CF Schmee Eff - this girl rocks

Just had a note from Adrienne (Pierce)...

If you have a moment check out Tess Dunn on her myspace page.
www.myspace.com/tessdunn
she is a 14 year old singer-songwriter/piano player from Santa Cruz
and i met her last year when i played a cystic fibrosis benefit there.
the 6 songs up on her page were recorded in 4 days last week and she
wrote all of them entirely be herself. some of them she wrote when she
was 12 and all the piano on this is played by her.
for most of this she is singing and playing at the same time. it is
mostly live. :)
The Make A Wish Foundation gave her a trip to LA to make an EP.
She has Cystic Fibrosis and she is a really amazing kid.
Carina Round and i did some background vocals and my husband Ari produced it.
I am trying to think of which songs to suggest you listen to but i
love them all.
One Heart's Battle and Marionette Of Me are good ones to listen to.

On it today

Busy day, Saturday's always are, but today is; rehearsal, gig, sessions, booking and writing and finding time to eat, walk dog etc...

First thing today we listened to a new mix of Bobby's 'Sweet like Poison' and saw a few stills from the Video. It's great when everything comes together like this...swoosh. And a great way to start the day.

Friday

Kind of a slow day, woke up far too early (we have construction next door)....

Did some booking for one of Elka's bands that is coming out a the end of Feb. (www.myspace.com/roammusic), they may play a date or two with Melissa, started to look at bookings for Keith to promote his upcoming album. Missed a meeting with Dave - (where are you?) And did some admin.

Oh also realized that I did not know how to wire speakers in series. Or rather I should say, I KNEW it in theory and could tell you what it means (as opposed to wired in parallel) and how it sounds, but I got a little muddled when it came to actually DOING it.....there was a spare wire in there...where did that wire come from? what is that one for? Turns out it was just a spare and is now removed.

Well excuses aside, it's done anyway.

Found out from the K&K tech that my mic DI is ancient and will probably only work on a sax and not my bodhran - we usually use the 57 for sax, but maybe we can come up with some other cool application for this little clip on...

This weekend will be spent in session with Melissa, we have 5 vocals to do, and probably another 6 by the weeks' end, as Jason will be back from tour...and I have to wrap up the Finland book and get it sent over.

It will be busy, but in the midst of it all you can bet I'll be taking a break at 11:30 to watch SNL. I haven't yet this season, but Steve Martin is hosting, so...need I say more?

Just some happy pictures...

Because a lot of people seemed to have had a bad day....

I don't even know what title to give this blog update....

Now I know it's a fact, that you can find anything on the internet. Whatever you want to find you will find, and even things that you don't want to find, will find you.....case and point:


"Encyclopedia > Bodhrán

The Bodhrán (IPA [ˈbɔːrɑːn] or [ˈbaʊrɑːn]; plural bodhráin) is an Irish frame drum ranging in anywhere from 10" to 26" in diameter, with most drums measuring from 14" to 18". The sides of the drum are 3 1/2" to 8" deep. A goat skin head is tacked to one side (although nowadays synthetic heads, or new materials like kangaroo skin, are sometimes used instead). The other side is open ended for the left hand to be placed against the inside of the drum head to control the pitch. One or two crossbars inside the frame strengthen it. Some professional modern bodhráin integrate mechanical tuning systems similar to those used on drums found in drum kits. This drum can be mastered within 7 hours. Even some celtic hippies have mastered the instrument despite severe drug addiction.

A true beginner's/non-musician's instrument.

The drum is usually played by a celtic hippy with no musical talent in a seated position, held vertically on the player's knee and supported by his upper body and arm ........." etc etc


What scares me the most is that this website has a 'student's' section, as well as a 'lesson planning' section. Yikes.

Nothing can replace.....

.....hearing something yourself, live, especially in your own space....but if you want to get an idea of how a piece of gear could sound, we recommend these two sites:


http://www.thelisteningsessions.com/

http://www.studioauditions.com/


Before we decided what new pre's to get last year, we listened to a lot of different products, tried some, spoke to a lot of people and read reviews. In the end we went for something we had tried before (Summit Audio), and something new, based on reviews and talking to our mastering engineer (Neve). We've had great luck with both, and made good choices.

If you know what sound you want, checking out these two sites could at least get things narrowed down for you before you begin your search. And it's a darn fun way to kill a few hours!

Blues drivers

I wonder if you all know of the dangerous drivers out there? No, not the ones who are on their cell phones, smoking and drinking hot coffee while making left hand turns...I'm talking about the possible multitudes of harmonica players who drive and play...

Howard himself says that he likes to write music while he's driving and playing because he zones out...uhm yeah. I personally know half a dozen who do this...so I know there's more of you.

Careful out there people!

Anyway, we are just sitting here with jaws hanging open watching Howard's second DVD....the man is a genius and I can't think of anyone else in his league....it's unbelievable what he can do.


http://www.levyland.com/ordering.php