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October 09, 2011
Sun is shining
... metaphorically of course.
I mean the sun is casting benevolence on my musical life at the moment. There's light at the end of the tunnel of my musical woes, and its name is Reaper. Persuaded by a friend to give it a go, I persevered through the rather steep learning curve, assisted first by a very helpful forum user community, then by a great book Reaper Power. With it I first remixed the Wright Brothers Christmas Revolution for a forthcoming compilation CD. Getting the tracks out of Cubase was a nightmare of crashing and rebooting; getting them into Reaper and mixing them was a pleasure. Then this week I was able to do what I've dreamed of for so long - sit down with a song idea that had revealed itself during the week and just quickly knock up a demo. Everything behaved as expected, the interface is much easier and I had what I wanted in less than two hours. This is a big turnaround for me.
Last night, the Invisible Helpers cabaret at the Captain's Bar. We had the evening to ourselves to arrange as we saw fit. A solo set for me was a chance as always to experiment with new songs or ones I hadn't played live. Cecilia (the S&G) song with mandolin was an easy win with everyone joining in on harmonies and percussion, an unaccompanied song Crazy Heart seemed to hit the mark; Fingerpuppet, a last minute choice wasn't so good, I felt like I threw it away, but two out of three. Sam did a set of his favourite covers, intense and committed. Divine Comedy's Songs of Love was my favourite. Nelson came along to do another final farewell to the Wright Brothers (we enjoyed the last one so much we did it again); I'll miss him and our 'light and quirky' repetoire a lot. By the time Jim did his set, including songs by the Decemberists and Elbow, the place was filling up. The Helpers came on at 11, cheered by some kilted Scotland supporters emblazoned with the saltire across their chests like rather portly superheroes. It wasn't actually the Helpers who got the cheers, it was Mary, justifiably the visual focus of the band. Particularly as the restricted space in the Captain's had her dominating the stage area and the audience area. We played a 50-minute set, hampered by the failure of the guitar amp we'd borrowed, but still we connected with the audience and particularly some people who weren't already friends, which is why you do it. When music is going right, everything else goes right. Thanks to everyone who made last night so good.
Now, packing and off to Budapest.
October 9, 2011 in My music | Permalink
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