Technical Difficulties

Last night's Yacht Rock adventure was (for me) plagued by gremlins, or technical difficulties, or "AAAAA!  MY SH** IS F***KING UP!"

My first major issue dealt with my saxophone effects pedal.  There was way too much noise in the channel--a flat ton of hiss.  I'm not sure why, but I tried swapping out cables and that didn't cure it, and I tried bypassing my effects pedal (plugging the sax directly into my mixer) and that cured it, so I think that maybe the output jack has gone bad.  I won't know until I can set it up at home and check it out.

I put the pedal away since I assume it's messed up.  I was checking it with my tenor, so I ran from my receiver directly into my board, which cured the hiss.  Strangely, though, the gain was jacked way up.  I assumed that the gain from the pedal had been helping me up to this point, so I didn't sweat it.
We started the gig, and the first or second tune we played, I had an alto solo, and when I switched on my alto, my monitor squealed and screamed like I was committing audio suicide.  What the hell?  I kept trying to back it down and find a workable spot, but the thing kept going nuts every time I would turn it on.  I played the solo with no microphone as a result, and the soundman came running over--"I'm not getting anything!"
A couple of songs later, I had a tenor solo, which was inaudible.  I was really confused.  You have no idea how difficult it is to troubleshoot your gear while you're playing a gig--anything you try and anything you touch is a potential land mine that could detonate without warning.
Back and forth this went...alto was too loud, tenor was basically off.  I finally figured it out right before the end of the first set.  I have a separate wireless transmitter for each horn (both going to the same receiver).  The transmitter for the tenor had the pad turned on, making it something like 20 db lower (or, if you set the gain on your mixer to accommodate that, your non padded alto sound is 20 db "airhorn in your face" louder).  Ahh!
Now I'm wondering if maybe my pedal was ok, but I had the gain cranked up so high on my board it made it hiss like crazy?  Maybe.  I need to get that sorted out ASAP.

I got the sax straightened out.  Sort of, anyway.

In the second song of the second set, Lido Shuffle, my EWI went insane.  It sounded like I hung a note--if you're not MIDI inclined, I guess that means that the sound kept going (full blast) even though I wasn't playing it, and I would normally smack the spacebar to clear it.  I have no idea why this happened to me, but the EWI sounded like it hung four or five notes at the same time, which made for a horrible cluster of audible crap.  Worse was that I smacked the spacebar and it would not go away.  I tried again and it would not stop.  Meanwhile, my big keyboard solo was approaching, and I needed to cure this in about three seconds, but it would not go away.  I tried turning off the EWI.  It would not stop.  I finally turned off my mixer--the only way I could get the sound to stop.  Turning off the mixer meant that I couldn't play the solo, though.  Not a cool moment.  I kept banging on the spacebar and eventually my laptop reset and things were OK.
The rest of the gig was fine.  Everything worked normally.

Playing-wise, things were sloppy.  I made it through FM without any casualties (though it was one of my almost inaudible tenor moments), and the string part was fine.  In I Can't Go for That, I split a high G on alto that was super gnarly and super loud, and I held on to it for as long as I could.  It's a spot where the vocals and I trade, and Nick didn't even sing.  Good thing--after all my equipment issues for that set, I wanted to beat the hell out of something.  Biggest Part of Me suffered from my usual problem--when I go out front to play, I can't hear as well as I can when I'm right in front of my monitor, so I overblow, and I end up fighting my horn.  Pretty stupid that I'm still having that issue.  I need to accept that the PA in the room will take care of me.  I guess it's more the fact that it sounds like my mic isn't on, and I'm going for it, and so I end up pushing too hard.  I've got to convince myself to back it down about twenty percent.  My horn would work a lot better if I did.
I can't remember anything else.  We played I'd Really Love to See You Tonight (with me playing the piano part) and that went pretty well.  I had one wrong chord, but I was cool with everything else.  I just need to relax on that one a little more.  It's faster in my head than the speed at which we actually play it.

I have a House Live gig tonight, and Yacht Rock tomorrow.
www.davidfreemanmusic.net

For the Love of Practice

I got a ton of practicing in today.  It was wonderful.

Half of my students today were either sick or randomly absent, which left me a couple of hours open this afternoon.  While dealing with the ones who were there, I had this thought:

 if I could teach my students to love practicing the way that I love practicing, I bet I could love teaching.

www.davidfreemanmusic.net

Andrews Upstairs

 

Yacht Rock was back in Atlanta for a Friday night gig at Andrews Upstairs.

Andrews is transforming from a live music venue to a DJ, and they have done some remodeling to accommodate more people.  The stage has been radically transformed--the multiple levels and nooks and crannies have been removed.  It made for a tight fit for the seven of us!

We played well considering the stage setup.  I was all the way stage left;  then Bencuya, then Greg, then the Cobb with Nick and Pete directly in front of him, and then Dannells jammed in the opposite corner.  It was a tight fit, but we made it work ok.
Being next to Bencuya made me a bit apprehensive.  If there's one guy who would know when I was not playing something exactly right, it'd be him.
I think the next time we play Andrews (and maybe just in general), I'd like to split my sax line off from the rest of my stuff.  In general, I'm only playing saxophone when I'm soloing, and it'd be cool to be able to put some in front monitors without them having to listen to my keyboard and EWI parts all night long.  It feels like I'm playing into a pillow because there's no sax anywhere on stage (except my amp way over in the corner, and even that's pretty turned down).

I am not gigging tonight--I'm preparing for Beatles rehearsals next week.
www.davidfreemanmusic.net

Cabo San Lucas

Yacht Rock played in Cabo this week (February 2-4, 2010).  I had a gig Monday, February 1, so I stayed up a little later than usual and slipped out the door at 3:30 AM to pick up Nick and make our way to the airport.
We flew to Denver and then on to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, where we landed to a light rain (and massive flash flooding!).  After dropping our stuff in our rooms, we went to lunch, and then spent the remainder of the day acting like rock stars on a day off in Cabo!  (mucho tequila).
The actual gig occurred the following day (Wednesday).  We played a private function for the Young Presidents Organization--I believe they were all young millionaires.  They were into it from the moment the doors opened and enjoyed every note.
The band played pretty well considering the circumstances.  The keyboards were not what we'd asked for, and we played standing up (I'd asked if they had piano benches or drum thrones, and I guy came back with a bar stool).  The sound guys (all ten of them!) were pretty inept, and the language barrier made for double the frustration.
I brought two saxes, flute, and EWI to the gig, so that part of my set up was normal.  I was unable to route my saxophone through the amp they supplied, so we ran it separately to the front of house, and the guys never quite turned it up enough.  The keyboards were a Yamaha Motif on the bottom and a Roland Juno on top.  Both were nice keyboards, but I was not familiar at all with navigating either one.  More importantly, I did not have a game plan for finding sounds and taking notes.  I fished around on both to find some things that might work, and they kind of did, but I wish that I was more adept at setting myself up in a situation like that.
I played pretty well.  Other than a poor choice for one of my keyboard patches, I made it through.
Thursday was a travel day.  We left the hotel around 10:30 AM local time, flew to Denver, and then flew back to Atlanta.  We landed just before midnight.  Another great adventure!
www.davidfreemanmusic.com

February 1 Trio

Tonight I had the pleasure of playing a trio gig with Tyrone Jackson and Kevin Smith.  It was a meeting of the minds...Tyrone's piano playing challenges me like no one else in town.  I usually come out of gigs with him feeling like my brain is mushy!
This gig was no different.  Right from the start, I was totally focused on what he was playing to me, and it stayed that way for the whole night.

www.davidfreemanmusic.com

Wild Wing Suwanee

Last night I played the Wild Wing Cafe in Suwanee with the Yacht Rock Schooner (the B band to the Yacht Rock Revue).

It's a strange feeling getting dressed for a Yacht Rock gig at home.  I have become "that guy" when I put on those clothes;  it's weird to put on my clothes and walk through through the house.
I pulled up to the Wild Wing across town--in a shopping center with a Wal Mart and a Dollar Tree, and I couldn't help but think that I was going to kick everybody's ass--in the band, in the audience, in Suwanee.  The environment definitely challenged me.  I was playing with a big chip on my shoulder.

The band played pretty well.  Some things, Peg, for instance, really grooved.  I think they're still trying to find bedrock on some of the other tunes.  I can't remember what it felt like when we started out, so I can't say that we didn't have the same struggles.  We've reached a point, musically, where we have our identity, and I don't think they have that yet.  It feels like eight guys trying to come together.  It's not a band yet.

Tonight's my regular church gig.  No biggie.  I need to get ready for next week's stuff (which starts TOMORROW!!!).  I have a trio gig Monday night with Tyrone Jackson, and I need to be good on that one.  Tuesday morning Yacht Rock leaves for a gig in Mexico, so I need to feel good about my playing for that too.
www.davidfreemanmusic.com

Karate Cobb

Mark Cobb!
Mark Cobb!
Mark Cobb!

Cobb was pretty on fire last night, especially in the first set.  At one point, he took some crazy fill, and kept flipping it over and playing a different way every eight measures.  So cool...I loved it (every version of it).  That stuff really makes the gig for me.

My first set went pretty well.  I actually got off a good solo on Takin' it to the Streets.  I never ran out of ideas.  Bencuya recorded last night (mostly for the banter, but maybe there will be something musically good, too).  The second set he will hopefully erase!  I kind of tripped and kept falling for a couple of songs.  In particular, I totally bit it on All Night Long (I have not mentioned today that I hate that song, so...I hate that song!).  I was pretty terrible.

Last night was judged by Wheat Williams.  Wheat is an amateur musician who knows a lot about the music we are playing, and most conversations with him are either inquisitions or trivia contests.  He and I spoke before the gig began, and he let it be known that really thinks we need to add a second keyboardist (that keyboardist being his old friend Eric Frampton).  His take on my situation was that I was probably fine as a player, but Eric Frampton is WORLD CLASS!!!  (he reminded me that Frampton had toured with Yani!  What's the matter Wheat?  What about the B-52s?  Did you forget about them?).  I agree--Frampton's ten times the keyboardist that I am.  Congratulations.  If you think you can take this gig from me, come and get it.
www.davidfreemanmusic.com

Enthusiasm Tempered with Indifference

I played a last minute trio gig tonight at the Westin Buckhead with David Ellington (piano), and Kevin Smith (bass).  It was some sort of awards dinner thing (my specialty!).  I don't have much to say about it other than the crowd ignored us and we ignored them.  They were really loud, and I couldn't always hear very well what we were doing.
We tried several of my tunes...some were more successful than others!

www.davidfreemanmusic.net

A Worthless Blog Entry

I ended up with nothing for this past Friday or Saturday night.  It was good and it was bad, as my self worth is closely tied to my gigs.

Sunday night I did my usual church gig.  After watching the football game, I got started on a new pleaserock.com project focusing on The Beatles, titled Please PleaseRock Me.  Several songs have horns (either in the original, an excellent cover version, or because we want them to fill up the sound), so I'm pumping out horn arrangements.

This week just got a little busier.  I just picked up a last minute gig for tomorrow night, so I cancelled students and a rehearsal.  Thursday is Yacht Rock at the 10 High.  Friday is Yacht Rock in Nashville.  Saturday is Yacht Rock back in Atlanta.
www.davidfreemanmusic.com

Not Much to Say

Hey wow, it's been almost a week since I last blogged.

Not much happening this week, musically speaking.  Monday and Tuesday was the usual teaching muck.  I tried really hard to be good and not spew sarcasm.  Some lessons were more successful than others in that regard!  I did teach a handful of students who actually pay attention to what I say, but the majority are not practicing enough and not taking my suggestions.
Wednesday I taught from home, which was a little better, but it's still teaching.

Thursday night was Yacht Rock at the 10 High.  A pretty good show overall.  We had "Good Luck Ganesh" holding down the drums while Mark Cobb is enjoying the weather in southern California.  The on stage sound was a little different from usual--Ganesh doesn't play with the same volume, and that altered the balance.  It's still good, just different.  Anyway, I couldn't hear Bencuya very well (compared to other weeks), so that was disappointing.  Dannells was not quite on target--we had fun, but he didn't have much to say.
For myself, I played pretty well.  I had one nasty wrong chord in Jive Talkin' in the verse.  It was of my standard ways of screwing up:  my hands are in mid-flight on the way to a F chord, and the voice in my head goes "B flat!", and my hands jab a B flat out instead, and I'm wrong.  Again.  Like an idiot.  Who is that guy who keeps telling me the wrong stuff?  Same thing happened on the boat on Reminiscing.  We finally got set up, and I was not happy with the stage situation and just wanted to play well so that I could bury the feeling that I was dragging the band down.  Right when we got to the first thing for me to play, right as the air is making its way from my lungs to the mouthpiece, right as I am about to play my part which is CLEARLY in B Major, the voice in my head says, "It's in C", and I played several notes a half step away from reality.  I was so mad I could've thrown my horn across the room.

A Half Step Away from Reality could be the name of my biography.

What else...I played the solos to FM, Caribbean Queen, and the riff for Who Can it Be Now? for about an hour Thursday afternoon, and none of them was perfect on the gig.  FM was better than it has been, but I always flail at it a little.  Caribbean Queen was good up until I missed the high Bb towards the end.  One of those situations where I got a little too excited and didn't aim the air correctly.  Same thing with Who Can it Be Now?, which usually shows up in the last few songs of the night when my reed is drying out and the alcohol is fully functioning.
The keyboard playing went really well.  Other than my Jive Talkin' schizo moment, I was pretty on target.  Strangely, I did nothing to prepare--no frantic practicing this week.  The set list didn't come out until the last minute and I was forced to wing it.  That usually results in some anxious moments, but all my stuff was there, and even, and I was makin' the changes, I mean I was actually kind of loose on Peg and Kiss You All Over (and thank god there's no recording because what I played probably only sounded good to me!).

The crowd didn't seem any different from the previous week, but we ended up with a good bit more money at the end of the night.  It could've been Ganesh, but it might have been turnover.  The new time still seems to mystify our audience--people are turning up at 10 thinking they have time to get situated, but we're already halfway through the set.

Last night's set and the week before really make me feel like I did a crappy job playing on the boat, not only from a musical standpoint, but also for the show.  I know we're on our home turf and it's easy and comfortable, but the contrast between what I didn't do out there and what I do here is kind of depressing.  I wonder why?  Equipment?  The vibe?  Sleep deprivation?  Whatever.  I can do better.  I would suspect that's why a couple of my songs got cut at the end of the last night at sea.

I'm off again tomorrow night, and hopefully I'll actually get something done.  Next week is another stack of Yacht Rock--the usual Thursday, then Friday in Nashville (Mercy Lounge), and Saturday back in Atlanta playing with the Schooner (Yacht Rock B band).
www.davidfreemanmusic.net

Friday/Saturday/Sunday

It's been a busy weekend for sure.

Friday night we played Andrew's Upstairs.  We sold it out again--such a strange feeling (still) to see a line of people waiting to see a gig that I'm on.  The gig itself was pretty good.  I was much more tired than the night before, so I don't think I was as sharp, but I can't recall any major disasters.  It doesn't sound like FM is going to make the cut.  We played it again (debuted it at the 10 High the night before), and people don't give much of a reaction.  That's a bummer.  I love playing it, and I'm pretty good on the string part (and getting there on the sax solo), but I guess songs with long rambling jazz solos don't appeal to these people.  Perhaps Steely Dan is overrated.
Andrews video made a video recording (I would say "taped" except for the lack there of) of the performance.  As usual, I'm kind of curious as to how it sounds, and then I'm also scared that my performance will not get good grades.  With any luck, the soundman's love of reverb and delay will cloud any of my questionable efforts.
Other than that, we raised $600+ more dollars for Haiti.  I can dig that.

Saturday night, I played a Platnumb gig in Knoxville.  A very strange gig--it was a 2009 holiday party, even though it's now 2010.  I believe somebody said they were a bunch of pawn shop owners.  That made sense--lots of very tacky people.  We played at the Marriott in Knoxville, which looked a lot like a multi level bomb shelter.
On this gig I played sax and EWI.  We had a one hour soundcheck where we rehearsed (not really a soundcheck).  For the entire soundcheck and the first TEN songs of the night, nobody noticed that my EWI was not in the PA at all.  Not in any monitor and not in the front of house sound.  I kept playing in between songs to see if maybe it was really faint (the way the sax was in the front of house--not inspiring, by any means).  So ten songs in, he finally realized he'd never checked it and turned it on in the front of house, but not my monitor.  My monitor was off the entire night--the aux knobs were up on the board, so I would bet that he forgot to turn on the amplifier for the box.  Nice.  I'm really just bitching to bitch here--I could've said something.  It was more frustrating, however by the fact that nobody else on stage ever mentioned the fact that I couldn't be heard.  If listening is part of music (I would say that listening is all of music), and if playing music with other people means you need to hear what they're playing (and you do, as best you can), then the lack of musicianship on stage is staggeringly low.  It's like trying to have a conversation with someone who doesn't even know you're talking to them.

Steve Florczykowsi played bass with us.  One of his heroes is Will Lee (of Letterman band fame, and about a billion other banda), and he is getting more like Will all the time.  It was totally awesome--the kind of performance where you say, "Yeah.  That's what we're looking for."  He was fun, he was dancing, he was playing great.  He also had on a pair of red plaid pants.  I had on a pink afro wig.
Steve and I rode up together, and we bolted out of the gig in 10 minutes flat.  We got back to my house at 3:30 or so.  He had to get back to Snellville and then be a church gig at 9 AM.  Ouch!

Tonight (Sunday), I did a House Live gig with Jeff (DJ) and Wayne Viar (percussion) at the Georgia Aquarium for KIA.   It was pretty fun.  This gig usually gets really boring after 30 minutes or so, but tonight's gig was much more creative.  I could hear myself really well, and I think because of that I was able to play lots of good ideas.  I don't think I started to run out of gas until about the last 30 minutes.  I brought soprano, alto, tenor, and flute to this one.

This week is really slow--just the Thursday night at the 10 High.  After the madness of the past two weeks, maybe a couple of nights off would be nice.
www.davidfreemanmusic.com