cphollis

Due to my personal situation, I would like to avoid an audit at all costs, so we deduct very conservatively when we do. I learned this when deducting home office space.

Not recommending you buy such a thing, but I had something similar happen on a non-RH3 action, and it was as simple as tilting and pushing back the affected keys so they were once again hinged properly. It can happen in transit.

Lyrics are actually easier, it seems. Just ask for genre, style, artists and anything else that springs to mind. Haven't found a convincing AI vocalist to sing them, but I'm sure that'll be along soon.

The combination of inexpensive iPad software instruments that can be directly recorded on your Mac DAW turned out to be a great way to save a bunch on software.

Just as an example of *some* of the topics I encountered along the way, you might want to download this 1-page PDF that links to all the Google Docs where the content lives. As far as forum topics, you could endlessly debate just about anything I wrote. It ended up being a lot more than I thought at the outset!!! A_Guide_To_Starting_Your_Own_Local_Band_v1.1.pdf

Travel is what kills me. My non-music career required racking up million mile status on multiple airlines. It might sound glamorous, but it's not. My life changed for the better when I decided to stop doing that to myself. I've sort of enjoyed showing up to pick-up gigs with a small NS3C and a single QSC K series. You can hand-carry in one trip with a little clever packaging, just like the guitar player does. Makes it a bit more fun that way.

FWIW, I was not a DAW user until I had a task to complete, which was mixing decent-sounding audio for my band. So, not really a recording hobbyist, more of someone looking invest in a tool to get the job done. Being a Mac user, it had to be Logic Pro mostly on the strength of the ecosystem: youtube videos, how-to guides, forums and so on. There was going to be a learning curve, so ....

I can pretty much vouch that no such animal exists that I've found in my searches. Unless you're leading a marching band, and then there's tons of great resources! Two years ago I decided to start my own band, and learned while attending the school of hard knocks that you had to know a little about a whole lot of things, any one of which could trip you up. Not only that, I thought there was some pretty bad advice out there as well. I wouldn't want to be in a band where someone was following their advice, for example. I decided to write up everything I had learned as a guide, and then posted it on KC here as well as the Nord user forum More downloads than I expected, and a bit more positive engagement than I expected. That suggests to me that there might an interest in such a forum. While there are plenty of great places to hang out for musicians etc. -- where do band leaders go? Every successful act has one. Not sure what best practices exist here -- would it be a sub-forum somewhere, etc -- don't know. But there's a gap out there -- I can vouch for that. Thanks! -- Chuck

That's a lovely set of samples -- technically advanced, and the ambience they captured is quite pleasing. I was amused by the Nord booth next door.

Hello everyone, I'm back again. It you're still interested, this version incorporates all the great suggestions I received, plus new sections, extensive rewrites and similar. I think it's looking pretty good as a result! Again, if anyone would care to read it and offer their thoughts on its strengths and weaknesses, it would be very much appreciated! Thanks again ! A Guide To Starting Your Own Local Band v1.1.pdf

I've been using the XR18 as well for keys and anything else as well. If the Midas preamps are "better", I sure don't miss them. You get a lot of bang for the buck, including enough I/O to run a good-sized band, a nice app, some very useful channel strip processing and of course the ability to take the monitor send and mix it back into your ears. Also, if the main mixer ever craps out, you can be the hero that saves the gig. With 4 stereo inputs, you're halfway there already.

I always grab a Five Guys double burger on the way to the gig ...

Also, if you are *really* interested in piano + speaker combinations? The Yamaha AvantGrand is renowned for recreating an acoustic piano experience using speakers. The upright doesn't need much space, and sounds quite wonderful. Also, head over to the Nord web site and see how they mount their monitors on their keyboards -- it's an optimal "in your face" position.

Part of your frustration with your speakers is likely the small space you are using. As speakers increase in size, power, etc. they need much more room to "breathe" and reverberate from the surrounding space. Take a pair of something like QSC K8.2s and put them facing you in a large room, and you'll see what I mean. It's a powerful experience and one we all crave! You're hearing the speakers + complex reverberation, wave interference and so on which you're not going to get much of with your face planted in your speakers. Headphones and a small sub in the room are a nice compromise.

Welcome! I would suggest putting on a pair of headphones to get your sound right in your head, and then experimenting with various speaker positions and settings in an attempt to recreate it. At least you'll have something to aim for, right? One the problems with what I think you are doing is that there's nothing really to compare it to, so you have a tough time figuring out what "good" might sound like. If you go through that process and are still dissatisfied, at least you'll have a better idea of why, and what to look for in your next iteration. Me? When playing digital instruments, it's a pair of $50 headphones (or IEMs) 100% of the time. Love'em. But I'm not trying to create an acoustic piano experience, either. I use a pair of Focals that are well-placed L and R for mixdown. And, thankfully, a good acoustic piano when I'm in the mood. Lots of good advice here, just gotta ask lotsa questions ....

I play "Superstition" to warm up through my headphones. Or something similar If I can quickly get into a loose, flowing jam, I'm good to go! Might take 10 seconds, might take longer, depending how much chaos has been involved up to that point.

Someday I'm going to write my own and be completely honest: "Complete junk taking up space in my closet, but makes noise and will hold your interest for a while. Much cheaper than buying a new gizmo and then losing interest. Price negotiable on how quickly you can come and take it away."

These are all great suggestions. May I add one that works for me? You mentioned you were joining a performing outfit? I would suggest taking a few of their songs and doing what I call "headphone therapy", listening to a recording of the song over and over while playing along. Each time you go through it, add a little something. If you can hear it in your head, try playing it. If you have different voices, try them out until you find the ones you like. Do this until you start to get bored, and then go to another song. Before too long, you'll find yourself much more comfortable with those songs. If you do this repeatedly over several days with the same songs, you may find yourself getting to a very satisfying new level with them. This sort of directed learning is a nice complement to developing an instinctive feel for chords, voicings, scales and the other basic tools you'll be working on. Best of luck!

My list is shorter than yours, but still important to me. I don't sing, for example, and someone else gets the gigs, not me! I cured my overplaying by being repeatedly annoyed by my busy hands on recordings. I found that the open spaces sounded really, really good, even by doing something as simple as forcing myself to play half as many notes, solos included. It also made me focus more on the tones I was getting vs. lots o' notes. Much improved in the mix as a result, and lots more room for others. And there are still plenty of fun parts to stretch out on. I cured my volume habit by putting an extra 10% "more me" in my IEM mix, and trusting the sound tech make the right choices for the FOH. As you know, there's a lot going on with keys, and you *do* want to hear every nuance (is that filter where I want it?) so yeah I need to cut a hair above the drums, guitars, etc. in my ears. I just don't want to impose that on everyone else! As you might know, I dislike loud stage equipment as I believe there's less and less real need for it anymore. But if you're going to do it, yeah, it takes a while to get the precise balance between what you hear, what other musicians hear and still leaving enough room for FOH to do what they need to do. That's much easier to do when everyone is using sound isolation like IEMs. As far as stuff I am personally working on, I tend to space out on longer pieces towards the end of the night, and forget where we are in the song -- did we do the bridge already, or did I just imagine it? Paying attention can be hard when you get lost in the music! I also am making sure I am physically and mentally rested for a performance, as that can be a big factor on how I feel about the night. Protein snack bars and sparkling water for the win! Best of luck with your endeavor!

Based on your suggestions and others, I'm midway through a substantial rewrite: more sections, going deeper in a few areas, better summarizations, rewriting a few rough passages -- that sort of thing. Be back soon!

If you'd like to see how the lights look on stage, I'd invite you to visit Facebook (www.facebook.com/glorydaysverobeach) or perhaps our website by the same name. Lots of photos to look at, although other looks are certainly possible. I was very concerned at the outset with the possibility of cans walking off. The cans are useless without a remote, but who would know that? I shared that concern with my band members (they love the lights as well) and everyone tries to keep an eye on the stage. None have walked off in many gigs, but neither are the venues rough either. So we will see. I may be able to take more detailed photos of key parts.

Agreed, but it goes deeper than that. The same bozo who is late etc. isn't taking rehearsal time seriously, and that's the *real* problem. I bet they didn't have a chance to listen to any of the tunes, either. Anything that requires heavy lifting to set up, tune, etc. (drums!) we do outside of rehearsal time. Something to add!

Thank you everyone for the suggestions and feedback! I will be updating it soon with a nice chunk of new content, and reposting here. I am convinced that there are many good musicians in the world, but not that many good band leaders.

You can get a very inexpensive computer (e.g. Mac) if you're willing to live with external storage for your recordings, which is what I do on my ancient Macbook Air. There is more than enough CPU and memory on all the Mac models for what you want to do. Storage, not so much.

At one level, just about any modern computer you find via retail would do, or consider the iPad which some are doing. Given you are on Apple, I'd stay there. Going back and forth between MacOS and Windows can be more confusing that I would like. I've seen a guy doing mobile recording on an iPad, and then mixdown on a Mac, which struck me as an interesting combination.