Musicals and Holiday wrap-up

The holiday season has arrived, and that once meant that I had a number of concerts to play. This year I only have an old standard--the Mitch Thomas and Friends Christmas concert (https://www.facebook.com/events/641684875873057/).
 In past years I have played the Messiah in orchestras, chamber groups, and had an early music ensemble to play carols on period instruments at local libraries. This year is quiet-- possibly because of my classes ( which ended today), and possibly because I have new ideas to focus on.

The next year approaches and the hassle of bands and gigs will be limited. This is a year for musicals and recordings! This is a year for getting technical and moving operations to a global potential. This is also the year for better work and better pay-- and that is not too much to ask.

Enjoy this season and think about improvements and things you would like to change. Make it happen. New bridges up and old bridges down. 

Keep walking...

Projects, Web-redesign, and following through!

Hello again.. how are you doing?

I am happy to announce that the new website is live and being updated weekly.
http://neiladamjames.com/

I am preparing for more video lessons, an introduction to Skype lessons (I am setting up a multi-camera studio), a duet group exploring the holistic therapy aspect of music (think science), and I will be expanding my Soundcloud content. In other words, I can finally update the site the way I have always wanted to!

This past weekend I was in the Franco-American Heritage Center's Medieval Feast:
http://www.francocenter.org/2013/10/30/menu-plot-revealed-medieval-feast-set-november-8-9/

I was the town crier, court minstrel on lute, and part of the cast in a murder mystery. It was fun to be part of a large project again. The food was great and it was all well-received.

This week I am playing guitar in the pit for "Bye Bye Birdie" at Gray-New Gloucester High School.
http://www.msad15.org/event/high-school-play-bye-bye-birdie-3/

The following week I will be playing violin for the YOLA string orchestra.
http://yolamaine.org/

In the meantime, I have to keep working to finish up the semester and look for more work to support myself (as always).

Keep moving!

Thanks.

Regain the Vision

Long time no blog (well, not this one at least).

I have been busy with music activities, but moreover, I have been focused on other things that are more important. I just performed for a wedding last night with Every Other Sunday, and now I have a chance to write and fill everyone in on a return to my vision.

What was my vision?

When I began the website (http://neiladamjames.com/) over 2 years ago, it was for the students I taught music to as a chance to see what the working life of a musician was like. I also had a section for lessons that I wrote for download purposes. As time wore on and I had less time to devote to the site, this blog and twitter became my only updates. I started using this blog as a road resume. I still may do so-- it is easier than listing everything I have done-- a story is more entertaining.

The problem is that over time I feel that I stopped helping people, and just started helping myself out by archiving everything. This blog has few readers as it is, and no one seems too interested in the adventures of a musician in Maine (even as diverse as I am). I lost the vision of helping others out.

Well, I am getting it back.

Not only is my website shifting from a "resume" focus, but I will no longer be actively seeking out work as a musician. I do have many new projects to share (music related), but they will be towards helping and inspiring those that visit the site. Money has always been an issue, but compromising your integrity and wasting your time on another's misconstrued vision is not worth it. Our time here is limited as it is-- don't follow anyone and expect their life to fulfill yours. Find yourself.

I also hope to make a bigger impact by showing that a musician may be someone who is passionate about art, but can be very grounded in reality. The economy has not been good for work this Fall-- many teachers I know are having to make difficult choices. My choice has not been too difficult-- return to what your original intentions were.

I hope everyone is enjoying the autumn. I wish New England remained in this season year-round.

See you soon...

Redneck Olympics 2013 and Tina Kelly in Buxton-- 1 night!

A few weeks ago (sorry about the late blog) I had a day of "fun" with UnCharted and The Tina Kelly Band playing two separate gigs (separate by an hour and a mood).

UnCharted was the first band on Saturday to play at the Redneck "Blank" (Olympics https://www.facebook.com/pages/Redneck-olympicspig-roast-and-music-festival/111251762300128). This was our 3rd year at this event in Hebron, but now under a different name (remember that we were MaineStream). I didn't look forward to bad parking, dirt on my car and equipment, and a potentially hostile audience, but I had to go along with it.

After a few parking attempts, I was able to unload some of my equipment. My car was packed for two shows, so this was not easy. Before I make it to the stage, Brandi (our lead singer) tells me that "things have changed"-- this seems to always happen at every show. There is a wedding going on before we play, and then we need to play a few wedding songs for the couple.

The wedding itself is done as a "redneck" wedding-- chickens on the stage, donkeys close by, the couple pulls up in a mud-runner truck, and an Elvis impersonator sings for them.

With the wedding over, we take the stage to setup and wipe away chicken feed. Our old sound production manager (who doesn't like us) is there to shake my hand and give me a grin. We get our equipment set, do an individual monitor check, and then we have to start playing without a full sound check. Once again my keyboards (run in mono) sound like tin cans, and I cannot hear the bass enough. I look to the mixing board and no one is there. After a set of feedback issues and intermittent changes to the set mid-way through, we got off the stage as fast as we could while another band literally setup on top of us.

I was told afterwards that the sound producer (remember that guy mentioned earlier?) was laughing with his wife on the side of his box truck when there was feedback. It was his job to fix that while it was happening!

But, no time to complain or collect-- I left with the drummer for our next gig in Buxton!

I made it to Buxton 30 minutes after the gig started (they played a few acoustic songs-- basically my favorite ones). I am always ready to play-- if money is at stake, I have to always go with it! With a few mixing issues taken care of, the Tina Kelly Band played until past midnight and then we collectively tore everything down and packed it up. The day was a whirlwind of cables and sound levels for me-- nothing seemed to be mixed properly.

If I got anything out of this experience, it is to find your own personal monitoring system (in ear) to make sure that you feel good about what you are playing. The mix that the house (audience) hears is important to other people (and should be taken care of by a dedicated listener), but if you don't like your mix, the gig will not go well. Imagine playing for 3 hours and fighting your sound every step of the way. Don't do that!

Also, don't be afraid of chickens. They will not peck you when they have feed around.

Take care!

The Musician's attitude-- why bands fall apart and other issues...

        Everyone who has ever been involved in a group should address this issue at some point-- the attitude of the members, and how one bad apple can "try" to ruin the bunch.
Music groups seem to attract the super-ego, ultra artistic, passionate people-- there is no telling what some combinations will bring. Most of the time, it brings about a fight. If it does not escalate to that, then there may be years of resentment and passive-aggressive behavior before some resolve happens, or the group dissolves. I have been in musical groups for 20 years so I am familiar with all the outcomes.

A pic before playing with UnCharted at the Redneck Olympics-- our sound was horrific.

        I thought it would be beneficial to discuss this topic during my busiest month for gigs. I just had a weekend of gigs with various issues, and I seriously questioned why I continue to put myself through this torture. Money aside (and it is never equal to time put in), the idea of forming a group with a similar interest seems like an innocent idea. The initial problem is that the "like-interest" is somewhat superficial-- usually there is a leader and they must have it their way (this results in a certain type of music being played). I have been in a few bands playing originals, but mostly I play in cover bands. In both types of bands, a leader would emerge and direct what style to play in (or what to cover). As democratic as the group was purported, the leader would always end with the final say. This seemed alright when money was concerned (although it started the building of resentment).
        The money aspect has played a large part, and yet it also makes playing music a job-- something that is very easy to hate when it dictates what you should do. This job is easier when everyone is open and honest about what the band is doing. If all members are on the same page and have a similar vision then it should only have a few bumps every now and then (there has to be some conflict). Unfortunately, most people are closed and in their own world-- they are not open, and the often erupt into anger or make extreme decisions because of lack of communication. This happens in any relationship, so it should not come as a surprise.
         I promote being honest and truthful about where your head is at (what you want) before committing to a group. It is not worth it to suffer through rehearsals and gigs just for money. The tiny moments in the music that make you happy (unless you enjoy all of the music your group plays) are fleeting and can be diminished with the escalation of problems. If everyone is open, then problems seem to be resolved quickly. For example, in Every Other Sunday, we all have a theater tech background (sound knowledge) and are open to each other's ideas on conflict resolution. We have an ongoing dialogue online that solves issues before we meet in person. We have had sound issues at gigs, and yet we always seem to have a backup plan to smooth it out. In contrast, UnCharted has lost power to half of our system during gigs and the show has literally shut down. I have always done my part to "fill space", but I could never keep the pandemonium from happening. Problems will happen, and you need to have an understanding with your group on how to handle them. Take the guesswork out and have a plan.

      Now on to attitudes...

      Obviously, what I mentioned above doesn't happen without the proper attitude. It takes you! If you are prone to being melancholic and emotional, a solo career awaits you. A band experience needs acceptance and compromise. Money does not fix things ( for many famous musicians it has only created more problems with drugs and other hangups). With this said, sometimes we must deal with a bad attitude in a band from time to time. This has seemed to happen as of late to me. UnCharted is unsure of the intentions of our singer because of her lack of communication and last night in the Monty Python Spamalot (http://www.montypythonsspamalot.com/) rehearsals, a woodwind player told me to "stop noodling" while I was quietly searching for a guitar patch for an upcoming song. I have learned to log these issues and then let a few of them slide. My personal attitude is to have many things going, so you can work on everything in different areas. In a few months I can walk away from a few commitments and feel indifferent about it (and yet relieved). We all have the power over our lives-- do not let anyone else ruin your mood.

Apply this to any relationship you are in. Communicate and resolve or walk away and save yourself.

Keep playing music though-- for sanity!
 

First official gig with The Tina Kelly Band

A few days ago (7/26) I got to take the stage with The Tina Kelly band-- my first "mostly" country band. I had the opportunity to join months earlier but I was too busy and I heard they didn't pay well. I still played a country music competition with them and they won a few awards 3 months earlier.
The lull in other gigs created somewhat of a need, and so I joined. I will give it a few months to settle in, and I will know better where I am. So far, things are somewhat lean, but they are working hard on fixing that. The competition is brutal-- luckily I am in 4 different bands that bring 4 different shows to the mix-- if there is a gig, one of them can do it!

The Tina Kelly band played at Shooter's Pub in Mechanic Falls-- a small pub with a big heart (notice how I am getting all "country" now?). Everyone helped me load in, the audience received us well, and the songs all came together. What more could I want?

Well, the stage was very small, the ceiling was low, and, oh yeah, we played for 4 hours! The band took two 7 minute breaks between 9-1am.

Me watching the singer

Here we are warming up

Lots of red lights-- that is why I wear the Gunnar glasses!

Yes, I am still covered in wires.

The Moxie Festival 2013 and UnCharted @ Skips July 19th

Last weekend I had the chance to play music on a float supporting a local nonprofit at the Moxie Festival in Lisbon, ME. Lisbon has the claim to fame of introducing the world to Moxie-- a gentian root soda with a strong root beer taste and burnt rubber aftertaste (trust me). It was originally toted as a medicine, but this was also when Poland Spring water was promoted the same way.

Anyways...I was on the float for Hope4nogo (https://www.facebook.com/Hope4NoGo), and I was accompanying Brandi (of UnCharted) as we sweat our way down Lisbon street.

On the way to the site I had to wait behind such floats as this.

Here is the float where I was stationed-- it looked like a garden with real flowers, bails of hay, a fence and a mini rock wall in the back. I actually wore a farmer's straw hat (by mistake), so I fit right in.

I looked ahead and saw this for 2 hours.

I looked behind and saw this-- kids, mothers and expectations.

When it was all finished and traffic resumed, I continued to play music while at the stop lights. It just felt funny.

It was all for a good cause and it may have done some promotion for the band. We did play a few very sad songs on the float, but we were working from our usual setlist (in the club you either cry or grind). Next year they want the entire band. I hope they have a better way to get electricity-- the only major problem we had was in finding a converter for the truck to power my keys and amp. I even downgraded my equipment to make the wattage barrier. The lesson: electricity is not always easy to come by!

The last week a few things music related also happened. I was asked to join another hip hop band (to one-up an earlier established hip hop band I had auditioned for previously), I played with the Tina Kelly band again and they offered me a spot for upcoming gigs, and UnCharted played at Skip's Lounge in Buxton again. My answer to these happenings:

--Told the new hip hop outfit that I was too busy (and I doubt their ability to find enough well-paying gigs).
--I told Tina Kelly band that I would help out when I could. The band seems fun and they all work hard to setup and manage the group. The group is so diverse-- I feel like I am part of the Village People because everyone brings a different background.
--At Skip's we lost power 3 times in the first set because of improper setup-- I had to play a few solos with Brandi while outlets were changed and power conditioners were reset. This is the 2nd time this has happened to us here. Our singer was also 30 min late to the gig-- that didn't help the mood of the night. Will we ever go back?

Of course we will!

This month will end slow but next month will be the busiest I may have ever been with gigs.

Keep in touch...

UnCharted gig at Chaps and other news

How has everyone been?

I have been busy with non-musical related things: graduate summer class on technology (which provides more credentials for my other website and pursuits), maintaining and repairing my house, and working out financial issues (nothing bad, just streamlining everything).

I have news from the band fronts, and potential more bands to play with (if the price is right).

Recently (June 22) UnCharted played a gig in Buxton at Chaps Saloon-- yes, another country bar.

We were situated on one side of the room and had a longview of the bar and pool tables. The audience was maybe 20 people at most (and all at the bar) while we played. There was a lack of communication between our singer (who showed up at exactly 9p when we thought we had to start) and the owner-- we were supposed to play at 8p! We started playing at 9:20 and flew through Set 1 without a pause (no banter needed since everyone was drinking and watching a Bruins game).

Aside from the obvious scheduling issue, the biggest problem with this gig was the sound. This is our first gig with the incorporation of the awesome Korg M50. I purposefully built various soundbanks for many songs and thought I had mixed them well-- once our drummer got a hold of the signal, they became overpowering and the bass player was angry throughout the night (my bass overpowered his). I made a few changes here and there but I knew a little equalization on the main mixer would do the trick-- it never happened. At least the money happened at the end despite lack of a crowd.

My rig has certainly grown these past few years. I have 2 keyboards, a laptop controlling set lists on a monitor in front of the singer and bass player, my own 12 channel mixer for a stereo mix of both keyboards (and why I can use a headset as my monitor), and I have pedals for each keyboard (soon to be a midi pedal as well). I have the complete system-- I just need a cooperative band and we need someone to mix us properly per song.

In other news, I auditioned for a hip hop band on Tuesday called The JumpOff. The keys were minimal and so were the gigs they have planned. I was called yesterday to join the Tina Kelley Band (the country band I helped win a few awards)-- they wanted me for a gig this weekend at the same Chaps Saloon mentioned above. That fell through but I would be seeing them in the future..


 Sometimes a band is a very personal thing to some people. Once it becomes money, you realize that it doesn't matter what style you are playing or where you are playing so long as the cash flows. Every musician can enter "the zone" in any style of music-- I find little places to be creative in everything. The world is changing and the importance of any one band is all hype. Landing gigs and having agreed upon amounts is what makes the gears move-- let me see that in writing!

There is a lesson in all of this-- work hard, do not specialize and limit yourself, and have a proven track record if you want to live as a musician.

Otherwise-- just have fun!

A musician that fixes their own gear!

Well, that is not quite me...although I wish it was. At least, I am not able to fix the electrical components of my equipment, but I can fix the mechanical ones. A few days ago I did just that-- all for a small piece of plastic that was destined to break.

Here is a bit of a back story:

I have been playing multiple keyboards in a Top 40 pop band (like everyone knows now) for 3 years. It has usually been a digital piano and 1-2 synthesizers. Digital pianos are built like brick houses (the ones above $1k are at least)-- they offer minimal instrument samples but offer the realistic feel and sound of a piano (and I love this). I upgraded my digital piano at the beginning of the year, jumping from the 12 year old Kawai Es1 to the Es6 (the Es8 is out now I believe). For synthesizers I have always played Korg by default-- I never owned one, only borrowed.
  I began playing two synthesizers: a Korg M1 and a Korg X-3

The M1 was made in 1988 and it had one sound that I used all of the time-- everything else was so 80's (but not in a good Duran Duran way). This keyboard was a loan from the production company that started MaineStream.

The X-3 was made in 1993 and was a step up from the M1-- 3 times the amount of sounds but it lacked the feel of the M1-- not very solid. After MaineStream split up and became UnCharted, this became my main synth (and I started playing more than fake accordion and guitar sounds on it). It has held up for years and given me some top notch performances, but I knew there was something better out there for under $1k (great synths of the past few years cost well over $1k-- $3k-$4k is about right). This keyboard was donated by my boss the day I landed the MaineStream gig. 

Before MaineStream went away, in a dash to find new sounds for upcoming major gigs I convinced the powers that be to order me a Korg micro.

This keyboard had a strong array of sounds, a bad vocoder, and many techno samples. I now had 4 keyboards at each gig and I was jumping back and forth like crazy. Unfortunately this keyboard was truly micro-- tiny keys with horrible action and overblown sounds (they were always cranked to 10). When I played this thing it even scared me that such a small collection of plastics was burning ears in front of me. It was hard to play and after two major gigs I left it in a box in my closet until the production company came to town to collect it 5 months later.

Skip ahead a few months to two weeks ago, and I had another idea of upgrading since a previous gig made me feel like I was playing a toy synth (X-3). A student of mine from the previous year convinced his lawyer father to drop $4500 on a Korg Karma and literally overnight he became Dream Theater (he played alright before but now he had all the sounds). I couldn't believe that I was still playing this 20 year old synth.

Hello Ebay!

After some research on the Korg wiki of chronological synth manufacturing, I came up with a short list of all the synths better than what I had but not new enough to cost as much as a bad car. It so happened that every 2 years Korg would seem to make a new synth or release a different from factor of a previous one. I was in the market for one of these cheaper but better workstations. 

It took a week of narrowing it down on Ebay, but I watched 4 finalists as they were being bid on. At the last moment I chose one that would give me the easiest time changing patches-- it had a touch screen interface!

I lost the auction.

2 days later, for a Buy it now price, the same keyboard came up for auction-- better condition, better owner (clean studio), and at a price that I would have to live with ($525). I made two offers and then just bought it before anyone else might jump in. The keyboard was a Korg M50 (made in 2008)

The keyboard is light but sturdy, The sound is amazing and I can finally combine up to 16 sounds at the same time (custom patches). The touch screen is no Ipad, but it is bright and will work under stress. The Apple sticker hopefully will not get be beat up-- the other side has a Behringer sticker which seems ironic. Anyways, I have not tried it with the band yet but I am happy with the change.

How did I fund this buy? The X-3 made it onto Ebay, and apparently it is a vintage masterpiece! It sold for almost $100 shy of the M50. But, before I sold it, I had a problem to fix-- a key that worked, but did not spring back to place.

So-- finally-- here is the subject to this blog!!!!

Warning-- what you are about to see might look scary--- a lot of computerish stuff and wires (guts).

Notice the floppy drive for this keyboard-- who has these still?

The keys came apart after 20 screws.

Once you see how cheap and minimal this part is you are amazed that these keyboards work at all. Well-architectured plastic is the name of the game-- something a 3-d printer can solve nowadays ( I will end up with one eventually).

This was the culprit-- a G# key that was missing a small plastic bit. Superglue and needlenose pliers did the trick. It was not easy-- but I couldn't wait for spare keys to be ordered (this was sold that day on Ebay). 

Afterwards I used my pictures to remember where all the screws went. I only ended up with 2 in the end (just kidding, they all went back in).

I plugged it in, it worked, so I boxed it up and shed a tear. I hope you find a good home!

The moral is: Some musicians fix their own gear and most do not. I suggest that you do-- it makes a good story and you get to see how the world tries to minimize cost. I hope the M50 doesn't create any issues, but if it does, my screwdriver is ready!

4 gigs this past weekend!

It was a busy weekend... 2 Uncharted gigs, playing a church service, and playing for a Masonic dinner.
It is all about stamina when you hit a string like this!

Friday night, UnCharted played at Club 302 (a regular gig) in Windham. There was a benefit auction prior to us, and we literally had 30 minutes to set up (we normally require 2 hours with soundcheck). The crowd was minimal and it seemed dead. I was excited to be using newer technology.

--I had a new set of lights under my top keyboard so I could see the buttons on my keys underneath. It runs on a battery pack and I have the switch on top.
--I had a new mixer (Mackie Profx 12) that allowed me to be in stereo from each keyboard, and allowed me to wear headphones as my monitor (saving room in my car from bringing a powered speaker).
 --I brought my laptop which fed another LCD screen in front of the rest of the band that had the sett on it-- I even went so far as to make a powerpoint with each slide giving details about each song (in case it was needed). This worked alright, but I still need to tweak it-- having a pedal to change screens would also be a plus since we normally play 4-5 songs in a row and I didn't think of clicking the return button each time.

After the gig, we each drove home for a minimal sleep time of 3 hours in order to get up early for the Patriot 5k in Gray (the next gig). http://www.patriot5k.org/

 This was a benefit gig and we got a t-shirt with our name printed on it and free food. We played a short set and it was good experience in setting up our equipment in record time. We seem to have a system now-- although we can always hope for newer tech (wireless systems, head mics, effects...).

That same day (Sat) I returned home and unloaded equipment and tried to take a nap. 30 minutes later I was up and packing for a service at the United Methodist Church in Auburn with Mitch Thomas. I play there every now and then and I am the icing on his cake. I play guitar and improvise more than anything-- it is an old hat for us. After the service he mentioned playing the next day at a benefit dinner at the Hilton Garden Inn. I thought nothing of it so I agreed.

The Hilton changed inside-- better layout and more classy! I went out back and found 200 well-dressed people eating dinner and talking. I couldn't find Mitch until he ducked out to take a phone call. He invited me to sit at a table (thankful that I wore a tie) and proceeded to talk with the dignitaries. They were from a masonic order called the Eastern Star-- their logo was an upside down pentagram (having seen heavy metal album covers, that made me think evil). I couldn't quite figure out what they did, besides getting together over dinners and congratulating each other-- maybe they are like the Shriners and help children.
We started playing and either my guitar was out of tune or Mitch's piano was transposed-- the first 2 songs I added very little. Once we solved that, Mitch won over the audience and we turned hymnals into bluegrass and showtunes into pop music!

I went home and continued doing homework for an online grad class--- that was a wrap!

Victorious cantata and UnCharted @ Skip's Lounge

This past weekend I had a number of concerts. Saturday evening I performed "Victorious" at EABC (http://www.eabcministries.com/) in Auburn with a choir and small ensemble made up of bass, drums, violins, guitars, flute, harp, trumpet and piano (I may have missed someone). It was nourishing-- I got to play the violin again, I got to see my old concertmaster Sue Herrick,  and the music was uplifting with a good message.

The moment it was done, I went to do the polar opposite-- play with UnCharted at Skip's Lounge-- a bar in Buxton.

Getting there was no trouble-- it was near a Hannaford that I remember visiting before. There was a dump literally behind the bar (which was unsettling), but I pulled around back and knew that I was in the right place.

I started to set up my gear once I saw everyone else on the stage.

Then I somehow missed something-- I had forgotten the bottom to my keyboard stand! How was I going to put two heavy keyboards on it and have it stand upright? I thought about placing it against a wall, tried a metal bar in the bottom, but ended up with the help of a hired light guy. We had a lighting guy for this gig and he was more than equipped with lights, cables and clamps.
He secured two clamps on the bottom of my keyboard stand and it ended up looking like this:

After this was fixed, the next ordeal was setting up a million cables and connecting mixers and monitors...a process that I constantly want to streamline. It went slow, the sound was not optimal, and a mysterious buzz appeared. It turns out that the light guy had his gear plugged into ours-- interference. We solved that and then we were set.

The night started without a bang, and we had issues with sound and having the stage go black after every song (I couldn't see my keyboard patches). Because of the limited power, or too many amplifiers plugged into the same power source, we lost power twice during the set.

You can see how our drummer has his own control station-- that Rack Ryder was providing power for all mains and monitors (over 10 speakers).
I had two monitors that were killing my ears on stage, until I turned one down.

It was a learning experience. For the next gig at Club 302 in May, I will have LED lights, my in-ear monitor system, the bottom of my keyboard stand, and a LCD monitor system for the band setlist. Let technology make the process easier!

Thanks!