All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread

Started by Elite, August 26, 2012, 06:12:01 AM

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Orbert

There's a "Post of video of you playing" thread but not a "picture" thread.  I only ever seem to get pictures of me playing something, probably because that's pretty much all I do.  I try not to post too many in the picture thread in General Discussion because normal people post there.



Ruben (bass) was in my very first band, back in effin' junior high, 45 years ago.  He has a cute sister named Linda, who married Greg (guitar, vocals).  Dave (drums) jumped in, and they were doing "Going Up The Country" by Canned Heat which has the flute in it, so I joined them.  Ending up playing about half the set with them, mostly on keyboards though.

Lax

Will not saturate the topic either but here my latest gig (june 21th)


I have left the band at the end of july, I'm now searching for the next project ^^
Plus preparing my wife's sister wedding little gig (playing some of her favorite tunes with my wife and a pianist friend) next june

Orbert


Orbert

So this morning was a fun gig, another one of my crazy arrangements.  The Beatles "All You Need Is Love" except we don't have a brass band, but we do have a violin, flute, and melodica.  So we were both the horn section and the string section.  I also whipped up charts for guitar and piano, plus a lead singer and the choir doing background vocals ("Love, love, love" and the "ahs" during the verse).  Tim usually plays guitar but he jumped on bass.  By time we got to the last chorus and the whole place was singing, it sounded pretty cool.



Steve (guitar), Tim (bass), Jonah (lead vocal), Mijin (piano), Amy (flute), Orbert (melodica), Michael (violin).  Shirley conducting the choir and leading the congregation.

hefdaddy42

That's cool!  At my previous church (a couple of years ago), we did All You Need Is Love as well, but just with our normal praise team.

That was part of a sermon series that our pastor did where he would talk about themes from pop songs.  During that month, we also did Stuck in the Middle With You and Show Me the Way (Styx).
Quote from: BlobVanDam on December 11, 2014, 08:19:46 PMHef is right on all things. Except for when I disagree with him. In which case he's probably still right.

Orbert

The Beatles have a bunch of songs with great, positive messages.  We've done "All You Need Is Love" a couple of different ways now, "Let It Be", "Got To Get You Into My Life", "Birthday" (on Pentacost Sunday, of course), plus "Give Me Love" and "My Sweet Lord" by George and "Imagine" by John.  There might be some I'm forgetting.  I love arranging music, the very act of taking a song and figuring out what parts play what so that they combine and do the coolest shit possible.  Like an aural jigsaw puzzle.  And people seem to like what I come up with, they keep asking me to do it, so it works out well.

When I did the regular praise band thing for a while, we'd work in pop songs when we could.  "The Power Of Love" by Huey Lewis, "The Climb" by Miley Cyrus (don't laugh it's a great song) and maybe a few others.  Our WL also wrote originals and we did a few of his songs.  They were right there with the Chris Tomlin and Phil Wickham tunes.  Good times.

axeman90210

Changed guitar strings for the first time in at least a decade today, forgot how much of a pain in the ass it is.

Elite

How do you manage to play guitar on strings that are a decade old!? :O

Mine sound terrible after a few months. I don't change them nearly as often as I should, but I'm always super happy when I do. Gives me the chance to clear the gunk off the fretboard as well, and the guitar sounds infinitely better with new strings. It really isn't that much work if you can do it quickly; use a string winder to get them off and on again quickly, and tie them neatly at the tuning pegs. I can probably change strings and tune a guitar in under 10 minutes, without cleaning the fretboard.
Quote from: Lolzeez on November 18, 2013, 01:23:32 PMHey dude slow the fuck down so we can finish together at the same time.  :biggrin:
Quote from: home on May 09, 2017, 04:05:10 PMSqu
scRa are the resultaten of sound nog bring propey

axeman90210

Oh don't worry, I didn't play the same set of strings for a decade :lol I basically stopped playing for 10-11 years and only picked it back up this spring. Brought both my guitars to a local luthier for a full setup and string change in late April/early May and I've been playing on the same strings since then. I changed the strings on both a couple of weeks ago, along with cleaning the guitar and fretboard and treating the fretboard with oil.

CodyWanKenobi

Remixed a concept album I wrote with my band back in 2017. Super stoked with how this mix turned out.
https://open.spotify.com/album/6cMimMKQM1CywjFRtTtivQ
My latest concept album "III: The Sparrow & The Architect" is out now!
"IV: Timber" Coming October 18, 2024!
linktree = STARCOMMANDStudios

Elite

So how's everybody spending these weeks staying at home? Losing my usual work commute and generally being at home all the time instead of just in the evening makes me play a lot more these days!
Quote from: Lolzeez on November 18, 2013, 01:23:32 PMHey dude slow the fuck down so we can finish together at the same time.  :biggrin:
Quote from: home on May 09, 2017, 04:05:10 PMSqu
scRa are the resultaten of sound nog bring propey

Indiscipline

Free evenings are a blast, and I've picked the guitars up seriously after a loooong time.

I've actually grown some callous back dicking around with some heavy-bending solos. It's a pleasant pain.

Orbert

My band leader is insane, and keeps thinking that this will all be over soon.  He sent out a list of tunes to work on for our next rehearsal, whenever that might be.  I've been working on them.  Feels good.  I've also been amusing myself by plugging my iPod into my amp and jamming along with tunes, the same way I practice band songs.

My church thinks I'm one of the main music people, and our music director sent out a song that she wants to include in this week's service.  We've been having virtual services online, with music and stuff.  So tonight some of us are going to get together to record a song for this Sunday's service.  Only four of us, so it's legal.  I don't know how smart it is; obviously the safest thing to do would be to stay home, but we'll stay six feet apart from each other and wear masks I guess, and hopefully the recording comes out.  I haven't made music with others in nearly two months, and with everything there is risk.  Hopefully I don't catch it from someone.

Elite

I have one friend who I usually make music with - a lot (this is apart from the bands and stuff I'm in) and we have played together about 3 times during this Covid mess by meeting up outside in nature (it's been pretty good weather) and just jamming songs we both know. That was fun. I haven't played with a band since probably Monday the 9th of March.

My band is going to record a 'quarantine live video' this next Sunday for an online festival. We'll be standing on other sides of our rehearsal room, which is more than large enough. Our bass player can't make it, so he's going to record his parts at home and film that too. I'm pretty sure we can do this safe enough, especially since my country is actually opening up more and more and slowly getting back to normal life.
Quote from: Lolzeez on November 18, 2013, 01:23:32 PMHey dude slow the fuck down so we can finish together at the same time.  :biggrin:
Quote from: home on May 09, 2017, 04:05:10 PMSqu
scRa are the resultaten of sound nog bring propey

Orbert

Last night's session was pretty cool.  We only had one song to work out, but we had some fun with it.

Pretty basic hymn, "Let All Things Now Living", arranged for voice and piano, just two verses, with a descant part added on the second verse.  Shirley (the director) is a soprano, Michael is a tenor, I'm a baritone, and we also had our regular accompanist Mijin on piano.  Michael brought his violin, which is always nice for adding a countermelody or lead line.  The surprise was Shirley's husband Steve on banjo.  He's not great (yet), but just plunking some arpeggios and stuff added another color to the mix.  Michael played the top line of the intro and break on violin, and the three of us took turns singing lines of the first verse, with the fourth line in unison.  The octaves were nice, but I couldn't help breaking into some efficiently-placed harmony here and there.

The second verse, Michael sang the descant, while Shirley and I sang the melody in octave unison, but again I busted out harmonies here and there.  The overall effect was very nice, with some three-part counterpoint going on in some places.  We recorded in the sanctuary, all spread out, so the natural acoustics of the place made it sound live (which it actually was) rather than the flat sound you might normally go for with such a piece.  We went from reading through it a few times, to a couple of takes, to a finished recording in about an hour.  Good times.

Orbert

Did some more church music this past week.  Recorded live in the sanctuary, then edited and broadcast during the online service.

We did a four-part hymn a capella, which was pretty challenging.  The tune itself was pretty simple, which helped, but the parts got pretty crazy for a while.  Some fugue-like stuff, some parts weaving in and out of each other.  Since Michael is a much better Tenor than I am, I sang the Bass part, so that was interesting.  I'm no more a Bass than I am a Tenor (I'm a Baritone), but once I warm up, I can get those lower notes pretty well.  Same deal as last week; run through it a few times, then record it.  Our accompanist Mijin has a nice Alto voice, so she sang the fourth part, which was a first for her as well.

The other tune we did a little more "normal" (for us).  Mijin on piano, Michael on violin and vocals, Shirley and me on vocals.  Shirley and I did the leads, with me breaking out some ad-libbed harmonies here and there.  Michael adding some countermelodies and fills on violin.

I just watched the online service, and both tunes turned out pretty good.  We kept the pitch with the a capella piece, and the ensemble was pretty cool.  It's great working with musicians who have a good feel for making things up on the fly that add to the overall performance, and this way I get my live music fix.  Win-win.

Orbert

I got an email from that online site I'm a member of, the one which connects musicians with bands and bands with musicians.  Since I don't actually check my home page very often, I have it set to send me an email any time someone sends me a private message.

An area Bon Jovi tribute band is looking for a keyboard player.  The way it was worded, it wasn't sent to me specifically, but probably to any area keyboard players on the site.  Must also be able to sing background vocals.  My first response was "Yeah, right."

Then I thought about it some more.  I mean, I'm not a Bon Jovi fan by any stretch, but most of his stuff is pretty good, good rock and roll, and the girls love it.  And let's be honest, that's a big part of why we're playing rock and roll, to watch the girls on the dance floor.

I thought about it even more.  We've done a handful of Bon Jovi tunes in the band over the years, four or five I think, and every one of them was actually pretty fun, had keyboard parts that weren't trivial and actually added something to the song, and were even reasonably challenging.  Of course, the ones we picked were picked specifically because they had keyboards, but there's probably a lot of them.  I don't know, because I don't own any Bon Jovi albums.  But if a Bon Jovi tribute band has a keyboard player, I'm sure they lean towards tunes with keyboards.

And finally, it would seem that my regular band is either in another rebuilding season, or on hiatus due to COVID-19, or both.  I suppose every band is facing the same thing.

But my final thought is that if I'm already not 100% sure about rehearsing with the band I know, how am I gonna feel about rehearsing with a bunch of people I've never met before?  Probably even less sure.  So I'm pretty sure I'm not gonna do it.

If it wasn't for COVID-19 and lockdowns, I might've seriously considered it.  Of course, if it wasn't for COVID-19 and lockdowns, my regular band would be gigging right now.

Orbert

Played a church gig this morning. ♫♫ My church hasn't held live services since things shut down back in March, but this morning we tried something, and it worked out pretty well.  We don't have a huge congregation, maybe 100 regulars on the roster and only 20 or 30 who attend regularly, so we figured we'd set things up outside, lots of space and social distance, and give it a shot.

I played piano/keyboards on two songs, and one of the prerecorded pieces had the ensemble with me doing some vocals and Melodica.  So that was fun.  Some prerecorded stuff, some live stuff, no singing, some readings, basic message, it was about 45 minutes altogether.  Nice little service, out on the lawn, under the tress.  The weather was perfect.  Mid-70's, mostly sunny, nice breeze.  We're gonna do it again next week.

I've missed playing live music for the masses.  Not exactly masses, and only a couple of tunes, but hey, it was live.  Shirley on Autoharp, Orbert on Keyboards, Michael on Violin, Steve on Guitar.  There might be pictures somewhere; none up on Facebook yet.  I'll steal some if anyone posts any.

Orbert

Live music in the great outdoors! ♫♫!!



Steve on Guitar, Michael on Violin, Shirley on Autoharp, Orbert on Keyboard.

Not a lot of gigging going on these days, but apparently I'm doing this every Sunday morning for while, weather permitting, so I'll take it.

Orbert

Today's gig was slightly different.  The theme of the service was planning for the future, and reaping the rewards.  Somehow gardens were mentioned as an example of something you plan, put a lot of effort into, and then reap the rewards later.  We somehow decided on "Octopus's Garden" by The Beatles as our closing song.

To me, playing secular songs is different from playing the hymns and other sacred stuff.  Also, we've been joined recently by a guy named Ryan who plays the piano.  Shirley asked me if I could bring my synthesizer and play that, and Ryan could play the piano.  I'd written up a piano part and printed it out, so I gave that to Ryan.  As it happens, I'd been somewhat concerned that there's all those nice background vocals, not to mention guitar leads, and those weren't covered.  This isn't "cover band" territory, but I still tend to approach secular songs the same way.  I want the arrangement to be faithful to the original.  But basically Michael would play the melody on violin, piano would comp chords, guitars would strum, and we even had Brian on his djembe (drum).  Nice little arrangement, it would have been fine.  But it bugged me how much more we could have.  Eureka!  With Ryan playing the piano, I am now free to fill in some other stuff, like the background vocals (on keys) and take the guitar leads on keys as well.  Because I've been starved lately for songs to learn, and I actually enjoy to process of learning new songs and playing them, I jumped in.  Practiced up a couple different solos, figured out how the pads and chords would work.  I've been working on it, the one song, for two weeks.

That must have been what led to the "gig nightmare" I had last night.

You ever have one of those dreams -- nightmares for me, usually -- where you're back in school?  Enough is familiar that you recognize immediately where you are, but there are tragic differences.  For me, I usually can't remember what my schedule is; what room am I supposed to be in?  What class is this?  Did I do the homework last night?  Sometimes the layout of the school is completely different, and I can't find where I'm supposed to be.  School nightmares.

Anyway, I have gig nightmares.  Get to the gig, but find out that the stage is actually a couple of pieces of cardboard on the floor; not only completely stupid but also not nearly big enough.  Or I get lost on the way there.  Or any number of other tragedies that don't make any sense, but in the context of the dream they do, and they're happening, and it's a fucking nightmare.

So last night, I dreamed that the band -- my cover band, not the church band -- had a gig.  First one in months, because of COVID-19.  We get there, and there's the stage, and a grand piano.  Oh yeah, that's right; they said that there was a grand piano on the stage, and they didn't have any way of moving it, so I was going to play it.  So I left my keyboards at home.  What the fuck?  We still have to do songs with synths and B-3 and stuff, and it's not like I could just play all those parts on acoustic piano.  This was a tragic mistake, and there wasn't time to drive back home and get my keyboards, so I had to figure out a way to cover all those keyboard parts from all our songs on a grand piano.  Actually, it was a pretty cool challenge.  Obviously it wasn't going to sound the same as what people are used to, but the part will be there.  It might even sound kinda cool played on a grand.

I woke up before we got to any of the good stuff.  I guess I'll never find out whether the nigthmare gig ended in triumph or tragedy for me.  "Octopus's Garden" went really well this morning, though.

Orbert

I couldn't think of anywhere to put this, but I had to share it.



Posted on Facebook by a friend of mine who's easily the best sound man we ever worked with.  He in turn "stole" it from somewhere else.  And so on, and so on...

CodyWanKenobi

Quote from: Orbert on March 28, 2021, 03:20:47 PM
I couldn't think of anywhere to put this, but I had to share it.



Posted on Facebook by a friend of mine who's easily the best sound man we ever worked with.  He in turn "stole" it from somewhere else.  And so on, and so on...

I don't know why but this reminded me of this funny video I first saw like ten years ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2Rhh_4GZmU
My latest concept album "III: The Sparrow & The Architect" is out now!
"IV: Timber" Coming October 18, 2024!
linktree = STARCOMMANDStudios

Kotowboy

 ;D That's basically what non-engineers think working a mixing desk is like. Hehe.

IDontNotDoThings

The clip looks like those "hacking" scenes where the person is just bashing random keys on the keyboard, but on a mixing desk. :lol

Kotowboy

Yes. I was taught how to mix and engineer on a proper desk with the cables and the tape machine and the outboard gear and that's hilarious to me.

All he would be doing is EQing at best.

Orbert

Got a newish gig going on with a singer named Patty.  We call it The Patty & Bob Show.  (I'm Bob)

Other than that, I'm still doing the church music thing.  A few weeks back, I was wondering what in the heck I'm doing, doing this.  Our organist is back from her extended leave, so I wasn't needed on the piano.  Between her on piano, Michael on violin, and Shirley on Autoharp, I was wondering how much difference it made with me playing Melodica.  I literally just sit there and make shit up.  Add some chords here, a countermelody there.  I'm doing it as much to get my own musical rocks off as I am to "serve" the music.  Sure, I tell people that I'm sharing my gift, being all magnimonious about it, but are people thinking "WTF is that thing that Bob is playing?  And that thing Shirley is strumming, WTF is that?  This is all very bizarre."  I mean, I would totally get it, and since I have almost no objectivity when it comes to this stuff, it seemed quite possible.  We are an eclectic group.

That very day, after the service was over, two separate people came up to me to compliment me on the music.  It always sounds so great, it's what keeps them coming back, it's so amazing how well it all blends together into something really unique.  Wow.  Yeah, so apparently it is all worth it.

We had a guest pastor and he commented on our "ecletic" ensemble.  He used that same word.  Yesterday, we had another guest preacher who also commented on how our music is the most unique thing she's heard in a while.

Yes, I'm bragging.  Because I'm tired of wondering if people like it or not.  Now I know that they do, so I'm gonna brag about it.

Orbert

Wow, what the heck?  I just got a Facebook chat from Pat, our old guitarist.  He was at The Patty & Bob Show last weekend, and knows both of us.  He also knows Steve and Bob from this other band that Patty was in because... he's in that band!  We talked and hung out during breaks.

Anyway, he and the other guys want me in their band.  No audition necessary.  They've all heard me, and Pat of course has played with me.  They play once a month, and are fortunate to be in the position to pick the gigs they want.  They make about $100 each per gig.  Whoa.

I told him I have to think about it.

Orbert

I told them No.  I think I got a little excited there, started thinking about whether I could do it, when I should've been thinking about whether I should do it.  I'm already committed to two weeknights a week, Wednesdays with Patty and Thursdays with the church choir, but those are both pretty low-effort practices.  This other band practices every other week, but also on a weeknight, usually Monday or Tuesday.  I remember full-band practices on weeknights; they suck.  Finish work, break down the rig, pack it into the car, drive half an hour, set it up, rehearse a few hours, break it back down, pack it back up, drive home, unload, go to bed dead tired, get up and work the next day.  Also, I know 1/3 to 1/2 of their songs, which is great, but that's still 20 more songs to learn just to join this band.

It's nice to be wanted.  There are more bands needing keyboard players than there are keyboard players.  That means I have my choice.  Maybe in another six months or a year, things will be different.  But right now, I'm good.

CodyWanKenobi

My latest concept album "III: The Sparrow & The Architect" is out now!
"IV: Timber" Coming October 18, 2024!
linktree = STARCOMMANDStudios

Skeever

Quote from: Orbert on October 14, 2021, 08:02:37 PM
I told them No.  I think I got a little excited there, started thinking about whether I could do it, when I should've been thinking about whether I should do it.  I'm already committed to two weeknights a week, Wednesdays with Patty and Thursdays with the church choir, but those are both pretty low-effort practices.  This other band practices every other week, but also on a weeknight, usually Monday or Tuesday.  I remember full-band practices on weeknights; they suck.  Finish work, break down the rig, pack it into the car, drive half an hour, set it up, rehearse a few hours, break it back down, pack it back up, drive home, unload, go to bed dead tired, get up and work the next day.  Also, I know 1/3 to 1/2 of their songs, which is great, but that's still 20 more songs to learn just to join this band.

It's nice to be wanted.  There are more bands needing keyboard players than there are keyboard players.  That means I have my choice.  Maybe in another six months or a year, things will be different.  But right now, I'm good.

I've gone through something similar recently.
I just had a kid a few years ago and it's cut in to my ability to keep up with a weeknight band. I would just rather be home with my wife and son as much as possible.

Right now I'm playing with a jazz ensemble that meets a few Saturdays per month and gigs very occasionally (only thrice last year in its entirety). Perfect for me.
But not long ago, the drummer and keyboardist approached me about starting a new band, and initially, I agreed. I was flattered by the offer, and excited to do something new.

Then I remembered all the work of being in a serious band. Committing 1x-2x for rehearsals aside, there's also putting in the homework, both learning the songs, and doing the other research... I just didn't have it in me. I had to tell them no, after saying yes. Thankfully, both guys understood, we're all icebergs to eachother and we all get ahead of ourselves from time to time.

Orbert

Yeah, gigging requires a certain amount of personal time (which obviously varies according to the person and the gig), and has to be weighed against whatever else is going on in your life.

When we were young and stupid, the band was everything, because we didn't have lives.  If we had a job, it was some hourly thing and you could get time off, or if they didn't give it to you, quit and find something else.  Music trumps that shit pretty easily.  Family, friends, "real jobs"... all of that has to come before playing weekend rockstar, or at least be balanced against it.

CodyWanKenobi

#1816
Posted this in my own thread down there, but I figured I'd drop it in here as well.

Just released two singles from my two upcoming concept albums (a single from each album). Without going into a crazy amount of detail at the moment, one of the albums is about a serial killer, and the other is about an American Vietnam War veteran who suffers from depression and PTSD and is convinced by a witch that his only way out is suicide. Both tracks are currently on their way to Spotify, Apple Music, etc, but in the mean time are available to stream on my bandcamp.
https://thecircleofwonders.bandcamp.com/

Also, if any of you could take the time to follow on Instagram, it would really mean a lot to me. Everything you hear (every instrument, voice, lyric, the mix, the writing, the stories, etc) is all done by me alone and I work really hard on it, so any type of support (a listen, likes, follows) would mean the world to me.

https://instagram.com/thecircleofwonders?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

UPDATE:
Now available on spotify.

A Killer Return!!: https://open.spotify.com/album/4S43vqwMMInrSD6mGU0x1m?si=wszZGWApQA6P-rj3u8piUA
The Witch & The Widow:https://open.spotify.com/album/0Ek1fQv1bOQZL7nUIPOmwS?si=lQ73HpnyTMWtsNwMrISubQ
My latest concept album "III: The Sparrow & The Architect" is out now!
"IV: Timber" Coming October 18, 2024!
linktree = STARCOMMANDStudios

Orbert

Wow!

I finally sat my butt down and listened to "A Killer Return" and I really liked it.  No idea what to expect, and it went through some changes so I was constantly surprised and kept wondering where it would go next, and was wrong every time (and that's good)!  This is the type of thing I wish I could do.  Just sit down and record parts and tracks and stuff, which obviously takes many hours, and after many more hours of editing and tweaking and whatever else, end up with something.  With life and kids and health issues and money issues... it never seemed like the right time to start putting together that little home studio which would eventually enable such things to happen, so they never did.

But this isn't about me.  I just wanted to say that I finally listened to something that someone else posted, because I'm a shithead and never do that.  Oh, okay, I guess it is about me.  But I did really like the track and might listen to more later.

:hat

CodyWanKenobi

Quote from: Orbert on June 11, 2023, 06:38:57 AM
Wow!

I finally sat my butt down and listened to "A Killer Return" and I really liked it.  No idea what to expect, and it went through some changes so I was constantly surprised and kept wondering where it would go next, and was wrong every time (and that's good)!  This is the type of thing I wish I could do.  Just sit down and record parts and tracks and stuff, which obviously takes many hours, and after many more hours of editing and tweaking and whatever else, end up with something.  With life and kids and health issues and money issues... it never seemed like the right time to start putting together that little home studio which would eventually enable such things to happen, so they never did.

But this isn't about me.  I just wanted to say that I finally listened to something that someone else posted, because I'm a shithead and never do that.  Oh, okay, I guess it is about me.  But I did really like the track and might listen to more later.

:hat

Thanks so much Orbert!!  ;D
My latest concept album "III: The Sparrow & The Architect" is out now!
"IV: Timber" Coming October 18, 2024!
linktree = STARCOMMANDStudios

CodyWanKenobi

Posted this in my own thread but I figured I'd add it here as well.

My latest concept album "III: The Sparrow & The Architect" has released! Without explaining the story, it's about a serial killer mystery. Clocking in at just under 82 mins, it's my longest album to date (not intentional) and I'd love your feedback and opinions. I write/record/play/mix/produce everything for this project and I'm extremely proud of the work I've done here.

https://open.spotify.com/album/3n2qQY59OdPK4O40gBYfn9?si=JxQHPq7TTUmatIn30Lxy2w

thecircleofwonders.bandcamp.com

If you enjoy it, please follow the project on Instagram @thecircleofwonders
My latest concept album "III: The Sparrow & The Architect" is out now!
"IV: Timber" Coming October 18, 2024!
linktree = STARCOMMANDStudios