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Messages - MrHarryReems

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1

I've never had a problem with Poal, nor Talk.lol.  All the same to me.


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General Discussion / Re: V is closing and the FNGT is moving...
« on: December 22, 2020, 16:04:47 PM »

I can't believe V is shutting down...  I remember back when it was Woaverse..  It's been a good run, and hopefully the FNGT community follows wherever we go.


3
General Discussion / Status report
« on: February 21, 2019, 23:31:42 PM »

Aloha friends!

I am SOOO close on the post production for the new album, and it's a race against the clock!!  I'm hoping beyond hope to have it off to mastering next week.  If that happens, I'll be on track to have it in my hands for High Holy Day.  Speaking of, I got a call from the Hard Rock Cafe in Honolulu wanting to book the band, but sadly it was for High Holy Day, and we're often booked a year in advance for that one.  All the same, I'm pretty stoked that they noticed a wee Celtic band.  The booking agent had found us through our videos of all things, and had apparently been all over our website from top to bottom, as she knew things that were on our calendar that I had just updated hours before.  She said she loved our sound and asked if we knew of any other bands that sound like us. :)

Oh well, maybe next year for that one!

The downside is that the new awesome bass player quit.  He really wants to play prog and jazz, and Celtic music doesn't fit his artistic vision.  Oh well.  TheOldMick is now my part time neighbor and seems interested in the spot, but we'll see how it goes as his true heart lies in songwriting.  I gave him the set, and if he really wants to do it, he'll learn the parts and hop up on stage with us.

This is our busy season, and I love it every year, and I'm always both thrilled and sad when it ends in mid April.

Hope all is well with all of you!

-Chris


4
General Discussion / Re: Auditioning a new player
« on: January 12, 2019, 11:12:34 AM »

The first Christmas gig was lovely, beautiful spot and an appreciative crowd, but that was a shit show, as to be expected under the circumstances.  One of the other musicians was out for a very unexpected funeral, and I had to come up with a Christmas set in 2 days to cover.

The bright side of things is that the new fiddle player left last night, and all of the violins are tracked for the new album, photoshoot is done for the new press kit and the back of the album cover.  The new bass player is working out great!  He's quite the character.  He's a person that I'd choose for a friend if he weren't a bandmate.  I've just got a few overdubs to finish this week, then it's down to mixing.  The only snag I might run into is getting the backing vocalists I want in time.  I can do it myself, but just because you *can* do a thing, doesn't mean you *should* do a thing...


5
General Discussion / Re: Auditioning a new player
« on: December 26, 2018, 15:25:23 PM »

Aaaand...  The guy is awesome.  He's a good bass player.  Not quite as good as the current, uncommitted bass player, but almost.  That said, he's a better guitar player than I am, and also plays an instrument that can be summed up as a 5 string mandolin which is perfect for the genre.  He is also a very good vocalist and loves singing backing harmonies.  Add to that, he's also a really nice guy and fun to hang out with.  He stayed here until pretty late into the evening hanging out and having a few drinks after we were done playing.  He's excited about the band and the travel, and comes with a lot of contacts in the area we tour the most because he just moved from there.

The girl says I shouldn't get my hopes up that he'll stick, because he's just too perfect and people vote themselves off of the island all of the time around here.


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General Discussion / Re: Auditioning a new player
« on: December 18, 2018, 18:35:45 PM »

I suspect it's a bit different, but I look for stressors. I want people who will retain quality and professionalism - even when you don't particularly care for the job, or even your fellow bandmates. Being good with their instrument is also a bonus!

For me, that's the bottom level of acceptable.  What I want, however, is someone who is not only polished and professional, but also someone who wants to participate in songwriting, arrangements, developing the stage show, etc.  It's not too difficult to get a solid guy who just shows up and does his job for the check.  That's what I have now.  I want more!


7
General Discussion / Auditioning a new player
« on: December 18, 2018, 14:38:37 PM »

Well, it looks like I'll be auditioning a new bass player in the coming weeks.  The bass player that' I've been using for the past three years is a fantastic player, but he just wants to be a hired gun.  Ideally I'd like someone who wants to be a little more involved.  Recently, a bass player reached out to me looking for players that is not only an excellent player, but he also plays guitar and sings very well.  As an added bonus, he lives about 15 miles from me, which would make for easy collaboration.  So, we'll see how it goes!  My fiddle/hurdy gurdy player will be out here for a couple of days in January to prep for the season, so it would be nice to have the bass player on board for that.

Wish me luck!


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Anything Else / Re: I have had an epiphany!
« on: December 18, 2018, 13:16:56 PM »

One thing he certainly was, was an excellent songwriter.  His music was very accessible and reached a lot of people.


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Recording and Production / Re: Experiencing a weird issue with recording
« on: December 13, 2018, 12:34:11 PM »

Sooo... has it arrived yet??


10
Educational Resources / Re: Soundbreaking: Going Electric.
« on: December 12, 2018, 22:11:54 PM »

Very cool series!  Also available on Hooloo.


11
Tools / Online Ear Training
« on: December 11, 2018, 16:01:22 PM »

Here is a great free site for online ear training: SoundGym | Audio Ear Training Online


12
Gear Reviews / Behringer XAir-X18 Digital Mixer/interface
« on: December 11, 2018, 14:31:17 PM »

When my band recorded our last album, we were using an 8 channel interface, which made us struggle with only 4 inputs to mic up the drum kit.  I was faced with a few choices for increasing the number of inputs for our next go around.  One option was to use an ADAT  channel strip for $400-$500 to add 8 more inputs.  Another option would be to purchase a 16+ channel interface, which get very expensive beyond 8 inputs. At the same time, my tired old back was struggling to haul our huge analog mixer in its flight case to our gigs.  I had been shopping for both a digital mixer *and* a channel strip.  That's when my research led me to the Behringer XAir-X-18.

The XAir-X18 is an 18 channel digital mixer that doubles as an 18 channel digital interface.  Two birds, one stone.  I'll be honest, I've been very leary of Behringer products in the past.  They haven't always been known for their quality, but I've been forced to admit that a lot has changed.  At this point, I find the X-Air such an important piece of gear that I don't know how I lived without it.

Initially, I was worried about the quality of the preamps, as I do a LOT of recording.  My previous unit had fabulous preamps, and I was very afraid that the preamps on the XAir wouldn't be up to snuff.  The pramps on the XAir unit are designed by Midas, which makes excellent quality gear.  My concern was that 'designed by' meant that it was something Midas would never put their own name on.  Come to find out that Midas released their own version of the rack mount XR18, which was simply a rebadged unit at twice the price.  I have found that these preamps, while a tiny bit bright, are also extremely clear.  While recording my acoustic guitar, these preamps were clear enough to show me a problem that was buried by the color of my old preamps.  In a back-to-back test, I could see the same range peaking in the spectrum analyzer, but it was much more clear listening back when using the Behringer.

Another great thing about this unit is that it is small and light.  Anyone who's been in this business for any length of time knows that easy to transport gear is a blessing.  Gone are the days of breaking my back hauling around a massive analog mixer.

In regards to features, this thing is loaded.  Tons of built in DSP such as EQ, Gates, compression, reverb, chorus, delay, etc, etc..  Tons of modeled effects.  If I were to list them all, I'd be at this all day.  It also has a 100 band graphic EQ/spectrum analyzer  that makes it extremely easy to ring out feedback in with pinpoint accuracy on a narrow frequency when playing live.

It also allows you to save scenes, so if you play a number of different venues, or mix for a number of different bands, you can save the settings for the band or venue and quickly reload it without having to set everything up from scratch.

I have to admit, however, that learning how to configure the routing was a chore.  I had to RTFM and supplement that with a lot of youtoob vids.  I do have to say, however, that if the device can do it, Behringer probably has a professional quality instructional video on how to do it on youtoob.  The vids were tremendously helpful initially in getting everything setup.

This unit does not come with a control surface.  You can use any IOS or Android tablet or phone to control the device by downloading and installing the control app.  As you can have more than once control surface connected at once, you can allow each band member to control his own monitor mix with his/her cell phone!  It comes with its own internal wireless router.  However, the internal wireless router is one of the weak points of this unit.  If you are in a large venue with a lot of smartphones, you can have issues with the control surface disconnecting from the internal wireless router.   While it's possible to use a wireless frequency scanner and set it to a channel with less traffic, the best solution is to plug a more robust external router into the ethernet port on the back of the device.

This is such an incredibly capable device that has SO many features, I'm sure there are some things I'm missing.  If anyone has any questions, feel free to post up and I'll answer as best I can.


13
Site Questions / Re: Your input is wanted!
« on: December 11, 2018, 13:45:10 PM »

Surprised, yes.  And thrilled!  This is the kind of discourse I really enjoy.  Sharing work, helping each other to become better at our craft... 


14
Site Questions / Re: Your input is wanted!
« on: December 10, 2018, 19:11:48 PM »

Speaking of tidying up.... Would you mind moving Sandhog's thread into the recording forum?  It's probably more suited for that area.


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Recording and Production / Re: Experiencing a weird issue with recording
« on: December 10, 2018, 16:35:50 PM »

Be sure you at least read the section in the article on gain staging.  I think between the mic, the interface, and Cakewalk Pro, you'll be more than set.  Let me know if you have probs with anything and I'll help you however I can.


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