Members Toxicpotatoe Posted July 6, 2006 Members Share Posted July 6, 2006 First, let me say that Phil has given me prior permission to post this SPAM Phil O'Keefe and Ralph Torres (Songrytr) and I will be playing at BB King's at Universal City Walk on Sunday, July 16, 3:30 to 4 PM. We'll be playing a bunch of songs by Ralph and me. We'd love to see some of you there. Universal City Walk is next to Universal Studios in Universal City (Hollywood), Calif. Tickets are $10. Send me a PM if you're interested. John McGillaka ToxicPotatoehttp://johnmcgill.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gtrbass Posted July 7, 2006 Members Share Posted July 7, 2006 I'll try to make it down. I play at BB King's fairly often. Nice venue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted July 9, 2006 Share Posted July 9, 2006 Would love to see you if you can make it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitwizz Posted July 15, 2006 Members Share Posted July 15, 2006 Capn Phil, I didnt know you played an instrument?? Which one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Geoff Grace Posted July 15, 2006 Members Share Posted July 15, 2006 Man, I wish I could make it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Toxicpotatoe Posted July 15, 2006 Author Members Share Posted July 15, 2006 Originally posted by guitwizz Capn Phil,I didnt know you played an instrument??Which one? Phil, is an excellent guitarist, and a great bass player. He will be playing bass with me this Sunday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted July 17, 2006 Share Posted July 17, 2006 Originally posted by guitwizz Capn Phil, I didnt know you played an instrument?? Which one? Oh, I fumble around a bit on several. I started on reeds in junior high school, starting with clarinet and quickly moving on to sax. Throughout my school years I played everything from bari to soprano at one point or another. Started fiddling around with guitar as a high school freshman, and got semi-serious on that by my junior year. Started bass as a sophmore. Took about six months of classical piano as a junior when my folks purchased a Kawai baby grand, and another year in college - but I'm mostly a two fisted chordal basher. Guys like Geoff or Dave Bryce, who can really tear it up on keys make me a bit envious. Along the way I've messed around with a little banjo, drums and mandolin, but I'm not really a player... but I can fake it a bit, and I'm a decent editor, so sometimes I can manage to fake it enough to make it pass on record. I do love slide though, and I'd like to try my hand at pedal steel someday. But my next instrument purchase will probably be a sax. I have not really played in years, but have kind of been getting the itch a bit. My honest assessment of my own capabilities is less flattering than John's kind words might lead you to think... IMHO, I have pretty decent time and not too shabby feel, but how well I play tends to depend to a great degree on how well the other players are, and frankly, I'm no technical chops expert or speed demon - my relative lack of speed and technique are probably my greatest weaknesses. That and getting psych'ed out on stage sometimes, especially if I play a clunker or three. But I will say this - I had a BLAST today! We had an old friend on drums - Dennis Galuszka, who is a master builder at the Fender custom shop. He's also quite the drummer, and boy, playing with a great drummer sure is a lot of fun - especially when you're on bass or rhythm guitar. It just makes everything gel when you can lock into a solid groove, and it really allows you to open up a bit and play with a little more ecconomy; being more selective about when and what you're going to play. Since we frequently play as a three piece, sans drums, when we get a chance to play with a great drummer, I really appreciate it. Anyway, I enjoyed myself and didn't embarrass myself too badly. I got to hang out with some friends, and play with some other friends, and they all seemed to enjoy the day. And the crowd seemed to really get into it, which is nice for me to see, since I'm such a big fan of John and Ralph's songs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gearmike Posted July 17, 2006 Members Share Posted July 17, 2006 Originally posted by Phil O'Keefe Along the way I've messed around with a little banjo, Man Phil, Banjo's not an instrument to mess around wif... Check yo PM's... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kylen Posted July 17, 2006 Members Share Posted July 17, 2006 Yep - sorry we missed that one. It's a bit of a drive from West-By-God, I'll just have to dig out one of those old BBQ tapes and give a listen. Phil sounds pretty good on the other side of the console too that's fer sure! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Geoff Grace Posted July 17, 2006 Members Share Posted July 17, 2006 Phil, I'm sure that if you'd played keyboards consistently for over forty years, as I have, you'd be much happier with your playing. Nonetheless, your hands on experience with so many instruments has got to give you an edge both as an engineer and as a musician. I'm glad you had such a great time. I really wish I could have been there! Best, Geoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members doug osborne Posted July 18, 2006 Members Share Posted July 18, 2006 Sorry I couldn't make it! I've played at B. B. King's twice this year (so I know you got a great sound check and made a lot of money from this gig...). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted July 18, 2006 Share Posted July 18, 2006 Originally posted by doug osborne Sorry I couldn't make it! I've played at B. B. King's twice this year (so I know you got a great sound check and made a lot of money from this gig...). ROTFL! Yeah, you HAVE played there. No, it was a "pay to play" gig, and Ralph and I would have probably discouraged John from taking it (he was contacted directly by the promoter) if he hadn't already agreed to it. Fortunately, there were more tickets sold than he had to sell, so it didn't really cost him money. But it was a typical Sunday at BB's - cattle call of artist / band after artist / band, 15 minutes set up time tops, "line check" instead of a real sound check... the sound wasn't perfect on stage, but I've had to deal with far worse, and the soundman was nice enough. French guy, if my ear for accents is correct. It actually wasn't as bad as what I had imagined it could be like, all things considered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted July 18, 2006 Share Posted July 18, 2006 Originally posted by Geoff Grace Phil, I'm sure that if you'd played keyboards consistently for over forty years, as I have, you'd be much happier with your playing. I'm sure you're right Geoff but some people just have a gift for it - yourself included - and have the hands for it - my little fingers make doing left hand octaves a bit of a stretch. Nonetheless, your hands on experience with so many instruments has got to give you an edge both as an engineer and as a musician. Well, I think it helps. I know there are some great engineers who are not players, but I think the ability to speak in the language of musicians, and having a basic understanding of how the instrument is played, and its range and limitations and so forth is very helpful when it comes to recording. That's one thing I always thought they got right in college for the music ed majors is the exposure to a variety of instruments. And of course, I see a lot of benefit in being exposed to many different genres and styles of music too. I was fortunate in that respect as well, because of different members of my family and their ranges of musical tastes - I was exposed to a lot of great music that normally a person of my age group might not have been exposed to otherwise. But IMO, it's probably been even more beneficial from a production standpoint than an engineering standpoint. I'm glad you had such a great time. I really wish I could have been there! Best, Geoff Thanks Geoff - maybe next time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Kendrix Posted July 19, 2006 Members Share Posted July 19, 2006 Sounds like it was fun. Phil, your musical trajectory and mine are quite similar.FWIW- I'd go buy that sax. I hadn't played since HS.I bought a vintage alto and then a tenor over the past two years.Im really enjoying screwing around with them.It was great to find that my reading/fingering skills were just hybernating- not dead.It just feels good to blow a horn after all this time.Sittin on their stands they add almost as much vibe to my studio as the lava lamp does.Simply working to get some embochure and tone back kinda feels like a yoga exercise. Many horn fills in songs are not that technically complex ( Im not trying to play Coltrane or Bird). Even I can pull most of them off. Im sure you could as well. Go for it. I expect you'd really enjoy it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted July 19, 2006 Share Posted July 19, 2006 Thanks for the encouragement Kendrix. I probably will do just that sometime this year, and I'll let you know how it goes. The big question is, which first - alto or tenor? I'm leaning towards tenor... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members songrytr Posted July 20, 2006 Members Share Posted July 20, 2006 Originally posted by Phil O'Keefe The big question is, which first - alto or tenor? I'm leaning towards tenor... I vote for the tenor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members toddlans Posted July 21, 2006 Members Share Posted July 21, 2006 I'm a bigger fan of tenor. Or you could go soprano and get all Kenny G on us. Alto is supposed to be easier I hear, but I've only played a tenor. On a side note anybody have any good info for me on low pitch saxes? I have a old low pitch tenor that I've messed around with here and there. I don't really know how to play well, but I can transfer what I know about from other instruments by checking my handy fingering chart. However, as I said its low pitch (seems to be a whole step down) and no matter how tight you get the mouth piece you can't get it up to pitch. So I end up tuning to a step down then playing a step up. This gets annoying when you're not even used to sax in the first place. Google searches have suggested that "Low Pitch" is normal so it should be fine. This is the opposite of what the band director at local school told me. I was thinking if it is the right pitch then maybe I have an alto mouthpiece or something. Or maybe I could get mouthpiece thats shorter to remedy the problem. Anybody know about this stuff? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted July 21, 2006 Share Posted July 21, 2006 Are you talking about concert pitch / transposing instruments? With rare exceptions, all saxophones are transposing instruments. Alto (and Bari) saxophones are Eb while tenor and soprano are Bb. Playing a "C" on a tenor (middle finger of the left hand depressed only) will sound a note that has the same pitch as a Bb played on a piano (a C concert instrument). Playing that same fingering, which we still call a "C", on an alto sax will produce a note that would sound like an Eb on a piano. The two saxophones use the same fingerings, called by the same names, but physically sound different pitches. A C on a alto will produce a different note than a C played on a tenor. Here's a good article on transposition you may find helpful: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transposing_instrument Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members toddlans Posted July 21, 2006 Members Share Posted July 21, 2006 ok makes sense now, thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted July 21, 2006 Share Posted July 21, 2006 You're welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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