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Eric VB

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About Eric VB

  • Birthday 11/30/1999

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  1. Neato. Not sure it would work with my round-back Ovation, though.
  2. "This one was harder." You think? Wow, Paul, you took on a monster song here! I have a few like this in my solo singer/guitarist repertoire. My wife usually deals the reality blow that I'm reaching just a little too far. That doesn't keep me from continuing to work on them, especially if it is just a vocal range thing. The more I sing the more usable range I develop, especially by reaching for "the impossible". So I keep a "one of these days" mentality. I see in your notes that your "Linda" was the limiting factor on how far you could take this song in your recording session. So I'll take that into account. I, too, approach solos by just strumming the accompaniment. Not ideal, but I personally don't like when others play a naked solo on an acoustic that was recorded on a screaming electric. One guy I know will vocalize the solo while strumming; that can work pretty well depending on the song. One of these days I want to come up with arrangements but that takes a lot of time. Changing keys from the original can be tricky, too. I've used my karaoke machine to record a reference of a cover in a different key. Still, it can be hard at performance time when the "recording in my head" is still in the original key!
  3. The 12 string sounds good! I like this John Mayer song but, as with a lot of his material, I've crossed it off of my "list of songs to work on" because of his high vocal range and/or guitar complexity. Paul, I like that you kept the vox in a comfortable range for you and made some slight changes to make this cover your own. John Mayer purists may object but I think your version will go over well with the general audience. Good job!
  4. I blame it on playing it with another band prior, but I used to play the intro to "My Girl" too slowly for the current band. Now I take a moment to "play the recording in my head of the guitarist playing his opening riff" to set my tempo and that helps get me up to speed.
  5. I can see you -- on stage having fun -- and that's a good thing. Keep up the good work, Nancy!
  6. Hey Zach! Nobody's commented yet? Please allow me. First off, kudos for composing on bass! That's not an easy step to take. Also, nice display of two-hand technique. Maybe there were a couple of notes that didn't ring out as expected but the song was pretty demanding and sounds good overall so no worries. Personally I think you could do a little more. For example, although you are sustaining chord tones while playing melody on top (homophony), I think you could take another step and play true polyphony (e.g. Stu Hamm's "Linus and Lucy", where the LH bass and RH melody are like two independent performers). Another thing to consider is employing another technique to add variety. See for example Vic Wooten's "Amazing Grace". [Note: after writing I see that you cover this Vic solo, so you know what I'm talking about.] If you want to stick with two-hand tap I wonder if you wouldn't be better served with a tap instrument (Chapman Stick, Warr Guitar)? I think you would have more freedom with one of those. What challenges me most for composing solo bass songs is coming up with a good melody. Melody is what audiences listen for. When composing solo bass "by arrangement" (as opposed to, say, using a looper or backing tracks) it's trickier to drive the melody. Again I'll point to Vic and how he never loses the "Amazing Grace" melody even when he goes off on harmonic tangents. It's a great exercise to take a cover song and try to play it as a solo bass arrangement without losing the melody. Having said that, with a little polish I can see "A Journey" being used in film or maybe even a video game. It definitely sets a mood with the starting minor chord which descends. (Sounds like a vi V IV iii to me.) And there is plenty of expressivity with the tempo changes and the sparse to dense note playing. Thanks for sharing!
  7. Jeremy, yes, now that all the other live music venues are smoke-free the smoke in the casino is the worst part.
  8. b5pilot, the first time I played Greektown was this year. I believe you are correct that this is a new thing, or at least new to Greektown.
  9. JustDan, the criminal background check is part of the license application. The final step is getting fingerprinted.
  10. Anybody else playing casinos? One project I'm working with plays a casino regularly. The casino treats the entertainment agency as a vendor. As an employee of the agency I have to have a vendor gaming license for the casino. How do things work in your neck of the woods?
  11. Just caught the solo. Nicely done. Tasteful. Glad to hear you're enjoying the new band!
  12. Looks like you were having fun with this one. Was that two cameras or two takes?
  13. Pernax - I really enjoyed this. Like, a lot. I'm replaying it again right now. You can tell just how much preparation went into the whole thing! Thanks for posting it. Well done. Nice production. Good musicianship.
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