Tamira's band is without a guitarist and they have a gig on Saturday, so against my better judgement I agreed to learn a setlist of 13 songs in a matter of days. Today was our first/last proper practice before the gig. The set was as follows:
You can leave your hat on (Joe Cocker et. al.)
Somebody to love(Jefferson Airplane)
Don't speak(No Doubt)
Celebrity Skin(Hole)
Zombie(The Cranberries)
Sex on Fire(Kings of leon)
I alone(Live)
Breed(Nirvana)
Stuck in the Middle with you(Stealer's Wheel)
the Dark(Anouk)
Pretty Fly for a white Guy(The Offspring)
Tubthumping(Chumbawumba)
Song 2(Blur)
Radar Love(Golden earing)
Not a bad set. I'm still struggling with a few of them - but Lorenzo is a very good supporitng Bass Player and he's doing a great job of filling in the blanks.
Showing posts with label Practice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Practice. Show all posts
Friday, February 11, 2011
Thursday, February 10, 2011
youtube infamy awaits.
I was clearing out some hard drives at work when I found these:
I'm not a big youtuber, but I thought I'd stick them up. They are far from perfect, but I wouldn;t have any up at the moment if I waited for perfect. If anyone really enjoys them I can do more video and see if I can get the output fomr the desk into the camera for super good(then compressed) sound.
I'm not a big youtuber, but I thought I'd stick them up. They are far from perfect, but I wouldn;t have any up at the moment if I waited for perfect. If anyone really enjoys them I can do more video and see if I can get the output fomr the desk into the camera for super good(then compressed) sound.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Monday, January 31, 2011
Practice with Fraser
Last night I cooked a pretty decent Lasagne and Fraser and I sat down to try to dicuss getting some focus on writing some music. It;s something which continues to to escape us. Our other commitments both musical and non-musical usually get in the way. Rather than just knocking together some chord structures and lyrics, we are trying to move away from guitar strumming and have some music that exists without the guitar. I'm so used to holding up a singer at an open mike with guitar chords, and it's become mundane.
To cut a long story short - we've come up with yet another reason why we can't just sit down and write. In order to limit the ambition a little in order to get something done, we're going to try to at least meet a little more often instead of just meeting when we have a gig to prepare for.
To cut a long story short - we've come up with yet another reason why we can't just sit down and write. In order to limit the ambition a little in order to get something done, we're going to try to at least meet a little more often instead of just meeting when we have a gig to prepare for.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Tamira's gig.
Yesterday was a pretty fun filled day. I was going to mix the recordings from the last open mike, but somehow I managed to delete all the files. It was one of those...
"Oh shit..... pooof gone...ah well... what am I going to do now?"
Tamira told me she was stressing a little about pulling her band together. No one is doing what they were told and she was worrying about that night's gig. She asked me if I would come along to her practice and give her some support. Karolina was on the way out the door to the gym, so I suggested she swap it for a bike run to Duivendrecht and back instead.
Before we left for MelodyLine - we had to finish Kenneth's birthday present. I'm racked with guilt. It just didn't make any sense to head over to Scotland for the big man's 30th, so we decided to film a sketch/birthday message for him. It was a roaring success - so maybe we're do that more often.
Anyway... it was a lovely cycle - Blue skies - but baltic cold. No matter how fast you cycled, your legs never warmed up.
When we arrived the band were already there making lots of noise. The only people I hadn't met before was the twin guitar team of Jelmer and Darren. Tamira was feeling the pressure of trying to get everyone to focus on their set-list and learn the songs. Part of me was really glad[Sorry Tamira :-)]. Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one that gets stressed about getting people motivated.
After a few songs I could see what her fears were. While there were plenty songs that went well, it was a big undertaking to bring together 7 people to learn 30-40 songs in a matter of weeks. Different people had different abilities more importantly different levels of effort were being put in. The main issue I could see was that Lisa and Tamira were getting frustrated with having to manage recognition of mistakes and how the group as a whole go about having to find a solution. I spent a lot of the time wondering what my bands sounded like when I was 16-17 and just starting out. We laughed and joked a lot, but we had much less patience for mistakes. We had probably got over the fear of admitting and recognising mistakes from playing in the more formal setting of a brass band.
Anyway - they were doing very well, and given time, I think it would really start to gel - but Tamira was quite rightly stressed about making it gel for the imminent gig that night. I tried to keep pretty quiet so that I wasn't interfering while at the same time letting Tamira know that I was there if they needed some advice.
We headed back and left them to it. We were babysitting Appie at night, so Karolina was going to stay behind while I headed to the gig.
I left for another cold cycle across Amsterdam at about 9:30. It was strange being in the bar and not playing or not having any stress or responsibility to set things up. I got a little worried when I realised I was about the 3rd audience member there, but it very quickly filled up and turned into one of the busiest nights that the Cafe has had.
Rene was on fine form and relishing being the superbusy barman. He was running around like a mad man all night but very successfully playing host to I guess around 60 drinkers at one time. I was avoiding the solo drinker mantel and spent most of the night trying to coax some photos out of my Camera. I think things are starting to go well.
For the band there were a few ropey moments in the first set - mainly caused by nerves and lack of preparation. From the first break onwards, they just got better and better. The audience really embraced them and as the drink flows the night really gelled. I was very impressed and proud of Tamira.
I left half way through the third set. I knew that if I stayed to the end I'd have to wait until everyone cleared up before I could leave.
I passed home via Coco's to see if Fraser was around - but it was far too packed for me to even attempt to head in...
A rare late night saturday for me - and no late night takeaway!!!
"Oh shit..... pooof gone...ah well... what am I going to do now?"
Tamira told me she was stressing a little about pulling her band together. No one is doing what they were told and she was worrying about that night's gig. She asked me if I would come along to her practice and give her some support. Karolina was on the way out the door to the gym, so I suggested she swap it for a bike run to Duivendrecht and back instead.
Before we left for MelodyLine - we had to finish Kenneth's birthday present. I'm racked with guilt. It just didn't make any sense to head over to Scotland for the big man's 30th, so we decided to film a sketch/birthday message for him. It was a roaring success - so maybe we're do that more often.
Anyway... it was a lovely cycle - Blue skies - but baltic cold. No matter how fast you cycled, your legs never warmed up.
When we arrived the band were already there making lots of noise. The only people I hadn't met before was the twin guitar team of Jelmer and Darren. Tamira was feeling the pressure of trying to get everyone to focus on their set-list and learn the songs. Part of me was really glad[Sorry Tamira :-)]. Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one that gets stressed about getting people motivated.
After a few songs I could see what her fears were. While there were plenty songs that went well, it was a big undertaking to bring together 7 people to learn 30-40 songs in a matter of weeks. Different people had different abilities more importantly different levels of effort were being put in. The main issue I could see was that Lisa and Tamira were getting frustrated with having to manage recognition of mistakes and how the group as a whole go about having to find a solution. I spent a lot of the time wondering what my bands sounded like when I was 16-17 and just starting out. We laughed and joked a lot, but we had much less patience for mistakes. We had probably got over the fear of admitting and recognising mistakes from playing in the more formal setting of a brass band.
Anyway - they were doing very well, and given time, I think it would really start to gel - but Tamira was quite rightly stressed about making it gel for the imminent gig that night. I tried to keep pretty quiet so that I wasn't interfering while at the same time letting Tamira know that I was there if they needed some advice.
We headed back and left them to it. We were babysitting Appie at night, so Karolina was going to stay behind while I headed to the gig.
I left for another cold cycle across Amsterdam at about 9:30. It was strange being in the bar and not playing or not having any stress or responsibility to set things up. I got a little worried when I realised I was about the 3rd audience member there, but it very quickly filled up and turned into one of the busiest nights that the Cafe has had.
Rene was on fine form and relishing being the superbusy barman. He was running around like a mad man all night but very successfully playing host to I guess around 60 drinkers at one time. I was avoiding the solo drinker mantel and spent most of the night trying to coax some photos out of my Camera. I think things are starting to go well.
For the band there were a few ropey moments in the first set - mainly caused by nerves and lack of preparation. From the first break onwards, they just got better and better. The audience really embraced them and as the drink flows the night really gelled. I was very impressed and proud of Tamira.
I left half way through the third set. I knew that if I stayed to the end I'd have to wait until everyone cleared up before I could leave.
I passed home via Coco's to see if Fraser was around - but it was far too packed for me to even attempt to head in...
A rare late night saturday for me - and no late night takeaway!!!
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Monday night practice fuelled by Peking Duck
Fraser came round with a whole peking Duck last night and some Japanese beers. On fuel like that it was impossible for it not to have been a good practice.
We video'd the songs to get an idea of how they are sounding. I really need to learn to use the video functions on my camera though - cos the 5 minute video was 2 GB... so it's almost impossible to do anything with.
We've moved yesterday's songs from the level where we can't sing them, to the level where we can't sing them but people might just appreciatte that we put in the effort. One of the biggest cheers we've had at the Open Mike is when we did Somebody to love by Queen. I think people liked the fact that we played it even though it was clear that we would never do it justice.
Anyway... the sun is shining... we're practised and it's the Open Mike tonight....
We video'd the songs to get an idea of how they are sounding. I really need to learn to use the video functions on my camera though - cos the 5 minute video was 2 GB... so it's almost impossible to do anything with.
We've moved yesterday's songs from the level where we can't sing them, to the level where we can't sing them but people might just appreciatte that we put in the effort. One of the biggest cheers we've had at the Open Mike is when we did Somebody to love by Queen. I think people liked the fact that we played it even though it was clear that we would never do it justice.
Anyway... the sun is shining... we're practised and it's the Open Mike tonight....
Monday, January 24, 2011
Sunday night practice
Fraser was round last night and we had a practice for Tuesday's open mike. It's been a while since I even played an acoustic guitar never mind practiced with Fraser.
After watching a documentary on the greatness that is Thin Lizzy, I gave Boys are back in Town
a go. We had tried it many moons ago and it hadn't worked, but I surprised myself and it seems to come together. It's pretty fast so you really have to feel the rhythm if you're going to spit out the lyrics in time, but I think it should hold itself together and the crowd should enjoy it.
The other one I have been toying with is Two of Us by the Beatles. I think it’s an excellent duet, but it’s a bit high for one of us and I'm not convinced we'll get it pinned before Tuesday.
We’ve been wanting to do an Elton John song forever. My favourite(due to a love of the film Almost Famous) is Tiny Dancer – but it has a bridge that we just can’t get to sound right. We also tried Your Song….. but we couldn’t pull it off. We’re now giving 'I guess that's why they call it the blues' a go, but even that is proving quite difficult – Elton’s deceptively hard.
I’ve been listening to loads of Stone’s recently. I wanted to do Prodigal Son, but we’re not going to have time to get it prepared. Under My Thumb is a lot simpler, but it needs some orchestrating to make it interesting.
Anyway… we’ll work it all out tonight and anyone that fancies hearing them can pop into Mollys on Tuesday
After watching a documentary on the greatness that is Thin Lizzy, I gave Boys are back in Town
a go. We had tried it many moons ago and it hadn't worked, but I surprised myself and it seems to come together. It's pretty fast so you really have to feel the rhythm if you're going to spit out the lyrics in time, but I think it should hold itself together and the crowd should enjoy it. The other one I have been toying with is Two of Us
by the Beatles. I think it’s an excellent duet, but it’s a bit high for one of us and I'm not convinced we'll get it pinned before Tuesday.We’ve been wanting to do an Elton John song forever. My favourite(due to a love of the film Almost Famous
) is Tiny Dancer – but it has a bridge that we just can’t get to sound right. We also tried Your Song….. but we couldn’t pull it off. We’re now giving 'I guess that's why they call it the blues' a go, but even that is proving quite difficult – Elton’s deceptively hard. I’ve been listening to loads of Stone’s recently. I wanted to do Prodigal Son
, but we’re not going to have time to get it prepared. Under My Thumb is a lot simpler, but it needs some orchestrating to make it interesting.Anyway… we’ll work it all out tonight and anyone that fancies hearing them can pop into Mollys on Tuesday
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Abandoned practice
We were going to practice tonight -but the cafe was double booked. Petra Jordan was recording a few songs before playing that night. I finally get Fraser along to a rehearshal and it falls through... oh well. We had a nice evening wandering through the city on one of the first dry evenings of the year. We stopped off in Bazaar on the Albert Cuypstraat. It's truly wonderful.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Starting as we mean to go on....
In an attempt to start as we mean to go on. Fraser Javier and I went Jam Studios(MUZYQ was booked) to make some noise. I forgot how much of a slog it was to carry guitars and cables to the studio
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Wedding Practice then tricky session
Sandra came round. She wants me to play guitar for her at a weddding reception on Saturday. We're putting together a set of suitable songs about "love"...
We decided against:
- Tainted Love
- You give love a bad name
- Will you still love me tomorrow
It's harder than it sounds....
We've developed a new way of practicing. Rather than run through the same song for the third time.. we started phoning people on Skype and playing songs to them. When we phoned Tamira, we decided to go to the Tricky Theatre open stage:
Tamira played her 2 new songs, and then we headed to our respective homes for an early night.... leaving Sandra to wow the crowds with songs, cookies and sunshine....
Monday, April 12, 2010
Sunday Session at Wagging Tail Studios
Having gone to the mine last night to reward myself for a days hard mixing, a plan was hatched for Javier, Sandra and Tamira to come round for a Sunday session. We worked on a few songs for this weeks jam session and then had a few fun Jams on Last Kiss, a song by Sandra and Blitzkrieg bop....
I've added the reuslts to my backlog of mixing work.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Practice, Mollys, Tricky Theatre...
Sandra came round for a run through of the Open Mike setlist.... she was in good spirits and brought a muso friend with her. Afterwards we took Leah to Mollys and then a quick trip over to Cindy´s session at the Tricky Theatre.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Open Mike Prep with Stephen and Javier
Javier, Stephen and I had our first session outside of the mine at my place today. We prepped some stuff for the Open Mike and the Jam session. It was sounding pretty excellent. Almost felt like I was in a band again.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Open Mike Prep with Sandra
Today I had very productive 'prep' session for the open mike with Sandra. We have the setlist fixed and we'll go over it again once before Tuesday.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Frustrating Sunday
The lyrics didn't lend themselves obviously to chords.... which frustrated me.... but maybe they will on another day.
We had a 5SOF practice, but Fraser didn't show up, so it was just me and Javier. We had some good fun jamming, but we cut it short and I'm home getting organised for a week of work.
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