and wouldn't freak as bad. nice guy/chump/whore that i am...i agreed. she was mildy better but still a bundle of nerves.

^ Then you introduced her to the reefer

Only before the first note is played and it still sounds good. I get so into the pickin that I don't realize there are people out there listening. I'm just listening to the singer and paying attention to what is going on around me. Then I usually look up and see people looking and smiling. Hard to stay sacred after that point.

I adapt ( or do my best to anyways ) the same mindset I used as a martial artist when stepping out onto the floor or into the cage.

It's a present in the now kind of thing.
To be totally present in the moment, unconcerned about the past or future where failure or success neither exist.

As of most recently I have been more and more intentional about having a smile on my face.
My wife has always said that when I "get that look" that I look like I just strangled my mother.

Probably not the best "crowd pleaser" look for an entertainer.
Unless your in the Colosseum in Rome.

Funny George. My pictures when playing look the same, no smile, like I'm fighting a seven-headed snake.

Funny George. My pictures when playing look the same, no smile, like I'm fighting a seven-headed snake.

Exactly and unfortunately most of the time I have my mouth open too.

I learned when playing with Forced Entry that mirrors are really helpful.

Most players have no idea how ridiculous they look, tongue hanging down the side of their jaw, eyes all scrunched up.

Stage fright? Only for 15 to 30 seconds. Although I used to always wear shades so I really couldn't see the people so well.

Played a church gig recently and yep, 15-30 seconds, same as always. No sunglasses though...

Talbot

The few times I've stood up, I was terrified, when I looked at the audience, I I go through all the usual agony... But now I just embrace it ... I rather imagine that the audience is just as terrified when they look at me ... lol

As a singer I only get stage fright when unfamiliar or unpracticed with lyrics and changes and expression. When I command those anything goes. Rehearsal
and repetition are my best friends.[/b]

As a singer I only get stage fright when unfamiliar or unpracticed with lyrics and changes and expression. When I command those anything goes. Rehearsal
and repetition are my best friends.[/b]

Well said . . . and absolutely applicable in all life situations.

Most of nerves are the hours leading up to the show.
Similar to a boxers mindset, maybe. I'm locked into a mode and I don't deal we'll with mundane distractions.
I'm also affected by sound; maybe too much. If something is not right, it's hard to shake it off and do well.
If my sound and mix are shite, I play under my potential.
If the sound is great, I play over my potential.

Jäger is my tool of choice for loosening up.

Before the show, I'm laser focused on the set up routine and really don't even contemplate being a guitar player till after I wash up my hands and put my war face on.

Now if we have to wait some length of time after set up or have other bands up before we take the stage I'll be pacing like a tiger.