elmerthegreat

One of the major challenges of a seven piece band is fitting on a stage. There are seven bodies, drum set, keyboards, microphone stands, pedalboards, amplifiers, music stands, etc… The New Yorker, while a nice place, has a relatively small stage. Granted, it is an actual stage. Usually, we have a cordoned off area in a section of the club, this was an honest-to-goodness raised stage, complete with back door and parking lot for loading (sweet). The acoustics of the place were good, not particularly bouncy, bassy, or tinny.

On this particular evening, we were being filmed. The video will soon be appearing on the Ricky Blues website. Below are some pictures of the evening.

Created with flickr slideshow.

When playing rock n’ roll, musicians prefer a slightly raucous crowd. People that are singing along, jumping up and down, and crowding closer to the stage are the best. The worst are the people that grab the microphone to sing along, jump up and down on guitar pedals, and crowd too close to the stage bumping members of the band. No one wants to deal with that guy.

The New Yorker was neither. I am not implying that the crowd was not appreciative. They clapped, sang along occasionally, but literally and figuratively maintained their distance.

I understand their hesitance at first. There were video cameras, cameramen, and umbrella lights set up in the first half of the club. No one wants to bump into someones expensive equipment, knock over a light, or interfere with the filming. I appreciate their caution and concern.

The equipment was gone after the first set, but by that point the gulf had been established, and we could not reclaim that ground.

I recall someone writing (I think it was Robert Fripp) that a performance should have three parts.

1. Hook the crowd.
2. Take them someplace interesting.
3. Bring them back.

I think every performing musician knows the first one, but what may not be understood is that there may be impediments to that beyond his control. They can vary. Perhaps there is a playoff game on the bar’s television. Maybe there are two scantily clad women dancing on the bar (even you’re probably watching that one instead of concentrating on your playing). There are any number of unforeseen reasons.

What to do? Try to get the crowd involved at your earliest opportunity. Try to get them engaged. Though you may try this, despite your best efforts, you may not grab them. Hooking the crowd is like a first impression, most times you only get one chance.

The greatest live music performance I ever saw was King Crimson at The Supper Club in New York on November 13, 2000. It was a combination of virtuosity, power, energy, and inventiveness that I have never seen matched. Tuesday’s show came close.

Renaud Garcia-Fons is one of those musicians that I would never have discovered without the internet. On a bass-related bulletin board, there was a thread that mentioned him with an embedded youtube clip, Berimbass. (Take a minute and check it out.)

I am an electric bass player. I have fiddled with the double bass and have a small working knowledge of how to play the instrument. I am sure you can tell, even if you have no musical knowledge, acoustic bass or otherwise, that what he is doing is something very special. You can see how fluid he is moving from plucking to bow and you can recognize the effortlessness with which he solos. That video, impressive as it may be, only begins to scratch the surface.

Joe’s Pub was the perfect venue for his New York debut. Despite the sound and feel of the subway running underneath, it is the perfect mix of bar and concert hall. Small enough to feel intimate, but large enough to let the sound move about in the air, it was a wonderful place to experience what he and his Arcoluz trio had to present.

Renaud was on the five string upright. Kiko Ruiz was on the acoustic guitar (described by Renaud as “flamenco guitar”), and Pascal Rollando on percussion. The percussion setup was great. Pascal sat on the cajón, alternating playing it with brush and then with his hands. He had two shakers on foot pedals, two bongos, a djembe, an udu, and various other stuff. The sound they created cannot be properly captured on CD. Don’t get me wrong, the CD’s are wonderful, I own a few and listen to them with great enjoyment. Nevertheless, their live performance is another animal entirely. Think of the difference between hearing a symphony on CD and sitting in the pit.

They improvised, combined songs, played medleys, took solos… and it was all astounding. Aside from the technical aspect, the songs are rich with style and variation. They combine sounds of flamenco, rock, African music, and classical.

Thankfully, one of my friends and a parent of one of my students came to the show with other friends. They were all equally amazed.

One of the things I enjoy, though I’m not sure if I enjoy it as a musician or just as a person, is introducing someone to something new. A few people got to experience this incredible performance with me and they can hold onto it as a unique experience. It cannot be replicated. It is the group’s first NY performance. It is the first time we are seeing them live. It is a moment in time that can never happen again. I’m very glad that I was there.

Additional Links:
Renaud Garcia-Fons homepage
Joe’s Pub website
NYT Review of King Crimson at the Supper Club

Johnny’s had us back. Once again, the folks there were very nice to us. The place was packed early. Generally, we will start to a good crowd and more people will trickle in as time continues. However, this time, the place was jam packed from the beginning.

We opened with our Pink Floyd set. DAMN! The set lasted almost two hours! That’s alotta Floyd. Nevertheless, it went over gangbusters with people clamoring for more. My bandmates and I were exhausted… and we still had another set to play.

Halfway through the second set, my right arm started to go numb. At the time I was surprised, but looking back, I was in my fourth hour of the gig and around the third hour of playing. That would also explain why I kept shifting my weight from foot to foot. I wear sneakers live for this gig, but even their soft cushion was starting to wear down. Needless to say, I was drained by the time we finished.

It’s a wonderful thing to enjoy what you do for a living. It is also a testament to the people I play with and the material we play that I did not notice the time until the entire evening was complete.

Here are some photos from the marathon:

Created with flickr slideshow.

“Do you really need three basses?” was the question for the evening. Yep. The fretted five string I my main instrument for the night. The fretless is necessary for Hey You and On The Turning Away. I like the sound of the hollowbody on Another Brick In The Wall and Money. So… I could get away with two, but it is my job to ensure I bring the best possible sound I can to each gig, so if it means bringing one more piece of equipment, I’ll make it happen.

Another New Year’s Eve, another New Year’s Eve show.

Last year, my girlfriend and I went to Blue Man Group for New Year’s Eve at the Astor Place Theatre. I would highly recommend the show to anyone regardless of time of year, but NYE was especially nice. While many places gouge you on ticket prices because of the date, BMG only charged a few more dollars for the later show which went right up until midnight. At that point, they handed out complimentary champagne, sang Auld Lang Syne, and closed out the show. It was a wonderful way to ring in the year.

This year, we took in a show we had seen before, Soldedad Barrio and Noche Flamenca. Once again, they put on a marvelous performance. The Lucille Lortel Theatre is located on Christopher Street and is a very comfortable sized room for this show. Granted, we were in the center in the second row. We would feel each step as the vibration ran up our legs.

When one dancer spun, and the sweat flew from his head and hair, my girlfriend whispered to me, “So that’s why you chose the second row.” Not that any sweat hit anyone in the first row, but I did not want to be the exception.

The show was wonderful. If you know nothing about flamenco or dance, it does not matter. Just go. It’s a wonderful experience.

The costumes were different for this show as the first piece in particular was dedicated to the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. The cuts of the men’s suits was three piece traditional. The women’s outfits were not as colorful as the last performance, more like funeral garb.

More than last show, solos from each dancer were featured. Instead of solos within group pieces, three of the principal dancers would dance solo with at least one cantor and guitarist. When viewing a solo apart from a group piece, I got a better feel for each dancers’ style, their preferences in rhythm, how they utilized pauses and silences, and what they enjoy doing while in the spotlight (whether it be claps, jumps, spins, or flourishes of the arms).

Again, if you have the chance, try to see them when they come around. After a second show I can safely say that my good experience was not an aberration.

Additional Links:
Noche Flamenca in the Daily News
Review in Financial Times
Noche Flamenca in Facebook

I wish I was immune to doubt. If I state something with assurance, it is because I am sure. If I am mistaken, I am more than willing to accept my error and correct any problems that might have arisen. Doubt creeps in when conflict arises. If I am bucking popular opinion, even if I am sure of something, some doubt begins to gnaw at me. “Everyone else is so sure. Maybe I am wrong.”

Today I was thinking back to my days working public address (PA) systems. I never ran sound for bands or orchestras, but one and two person speaking engagements. The rooms varied from concert hall to outdoor venues. Some rooms had a built in system, in others, equipment would be brought in for the occasion. The same speakers were present for many events. Sometimes, we would do as many as three or four events in a week. For the most part, these events went well, but if I got any complaint, it was usually the same request, “Make it LOUDER!”

Facilitating that request should be pretty easy. Simply raise the volume on the board. Right?

There is one mitigating circumstance that sabotages any adjustment I could make: These speakers had no microphone control. They would turn their heads away from the microphone, stand two feet away, mumble, eat the microphone, etc… Yet, they would complain after. In fact, everyone would complain, co-workers, audience members, supervisors. Was I doing something wrong?

I knew that the speakers had enough power. I knew that I was using quality, tried and tested equipment. I knew that I had not accidentally turned something off. However, if so many people insist that I’m the problem, aren’t I?

Nope.

Thank goodness for the Internet. I did a little Google search using “public”, “speaking”, and “microphone”. Just about every site, written by engineers and public speakers alike said the same thing:

1. Keep the microphone a few inches away. Some sites said 2-4, others 6-8. No one said one foot.
2. Keep the microphone in line with your mouth. Not to the left, or the right, but in line.
3. If there is feedback, get closer to the mic, not further away. It allows the engineer to lower the gain and reduce feedback.
4. Project. You don’t have to shout, but you are not having a conversation. You are addressing an audience.

I could add links, but won’t. If you’re interested, do a search on your own. I doubt you will find many sites that would not advocate these four rules. It’s possible, but the vast majority will echo these four sentiments.

Am I still sure that the problem was not me? Yup.

Anytime a professional speaker would appear, a politician, motivational speaker, or anyone used to speaking to large audience, there was never a single problem. They all utilized a little microphone control and projected their voices. Sure, some of them had naturally booming voices, but I could lower the gain for those presenters. I never had any issue with them not being heard or understood.

Full Disclosure: What not use a lavalier microphone? I’m not a huge fan of lavs since I worked with chronic mumblers and people that refused to project. Was their mumbling problem always their fault? No. Some people just have a heavy accent that does not make them easily understood. I’m not faulting them for that, but don’t expect a lav to work well if you swallow your consonants and want to hide the microphone under your tie or lapel for photographic purposes.

Maybe the problem was psychological, a form of mass hysteria. If everyone in an enclosed environment demands that something is true, does it take the form of fact in everyone’s mind? Everyone would insist that there should not be a problem with standing a foot away from the mic and off the to the right. It should still pick up the speaker, right? He’s nearby.

I have to admit. Doubt really did gnaw at me. Was I doing something wrong? Is the problem me? I looked for ways to overcome it through more advanced equipment, speaker placement, and equalization. If it keeps happening and everyone insists that it is my fault, isn’t it my fault?

Hell, unequivocal, no!

The funny part is, if someone from this old job reads this, they will probably come up for some reason why it is my fault. In spite of plenty of sources supporting my side, they will insist I am wrong. I guess it is good to be plagued by doubt, because if not, I would be just like them.