There we go. Better'n new.

Okay, I hosed up my template somehow. Lessee if'n I kin fix 'er.

The Current State of the Mic Locker

More for my benefit than yours - getting to be too many to keep track of. Potential thieves are welcome to write for directions... [g]

BLUE Baby Bottle LD cardioid condensor, w/ shock mount and pop filter
Pair Oktava MC-012 SD condensors (matched by The Sound Room) with hypercardioid cartridges, x/y stand and shock mounts
Studio Projects C-1 LD cardioid condensor
Sennheiser 421 dynamic cardioid w/ shock mount
Pair Behringer EC-8000 SD omni condensors
Oktava MK-319 LD Condensor w/ shock mount
Pair Shure SM-57 dynamic cardioids
Shure SM-58 dynamic cardioid
Shure Green Bullet dynamic cardioid

This may be IT for equipment for a while. Should be enough...

Grumble

My QS-8.1 died on me - no amp output. We tried the headphones, the auxes, and the mains, even re-initializing. No dice. Still under warranty, but what a pain!!! I wound up using it as a controller for the guitarist's XP-50 at rehearsal last night.

About half in the doghouse now - Kim's had a bad week, and I made things worse by dropping about 2 grand on mics, a mixer, cables, and cases. And spending enough time at Guitar Center yesterday to make it so I couldn't run the other errands she needed me for. OTOH, I've got some very cool new mics: BLUE Baby Bottle, a second Shure SM-57, a Sennheiser 421, and, on order: 2 Behringer EC-8000s, 2 matched Oktava MC012s with hyper capsules from the Sound Room (it matters!), and a Studio Projects C1. Also a Behringer 1002 mixer, 10 1/4-1/4 cables, 4 mic cables, mic shocks and mounts, and a keyboard bag. Woohoo!

How the Mighty Have Fallen...

...and about what I expected from at-least-nominally-GNR.

Not sorry I missed it, but I AM sorry I missed Joshua Redman's trio at Orchestra Hall last night - I had to work late. Heard a live-in-the-studio preview on WDET Tuesday - some really hot drum-n-organ work backing up the best sax player they is.

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Potential Band Name of the Day

Hosemonster.

Because Whitesnake was already spoken for.

Yeah, I know, Chris' blog already uses the name. But it's a pretty cool name, and we can do the straight-face thing with it, where we act like we never thought of THAT.

And we'll let Chris sit in, if he wants. I already have a hose-her-down song half-written.

Potential Band Name of the Day

Anima Mea

Or, "My Soul". Pronunced ah knee ma may uh. Could be cool if we go the Christian route.

Here's a shot of my latest keyboard acquisition:

A Novation K-Station.

Big fun. Have to figure out how to save patches still (definitely not intuitive).

Potential Band Name of the Day

Thumb Buddies

Can you tell I'm getting desperate?

Another big issue this weekend - a big "not everyone is pulling his weight" discussion. Way uncomfortable. My class-clown experience helped bring a lighter tone - I was neither attackee nor attacker, but I wish we'd all figure out a way to just get along. That's me - Bart Simpson meets Rodney King. We got through it, but I have to wonder how many times this will happen before someone chucks it in.

Potential Band Name of the Day

Landini.

Francesco Landini was a blind Italian composer/keyboardist in the 13th (I think) century. Probably the first significant and prolific secular composer - appears he never wrote for the church.

Landini even played a portable (portatif) organ. Anyone else see any Ray Charles comparisons?

No, Landini did not play a Wurlitzer...

In my church music life (how many lives are you living, Sybil?), I'm working on a hymntune named LANDINI now: 8.8.8 meter, form ab.ab.cb' - every line, plus two of the half-lines, end with a "Landini cadence", which is a 6-1. The tune gets a little chromatic, too - kinda fun to write in a defunct genre. Maybe I'll try bubblegum next.

Potential Band Name of the Day

Gray. Or Grey.

Think I like Graytail better though.

Rehearsal went pretty well Sunday - my Song 18 and the collaborative Somehow both progressed. Though Fred may wind up with the sole copyright, as he did lyrics and melody. I'm concerned about my piece, though - we cut a scratch with me "singing" (if you can call it that) so Fred could pick up the refrain melody - he fixed about 2 out of 8 places. I pointed this out, and he seemed less than happy throughout the rest of rehearsal. Track's sounding good, though.

Luke couldn't make it until after Fred left, so again, we didn't have everyone together. Still productive, but it would be great if we were EVER all in the same place at once..

Potential Band Name of the Day

Der Nippelsingers.

I wrote this song for my wife, posted in my other blog, where I mention her nipples in verse 2. It's really a love song, but the guys have been all over me about it since, calling it "the nipple song", etc. So mostly a joke, but if we didn't do the Christian thing, it might actually help sell records. Anyone have a focus group they can test the name in?

Here's one of my babies. I dragged it to practice last night, first time it's been out of the case in 3 years. It showed, too - acting up, and there's a dead D on it now. Still magical, though:

Potential Band Name of the Day

Ran Couldn't Hide.

Actually this was to be a project name for some Christian stuff my soprano friend and I were going to put together. That's still a possibility, and I could pull these guys on on that project. Or just take the name and run with it.

Here's my TX-7s. I have two. Not part of my main rack anymore, but they're waiting to be pulled in. Not like they've got anything else to do...

Potential Band Name of the Day

Graytail.

Kinda says it all, don'tcha think?

Here's a shot of my guitar. I love it, but can't play for crap. Might loan it to Carl to see what he can do with it, though he's already said he sees 335s as being more of a jazz guitar than a rock guitar. Personally, I like it because you can get great sustain and feedback at way lower volumes than a Les Paul.

Potential Band Name of the Day

Deep Thumb.

Not sure about this one - calls back SNL's Deep Thoughts and Deep Purple (both cool) but also Deep Throat, not necessarily the kind of connotation I'm going for. Though there was a time...

Here's a shot of an older version of my "main" keyboard, an Alesis QS-8.1. I'm mostly happy with it, though I have to slog through a lot of sounds to find a keeper. Also, the editing interface stinks. Great touch, though, and decent sounds are there, if you mine deep enough.

Potential Band Name of the Day

Thumbster.

We're all from Michigan's Southern Thumb region. Cute, huh?

Here's a pic of my D-152:

It's not at Carl's studio (where we practice), but it's maybe the coolest thing I own. I had to move out my M-3 to make room - THAT'S at the studio now, we used it Saturday. Sold it to Carl for whatever the D-152 repairs come to (with a cap, of course). Still need a Leslie!

Potential Band Name of the Day (PBND)

Freddie and the Geezers.

Lead singers name is Fred, but I'm the only one old enough to remember "Freddie and the Dreamers".

Oh yeah, here's the lineup (in the order we joined):
Fred: vocals, maybe some guitar or drums, songwriting
Jay: keys, bass, background vocals, songwriting
Dan: bass, guitar, background vocals, maybe some harmonica or drums, songwriting
Carl: guitar, songwriting
Luke: drums, vocals

Luke might write, but haven't seen any songs yet. Carl might sing, but haven't heard him sing yet.

PBND should become a semi-regular feature. We'll see.

We don't have a name yet. The other guys aren't quite as pathetic (read: old) as I am. And "back together" is misleading - I've never met these guys before. But after 9 years away from secular music, I'm back. And taking no prisoners. Watch this space.