Members pogo97 Posted December 22, 2016 Members Share Posted December 22, 2016 I have a pal who is busy all summer and not bad the rest of the year. I'm a bit jealous of him because I don't gig that much and I'd like to. He's jealous of me because I'm able to play organ at a local church (funerals are me steadiest gig) and other varied and interesting things and not bar after bar of drunken people. But he's actually making a living and I'm more a house-husband living off the avails of my wife teaching, which is respected and well-paid here. Truth is, if you include practise/driving/setup/dumb{censored} time, we're both probably making $1.75 an hour. So we keep on doing it because we both love music. But we bitch a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators daddymack Posted December 22, 2016 Moderators Share Posted December 22, 2016 you bitch, because you love...that's beautiful, man... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Shaster Posted December 24, 2016 Members Share Posted December 24, 2016 Yes if you want to make a living doing solo stuff, you usually have to sell your soul to the Devil - and that's if he'll take your used up soul. Last night I was polishing off tracks for I Just Called to Say I Love You, It's Not Unusual, My Way, New York New York Disco Inferno - well I'll stop right there. Most folks I know wouldn't want to play these tunes but I'm playing a hotel Xmas Eve and I was told the crowd in attendance likes that kind of stuff. It pays time and a half so what the heck. I will say this, Stevie sure does have some interesting phrasint, as in. "No New Year's Day, to celebrate, no chocolate covered candy hearts to give away"... Merry Xmas all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sventvkg Posted December 24, 2016 Author Members Share Posted December 24, 2016 Yes if you want to make a living doing solo stuff, you usually have to sell your soul to the Devil - and that's if he'll take your used up soul. Last night I was polishing off tracks for I Just Called to Say I Love You, It's Not Unusual, My Way, New York New York Disco Inferno - well I'll stop right there. Most folks I know wouldn't want to play these tunes but I'm playing a hotel Xmas Eve and I was told the crowd in attendance likes that kind of stuff. It pays time and a half so what the heck. I will say this, Stevie sure does have some interesting phrasint, as in. "No New Year's Day, to celebrate, no chocolate covered candy hearts to give away"... Merry Xmas all. I feel you. You know contrary to a lot of other people's feelings on the subject I don't mind playing with hits that people love. I mean that's why we are there to entertain people and to have some kind of superior attitude that we won't play the songs that they actually want to hear is insane to me. And quite arrogant. Kudos to you for giving the people what they want and I'm sure you'll get a lot more work out of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Voltan Posted December 24, 2016 Members Share Posted December 24, 2016 svent, i witnessed a pianist at an irish pub ( in san antonio, texas) get offered a hundred dollar bill to do free bird... at that precise moment i realized i am happy to be a music whore... that one patron dropped over three hundred dollars into that mans tip jar and the whole place was a riot the rest of the evening.now heres how i see it... people dont know if youre even in tune half the time but they do know the difference of playing from your heart and playing from your wallet. even if you can fool them for a spell, it doesnt last because its fake... mustang sally... um yeah... i can even have fun with that old battleship if everyone is paying attention instead of groaning along in auto pilot... take a deep breath, you know this stuff works in cycles. feast to famine, seems middle ground is never long achieved, at least financially... solo work, ensemble work? it all has its positive and negatives...( yeah, im preaching to your choir) take what you need from the well and leave the rest for other travellers... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pogo97 Posted December 24, 2016 Members Share Posted December 24, 2016 I'm playing organ along with my tiny choir of elderly ladies for Mass on Christmas morning. I'm not a believer (they know that -- I'm a musician for hire) and there are many aspects of Christmas I hate, especially the obligatory consumerism disguised as sentiment, but I LOVE playing on Christmas morning and have been looking forward to it all week. If you'd told me this two years ago, before someone convinced me to apply for the job, I'd have just laughed at them. So you never know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators daddymack Posted December 24, 2016 Moderators Share Posted December 24, 2016 as a pianist, he didn't have to cover all the guitar solos...and all 9 minutes .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Shaster Posted December 25, 2016 Members Share Posted December 25, 2016 Oddly enough, the gig did not go down as management planned. It was way more casual and relaxed. I had some general requests for things like Bossas and Xmas tunes, and had some speicific requests for Benson, Santana and SRV - all material I do. Of course if I hadn't prepared the other material then the calls for Piano Man would have been thunderous. Much like I never break an A string unless I don't bring one to the gig. Anyway, hope the new year brings your mojo back. Keep smilin'! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sventvkg Posted December 27, 2016 Author Members Share Posted December 27, 2016 Ok..I've got some GREAT ideas on how to completely revamp my solo show and still fulfill my personal requirements of it not being to canned, flexible and easy to change arrangements on the fly, utilizing new technology yet not be overwhelmed by it, keep the focus on the player not relegated to background music, and unique. I'll keep ya posted as I work on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pinkfloydcramer61 Posted December 27, 2016 Members Share Posted December 27, 2016 And how do you know that, DM? Doubtful that he cheated by just doing the slow part. Granted it probably wasn't a 9 minute rendition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators daddymack Posted December 27, 2016 Moderators Share Posted December 27, 2016 'tiny choir of elderly ladies'...that sounds kind of sad, yet perpetual... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators daddymack Posted December 27, 2016 Moderators Share Posted December 27, 2016 well, it sounds like you are where I was a year or so back when I started lessening my reliance on the looper, vocal harmonizer and the BeatBuddy...although I still really like the effect of sounding like 'nearly a band', it started to make me feel like a cog in the gearbox, rather than the driving force.Looking forward to hearing your outcome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators daddymack Posted December 27, 2016 Moderators Share Posted December 27, 2016 I didn't say he didn't, I said he didn't have to...didn't I? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pogo97 Posted December 27, 2016 Members Share Posted December 27, 2016 They are officially "the funeral choir." Because our main gig is funerals. And doesn't that sound dismal! But the town has a tradition of choirs helping out other choirs at funerals and that's the funeral choir: they do it for the love of God. I do it because music is what I do and this is music and people actually respect me for my skills and study. I love these ladies and they love me and we have a lovely time at rehearsals and an aesthetic sense of a job well done at the funerals. Not bad, eh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pogo97 Posted December 27, 2016 Members Share Posted December 27, 2016 ... and unique. You do not merely want to be considered the best of the best. You want to be considered the only ones that do what you do. Jerry Garcia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members steve mac Posted December 27, 2016 Members Share Posted December 27, 2016 Sventvkg, you are such a tease 😁 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sventvkg Posted December 28, 2016 Author Members Share Posted December 28, 2016 Not a tease Steve! I need to aquire some gear and do some testing. For me backing tracks just ruined it because if you're locked into one arrangement you can't change anything on the fly react to the crowd extend solo sections things like that it just feels very constructive. I think I've come up with a way to be a lot more flexible and free while still having some samples looping ability and also a bassline going in the least possible canned way. As soon as I do some testing I'll get some video with the results for everyone here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members steve mac Posted December 28, 2016 Members Share Posted December 28, 2016 Can't wait mate, love new ideas and I have always admired your skills and insight Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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