Long Notes

It has always bugged me that I can't hold the last note in Debaser for the full 15 seconds. Likewise, that I have to take breaths during the intro to River Euphrates and its 20 seconds of "ride". Now, I'm learning The Happening and it has 18 second long notes...and you have to do them up to 12 times consecutively.  So it is like note-for-18-seconds-big-breath-another-18-second-note...and that goes on for nearly 2 minutes.

I've never been good about doing vocal exercises or breathing exercises or even about practicing my vocal parts. I hate singing in front of people. I also hate trying to mimic someone who has one of the best voices in rock and who I personally look up to a bunch. I mean...I love doing it...I just hate that anyone else has to hear it.

But I recognize too that I'm usually too hard on myself. In point of fact, no one in the world but me cares if I nail these vocals.  We do a pretty good job with the songs in general, so I think that the average listener's brain fills in the missing bits. Essentially we sound like them...and they (the listener) don't know the songs as well as we do anyway...so they probably could not tell you how accurate we are.

This morning I went looking for a live clip of Debaser where she holds the note the whole time. I've been on this search before, so I know that there is evidence out there.  But this morning the first four examples I found were these. In the first three she bails really quickly. In the last, she tries, but runs out of breath right about where I always do.









This last one I find particularly endearing, because she's doing what I'm doing...which is trying to reproduce the record.

Here's any interesting twist...Charles comes in and covers the breath and drops out when she's got it again. After watching several vids from the Doolittle tour, this seems to be the way that they resolved it. She takes the first 4 bars, he covers the second, then she comes back in. It actually looks like sometimes they traded back and forth for all four times through the progression.


Anyway, the moral of the story is...it's hard. And it doesn't matter. But what else is there in life but to sweat the small stuff?

The Things We All Face

There are so many things about this post that I love.

A Rare Case of Patting Myself on the Back

This weekend I was out supporting a friend who had a cd release show. The premiere local ska band rounded out the bill. I cozied up to the bass player and asked about sharing a bill sometime. He knows me as a drummer, and I suspect he thought I was drumming in the ska band. He asked what we were like. I said, "Oh we play stuff by Mustard Plug...Mighty, Mighty Bosstones...Streetlight Manifesto..." He stopped me. "Streetlight Manifesto?!?! Man, those are some hard basslines. I could never play that stuff. It's really fast."

So basically the person I thought I ought to aspire to play like told me I play better than he does.  That's pretty cool.

It also tells me that we basically started with the hardest stuff out there. Since I was blind to this fact, I just learned it. Had I known I probably would have been too terrified to try. So here's to being blind.

For Your Edification...

The Academy Is, About a Girl:


Streetlight Manifesto, Somewhere In The Between:


Streetlight Manifesto, Point/Counterpoint:


The Guild, I'm the One That's Cool


Bomb the Music Industry, Future 86:


Bomb the Music Industry, I Don't Love You Anymore:


Hugh Masekela, Grazing in the Grass:


Parliament, Everything is On the One:
Rockwell, Somebody's Watching Me: Black Eye Peas, My Humps: Metallica, Master of Puppets: The Clash, Rudie Can't Fail:

Vocal Effects

A very nice closeup I stole off FB.

Related, last night I got a rough mix of a few songs that were recorded live from a CJ show recently. The sound guy pulled everything straight off the board. It probably counts as the closest thing to a legitimate recording that we've ever had (or may ever have in the future, since recording really isn't the main concern of a tribute act). He had the effects turned up super high on RS's voice (perhaps borderline too high) and it made RS sound like magic...like an entirely different person. I kept having to remind myself that I was listening to...well US...because it sounded so otherworldly, polished, and...ahem...professional.  

I can't say that it did the same for my little vocal bits, but that's probably just me not being able to listen to myself sing without wanting to vomit.  But it is worth remembering that the dry ass, bare-bones, shitty quality mic/PA combos (run by no one at all often) that I'm used to singing through probably do me no favors. Nor the shitty rooms. I'm no great singer...and I'm not trying to make excuses...but even the pros would probably sound a bunch worse under the performance conditions in which I find myself.

The Sadness...My Amp

So I bought an amp back in spring of 2011 that I thought was perfect. It was an Ampeg BA600 with a 1x15 inch speaker. 600 watts. 35 pounds. It had power, light weight, and a good brand name. It cost me $850. It was going to be my forever amp. It was my first quality equipment purchase.

Every so often, it has seemed like it would cut out, but I chalked it up to bad cables. Then, a rattling/buzzing started at high volume. I've tried to ignore it. I don't think it is under warranty anymore and even if it was, I can't bear the thought of shipping it somewhere.

I looked it up and it sounds like these amps, while Ampeg in name, were made by some other company and the quality control was poor. The screws inside the amps were not quality checked to the proper torque, so when you vibrate the air inside with 600 watts of power, the screws come loose and rattle. Some of them also have a problem with cutting out. It doesn't seem like there is a fix to either problem.

I'm sad, because I was trying to invest in quality equipment and it didn't work out. It sounds like what I'm looking for...high power and low weight...is just a pipe dream. Probably the best solution is a separate cabinet and amp head...and possibly to move to a 2 x 12 configuration instead of a 1x15 or 4x10 in order to save weight. And there's my nagging feeling that any good venue will just DI me anyway...so what is the fucking point of even having a good amp...essentially it is a monitor. Of course, it is true that I play in lots of venues that do not have sound systems that can accommodate a DI bass. Probably for those I can muddle through with what I have or wait to get a good deal.

It is true, though, that I think that bass is going to stick around for a good long time. It would be nice to have something I could rely on. Of course, having a reliable amp is also probably a pipe dream...there will always be speakers or tubes to blow...wires to break...fans to stop and over heat...drunks to spill and drop...and the ever-present threat of theft. All life is impermanence and that goes for music equipment too I guess.

A footnote...which is that, recent bad wire excepted...I have two basses that are easy to play and sound decent and one cost me $100 (w/ practice amp) and the other cost me $75 (w/ practice amp AND a free acoustic guitar thrown in). I fantasize about fancier instruments (or ones that match KiD's)...but the two that I have are really great players and I'm so lucky to have them.

SVFD, Feb 15th, Mickey's

SVFD had its debut and played with The Type and TL;DR. The show went about as well as I could have hoped for. Turnout was great and the reception from the crowd was great. People had obviously come to see us specifically cause the place cleared when we finished. Hopefully those people will keep coming out and it won't be a first show phenomenon.

The only thing that sucked a little was that it took forever to clear the tables...so we weren't able to start playing until 11pm. Even so...our set took almost exactly 45 minutes...The Type started 30 minutes after we finished and played almost exactly 45 minutes...which left TL;DR an hour to set up and play so they got in a decent set. So it worked out even though it made things feel hectic at the start.

I hadn't realized how much I rely on RS to take charge at gigs. A little of that had to fall to me and it was weird, but not too bad. I was glad that The Type are pros and used to the situation at Mickey's. They were a big help and just made me feel better about the situation. I love people who jump in and move shit when it needs moving.

I used my old amp cause I think my Ampeg vibrates too much at high volumes and might be cutting out sometimes. I've identified that this model has those problems, which sucks. The G-K was fine, but didn't feel loud enough. The Type was using an old-style Fender Bassman and TL;DR had a Neo G-K.  Both sounded fine. I looked it up and those old Bassman's are only like 50 Watts and $2,000. I don't know how it sounded so good.

Our mistakes were minimal truly and the few that we had were recovered from quickly and well. There was even a mic failure that Be handled really well. Ba busted out some shit on keys that I've never heard her play before, sounded great. I only used notes on Superman. I had them for Sergio but forgot to pull them out and muddled through. I didn't have too many brain farts...and nothing catastrophic...just a few skipped notes here and there.

I commented to the sweetie later that I thought things went well...and that I NEVER say that. I don't feel jump up and down fantastic...but I don't feel bad at all. And for me that's probably saying a huge amount. It probably means things were fantastic.

I ate a good dinner, got good sleep, and did not drink. We brought in $61 per band...so that's $183 total...which if you figure that's after the charge for sound, isn't bad. We filled the place, but they weren't a drinking crowd and left when we were done, so the bar totals were probably affected by that fact.  Still, even on the best attended, hardest drinking nights at Mickey's I think CJ only brings down $300 total, and that was before the PA charge was in place...so I think we did well.

UPDATE: photos and video streaming in from all corners! Gotta say this sounds pretty darn good.


Setlist:
Freedom
Came Out of a Lady
Metro
Sergio
Hope I Never Lose My Wallet
Mr Smiley
Dandelions
Rascal King
Superman
Rudy
Thigh High Nylons
Lost Again
Red Rubber Ball