Neon Vines gave me a headache

[Muad’Dib]

Amen!

[Markyboard]

BTW - is that "neon" sign a real neon sign? I thought she said it was done with LEDs â so no buzzing, I'm guessing.

 

Still begs the questions 'How many forum members does it take to change a neon light"?

[Muad’Dib]

One too change it, and the others to tell him: 'DUDE! That"s not Neon!'

[Delaware Dave]

Who in the F is Neon Vines??? Never heard of her......

 

I got my Casio MT-65 at Bamberger"s Department Store for my birthday present.

 

Now there's a name I havent heard in 40 years.

[Muad’Dib]

That"s because she"s only on YouTube! Believe me, your not missing anything.

[KuruPrionz]

That"s because she"s only on YouTube! Believe me, your not missing anything.

 

Paul, I find your headache interesting in the context of your recent post about your job and being laid off.

 

This IS her job, slagging gear. Monetizing music has more or less been hosed by corporate greed. You can play bar gigs on a local level (well, you could - and I did), or you can find a niche in the marketplace and exploit the exploiters.

That's what Neon Vines is doing, she has created a job for herself where she gets to play music, have all sorts of great gear and get paid.

 

Think about that for a bit. No, you don't have to like what she is doing but please - exactly WHAT ARE musicians supposed to do in this situation?

[Muad’Dib]

Let me see if I can fix this!

 

One I am not here too bash or criticize her. For one thing she can play, where as I can not.

Two: I work at a private wedding venue. I was laid off due too the fact that we have no events, due too the Pandemic.

Three: I was just bothered with they way she was presenting things in her video tour of her studio. I will commend her for what she does.

Four: unlike most of the people on this board. I do not make a living as a musician.

 

 

I respect all musicians who work hard, and do this for a living. If I could I would, but I don"t and so I apologize for my behavior.

 

..and yes I am an outcast/misfit.

[KuruPrionz]

Let me see if I can fix this!

 

One I am not here too bash or criticize her. For one thing she can play, where as I can not.

Two: I work at a private wedding venue. I was laid off due too the fact that we have no events, due too the Pandemic.

Three: I was just bothered with they way she was presenting things in her video tour of her studio. I will commend her for what she does.

Four: unlike most of the people on this board. I do not make a living as a musician.

 

 

I respect all musicians who work hard, and do this for a living. If I could I would, but I don"t and so I apologize for my behavior.

 

..and yes I am an outcast/misfit.

 

No worries, despite my respect for her abilities as both a keyboard soloist and a multi-tasker par excellence, I've already slagged on her singing and her songs.

But this video really isn't about her musical talents, it's about her commendable ability to make a job for herself in this complicated and difficult environment.

 

Misfit? Ha!, that's my hat but you can wear it too. It wasn't until I finally learned acting skills (alcohol helped but I do NOT recommend it!!!) that I've been able to pretend to get along.

And, pretending has turned into reality. An outstanding salesman once told me "You can act your way to a new way of thinking easier than you can think your way to a new way of acting."

 

I thought it would be amusing to try it since nothing else had worked and yes, it works. Cheers, Kuru

[timwat]

Let me see if I can fix this!

 

One I am not here too bash or criticize her. For one thing she can play, where as I can not.

Two: I work at a private wedding venue. I was laid off due too the fact that we have no events, due too the Pandemic.

Three: I was just bothered with they way she was presenting things in her video tour of her studio. I will commend her for what she does.

Four: unlike most of the people on this board. I do not make a living as a musician.

 

 

I respect all musicians who work hard, and do this for a living. If I could I would, but I don"t and so I apologize for my behavior.

 

..and yes I am an outcast/misfit.

 

Hey, Paul,

 

First of all, sorry about you getting laid off. So many of my friends and colleagues are really hurting these days in similar ways. I hope you're able to hang in there, keep providing for yourself, and stay safe. I'm sorry your work was hit hard by this thing.

 

No need to apologize for your behavior. Everyone on this forum has the right to say what their first impressions are - and so many times, other mates on this forum help us all see another side of things. Not necessarily to change our minds or our opinions, but just to see another side to consider.

 

You'r right, a lot of people on this board make their livings as musicians. But a lot of us don't...I don't. While I gig a lot, I have a full time non-musician day job - and that causes all kinds of other challenges and occasional grief.

 

Anyway, be good to yourself. I don't think there's anyone on this board who isn't an outcast / misfit in some ways, myself included. But it's especially easy to really feel that way when circumstances in life are challenging. So hang in there, things are going to get better.

[Muad’Dib]

Thank you Tim!

 

 

Yea, I do tend to be hard on myself.

[Biggles]

No need to apologise.

 

There are far to many cr4p Youtube posters giving their eminently missable views on some piece of kit.

 

Sadly all to many people watch them and what is even worst Is the mumble dialogue or OTT diatribe.

 

By far the best and only review that matters is your own.

[Muad’Dib]

Thank you Col!

[Iconoclast]

She's a great musician, not tough on the eyes, she can sing...but can she please get someone else to write her lyrics? Jesus lord god her lyrics are awful.

 

I still watch her stuff because, even despite that, I find her really talented.

[Muad’Dib]

Whatever works dude!

[KuruPrionz]

She's a great musician, not tough on the eyes, she can sing...but can she please get someone else to write her lyrics? Jesus lord god her lyrics are awful.

 

I still watch her stuff because, even despite that, I find her really talented.

 

I agree with everything except the "she can sing" part. With all the auto-tune cranked up and the harmonizer cooking along, it sounds sort of "robotically OK", kind of, maybe.

 

If she could really sing she wouldn't need all the effects. And she would be much more expressive, although granted with lyrics like that there is not much to be expressed.

[Reezekeys]

Aren't lyrics an afterthought for this kind of music? This is for the club/dance/etc. scene. Nothing new â I played in a band that made a a few records starting in the 80s, a eurodisco-r&b hybrid that broke Luther Vandross, charted, and toured - and the words to the songs were pretty much throwaway afterthoughts, typical "let's have fun at the club", "everybody dance", etc. Let's be honest, this is not exactly music for the intellectual crowd. And yea, a lot of folks making u-tubes should count their lucky stars that autotune exists! As far as miss Vines, in the context of her musical style, her singing or lyrics don't need to be Aretha & Joni level in order to enjoy her work â imo. She has other skills that are pretty impressive to this old person. I'm happy to let her enjoy her 15 minutes & make a few bucks â that proves that at least some musicians are doing it!

[Dr Mike Metlay]

For my part, reading back, I do feel bad dumping on Mack. She really does have serious musicianship and talent (keys, bass and acoustic guitar -- hell, even ukulele!), and I wish the best for her... but all that gear at such a young age? I guess I should applaud the fact that she appears to know most or all of it inside and out, and (at least in her interview) seems to be good at deciding which piece of gear is good for what role. A lot of people twice her age would get dumped in a studio like that and go "homina homina homina" without playing a note.

 

Still and all: check out Mack's Instagram to see a bit of what I'm talking about... from BOTH sides. She has this ton of gear... but she also knows how to shine a flashlight through the grille of an SVT 8x10 to get the best speaker angle when setting up an Electro-Voice RE20... but she knows to have someone take a picture of her doing it... sigh, welcome to the new world, where this takes the place of album deals, radio airplay, and huge tours.

[mate stubb]

I grew up thinking self promotion is unseemly - too much like bragging. What a quaint notion for today's world I guess...

[EricBarker]

The thing that I love about Neon Vines is her keyboard playing is HEAD & SHOULDERS above everyone else I"ve seen in her genre. She plays everything, and shreds like a mofo. There"s a lot programmed, but she always has her hands on the most complex parts. I don"t see her just holding pads while all these programmed arpeggios fly by, like many of her pears. She sweats, I really appreciate that. Her lyrics and songs aren"t as interesting to me though. I"d love to see her in a group where she"s got 100% of her mind on the keys. But I"m less interested in singers than keyboardists. She"s a fantastic keyboardist.

 

No knocks, she"s making it work in a mans world the best she can. Also, someone said 'not old enough to drink'. Naw man, she"s a solid millennial, probably late 20s, she"s been around a good decade or so.

[Mighty Motif Max]

For my part, reading back, I do feel bad dumping on Mack. She really does have serious musicianship and talent (keys, bass and acoustic guitar -- hell, even ukulele!), and I wish the best for her... but all that gear at such a young age? I guess I should applaud the fact that she appears to know most or all of it inside and out, and (at least in her interview) seems to be good at deciding which piece of gear is good for what role. A lot of people twice her age would get dumped in a studio like that and go "homina homina homina" without playing a note.

 

Still and all: check out Mack's Instagram to see a bit of what I'm talking about... from BOTH sides. She has this ton of gear... but she also knows how to shine a flashlight through the grille of an SVT 8x10 to get the best speaker angle when setting up an Electro-Voice RE20... but she knows to have someone take a picture of her doing it... sigh, welcome to the new world, where this takes the place of album deals, radio airplay, and huge tours.

 

Wow, that is some serious equipment. I can't help but notice that the official Ableton page follows her.

[Pa Gherkin]

I grew up thinking self promotion is unseemly - too much like bragging. What a quaint notion for today's world I guess...

 

 

Same here. This quaint notion has no doubt cost me a few opportunities. I"m ok with that. We have to endure too much 'Enough about me. What do YOU think of me?' Blowhards everywhere.

[Mighty Motif Max]

I'm not someone who likes to brag much. Self-promotion has become the way to go for a lot of things though. I still remember the first time I had to come up with a promotional flyer...hard to do without bragging. But it's kind of a big thing now.

[Theo Verelst]

Without ambiguity or one sided promoting (I've seen very little from this person and would probably have a feeling about it if she in my opinion would be the new Stevie Nicks, which I don't) I feel the value of the studio equipment, of whichever kind, isn't necessarily proportional with a artistic or scientific understanding of the signal processing desired for success. Maybe modern music is supposed to be highly derivative for some people, because the good original music space was already taken by so many others before, but promoting new artists should be based also on artistic value, not only on expensive equipment, copping a playing style or two, or promoting modern superficiality, I think.

 

TV

[KuruPrionz]

Without ambiguity or one sided promoting (I've seen very little from this person and would probably have a feeling about it if she in my opinion would be the new Stevie Nicks, which I don't) I feel the value of the studio equipment, of whichever kind, isn't necessarily proportional with a artistic or scientific understanding of the signal processing desired for success. Maybe modern music is supposed to be highly derivative for some people, because the good original music space was already taken by so many others before, but promoting new artists should be based also on artistic value, not only on expensive equipment, copping a playing style or two, or promoting modern superficiality, I think.

 

TV

 

We agree completely!

[Muad’Dib]

Obviously I am not being fair too her, because I criticized her, based on watching one video. For that, I am sorry ð.

 

Obviously, she is way more talented than I am, at least she puts in the effort. Unlike myself.

[Sam CA]

Obviously I am not being fair too her, because I criticized her, based on watching one video. For that, I am sorry ð.

 

Obviously, she is way more talented than I am, at least she puts in the effort. Unlike myself.

 

 

Going to the next video on YouTube is just ONE click away. You're making things way too complicated for yourself. You make the whole thing about that NEON lighting sound like a rabbit caught in the headlight. Fatal attraction?

[Muad’Dib]

Obviously I am not being fair too her, because I criticized her, based on watching one video. For that, I am sorry ð.

 

Obviously, she is way more talented than I am, at least she puts in the effort. Unlike myself.

 

 

Going to the next video on YouTube is just ONE click away. You're making things way too complicated for yourself. You make the whole thing about that NEON lighting sound like a rabbit caught in the headlight. Fatal attraction?

 

 

Maybe you"re right?

 

Wasn"t the rabbit boiled?

[Bif_]

........I started watching a video of her giving a tour of her studio, and after a minute and one ad. I had too stop, because it was hurting my head. She was going on about the acoustic panels on her wall............

 

I popped on Youtube last night and watched the whole video. Not sure where your headache came from (other than Youtube's incessant ads), certainly not one minute in. If you're not seeing what you want to see, just scroll ahead in the video to get to the part you want to see. Easy solution.

 

Regarding her video, she's obviously sponsored and therefore promoting products, but she's also telling what she uses and why she likes it. Not so much about the nuts and bolts details but there's some explanation of different things she's using. She covered so much in 20 minutes that if she'd gone deeper it would have been a 2 hour video.

 

My hat's off to her for making money money doing what she loves. I'd love to see her process from start to finish on a song. I don't know how she loops and keeps up with all the button-pushing she does and is still making music.

 

For those that dislike any or all of her musicality, I'd put her way ahead of some of the crap I saw watching only a few minutes of 5 or 6 "artists" on the AMA's Sunday night, but that's a whole other story.

[Muad’Dib]

If I have stopped after one minute. I"m not going to continue watching.

[Adan]

If you stumble across an artist on YouTube that you think is overrated, then post a thread like "hey, this gal (guy) is overrated", you're just providing that artist with more clicks, further solidifying their position in the YT algorithms and working at cross-purposes with your goal of suppressing that artist's (in your opinion) unjustified success.

 

Just hit the back button and move on . . .