Musicians on Political Forum?

The ukulele should not be scoffed at by anyone. It's a great string instrument as the video reflected. I long had a passion for the mandolin which is similar in many ways. What the hell, I love to play the cowbell and would love to form the "Precision Cowbell Marching Band" to play in the Doodah Parade in Pasadena someday even though I'm not a percussionist. Laugh at me if you want because I don't care. LOL

http://pasadenadoodahparade.info/

 

Ukus are cool, I know some basic chords, never have spent the time to become proficient at the ukulele though.

Mandolins are fun too.

 

Going to be doing a music gig (sort of), going to be doing guitar and bass in some 25 songs.

*excited

 

How'd the gig go?

 

Seven more days and show time.

 

Keep it simple and keep it tight and you'll be a huge success!!!

Hell, when I was in a rock band I wasn't the best guitar player but I could keep it simple and keep it tight and the group was excellent because "being tight" was what it was really all about.

 

Most of it is pretty simple. Created some new tracks in Reaper for drums and bass... Audioslave's "Like a Stone" and "I am the Highway".

It is like herding cats getting people to practice though. <_< I need to take some voice lessons so that I can do that portion on my own.

 

Yes, it can be like herding cats but here is a simple solution. While it might be too late in this case the solution is to get everyone together and ask them if they want to embarrass themselves? Then record the practice sessions so that everyone can hear how good or bad the group sounds. The simple question of "Do we want to sound like that in public" brings reality to the forefront because without additional practice that's exactly what the group will sound like.

It has been many years since I was in a band but we had no problem getting everyone together for our practice sessions because we recorded every one of them on reel-to-reel tape and then listened to them. We'd get the sound done to the point we all loved the way it came out. Then, to warm up for a practice, we'd play a couple of the songs we already had down. After that we'd work on those songs that needed improvement until we were satisfied with them. Of course we were young with few responsibilities and often practiced 12 hours a day whenever we could working out the kinks in the songs and then spent our time writing new material when we weren't practicing. It was rather intense but I would change one minute of the times I spent "In the Band" back then.

Being in a band is similar to being on a race team that I've also done. Being on the race team isn't about Saturday night at the races. It's about Sunday through Friday working on the race car everyday to make it faster on Saturday night. Being in a band is more about the practice sessions than it is about performing live in front of an audience.

As a "part time" group it can be hard to get together even two days a week but that should be a goal of all the members to ensure that the group doesn't embarrass itself when performing. Anyway, keep it up and do the best you can.

 

I have a different tactic lol:

I am not in a bonified band as I do not have a drummer, and for the most part, a bassist. Most of the songs to be performed will be acoustic, and the songs with electric guitar will be backed by tracks I made in Reaper. I arrange MIDI drums (they are simple, I am by no means a drummer, and I have a hard time translating drums into a MIDI sequence), and record bass on top of that. Sounds decent. Doesn't compare to real drums. So I have multiple vocalists, and I know quite a few songs with each (they all have their nook). Their skills overlap some, so if person A flakes out, person B can take their place.

There may be a drummer who is interested, so I am going to investigate that a bit.

 

An old friend of mine from the 60's is Preston Ritter that was the drummer in this group (he's the one basically centered on the album cover photo)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQpw3FwYATw

He knows and is friends with many of the top old rock-n-roll drummers era like Danny Seraphine the original drummer for the Chicago Transit Authority. I hit Preston up with an idea recently to get together some of the top percussionists (drummers) that he knows to form the "Precision All-Star Cowbell Marching Band" and do the Pasadena Doo Dah Parade next year.

http://pasadenadoodahparade.info/

Preston's response was, "I'm old and my worn out hips won't allow me to walk that far in the parade."

I laughed because my hips wouldn't take it either so I revised the pitch to, "We'll rent 'Rascals' and form the 'All-Star Cowbell Precision Drill Team' instead. It would basically be a 'drum line' using cowbells by several top drummers from Rock and Roll history. Preston is considering it because it would be an awesome show. Can you just imagine what about ten really good drummers could do with nothing but cow bells?

 

Hahahaha, that would be awesome.

 

Ah, the Musician's thread. Good, I have a question.

What is the absolute total and completely without any effort on my part electronic thingie that can still enable me to make the maximum amount of musical sounds for the least amount of money? I have, without doubt, no tuneful talent whatsoever, cannot sing and am rather weird looking to boot. I am destined for stardom.

Seriously, I want something that will enable me to duplicate and record several instruments with as little effort on my part as possible. What exists?

 

"Description:

This cool little synth kit is easy to put together, requires no soldering and is easy to hack (see links below). There are no English instructions included (book and kit are in Japanese but beautifully done) but the detailed illustrations are more than enough to easily put this kit together. 4 AA batteries (not included)

Features
&#9726;Size: 4.5 x 6 inches
&#9726;Controls for LFO, pitch envelope, frequency cutoff, resonance and attack/decay
&#9726;Slide controller (pen type electrode)
&#9726;Output and external input 1/8&#8243; Jacks
&#9726;Small built-in speaker"

http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2008/11/07/build-an-analog-synthesizer-for-4599/

This is a good start....but understand there WILL be effort required in any system.

 

More Cowbell!!!

 

Strip away the guitars, the bass, the gut growls, and the vocals.

Keep the cowbell. lol

Saturday is going to be a blast.

 

Neat, looks like just what I want, though if anyone knows of anything else that will be welcome too.

I may learn Japanese to boot, thankee much

 

Don't forget the COWBELL!!!

Have a great time and let us know about it afterwards.

 

FFFFMMMMMLLLLLLL

The one of the vocalists bailed.

I am so (*)(*)(*)(*)ing over this flaky (*)(*)(*)(*).

If you say you are going to (*)(*)(*)(*)ing do something, (*)(*)(*)(*)ing do it. Don't wait until (*)(*)(*)(*)ing three days before to (*)(*)(*)(*)ing bail. Jesus (*)(*)(*)(*)ing christ on a (*)(*)(*)(*)ing cross.

Like herding (*)(*)(*)(*)ing cats.

I need vocal lessons so I can do more than sing in a tiny range and gut growl, and rely on no one to participate in this (*)(*)(*)(*). The only people I know who I can rely on 100% can't (*)(*)(*)(*)ing sing, think they do, boast how they have been in bands for fifteen (*)(*)(*)(*)ing years, and don't even own a frikkin' microphone. How the (*)(*)(*)(*) can you be a vocalist, sound likme (*)(*)(*)(*), and not even possess a (*)(*)(*)(*)ing microphone? Then want to mooch off my (*)(*)(*)(*)? There is at least $10,000 in music (*)(*)(*)(*) in my studio room, no one else get up every morning for work to pay for that (*)(*)(*)(*).

Urgh. The frikken lack of reliability pisses me off to no end.

 

I feel better now. Looks like it will be an hour or hour fifteen instead of two hours.

 

Or less than an hour... I may simply bail if my main vocalist doesn't get back to me.

 

I have been a guitar player for over seven years by now. I remember in the summer of 06 I started listening to Iron Maiden and playing their songs. They were the first band I was a fan of, for sure. For Christmas (7 years ago) I got a green Ibanez SZ520. Who else likes Ibanez guitars?

I should start playing my SZ520 again. I haven't been playing it for years. I usually play my other Ibanez. Lately I haven't been playing guitar on a regular basis. It's more of an "on and off" thing. However, I still listen to music almost every day. I listen to Marty Friedman, Pillar, Dragonforce, SOAD, Green Day, The Eagles, Yngwie Malmsteen, Metallica, Imagine Dragons, Sonic Youth, Velvet underground, etc.

 

I've never played one but the reviews on the Ibanez SZ520 are pretty good especially for someone interested in "metal" or that has yet to establish any particular preference in music. Sounds like an excellent choice and my only recommendation would be PLAY IT MORE OFTEN!!!! LOL

 

It was fun. I won't do music with a particular person ever again, but I know who I can depend on and who I simply cannot.

I am bass in this particular one:
[video=youtube_share;IPz_sIWevpM]http://youtu.be/IPz_sIWevpM[/video]

8-string guitar, AudioSlave's "I am the Highway" (solo starts at 3:15):
[video=youtube_share;8ad0hnscYe I]http://youtu.be/8ad0hnscYeI[/video]

NIN's "Hurt", dear friend on vocals, a *very* talented friend on lead, and das Wolverine on rhythm.
[video=youtube_share;1mbfNHzx8s 8]http://youtu.be/1mbfNHzx8s8[/video]

 

This piece is hard as hell and I had ten minutes to practice it beforehand.

v[video=youtube_share;81JrgvxQVno]http://youtu.be/81JrgvxQVno[/video]

 

Thanks for sharing the videos (although one didn't work). Glad you had fun as that's what it's all about.

Speaking of playing bass have you seen this video of a lone street acoustic bassist - with a little help from his friends dropping in to help out. LOL?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgiPaanDnuk

This is one of the most inspiring music videos on YouTube IMO.