Author Topic: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread  (Read 300704 times)

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Offline hefdaddy42

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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #1435 on: August 30, 2016, 08:03:36 AM »
That's cool.  And yes, that should give you a huge sound, for sure.

I know that JP also records a lot of acoustic guitar on a lot of songs, even if they aren't prominent in the mix, they are in their for texture.
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Offline BlackInk

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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #1436 on: August 30, 2016, 09:18:47 AM »
We usually stick with double tracking, saving the quad for the parts where we want a certain part to stick out. But we're more rock than metal, so it's a bit different.

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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #1437 on: August 31, 2016, 05:03:23 PM »
More ch-ch-ch-changes for Orbert's band.

I mentioned meeting a pretty girl named Jessica in this post about a gig we did earlier this summer.  I didn't mention it at the time because it didn't seem important, but I was introduced to her by our band leader John.  Separately, John has mentioned wanting to do something about what he considers the band's most obvious weakness, which is our vocals.  I agree, and have been pushing for vocal rehearsals, but John is too impatient and too much a damned manager for that.  He started talking about this band he saw that had two female singers, one mostly leads and one mostly harmonies, and they sounded great.  He decided that that's what we should do.  Two strong female singers, then if me or him or our new guitarist also sing, that just adds to it.  Seven piece band, with two who basically just sing.

Well, what the hell, we're not in this for the money, so splitting things seven ways rather than six isn't my biggest concern.  My biggest concern is that we already have issues scheduling practices with six people, and already have to cram ourselves into tiny little stages.  This will only make it worse.

Then he mentioned that Jessica, the pretty girl with the great ass, is the one who he wants to be our other singer.  This changes everything.  Well, not really everything, but it changes something.  I'm thinking as long as she wears those white pants, she can join the band.  I'll just stand back in my corner and try (unsuccessfully I'm sure) not to stare at her ass all night.

Jessica and Anne were at John's the other night trying things out, and John recorded some of it and sent it to us.  They sound pretty damned good together on "Bring Me To Life" by Evanescence.  I can now imagine us doing Heart, Pat Benatar (with proper background vocals) and some other stuff we couldn't really do justice to.  So... interesting.

Offline hefdaddy42

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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #1438 on: September 01, 2016, 08:58:34 AM »
That's cool.  :metal
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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #1439 on: September 01, 2016, 10:01:05 AM »
John sent us an email with a full document of the rehearsal.  They sang six or eight songs together (I didn't count), and nailed every one.  She is a vocal music teacher with a degree in vocal music, so her ear for harmony is excellent.  In the recording, she was easily nailing 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th harmonies like it was nothing, because to a trained vocalist, it is nothing.  They're just lines to sing.

And of course she's hot.  Two reasons to be excited about this.

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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #1440 on: September 03, 2016, 05:07:24 PM »
So practice was cancelled earlier this week because JT (drummer) had to travel on Saturday.  Then practice was back on because JT isn't travelling because of Hurricane Hermine.  Then practice is probably back on, but JT might still need to fly out on Saturday, but we'll know for sure by Thursday at 8:00pm.  It's Thursday afternoon now.  Then practice is on for sure, but JT has to leave by about Noon, and Pat isn't included on the email this time because he's a short-timer and we're going to repurpose the rehearsal.  Jessica is coming, and we're going to run through some songs with her, the ones she sang with Anne the other night.

I'm the first one there, and John is telling me all this, and I say Oh so kinda like an audition, and kinda like a proof of concept, the dual female vocal thing?  John says No, that part's a forgone conclusion.  She's there to meet the rest of the band and practice the songs she's singing with us at the gig, a week from tonight.  Um, okay.  (It really is okay with me.  It caught me off guard, but I'm fine with her joining, so whatever.)  Then afterwards, a band meeting to discuss current issues and future direction.  She will leave, Pat won't be there, the rest of us can chat a bit.  We already know where JT stands on all of this (his position, officially, is to let other people worry about it; whatever we end up doing is fine), so it's okay that he has to go.

That's the plan, anyway.  We're standing on John's driveway discussing this, and Pat pulls up.  John panics just a little; I tell him Hey, it's no biggie.  If Jessica's singing with us, it makes sense that she'll be there.  I hear John going over to Pat, saying Hi and that we'll be having someone join us today, something new we're trying out, and Pat's fine with that because he's leaving the band anyway.  Jerry is always so direct, it's funny.  He pulls up and yells "Pat!  I thought you weren't going to be here today!"  Pat says he wasn't going to just leave us high and dry.  He's still in the band right now, so he's going to attend rehearsals and stuff.  A true professional, even if he is kind of a dick.

So we rehearsed as a seven-piece, and it sounded freaking awesome.  The set we do with Jessica is going to rock, hard.  Pat's always the first to leave, and he does, and JT bails to catch his flight, and apparently no one told Jerry to stick around, so after Jessica leaves, it's just John, Anne, and myself.  So we discuss the future of the band.

Jessica sounded great, Anne is fine with her singing backgrounds.  Jessica also wants to sing lead on just a few songs a night.  This isn't a bad idea, as it will give Anne a break.  The problem is that she's great at backgrounds, but not really a "lead singer" quality vocalist.  We tried one song with Jessica singing.  It was only one song, and I don't know if it was a fair trial; it wasn't planned.  Anne's fighting a head cold and started coughing and needed a break, so we figured we'd let Jessica sing a song, we'd all see how she did.  She picked a song from the list and sang it, not really well but not horribly.

Pat made it a bit easier on the rest of us by being his usual pissy-bitchy self.  When he left, it was like "Later, now we can talk about you."  Okay, it wasn't quite like that, but it kinda was.  It's harder to part ways with someone you like a lot; Pat never warmed up to the rest of us, and we never really warmed up to him.  He's a great guitarist and pretty good singer, but never really felt like part of the group.  I figured it would come with time, but there weren't even signs, and now he's leaving.

Anyway, we're moving forward.  We are adding a second singer, and it will probably be Jessica.  We're still looking for another guitarist, preferably one who sings, but apparently we're now talking about John singing more leads, and maybe even me, so if the new guitarist comes with a couple of songs that he sings, we're all set.  Anne will still sing between 2/3 and 3/4 of the songs, and instead of one other person singing leads, it will be spread out a bit more.  That's cool; other bands do that, and it works.  Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes.

Offline hefdaddy42

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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #1441 on: September 06, 2016, 10:24:50 AM »
 :tup
Hef is right on all things. Except for when I disagree with him. In which case he's probably still right.

Offline BlackInk

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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #1442 on: October 02, 2016, 02:30:19 PM »
My band put our new demo track up on soundcloud today!

https://soundcloud.com/oktoberofficial/born-of-neptune

Offline James Mypetgiress

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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #1443 on: October 08, 2016, 10:55:44 AM »
My band put our new demo track up on soundcloud today!

https://soundcloud.com/oktoberofficial/born-of-neptune

Loving it, man. The synths are a nice addition!

[edit]
I liked it as my band, so that's who "the nebula of the sun" are. Figured I'd give you a follow.

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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #1444 on: October 08, 2016, 11:53:17 AM »


Tonight we play our shortest gig ever, but also in some ways our most important.  There's a place nearby that's large enough to have national touring acts play (my son has been to concerts there a few times) but is really a huge bar/restaurant with an upstairs room that's like a concert hall, except they also serve food and drink upstairs.  So it's somewhere in between.  You're not gonna see KISS there, but Motley Crue and Avatar play there.  Bands doing the club thing these days because they can't fill stadiums anymore, and smaller bands on their way up.

Anyway, a Led Zeppelin tribute act called Kashmir plays there a few times a year and is by all accounts very, very good.  We're opening for them.  Ten songs, 45 minutes, get the hell out of the way.  So the biggest venue we've played yet, the biggest crowd, but most of them won't be there to hear us.  Hopefully, however, we manage to impress some people.  Tonight will also be our last gig with Pat, who is a good guitarist but has turned out to be a pissy bitch and we're kinda glad he's leaving.

We auditioned two guitarists last Sunday and the second one was much better, so we hired him.  Well "hire" is the wrong word, since this isn't just a job; it's an adventure!

His name is Larry and he's like us, been playing in bands 30-some years, just for fun, looking to play maybe once or twice a month, certainly no more than that because then it feels like a second job.  It stops being fun when you feel like you have to do it.  This is exactly our attitude, so he fits right in.

Anyway, he was great with Journey, Benatar, Doobie Brothers, etc.  The audition was five of the ten songs we're doing tonight and he nailed them all.  I almost pulled John aside afterwards to ask him if maybe Larry should just learn the other five songs and play the gig with us.  We still have the Friday night practice (last night) to run through things.

I mentioned this to John at rehearsal last night, and he said the exact same thing crossed his mind.  He did call Larry afterwards and told him three more songs, the other two being optional because if he ran out of time we can get by with one guitar.  Larry is coming to the gig tonight to check us out anyway, and just in case Pat did something truly dickish, Larry said he'd be ready to jump in.  This is just in case Pat calls John during the week and has some story about how he's sorry but can't do the gig this weekend blah blah blah, Larry will be ready and have his guitar in the car.

Strange the shit you have to do in a band sometimes.

But Pat was at rehearsal last night, and it went well.  On the way out to his car, John was helping carry some of his equipment, and Pat stops and just goes "Man, this is a good band."  Was that regret?  He already said we're the best band he's played with in a long time, but we're just not pulling in the money.  John told us about it when he came back in.  Pat is in it for the money, which as far as I'm concerned is stupid.  Yeah, you can pick up some extra green if you want to bust your ass, play every weekend, and really make it a second job.  But as I said, that really doesn't sound like fun at that point.  I play because I like to, because I want to, not because I have to.  Pat's talking about getting to Wedding/Special Event level.  Taking home $1000 apiece every time.  Yeah, that would be awesome, a true second source of income.  And (still) much more work than I'm really into.

Anyway, huge gig tonight, then we move forward with a new guitarist who could be better than Pat anyway, and is a much cooler guy.

Offline BlackInk

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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #1445 on: October 08, 2016, 03:36:14 PM »
My band put our new demo track up on soundcloud today!

https://soundcloud.com/oktoberofficial/born-of-neptune

Loving it, man. The synths are a nice addition!

[edit]
I liked it as my band, so that's who "the nebula of the sun" are. Figured I'd give you a follow.

Thanks man, glad you like it! Followed you guys back.

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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #1446 on: October 09, 2016, 03:21:47 PM »
Holy crap, what a gig!  Well as much as a 45-minute set can be a gig, anyway.  We hit 'em hard, and didn't let up.  Even got an encore, which was pretty cool, and also pretty unusual from what I hear.  I mean, we were the warm-up act for a tribute band, so still not exactly big time, but it was the nicest room we've played so far, they hit us with their lights and sound and even a smoke machine.  So we got to be rock stars for an hour.  A couple people asked for our business cards, a bunch of new views and Likes on the band Facebook page, and the guys from Kashmir said we were great and could open for them any time.  Hopefully this exposure will lead to something.  We currently have no gigs on the schedule (which is actually okay since we now have to get our new guitarist up to speed as soon as possible).

I've seen a handful of pictures, so far nothing with the entire band.  A few with everyone except me which actually look pretty cool, but fuck if I'm going to post those.

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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #1447 on: October 09, 2016, 06:19:29 PM »
Some gig pics.








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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #1448 on: October 09, 2016, 11:53:12 PM »
That's awesome, Orb. :tup
What was your setlist? Did anyone get video?
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Offline Nefarius

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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #1449 on: October 10, 2016, 02:55:02 AM »

Very nice shot, congratulations!

Greetings...
Nef

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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #1450 on: October 10, 2016, 07:31:28 AM »
Thanks.  I'm trying to look contemplative or something, like it's no big deal playing two parts at once, but in reality I'm concentrating pretty hard.

That's awesome, Orb. :tup
What was your setlist? Did anyone get video?

Someone got 30 seconds of cell phone video. That's all I've seen. Also, it starts out correctly aligned, then she turns her phone 90 degrees, so 28 seconds of it is sideways.

Separate Ways
Born to Be Wild
Hit Me With Your Best Shot
China Grove
Chain of Fools
Higher Ground
Play That Funky Music
Long Train Runnin'
Bring Me to Life
I Just Wanna Make Love To You
Encore: Come Sail Away

We do the Little Caesar version of "Chain of Fools" which rocks pretty hard. Also, our "Higher Ground" is somewhere between the Stevie Wonder original and how the Red Hot Chili Peppers might play it if they had keyboards.

Yep, we got an encore, which I understand is pretty rare for this place, for an opening band.
« Last Edit: October 11, 2016, 07:31:34 AM by Orbert »

Offline sneakyblueberry

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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #1451 on: October 11, 2016, 03:00:30 AM »
awesome, cool set up! and...


Very nice shot, congratulations!

Greetings...
Nef

that's a mean photo.

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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #1452 on: October 11, 2016, 06:58:26 AM »
Great set list, Orbert.  Very cool.

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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #1453 on: October 18, 2016, 09:42:02 AM »
Pretty sweet, Orbert!
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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #1454 on: October 18, 2016, 12:22:32 PM »
Thanks, guys! :tup


"But Orbert, what about the drama? We miss the drama which only your band can provide!"

The gig at Austin's Fuel Room was our biggest gig yet, despite being less than an hour set.  It was the largest, nicest room so far, and gave us great exposure.  John got a call the next day; some guy saw us and wanted us to play this weekend, but we currently don't have a full lineup, because it was also the end of an era of sorts.  It was our last gig with Pat, who joined the band in February on guitar and vocals, replacing Steve.  It was our second gig with Jessica, added recently to help bolster our vocals.  She's been a great addition to our sound overall, even if I was philosophically opposed to her joining in the first place.

But when Pat gave his notice, we began the search for another singer/guitarist, had a few leads, both of which fell through, and John made the decision to focus on guitar skills, with vocals a nice plus.  Jessica would have to step up her role, and John and I would sing more, perhaps even some leads.  We found a great guitarist named Larry, who told us up front that he'll sing backgrounds if we think it'll help, but he's not a great singer and if we already have three parts covered, we're better off without him.

Because John is a businessman and the band has always been run more like a project at work than a "regular" band (whatever that is), we kicked off the new era with a meeting at his house last Saturday.  The agenda included future direction of the band in general, how the dynamics and roles have changed, which songs on the current set list to drop, which to keep, and new ones to vote on adding.

We all thought that Anne and Jessica got along fine.  Anne and Jessica thought they got alone fine.  This meeting showed that that's not necessarily the case.  Anne has always sung around 70% of the songs.  She can't sing lead on every song for three hours, and having another singer gives her a break as well as adding variety to the set list.  This is by design.  Steve sang 1/4 to 1/3 of the songs, and so did Pat.  Since Larry doesn't sing lead vocals, we discussed how the aforementioned redistribution of vocal dutes would work.

Anne has a problem with this.  Even though what she's actually doing in the band will not change (she'll still sing around 70% of the songs, more if she wants), the fact that Jessica is now also going to be a lead singer bothers her.  Why?  It wasn't a problem when Steve sang leads, and it wasn't a problem when Pat sang leads.  What's different?

The difference is that Jessica is only a singer.  Anne will do lead and background vocals, Jessica will do lead and background vocals.  Anne will still be our front person and lead singer.  Her role is not changing.  But she wants to be the lead singer.  The only one.  Fucking seriously?  Ego?  Now?  When we're on the fucking verge of really, really making it big?  It was okay with her when Steve or Pat was singing because they were also playing guitar.  Maybe she's so insecure that she imagines that eventually we'll just want Jessica and not her (not likely -- Jessica is good but not nearly as good as Anne).  Maybe it's because Jessica is also female.  Anne has always gotten along better with the guys than with other girls.  Some girls are that way.  Not a problem... until it becomes a problem.

So she's all upset, and we're trying to get her to articulate exactly why, and she's having trouble getting to it (what I just wrote above is my summary of what we managed to drag out of her over the course of 15 or 20 minutes).  We assure her that she's still our "main" lead singer, she's still the face of the band, the front person, and then in an incredible display of stupidity, Jessica pipes up "Wait a minute, I'm a front person, too.  I mean, I'm right up front, too, right next to her."  Jane, you ignorant slut!  You were hired as a background singer.  You were told you could sing lead on one or two songs, so your friends could come see you and cheer for you.  But you were never a front person, and you're not a front person just because you stand on the front line.  The drummer, bassist and I are the back line, the guitarists and singers are front line, because this is Rock and Roll and this is how it works and this is what looks cool.  But you're not the front person any more than the guitarists are.  There can be only one.



I didn't say any of this, because there are seven people in the band and at least four of them were already talking.  JT is amazed by this and gets up to grab something to drink or something.  Then he comes back and we see how incredibly mad he really is.  "I have played in dozens of bands the past 30 years, and almost none of them had the talent that this band has.  But every one of those bands broke up because of one thing: Ego!  There is no room for that.  There is what's best for the band, and that is what you do, and if you don't like that, you can leave!"  He's not speaking to anyone in particular, just venting, but his words are true, and we all know it.  We all enjoy playing in the band, but we all have things we want to get out of it, therefore every single one of us must compromise, at least a little.  I just wish he hadn't said the part about leaving if you can't deal with it, because it looked to me like Anne was about to quit.  She's sitting there crying, and feels like everyone's ganging up on her.  We're really just trying to talk sense, but when you have three or four people all doing that at once, let's face it, it's ganging up.  Jessica has chosen the worst possible time for her little power play, and is sitting looking somewhere between defiant and confused by how much commotion it's caused.

JT leaves.  He cannot calm down enough to stay in the room and deal with this level of stupidity.  His position has always been "I'm merely the drummer" which sounds like a cop out, but in fact it has helped on more than one occassion.  He really doesn't care what we play or where we play.  Somebody make the call, and he'll learn the songs.  After nearly three years with us, we've worked this out and it's fine.  He'll be fine; he just needs to calm down.

Jessica has to be somewhere and has to leave at Noon.  We knew this going in.  It's almost Noon now, so she starts gathering her stuff.  Jerry, who has always been the mellowist, most laid-back person in the band, says he hopes we can figure this out, because right now he's about 50-50 regarding whether this is worth it.  He loves the band, thinks we're great, but all this bickering and behind-the-scenes shit really bothers him.  This surprises me because he's never let on that that was the case, not until now.

The meeting is apparently over.  Jerry and Larry get up to leave, and John walks them to the door (and presumably takes the opportunity to say something to each of them).  This leaves Anne and me in the room.  Anne's still sitting there, no longer crying but still visibly upset.  I go over and give her a hug.  We've reached this point; at gigs and practices we greet each other with a hug and say goodbye with a hug.  For me, it both reinforces bonds and serves a completely selfish purpose; I think Anne is hot and hell yes I'll take the opportunity to hug her.  But standing up and hugging someone while they're sitting down is a little awkward, so she stands up and turns to face me and goes to continue the hug.  Just as we're leaning into each other, I see her face.  Oh shit!  It's that face.

You see it in movies and bad TV shows.  A mix of realization, resignation, vulnerability, and uncertainty all at once.  Two people, just friends until this moment, and then the look crosses one or both of their faces, and they start making out.  Depending on the circumstances, clothes might start coming off (which is always hilarious to watch, especially if they try to do this without releasing liplock).  But this is not the face I wanted to see.  In retrospect, maybe I shouldn't have been surprised.  She and her boyfriend broke up a few weeks ago, and the last couple of practices, when I asked her how she's doing, she's actually told me.  Not great.  Adjusting.  Getting used to being alone again.  And it can be tough at our age.  I've tried to be a good friend to her, not just because I like her and genuinely care about her, but again for selfish reasons, this time going the other way.  The better she is, the better the band is.  Got to keep her happy, and let her know the rest of us are in it with her.

I made the split-second decision to completely ignore "that face" and just give her a hug.  A supportive, friendly, chaste hug.  By time I release her, I look and her face has changed.  We're just friends.  Good.  But I know what I saw, and goddammit, of all the things this band does not need right now, it's this.  Well, this and our two singers not agreeing on the dynamics of front-line singers and their respective roles in the band.  I asked her if she was okay, she said Yes, and thanked me.  I started heading toward the door, and I guess I figured she'd be right behind me.  I get outside, John is still talking a bit with Jerry and Larry (that sounds funny) and I ask "So, do we still have a band?"  Larry says "I'm still in!"  Ha ha, good answer, one who has not yet played with us.  Jerry says something like "I think so."  I hope so, Jerry.  None of the behind-the-scenes bullshit has been resolved, apparently.  I look, and Anne has not followed me outside.  She's still inside, alone at this point, probably still getting her head together.  John glances around, apparently reaches the same conclusion, and says Bye to us and starts heading back inside.  The rest of us get in our cars and leave.

I have no idea what the fuck is even happening anymore.
« Last Edit: October 18, 2016, 04:18:23 PM by Orbert »

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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #1455 on: October 18, 2016, 12:33:05 PM »
Woah. I don't even know how to respond to that :lol
Hey dude slow the fuck down so we can finish together at the same time.  :biggrin:
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Offline hefdaddy42

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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #1456 on: October 18, 2016, 12:35:09 PM »
Good grief
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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #1457 on: October 18, 2016, 12:44:20 PM »
You're really telling us the true life story of Heart, and passing it off as your band, aren't you.  Somebody is going to have to be the opportunistic one here and destroy the band when he hooks up with Anne.

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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #1458 on: October 18, 2016, 02:13:12 PM »
I'm not familiar with the backstory of Heart; I'm somewhat familiar with the the backstory of Fleetwood Mac (the Buckingham Nicks version) but only because so many stories have been told about how the band didn't break up, but instead got a lot of good songs out of the shit they went through.  The important thing is that they did get through it.  That's not the case with Heart, I presume?

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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #1459 on: October 18, 2016, 04:46:02 PM »
Woah. I don't even know how to respond to that :lol

As I was driving home, I remember thinking to myself "Ha ha, the guys on DTF would love this" but the drama was mostly a thing of the past.  Once we got Pat settled in and started actually playing gigs, things were pretty cool for a while.  This past summer has been great.  Plenty of good Rock and Roll, plenty of fun.

But then I figured the drama is, at the very least, entertaining.  Might as well share it.  And unless I completely misinterpreted "the face" -- which I suppose is still a possibility -- I'm actually involved in some of it.  Possibly.  Hopefully, it's nothing.  A moment of minor weakness, no harm, no foul.

It was funny, though.  John called me a couple hours later, just to check in.  He does that.  After a meeting or practice, especially if things didn't exactly go well, he'll call specific individuals and speak privately with them.  He's a manager by profession, and this is how he manages issues within the band.  If having everyone in the room together just leads to chaos and yelling and crying, he deals with us one-on-one.  Anyway, I'd gotten pretty stoned on the way home, and John opens with "So I talked with Anne a bit after the meeting..." and I'm thinking Holy shit, please this cannot go where it sounds like it's going.  What, she's all confused?  She thought that maybe I was trying to... something?  She thinks that maybe she's... something?

He continues, "...and, I guess I just wanted to thank you for being one of the cooler heads in the room today.  Things got pretty tense, and I had to alternate between sitting back and letting people sort it out, and jumping in to be the referee.  I noticed that you didn't say a lot, but when you did, it was calm, made sense, and tended to defuse things.  Anne said you stayed a bit afterwards and talked to her, got her to calm down, and I appreciate that."  He went on to talk about how we're at a crossroads, the lineup has changed and we have to figure some things out, etc.

I'd almost forgotten that Anne and I did talk quite a bit.  I told her that I know she's not sure what's going on right now, no one is, but this is the best band I've ever been in, and I really want it to succeed.  She seemed surprised by that.  But to do that, we have to keep it together, and get through the rough times.  I was holding her and saying all kinds of nice, reassuring things, she's a great singer and a great person and I know she's been going through some shit lately, but I'm there for her, and I think that's what led to the face and the almost-more-than-hug, but it was just a moment of vulnerability.

Anyway, I reminded John pretty directly that I was against adding Jessica for exactly the reasons we're dealing with now.  If he sees our vocals as a weakness, our first course of action should be dedicated vocal rehearsals.  Anne would see adding another singer as a threat.  He would have to approach it very carefully, get her buy-in at every stage, and keep things cool on both sides.  He reminded me that he'd started this process in February.  Eight months ago.  Whoa.  The gig where I met Jessica was in March.  He'd been taking this as slowly as he could, but when Pat decided to leave and we couldn't find a guitarist who can also sing (they're all already playing in bands), it changed things, and Jessica's role has changed.  He thought that the girls were getting along fine, were comfortable with each other, and that this wouldn't really be a problem.  He was just wrong about that last part.

Anyway, don't worry, I'm not going to try and bang our singer or anything like that.  I'm not an idiot.
« Last Edit: October 18, 2016, 08:29:36 PM by Orbert »

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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #1460 on: October 19, 2016, 06:52:47 AM »
I'm not familiar with the backstory of Heart; I'm somewhat familiar with the the backstory of Fleetwood Mac (the Buckingham Nicks version) but only because so many stories have been told about how the band didn't break up, but instead got a lot of good songs out of the shit they went through.  The important thing is that they did get through it.  That's not the case with Heart, I presume?

Ann and Nancy were romantically involved with band members Mike and Roger Fisher, respectively.  Both of the Fishers left in '79 amid breakups with the Wilson sisters.  I gather that the band didn't do so well for a while, then got popular again mid-80's.  I was really more commenting on having two chick singers, one named Anne, and that someone was gonna have to nail her.

Anyway, don't worry, I'm not going to try and bang our singer or anything like that.  I'm not an idiot.

I hope you understand that I wasn't implying that it would or should be you.

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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #1461 on: October 19, 2016, 07:06:34 AM »
:lol  No, it's cool.  I figured you were making a reference, a joke.  I just wasn't familiar enough with the context.

And believe me, if things were different -- a lot of things -- then I'd probably make a play.  I suppose I was saying it to remind myself how foolish it would be, as much as stating it for others.

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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #1462 on: October 19, 2016, 07:19:13 AM »
Anyway, I'd gotten pretty stoned on the way home
You're a goddamm rock star
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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #1463 on: October 19, 2016, 07:22:36 AM »
^this

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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #1464 on: October 19, 2016, 07:27:03 AM »
I use the word "anyway" too much.  My stories ramble as my brain wanders around (usually due to what's referenced above), although in print I can eventually bring things back on topic.  I rarely manage to do that in real time conversation.  Still, I need to find a way to do that other than using "anyway" all the time.

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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #1465 on: October 19, 2016, 08:22:28 AM »
Figures that you're talking about "Anyway" when I was talking about "I'd gotten pretty stoned on the way home".

That's how much of a goddamm rock star you are.
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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #1466 on: October 19, 2016, 10:37:36 AM »
I knew where the focus was supposed to be, but I decided to deflect it.  A mention in passing seems to be okay on DTF these days, but it used to be a bit tighter. 

Also, it gave me an excuse to own up to something that bothers me about my own writing, but not until I actually see it later, with a clearer mind.  If anyone's out there thinking "Damn, Orbert rambles around a lot, and uses fucking 'anyway' all the time to bring it back" then, well yeah, I know that.

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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #1467 on: October 19, 2016, 01:01:33 PM »
I don't normally think of posts on a discussion forum as "writing", even though they technically are.  I view it as conversation.  So things like that don't normally register to me, at least not as a bad thing, because I'm not judging posts the way I would judge an essay, or fiction, or a news article.

Hef is right on all things. Except for when I disagree with him. In which case he's probably still right.

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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #1468 on: October 19, 2016, 02:16:06 PM »
To me, it's somewhere in between.  True, it's a conversation, an exchange of ideas, pleasantries, what have you.  But I tend to think of "conversations" as taking place between two people, or a small group.  A forum extends this concept to offer a voice to anyone who wishes to participate.  But because unrestricted numbers can easily lead to chaos and anarchy, a forum must have rules and limitations.  Internet discussion forums solve some of this by their very format.  Everything is written, therefore there is a defined order in which people have responded and thus a defined order in which responses can be read.  People can't stomp on each other just by shouting over them or talking louder as with a true public forum.

But there's the other side of it.  Everything is written, and read.  Chat rooms are closer to true public forums.  Despite the fact that responses are ordered (and written, obviously) there's more chaos than order.  Shorter sentences, spelling not necessarily of huge importance, etc.  Some people prefer it that way, and that's fine.

In my mind, Internet discussion forums are (or should be) more orderly than chat rooms.  And because the medium is the written word, I think of it as writing.  Also, because I like writing and tend to take it more seriously than most.  Sometimes I'll shoot off a quick response to something, contribute to the discussion, but I generally prefer to "compose" my responses.  I edit, I go through multiple drafts, way more than the average poster, I'm pretty sure.  Half the time, I'll do all that, then delete it all anyway.  I don't like where it's going, or I don't think I'll be able to properly convey my viewpoint, so fuck it, I'd rather just not say anything.  I suppose that's another reason why my posts tend to be on the long side.  I'm not just saying something, offering my contribution; I've composed a response and presented it.

Ironically, this is the "Chat Thread", which I'm guessing is meant to model a chat room more than a structured forum.  But we don't have enough traffic for things to really get chaotic, so I started chatting about my band, and that has lead to a lot of copy.  In retrospect, I probably could've (and should've) created a new thread to chronicle the saga, but it's kinda late for that now.  :lol

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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #1469 on: October 19, 2016, 03:38:07 PM »
Well, even though your saga takes up the majority of the thread, it's not as if nobody else ever posts in here. Besides, I - and I'm sure others as well -  quite like reading what you're up to.
Hey dude slow the fuck down so we can finish together at the same time.  :biggrin:
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