Studio Envy.....

Well, I've had 2 great sessions in 2 great Studios (Sonic Temple and Denmark )in less then a month... Life just doesn't get much better then that...

these studios were probably the highlight of the month though, musically speaking, But they make my little home studio look trivial in comparison. That being said, the encouraging part is that my gear is Compatible... and the unerlying technology is the same.. they just have many many more toys, bells, whistles... oh, and skills... lol but I can learn.. and the rest can happen over time...

In the meantime, My Works going good, Sarah's just a BLAST, Trena's got a new Job that should be less stress, andI've gone from hardly no music, to more opportunities to play, gig, jam, record then I can handle...

In a phrase:

Happier then a pig in Shit!!!

my back still hurts like hell, but Im optimistic at least that it could get better..

I've been going to Chiro and was making remarkable progress, but Im at a point now where i think its the "gonna get worst before it gets better" so if there are any spelling mistakes, tonight I get to blame it on the meds I've been taking...

Oh well... Play the hand your dealt right..

but over all... Life is pretty sweet lately...
to quote "Earl": thanks Karma!!!

Just last weekend I recorded some good friends of mine DA ROCK. live at one of their gigs.. I just took a brake from doing some work on it to write this before going to sleep...

I had hoped to get it mixxed down sooner, but its gonna take a little while..
Im gonna add keys on a few tracks... just for fun.. then there is actually a bit of a process for cutting a live perfomance of some 2 hours into separate songs and burning it to cd... Not difficult, just takes some time...

Oh well.. Im come back to it fresh another day...

its been a a great day, week, month, year... I think 07 is gonna kick some ass!!!!

You HAVE to Buy THIS ALBUM

Ok.... I dont mean to get up on a Soap box, BUT... there is a shortage, i think, of GREAT music out there...

Sure.. .theres some catchy canned pop stuff out there.. and we have great bands like Big Wreck, Cold Play, and Collective Soul and Pearl Jam... but..., and I mean this.. THIS BAND IS GOING TO BE THE NEXT BIG THING...

I can't quite explain what makes this album so great... Its not over produced, its not layered and overdubbed... Its just good F--king Music..

the Songs and Sounds are Simple, Pure, tasteful, and Comfortably familier, yet totaly original... I can honestly say I like EVERY Song on it, and I don't say that at often...

do you like Black Crows, Zeplin, Skynrd, Alman Bros... then trust me... you will love this band..

I met them by accident, when i was in Collingwood Ontartio (they ven let me jam), and have already mentioned them in a previous Blog...

I've had 4 demos since then.. but I just got there self produced full Length CD and it is PURE ROCKING GOLD!!

these guys deserve a one way ticket to the top...


anyway. Out of respect for their right to earn a living, I will NOT make copies of the CD for anyone, so dont ask... Just go to their site..Listen to the 3 Demo tunes and then Buy the album.... trust me.. If you have any music sense at all... You will LOVE IT!!!


Click HERE for Link to their Site...


Enjoy!

Rob

Thank You Jon Matheson

a good friend of mine, Singer, Song-writer, Musician Jon Matheson hooked me up with someone else he knew Looking for a keyboard player to lay some tracks down on a CD he was working on...

Well, with Work, Life, Xmas, I've been busier then a shit-house-rat latley , as they say... But I LOVE Music, so I took it on anyway..

Was up late these past few nites trying to learn 12 new Original Tunes... which is harder then cover tunes cause you have to CREATE parts that arnt there.... and try to get it in the Songwriters style, not too bias with your own..

Anyway.. Just got home from the Studio.. and it was one Hell of an Experience... I had a F--king Blast...

this place had More gear then Kellogs has Korn Flakes.. You really have to be there to understand.. these few pics just don't do it justice...

And the owner/tech was supper easy to work with.. Made it painless work,. even through my many takes and mistakes, and very fun..

He's probably forgotten more about production then I'll ever learn.. And, the best part is that he may use me again for other projects... . Frig.. I'd play for free just to be able to learn a few things...

Anyway.. I need sleep... too many late nites..

Enjoy the pics..



I look about 20 lbs heavier in these pics... but I coudl care less... Im still on a natural high from the experience...





Anyway... to Jon Matheson.. THANK YOU for the referral..
Next I'm looking forward to doing the Keys on your new CD!!!!!!

Peace Out!!

Publish
Rob

Making progress in the learning curve..

been playing with my Studio Board a lot lately... and learning more about what it can do..

learned some things it can do that I didnt know it could... Like Link it to a second unit and double your horsepower (i.e. 28 tracks simultaneous audio) And that it can switch effects mid-song, and back again (i/e temporarily adding a flanger effect then removing it) but I also learned one thing it can't... It Can't record a Midi track (i.e. My keyboard or digital drums) so that a bit of a bummer... But I still don't have any remorse... I can sync it to an external sequencer, and i can either use my keyboard or pick up a 2nd hand litle box somewhere...

To bad I left my old MC-500 at Kurts Keyboards years ago and never went back to get it...

C'est La Vie!

No Story required.... Just one CUTE pic!!!

this is my Pride and Joy; My daughter, Sarah, trying out her Mommies Boots for size!!!

Taking it on the Road...

Well, its been about 6 years since I've gotten back into music... 4 years with some semi-seriousness to it.. and the last year with a passion you might say... But man.. its some fun..

With any luck my cable snake will be here in a week or two... and I got a couple of nice studio projects (other peoples studios) where I'll be playing on their recordings at other, more equiped studios... Which is great on several fronts.. first, I'll get some exposure as a session player on both Keys and bass, but secondly, I hope to learn some "tricks of the trade" from engineers who actually know what their doing!!!!

in the meantime though, I'm still working on my own projects...

This Saturday I'll be taking my board to record a live band... I'm not playing in the band.. just doing the recording..

Gil came up tonight with the Live Board his band uses, to see if we could tap into their mix, with separate channels into my board, with out interfering with their sound.. and the answer is yes!!! No splitters required!!! So I'm gonna record them Live, this saturday nite!!! should be a fun project!

I'm doing it for free... But they are great friends, and its tgood practice for me.. Plus... I just Love playing with this stuff... so any excuse to do anything remotely musical is ok with me..


Pic: Gilroy Billard of Da Rock

So it will be a good test run.. I hope to do my own mix, on the board, but then also upload to CUBASE so they can do their own version at their leisure..

I'm also gonna try somethign new, using a tube pre-amp on the vocals and acoustic guitar to see if it adds warmth/depth...






















In the meantime, the home studio is Slowly coming together... piece by piece.. (PICS above.. I've moved the studio to a smaller room then before, and we hope to use the room it was in as a guest room for now, Jsut makes more sense... and still have more then enough space)

Now If I could just talk "Cheech" (friend and former band-mate of Waynes who's a F__king whiz at this stuff)to come to halifax for a weekend to give me some Cubase pointers I'll be all set!!!

Cheers for now..

Rob

Were Playing for ECMA 72 Hour Jam

We'll how about that... I'm gonna be playing bass with my god friends from FULL CIRCLE for the ECMA's 72 hour jam...

Not bad for a Keyboard Player!! Ha!!!

Apparantly its gonna be at the Palace???? not to sure yet 100%.. and I think were on 9-12 on friday Feb 16th!!

Awesome!!! Can't wait! I'll let you know more details as I get them..

One Step Closer!!

while technically, we didnt have to replace our oil tank for another 2 years, it can be a "negotiating" point when selling a house, and more importantly, it was getting pretty ripe.. so better safe then sorry...



this is the new tank... but check out the old one they hauled away!!!!




Just a few more odds and ends, and the house will be ready to sell!!!

Elton John Concert Well Worth the Drive

Within minutes of taking this pic, the alcoves here were filled with homeless people camped out with blankets, sleeping bags, etc...


Its hard to through a rock down st. catherine street without hitting a strip bar....
















this guy was just cool... Very Polite, and we thought creative...

A lot of Montreals homeless can be very intrusive, and downright mean and nasty..
This dude was very well spoken and polite.. Can't quite figure out why someone like that would be homeless in the first place, but oh well.. We can't save the world, but we did end up leaving this guy with about 5 bucks in loose change..

Lots of Amazing old Buildings like this everywhere.

















Subways are an amazing way to get around... fast too!
























Most of these pics were just snapped during the day, out and around Montreal.. Shopping at the HABS store, on the Subway.. At DUNN's for lunch.. etc...





it was raining pretty bad at times, so we didnt get to do too much..
altough the ladies did get some shopping in, and Mike and I had time for a quite beer and some Dinner theatre...... ha ha...


A little later Mike and I got the Subway to the Complete opposite end of town to check out a Music Store I'd Never been to before.... Was cool but I had to get out in a hurry before I was tempted to actualy spend money I don't have...









































































These pics were all taken from my seat...


We had an Awesome View, and the Sound was absolutely incredible..































































hard to believe something so amazing is actually Grafitti... Michelle noticed this one.. I'd walked by it without so much as glancing twice, but when you look at it closer, it really draws you in... GOOD EYE Rizok!



















The View from our Hotal (by day, and by night)






well.... what can I say... We drove a Grand total of 2,687kms to get there and back, but it was worth every KM..

We had Great seats on the floor, and some time to spend puttering about Montreal doing the touristy things.. meeting people, taking in the sites...

I think next time, we'd likely give at least an extra day or more so ya don't feel so rushed to cram things in the Agenda, and maybe also get to know the subway better... but we still had some fun, and got to see some of the sites...

As for the concert itself??? well, I think I've been pretty fortunate these past few years to have seen some really good shows by some really great artists..

Eltons show may not have been the most elaborate, in so far as Lighting, special effects, etc... But he didnt need to me, as Musically.. it was F__king incredible, so much so that special effects would have been a moot point.. as they say..

He played for almost 3 hours straight, no breaks... came to the edge of the stage and signed a TON of autographs... (no, I didnt get one) and the sound was incredible...

you could hear EVERY instrument, every note clear as a bell individually, yet they blended together like they just melted in your ears... Incredible.. And man.. they dude can play that Freaking Piano...

Thanks to Mike and Michelle form coming with us...

Well worth the trip.. Definately one I'd go see again!!!

Thank you MOVIEMAN

Everyone has their hobbies...

Some Folks like Sports.. Hockey, baseball..

Some folks like Golf...

Some like woodworking..

other collect things... from spoons to Star Trek..

I have My Music addiction, and my good friend Mark Loves Movies... Hence the nickname.. Movieman..

Just Don't play any Movie trivia against Mark... he'd kick your ass....

Anyway.. Mark Just lent me like 19 DVD's (some multi episode DVD's) for our trip to Montreal.. I doubt we'll watch them all.. but we'll have tons to choose from and it will make the trip go faster fer sure...

THANK YOU MARK... Much Appreciated!!!!

From here and there and Far Away....

Just realized (via a comment) that people actually read this stuff, outside of my dad... and a few supportive/enabling friends...

if your one of them... please let me know who/where you are, what led you to the site, what you like/dislike about it.. if you just randomly fell here the once, or if you check back regularly... etc...

Please be sure to check out the Rockumentary project to... (see link, just one or two down from the top on the right hand side here, or just CLICK THIS)

I hope to have a functional webs site soon with a guest book and all the bells and whistles,.. but for now... hit comment and tell me bout yourself..

thanks..

Rob Meets ELWOOD!!!

Dan's all over halifax this week....



























I got these pics and autographs at the NSLC in Bayers lake....

as luck should have it... I seem to miss out on real key opportunities which goes to show... maybe I should take more chances in life...

I won't re-hash the past, with "could have been" stories... they'd just break my heart about a music career that never was... But... I realistically and sincerely could have been jamming with Dan tonight..... at the Seahorse

How??? you may ask...

Well, some time ago, as many of you know.. I used to go to the Seahorse to Jam with the Horsepower Blues band... I may look like a banker, but I CAN ROCK....

anyway.. those guys are INSPIRING to play with.. and it was just a dream to finally be able to play that kind of music... Alman Bros, Albert Collins, Charlie Musclewhite, Etc.... Anyway.. they offered me to play EVERY thursday and then some.. BUT... I have to work Friday mornings... and I'd have been playing for free... and while Im not in it for the money, I do have an ego... Even if I had made 20 bucks a nite... I'd might have been able to justify the late nite... but for what seemed like logical reasons at the time... I opted not to be a regular.. and the rest, as they say, is history..

they've since got a new front man, and have a couple of organ players that fill in from time to time. and While I've been back a few times and sat in a song or two on the bass, and he keys.. I've largely been absent..

anyway... Hindsight is a kick in the ass...


Dan's gonna jam with them tonight.. and I'm here.. packing for my trip to Montreal.. and typing in my BLOG.... oh well...

such is life... I did get my pic and autograph, so I can't really complain too much can i... yes... yes i can.. A jam would have been sooooo much better...

I mean its ELWOOD F__KING BLUES of the BLUES BROTHERS.. this is the Movie that turned me on to Blues, got me researching Donald Dunn, Matt Murphy, Steve Cropper, Re-introduced me to Booker T (my dad was always a fan of Booker T and the MG's, they used to cover Time is Tight also)

But oh well... Such is life..

so to J.P., Doug, and Dwight... Congrats.. You are an awesome band.. great guys.. and I hope you have fun tonight.. You've certainly worked hard at building thursdays at the seahorse. I wish you all the best of success at it!!!!

PS... thanks to Scott Chev for the idea of taking my Harmonica in to get signed... he signed it twice, once as Dan, once as Elwood... TOOOO COOL!!!!!