There was a schedule mix-up last night and details on that aren't at all sexy so I'll jump forward to Dew Wopat who had been hanging out and we talked a little. When Cat arrived it turned out he had played for her some while before. When it became clear there was a problem, Dew said he would like to play. Cat had been called away again so it was time for an Executive Decision (I mean a real one that actually does something rather than the Washington kind).
Dew Wopat was highly brave in taking the stage as he wasn't planning anything more than coming to a show to kick back and listen to some music. Next thing he knows, the starting gun goes off and he's at the microphone. It was a little bit of a bump to get started but he was sounding comfortable after just a few songs.
The set features acoustic pop covers and it's a pleasant vibe of gentle songs. You'd know I'm lying if I say covers are my favorite but still they make a good vibe. As he was talking I was telling Cat that I could swear I was hearing some Australian in his accent and maybe I did but right now he plays from the UK.
Hat tip to Dew for taking on the show as a cold start is a rough way to do it. Great job!
So this Silas Scarborough guy comes up after that and I'm playing from Texas but I don't really have a hat.
It's been a very big deal with me lately regarding doing a single set in a week. For various reasons I'm not willing to reveal, it's better this way and, in fact, it's much better as my focus is extremely intent on that show. The highest focus is on the song I'll do to open as I don't save the newest for last. I specifically want to come out strong and the rest of the show will live or die on that but I don't believe it really serves much to tease with it. As I've watched in doing this, the number of people goes up as I play so now rock and roll superstition comes into it: don't change something that works.
I was very surprised by how many people came and I have no idea how many there were as I don't look at it harder than 'a few people' or 'a lot of people.' Last night there were a lot and there were quite a few names I didn't know plus others who surprised me as in, oh, so that's who you are! (Long story on that)
The opener was "Symphony for Cat No. 2" and it's not even close to a symphony but it's pushing the RC-50 looper out more into what the thing can really do with multiple phrases (i.e. different musical bits I can select as I like as I play). It runs about fifteen minutes and this week I didn't do any post-processing. There is EQ in the mixer and I have dropped bass plus pushed highs somewhat. You may need to do the same for playback. What I discovered from last week is that processing after the show can very well make the recording worse unless I use studio monitors for the mix down. That ain't happening so better to send through as it went down. All of my online audio is on Ride the Dragon podcast for free.
Echo is used sparingly and and going into it my intention is not to use echo at all. The clarity that comes is working well ... but I will still bring echo back into it perhaps with a long bounce as I've enjoyed that quite a bit at times. We shall see what comes for next week.
The show was over, right?
Onur spoke a language I didn't understand but he wanted to play and Cat wanted him to play ... but no-one knew his language ... until it became clear he is in Turkey. Google Translate is my old friend now so, ok, let's speak some Turkish. It was surprisingly helpful and Cat was trying it too as she was spitting out Turkish as well and I know she doesn't speak that one. None of this was planned as he just said he wanted to play at the Circus and you might be surprised how many do. It's a tips-only venue which many performers avoid but it's also a Circus Magic venue and performers who know it love it. This isn't a blinded-by-love kind of thing as everyone who plays there feels it, that's why we do it. There were some places with very Special Magic where I've been sometimes, Tennessee and the Cherokee, Stonehenge and the Druids, Greece and everyone who has ever lived there, and Cat's Art MusikCircus. It's not a trivial thing for me to focus my set there and that's a big part of the reason for doing it.
So we went to Turkey and there's a Persian style that a musicologist could identify by scales, specific chord patterns, etc but, for me, it's cool that it's Persian and there are similarities to Greek which I also love. Unfortunately, it was tough to get a good reading of his play due to some audio difficulties. I didn't get onto it with Google Translate in time to suggest tuning levels in his mix so I'll do it here and hopefully that will get back to him.
I'm not sure when Onur will play again and it will be most interesting to get a better reading of his set. What I did get was a cool Persian vibe that makes me curious to hear more and we will see how things go with scheduling.
Dew Wopat was highly brave in taking the stage as he wasn't planning anything more than coming to a show to kick back and listen to some music. Next thing he knows, the starting gun goes off and he's at the microphone. It was a little bit of a bump to get started but he was sounding comfortable after just a few songs.
The set features acoustic pop covers and it's a pleasant vibe of gentle songs. You'd know I'm lying if I say covers are my favorite but still they make a good vibe. As he was talking I was telling Cat that I could swear I was hearing some Australian in his accent and maybe I did but right now he plays from the UK.
Hat tip to Dew for taking on the show as a cold start is a rough way to do it. Great job!
So this Silas Scarborough guy comes up after that and I'm playing from Texas but I don't really have a hat.
It's been a very big deal with me lately regarding doing a single set in a week. For various reasons I'm not willing to reveal, it's better this way and, in fact, it's much better as my focus is extremely intent on that show. The highest focus is on the song I'll do to open as I don't save the newest for last. I specifically want to come out strong and the rest of the show will live or die on that but I don't believe it really serves much to tease with it. As I've watched in doing this, the number of people goes up as I play so now rock and roll superstition comes into it: don't change something that works.
I was very surprised by how many people came and I have no idea how many there were as I don't look at it harder than 'a few people' or 'a lot of people.' Last night there were a lot and there were quite a few names I didn't know plus others who surprised me as in, oh, so that's who you are! (Long story on that)
The opener was "Symphony for Cat No. 2" and it's not even close to a symphony but it's pushing the RC-50 looper out more into what the thing can really do with multiple phrases (i.e. different musical bits I can select as I like as I play). It runs about fifteen minutes and this week I didn't do any post-processing. There is EQ in the mixer and I have dropped bass plus pushed highs somewhat. You may need to do the same for playback. What I discovered from last week is that processing after the show can very well make the recording worse unless I use studio monitors for the mix down. That ain't happening so better to send through as it went down. All of my online audio is on Ride the Dragon podcast for free.
Echo is used sparingly and and going into it my intention is not to use echo at all. The clarity that comes is working well ... but I will still bring echo back into it perhaps with a long bounce as I've enjoyed that quite a bit at times. We shall see what comes for next week.
The show was over, right?
Onur spoke a language I didn't understand but he wanted to play and Cat wanted him to play ... but no-one knew his language ... until it became clear he is in Turkey. Google Translate is my old friend now so, ok, let's speak some Turkish. It was surprisingly helpful and Cat was trying it too as she was spitting out Turkish as well and I know she doesn't speak that one. None of this was planned as he just said he wanted to play at the Circus and you might be surprised how many do. It's a tips-only venue which many performers avoid but it's also a Circus Magic venue and performers who know it love it. This isn't a blinded-by-love kind of thing as everyone who plays there feels it, that's why we do it. There were some places with very Special Magic where I've been sometimes, Tennessee and the Cherokee, Stonehenge and the Druids, Greece and everyone who has ever lived there, and Cat's Art MusikCircus. It's not a trivial thing for me to focus my set there and that's a big part of the reason for doing it.
So we went to Turkey and there's a Persian style that a musicologist could identify by scales, specific chord patterns, etc but, for me, it's cool that it's Persian and there are similarities to Greek which I also love. Unfortunately, it was tough to get a good reading of his play due to some audio difficulties. I didn't get onto it with Google Translate in time to suggest tuning levels in his mix so I'll do it here and hopefully that will get back to him.
- Audio level on vocal was good and I heard no distortion. Vocal could come up a little.
- Guitar level was up a little too high and was clipping but not terribly.
- There were a few unusual dropouts that might have been stream problems.
I'm not sure when Onur will play again and it will be most interesting to get a better reading of his set. What I did get was a cool Persian vibe that makes me curious to hear more and we will see how things go with scheduling.
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