Moment of doubt

Mrs. R and I would come see you!

I appreciate that Ric! Buts thats kind of like my family telling me that. :lol: I consider you a good friend. But I do plan to persue this .... remember .. the more you drink the better we sound! :lol:

Hmmm - tricky one. Nothing wrong with your voice, as such, I've heard a LOT worse....and the guitar playing and the bass are easily good enough to cover. There are a few little tricks you can use - a bit of reverb, a bit of chorus - when I'm recording myself singing, I tend to lay on the echo with a pretty thick trowel, and double-track my voice with a tiny bit of delay between each track.

The tricky thing is the backing tracks - drums are OK, but keyboards could be a problem if they're pre-recorded. I mentioned in the Ampstock thread you seemed to be straining for some notes - that could be an indicator that the song's in the wrong key for you. What you need to do is find the right key for your voice - something you're comfortable with - but if it's a different key to the backing track, obviously the keyboards are going to be out. If you're recording your own backing track, or you have a facility where you can change the key of the B.T. obviously it's not a problem.

If I was a tiny bit closer, I'd definitely come watch - not that I need any excuse whatsoever to down a few pints, but I am envious of your guitar skills, as well as very impressed with Thunderfinger's bass playing.

:D :D :D

Vic

:D Thanks Vic, the BT are midi so a click of a button and everything goes up or down. I appreciate the support. I really want to give this a go. Don't want to be famous, don't want to even be popular. Just want to have fun and pass it on to others along the way. I'm gonna really put some time into this. Oh, by the way, if you were close enough to come see us, you would have a sore arm from the twisting and prodding to join this little venture. :wink:

Hi TR,

It sounded good to me too. I don't see any problems at all with taking that out of the man-cave and into the wider world. I don't think that the lack of a drummer is a problem, especially as you have a bass and the midis. We've never had a drummer at all and haven't found it to be a big deal. Obviously, string quartets, trios, solo artist, etc all get on fine without one too.

The singing sounded OK for a pub gig too, but in general terms the better the singer the wider the audience you can reach. I'm way behind you in the singing stakes, but it's the one thing that I'd really like to get good at. So I'm trying to organise some lessons. I'm not saying you're not a good singer - I'd like to be that good, and it sounded confident and punchy to me - but any extra work on singing and general patter and presentation (which I'm sure you'd be good at anyway) is always worthwhile, no matter who it is.

Good luck with it.

Chris

Just recalling something that happened to me a while back....

It was in the pub one night - just myself, my mate Stu, and a few non-guitarists in, before the regular crew arrived. So we ran through a few songs we'd jammed on a lot. Every time we played "Stand By Me" Stu insisted we did it in A - because that's how he learned it, from the Lennon version. That night, I suggested we do it in G - I mean, how hard is it to play G, Em, C and D instead of A, F#m, D and E? But no, we had to do it in A because, quote, "I've worked the slide solo out in A." So I suggested he played everything two frets lower....nah, too much trouble. Ended up doing it in A, and made a dog's back leg of it - when it came to the chorus, I had to go DOWN an octave instead of higher.

You can see what I mean here......

What I'm trying to say is, don't be a slave to the original recording - if you have to play Paranoid in D instead of E, or if you have to use a capo, it'll sound better with an average voice in tune, rather than struggling to stay in tune....

:D :D :D

Vic

I appreciate that Ric! Buts thats kind of like my family telling me that. :lol: I consider you a good friend. But I do plan to persue this .... remember .. the more you drink the better we sound! :lol:
We'd make you sound really great! :mrgreen:

Wow! :shock: I guess you are family then! :lol: Seriously though, some of you people here are the best friends I never met ....... I mean that. 8)

No doubt about it. Play out. Play out and play proud. You two can play, that's for sure. Two things pop into my mind, and I'm sure you've thought of these already.

#1: Presentation of the act. If you present yourselves as a couple of guys wanting to have fun, rock out and earn a couple of bucks for strings, no problem. If you present yourselves as a 5 piece band and turn on a drum machine, some might think of you as posers. It's not that you are, by any means, it's just that people get snooty as heck and get their panties in a bunch. Pompous drunks are jerks. Any little darned thing can get people's appreciation levels whacked.

#2: The venue. I'm trying to think back to the different bars when I was a kid up that ways. Some bars would be hooting and hollering just to have some tunes to listen too, while others would turn up their noses if Mick & Keith didn't play Satisfaction note for note with the recorded version. I know TF is grown up and all, but still, if some drunk jerk started abusing my kid, I'd be pulling a LP out of someone's mouth.....and I'm a peaceful guy.

Having said all of that, I am willing to bet that somewhere, even up above the Arctic Circle where you live, there's gotta be some laid back "family" bars that would do back flips and appreciate the effort first and foremost, and then get blown away when they hear that you two can play as well as you can.

Oh, one other thought. Any good open-mics in your area? Other types of non-paying things where you can get your face out there? Word could get around like "hey man, you should hear this old guy and his kid rock out...they were awesome",,,and then next thing you know, you're packing the van to go play the War Memorial or SPAC. :) Maybe even, dare I say it, the dome!

I hope nothing came out wrong above, btw. Sometimes it's tough to explain thoughts, and I think you guys are great. I hope Ric and Mrs R will let me ride along for the show. :D

Thanks Roy and thats exactly what I was thinking. An afternoon gig for a bargain price ....... we got lots of bars here that don't exactly feature top notch acts. A band at a regular bar with no cover, no expectactations, just a happy suprise. As I said, we got lots of them here. I am amazed at the acts up here that don't have a drummer. :shock: I should have learned the drums. :lol: My plan is, since groups usually charge by the member, to be a real bargain. If I can cover my gas and drinks it's a night out. I'd be playing in the man cave anyhow. Where is a bar gonna get a band for $100? I'm in it for the fun. Oh, and I appreciate you being protective of Thunder Fingers, but even though I would be, I don't know if the video clip shows it, but he is 6' 2" 265lb. :lol: He will be looking out for the old man. Oh, if Ric and the Mrs. will drive you up here, I'll buy the diinks. :P

Has anyone noticed I've never posted in the singing trhead? I haven't even been there. :lol: Just a thought. I could get help. Bottom line is I just love to play my guitar. I figure if I sing enough, I'll get better. I enjoy playing my guitar so much it should be against the law!

I know TF is grown up and all, but still, if some drunk jerk started abusing my kid, I'd be pulling a LP out of someone's mouth.....and I'm a peaceful guy.

It won't be a mouth my Tobias will be coming out of! :lol: Besides, I'm kinda big, people don't mess with me. :?

I have never posted in the singing thread either. yet I do my share of catterwalling.
I won't stop . maybe I will improve.

my good friends have a hospital band. EMTs and doctors. one guy can sing, but it does not stop all of them from doing their favorite song. they all play instruments well enough. I stand in gig with them often.
they play a few bars in the working class side of a small town and they play hospital parties.
the crowd enjoys them. always. they dance, and holler and during Born to be Wild the ladies lift their t shirts.
that isn't the goal of the band; it just happens at this particular bar near the railroad tracks.

bottom line. they are having fun doing classic rock. their versions. their abilities. and people dance.

I gigged at a June Dairy days event. small town. we set up in the gazebo. and yes, Gomer Pyle, there were spiders under the floor. (obscure reference to an Andy of Mayberry episode.)

you guys have the chops and attitude to play out. start. bet a drummer will join someday.

Cool! Thanks everybody. I needed that. :D