#guitar | MidiMike

Posts Tagged ‘#guitar’

Don’t Quit Your Day Job!

Posted: August 3, 2015 in MUSIC, My Tunes
Tags: #12string, #acoustic, #audio, #bass, #create, #drums, #guitar, #lyrics, #music, #musician, #performance, #performer, #personal, #poetry, #recording, #recordingstudio, #retro, #singer, #song, #songwriter, #sound, #story, #studio, #vocalist, #vocals, #writer

Like many songs or projects do, this song combines a number of events in my life with observations I make as an observer on the planet Earth. I was outside and looked up in the sky one afternoon for no real reason and noticed there was a bright full moon. I know they happen, it just seemed unusual and weird. Do werewolves come out on a full moon In the Middle of the Day? I digress. So I thought that is weird, and how would most people notice there was a full moon? When you’re looking up from the ground. I worked in a call center for a number of years. Some of those years get boiled down into a verse or two. It expresses frustration with the extreme customer and how difficult it can be to ‘act professionally’ when under duress. But there is also recognition of the people I have worked with. It feels natural. We work as a team with no agenda. I have worked with some great teams of people, some very smart and some very dedicated and some very efficient. All working together and helping each other. If only we could get big business and politicians to work like that. On this song I programmed the drums and played bass guitar behind the 12 string and vocals. It was just a quick little ditty about work. I like the arrangement of the song and it has a few twists to it. It is fun to play and I hope you enjoy!

“In the Middle of the Day”

Muscle machine; glorified drama queen,

Held together by something in between.

There’s a full moon in the middle of the day,

Sometimes you just can’t get out of the way.

All the crazies, calling you on the phone

Never get the time to be on your own.

There’s a full moon in the middle of the day

Tell ‘em the Truth; Lies, they won’t believe you anyway.

But it feels natural like this

Everything works the way it’s supposed to be.

Know it with every kiss:
I’ll take care of you, if you‘ll take care of me.

It’s one thing, until you turn around

That’s when you notice, looking up from the ground.

There’s a full moon, in the middle of the day,

Gets to where black and white blurs into gray.

The dumb ones really get on your nerves,

And This One thinks everyone’s here just to serve.

There’s a full moon, in the middle of the day,

Don’t you ever wish you could say what you want to say?

It feels natural like this

Watch out for each other, learn from what you see.

Know it with every kiss

I’ll take care of you, will you share your life with me.

*It feels natural like this. It feels natural like this….

There’s a Full Moon in the Middle of the Day,

There’s a Full Moon in the Middle of the Day

Sharing is Caring – Creative Blogger Award

Posted: August 1, 2015 in Opinions and Observations
Tags: #acoustic, #band, #cars, #create, #creative, #creativity, #demo, #dreams, #guitar, #inspiration, #inspire, #journey, #life, #love, #Martial Arts, #music, #musician, #observation, #performance, #performer, #performers, #personal, #random, #share, #songwriter, #sound, #story, #Tae Kwon Do, #writer

I was nominated for the Creative Blogger Award by https://toniumbarger.wordpress.com (Thanks so much for the kind words)

Here are the 5 Random Facts About Me:

1) Before working at the music store, I worked for a Toyota dealership and sold – wait for it —– Used Cars!!!! I even sold a used car to my future wife. I knew and still know nothing about cars other than how to drive them. I was quite successful and my strategy was not to overwhelm customers with specs and technical jargon. I just found out what they needed and suggested a couple cars they would like. I loved the work but hated the tactics and methods used by the managers, finance department and just about everything except the money. It was not worth it to me so I quit selling used cars and started working at the music store for a lot less money. I also sold a car to my future wife.

2) In my last count including technical schools and college I have attended eighteen schools. I did this count so long ago I can’t remember all the schools now! This is why I’m bad at names and good at getting to know someone very quickly. I have a difficulties remembering names and places. I knew family, but unless you were around for a long time, I simply didn’t try to remember names of kids at school, or teachers, or buildings, or neighbors. But I was good at making friends and connecting with customers. I can tell you every piece of equipment my music store customers owned, where they played (not by name… but location), and know what style of music they were into but could not remember their names. It is a real challenge in the sales and music industries! If I could remember names and network, I would be dangerous!

3) I have studied Martial Arts for years. My choice to pursue Tae Kwon Do came from the name (I was told it loosely translated to open hand – open fist, meaning no weapons). The other thing that I liked is they start teaching defense postures rather than attack moves. If you were challenged and the ‘attacker did not play fair’ we were also trained how to incapacitate them or simply take them out if needed. One of my songs has a line – ‘I am a pacifist that just loves a good fight’! I have never had to use it against an attacker but the training and philosophy have lasted a very long time.

4) In reality, with all my posts on musical theory, I do not read sheet music! I know how it works and if I had to I could, but I learn and play by ear. (I have to work at it but I get there) If I need to use the sheet music to learn a piece, once I have learned it enough to play, I never use the sheet notation again.

5) Speaking of cars, I guarantee I can teach any licensed driver how to drive a car with a standard transmission in less than ten minutes……..

Instead of tagging a few of you, because I really do enjoy so many of your blogs on a daily basis, I’m encouraging you to share a few random facts about yourself with me – Anything you want to share is welcome. I love getting to know you all and I’m thankful every day to be a part of such an open, welcoming and diverse community.

Musical Dissection

Posted: July 30, 2015 in Music Theory
Tags: #audio, #band, #chords, #drums, #guitar, #keyboard, #music, #musician, #musictheory, #notes, #performance, #personal, #piano, #sound, #writer

When looking at the keyboard as an example of note patterns and the arrangement chart I used for the numerical assignment for each note, it might be natural to think that the Black keys or Shaded fields represent the ‘Half notes’ or notes that are not within a scale. This however takes us down the wrong path. The keyboard offers a clean representation of the note relationships at a quick glance but we need to be careful how we perceive this relationship. ALL notes – no matter what the color – are HALF notes. The color of each key means NOTHING if we are not in the key of C Major. Look at many other instruments and there are no color designators for scales, notes or keys. The guitar has other markings to help know what fret is being used, and this can be helpful for knowing the range of notes in any section of the guitar fretboard, but again, does not directly indicate notes within scales.

Play any adjacent note on the keyboard going up (higher notes – right) or down (lower notes – left) and it is another half step. Each instrument will have its own lingo but the structure is the same. Start with any note and if you skip a note or single key in this example you will be playing Whole notes. For guitar players we would say up one fret or down one fret…. up two frets or down two frets. Brass, wind and other players will talk about sharps or flats. From here it is better to be color blind until you get familiar with other scales and keys. If we start with a Black note for example, it becomes the Root and all notes will stem from that Root note. Some scales will include more Black notes, some scales will include less. The fact that the keyboard pattern has two white notes side by side has little value when thinking about scales, it just helps us understand the amount of separation from the surrounding notes. It is that separation and relationship that we need to focus on. The Perception is the distance between notes and the pattern helps understand their relationship to each other. The Deception can knock us off track if we begin to think the color designators represent a constant scale assignment.

In fact, when I look at a drum set I think the same way……. each tom, for example, should represent a tone or note and they can be tuned to fit within scales. For right-hand drummers or percussionists, the smaller toms are usually to the left-hand side and getting larger as you move to the right. Smaller toms are tuned to higher pitches and lower toms and the kick drum are tuned to lower pitches. YES! I will tune the drums when doing recording sessions so the tone of the drums will fit within the scale of the song. I might re-tune if necessary depending on the song, but that is fairly rare for bands to use dramatic changes. I make sure each tom, snare and kick drum is tuned to the project (that might be easier to understand than tuning to each song….). Like Gary Jefferson would often say to our audiences while the guitar player is silently tuning, ‘we sound better if we are in tune’! If the percussion instruments are not arranged properly and not tuned correctly, it will clash with the other instruments. The result can be unnoticed by many, but even those of us that are not professionals will notice that the recording or performance (as I mentioned I often tune drums for bands I am running sound for) sounds cloudy or awkward and not as tight as it could be even though the players are amazing and well rehearsed. We may not know why…. but we know something is getting in the way of a great performance.

NRSB – We Were Ready, But Nervous As Hell

Posted: July 28, 2015 in projects
Tags: #audience, #audio, #band, #contest, #guitar, #keyboard, #lyrics, #microphone, #monitors, #music, #musician, #performance, #performers, #personal, #piano, #radio, #retro, #singer, #song, #songwriter, #sound, #speakers, #stage, #story, #video, #vocalist, #vocals, #writer

This was one of those amazing events that happen in your life. You get thrown together with really cool and creative people and work on a project. There are so many stories here it is a good thing that I need to break it up into a number of segments. I have already credited a lot of the experiences I had as a result of working at the music stores. This was another one of those. The employees were musicians by definition and we also had band and instrument teachers working there. Everyone played but quite a number of us wrote our own material as well. At the store I managed, we were a diverse group with a wide definition of styles. I did not own it, but it was MY store. I had an agreement with the owner that he not visit my location while I was there. I would run it my way and do the best I can as if it is my store. He agreed and for years I did exactly that. I took care of the people that worked and shopped there. I gave people real advice and information. We developed long-term loyal customers. It was a great team and we had a common goal – do good and we keep the owner out of our building! Great motivation.

A local radio station WOXY in Oxford, OH sponsored a Local Licks radio segment I think every Thursday night for a few months. I had submitted a few of my songs and one of them got played one week. Nice feeling to hear your stuff on the radio. I submitted a few more original tunes and suggested one of the other employees to enter some of his songs. He had more of an urban beat box groove thing going and he did all his own recordings. He did not think anything would come of it as his stuff is even more eclectic than mine! So he gave me a cassette tape – yes, a cassette tape! – and told me to pick the best songs and send them in under his name. I took his tape home and consumed it for hours. Then I made my decision and picked three songs to submit. This is one of those funny things too. I sent in a song I thought had a great hook a nice arrangement and was really catchy in the genre he was in. I entered my next favorite that really pushed the drum/percussion thing he had going. I thought they had a good chance.

For the third song I threw in something that in all honesty was my attempt at ‘comedic relief’. I figured if I threw something out there that was really bizarre and off beat, they would think the other two songs were great by comparison. Not that the song was not great, but not a match for this heavy-leaning college radio station (… “the future of rock and roll” …..) The third song of his featured a banjo player and an off beat kind of groove. The Local Licks segments lead up to a radio version of battle of the bands. Songs played on Local Licks weekly segments would be entered into an elimination round on the last week the program aired. The finalists would have their songs played one more time as the winners were announced and then the bands would perform for just under an hour in a well known club in Cincinnati for prizes and glory.

As we listened to the local radio station during the elimination round there was a funny feel to the ‘winners’ moving ahead. There was an unusual flavor where songs you thought would be a shoe-in were dropped, and unusual tunes were advancing. Some songs were down right off the wall. There must have been a shift in judging but there were songs with unusual instruments in them getting to the finalists position. There was a song by a band called Tuba Blues. Another one I can’t remember had another unusual lead instrument and to think of it, as you remember one of my friend’s songs featured a banjo player!. Sure enough……. his song kept advancing. We were floored when they picked my friend’s third song! That night on the radio they announced the four finalists that would compete in a live battle of the bands event at Bogarts. Without pulling out records I think the event would be in about three or four weeks time from the announcement.

None of us at the store expected any of us to go that far, let alone to finalist. But none of us could believe that was the song that won! It was a fluke that I entered the song and that the judge apparently was looking for unusual instruments in rock and roll bands that year. Who da thunk? Once we met at work and talked it over it became obvious my friend had one problem; he was a soloist and there was no band! HA! The guitar teacher had a band called It. Ellen and I would join on keyboards and guitar and vocals and another employee and great friend over the years would join in on keys, guitar, vocals and a mean shaker! Each of us put in original songs to perform as a band and we rehearsed for a solid two weeks to try to get ready for this show. We knew numbers-wise we did not have a real chance of winning, but we were determined to make a show and event out of it.

……. All the while in the depths of a cave far from civilization, a Master of Ceremony was writing a series of short speeches that would be an added theatrical presentation between songs. Only the day of the performance did we see how this fit together and we had no idea what he was going to say – with the exception of a few word keys that would trigger a response from the band members, and occasionally the audience in return.

Fortunately we were all musicians currently involved in original songs and live performance. We had pretty good gear and we knew how to use it. We knew how to learn songs and how we can add to them or subtract as needed. Practice went well and started to be fun. The writer of the winning song chose the band name, and we made T-Shirts for all band members with the band name and studio logo; Willie the Ferret Studios. We worked out vocal parts as we had a number of vocalists and lots of harmonies and added speech. The lead guitar player was killer. His drummer was awesome and the bass player in their band IT, was solid and blindingly fast. With that foundation we just had to do our thing and it would all blend in fine. So we were ready enough but nervous as hell. A lot of things could go wrong here.

We get there and listen to the bands that were playing before us and there is a pretty good crowd at this point. We have our equipment squeezed up next to the stage entrance so we can rush in as soon as this band is done and moves their gear out. We set up fast. My keyboard controller does something funny and it takes me a while to fix it. No problem – tune guitar and ready to go. We look around and there are only a few microphones so we ask for more as we have a number of vocalists. They tell us no, that is what everyone gets. So as you see us a little unorganized and running from one side of the stage to another, it is changing instruments and trying to find a way for all vocalists to sing – or speak their part. After a while it was just funny and we worked it out quickly for the most part and had fun with it.

The audience is not sure and a little uncomfortable with the speeches at first, but after a couple times and solid music everyone got the idea and joined in. The band has to settle down a little and the monitors and the mix takes a while to get used to. It is hard to hear some of the keyboard and vocal parts in some parts but that is to be expected. The writer of our winning song does not perform until the last song, so he helps with the Main House mix in the club. We were a little more involved than the regular rock band so he was able to plan ahead. I wish the lighting guy had help too. They seem a little lost at times but over all still a cool event.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbgku7Zst0s&feature=youtu.be

http://youtu.be/O7NFjfEoXWk

http://youtu.be/4qzLJLK42M8

It’s A Good Thing He Wasn’t Home That Night

Posted: July 26, 2015 in My Tunes
Tags: #12string, #acoustic, #audio, #create, #creativity, #family, #fire, #gofundme, #guitar, #harmony, #inspiration, #inspire, #loss, #lyrics, #music, #musician, #personal, #recording, #singer, #song, #songwriter, #sound, #story, #thanks, #thankyou, #writer

With your help and a lot of other social groups and individuals, we have helped raise money to help my friend John try to recover from the house fire that happened while he was away. He still has not been able to get home to see the damage and to make plans for the immediate future. I really want to thank all of you for great comments, spreading the word and financial support. My guess is a number of people that do not know him offered support in a number of different ways. I am frankly proud and grateful of the way this blog community responded. Thank you again!

As many of you know I have been a musician for many years and met John when he was hired to work at the same music store I worked in. It is kind of funny as you get older you can talk of personal experiences in terms of DECADES!! Just saying.

Back on track, I wanted to give you an idea of the damage from the fire and the amazing group of local friends that organized without instruction and worked extremely hard to recover as many personal belongings as we could – and the restoration work that continues; and frankly, is really just at the beginning of that phase. I wanted to give you a picture. But we all know that is impossible. You cannot describe the lobbies in Las Vegas hotels or what it feels like in the middle of the ocean to someone that has never been there. We try. We get close. They get the idea, but until you have similar experiences it can be hard to know what those and many other things in life are truly like.

I have been to his house but I still do not have the big picture. The closest I can get is reliving the feeling I had when I came home from one of those rescue missions….. I walked up to my front door and as I started to put the key in the lock I thought; what if all of this is gone? In the difference of a day……. Memories gone. Pictures gone. Music gone. Furniture gone. Everything. Gone.

With those thoughts in mind and my keys in my hand, I wrote this song. I thank all of you for sharing, in so many ways. And while I am at it, thank you for allowing us to share with you.

http://www.gofundme.com/johnvaneaton

https://midimike.com/2015/07/11/please-help-spread-the-word/

Live Sound Reinforcement Series Chapter 18 – Small Club/Venue Environments

Posted: July 21, 2015 in Live Sound Reinforcement Series
Tags: # mixer, #amp, #audio, #band, #bass, #creative, #daughter, #drummer, #drums, #guitar, #livesoundreinforement, #microphone, #mixingboard, #music, #musician, #performers, #runningsound, #sound, #Soundengineer, #soundman, #speakers, #stage, #tech, #tips, #vocals

I spent a lot of time in smaller clubs with crowded stages and audience sizes varying from handfuls to standing room only capacity. The challenges come from each of them and have different resolutions. In some ways, I think the large clubs and outdoor events are the easiest to set up and run sound for. If it is a big stage or large arena, you turn everything up so it is in the main mix or no one will hear it. The smaller clubs you don’t necessarily put a microphone on every instrument. You cannot out-power a guitar player with a stack of cabinets. You might not be able to set up independent or multiple Monitor Mixes (stage mix for performers) and many times you have to share monitors (the cabinets or speakers themselves in this case…) between performers with various needs. Add keyboard player(s) or a horn section and it quickly over burdens the PA or sound system.

Setting up the stage with a few solutions in mind can help in each of these situations. In smaller clubs you might not have many options for the arrangement of musicians on stage. Some restraints may be obvious at first. Some will catch you off guard. Knowing what you are up against though can trigger steps to prevent problems.

These are basic but can avoid a lot of small-headache issues:

Place snake closest to center of stage if that is closest to where instruments/vocalists are positioned. Shorter cables are better if they allow performers needed mobility.

Make sure you know where the AC power outlets are. It is a drag to set everything up and not be able to plug in your power amps. (I also recommend bringing long heavy-duty extension cords for versatility)

Try to plug all stage instruments and PA gear along with the mixing board and external sound gear to the same AC breaker box.

Try to plug all lighting or other powered systems to a separate AC breaker box. (If it does not connect to the mixing board to make noise; plug it into another breaker box)

Use balanced (three wire cables) whenever possible. (I have been caught by 1/4″ audio jacks without locks getting knocked out in the middle of a gig more than once and hate anything that does not lock into position. rant now over)

Keep stage volume as low as possible (this is a couple posts all by itself!)

Consider cross-firing stage instrument amps like guitars and bass – rather than pointing at audience.

Make sure sound board is in the best sounding location and also close enough to the stage to connect snake and all gear – especially if you have to route the snake around the outside of the event area for safety or other reasons.

Cables are the first thing to go wrong even when properly handled and maintained. Bring a lot of SPARES.

Turn all power amps (including ones that are built into the speakers OFF or all the way DOWN when connecting or disconnecting gear. (there are shortcuts and general exception practices we will detail later).

Turn all recording gear OFF or down all the way until all devices and channels are connected and tested.

Make sure speaker cables (Mains and Monitors) are long enough to reach the power amps. I bring two long length sets of speaker cables and two short length sets (no matter how many total speakers I have, I will have two full sets….). If one side of the stage is where the power amps are, I use the short cable and the other one might require the longer cable. Sometimes you need both long cables. If I need a spare, I have two!

Drum risers could need low end cuts and even gates to reduce unwanted tones and resonances.

Color Code anything you can. Cables, Mic stands, Monitors, In-Put Channel labels or External gear/boxes. Make it easy to identify in low light. Green microphone goes with green cable goes to green snake plugs into green channel….. I also add a number to make larger sessions manageable. Vocal green 1, 2, 3…. Drum blue 1, 2, 3….. Brass white 1, 2, 3……

Not rocket science, just some thoughts. But if you get in the habit of considering these and other tips each time before you start hauling in equipment into a new venue, your set-ups will become quick and routine, even if the environment is new. If you keep all your gear in one place there are short cut power-up and power-down sequences I will detail soon.

Update and Appreciation

Posted: July 16, 2015 in My Tunes
Tags: #12string, #acoustic, #audio, #charity, #create, #creative, #creativity, #family, #fire, #gofundme, #guitar, #inspiration, #loss, #love, #lucky, #lyrics, #music, #musician, #performer, #performers, #personal, #poetry, #recording, #singer, #song, #songwriter, #sound, #story, #thanks, #vocalist, #vocals, #writer

I wanted to give everyone an update on my musician friend John (whose house was damaged in a fire). Lots of effort and a lot of good news, even in this sad event. John will be in town soon and will be able to look over the damage and take inventory of the surviving furniture and gear. Until then Alisa has organized the gofundme project http://www.gofundme.com/johnvaneaton which has raised $10,000 so far in less than a week. I think that is going to make a big difference in the next few days and weeks.

There are a number of people still working on cleaning and restoring items that were rescued in the search and recovery phase. Once John gets to look at the various projects, he will have a better idea of how to get back on his feet. We hope to have information from the team that is working on organizing a benefit soon.

https://midimike.com/2015/07/11/please-help-spread-the-word/ this is the original post about these events.

I’m also in the process of writing a song about the events using some guitar chords my wife was playing with recently and a little jam I was working on. Thank you all for getting the word out and helping as much as you can. I have come home from those salvage missions and realize everything that I have could be gone in moments. I am not rich, but the music and memorabilia would be irreplaceable. I will need them when memory loss really kicks in!

This song is for John, everyone who donated money and time to help him and all of you really cool bloggers. I’m going to post the lyrics first while I polish the song, but it will be up shortly.

“A Very Long Night” © 7-13-2015 Lyrics MSK Music MSK/ELK

Traveling for business

He is often out of town

From country to country

One city becomes the next

It wasn’t until he got the text

With pictures from the news

That he knew this was the beginning

Of a Very Long Night

He wasn’t home when the fire started

Everyone says it could have been worse

As we watched, broken hearted

Each tear became another verse

Unable to return any time soon

All my friend could do was watch

Phone calls and e-mail

The news from home was grim.

Some say it was best for him

Being out of town.

Some say it was best for him

He didn’t see it burn down.

Some say it was best for him

Not to see the damage from the flames

Some say it was best for him

As all that water did the same

It was a good thing he wasn’t home that night

It was a good thing he wasn’t home all right

It was just the beginning of a Very Long Night.

Sharing Loss – Please Help Spread The Word!

Posted: July 11, 2015 in Opinions and Observations
Tags: #charity, #daughter, #family, #fire, #gofundme, #guitar, #help, #life, #loss, #music, #musician, #personal, #piano, #signal, #story, #studio, #studioengineer

I have shared a number of experiences that have been about loss. Unfortunately, when you get older, you have more experiences watching the achievements of a life’s work and loves dissolve. There are many types of loss and a personal friend of mine has been going through a very difficult time. I just needed to share my experience and thoughts. Over these posts I have often mentioned working at local music stores and the benefit of knowing some awesome people. One of the friends I worked with for years and formed a great partnership “co-owning” the music store with all those years ago has had a devastating loss. As social media is …. he found out from friend’s texts and e-mails that while he was traveling, his house burnt down. His job is demanding and a lot of people depend on him to be there. He could not get home and as we all need to do from time to time; he had to rely on his friends and family (many times they are the same thing). He is still away and has not seen his home other than on the news and through social media.

I would like to let you know that we have successfully completed the ‘search and rescue’ mission. We got anything we could out of the building during the days of rain with holes in the roof. It was a scramble with trusted friends. We hauled ass and a bunch of other things. Some musical instruments are damaged beyond use or repair and some have hope of restoration or managed to remain untouched by the whole thing! He is a musician and like me has an insatiable love for art, music, friendship and making the world better than it would be without us in it. This has got to be devastating. For me, carrying out each old and precious instrument or piece of gear, had a deep impact. Others worked on his art and personal belongings. I have heard their stories and all have a deep sense of loss. No one was hurt. Many things can be replaced. But as the fire and then the water took their toll, a lot of his life’s work did dissolve.

We are working now on cleaning and saving as much as we can. As my daughter Alisa, who runs my blog, practically grew up in the music store and all my friends, she has known John Van Eaton almost her entire life. She is creating a positive use of social media and spreading the word through this and other avenues. We will have a number of benefits to raise money and support to help him work through this until he is able to come home and the resources he will need once he returns. I will post more info as details come in and thank you – fellow bloggers – for letting me share this with you. The sharing allows healing.

For more details or to contribute to his fund, see below. MIDIMike

http://www.gofundme.com/JohnVanEaton

Your Heartbeat Mimics the Music You Listen To

Posted: July 10, 2015 in Opinions and Observations
Tags: #audio, #band, #cdbaby, #creativity, #genres, #guitar, #inspiration, #inspire, #itunes, #love, #lyrics, #music, #musician, #performers, #personal, #recording, #singer, #song, #Song review, #songwriter, #sound, #vocalist, #vocals

Hey everyone! While the question is open and I still hope people continue to post their most influential artists and bands at https://midimike.com/2015/06/29/who-do-you-love-influential-musicianbands/ , I want to thank everyone for participating. I have listened to a ton of new music. With some I was familiar with the artist and others I was not aware of at all! Even the bands I knew of, the suggestions were songs I had not heard before but were probably the best the artist recorded. I would like to summarize the lists you posted and make a condensed suggestion article once I have listened to each suggestion a few times. What music and band we like tells a lot about us in many ways. This is a good community and we share a number of qualities and talents. We have our own pulse. A common foundation that is very cool.

The Value of A Musician – A Cautionary Tale

Posted: July 8, 2015 in Opinions and Observations
Tags: #audio, #band, #bass, #creativity, #guitar, #inspiration, #itunes, #journey, #keyboard, #love, #motivation, #music, #musician, #observation, #performance, #performer, #personal, #piano, #recording, #runningsound, #singer, #sound, #Soundengineer, #soundman, #speakers, #stage, #story, #studio, #truth, #vocalist

As a member of a cover band, I was given the opportunity to add something to my personal profile on the band web site. I added a statement that went something like this; “we will play anywhere for free…..we just charge to move the equipment in and out”!

If you think about it, you would have to pay an awful lot of money to have ‘professionals’ move that much equipment. Then they have to pack it all up and take it back at the end of the gig. I have played keyboards, guitar, percussion and back up vocals in most of the bands I performed with. Sometimes I also ran sound at the same time! I was carrying so much gear for myself that I probably had more than the sound guy! Once you haul equipment out of your house (I did not have duplicates, so what I used in the studio I had to tear down and take to the gig, set it up, tear it down, take it home and set it up in the studio again) and set up the gear you are all hot and sweaty and exhausted and now get to play for 4 plus hours, pack it all up and take it home. Ahhhh, the glamourous rock and roll life. Knowing all that, I think most people would be amazed at how little the local band playing the bar scene gets paid for all that work. Maybe it is confusing because we call it ‘play’. If I figured out an hourly rate I would probably get really depressed!

We also had to practice, individually and as a band. No weekends free…. you get home at 3 or 4 in the morning and have to recover most of the day, then you play that night and do it all over again. I always worked at a day job and still do, so this was about all the free time I had. Now time for family, writing and recording projects and hopefully a little time in the sun.

Is it fun? Absolutely. I am an introvert and very shy in public, but it is a thrill to perform with great musicians and have the audience appreciate what you are doing. I would not give it up, and if I were a bit younger I would still be out there. At one point I told the band members that I would quit gigging out when I turned 50 – or my van broke down, whichever came first. My van did break down first, but our light guy fixed it himself for free. So I kept playing out. Way past 50. I recently stopped because tinnitus (a ringing in the ears from long exposure to loud sounds) got pretty bad in the last few years. I only play out for special occasions these days, but it is still a blast.

MidiMike

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