"My" Open Mic Venue
- Thread starter MarkDyson
- Start date
MarkDyson
Blues Hound Wannabe
Few notes while I wait for the video to upload....
The GoPro quit on me after two songs. From my digging around I'm still not sure why, except maybe the battery wasn't charged enough. I didn't think to double check it last night but I thought I'd charged it up. Today I managed to get the iOS app connected to it (it was a refurb and they didn't bother to reset the wifi so I had to jump through some hoops to access and set that up) and so next time I'll have better visibility into the workings of the thing. I've run it again twice thus far today, a half hour each time, and no glitches so fingers crossed.
The Zoom recorded the whole set but the levels were all over the place. I'd set the level to auto, then the organizer suggested I just plug the line in directly into her PA system. My feeling is the vocals were too high, guitar too low, and the levels really inconsistent. Next time I'm going to set the level explicitly and do a sound check to keep it from the red zone. Live and learn.
For the video I just spliced a still image in where the footage drops off. As ever I'm not happy with how I did but I know I have a long road to travel and I'm my worst critic. It is what it is.
Okay, moar to come when the upload finishes.
The GoPro quit on me after two songs. From my digging around I'm still not sure why, except maybe the battery wasn't charged enough. I didn't think to double check it last night but I thought I'd charged it up. Today I managed to get the iOS app connected to it (it was a refurb and they didn't bother to reset the wifi so I had to jump through some hoops to access and set that up) and so next time I'll have better visibility into the workings of the thing. I've run it again twice thus far today, a half hour each time, and no glitches so fingers crossed.
The Zoom recorded the whole set but the levels were all over the place. I'd set the level to auto, then the organizer suggested I just plug the line in directly into her PA system. My feeling is the vocals were too high, guitar too low, and the levels really inconsistent. Next time I'm going to set the level explicitly and do a sound check to keep it from the red zone. Live and learn.
For the video I just spliced a still image in where the footage drops off. As ever I'm not happy with how I did but I know I have a long road to travel and I'm my worst critic. It is what it is.
Okay, moar to come when the upload finishes.
Many Moons
Biking+Blues=Bliss
Go Mark!!! Big Respect Man!!!
Your tuning defo went a bit astray. Is that a tuner on the headstock? If not, one of those 'snarks' clipped onto there would have been handy. There were parts of that John Denver song that I think you really sounded like him.
Well done you.
Your tuning defo went a bit astray. Is that a tuner on the headstock? If not, one of those 'snarks' clipped onto there would have been handy. There were parts of that John Denver song that I think you really sounded like him.Well done you.
MarkDyson
Blues Hound Wannabe
Go Mark!!! Big Respect Man!!!
Well done you.
Thanks, man! Yeah, that's a TC Polytune clip-on. If the camera had been working you'd see me referencing it. I need to adjust more often than I do; getting better at remembering.
MarkDyson
Blues Hound Wannabe
OG_Blues
Guitar Geezer
Mark,
What you are doing is fantastic - I could never pull that off 'cuz my voice has just gone to crap, so major props to you for putting yourself out there!!
If I could offer one suggestion you might try that IMO would make the performance even better, is to simplify your accompaniment on the guitar - it seems quite "busy" to me, which detracts from the vocals. Experiment with trimming it back and not strumming so much and see how it feels to you.
After all, the vocal is really the centerpiece of the song, even though we guitarists would like to think differently.
Great job.
What you are doing is fantastic - I could never pull that off 'cuz my voice has just gone to crap, so major props to you for putting yourself out there!!
If I could offer one suggestion you might try that IMO would make the performance even better, is to simplify your accompaniment on the guitar - it seems quite "busy" to me, which detracts from the vocals. Experiment with trimming it back and not strumming so much and see how it feels to you.
After all, the vocal is really the centerpiece of the song, even though we guitarists would like to think differently.
Great job.
MarkDyson
Blues Hound Wannabe
Just a little chuffed about this week's open mic set. I scored a 30 minute slot (since a couple of other venues went out of business competition for remaining slots has heated up a bit) and I'm eager to get more performing miles on my new Fender guit. Gonna be doing some Led Zep and some Dan Fogelberg in the same set. I does me some eclectic.
MarkDyson
Blues Hound Wannabe
Did the 30 minute set standing, and my knee didn't act up at all. Also did one song with another musician, backed her up on a Melissa Etheridge tune with my UBass, also standing. Surprisingly nervous for that last, first time actually trying to follow a song and play a learned bass riff in front of people. Missed a couple of notes but I think what I did play was reasonably on-time. Gonna do that song again plus White Rabbit as a sit-in bassist during her gig this Sunday. Gotta just keep getting up there.
tommytubetone
Great Lakes
MDid the 30 minute set standing, and my knee didn't act up at all. Also did one song with another musician, backed her up on a Melissa Etheridge tune with my UBass, also standing. Surprisingly nervous for that last, first time actually trying to follow a song and play a learned bass riff in front of people. Missed a couple of notes but I think what I did play was reasonably on-time. Gonna do that song again plus White Rabbit as a sit-in bassist during her gig this Sunday. Gotta just keep getting up there.
That!
MarkDyson
Blues Hound Wannabe
Sunday's little sit-in went well. She and the other guitarist on the bill each did some solo stuff while the other took a break, and I sat in for part of her solo stint. We did "Similar Features" by Melissa Etheridge and "White Rabbit" by—hell, you know who did that one.
I felt we were bang-on with SF, but we'd had two practice sessions to get comfortable with each other playing it. For WR we'd not played it together, ever, and at first we struggled to match each other's tempo. I felt that into the second verse we were locked in and, for my part, I didn't miss a note of the famous bass lines.
Afterward her partner said that, despite my critique, we sounded like we'd been playing together for a long while, and folks I knew in the audience later told me we sounded great, so there's that. I'll never be fully satisfied with a performance, but I do enjoy feeling like I did well enough for people to enjoy it. I have another in-person bass lesson tonight, and now (thanks to @paparaptor ) a laundry list of bl00ze t00ns to start getting comfortable playing both rhythm and bass for.
I felt we were bang-on with SF, but we'd had two practice sessions to get comfortable with each other playing it. For WR we'd not played it together, ever, and at first we struggled to match each other's tempo. I felt that into the second verse we were locked in and, for my part, I didn't miss a note of the famous bass lines.
Afterward her partner said that, despite my critique, we sounded like we'd been playing together for a long while, and folks I knew in the audience later told me we sounded great, so there's that. I'll never be fully satisfied with a performance, but I do enjoy feeling like I did well enough for people to enjoy it. I have another in-person bass lesson tonight, and now (thanks to @paparaptor ) a laundry list of bl00ze t00ns to start getting comfortable playing both rhythm and bass for.
Glad it went well for you! I'm told it gets easier the more you do it!
tommytubetone
Great Lakes
Congrats Mark!
Many Moons
Biking+Blues=Bliss
Well done Mark. Next please!!!!