A friend asked me for help on how I prepare music for musical theater so here’s a couple notes that may be obvious, or not. These notes are for community theater productions which in my experience usually have about three months of rehearsal time before opening.
Joe Cocker – Woodstock 1969 Lyrics
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4_MsrsKzMM
The real lyrics Joe Cocker sang at Woodstock in 1969 – “With a Little Help From My Friends” translation.
Ewi Midi Notes Stuck
Have an Akai 4000s Ewi midi electronic wind controller and sometimes low midi notes play on their own and stick – usually when turning the instrument off. Anyone encounter this or know a fix?
Answer: This is normal with most electronic instruments. The fix is when shutting down start with the amp first and go backwards in the audio chain. All midi devices from time to time produce stuck notes. Must midi patchbays have a “all notes off” buttom for this reason. Sometimes it just helps to switch the sound on the synth and the stuck note stops.
Stuck notes are usually caused by switching something while a note is playing. In the MIDI protocol synths communicate by sending and receiving “note on” and “note off” and sometimes the “note off” just gets lost.
Doyle Dykes Wabash Cannonball
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mwFA56dKP8
Doyle Dykes is an renowned acoustic guitar artist and Christian musician. I saw this Doyle Dykes video posted on one of my guitar discussion forums. It sure made me homesick! I used to work at a music store and Doyle Dykes did a guitar clinic for us. He’s a Taylor Guitar artist. He also performs often at one of my favorite churches in Southern California – Calvary Chapel High Desert.
When I listen to his rendition of Wabash Cannonball – I swear I can almost hear the lyrics being sung from the guitar. He’s absolutely amazing.
Email: Wife is Cheating On Me
Email received today:
I think my wife is cheating on me. I am a working musician and, as you would expect, travel a lot. I have been noticing strange things happening when I get home. Her mobile phone rings and she steps outside to answer it or she says, “I’ll call you back later”. When I ask her who called she gets evasive.
Best University for Music Production
Email question received:
I am trying to get into a good music school for music production, vocals and maybe even to have my own music label. I’ve been singing for 8yrs and my goal is to make my own music and sing for a living, I LOVE IT. It’s my passion. I was wondering if maybe you had a good choice of school for these specialties.??
Applause in Church
Received an email recently from someone who performed at a church concert where the audience was asked to not applaude between songs. They were a little upset about it and wanted to know what I thought about it.
I’ll start by saying I’ve played at a lot of churches that applaud, and a lot that don’t. I never tried to change the ways of each group, just went with the flow. I was usually a hired musician and didn’t feel it was my place to make calls like that. Each church has it’s own culture. I was raised in a Lutheran church that rarely clapped – so later in life I had to get used to hearing clapping in church.
Composer Intention vs FOH Mixing
When running a live show with audio tracks, who should have control of the initial mix: Front of House mixer or the original track software output. A great argument was put to me (which was compelling enough for me to whole heartedly agree with) that the initial output should reflect the composers intention. The FOH mixer can make adjustments from there.
Legend of 1900 – Playing Love
httpv://youtube.com/watch?v=lgXW6XDnhXA
From the movie Legend of 1900 – “Playing Love”. During a recording session a piano player gets distracted by a girl looking into a window – he starts daydreaming and plays his love for her on the piano.
Ennio Morricone – 1900 Novecento live in concert Munich
httpv://youtube.com/watch?v=y4smlQlWhHM
Ennio Morricone – 1900 Novecento live in concert Munich
Ennio Morricone presents “Novecento” in Munich 2005.
Ennio Morricone spielt “Die Legende vom Ozeanpianisten – 1900” in München, 2005