How best to explain to the banjo player...

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cgarges
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Post by cgarges » Sat Apr 02, 2011 11:44 pm

roscoenyc wrote:I usually try to explain to the person who's changing their level that getting a sound from a level that isn't fairly constant could be compared to trying to take a picture while someone was turning the lights on and off.
I like that.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

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BenjaminWells
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Epic show...

Post by BenjaminWells » Mon Apr 04, 2011 7:38 pm

First of all, I can't thank everyone enough for the great wisdom. This is a great community.

Banjo player left the new toy at home and played wonderfully.

So, the gig went off like this: the day before the show I received word that the other warm-up band had a "scheduling conflict" and wouldn't be playing, so could we double our set time from 25 to 45 minutes. "Yes of course" was our reply. When we arrived, it was snowing sideways... full-on blizzard conditions, with a mobile stage set up at the base of Peak 8 at Breckenridge. During our sound check, the wind shifted and the snow started coming right in on us. About the third time I had to wipe the snow from the top of my Martin, the stage manager called it and we went inside.

We passed the two hours in the green room jamming and listening to the production crew deal with the possibility that Cornmeal might not make it due to the storm. At one point someone asked how much material we have. That's when I realized we were in for something epic.

So, we play our first song, which went well. But our fingers were frozen and our instruments were out of tune already. And, our fiddle player's 100 year old fiddle was getting wet. Someone passed out hand warmers. After two full minutes of finger thawing and tuning, which felt like an eternity, we started our second song. And the snow kept coming, harder and harder. After the second song, the chief engineer let us know that Cornmeal was not going to make it, and could we play two 45 minute sets? "Hell yes, no problem!" was our reply. By that time it had become personal between us and the weather, and we weren't going to give up.

So we played, thawed, tuned and played some more... and some how made it through an epic gig. Hell, we even did an encore! And, I think the experience brought the band closer together. The sound system was incredible, and it was our first time playing with an engineer mixing us FOH and a separate engineer mixing our monitors. We could all hear each other between the gusts of wind... what's a few frozen eyebrows?

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Snarl 12/8
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Post by Snarl 12/8 » Mon Apr 04, 2011 11:55 pm

cgarges wrote:
roscoenyc wrote:I usually try to explain to the person who's changing their level that getting a sound from a level that isn't fairly constant could be compared to trying to take a picture while someone was turning the lights on and off.
I like that.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC
Isn't it more like trying to make a video while someone is fucking with a light dimmer? Analogies are always tenuous at best.
Carl Keil

Almost forgot: Please steal my drum tracks. and more.

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Snarl 12/8
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Post by Snarl 12/8 » Mon Apr 04, 2011 11:57 pm

That's a good time to have the simplest signal chain possible. Congratulations. Sounds like something you'll all remember forever.
Carl Keil

Almost forgot: Please steal my drum tracks. and more.

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Post by dgrieser » Tue Apr 05, 2011 9:29 am

Wow, that sounds like an incredible gig--I can't play when my fingers get cold. Congrats for carrying on under those circumstances and glad the banjo player listened to reason.

I played a gig at festival where the wind was so strong it kept popping the elastic tiedowns (short loop bungies with the big plastic ball) off the awning covering the stage. You'd hear this pop and a tiedown would go flying and smack into the back or side of the stage. We never got hit by one but it was a bit nerve-wracking.

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JGriffin
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Post by JGriffin » Tue Apr 05, 2011 12:16 pm

Sounds like an amazing experience. I haven't had the high winds and snow thing, but I did play a gig on a boat on Lake Michigan once and a huge thunderstorm whipped up. That was loads of fun.
"Jeweller, you've failed. Jeweller."

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BenjaminWells
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Pictures and songs from the day...

Post by BenjaminWells » Thu Apr 07, 2011 6:28 pm

To follow up, I have posted pictures and recordings from the experience on our bandcamp page here:
http://pinebeatles.com

lyman
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Post by lyman » Fri Apr 08, 2011 7:20 am

whoa. crazy gig story! any time you play after that will seem like a walk in the park. 8)

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Post by Gentleman Jim » Fri Apr 08, 2011 9:00 am

Yeah, from now on whenever someone complains about a situation not being perfect you'll be able to pull out this story to show how badass you are.

I've probably been involved with something like 2000-2500 shows, and I've been a part of some stupid, crazy, and ill-advised nonsense. But I can't think of anything that comes close to playing a 100 year old violin in a windy snowstorm on a mountain.

YOU WIN!
:worthy:

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BenjaminWells
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Photo Gallery

Post by BenjaminWells » Mon Apr 11, 2011 10:15 pm

Here is a photo gallery that tells the story pretty well:

http://dianasabreen.photoshelter.com/ga ... PWqnL9uPo/

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Post by Gentleman Jim » Tue Apr 12, 2011 8:53 am

Spring Fever? More like pneumonia, frostbite, and hypothermia.

I'd hate to see your Winter Wonderland concert.

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BenjaminWells
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Spring "fever"

Post by BenjaminWells » Tue Apr 12, 2011 9:42 am

Ha! "Spring" in the Rockies!

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Post by Brewer » Wed Apr 13, 2011 9:50 am

Kick him out!

Once a banjo player insists on being heard, there's no other solution.

:^:
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brahimplaysbass
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Post by brahimplaysbass » Wed Apr 13, 2011 1:06 pm

If your inter-band emails are that heated you need to find a new band.

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wesley.wittich
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Post by wesley.wittich » Thu Apr 28, 2011 8:52 am

brahimplaysbass wrote:If your inter-band emails are that heated you need to find a new band.
I completely disagree. I didn't find the emails to be that heated anyway, but even if they were, three emails hardly justify a band breaking up. Bands can be close, like family, and everyone knows that families fight. Fights in bands aren't necessarily bad, just when they don't get resolved, or if they occur all the time. I've been in a few bands in my short time on this earth, and there have been fights in all of them, but they were never often, and they were always worked out. Fights and disagreements are part of life, and if you think every band should break up whenever they have a fight, there will be no more music.

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