Wow, I'm getting completely addicted to Silent Alarm by Bloc Party. Heard of them last year when in Amsterdam with a bunch of miscreants I knew at Uni. Great week (orange day at the weekend, stupendous fun, I'd recommend it to anyone, the whole centre of the city becomes like one big festival site).
MTV was on most days and nights, and Bloc party's "Banquet" seemed to be on all the time, it hooked me immediately, all spiky and catchy.
Now I can't stop listening to Helicopter!
The Band
Things are getting even more interesting. Jake seems to have red bull for blood, he's on the scent of something big, I reckon. Dan tells me he and Jake have been sorting loads of stuff, and we've got our residency gig sorted, it seems: starting on the 25th, I gig each week, a greater gig frequency than I've ever had before.
This will be where hard work actually starts!
Also, I hear stuff from the guys that the gig on the 25th will be pretty special, with lots of "interesting people" coming along... I'm trying to concentrate on my part to play in all this, rather than getting carried away.
Still, it's great to have something which has some speed building up behind it, rather than the years since I left uni, which have been filled with small short-term alliances (although the ones in london were fun, I can say I've gigged in london - and the wedding reformation of Citrus Waltz was top fun)...
I'm a little scared. Bear with me. This is actually a good thing, maybe this'll push my technique to new places. I've always wanted to be as fluid as Zender... maybe this'll do it.
Currently I'm listening to Belle and Sebastian... odd stuff.
Friday, May 06, 2005
Thursday, May 05, 2005
Clouds and sunshine...
Hmmm, a bit of a hackneyed title, but I'm no lyrics man.
Stuff has happened. Not all good stuff, but life is supposed to challenge you a bit and I've spent too much of mine so far trying not to get into situations where I have to make decisions: I'm pretty sure at some level I'm always petrified of making the wrong one.
El Stacko
Well, I got some speakon cables last saturday (ta maplin) - pity they didn't have any 2.5mm diameter conductor ones so I'll have to see how these 1.5mm ones work out in the short term - they're all I could get. I also took the time to buy some "proper" XLR to XLR balanced mic cables.
I spent a portion of the weekend meeting up with some old friends down on the Reading meadows, where they were chasing around after coloured plastic discs which sail when thrown. I thought only retrievers did that, but there you go, there is a game called frisbee.
On arriving home, yours truly eagerly hooked up all items, and turned on the amp (mute on, of course, although I'm sure the amp has speaker protection). Preamp lights are on, we're go across the board. Plug in the 6 string (no pod yet), hit the mute to turn it off and....
Hummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmbzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzhummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Bollocks.
I fiddled with cables (checking their polarity and wiring against the helpfully located labels on the amp and cabs) for about half an hour, but nothing could elicit any noises from the stack. The poweramp section is buggered. Arse.
So, I rang the bass centre in london (or now, the "house of guitars" as they are known) and yes, they are open on sundays, but the amp guy doesn't get in until tuesday (bank holiday monday y'see) so I could drop it off.
Wanting to get things moving as quickly as possible, I got up early on sunday, and tried to get into london (ealing broadway by car, then overland to paddington and circle to liverpool st, then a shortish walk to their place). Took me 3 bloody hours, lugging 26 kilos of busted amp. Thankfully the luggage shop ("left luggage") in Paddington has baggage trolleys which will take 30 kilos, so after I hit paddington things became a tad more comfortable.
So far all I know is the amp guy is looking at it. Grr. I'll ring him in a minute and see what I can find out...
The Band
Things seem to be moving apace: our residency at Bridge in oxford looks to be in the bag - 25th of May is our first gig. Last night, however, we played something of a mini-showcase style gig for some assembled contacts of Jake's. It's gone awfully well... but I can't reveal any more than that right now. We really did play blindingly well though, Dan's drumming is becoming something of a revelation!
Phew! Enough for now.
Stuff has happened. Not all good stuff, but life is supposed to challenge you a bit and I've spent too much of mine so far trying not to get into situations where I have to make decisions: I'm pretty sure at some level I'm always petrified of making the wrong one.
El Stacko
Well, I got some speakon cables last saturday (ta maplin) - pity they didn't have any 2.5mm diameter conductor ones so I'll have to see how these 1.5mm ones work out in the short term - they're all I could get. I also took the time to buy some "proper" XLR to XLR balanced mic cables.
I spent a portion of the weekend meeting up with some old friends down on the Reading meadows, where they were chasing around after coloured plastic discs which sail when thrown. I thought only retrievers did that, but there you go, there is a game called frisbee.
On arriving home, yours truly eagerly hooked up all items, and turned on the amp (mute on, of course, although I'm sure the amp has speaker protection). Preamp lights are on, we're go across the board. Plug in the 6 string (no pod yet), hit the mute to turn it off and....
Hummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmbzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzhummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Bollocks.
I fiddled with cables (checking their polarity and wiring against the helpfully located labels on the amp and cabs) for about half an hour, but nothing could elicit any noises from the stack. The poweramp section is buggered. Arse.
So, I rang the bass centre in london (or now, the "house of guitars" as they are known) and yes, they are open on sundays, but the amp guy doesn't get in until tuesday (bank holiday monday y'see) so I could drop it off.
Wanting to get things moving as quickly as possible, I got up early on sunday, and tried to get into london (ealing broadway by car, then overland to paddington and circle to liverpool st, then a shortish walk to their place). Took me 3 bloody hours, lugging 26 kilos of busted amp. Thankfully the luggage shop ("left luggage") in Paddington has baggage trolleys which will take 30 kilos, so after I hit paddington things became a tad more comfortable.
So far all I know is the amp guy is looking at it. Grr. I'll ring him in a minute and see what I can find out...
The Band
Things seem to be moving apace: our residency at Bridge in oxford looks to be in the bag - 25th of May is our first gig. Last night, however, we played something of a mini-showcase style gig for some assembled contacts of Jake's. It's gone awfully well... but I can't reveal any more than that right now. We really did play blindingly well though, Dan's drumming is becoming something of a revelation!
Phew! Enough for now.
Friday, April 29, 2005
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
More Musical Matters.
OK, now I need to fill in the important stuff.
Wrist recovery
This is continuing to go really well. My slap came back much quicker than I'd hoped: it seems to be pretty much back up to scratch apart from the fastest of the triplet stuff, which is fair enough considering that I still can't use my right hand to lift really heavy stuff at the moment. Fingerstyle is going just fine. The only thing I need to do is make sure my nail beds don't get quite so hammered with my slap style: I fear I need to work on that or I'll end up peeling them back horribly. My index finger is showing the strain today, and I've got another rehearsal tonight!
Recording session!
Had another session with Joost for his college project, doing Stevie Wonder's "MasterBlaster". Good fun, but I really wish I'd had more time to work on it (I squeezed it into a couple of evenings work, which meant I got the feel, and the couple of unison riff areas in the tune down OK). First take! And I was sat in the control room playing along with a MIDI interpretation of the tune Joost did as a placemarker to record against. Totally hysterical vocal lines, and this massive lo-fi choir patch in the second chorus which meant I lost my place in the run-through before the recording!
Still not sure if I got the second unison bit right, though. Oops, just checked. Joost's MIDI was right, I forgot the high section! Blast. Wonder if he wants to re-record it? Thing is, with moving and the oxford funky pop act, I really don't have time to do much of anything at the moment, including "proper" practise. The rehearsals are pretty much all I'm doing at the moment (which is very very bad of me).
Audiences at rehearsals!
I mentioned this in passing before. Jake does seem to know a lot of guys who can do the sorts of things we need to be able to do. His previous agent (he was based in london a while ago from what I gather) used to scout for EMI, and he's going to pay us a visit during rehearsals. The audience we've been getting recently are involved in the club "Bridge" in oxford where Jake is trying to get a residency for the band. I think our guitar players didn't realise how good we'd get after a few rehearsals. The original material is sounding really great, the interpretations the whole band are making of the recorded versions (from Jake's studio) are original and fresh. Sounds like our erstwhile 6 stringers have a fairly successful paying rock act which gets a fair few gigs: I've told Jake I don't have any other acts and I'm concentrating on making this a goer. It's cool, he's actually demanding a level of loyalty which I'm starting to enjoy.
New Gear - the Stack from Hell
Well, I don't have the cabs yet, but at least I've paid for them :) Didn't hear anything from Mad Monks for a couple of days so I rang them - turned out they'd emailed me at home (my ebay account is registered to a home email account) rather than the email address here at Pana where I wanted them to mail me. After treating me like a lost friend, they quickly ironed out payment, and I managed to get 60 quids worth of polycarbonate 4U rack mount (Stagg, I think it is) for the Warwick Pro-Tube IX head to sit in. Which means even my feeble wrist will be able to lift it easily (and comfortably).
Bit of advice: if you buy an amp head which says it's rack-mountable, but it has rubber feet on, don't skimp and leave a rack out of the order: get one to fit, the amp head will be incredibly awkward to lift and carry!
Now all I need are a couple of speakon cables to hook the whole shebang up. And some floor reinforcement. :)
Must stop buying things!
Wrist recovery
This is continuing to go really well. My slap came back much quicker than I'd hoped: it seems to be pretty much back up to scratch apart from the fastest of the triplet stuff, which is fair enough considering that I still can't use my right hand to lift really heavy stuff at the moment. Fingerstyle is going just fine. The only thing I need to do is make sure my nail beds don't get quite so hammered with my slap style: I fear I need to work on that or I'll end up peeling them back horribly. My index finger is showing the strain today, and I've got another rehearsal tonight!
Recording session!
Had another session with Joost for his college project, doing Stevie Wonder's "MasterBlaster". Good fun, but I really wish I'd had more time to work on it (I squeezed it into a couple of evenings work, which meant I got the feel, and the couple of unison riff areas in the tune down OK). First take! And I was sat in the control room playing along with a MIDI interpretation of the tune Joost did as a placemarker to record against. Totally hysterical vocal lines, and this massive lo-fi choir patch in the second chorus which meant I lost my place in the run-through before the recording!
Still not sure if I got the second unison bit right, though. Oops, just checked. Joost's MIDI was right, I forgot the high section! Blast. Wonder if he wants to re-record it? Thing is, with moving and the oxford funky pop act, I really don't have time to do much of anything at the moment, including "proper" practise. The rehearsals are pretty much all I'm doing at the moment (which is very very bad of me).
Audiences at rehearsals!
I mentioned this in passing before. Jake does seem to know a lot of guys who can do the sorts of things we need to be able to do. His previous agent (he was based in london a while ago from what I gather) used to scout for EMI, and he's going to pay us a visit during rehearsals. The audience we've been getting recently are involved in the club "Bridge" in oxford where Jake is trying to get a residency for the band. I think our guitar players didn't realise how good we'd get after a few rehearsals. The original material is sounding really great, the interpretations the whole band are making of the recorded versions (from Jake's studio) are original and fresh. Sounds like our erstwhile 6 stringers have a fairly successful paying rock act which gets a fair few gigs: I've told Jake I don't have any other acts and I'm concentrating on making this a goer. It's cool, he's actually demanding a level of loyalty which I'm starting to enjoy.
New Gear - the Stack from Hell
Well, I don't have the cabs yet, but at least I've paid for them :) Didn't hear anything from Mad Monks for a couple of days so I rang them - turned out they'd emailed me at home (my ebay account is registered to a home email account) rather than the email address here at Pana where I wanted them to mail me. After treating me like a lost friend, they quickly ironed out payment, and I managed to get 60 quids worth of polycarbonate 4U rack mount (Stagg, I think it is) for the Warwick Pro-Tube IX head to sit in. Which means even my feeble wrist will be able to lift it easily (and comfortably).
Bit of advice: if you buy an amp head which says it's rack-mountable, but it has rubber feet on, don't skimp and leave a rack out of the order: get one to fit, the amp head will be incredibly awkward to lift and carry!
Now all I need are a couple of speakon cables to hook the whole shebang up. And some floor reinforcement. :)
Must stop buying things!
Location, location, location...
Lots more rehearsals later, we're getting the occasional audience out at jake's place. I thought I'd post some interesting details, and some not so interesting ones, in the spirit of keeping things up to date :)
Movin' movin' movin'
It's going to get more interesting in the very near future, Nic and I are moving house: out from under Newbury, and up the M4 to just north of windsor to Dorney (Multimap), a tiny village just over a hill from the M4 (feels really rural for its' location).
With the rehearsals being in the studio in Crawley near oxford (Multimap) this is going to make life a little tough - I suspect the M40 is going to get used in preference - but if I continue working at Panasonic for a while (Multimap) trying to stop myself from going insane, then the drive up there of an evening ain't so bad.
The house is so worth it though. Check this baby out!
A stunning house. It even has a grapevine and a sky dish!
Movin' movin' movin'
It's going to get more interesting in the very near future, Nic and I are moving house: out from under Newbury, and up the M4 to just north of windsor to Dorney (Multimap), a tiny village just over a hill from the M4 (feels really rural for its' location).
With the rehearsals being in the studio in Crawley near oxford (Multimap) this is going to make life a little tough - I suspect the M40 is going to get used in preference - but if I continue working at Panasonic for a while (Multimap) trying to stop myself from going insane, then the drive up there of an evening ain't so bad.
The house is so worth it though. Check this baby out!
A stunning house. It even has a grapevine and a sky dish!
Thursday, April 14, 2005
the cast is off!
Woohoo! I'm free! So now i just need to work on getting my slap technique back up to scratch. I've been playing bass the whole time, which might have helped my speedy recovery. 5 weeks, not the usual 6! I'm dead pleased, as you can tell. The wrist support is my own, the one i was using previously for snowboarding before the gloves which did such a great job of protecting my wrist from more harm. The nhs did supply one, bless them, but it isn't as good as this one. My typing has gone through the roof!
Great rehearsals at crawley with jake and the band. Last night's was a blinder, lots of fast tracks. Hopefully now i can play faster for longer. The cast got in the way a lot, had to play at very odd angles.
Monday, April 11, 2005
Friday, April 08, 2005
rehearsals...
I'm still managing to play fairly well with the cast on. I thought i'd drop off a pic or two from wednesday's rehearsal, which went really well. The writing vibe is developing nicely, we can take something really edgy which jake has polished in the studio and interpret it a little to give it a funky feel which works well live. Not bad!
Tuesday, April 05, 2005
Another era of amplification...
Well, sort of! I've been through a few amps while I've been playing. Might be good for posterity to record them here (albeit in my rather crappy typing with this bloody cast!), so here's what I remember...
- = = 1st amp! = = -
A 15W guitar practise amp, plus a hifi speaker which I put in the corner of my room, speaker facing into the corner, and believe me that creates a great low-end port. I got a good sound out of that with my first bass, a spangly white hohner arbor bought in Sound Control Dundee. Top shop.
- = = Then... = = -
My first real amp, a carlsbro cobra 90 combo. Not the loudest amp in the world, but I got great mileage out of it. I even made up a parallel speaker cable at one stage when I was with a prog rock act called "Indecision" in St Andrews so I could run two speaker cabs off it and still keep the impedance at 8 ohms. I didn't blow it :) I did put castors on it though, rescued off a sofa :) they did a good job - the thing had a traditional single handle on the top, bloody awkward!
- = = And then... = = -
I bought a 120 watt valve amp (off the back of a magazine article), a "sound city", but couldn't afford cabinets (weeps) - the thing was a monster, I got it down leith walk in Edinburgh. Some good secondhand music gear shops down there then, not sure about now...
- = = And then... = = -
Back to Sound Control Dundee! I traded in the Carlsbro and the Sound City for a Peavey TNT 150 plus a 2x8" 20W powered bright box. The TNT saw me through the rest of my university life and on until I was living in reading! The bright box I still have - it's incredibly useful, and the fretless sounds great through it. At one stage I used it for vocals in a gig in the beer bar in St Andrews with Citrus Waltz!
- = = And then... = = -
I sold the TNT to a contractor at work, and I bought the Warwick CCL I use at the moment. 1x15 and 250 watts solid state. The thing has side handles (finally!) and a built-in trolley (which is bloody useful). I bought an 8 ohm Trace Elliot 2x10 cab from the Bass Centre (when it was still in wapping, and got it back to Ealing Broadway on my own on the tube!), and as a system it sound great. But... I need more power for big gigs. So...
- = = The announcement = = -
I just bought the Bass Centre's LAST special half-price offer Warwick Pro Tube IX 900 watt stereo tube/solid state head. Turns out the line is being discontinued, so BC got a good deal on clearing the stock, and I get the benefits. Sweet! Keep an eye on ebay shops, that's what I say! Next, I'll get the classic arrangement of 1x15 and 4x10 cabs, both warwick, and for the first time in my playing life I'll have that pro looking stack, with the power to match. The head gets great reviews, with versatile routing capabilities. Nice!
Otherwise, it's still rehearsals as usual in Cowley: I've been using a Trace V4 combo, which sounds incredible. Hope the twin pre-and power amp tubes in the IX give that kind of growl!
Life is good. Now if I can just get this damn cast off I can practise properly!
- = = 1st amp! = = -
A 15W guitar practise amp, plus a hifi speaker which I put in the corner of my room, speaker facing into the corner, and believe me that creates a great low-end port. I got a good sound out of that with my first bass, a spangly white hohner arbor bought in Sound Control Dundee. Top shop.
- = = Then... = = -
My first real amp, a carlsbro cobra 90 combo. Not the loudest amp in the world, but I got great mileage out of it. I even made up a parallel speaker cable at one stage when I was with a prog rock act called "Indecision" in St Andrews so I could run two speaker cabs off it and still keep the impedance at 8 ohms. I didn't blow it :) I did put castors on it though, rescued off a sofa :) they did a good job - the thing had a traditional single handle on the top, bloody awkward!
- = = And then... = = -
I bought a 120 watt valve amp (off the back of a magazine article), a "sound city", but couldn't afford cabinets (weeps) - the thing was a monster, I got it down leith walk in Edinburgh. Some good secondhand music gear shops down there then, not sure about now...
- = = And then... = = -
Back to Sound Control Dundee! I traded in the Carlsbro and the Sound City for a Peavey TNT 150 plus a 2x8" 20W powered bright box. The TNT saw me through the rest of my university life and on until I was living in reading! The bright box I still have - it's incredibly useful, and the fretless sounds great through it. At one stage I used it for vocals in a gig in the beer bar in St Andrews with Citrus Waltz!
- = = And then... = = -
I sold the TNT to a contractor at work, and I bought the Warwick CCL I use at the moment. 1x15 and 250 watts solid state. The thing has side handles (finally!) and a built-in trolley (which is bloody useful). I bought an 8 ohm Trace Elliot 2x10 cab from the Bass Centre (when it was still in wapping, and got it back to Ealing Broadway on my own on the tube!), and as a system it sound great. But... I need more power for big gigs. So...
- = = The announcement = = -
I just bought the Bass Centre's LAST special half-price offer Warwick Pro Tube IX 900 watt stereo tube/solid state head. Turns out the line is being discontinued, so BC got a good deal on clearing the stock, and I get the benefits. Sweet! Keep an eye on ebay shops, that's what I say! Next, I'll get the classic arrangement of 1x15 and 4x10 cabs, both warwick, and for the first time in my playing life I'll have that pro looking stack, with the power to match. The head gets great reviews, with versatile routing capabilities. Nice!
Otherwise, it's still rehearsals as usual in Cowley: I've been using a Trace V4 combo, which sounds incredible. Hope the twin pre-and power amp tubes in the IX give that kind of growl!
Life is good. Now if I can just get this damn cast off I can practise properly!
Monday, March 28, 2005
Back to the Music... sort of!
well, if you've followed the other blog I was running at andy-boards-in-canada.blogspot.com you'll know typing is a royal pain in the arse with only my left hand :)
I've fractured my radius snowboarding!
Actually, it's not totally SNAFUd, thank god. The gloves I bought just before I left saved my wrist from needing any work done on it other than a cast. And the good news is I had a rehearsal with the JC Band in Oxford yesterday evening, and it went off OK. No slap, obviously, but my fingerstyle is still up to about 70% of what it should be, so I'm going to be able to keep my end up (so to speak) for the three weeks or so until my cast comes off, at which point I'll go ballistic getting my right hand limber.... as...
We've got a gig in a 700 capacity club in Oxford in about 6 weeks!
The rehearsals are going to ramp up to the full 2 a week ( for me ) with another one for the rest of the guys, and we are now up to an 8 piece, with keyboards and a second backing vox/tenor sax player!
Think I'll have to dig out my rusty sax writing skills from the days of the apostles of funk... hope I can remember what I did!
I'll keep you posted. I managed to play hard enough yesterday to get a fine blister on my right middle finger!
I've fractured my radius snowboarding!
Actually, it's not totally SNAFUd, thank god. The gloves I bought just before I left saved my wrist from needing any work done on it other than a cast. And the good news is I had a rehearsal with the JC Band in Oxford yesterday evening, and it went off OK. No slap, obviously, but my fingerstyle is still up to about 70% of what it should be, so I'm going to be able to keep my end up (so to speak) for the three weeks or so until my cast comes off, at which point I'll go ballistic getting my right hand limber.... as...
We've got a gig in a 700 capacity club in Oxford in about 6 weeks!
The rehearsals are going to ramp up to the full 2 a week ( for me ) with another one for the rest of the guys, and we are now up to an 8 piece, with keyboards and a second backing vox/tenor sax player!
Think I'll have to dig out my rusty sax writing skills from the days of the apostles of funk... hope I can remember what I did!
I'll keep you posted. I managed to play hard enough yesterday to get a fine blister on my right middle finger!
Thursday, March 03, 2005
The studio lurches into life!!!
Yay! I've finally completed arranging and plugging in the workstation. The PC is back up, but I haven't started truly hooking the desk up to it yet. I'll need some more cables to sync the clocks of the soundcard and the desk via digital connections. I have a feeling I might be able to get the groups coming through as well, but that remains to be seen...
also not tried the MMC Midi Machine Control stuff yet.
But, I did do a bit of work on Pete's vocal track from the Citrus Waltz sessions the four of us had a few months back: I think the mic must have been fading in and out (possibly thanks to my slightly cranky old spirit folio desk) so I had to run through pete's entire vocal performance boosting gain with a ramp in / ramp out filter to smooth in my work!
Probably took about 25 minutes of intense concentration for the 2:30 duration of the track, but well worth it. You can actually hear Pete all the way through now!
I even started trying to fatten out Smurf's guitar. Must install a load more VST effect plugins - in particular, I need an aural exciter from somewhere....
At least the studio is coming together. Unlike my MP3 portable HDD, which is about to die - panic offloading to the server in the house, etc - I've purchased a replacement which I'll be loading with the lot as soon as it's ready to go.
And in other news...
The Oxford Funk Carter Project now has a keyboard player!!! Jake says he's got the services of a good keyboard player from a local covers act, and knowing the guys Jake has picked out so far, he must be good. When I get back the whole thing's going to kick off, gigs and everything. I'm looking forward to it!
Current listening pleasure:
Would you believe I'm listening to Tay FM over the web? Talk about your blast from the past! I used to listen to them a lot driving to Perth Music College from St Andrews in the mornings... still got the best adverts I've heard, so much better than the terrible po-faced crap on 2-Ten FM here in Berkshire...
also not tried the MMC Midi Machine Control stuff yet.
But, I did do a bit of work on Pete's vocal track from the Citrus Waltz sessions the four of us had a few months back: I think the mic must have been fading in and out (possibly thanks to my slightly cranky old spirit folio desk) so I had to run through pete's entire vocal performance boosting gain with a ramp in / ramp out filter to smooth in my work!
Probably took about 25 minutes of intense concentration for the 2:30 duration of the track, but well worth it. You can actually hear Pete all the way through now!
I even started trying to fatten out Smurf's guitar. Must install a load more VST effect plugins - in particular, I need an aural exciter from somewhere....
At least the studio is coming together. Unlike my MP3 portable HDD, which is about to die - panic offloading to the server in the house, etc - I've purchased a replacement which I'll be loading with the lot as soon as it's ready to go.
And in other news...
The Oxford Funk Carter Project now has a keyboard player!!! Jake says he's got the services of a good keyboard player from a local covers act, and knowing the guys Jake has picked out so far, he must be good. When I get back the whole thing's going to kick off, gigs and everything. I'm looking forward to it!
Current listening pleasure:
Would you believe I'm listening to Tay FM over the web? Talk about your blast from the past! I used to listen to them a lot driving to Perth Music College from St Andrews in the mornings... still got the best adverts I've heard, so much better than the terrible po-faced crap on 2-Ten FM here in Berkshire...
Sunday, February 27, 2005
Nelly the Virago packed her trunk...
Well, she would if she had one.
Just testing a flickr photo-to-blog thing. Seems to work fine... so I've posted a pic of the virago all the time, trouble and cash is going to see me cruising along the congested berkshire highways on :)
Just testing a flickr photo-to-blog thing. Seems to work fine... so I've posted a pic of the virago all the time, trouble and cash is going to see me cruising along the congested berkshire highways on :)
Friday, February 18, 2005
My studio line...
That one'll be totally lost on anyone who never saw the adverts for the haircare product line :)
Life is full of ironies... I spend a small fortune on a centrepiece of top tech (the new mixing desk) and my time gets constrained so I can't actually plumb it in until a week later! The poor thing's been sat on the floor leant up against a variety of things while I dismantle the studio and try to work out how to rearrange things.
Jake's set up in Crawley is pretty good. I don't need a keyboard right in front of the desk though (the cheetah would no doubt go through any desk I put it on!).
I do like the idea of using some other piece of furniture to make the desk deeper, then I could place the monitors further back and perhaps raise them. This little escapade is starting to persuade me I do need two flat panel jobs, so I don't have half the problem I've got with space taken up by the old CRT monitor.
Decisions, decisions... hopefully I'll have something I can use by the end of sunday.
..:: The Crawley File ::..
Well, it's a break in rehearsal for a few weeks while various people (including me, off to canada) go on hols. The last rehearsal was stunning - like I said in previous posts, I was deeply embarassed when I heard myself playing from the previous sunday. So I backed off, adopted some kind of strategy for building a bassline towards the end of a song, didn't experiment wildly... and it felt really good. I'll be spending more time listening to the tape I made then and getting some solidity cast about the parts I play.
I've also been entertaining ideas of using all this nice new studio equipment to record other people... perhaps for cash?
Speaking of cash, my pile of ebay-ables continues to grow. I need to leverage the unbridled power of this 1.1GHz laptop to get the calibration and customisation of that pile of GD35s into some sellable state!
And my dad loves his birthday present!
Life is full of ironies... I spend a small fortune on a centrepiece of top tech (the new mixing desk) and my time gets constrained so I can't actually plumb it in until a week later! The poor thing's been sat on the floor leant up against a variety of things while I dismantle the studio and try to work out how to rearrange things.
Jake's set up in Crawley is pretty good. I don't need a keyboard right in front of the desk though (the cheetah would no doubt go through any desk I put it on!).
I do like the idea of using some other piece of furniture to make the desk deeper, then I could place the monitors further back and perhaps raise them. This little escapade is starting to persuade me I do need two flat panel jobs, so I don't have half the problem I've got with space taken up by the old CRT monitor.
Decisions, decisions... hopefully I'll have something I can use by the end of sunday.
..:: The Crawley File ::..
Well, it's a break in rehearsal for a few weeks while various people (including me, off to canada) go on hols. The last rehearsal was stunning - like I said in previous posts, I was deeply embarassed when I heard myself playing from the previous sunday. So I backed off, adopted some kind of strategy for building a bassline towards the end of a song, didn't experiment wildly... and it felt really good. I'll be spending more time listening to the tape I made then and getting some solidity cast about the parts I play.
I've also been entertaining ideas of using all this nice new studio equipment to record other people... perhaps for cash?
Speaking of cash, my pile of ebay-ables continues to grow. I need to leverage the unbridled power of this 1.1GHz laptop to get the calibration and customisation of that pile of GD35s into some sellable state!
And my dad loves his birthday present!
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
More rehearsals....! Oh, and -
I passed the motorcycle theory test OK.
More rehearsals? Well, there's something I haven't been able to write about in a long time :) It's going really well. On sunday, I even took the old 4 track with me, miked up the room and DId the bass in to the other side so I could have a reference to what I was playing.
I was not very impressed!
Ach, it's like hearing yourself talking on tape for the first time if you haven't done it for ages. I decided I need to pay more attention to song structure, tension, build and release, etc. Especially when the songs are played live. The recorded versions have build in them, but live it becomes a bit more organic.
What I heard on tape wasn't too bad in places, with some good ideas, but basically I heard someone going batshit after too much time practising at home. For shame, Andy! Far too busy, needs more consistency. I need more time to actually learn the song structures and think about what I want to play. At the moment I'm still doing a lot of improvisation, which isn't what I have in mind for this project.
So right now I've got the 4 tracks on the CD Jake gave me on rotation here while I type to help me get more perspective. In particular, I'm going to cut back on the "run before you walk" aspect of my slap playing :) Some of the tracks also need some small amount of melodic variation introduced via the bass, perhaps.
Another rehearsal tonight. Hope my poor exhaust doesn't drop off... actually, that's a good point. I'd better take a closer look at that later, it's the pipe into the back box that's got fumes blowing. I might have to implement that temporary repair sooner than I think...
And Joost is coming over tomorrow night for some funk as well! Things have suddenly exploded and no mistake. The good news is I must have been practising a decent amount before all this started because my hands are fine: the fingers of my right hand are getting so strong I can feel the muscles in them as I type :)
I started dismantling the studio yesterday evening, I need to rethink the arrangement of things in light of a new Mixing desk I've purchased. I wanted something to replace the old folio 12 channel stereo mixer I've had for years, and get some automation with Cubase going - some control surfaces rather than trying to use mice scroll wheels to mix with.
And Dolphin Music stepped in with an offer on the Soundcraft 328XD which couldn't be missed (well, once my traditional scottish reserve stepped in and I checked the deal for holes three times, also checking the online downloadable manuals for mentions of Cubase and the possibilities therein)... so I ordered it last thursday, and it arrived on friday. Impressive. The flightcase will take a couple of weeks though.
Great live desk, and I haven't even hooked it up to Cubase yet(!) - this is why I'm reorganising the studio.
In non-musical news, the car is costing a fortune at the moment. 320 quid of hydraulic servicing (regular stuff, spheres, filters, new LHM etc - just all at once), 200 quid on new Michelins, and now the exhaust needs replacing... and I've got a service coming up in 800 miles and want to get that poor bluetooth car kit fitted which has been kicking around the boot for about 12 months or something... argh! Oh, and we're running out of heating oil, but who wants to refill a tank at 500 quid when you're just about to move out? Not us.
Grr. Oh well, I'll just go mad in Canada and pay for it for the rest of the year :P
More rehearsals? Well, there's something I haven't been able to write about in a long time :) It's going really well. On sunday, I even took the old 4 track with me, miked up the room and DId the bass in to the other side so I could have a reference to what I was playing.
I was not very impressed!
Ach, it's like hearing yourself talking on tape for the first time if you haven't done it for ages. I decided I need to pay more attention to song structure, tension, build and release, etc. Especially when the songs are played live. The recorded versions have build in them, but live it becomes a bit more organic.
What I heard on tape wasn't too bad in places, with some good ideas, but basically I heard someone going batshit after too much time practising at home. For shame, Andy! Far too busy, needs more consistency. I need more time to actually learn the song structures and think about what I want to play. At the moment I'm still doing a lot of improvisation, which isn't what I have in mind for this project.
So right now I've got the 4 tracks on the CD Jake gave me on rotation here while I type to help me get more perspective. In particular, I'm going to cut back on the "run before you walk" aspect of my slap playing :) Some of the tracks also need some small amount of melodic variation introduced via the bass, perhaps.
Another rehearsal tonight. Hope my poor exhaust doesn't drop off... actually, that's a good point. I'd better take a closer look at that later, it's the pipe into the back box that's got fumes blowing. I might have to implement that temporary repair sooner than I think...
And Joost is coming over tomorrow night for some funk as well! Things have suddenly exploded and no mistake. The good news is I must have been practising a decent amount before all this started because my hands are fine: the fingers of my right hand are getting so strong I can feel the muscles in them as I type :)
I started dismantling the studio yesterday evening, I need to rethink the arrangement of things in light of a new Mixing desk I've purchased. I wanted something to replace the old folio 12 channel stereo mixer I've had for years, and get some automation with Cubase going - some control surfaces rather than trying to use mice scroll wheels to mix with.
And Dolphin Music stepped in with an offer on the Soundcraft 328XD which couldn't be missed (well, once my traditional scottish reserve stepped in and I checked the deal for holes three times, also checking the online downloadable manuals for mentions of Cubase and the possibilities therein)... so I ordered it last thursday, and it arrived on friday. Impressive. The flightcase will take a couple of weeks though.
Great live desk, and I haven't even hooked it up to Cubase yet(!) - this is why I'm reorganising the studio.
In non-musical news, the car is costing a fortune at the moment. 320 quid of hydraulic servicing (regular stuff, spheres, filters, new LHM etc - just all at once), 200 quid on new Michelins, and now the exhaust needs replacing... and I've got a service coming up in 800 miles and want to get that poor bluetooth car kit fitted which has been kicking around the boot for about 12 months or something... argh! Oh, and we're running out of heating oil, but who wants to refill a tank at 500 quid when you're just about to move out? Not us.
Grr. Oh well, I'll just go mad in Canada and pay for it for the rest of the year :P
Thursday, February 10, 2005
Of Bands and Bikes...
Well, wish me luck. In 5 minutes I pack up for the day and roar off in the Xantia to go do my Motocycle Theory Test (gulp).
I'm not overly worried, but it's only human to have some butterflies.
. . : : Music News : : . .
In other news... had the first "whole band" experience with Jake's troop up Crawley way. Fan-tastic! The sort of high-octane funkery I've been missing for years, with musicians who can lay a groove down (great feeling for a first get together, I can tell you) and a pretty talented writer in Jake, who MCs the band really well. The man's got stage presence up the wazoo.
And he likes the Q-Tron, which is also brilliant.
Seriously, I was exhausted by the time we finished at 9:30pm, I played some of the best funk I've played in ages, and I get the feeling if I stay with them I'll start making some huge leaps in ability and bassline writing, especially in slap terms. That sort of "laid back" slap approach that pop/funk often needs, without insane triplet action - I played some of that last night, it felt like grabbing a rope that was just in reach before swinging across a chasm, then losing it for a sec, then getting it again... I want to nail that sort of bass playing!
Drummer's great, really solid - but hi hat patterns for soul music seem to wear him out :) In his defence, it sounds like he's really busy, with showcases, etc.
The only thing they're worried about is if I can commit to the project (love that phrase!) - right now, I think I'm committed, but what about those pressures... the upcoming move house thing, trying to ensure Nic doesn't get muscled out as I continually play gigs and rehearse, the crappy day job (which I'm having enough trouble getting connected with at the moment as it is)... can I tell Jake I can guarantee my fidelity? Hmmmm. I should be straight with him, definitely.
Oh - and I've ordered an automated Soundmaster mixing desk to control Cubase at home. Dog's proverbials! More later - gotta go home and get the paper bit of my licence. Oops!
Andy the Happy
I'm not overly worried, but it's only human to have some butterflies.
. . : : Music News : : . .
In other news... had the first "whole band" experience with Jake's troop up Crawley way. Fan-tastic! The sort of high-octane funkery I've been missing for years, with musicians who can lay a groove down (great feeling for a first get together, I can tell you) and a pretty talented writer in Jake, who MCs the band really well. The man's got stage presence up the wazoo.
And he likes the Q-Tron, which is also brilliant.
Seriously, I was exhausted by the time we finished at 9:30pm, I played some of the best funk I've played in ages, and I get the feeling if I stay with them I'll start making some huge leaps in ability and bassline writing, especially in slap terms. That sort of "laid back" slap approach that pop/funk often needs, without insane triplet action - I played some of that last night, it felt like grabbing a rope that was just in reach before swinging across a chasm, then losing it for a sec, then getting it again... I want to nail that sort of bass playing!
Drummer's great, really solid - but hi hat patterns for soul music seem to wear him out :) In his defence, it sounds like he's really busy, with showcases, etc.
The only thing they're worried about is if I can commit to the project (love that phrase!) - right now, I think I'm committed, but what about those pressures... the upcoming move house thing, trying to ensure Nic doesn't get muscled out as I continually play gigs and rehearse, the crappy day job (which I'm having enough trouble getting connected with at the moment as it is)... can I tell Jake I can guarantee my fidelity? Hmmmm. I should be straight with him, definitely.
Oh - and I've ordered an automated Soundmaster mixing desk to control Cubase at home. Dog's proverbials! More later - gotta go home and get the paper bit of my licence. Oops!
Andy the Happy
Monday, February 07, 2005
Could it be...
Well, went to see Jake in his Crawley studio yesterday. Great guy, full of frenetic energy and very definitely keen on funk and getting people dancing. Crucial, that. Great studio, too. Protools on a Mac G4, automated desk, plenty of good outboard effects. Sounds great.
I got put on the spot when he rolled out a track he was working on (nice twisted beat) and attempted manfully to try to get busy over the top of it... cue sweat moment, that actually felt like the audition bit :)
Then Jake picked up a parker fly guitar and started reeling out some stone funk choppiness and the funk, it flowed into me in ways I haven't felt since I was with the Apostles back in St Andrews - real jamming, playing with the beat and the interplay was great: real chemistry.
I'm hoping this'll be the start of a great friendship, and the opening of a wonderful musical chapter - gigs, recording, and the redevelopment and sharpening of my funky bass identity. I'll keep trying to play Jazz for the chops, but I'm
focussing my energies on this project: I want to make a real go of it.
Jake's got so much material backed up and waiting to go - he's just trying to get the band together to play it.
Possibility of harmony vocals too: can't wait to really stretch myself.
I'll be pouring a lot more energy into things from now on, I hope...!
I got put on the spot when he rolled out a track he was working on (nice twisted beat) and attempted manfully to try to get busy over the top of it... cue sweat moment, that actually felt like the audition bit :)
Then Jake picked up a parker fly guitar and started reeling out some stone funk choppiness and the funk, it flowed into me in ways I haven't felt since I was with the Apostles back in St Andrews - real jamming, playing with the beat and the interplay was great: real chemistry.
I'm hoping this'll be the start of a great friendship, and the opening of a wonderful musical chapter - gigs, recording, and the redevelopment and sharpening of my funky bass identity. I'll keep trying to play Jazz for the chops, but I'm
focussing my energies on this project: I want to make a real go of it.
Jake's got so much material backed up and waiting to go - he's just trying to get the band together to play it.
Possibility of harmony vocals too: can't wait to really stretch myself.
I'll be pouring a lot more energy into things from now on, I hope...!
Thursday, February 03, 2005
At last! Likeminded Funk Folk!...
Well, it finally happened... I hope!
I got the call last night - all those websites I registered with, and it turned out to be ads in the local freeads paper which do the business. I had that one call from the south coast about ferry band slots, which sounded like fun - but perhaps not compatible with even my relatively easy going flexi-time at work - and now...
Jake.
I got called by a guy putting a funky act together in Oxford, which isn't too far to drive for the right style of music - and this is it. My influences seem to align with what they need, which is great (and certainly welcome! I'm not compromising again, I've spent time in bands I just didn't enjoy and it grates - it's actually detrimental to your playing, you wonder why you're doin' it at all...) - and I'm going up on sunday to try out, and show some chops.
Not sure what I'll be called upon to do yet - hopefully I can think on what to play on Saturday. Prob some Jamiroquai will fit the bill... wonder which one I should drag into the light :)
I'm rediscovering the Warwick again after an extended period of 6 string playing. I should really practise slap more often though, either that or work out how to wrap my index finger so the nail bed doesn't get completely knackered when I snap!
Now, to put a little more effort into the new practise regime... I need to print it so I damn well use it!
Snowboarding in a month... counting down... and my Motorcycle theory test is in a week. Time to settle down for some serious study there as well.
Oh well.
I got the call last night - all those websites I registered with, and it turned out to be ads in the local freeads paper which do the business. I had that one call from the south coast about ferry band slots, which sounded like fun - but perhaps not compatible with even my relatively easy going flexi-time at work - and now...
Jake.
I got called by a guy putting a funky act together in Oxford, which isn't too far to drive for the right style of music - and this is it. My influences seem to align with what they need, which is great (and certainly welcome! I'm not compromising again, I've spent time in bands I just didn't enjoy and it grates - it's actually detrimental to your playing, you wonder why you're doin' it at all...) - and I'm going up on sunday to try out, and show some chops.
Not sure what I'll be called upon to do yet - hopefully I can think on what to play on Saturday. Prob some Jamiroquai will fit the bill... wonder which one I should drag into the light :)
I'm rediscovering the Warwick again after an extended period of 6 string playing. I should really practise slap more often though, either that or work out how to wrap my index finger so the nail bed doesn't get completely knackered when I snap!
Now, to put a little more effort into the new practise regime... I need to print it so I damn well use it!
Snowboarding in a month... counting down... and my Motorcycle theory test is in a week
Oh well.
Thursday, January 20, 2005
Quiet day today. Non musical wise started the motocycle theory test book (sample tests, etc) as theory test is on 10th february. Got to put the hours in towards passing that, want to ride that bike out for the spring!
Musical wise been working on the biog for the site: wish I'd kept better notes or diaries when I was at uni(!) - I guess it's predictable that I didn't, I was, after all, having a rather good time.
It's proving quite cathartic actually: I suspect the history side will end up after a section detailing influences, style, techniques, experience etc so there's something quick for visitors to get their head around to see if I could match their musical needs. That's going to include both live, studio and orgnisational experience. I'll put my gear on there as well.
I've joined the newsgroup for the newbury jazz forum (see previous posting) so hopefully that'll help raise my profile. Although not as much as getting out there and playing! I might try to get to the hungerford jazz night this month which is a week on friday (i.e. 29th Jan), but I'd dearly love to have a piece I could play, preferably solo with a backing as Joost is dead busy at the moment - in fact, as I type he's probably in the end stages of auditioning for Leeds musical college. Pity to "lose" the only drummer I know hereabouts who would want to play the stuff I'm into (like jamiroquai or james taylor quartet) - but I'm totally stoked for him, he's doing what I wish I'd done. If only... Etc.
Noticed (in true dweeb style) that after I converted the smoke arrows at the ends of the menu bar into forward and back arrows, they don't work if you pull my blog window into the main lower frame(!) - oh well, no biggie.
Yurch too little sleep last nightzzzzzz
Musical wise been working on the biog for the site: wish I'd kept better notes or diaries when I was at uni(!) - I guess it's predictable that I didn't, I was, after all, having a rather good time.
It's proving quite cathartic actually: I suspect the history side will end up after a section detailing influences, style, techniques, experience etc so there's something quick for visitors to get their head around to see if I could match their musical needs. That's going to include both live, studio and orgnisational experience. I'll put my gear on there as well.
I've joined the newsgroup for the newbury jazz forum (see previous posting) so hopefully that'll help raise my profile. Although not as much as getting out there and playing! I might try to get to the hungerford jazz night this month which is a week on friday (i.e. 29th Jan), but I'd dearly love to have a piece I could play, preferably solo with a backing as Joost is dead busy at the moment - in fact, as I type he's probably in the end stages of auditioning for Leeds musical college. Pity to "lose" the only drummer I know hereabouts who would want to play the stuff I'm into (like jamiroquai or james taylor quartet) - but I'm totally stoked for him, he's doing what I wish I'd done. If only... Etc.
Noticed (in true dweeb style) that after I converted the smoke arrows at the ends of the menu bar into forward and back arrows, they don't work if you pull my blog window into the main lower frame(!) - oh well, no biggie.
Yurch too little sleep last night
Wednesday, January 19, 2005
The Internet: can you find a muso?
Well, it's interesting times. I've been slacking off the practise for a couple of days to relaunch (ho ho) my webspace on Virgin Net, which is now at least in a beginning form. Much simpler, no clever javascript-enabled buttons, just the basics, presented in a reasonably stylish form, I hope - and with this blog integrated into the pages via a cheesy shot of me onstage at the Dublin Castle used as a backdrop.
Internet Muso Search Engines
I've been trying to find some like-minded musicians to get working with locally.
The Newbury Jazz Platform Open Nights (second friday of the month down the RAFA club in Newbury) are great - excellent for a quiet night's playing. They also hold open nights in Hungerford (last friday of the month at the Hungerford Royal British Legion) which I'll be trying to get to in the near future. There's talk of a need for volunteers to organise these events - I think I'll be applying.
Also, I've found a whole host of online communities where you can register yourself as a musician, or as a band looking for musicians:
http://www.musicians-in-your-city.co.uk/ - the site's a little wierd, possibly because it's hosted in Germany by German guys, but there are people registering there all the time (i.e. it's current). You can search by region and then county, which is cool.
http://www.berkshirelive.co.uk/ is a forum-based music community for Berkshire which has plenty of contributors going on. I've had a few leads from there, but no concrete stuff yet.
http://www.formingbands.co.uk/ is a cool site, they'll actually mail you if bands with a profile which matches one you supply are looking for someone who plays what you play.
http://www.gig-guide.co.uk/foRum/index.php?c=3 is the forum of gig-guide.co.uk - another forum-based community where musos can advertise themselves and search for acts looking for their talents. This one's a national community so there's ads for the whole country there.
http://www.findit.co.uk/music/musicians.php - a little difficult to wade through, but there's ads for both wanted and available.
http://www.musofinder.co.uk/ - useful site. You register all the usual stuff, and can browse who's on there. Currently there's nearly 3900 "musos". The search facility works really well, by area and what you're looking for.
http://www.diamondfreeads.co.uk/classhome.php?class_id=59&trader_id=6774 - the bands/musicians area of diamondfreeads, a UK free ads paper. If you open a free account and place ads, they'll appear in print in the freeads paper.
phew I'm knackered now.
The Great Practise Plan Rewrite
Well, I have started it. I've organised the month and put in the warmup exercises, rotated for both 4, 5 and 6 string (depending on what I'm playing on the day). Now I'm trying to map the hammeron-pulloff exercises across the month somehow, and formalise the fret/string location for each day so they're rotated.
Ultimately, the goal is to ensure that more of my practise is musical - less of the mechanical stuff (which is good for ensuring my hands are strong and fast), and more emphasis on taxing my brain with arpeggios and chords, preferably in sequences I can play over. Besides, I figure technical playing of scales, arps and chords can be mechanical if you're moving around a la scale tone chord sequences, so it's just as good for my fingers. Thing is, I won't be able to do it while watching Hollyoaks. Gulp - well, that's one forbidden pleasure you'll know about now then.
Drat.
Internet Muso Search Engines
I've been trying to find some like-minded musicians to get working with locally.
The Newbury Jazz Platform Open Nights (second friday of the month down the RAFA club in Newbury) are great - excellent for a quiet night's playing. They also hold open nights in Hungerford (last friday of the month at the Hungerford Royal British Legion) which I'll be trying to get to in the near future. There's talk of a need for volunteers to organise these events - I think I'll be applying.
Also, I've found a whole host of online communities where you can register yourself as a musician, or as a band looking for musicians:
http://www.musicians-in-your-city.co.uk/ - the site's a little wierd, possibly because it's hosted in Germany by German guys, but there are people registering there all the time (i.e. it's current). You can search by region and then county, which is cool.
http://www.berkshirelive.co.uk/ is a forum-based music community for Berkshire which has plenty of contributors going on. I've had a few leads from there, but no concrete stuff yet.
http://www.formingbands.co.uk/ is a cool site, they'll actually mail you if bands with a profile which matches one you supply are looking for someone who plays what you play.
http://www.gig-guide.co.uk/foRum/index.php?c=3 is the forum of gig-guide.co.uk - another forum-based community where musos can advertise themselves and search for acts looking for their talents. This one's a national community so there's ads for the whole country there.
http://www.findit.co.uk/music/musicians.php - a little difficult to wade through, but there's ads for both wanted and available.
http://www.musofinder.co.uk/ - useful site. You register all the usual stuff, and can browse who's on there. Currently there's nearly 3900 "musos". The search facility works really well, by area and what you're looking for.
http://www.diamondfreeads.co.uk/classhome.php?class_id=59&trader_id=6774 - the bands/musicians area of diamondfreeads, a UK free ads paper. If you open a free account and place ads, they'll appear in print in the freeads paper.
phew I'm knackered now.
The Great Practise Plan Rewrite
Well, I have started it. I've organised the month and put in the warmup exercises, rotated for both 4, 5 and 6 string (depending on what I'm playing on the day). Now I'm trying to map the hammeron-pulloff exercises across the month somehow, and formalise the fret/string location for each day so they're rotated.
Ultimately, the goal is to ensure that more of my practise is musical - less of the mechanical stuff (which is good for ensuring my hands are strong and fast), and more emphasis on taxing my brain with arpeggios and chords, preferably in sequences I can play over. Besides, I figure technical playing of scales, arps and chords can be mechanical if you're moving around a la scale tone chord sequences, so it's just as good for my fingers. Thing is, I won't be able to do it while watching Hollyoaks. Gulp - well, that's one forbidden pleasure you'll know about now then.
Drat.
Thursday, January 06, 2005
... and the madness was over.
New year, after christmas's golden glow brought on by Nic and I spending it here at home in rosemore towers, was nothing if not a contrast.
Contrast meaning we had 16 guests, that is ;)
Seriously, we had to pull the picnic table in from outside (pausing only to let it dry a little in the garage next to my pride and joy, Nellie the virago) and cover it with a tablecloth, just to get enough dining arses on seats in te dining room.
If you feel trepidous about "entertaining", my advice is go ahead and do it anyway - I pissed and moaned my way through the three days before guests arrived and I ended up loving it. Seeing old friends having a laugh at your place, bringing huge amunts of booze an snacks, getting hysterical tramping through pitch black woods before seeing the Rosemore/Manchester fireworks (my eternal thanks to Cridz for bringing the rokets, they were stupendous)... and oo and aaaahing at the london eye fireworks at midnight.
All great fun. My res for the new year has even been affected: positivity!
New year, after christmas's golden glow brought on by Nic and I spending it here at home in rosemore towers, was nothing if not a contrast.
Contrast meaning we had 16 guests, that is ;)
Seriously, we had to pull the picnic table in from outside (pausing only to let it dry a little in the garage next to my pride and joy, Nellie the virago) and cover it with a tablecloth, just to get enough dining arses on seats in te dining room.
If you feel trepidous about "entertaining", my advice is go ahead and do it anyway - I pissed and moaned my way through the three days before guests arrived and I ended up loving it. Seeing old friends having a laugh at your place, bringing huge amunts of booze an snacks, getting hysterical tramping through pitch black woods before seeing the Rosemore/Manchester fireworks (my eternal thanks to Cridz for bringing the rokets, they were stupendous)... and oo and aaaahing at the london eye fireworks at midnight.
All great fun. My res for the new year has even been affected: positivity!
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