| The KISS principle
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I almost always reply to and rarely create a thread, but last night we (3 members of APP) achieved a paradigm shift in performance.
Background - we play 100% original material. Our style can be desribed as Progressive, Fusion, Symphonic Rock and Jazz. We carry a lot of gear and have a somewhat complicated setup - 3 basses, 6 guitars, 3 keyboards, racks all over the place, MIDI cables, pedals, on and on. We're talking about gettin' our brass chops back (trumpet/trombone/sax) to get that BS&T/Chicago/Miles Davis sound added in.
It's a Big Rig.
Last night I got an email from our former drummer and still a terrific friend, advising that he was going to be the house drummer for an open mic night, and would I like to sit in and jam? I replied back that although our regular drummer was out of town this weekend, the Pickman/Thumpman/Keyman were going to be in the studio tracking overdubs and I didn't think we'd be able to do it, but thanks for asking anyway maybe next time.
In the studio (the gameroom at the Thumpman's house, where we have fabricated a drum booth) we encountered some tech glitches and were late getting started. A thunderstorm blew in - spectacular lightning display, booming thunder, etc. I was hesitant to try and record with this going on and decided to shut down the gear (my SDR! my mixer board! can't replace 'em...)so..
We each grabbed (only) one of the multiple instruments we play, no amps or racks, & headed down to the club our drummer friend was at. When we found him he put us in the lineup. We had to construct a short set of songs that we could pull off using minimal/foreign gear, I had to figure out what programs I would use without any time for preparation, punching buttons in the dark, like using brail to create patches between solos. The energy was flowin', the beat was gruvin', and we Burned the Place Down. The MC asked us if we could make regular Saturday night appearances starting next week.
I was torn down and off the stage in record time, and the sound guy was telling me that we really should have gotten up there earlier in the night so we could've played longer.
Short Story - there is a lot to be said for the Keep It Simple Stupid principle! I don't intend to ditch my big rig, as I can't really pull off the big show with only one axe, but I think we'll be working up a Lite version of our set in the near future. Helps to be fast and lean at times like that!
next I'll figure out how to apply the KISS principle to my posts
Last edited by Zlartibartfast : 08-29-2004 at 10:06 AM.
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