Gear for gigging

In my very short history of performing, this is the gear I've come to rely on.
In no particular order,

1. The Snark Tuner

A wonderful name, no? Top it off with a fun design and color scheme. These tuners are serious. Very serious. They are extremely accurate and fast, and can detect the lowest of notes without any problem. Sure, it doesn't have the fancy "sweetened tuning" that the Peterson Stroboclip boasts about, but... it's only $9! That is a good deal. I really like this tuner and would definitely buy it again if it breaks. Actually, I've already done that... Not suggesting that it's flimsy or anything  -  it just doesn't take well to motorcycles. Yeah... that's a story for another time.

2. Extra strings and a winder

Planet Waves Pro Winder

You'd be insane not to bring extra packs of strings. Especially if you've got an aggressive technique or, as a friend calls it, years of repressed rage that you express through music. I always restring my guitar a few hours before the gig so that I can play on a fresh set, and the strings will have had time to stretch. Even so, stuff can happen. And when it happens, you want to be ready to slap on a new string as quickly as possible. Read: invest in a string winder. The one pictured above is quite nice, since it has a built in cutter as well. If you can help it, please don't leave your strings uncut or wrapped in those silly loops. It's really quite distracting. Oh, and tell a joke or something while restringing on stage. Otherwise it will be as boring as watching someone turn a knob in silence for a few minutes. Petteri's got it down!

3. Guitar Hands and a string wiping thing

These are up to you, really. I use them if I'm going into a long gig. The "Guitar Hands" lotion pretty much smooths and softens your calluses so that you can glide up and down the neck with reduced drag. And it works pretty well! My friend got me "The String Cleaner" as a joke, but it turns out that it actually does a decent job . If your strings feel kind of gunky, give it a quick swipe with this thing and they'll feel as fresh as a fish from a Japanese fish market. 

4. A Pickup

Sure, a mic works fine for gigging... if you're not playing in a noisy bar or have to move around while playing. Having a pickup has been so convenient for me. I currently use the Dazzo pickup:

It's a brilliant soundboard transducer made by Teddy Randazzo. It sounds really good! Thomas Leeb uses it as well. I have mine soldered to a Mi-Si Simple Jack, which is a preamp powered by a capacitor that you charge through a wall outlet. That's right, charge. And in only a minute! No more heavy batteries to replace. This is awesome. If you go to an open mic, the sound guy will hand you a cable and expect you to plug in and start playing as soon as possible. There's no time to set up a large, clunky preamp and fiddle around with EQ. 

Other pickups to check out: 

K&K Pure Western Mini 

LR Baggs Anthem

Seymour Duncan SA-6 Magmic

Fishman Rare Earth Blend

Sunrise (combine with a soundboard transducer or microphone)

Mi-Si Acoustic Duo (combine with a soundboard transducer or microphone)

I'm going to try sleeping again. I'll add more to this list if I think of anything. Let me know what you would recommend, too!

I accept your challenge

I tend to draw if I get bored while doing homework.  It seems that my math grader does so as well.

Wait, what?

You dare deny me the satisfaction of hammering a bad grade?

she drew a cow ._.

 Well, math grader. Bring it.

Quick post

I really enjoyed this music video

SO MUCH WORK 

Seriously, college. Yeesh.

Also, you guys send in the most random questions. I'll try to get them all in one go next time.

That's all for this post. Midterms again next week OTL

I took this today. It was quite a quirky squirrel. 

sunday song... and more rambling

Last night, I pulled my first college-all-nighter. Not for work, no. I wish it were for work. I don't want to think about it. Thinking about it makes me want to go out and destroy villains. In a bad way. Is that possible?

So, you're reading a post written by a semi-delirious and mentally scarred Jon yet again. 

I've been cooped up studying all weekend for my last two midterms. The 3.4 GPA minimum for the honors college is really worrying me. I didn't think maintaining a 3.4 would be that bad, but... gah I don't want to think about that either.

I am just not in a good mood after this weekend. Why am I blogging if I don't want to think about the things I wanted to blog about? What do I want to think about??

craneception?

This is a video of a crane lifting another crane. Then the crane fails, sending the other crane into a crane-sized crater. Now what? I guess they'd have to bring in another crane to lift the fallen crane and fix the other broken crane.

I'm going to kill you, dear little midterms. And again when you return in November. And again when you evolve into final exams in December. 

sunday song... and a nightmare

I'm losing my mind ._.
I've put in ~20 hours doing problem sets this weekend. I'm still not done. (edit 10:35 - NOW DONE!) And all of my exams are crammed into the next two weeks. Last night I went to a live jazz thing with some friends to try to unwind a bit. Got to sleep at 4:30am after people stopped screaming outside in drunken jubilation.
And then I had a nightmare.  By far the scariest one in a long time. So on my speaker, I had this guy:

He's been chilling on my speaker since my senior year in high school. I don't remember where I got it, but I think it's nearly as old as I am. It's mute now, but go back ten years and he would spit out grumpy boss quotes if you squeezed the center. It was all fine and dandy, and amused me whenever I saw it.

But last night it went completely bonkers. I dreamed that I woke up (which is odd in its own right) and the boss was staring at me from my desk. And then it said, "Ain't so mute now, am I?" and its teeth began whirring like the chubb chubbs (go youtube it). It started flying and wrecking everything and made huge gashes wherever it hit me. I somehow had a shotgun, but it was absolutely useless.

illustration by Kyle (www.youtube.com/w0h0e0e0)
Apparently I woke up at some point, asked my roommate if he was okay, and then fell back asleep.

It's now sealed in here by ancient Asian magic. 

that's Chinese for "WHAT NOW BIATCH"

Call me ridiculous, but it was that terrifying. I only took him out to take the picture.

This week needs to go by very quickly.

Sunday music - Madeon

Madeon! The amazing 17 year old French producer. He's got a hell of a future ahead of him

Alphabeat - DJ (Madeon Remix) by Madeon

Deadmau5 - Raise Your Weapon (Madeon Remix) @ Pete Tong 05.13.11 by Madeon



Hear more at www.soundcloud.com/madeon and www.youtube.com/itsmadeon

On performing

any tips on performing? i get really nervous and lock up every time...
Haha nice timing. I'm at home getting ready for a house concert on Saturday night, so it's a good time to put down some thoughts on performing. Good mental prep, you know?

The most important thing in performing is to be bulletproof in your playing.
I've been performing since I was 6 or something, on piano. So you could say that I have a lot of performance experience. Small audiences? Sure. Audience of 2000? No problem. But back then, I was just having fun. If you put me in front of a 2000-strong audience now,  you would see me trying to crawl off of the stage with a severe case of jelly legs. I didn't really know what was going on, even through middle school. Most of what I'm going to say is what I learned from my first "gig" earlier in July.

This time, I had a job. I had to keep diners entertained and happy while they munched on fancy food. It wasn't like the usual classical concert, where you'd go up and perform a piece that you practiced for months to a classical music loving crowd. It was a completely different game, but I learned so much from it (and the subsequent gigs that followed from it).

     The two weeks before the gig, I averaged around 7 hours of practice a day. I was that nervous, and wanted everything to be perfect. That's probably the worst mindset to have when you go into a performance. I was extremely nervous for the first few songs, and concentrated too much on analyzing my playing and technique. It was pretty soulless, and I berated myself for every tiny mistake I made. After my third song, Van Wagner (the awesome musician that I opened for, check him out at vanwagnermusic.com) waved for my attention and mouthed, "have fun."
     If you feel like you can't get into the zone, don't start worrying. That's the last thing you want to do! Analyze your playing offstage, not on the stage. You play music because you love it (I hope. Don't get me started on people who pick up guitar for other reasons). When performing, try to concentrate on that simple happiness you get when you play music, and everything will click. If you're having fun, the audience will have fun with you.
     In order for this to happen, though, you need to be "bulletproof." You have to be completely comfortable with the technique. The only way to get to that point is to practice. Repetition is the key. Practice over and over until your fingers are on autopilot. That way, you can free the rest of your brain to focus on adding expression to your playing, which is what really makes the music come alive.
     You'll get less nervous as you play more gigs, too. Or, you'll learn how to use the nerves positively. I still get super nervous when I perform, but now that helps me get in a performing mood. With each one, you'll focus less on yourself and more on making sure the audience has a good time. Give each gig your all, even if it's just a little house concert. Every person listening to you is important and deserves your best. And it could lead to another gig! Also, try to find someone that is better at doing what you're trying to do and do whatever they do. Seriously. I learned so much by watching Van handle an audience. It's also important to structure your playlist well. If you're playing at a new venue and no one knows of you, start big! Hit them with your flashiest playing to get a good impression right off the bat, and feed off of the crowd's energy from there.