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jamming with each other over the Internet - surely the technology must be pretty close to allowing this
some sites to check http://pghboemike.wordpress.com/2012/06/01/how-to-jam-with-your-band-online/
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Eddie:
I make self-deprecating comments about my jazz guitar playing when compared to Dean on the user showcase.. because I'm not a jazzer. Playing rock n roll guitar is my forte. Everything else (singing, harmonies etc) relies on technology to fill in the gaps. But since starting this goal about 10 years ago (at which time I depended 100% on pitch correction for my vocals) I've found that the practice has made the pitch correction (almost) unnecessary.
As far as range is concerned, I have to transpose just about everything. Every now and then I have to just decide not to do a song because there's no key that works for me. FWIW, Hotel California is not on my "finished" list yet. It could still fall through the cracks.. although I hope not.
Where multiple artists have covered the same song, I named the version I plan to attempt. I have tried to include a lot of chick songs because I'm hoping that if women like my act and show up to hear their favorites, guys will show up too, and I'll get hired again by the venue. That explains some of my schmarmy emotive choices.
Yes, tons of time invested in preparing for this.. at least ten years collecting all the pieces ... studio version, midi files, lyrics, MIDI controllable gear, time invested learning how to use it all, huge investment in making the trax, now the task of putting it all together begins. That's the hard part. Just because I want to doesn't mean I can, and that's part of the reason for starting with over 300 songs. At the end of the day I should be able to find 4 hours worth of do-able material here, even if I have to eliminate 75% of it.
When its ready, I'll post snippets on my GIG SALAD page as sound bytes for potential booking agents to size up my act.
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Pat Marr - you know you are my soul brother from across the country. I am at a very similar point to you in that I loooooooove music, but can fluently play far less of it than I "plan to" at the current moment, and for someone (myself, that is), I spend far more time thinking, tinkering, figuring out and then forgetting snippets of so many things without the discipline to actually practice them to the point of "internal musical and muscle memory", so to speak. And you convinced me that this is the nature of my personality - to stop beating myself up for this personality trait. And I have - I just keep doing what I'm doing, very gradually approaching my stated goals.
All that said - I feel like this can be a great starting point for jamming with each other over the Internet - surely the technology must be pretty close to allowing this, and once the technology is there, the next big hurdle is picking and knowing the same common set of songs. Well that common set of songs of interest is gradually being shared on this website. When I want to jam with someone, the first step is always finding some songs we both know. "Professional" PLAYERS (not musicians, ha ha - couldn't resist though I know I promised to stop - I lied ha ha) usually have enough experience that they can easily find these 'common standards', but for part-time students and dapplers like myself, finding those common songs to jam on is always a chore. Joe, I'm probably not the right guy for jam sessions. I'm really bad at that. I find that my natural introversion can only be overcome by total preparation. If I have to think when I'm in front of an audience, I go blank. I have to be so prepared that it pours out as muscle memory.
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Pat, That's an impressive list. I was curious - what do you plan to use for PA? Mixer/amps/monitors/mics, etc. Inquiring minds want to know!  Bob, I'm embarrassed to tell you. I know from watching your comments that you have good stuff, the best you can afford. As a person who has been a hobbyist, I've settled. That will probably change when I start depending on the quality of my gear to keep things rolling. Right now my setup is as follows: 1) light duty PA consists of 2 active speakers and 2 backups (not brand names) 2) laptop PC running RealBand in jukebox mode is my song delivery method. SEQ files contain MIDI gear control commands for adding vocal harmonies, raising guitar volume and gain for solos, changing patches for each song etc 3) Mics are Shure beta 58s 4) Not sure what to do for monitors yet. (suggestions?) I considered ear buds to minimize feedback potential of having speakers pointed at the mic. I'm just not that far yet. I'd appreciate any thoughts you might offer for ANY of this stuff... you've been doing it long enough to know what works, and my tendency is to go cheap then regret it later. I would greatly benefit from advice that would help me get it right the first time. Now that I'm retired I don't have money to buy twice. 5) My rack consists of ___a) Behringer VAMP, MIDI controllable and highly adaptable to many different sounds ___b) TC Helicon Voice works for adding harmonies etc. It also allows changing the sound of my voice to sound deeper or higher, which helps to sound more like specific singers. It also has built-in effects so the reverb or echo or other effects can be set in advance for each song. ___c) Presonus studio channel tube preamp, used to soften the processed vocals ___d) BBE sonic maximizer, which makes the whole mix of backing trax, played instrument and vocals sound better to my ear. ___e) a Radio Shack rack mounted mixer, for combining everything before it goes to the sonic maximizer, then out to the active speakers For different applications, I also have a fender blues deluxe tube amp for guitar, and a pedal rack consisting of all the usual stuff... plus a Roland GR-55 guitar synth/effects pedal Weak link is definitely the PA. (I'm Open to suggestions there. Active would be preferable since I don't have any more rack space for a PA amp... but I'll do whatever is necessary to have a functional system. )
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Pat, with the quantity of external gear you plan to use, the only thing I would definitely consider changing out of your current set up is the Radio Shack Mixer. Not because it is Radio Shack or the quality, etc. but because of the additional features you will find quickly to become indispensable and the additional in's and out's you will have from a full featured mixer. You will also likely see an immediate improvement in sound quality because you will have higher quality preamps and channel strip. Your monitor mix choices will be better and more varied, you can add a record mix to archive your performances if you wish plus you will have much greater ability to control feedback. Full featured units by Behringer, Yamaha, Mackie and Peavy are abundant on CraigsList and Ebay. I would suggest you will also prefer one of the newer models that have USB. The mixer is the hub for everything and is to me, the only actual 'weak link' in your PA system. As an aside, a better mixer/preamp and higher quality channel strip over the Radio Shack mixer may also eliminate the need for the Presonus channel strip.
BIAB 2025:RB 2025, Latest builds: Dell Optiplex 7040 Desktop; Windows-10-64 bit, Intel Core i7-6700 3.4GHz CPU and 16 GB Ram Memory.
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Three guys who play cover songs enthusiastically...
Three separate song lists...
What REALLY surprised me is the small number of duplicate songs on the lists! There's a core of maybe 30 songs we all do... but for the most part, our song choices seem to reflect the age and regional demographic we fit into. I'm starting to wonder if the songs from my Pennsylvania youth will play well in North Carolina. My list has almost no country at all, and that will probably have to change. But maybe not. I'll let that mutate naturally based on audience response.
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Pat, That's an impressive list. I was curious - what do you plan to use for PA? Mixer/amps/monitors/mics, etc. Inquiring minds want to know! Bob, I'm embarrassed to tell you. I know from watching your comments that you have good stuff, the best you can afford. As a person who has been a hobbyist, I've settled. That will probably change when I start depending on the quality of my gear to keep things rolling. Right now my setup is as follows: 1) light duty PA consists of 2 active speakers and 2 backups (not brand names) 2) laptop PC running RealBand in jukebox mode is my song delivery method. SEQ files contain MIDI gear control commands for adding vocal harmonies, raising guitar volume and gain for solos, changing patches for each song etc 3) Mics are Shure beta 58s 4) Not sure what to do for monitors yet. (suggestions?) I considered ear buds to minimize feedback potential of having speakers pointed at the mic. I'm just not that far yet. I'd appreciate any thoughts you might offer for ANY of this stuff... you've been doing it long enough to know what works, and my tendency is to go cheap then regret it later. I would greatly benefit from advice that would help me get it right the first time. Now that I'm retired I don't have money to buy twice. 5) My rack consists of ___a) Behringer VAMP, MIDI controllable and highly adaptable to many different sounds ___b) TC Helicon Voice works for adding harmonies etc. It also allows changing the sound of my voice to sound deeper or higher, which helps to sound more like specific singers. It also has built-in effects so the reverb or echo or other effects can be set in advance for each song. ___c) Presonus studio channel tube preamp, used to soften the processed vocals ___d) BBE sonic maximizer, which makes the whole mix of backing trax, played instrument and vocals sound better to my ear. ___e) a Radio Shack rack mounted mixer, for combining everything before it goes to the sonic maximizer, then out to the active speakers For different applications, I also have a fender blues deluxe tube amp for guitar, and a pedal rack consisting of all the usual stuff... plus a Roland GR-55 guitar synth/effects pedal Weak link is definitely the PA. (I'm Open to suggestions there. Active would be preferable since I don't have any more rack space for a PA amp... but I'll do whatever is necessary to have a functional system. ) I would just start out with what I had, and if it's inadequate, consider changes. If I had it to do all over again now, with the gear that's available now, I would go with a small footprint mixer and good powered mains. Chances are you might not even need a monitor, if you can position one of the mains properly. Smaller is better.
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Good points Charlie.
I'll keep looking at other options. My reason for that choice was mostly to get a rackable mixer so everything could stay connected. I'm the world's worst at getting stuff plugged back together wrong, then having to troubleshoot the problem while the owner and audience wait impatiently. I want to avoid that scenario at all costs.
Current setup errs on the side of being able to wheel in my rack, attach 2 powered speakers, plug in guitar and mic and everything works. Before buying the radio shack mixer, I looked for other rackable mixers and didn't find ANY!
Most mixers are the mixing board style, which would have to be completely torn down and set up every time, and I am REALLY bad at that. If I could find a good quality rack mountable mixer, I'd trash the radio shack mixer in a heart beat. I don't like it... but it solves the problem of quick and functional setups.
====
update:
I just looked for rackable mixers and found some that look promising! Will probably make this change ...
Last edited by Pat Marr; 12/30/14 07:14 AM. Reason: update
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Pat, There are dozens of rackmountable mixers. What kind of rack to you have? We've got a Road Ready mixer rack, and it fits my 7U Soundcraft mixer perfectly. http://store.roadreadycases.com/dyn_prod.php?p=RRM10U&k=154310
Last edited by 90 dB; 12/30/14 07:07 AM.
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clearly I need to spend more time looking at what's available! Thanks for the input!
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Pat,
Look into the Bose LII for a single or duo act, you will be happy at what you find.
Later,
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Danny,
I look at them all the time. Then I look at my bank account.
That pretty much explains why I don't have one. But I like what I read about them. For what I want to do and the very small venues I'll probably play, it would probably be perfect. I should have bought one before I retired, but now cash is limited.
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eddie1261
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I look at them all the time. Then I look at my bank account. Remember, you don't have to buy it all at once, either. As you start playing more, take half the gig money and bank it in a dedicated "music gear" savings account. It's not a race, right? Watch your local resale paper, Craigslist, eBay.... I do really well on Craigslist. When you catch musicians that need money for food and rent, you can almost steal their gear.  The white Strat was new in 1995 before Squires became all that cheap. $250 from a store in Garland Texas. The Telecaster was $300 at a little store at the end of my street. (Really great story goes with the Tele.) The red Ibanez was $79 used at a Guitar Center store. The Les Paul I paid full price for as a retirement present to myself. And in the middle is a Paul Reed Smith from Craigslist that I got for $350. I truly have the tonal spectrum covered. So yeah, you can find a lot of good deals used if you ferret them out. All my keyboards other than the Nord (the other retirement present to myself) were internet finds. It's out there!! Remember, you need the right tools for your new job. You'll get them over time, one piece at a time.
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You're preachin' to the choir, Eddie! I have Craig's list and Ebay set up as hot links on my favorites bar.
What I need to do is sell what I don't use... or better yet, start using what I already have
---------------
PS.. you have some nice stuff there!
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What I need to do is sell what I don't use... or better yet, start using what I already have.
Spoken to a guy with EIGHT keyboards who only needs maybe 4 of them.... And a set of drums he can not play. All with mics on them running to a mixer by the studio brain center. Bought the drums, then slowly got more cymbals, hardware to hold them.... a vocal mic, monitors.... all in a room that I rarely even open other than when I need to take a guitar out of the stand. It piles up quickly, doesn't it? And somehow goes OUT the door much slower than it comes in.
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I've got a room like yours Eddie - somehow, my love for music materializes in increasing my instrument collection much more quickly than my skill level. I always tell people "Sure, it's easy to buy the piano...but learning how to play it...that's what separates the men from the boys" lol
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Band-in-a-Box 2026 Video: The Newly Designed Piano Roll Window
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