General Music Chat

Well, the new year's gig finally got here, and a friend showed up who could get a few onstage shots. None came out great, but with a little editing I got a fdew to look decent. My fault, I set the camera on Auto, which I almost never use, and everything was overexposed. But the friend wasn't familiar with my camera so I thought auto would be best. Guess that's what I get for doing my own thinking...

So here are a few shots of last night's gig. We had someone else helping out on guitar, since the venue wanted bigger than a 2 piece band, he did a good job and everything went well. Sound was probably the best we've had yet, a little feedback for a few minutes and Randy got that under control before long. The other guitar player is better at country than I am, he has the feel for it and I just don't.













I played auld Lang syne on sax, first ever attempt at that and pulled it off pretty well, and again we played several songs [by request] that we had never even thought about trying. All went well, with a small glitch as one started off, because Randy just started and I had no idea what he was up to for a few seconds until I recognized it. He thought I hear him call the song name, I was grabbing a quick drink of H2O and didn't hear it...but 10 seconds and I had it under control...

All in all it went well, good crowd of around 150 people, dance floor crowded most of the night, everyone really liked it. Even the crazy hats

Pete,

Your hat is badass brother!

Where the hell did you find that thing?


So glad the gig went well for you guys. I know it was back and forth, trying to pull it all together in time, but obviously it was a success! Great way to ring in the New Year!

Keep rockin' brother!

You're my hero!



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And that guy flips me out!

Playing bass on keys (was that right?) and drums at the same time?

CRAZY!!!

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Thanks a lot Craig,

Got the hat at a resale shop years ago, I haunt resale shops and yard sales constantly. I have 3 like that, the other 2 are horizontal color banded. (Cat in the Hat hats.) Got most of my stage clothes that way. The tux I was wear9ing was given to me by a friend years ago, I never wear it so I grab it now and then for gigs. Also have several other crazy hats - jester hats, caps with hair velcroed in, anything I can come up with.

Yep, that's Randy New, playing drums and bass on keys at the same time. and he's damn good at it. And I mean damn good at it...I was amazed first time I heard him play, he's been a musician (primarily drummer) as long as I have, together we have around 80 years experience. Usually it's 2 piece, just me and Randy and it sounds great. I quit using the Champ and run just the Super Reverb now because I couldn't get a full enough sound out of the 8" Champ speaker, even mic'd into the PA. This was also the first time he heard me play sax, I usually can't because it gets really empty if I drop the guitar.

Glad you liked it, you must have been going through the forums as I posted, I never expected a reply less than 5 minutes after posting...

No bass player? You suck, Billy!

j/k, of course! Still, I wanna know how in the hell he can play drums AND bass pedals! Never saw anything like that before. I DID see on guy do a gig solo playing bass & drums at the same time. He was pretty good, too, considering.

Love the pictures, and the Yin Yang hat!
Glad it's going so well for you Billy.
Keep rockin.

Thanks guys, we had a blast and I couldn't wait to drop a post in and show off a couple of pics.

Philby - He's playing bass on a keyboard with his hand, not pedals. Drums with one hand, keys with the other. (and feet on drums too of course, plus good vocals/harmonies too) And as I said already, he's damn good at it.

A friend also got some video but I'll have to see what the sound quality is like before I have any idea if I can post a video online. Usually anything but professional level video equipment won't get great audio, so video might be a pipe dream, but if it happens to be decent sound, I guess I'll have to sign up on youtube...

I hope something sounds decent, I'd love to be able to let you guys see what Randy can do. You just don't really get a grip on it until you see it...several people have told us they can close their eyes and think it's a full band, open them and can't believe it's just two guys...I watched the club manager a couple of weeks ago talking to a lady, both would look away then just shake their heads...He told me later that's what they were doing.

Thanks again for the comments, and glad you like the hat.

Ya know, with all the top notch audio/visual equipment that has become available to the general public. You'd think somebody would put out a decent recorder specifically for bands. (perhaps they do my knowledge of AV is pretty limited)
My wife has a cousin whom has invested many thousands of dollars in his professional equipment including the required computer programs. He works for the local college but wants to AV full-time.
I need to talk to him again, I know he travels a lot to do this kinda thing and if the job is juicy enough for a good promo, he said he's done some just for expenses.
I know he told me some months ago his best equipment was in the video aspect, and if I really wanted a professional level music video I would have to provide professional recordings for him to splice with video.
Apparently his audio is just of average quality.
I'll wager his average is superior to anything I've produced though.

Pete,

Alot of us here have the "Zoom H2" which is only $200 bucks, and does an amazing job at recording live gigs, practices whatever. The mics are amazing, and for a device that just about fits into your shirt pocket, you will be pleasantly surprised at the sound quality.

If you have the bread to spare, you won't regret having this recorder.

What I do, is record the audio at gigs using the H2 and record video on whatever, and then put them together in editing.

I would be more than happy to do that for you, if you needed a hand.

Alot of bands are actually using this device to make demos of their live performances, and I don't know anyone who has this thing, and has not loved it!

It has 4 mics in it, and can even record in surround sound.

Check it out sometime:

http://www.zoom.co.jp/english/products/h2/

Thanks Craig, that's good to know. Might be a while till I have 200 bucks to spare, but that sounds like a good toy to me. Right now my first expense I think will be an acoustic amp, then a guitar with dual humbuckers or maybe a small tube amp around 10-15 watts but with a 12" speaker instead of the 8 incher in the Champ. It just won't do the trick onstage, sounds like a small cheesy practice amp no matter what I do.

I'll definitely keep this in mind though, I'd love to get some good video, not only to show online friends, but to get an idea what I/we need to do to put together a better show. Nothing like watching yourself to find out what needs improvement...

Yea.............. it's freakin scary man.

I like his freaking pick guard ! lol

Right On..

Looks like you had a good one, Happy New Year man.

Bass, keys, drums, and vocals at the same time? I can hardly walk and chew gum at the same time...

Capt - I like that pickguard too, go tit at a local guitar shop. He had several and I picked out the one that looked best for my guitar. Here's a better pic




Bane - thanks man, it was a good one.

Bob - Me too..