Jiminuk

I've come back to Bandamp after some time doing my stuff on other social networking sites.  Don't get me wrong, it's not that I'm not still facebooking (or whatever) but this really is a great place to stick your songs out there and have some really useful tips and comments come back.  It's also great to have people say they like your (my) stuff, but if I only wanted that then I'd use myspace or similar (oh ok, I use that too, but only to push my songs and hopefully get gigs).

So why have I been pushing the boundaries?  Well, perhaps that's a little exaggeration as I've not really come across any boundaries, but I have been going out a lot more than expected, writing more than expected, playing more than expected, and working (at my real job... I don't get paid to be a musician you know!) more than expected.

Now almost everything (apart from work) has been because of music.  If you're kids are finally grown up (as much as kids do) and you've finally found that you can get back to doing what you want for you instead of them, and what you want to do is play music.... then you know what I mean!

From open mic to open mic; from open mic to gig; from gig to gig; and over the last 24 hours, from gig to gig to gig in 3 boroughs, all by invitation!  Now how did that happen?  But today also sees the first time this year that we (my acoustic duo "Chris and Jim") have not had a gig lined up.

Do we wait and see what gets offered, or do we get off our asses and go out there to get some work?  I'm still undecided - but I expect it will be the latter. Whatever it is, I'll let you know!

Well, once again the year has flown by.  Here we are 2011 and I've hardly been on bandamp at all during the past 12 months.  Why is that? Well work has got in the way to a degree, but so has music...
In Feb 2010 I started playing acoustic music, mostly rock covers, with a mate from work.  We approached it in such a way that it was only ever going to be for fun - with tours around the local open mic scene.  This sort of snowballed to the point where we were playing at least once a week, with people asking us to headline at different venues (for money, no less!).  And the music has changed from covers to 70% originals - and I'm pretty happy about that.
So, will I be here more often during 2011?  Who can say!  The idea this year is to record a CD, write more songs, perform more frequently, and generally have as much fun as possible in the pursuit of it all!
We'll see, we'll see

Work and play, work and play.
I'm sure I've got it around the wrong way!

Still loving this site

A song written a few weeks ago - and performed live a couple of times. This one's about the change in perception that comes with age.
One guitar, three vocals, recorded and mixed in a couple of hours using Cubase 5.  The mix can probably do with a bit of tweaking, but I'll wait for the expert ears on Bandamp to guide me!
Hope you enjoy

A slight departure (although still played on acoustic).
I added drums and bass to this one, which was recorded some time back but remastered today in Cubase 5
A song that was inspired by the passage of time and how your life changes accordingly.

Posted another version of this, but then had pointed out that the EQ was favouring the high-end a bit too much (thanks Max!)
Here's a reworked version of an old song of mine.  I've added a verse and a half, a changed the chorus too - all this so it can be played live acoustically.
Hope you like
Cheers

Another ditty in the pub-conversation saga... this one was born from a theory that a very attractive eastern European girl (with slightly sad eyes)looked out of place with the guy she was with (who I took a very quick dislike to!)

Acoustic folk... me n my geetar

A few weeks ago I bid for a vocal harmoniser on eBay. 
I didn't win it - but was fascinated by this little vocal fx pedal. 


So I checked out a few reviews and videos such as this one:


and this one:


In the end I decided that I had to at least try this thing... so I bought one!

Since then I've played live with it three or four times just performing solo with an acoustic.  The response from the audience has been fascinating, and really positive.  A few people have said that they MUST get one (but nobody else has so far).

Has anyone else got any experience of vocal harmonisers used live?

All I have to do next is find out how to set the thing up to record only the harmonies. 
I like a challenge!