Members richardmac Posted July 17, 2011 Members Share Posted July 17, 2011 Fellow dinosaurs and others, I thought it'd be interesting to see what everyone's up to. I mean, we are all musicians, right? And be honest! I'll go first. I'm doing a few gigs a month, covers with a few original tunes tossed in. I'm learning new songs all the time to keep it interesting. I'm listening to a lot of music lately, just trying to fire up my imagination. I feel like it's time to start writing songs. I also just recently got Logic Studio 9 and I really, really love it. What I really want to do is stretch. My first CD was just to do one. For my second CD I really had a goal of making something that sounded like 80's pop/rock, like The Cars meet The Romantics. For my third CD the goal was folk/rock lots of acoustic guitar-based songs. For my next CD I really want to put a lot of orchestration into it. I want loads of keyboards, multiple guitar tracks, sampled orchestral instruments, and three and four part vocal harmonies. I want it to sound huge. But the covers gig is really helping my family right now. My wife and I both work in education and haven't sniffed a raise in 4 years, while the cost of living has gone up. So if I can make a few hundred bucks extra each month it really helps. I really thought I'd be spending this summer trying to sell a few songs, but I sorta lost interest in that idea, and you don't go into trying to sell songs half-hearted. It takes a {censored}load of work just to get listened to. Right now it's easier to let someplace pay me fifty bucks an hour to play "Your Song." I guess I could have just said "I'm learning new covers songs and trying to write some songs." So what are the rest of you up to? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members J.Paul Posted July 17, 2011 Members Share Posted July 17, 2011 ~I'm on summer tour, we typically stay gone for about three months. ~terminating my publishing administration agreement ~keeping a multi media summer tour journal. I started making them every year so my girlfriend feels more connected to the people and places we see, but since we just broke up she won't see it...considering posting it here on HC. ~reviewing worktapes...deciding on the next set of tunes to write. ~transferring the Phoenix cable and power into her name;moving my stuff from the apartment in Phoenix I'm never at to the house in Nashville I'm always at (won't happen till we get home in September but it requires some foresight so it's what I'm working on right now)....will be nice to have my rack, Jackson, and Randall back in TN. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sventvkg Posted July 17, 2011 Members Share Posted July 17, 2011 J. Paul...We should hook up and do some writing when you get back to Nashville more permanently bro. Would love to meet up. I'm writing and demoing some 80 tunes I have in the can that are demo-worthy. Just finished an 8 song EP that I did all by myself Working on my REAL album with by buddy in LA that is going to showcase all my writing, producing and playing to it's fullest blown out extent. Just co-wrote 7 new songs with a chick in AK that I have to develop and mold..Preproduction early stages of an album that we'll likely finish next year. Recorded 5 tunes or a singer songwriter in AK that i'm going to be producing here over the course of the next 6 months in my "spare"time Have a bunch of Co-writing appointments coming up with some big writers in town including my publisher. Working my {censored}ing ass off baby! Just like you guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators daddymack Posted July 17, 2011 Moderators Share Posted July 17, 2011 today? My tan... sven, let me know if you are coming to LA! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lsits Posted July 17, 2011 Members Share Posted July 17, 2011 My third cup of coffee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sventvkg Posted July 18, 2011 Members Share Posted July 18, 2011 today? My tan... sven, let me know if you are coming to LA! It's funny but I was there for 6 months last year daddy!! My boy from LA is here in Nashville now as a matter of fact:) I think he's gonna relocate here!! Next time i'm out there I'll hit ya up for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 3shiftgtr Posted July 18, 2011 Members Share Posted July 18, 2011 Orig project 1 - jazz thing - had a project sitting in the can for almost a year. All kinds of probs we don't need to go into here but, FINALLY got the mixes done Fri! Should be in mastering end of next week, and if everyone approves the product, we'll send it off to be duplicated and start the promo process. Very glad this is happening....wasn't sure if it was going to. And it is a project that makes me play more lyrical and less wacky; which is good. Orig project 2 - fusion - recorded 8 tunes (6 are keepers) earlier this year, and when everybody comes off the road in Nov., we'll work up and record 5 more. Then start selling that. I love our crazy music; it's just sick. Might do a live 3 camera streaming vid thing. Learning how that gets done..... Cover project - been working with a core bunch recently that all want to stay busy the same amount and are all great players and people. Got nothing on the books with them til mid-August, so we are re vamping the set list. Should be interesting. Music Journalism - Haven't written anything for a music mag in quite a while, so I am ramping that back up. Pitching ideas now. Editorial turn over causing problems. Lessons - Must stay vigilant in my grassroots marketing.....been slacking for the past year and a half. And the numbers are starting to show. Looking for a studio space....man, I miss having my own "mad scientist":freak: music laboratory. That about does it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members richardmac Posted July 23, 2011 Author Members Share Posted July 23, 2011 Update... (I mean, there's not a lot else going on in this forum.) I got a second lil subwoofer for my small gig PA - my PA is lightweight, fits in my trunk, puts out 600 watts, and kicks ass. Two EV ZX1 speakers on poles, two EV SB122 subwoofers, and a Yamaha EMX312SC mixer/amp. Not cheap gear but certainly not state of the art by any stretch. I LOVE it. Adding the second sub made all the difference. Cranked up, it sounds amazing. And today I ordered strat parts from guitarfetish. I had a spare Fender MIM Strat body and neck that have been sitting around for a bit, so I ordered all the parts I need to put together a second Strat. For important gigs I can take it as a backup guitar. For recordings I can use it to add a different Strat sound to the mix. I am a gear whore. I admit it. I just told my wife "You know, I now have all the music gear I'm ever going to need." She looked at me and said "Yeah, RIGHT." I LOVE music. I love everything about it. I spent two hours last night recording a backing track for The Cars "Just What I Needed" and it was so much fun. This place (this particular forum) is so doom and gloom and I've been a part of that, but every so often I think we need to set that aside and just freaking enjoy music! It's so much fun if you let it be! Screw business, screw career, screw hourly rate, just pick up your instrument today and have fun! If you're not having fun you're doing it wrong. (Every time I say that someone wants to debate it. So let me rephrase - if you're not having fun, you're not having fun... but I AM! Ha ha ha!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sventvkg Posted July 25, 2011 Members Share Posted July 25, 2011 Update... (I mean, there's not a lot else going on in this forum.) I got a second lil subwoofer for my small gig PA - my PA is lightweight, fits in my trunk, puts out 600 watts, and kicks ass. Two EV ZX1 speakers on poles, two EV SB122 subwoofers, and a Yamaha EMX312SC mixer/amp. Not cheap gear but certainly not state of the art by any stretch. I LOVE it. Adding the second sub made all the difference. Cranked up, it sounds amazing. And today I ordered strat parts from guitarfetish. I had a spare Fender MIM Strat body and neck that have been sitting around for a bit, so I ordered all the parts I need to put together a second Strat. For important gigs I can take it as a backup guitar. For recordings I can use it to add a different Strat sound to the mix. I am a gear whore. I admit it. I just told my wife "You know, I now have all the music gear I'm ever going to need." She looked at me and said "Yeah, RIGHT." I LOVE music. I love everything about it. I spent two hours last night recording a backing track for The Cars "Just What I Needed" and it was so much fun. This place (this particular forum) is so doom and gloom and I've been a part of that, but every so often I think we need to set that aside and just freaking enjoy music! It's so much fun if you let it be! Screw business, screw career, screw hourly rate, just pick up your instrument today and have fun! If you're not having fun you're doing it wrong. (Every time I say that someone wants to debate it. So let me rephrase - if you're not having fun, you're not having fun... but I AM! Ha ha ha!) HELL YEA!!! I'm not doom and gloom at all. Totally optimistic actually Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 3shiftgtr Posted July 25, 2011 Members Share Posted July 25, 2011 HELL YEA!!! I'm not doom and gloom at all. Totally optimistic actually And that's a good thing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sjonesmusic Posted July 27, 2011 Members Share Posted July 27, 2011 Composing like crazy. Stuff like this: CREEPY CUE More on my Soundcloud Page. Link in Sig' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members CinnamonDetroit Posted August 4, 2011 Members Share Posted August 4, 2011 Right now, my bandmates and I are just trying to keep things together. We're used to being booked several months in advance, but we have nothing scheduled at the moment, because we've had so much turnover. We've got a solid 3-member core, and the remaining three slots are revolving doors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members A Happy Crowd Posted August 4, 2011 Members Share Posted August 4, 2011 Before the summer started, my goal was to take advantage of some free time and focus on my music: new recordings, playing out, and promoting myself. To that extent, I made some new recordings, created a Bandcamp page for my completed albums, a Soundcloud page as (mostly) a repository for newer songs likely to go on a future release, and started to work on a website for my music and writing. I've been procrastinating on the booking shows part of my agenda, not out of laziness, but rather the dread of getting on stage (I'm fine once I'm there, but the anticipation of it kills me -- I know, I know... I need to force myself!). Things took a detour, though, when I agreed to play guitar in a friend's band. Lately, I've been spending a bit of time trying to learn their songs and getting ready to play two shows they have booked over the course of the next month or so. I also intended to repair/renovate/mod one of my guitars this summer, but other priorities have pretty much put that on hold for now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members A Happy Crowd Posted August 4, 2011 Members Share Posted August 4, 2011 I LOVE music. I love everything about it. I spent two hours last night recording a backing track for The Cars "Just What I Needed" and it was so much fun. This place (this particular forum) is so doom and gloom and I've been a part of that, but every so often I think we need to set that aside and just freaking enjoy music! It's so much fun if you let it be! Screw business, screw career, screw hourly rate, just pick up your instrument today and have fun! If you're not having fun you're doing it wrong. (Every time I say that someone wants to debate it. So let me rephrase - if you're not having fun, you're not having fun... but I AM! Ha ha ha!) Exactly! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members richardmac Posted August 7, 2011 Author Members Share Posted August 7, 2011 My latest project - I assembled a backup Strat. MIM body, MIM neck, parts from guitarfetish.com. It's not as nice as my number one Strat, but it's a pretty good guitar. I've got four electrics now - two Strats, an Epi Les Paul, and a MIM Tele that I love. Plus a Larrivee acoustic (awesome guitar) and a cheap Squier jazz bass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BlueStrat Posted August 7, 2011 Members Share Posted August 7, 2011 I've been really working on my band. I have had a rough go of it; the guys I play with already had a band and asked if I'd front it and they would be my backup band. After a year of fighting with a bass player who was egotistical, a verbal bully and not really all that good, I finally fired him. Lots of drama as he tried to get other guys to come with him (none did). We finally found a new bass player, but he knew virtually none of our songs and had to start from scratch. Then, just as we were getting a head of steam, our drummer's wife, who needed a transplant, fell really ill. They had to move to Seattle to wait for the transplant. Months went by, the transplant never came, and she passed away last February.In May, the drummer was ready to come back to playing. So we've spent the last couple of years basically spinning our wheels and rehashing old material. But now, we're starting to gig regularly, the bass player has everything memorized (at least 95% of it) and we're getting booked into better venues and offers for festivals. So now, we're making notes after every performance and starting to hone the material with nuance, dynamics, and such. It's a lot of fun- every gig is better and I feel we're making that transition from being decent to pretty good, with a view to being great. It's true what they say- it's the little things that make a band better than just good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ggm1960 Posted August 7, 2011 Members Share Posted August 7, 2011 At the moment I'm being paid double time while running test on an RF board for ground mobile radio. Musically, however, I've been putting together a Digital Performer file full of the midi drum sections that come with Steven Slate drums. It's a bit tedious but the hope is that it will help me build up my songs faster by quickly being able to put together a drum track. I've already got a pretty good selection of drum patterns with Reason/Record but there are limits to what I can do with Redrum/Kong. Aside from that I'm going to try out, and try out for, a band later this month. I've been out of it for a while and for lack of something smarter, or more lucrative, to do I might get back in to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wwwjd Posted August 8, 2011 Members Share Posted August 8, 2011 assistant direction, creative direction, and production on a music video. I'm standing on the left in the behind scenes pic... and planking the piano [ATTACH=CONFIG]337645[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]337646[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]337647[/ATTACH] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mcfontio Posted August 8, 2011 Members Share Posted August 8, 2011 MU-SIC...MU-SIC....MU-SIC! I've been glued to ableton since I installed it a week ago. Losing sleep over it. Fu$%ing amazing program.... Holy crap.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members niceguy Posted August 8, 2011 Members Share Posted August 8, 2011 Promoting my album (released on July 1): ensuring plays on Last.fm, getting onto Rdio, early talks with licensing companies (likely will go nowhere for now), finalizing a Grooveshark promo campaign. Working on 6-song EP to be released Dec: playing lots of piano to strengthen my meager piano skills, writing some more songs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members J.Paul Posted August 8, 2011 Members Share Posted August 8, 2011 Music Journalism - Haven't written anything for a music mag in quite a while, so I am ramping that back up. Pitching ideas now. Editorial turn over causing problems. ...doing print?I use to do an internet column on rock cover bands playing in Nashville....I kind of miss it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 3shiftgtr Posted August 9, 2011 Members Share Posted August 9, 2011 ...doing print? I use to do an internet column on rock cover bands playing in Nashville.... I kind of miss it. Yeah man...I did a couple of articles for Premier Guitar and Total Guitar. I stopped doing it when I got turned down for a few ideas and some other stuff started to taking over my time. Now I really miss writing. You can tell if I get some writing gigs cuz I won't be spinning words around here as much! Actually just snagged a gig writing for a local paper doing reviews of plays, music events, etc....but I gotta be careful cuz it is a small town. The mags pay better so I'm gonna work on that pretty hard....should get something as my tear sheets look pretty good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members richardmac Posted August 9, 2011 Author Members Share Posted August 9, 2011 Update - I am working on creating a new web site for solo musical performers (any type - covers, originals, both) that will have a collection of "how to" articles, a blog, and a forums area. There are no good web sites that I've ever been able to find specifically for solo performers to hang out and share ideas and tips and ask questions. I don't want to post the link until it's ready. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sjonesmusic Posted August 9, 2011 Members Share Posted August 9, 2011 Update - I am working on creating a new web site for solo musical performers (any type - covers, originals, both) that will have a collection of "how to" articles, a blog, and a forums area. There are no good web sites that I've ever been able to find specifically for solo performers to hang out and share ideas and tips and ask questions. I don't want to post the link until it's ready. This sounds like a great idea!!! Best of luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sjonesmusic Posted August 9, 2011 Members Share Posted August 9, 2011 Yeah man...I did a couple of articles for Premier Guitar and Total Guitar. I stopped doing it when I got turned down for a few ideas and some other stuff started to taking over my time. Now I really miss writing. You can tell if I get some writing gigs cuz I won't be spinning words around here as much! Actually just snagged a gig writing for a local paper doing reviews of plays, music events, etc....but I gotta be careful cuz it is a small town. The mags pay better so I'm gonna work on that pretty hard....should get something as my tear sheets look pretty good. Every defeat is temporary unless you give up and allow it to become permanent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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