Notes_Norton

Anytime. I have the most fun job in the world. I get on stage with my wife/best-friend who is a great singer and a good guitar and synth player. I play sax, wind synth, guitar, flute and sing to tracks that I make myself (I also play bass, drums and keys). Then we play popular music to the yacht club / country club / resort / and retirement development crowds. They dance, sing with us, play along with our corny running gags, come up and hug us, tell us about their lives, and send tons of love our way. Now I know I'm not playing "art music" but it's still a lot of fun. I look at the pop music I play as the 'junk food of music'. It may not be very nutritious but it sure is a lot of fun to play. It's like potato chips for the ears. I moved into this market from the singles bars as DJs took control of the youth market and bars started paring down their entertainment budgets. An older musician said to me that once I go into the adult market, you'll never turn back. He was right. Now I'm the older musician. Not that there isn't work involved. Every night is a one-nighter so there is a lot of gear schlepping. But people pay big money to go to the gym to lift heavy things. I have my own weights (PA speakers). We consistently have to learn new songs, but although it is time consuming and sometimes frustrating, especially since I make my own backing tracks, it's not really work. And when the track turns out well, it's a delight to play on top of it. The worst part of this job is being the "band salesman", but we've been a duo since 1985 and we have so many repeat customers, I haven't done a cold call in decades. I'm not a wage slave to some faceless corporation. I don't take orders from anyone. I live by my good decisions and hopefully learn by my bad ones. I wake up in the morning, go to bed at night, and in between do what I want to do. In other words, I'm free. I guess I'm livin' the dream. Insights and incites by Notes

We learned this song for a regular customer and it's a lot of fun to play: "Rock And Roll Hoochie Koo" - Johnny Winter

Last year, in Vienna we attended high mass (read: long mass) with pipe organ, full classical orchestra, and full choir. They played selections from Mozart, Randhartinger, and Bruckner. We got a tip on where the best seats for acoustics were, and it was fantastic. In Vienna we also went to a symphony and an opera. None of it was in English, but that doesn't matter to me. I'm just there for the music. When we toured England, Scotland and Wales we went to churches for Evensong. Not ever being exposed to the Anglican faith, I had never heard of this. I read about it, went to the first one. I think it was about 5:00 PM, we sat in these Gothic carved chairs, the choir was a couple of dozen adolescent girls accompanied by pipe organ. If angels could be heard, I'm sure this is what they would sound like. We try to catch music wherever we go. In Scotland we heard some fine jazz and some music I don't know what to call in a road house - so I'll call it Scottish Folk for lack of a better term. In Canada I've heard out-of-tune but delightful folk in Nova Scotia, Symphonies in Quebec, Rock in Ontario, and in New Brunswick a few people with flat top guitars in a motel room next to ours invited us over and we had a great time. They were very polite. First they asked us if we were bothering them with the music. I of course said "No problem" and then they invited us to join them. So don't go bullying those Canadians. They're nice people. Eh? Notes

"Night Train" - Jimmy Forrest One of the 3 most requested songs for a sax player during my lifetime.

Bad Reputation - Joan Jett

Re: The Oh Sees - I don't remember the last time I saw a Burns guitar. BTW, the energy produced is infectious. What am I watching now, a white screen while I am typing. I have typos built into my fingers (standard equipment) so i have to watch what I'm doing. Even then way too many typos get by me. I'm in a blues mood this morning - thankfully this was recorded before auto-tune because the intentional, tastefully inserted, slightly flat notes add to the painful expression. "Ive Been Loving You Too Long" - Otis Redding

Depends on the piece they are singing. A lot of the Christian Church music was written in Italian, German, French, and other European languages. I would think they stay true to that. I would also assume that they would choose French if the piece is more contemporary. But I don't care as I don't listen to the words at first anyway. It's the melody, harmony, counter melody, comp parts, bass lines, etc., and how they are all meshing together to make the whole. When we went to Notre Dame, the organ started, the choir sang two chords and Leilani and I both turned around to the back of the church where the choir was. It was absolutely divine. If they had this in my city, I think I'd go to church every week, no matter what religion was being offered. Anything this beautiful can't be bad. Notes

I certainly don't. I make music for a living. My wife will approve any guitar I want to buy, so I don't have that safety net - In other words, I have to control myself. That's the bummer, I have no one else to blame for not getting that beautiful axe ;) The Lester Honey Pie in your link looks beautiful. Too pricey for me though. I hope you get it and it exceeds your expectations. I got my USA made Parker DFs for a little more than $1K US each. I'll probably keep them for as long as they last, and they should last longer than me. One for the gig, and one spare. The only other guitar I have is an acoustic electric. Same for saxes, one gigging sax and one spare. And I buy at my point of diminishing returns. After a while throwing more money doesn't give that much work related value. So I skip the fancy laminates on guitars or engravings on saxes and I go for a good, solid, pro instrument without the extras. But then I have to feed more than one instrument, sax, guitar, flute, wind synthesizer, bass, drums, keyboard synth and a PA system. Although I do OK, it looks like I'll never get rich playing music for a living. But I enjoy my life and if I had to do it over again, I'd choose the same career. Notes

We played "Wooly Bully" last night and nobody fell. However an extremely drunk man fell during "Honky Tonk Women" but we aren't going to stop playing that one ;) They picked him up, set him in a chair, and about 2 beers later he was back on his feet. They paid us to play an extra half hour, so all is well that ends well. Bob

Quit using your air conditioner - 45% of the power generated in the USA is for AC units --plus the AC units emit a lot of heat into the atmosphere Drive the most fuel efficient vehicle that fits your needs (not your wants) and drive it until it becomes a service problem (manufacture and transportation of new vehicles is very pollution intensive) Drive that vehicle with almost painfully slow, gradual acceleration, and when it's time to stop or slow down ahead, take your foot off the gas and slow by coasting - try to use the brakes as little as possible because it turns fuel you burned into heat. I get 100 extra miles per tankful this way plus everything about my car lasts longer. Plant trees and xeriscape landscaping, preferably with native species for your area. Mowers contribute to 10% of the CO2 emissions in the USA and with native plants you don't need to waste water and use methane producing artificial fertilzers Hang your laundry out on a line instead of the dryer except for things that can't go outdoors Wash dishes by hand instead of the dishwasher using a minimum amount of water and no electricity Use hand tools or at least non-rechargeable ones for small jobs. Why keep a drill plugged in all year if you drill a dozen holes per year (and so on) Unplug or switch off always on appliances like your TV set when not in use Paint your roof white. A couple of different university studies determined that if everybody painted their roofs white, it would buy us 100 years by reflecting heat out of the atmosphere the way the ice caps used to Don't vote for anyone who is a climate crisis denier or who has taken campaign funds (tacit bribes) from the fossil fuel industry Consume less. Don't buy the latest fashions if your clothes aren't worn out. Don't buy blue jeans with holes in them already, it's a trick to shorten the life span of a durable fabric. Evaluate what you buy and decided whether it is want or need. Choose what you do buy wisely to include both locally sourced, and fewer disposable and/or plastic packaging Eat only 100% grass-fed beef. I know they tell you eating meat is a disaster, but that's a lie. Growing corn for the beef is the problem. Cows graze on pastureland that would take mega-amounts of water, fertilizer, pesticides, and herbicides to farm, yet the cows can grow there with nothing but what mother nature provides. Besides for that Cornell University and the Environmental Defense fund did a study and decided that making artificial fertilizer emits 100 times more methane than all the cow farts and burps combined I know this is supposed to be all music - all love. If we don't love the planet, our children and grandchildren won't be here to play any music or survival will be so difficult that music will be an unaffordable luxury. I live in Florida, 32' above sea level (which is rare around here). Most of my gig customers live less than 5' above sea level. My own livelihood is also at stake. Do what you can. If we all do a little, the end can mean a lot. We may have gone too far already, the warming might be impossible to reverse. If that's the case, at least we can stall it off so our children won't have to go through extremely trying days. Bob

I'm on the Lamb, But I Ain't No Sheep - Blue Oyster Cult

I do hope the people of Montreal realize what a great choir they have. It's truly world class. Notes

My wife also plays guitar. That's bad because if I'm looking at a new guitar, she says, "You really need a new guitar." The problem with that is that with the amount of money I earn, I have to curtail myself. ;) Notes

"Nica's Dream" - Horace Silver

Cuban Fire - Stan Kenton Orchestra IMO one of Kenton's best albums - Latin Jazz Heaven

On The Road Again - Canned Heat

We play Wooly Bully. It's not a great song but it has two things going for it (1) our audience loves it (2) our arrangement has an extended sax solo (I'm a solo hog). About 10 years ago when we learned it, we played it at a gig, an elderly female dancer fell down and broke her leg (Wooly Bully abuse?). 3 gigs out of the next 5 had another female fall (no more broken bones though). We almost got to the point where we wanted to hire an exorcist for that song, but fortunately it quit after 3 falls. Now I just abuse it by playing wild and crazy sax solos. Notes

To each their own. I like the becan fatty and fried crisp.

I like Cakewalk too, but my familiarity with MTPro keeps me going back there. I get work done with more time on my musical instruments and less time with my hands on the computer. Since my musical ideas come much faster than I can type, I tend to go to the familiar. I had Cakewalk 8 at one time and an early Cubase. I thought Cakwalk was OK but the Cubase interface needed a lot of work. I'm sure it's been improved because that was probably in Win 95. I was in a 5 piece band with the woman who is now my wife, and we had personnel problems, first a bass player quit then a drummer, and the new drummer didn't want to play in bars. Leilani and I decided to go out as a duo. At first I was recording the backing tracks on a Teac 4 track reel-to-reel, then a Yamaha Keyboard with a primitive sequencer, and then the Atari. It's been a long trip up to now, and I'm sure there are new discoveries further on up the road. Notes

The Delta Meets Detroit: Aretha's Blues Album - Aretha Franklin Leilani (my wife) found this CD and bought it for me. It's high on my current play-list. Let it play after the first cut to hear the entire album.

Suckling pig?

I liked British breakfasts when I was vacationing there, and their becan was good, but I like USA becan even better. Same for the Canadian becan. Both UK and Canada becan resemble ham a lot, and that's not a bad thing, it's just not the same thing. (my favorite even though they don't spell becan right).

Interesting, but how did the cheerleaders stay so motionless with all that music happening? Up and Down the Boulevard - Journey

OK a note of seriousness here in the middle of all this delightful seriousness. If you ever get to Montreal on a Sunday, do go to mass at the Notre Dame Cathedral whether you are Catholic or not. And go for the mass that features the organ and full choir. I'm not really religious and I seek out music in churches all over the world, no matter what the faith is, and the choir at Notre Dame is probably the finest I've ever heard. In second place was a choir in Vienna. Also McGill University has a great student symphony orchestra. It has always been my opinion that for some pieces, a youthful orchestra is better than a seasoned professional one because some symphonies require the youthful passion and energy, and the McGill students have that plus great technique. Now you may return to this forum's trademark silliness. Notes

I started my MIDI adventure on the Atari. I asked a friend who recommended it. He had one and loved it. It was easier than DOS and not as expensive as a Mac. I got the first release of Master Tracks Pro and went for it. I still use MTPro/Windows when I want to do nothing but MIDI because without audio functions, the menu system is efficient (everything one click, no sub-menus and sub-sub-menus to get to the proper dialog box). I've used MTPro to make backing tracks for my duo http://www.s-cats.com since the late 1980s. I took music theory and arranging in school, plus I play drums, bass, sax, flute, guitar, keys, and wind synthesizer so it was a way to try things out without hiring a band. I also wrote my first Band-in-a-Box user styles on Atari. After giving them to some friends who told me they liked them better than the styles that came with BiaB, so I put an ad in Electronics Musician Magazine. In a few months I was selling. Then Peter Gannon (of PG Music/Band-in-a-Box creator) called them and offered to convert them to IBM format (what we called Windows back then). I eventually but a PC (DOS-5/Win3.1), a Mac (classic II) and I'm still writing styles for Band-in-a-Box today. The Atari was a nice computer in it's day. I wanted an Amiga but at the time I had too much on my plate. In retrospect it's a good thing I didn't buy one as the soon became as obsolete as the Atari. Notes