Saturday 22 June 2013
Katie Thompson & The Shot Band: Stop Dragging My Heart Around (Official...
Acclaimed New Zealand singer and songwriter Katie Thompson has teamed up with Wellington based "The Shot Band" to release their version of Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty's - Stop Draggin' My Heart Around.
The single is being released ahead of a dual nationwide-tour in July 2013, from Southland to Auckland.
Tour dates here: http://tinyurl.com/shotbandkt
Get your copy of the song here: http://tinyurl.com/stopdraggin
For more info please visit the sites below
The Shot Band
http://www.theshotband.co.nz
Katie Thompson
http://www.katiethompson.co.nz
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Video by: http://www.LRBproductioncompany.com
Sunday 2 June 2013
Walk it Up, Talk it Up
Just arrived back at my laptop after a really cool gig. It was a full house when i arrived at the venue so I was posted at the door listening and catching a glimpse over peoples heads where possible. A couple of guys in the band (who I used to perform with and rate highly as musicians and sound engineers) asked me how the sound was while we were having a beer after the show. I proceeded to tell them my experience as a listener.
The topic of FOH desk placement (or complete lack of) and drum mics came up. I asked, "what mics were on the drum kit" the answer was "none" oh, I guess that's why the drum kit had no impact (asides from visually) and sounded like shit... Why not share 2 of those SM57's with the drum kit and have your back up singers share mics? And "how about an 8 channel snake?" so the mixing desk could be positioned in front of the band.... (remembering these guys have access to gear)
Now there's always one... oh yes, in every band. Mr ego promptly replied with "that's what we call a walk around" in a wonderfully sarcastic tone. To which, my reply was "Walk it up, Talk it up son". WTF?
How can you expect a "walk around" to provide any band with adequate sound management? So you do your "walk around" and head back to the mixer which is located against a side wall onstage BEHIND two 15's on stands blaring away, and proceed to tune the PA?
Whilst the no.8 wire spirit is appreciated... We all know what is required for a band to try and manage their FOH sound while performing on stage, but lets face it, you will ALWAYS get a better live sound as a performer if someone who understands "your" sound and how best to use the available equipment to enhance it, operates the desk while you perform.
Thursday 8 November 2012
The Metronome (aka Metridoom)
OK, so you've been rehearsing away, tapping your foot and strumming in-time with yourself as you practice your songs. Pretty solid you think.
Band practice comes, and you notice the band seems to speed up and slow down during songs, or not get the right vibe from a song because the tempo isn't right like it was last week. What do you do? Stop and start again? Grind your way through to the end of the song? Blame the cosmos due the planetary alignment? Put the song back on the shelf and try again next week?
Try writing and rehearsing with a metronome.
Unless your drummer has a metronome up his ass (and I've met a few that did), you miss out on establishing and fine tuning your sense of timing. With a strong sense of timing you can have a huge impact on the power of your rehearsals and therefor the tightness & solidity of your band. The most noticeable benefit will be when you sit down to record your songs or head off to a studio and find that your guitar takes sit perfectly together or the backing vocals are really tight. You won't have to grumble at your drummer for speeding up or slowing down during drum fills and transitions (even though he's probably got a click track in his ears). If the drummer hasn't rehearsed to a metronome or performed the song at a consistent bpm, then how can you expect him to deliver flawless takes? "Oh, but we want it to waver in and out of time, makes it organic man" - Bullshit. If you could play tightly together, you would.
Of course there's quantization and various methods of "Flexing or Flex Editing" but that's not the point. If your producer or engineer has to deal with crappy timing, you'll either need to fix it yourself, pay them for it or settle for your crappy timing in the recordings. The point is using a metronome to give you a base of power to control your performance. Even the softest most dynamic song can be full of power which brings me to my next point.
Competently playing around the beat (using the example of a vocal for a soft moody song) is made possible by knowing where the beat is! So, to play out of time well, it makes sense to know where the time is.Tight syncopation can only be achieved after hours of programming yourself to play in time.
There seems to be two types of musicians in relation to timing. Those who have "Learned" rhythm (had to work harder than most to develop average rhythmic consistency) and those who have "Natural" rhythm (rhythm in the blood or bones). If you can get from the start to the end of your tune without falling off the metronome then congrats, you're probably awesome to jam & record with. If you think you're solid but have never practiced with a metronome, then you're probably not.
Either way all of us benefit from practicing with (and without) a metronome.
Band practice comes, and you notice the band seems to speed up and slow down during songs, or not get the right vibe from a song because the tempo isn't right like it was last week. What do you do? Stop and start again? Grind your way through to the end of the song? Blame the cosmos due the planetary alignment? Put the song back on the shelf and try again next week?
Try writing and rehearsing with a metronome.
Unless your drummer has a metronome up his ass (and I've met a few that did), you miss out on establishing and fine tuning your sense of timing. With a strong sense of timing you can have a huge impact on the power of your rehearsals and therefor the tightness & solidity of your band. The most noticeable benefit will be when you sit down to record your songs or head off to a studio and find that your guitar takes sit perfectly together or the backing vocals are really tight. You won't have to grumble at your drummer for speeding up or slowing down during drum fills and transitions (even though he's probably got a click track in his ears). If the drummer hasn't rehearsed to a metronome or performed the song at a consistent bpm, then how can you expect him to deliver flawless takes? "Oh, but we want it to waver in and out of time, makes it organic man" - Bullshit. If you could play tightly together, you would.
Of course there's quantization and various methods of "Flexing or Flex Editing" but that's not the point. If your producer or engineer has to deal with crappy timing, you'll either need to fix it yourself, pay them for it or settle for your crappy timing in the recordings. The point is using a metronome to give you a base of power to control your performance. Even the softest most dynamic song can be full of power which brings me to my next point.
Competently playing around the beat (using the example of a vocal for a soft moody song) is made possible by knowing where the beat is! So, to play out of time well, it makes sense to know where the time is.Tight syncopation can only be achieved after hours of programming yourself to play in time.
There seems to be two types of musicians in relation to timing. Those who have "Learned" rhythm (had to work harder than most to develop average rhythmic consistency) and those who have "Natural" rhythm (rhythm in the blood or bones). If you can get from the start to the end of your tune without falling off the metronome then congrats, you're probably awesome to jam & record with. If you think you're solid but have never practiced with a metronome, then you're probably not.
Either way all of us benefit from practicing with (and without) a metronome.
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