Blog Index

Home

Latest Post

WHAT I WAS DOING WHEN THE NEW YEAR RANG IN:

Yeah, yeah, technically Artist's Retreat ‐ Staycation 2024 spills over into the new year, but we're gonna keep this simple and not fret over silly, minor points. I think Artist's Retreat ‐ Staycation 2023 spilled over into 2024, too. So, big deal.

Meanwhile, last evening into early this morning, I recorded the second MIDI strings part and another percussion part, this time double bass drums, for the winter season song. The recording of both was planned, though I wasn't sure exactly what MIDI instrument voices I would use. It took me a while to find the right string voice because I needed something that would blend well with the instrumentation that was already there.

I had some hope that I would record an instrument solo during this session, or at least start working one out, but I have yet to find a MIDI voice that speaks to me as right for the song as it's shaping up. I could do a bass guitar solo, using my new DigiTech Bass Whammy Pitch Shift Bass Pedal, but that wasn't in the plans for this song, and, believe it or not, it doesn't seem like the right choice for this song. I'll probably put a bass line in it, but even a solo where the bass has a traditional sound to it doesn't feel right for this one.

THE GUILD'S NEXT OPEN AUDITIONS:

The audition specs for The Guild mounting of Chancers, by Robert Massey are now posted.

The open auditions are Feb 3 & 4 at the theatre, starting at 7:00 pm both nights.

Blog Index

Home

Latest Post

ADDING THE SOLO AND BLOWIN' DUST OFF MY BASS:

I'm starting to have a strong affinity for my little winter season song. What started out as a kind of experiment, a game of sorts, has become more substantial or relevant to me. This whole concept of taking a traditional song and reinventing it has yielded an attractive result; well, one that I'm liking, anyway. In fact, as I said, or at least alluded to, in another blog post, what I have now is far removed from the song I used as the springboard. Mine really no longer bears much resemblance to the other, if any.

Late night New Year's day, I added a double-bass drum part, another MIDI voice from Logic Pro X. Then, still in the Logic Pro MIDI world, on into early morning on the Jan 2, I arranged and recorded the solo, a cello. The added percussion and the cello solo brought something new to the song; they engendered the new affection I'm feeling for the work. I wasn't displeased with the song beforehand, but when I listened to playback, I heard the whole recording with a different ear.

Yesterday I pulled out my Epiphone Viola Bass, which, if you notice on the left, happens to be the bass featured in the "K.L. On Bass" icon. I worked out a large portion of the bass line for the song, but I still have a lot left to work out. At this point the bass part is rather bland and I will change that. There are sections that need to be simple and straightforward, but I also want to have some nice counter-melodic spots and some good bass fills and I've hardley begun to create those moments.

Bottom line, once again I am OUT OF PRACTICE ! The last time I played any of my basses, which was both this Viola bass and my Epiphone Embassy Pro, was when I wrote and recorded the theme music for the promo trailer for the Dayton Theatre Guild production of Wednesday's Child; that was in the late autumn of 2023! So, once again I have to reacquaint my hands and my mind with the frets of my guitar.

Yes, I have gone more than a damned year without even pulling any bass out of its case, much less doing anything close to woodshedding. It's really pretty shameful and why I don't get to call myself a "bassist" ‐‐ "bass player" is barely justified. Needless to say, I wasn't ready to record the bass line yesterday. We'll see if it can happen today: maybe, maybe not....

Also needless to say, I haven't gotten to the vocal, or possibly vocals, yet. I do hear a melody in my head but I don't think it's what will end up in the song, at least not as it is. In a word, what I hear at the moment is pretty unimpressive, one might even say boring. At least it's not at all based on the melody of the traditional song I used as the springboard for this song, so that's the right idea. But other than that, what I end up composing when I get to it needs to be far more interesting than what's holding the place in line in my head right now. I'd love to have it created and recorded before this artist's retreat ends, but that's tomorrow night, and I don't see me getting there. For one thing, not only will I probably run out of time, I'm also feeling a little congested so I may need to get that cleared up first.

Blog Index

Home

Latest Post

RECAPPING:

The view out my front door, late morning today. It's not easy to tell, but there is snow fall in the photo, but the flakes are fine. They've been falling for quite a while, though, so....

Last evening my little staycation retreat technically came to a close and today I was supposed to back in the world of the rent-payer. However, I get another day off from the rent-payer because of the heavy snow we are experiencing in all of the Ohio Valley, so Artist's Retreat ‐ Staycation 2024 may have gotten a one day extension; and since it's late morning and still snowing, that potential extension might just expand to two days. But eventually I'll have to go back to work, and sooner than I'd prefer. Well, at least I don't hate my job, but I gotta tell ya, were it not for the size of my debt, I would be a retired guy and the "artist's retreat" would be the normal state of things. But I do have that debt and I am not retired, so the retreat will soon be over regardless of weather-related extensions.

The retreat has not been as prolific as I had hoped and planned, but I knew I had put a lot on the agenda, and these days I am doing what I can to not stress about things. These days I see many things to be stressed over, so I adopted a breath-deep-&-chill attitude about whatever artistic progress I made or did not make over the last fifteen and a half days. And there was a lot on the agenda that did not get done, that I didn't even get to.

There was no movie editing. There are two DV movies at the top of that list. First, there's a performance of Campaigns Inc. by Will Allan, which I had shot during the run at The Guild for Will so he could see the production of his play mounted in his home town; he could not get to Dayton from L.A. because he works for the Los Angeles Dodgers and they were in the World Series, so he couldn't get off work. The Dodgers were up against and reigned over the New York Yankees, by-the-way. Obviously Will knows I shot the footage, since I needed his permission, and he's probably wondering just exactly when he'll get the damned final cut! I also have footage I shot three years ago for a music video for one the pieces off my first album to be released, Virtually Approximate Subterfuge. It's the instrumental, "Cozy Anxious Chaos." There are a couple other miscellanies DV movies to edit together, but they are lower priorities.

The few people who frequent, or at least sometimes visit, this blog ‐‐ those people affectionately known as "you five regulars" ‐‐ may know that I have two full albums on the back-burner that need mixing and/or mastering. One of them is an album of ambient music, which only needs to be mastered, actually: remastered. This remastering could be done in less than an hour, so don't ask me why I didn't get to it during the retreat; clearly it was a matter of not being focused on it. I was so honed in on the 2025 Music Adventure that it missed my radar screen. Same for the other album project, which I recorded in the mid-eighties; that one needs both mixed and mastered. It also needs a bass guitar line recorded for one song, and there are a couple others that don't have a bass line that I'm considering adding such to.

I also had intentions to get back to the manuscript for my full-length play. I haven't worked on it for months now. During this retreat I did do a little bit of work on the story bible for the characters who inhabit the universe of the play. Yet, even that was not a significant amount of work.

If you didn't already know, the artistic focal point of the retreat has been the new music project (er, um, "ADVENTURE"), and all of that focus has been on the winter season song that was intended to be completely done, with a music video up on my YouTube channel on Christmas Day. It became more of a project ("ADVENTURE") than I'd originally conceived, and taking the new direction derailed the December 25 deadline. There was some hope for it to be finished by the end of the retreat, but that was a pipedream, too. It'll surely be mixed and mastered before winter is up, or it can be. But now I'm considering holding off any sort of public release until whenever the album is released, which may or may not be in 2025.

To catch anyone up, the song is loosely based on a traditional Christmastime song, that people associate with the holiday but actually is a song for the winter season. Using the lyrics and the chord progression of the original as a template, I have significantly reinvented both elements and I now have something completely different. Thus far, I've laid down twelve tracks. I should point out that two of those tracks are the stereo signal from my Legato III piano, set on its PAD voice. Most of what I've recorded are Logic Pro MIDI voices: some sort of percussive voice, or some sort of string voice, all played on my M-Audio Oxygen Keyboard.

Saturday night I recorded the last track laid so far: the bass line. I used my Epiphone Viola Bass, which is basically a knockoff of the Höffner Violin Bass, made famous by Paul McCartney.

Read this past Saturday's blog post, above, and you'll read me whining about being terribly out of practice on the bass, because, well, I don't practice. But I still managed to work out a bass line that I am happy about. It works, and honestly, it works quite well. It'd be great if my chops were better, even if they were up par with how they've been at various times in the past. That way I could have thrown in a a fancier fill here and there that's at an elevated skill level. But the song doesn't call for virtuoso work from someone like Geddy Lee or Flea, or Paul. It's probably much better that it's a simple part; that probably serves the song much better.

I did not employ my new Bass Whammy Pitch Shift Pedal for this song. However, I did run my bass through my Bass Chorus Pedal. I also hooked my Super Octave pedal into the daisy-chain, to get an octave note doubling below, but I ended up turning that pedal off. It's a great effect, but after only a few minutes of playing, I recognized that it's not the right effect for this song. I also could have used the Whammy the same way, but I didn't pull it out because it's a new toy and I need to acquaint myself with it, and I didn't want to take the time Saturday night. It would have been time wasted, anyway, since I nixed the effect.

I have neither fully worked out, nor done any recording of, any vocals for the song. As written before, I have the idea about the melody but it's not developed. I do know that there will be more than one vocal part; I have a solid concept for the vocal arrangement. I did not work on it yesterday because, again, referring to Saturday's post, I was still a little congested yesterday and my throat was a little bit scratchy. I wanted those issues gone before I sing. especially that budding sore throat. I also had quite a bit of back-logged housework to attend to, still do. Yesterday was mostly about that.

So, though Artist's Retreat ‐ Staycation 2024 technically ended last night, it may have ended about 1:30 yesterday morning, when I was wiping my Viola bass down before closing the lid on its guitar case. During the day, yesterday, I could have worked on some arts thing not related to music, or related to another music "ADVENTURE," but, seriously, some of my housework was terribly overdue, some still is.

But since I'm likely to be in the apartment the rest of the day, that extension may happen. Some artsy thing is not unlikely to be accomplished, and, if so, it's a reasonable bet it would be at least the start of this vocal work, because my voice seems to have rallied some today. I'll probably at least test my voice out.

I should probably note that though not much related to Artist's Retreat ‐ Staycation 2024, if at all related, I also did do a few things pertaining to Dayton Theatre Guild business. The big one was that a couple days back I went to the theatre to make sure the sound system in the tech booth was put back to the correct configuration after the last show closed. A temporary system was set up for that show. Also During the retreat, I've done a certain small amount of producer's and sound designer's work for the next Guild show, Tracy Letts' The Minutes.

ANNOUNCING THE 2025/2026 SEASON:

We are also putting out the call for directors for the season.

Those interested can find the directors application, on-line here.

The deadline to submit the application is February 1, 2025*
(Addendum: deadline extended to Feb 7, 2025)

For all questions concerning the Director's call, contact Jared Mola.

And Here is The Season:

1) A RAISIN IN THE SUN
by Lorraine Hansberry
Performance dates: August 22-September 9, 2025
Auditions: July 7 & 8, 2025
[4 women, 6 men (& moving men)]

Set in Chicago's South Side in the 1950's, this is about the divergent dreams and conflicts in three generations of the Younger family: son Walter Lee, his wife Ruth, his sister Beneatha, his son Travis, and matriarch Lena. When her deceased husband's insurance money comes through, Mama Lena dreams of moving to a new home and a better neighborhood in Chicago. Walter Lee, a chauffeur, has other plans: buying a liquor store and being his own man. Beneatha dreams of medical school. Hansberry's portrait of one family's struggle to retain dignity in a harsh and changing world is a searing and timeless document of hope and inspiration. It was the first play by an African American woman to win a Pulitzer Prize.

2) DIAL "M" FOR MURDER
by Frederick Knott
Performance Dates: October 10-26, 2025
Auditions: August 25 & 26, 2025
[1 woman, 5 men]

Tony Wendice plots to murder his wealthy wife, Margot, for her money by hiring a criminal to strangle her, but his plan goes awry, forcing him to manipulate the situation to frame her. But Margot engages a clever, quick-witted detective from Scotland Yard who uncovers the truth, leading to a suspenseful climax where Tony's guilt is exposed.

*Season Extra) LIGHT SENSITIVE
by Jim Geoghan
Performance dates: December 5-14, 2025
Auditions: October 13 & 14, 2025
[1 woman, 2 men]

Thomas Hanratty, lifelong resident of Hell's Kitchen and once the most dangerous white cab driver in New York, was blinded eight years ago in a drunken accident and is fading into a routine of self pity and alcohol. His bartender and only friend is moving to Vermont with his girlfriend, but finds it difficult to abandon Tom. He recruits a slightly handicapped volunteer reader who battles her way through Tom's shell. By the second act, they are falling in love. His buddy returns with tales of his "Christmas from hell" in Vermont, and doubt arises as to who will hold the number one position in Tom's life.

3) MARY JANE
by Amy Herzog
Performance dates: January 30-February 15, 2026
Auditions: December 8 & 9, 2025
[5 women]

Mary Jane navigates both the mundane and the unfathomable realities of caring for Alex, her chronically ill young son. She finds herself building a community of women from many walks of life, and dealing with all of life's realities. Mary Jane is Pulitzer Prize finalist Amy Herzog's remarkably powerful and compassionate portrait of a contemporary American woman striving for grace. It ran on Broadway a t the Manhattan Theatre Club during the 2023/2024 season.

4) I LOVE YOU BECAUSE
Book/Lyrics by Ryan Cunningham; Music by Joshua Salzman
Performance dates: March 27-April 12, 2026
Auditions: February 2 & 3, 2026
[3 women, 3 men]

This musical from the mid-2000's is a twist on Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. A young, uptight greeting card writer's life is changed when he meets a flighty photographer. Along with their eccentric friends and siblings, they learn to love each other, not despite their faults, but because of them.

5) THE BEACON
by Nancy Harris
Performance dates: May 22-June 7, 2026
Auditions: March 30 & 31, 2026
[2 women, 3 men]

Beiv, a renowned artist, has left her suburban Dublin home for a secluded cottage on a rugged island off the coast of West Cork, Ireland. Here, there is no escaping the rumors of her shadowy past, and Beiv lets everyone see right in because she's having an extension made to the home, and many of the walls are missing. She and her visiting son have a chilly relationship at best -- and there is also the question of whether Beiv really did kill her husband. This play r an Off-Broadway with a limited run, and closed in November, 2024.

Blog Index

Home

Latest Post

ANOTHER STEP FORWARD, AND PERHAPS A SIDESTEP:

In what ended up being a one-day extension of Artist's Retreat ‐ Staycation 2024, last Monday evening I started to really attack the composing of the lead-vocal melody line.

Remember that I've had the basic idea for the melody but wanted it to be more interesting than what was popping in as my instinctual reaction to the instrumentation. I haven't recorded the vocal yet though. I still had a bit of congestion and sore throat Monday, so my vocal ability wasn't up to snuff, for one thing. I also wasn't yet satisfied with the melody line. I'm still not.

Monday was the last time I worked on the vocal line, at least directly. I have since further conceived of the vocal accompaniments, including a rough idea of a multi-part harmony arrangement for the end of the song, as well as others for some of the transition bridges between verse and chorus and chorus and verse. I've also done more tweaks to the lyrics.

I'm not sure when I'll get back to recording on this song, but my plan is sometime during this week. I have theatre stuff drawing my time and attention away. Plus, my voice/throat is still not in the best shape, and the single and low double-digit temperatures outside haven't been an aide.

Another thought is that since I'm leaning more and more toward not releasing this to the public until the album is released, (i.e.: as a song on the album as its first exposure), I may put it aside and go back to do more work on the first song started for this new musical venture. Maybe I should pull out the Embassy Pro and start playing with my new toy, the DigiTech Bass Whammy Pitch Shift Bass Pedal, which absolutely will be utilized on that first song started.


Director Melissa Kerr Ertsgaard reports that she is pleased with the progress of rehearsals.

Meanwhile, I have started the soundwork

Blog Index

Home

Latest Post

Blog Index

Home

Latest Post

STILL STEPPED TO THE SIDE:

Though I wouldn't label the project dormant, I have not directly worked on either song that has been started for the new album for a little while.

What I have done is given various musical elements of both some thought. I've thought a bit about the approach to the vocals for the winter season song, both the lead vocal and supporting vocals. I don't have any plans to add any further instrumentation to that one, either; once the vocals are wrapped, the recording sessions are wrapped. And until I have eliminated, or at least greatly tamed, this chest congestion and sore throat, both that have been at minor levels for a few weeks now, I don't want to tackle the vocal work.

For the other song, the first one I started, the one that is an expansion of a piece of scene transition music I composed for the DTG production of Wednesday's Child by Mark St. Germain, I've been making decisions about the bass line. But, no, I have not pulled out a bass yet to work on the line. All the bass work on that will be with the Embassy Pro, by the way.

Also, a few days back, I got an idea for a new song and have one little segment of lyrics written.

HEADED TOWARD OPENING NIGHT ‐‐ & TICKET RECIPROCITY WITH DPH:

The cast, by-the-way, is really delivering. Some performances are already exceptional.

The soundwork is pretty much done, and was by the Wednesday dry tech. A few sound cues have been cut, based on the mood of the moments where they were to be executed. And, of course, volume levels will adjusted and adjusted, then adjusted again, all the way up the moments after Final Dress, I'm sure. I don't know that it's likely, but more sound cues could get cut.

Ticket Reciprocity ‐‐ A really lovely thing that has started to spring up in the Dayton non-professional theatre community is a practice of ticket reciprocity between two or more theatres.

The theatres offer a discount, usually $5, to any audience member who brings a ticket stub or some other proof of attendance at the current production at the partner theatre. It's a great idea and for this production, The Guild has paired up with Dayton Playhouse's production of Avenue Q., which opened this past Friday.

Following is the text of the DTG blurb about the partnership:

Dayton Theatre Guild/Dayton Playhouse cross-discount ticket deal Been hangin' out on Ave. Q? Or are ya plannin' on it? Or maybe you're gonna check out that crazy town council meeting in the middle-America town of Big Cherry. If you go to one, you can save five bucks when you then come to the other. Bring the mounting of THE MINUTES, at Dayton Theatre Guild, a ticket stub from your attendance at the Dayton Playhouse production of AVENUE Q, and we'll give you $5.00 off your purchase of our ticket. And if you haven't yet been to AVENUE Q. when you see THE MINUTES, we'll give you a slip to verify your attendance with us and you'll get $5.00 off your AVENUE Q. ticket. Puppets with an edge on the wrong side of the tracks and peculiar small town folk keeping some kind of secret.... come visit them both.

Blog Index

Home

Latest Post

SOME 25/26 STAGE ACTING?:

One of the roles I plan to audition for will have at least two other actors I know of who will be big competition if they audition, and either is more likely to be cast than I. It's not that I think they'd do a better job than me, it's that I know the climate of local theatre and that both are favored for such a role. I'm still auditioning though. I'm more than welcome being wrong about the odds.

I may also throw my hat in to direct one of the shows that has a role I'm interested in. If I do that and end up directing it, I obviously would not audition, nor would I cast myself. In my mind that's tacky. Well, I guess there are circumstances where it's not tacky. But in most cases it seems to me a pretty lame vanity move. Plus, it's a task to act in a project when you're directing it, especially if it's the lead role or a substantial supporting role.

Another fine production at The Guild launches tonight. Once again, if you're local or will be in the Dayton, Ohio area between now and Feb 16, you should check it out.

Click here for the promotional trailer of the show

Blog Index

Home

Latest Post

MOVE OVER GEDDY LEE ‐‐ YEAH!...RIGHT!
(snicker, snicker):

For a few weeks now, I've been battling some chest congestion and a minor sore throat, and in the last several days the congestion has spread to my nasal cavity. So, for a while, I've put off all the vocal work for the second song that I've started for the new music venture, that being the winter season song. Other than the vocals, I don't have plans to add anything else to the arrangement. When I finally lay the vocals, the sessions for this song are over, which I think I've written before.

In the meantime, I've returned to the first song for the project, the one that is an expansion of a short piece of reoccurring scene transition music I composed for the production of Wednesday's Child by Mark St. Germain, mounted at DTG in late 2023.

This weekend, I started the bass work. I used my Embassy Bass, running straight into the 24-Track recorder. I worked on the bass line with a daisy-chain from the bass to the recorder that had my Overdrive/Distortion and Super Octave pedals in between. I got the basis of the bass line composed on Saturday and honed it a bit yesterday. I'm not sure I am finished creating it and thus far what I've composed will take some woodshedding for me to execute well, which I don't think is a bad thing. Writing a part that's a little bit beyond my current skillset is a great way to grow as a musician ‐‐ to be honest, in this case, I'd say it's a way to get back to a level I once was at, because I am more than confident there was a time in my life when playing well the line I'm creating would not have been a challenge at all. But, hey, any step forward is a step forward, evcen if it's recovering ground.

I'm not sure when I'll be ready to record this bass line; I'm hoping I can do it Wednesday evening, but that may not be realistic. My evenings today and tomorrow are occupied by the auditions at The Guild, in the role of producer, so the most I'll be able to do is spend maybe an hour or less right before bed rehearsing what's been composed, and maybe tweaking it a bit. Though tonight is a bit iffy; I'm calling in sick to work today and likely spending much of the day conked out in bed, so I may not even be at the auditions tonight, though I'm going to make the attempt; I'm hopping a few hours of rest will work for me. At any rate, I'm not sure the bass work will be in shape to record on Wednesday, neither in terms of a finished arrangement of the part nor my ability to play it with the finess it should have.

There will be at least two more parts played on the Embassy bass too. I will record a chorded rhythm part and I have a concept for that, something new for me, though I doubt it's anything that has not been done before. I also will finally start playing with my new toy, the Whammy Pitch Shift Pedal, to lay down the lead solo, and maybe some more chords. I did what I call "faux lead guitar" work on the Virtually Approximate Subterfuge album, by playing a bass solo on the upper parts of the neck, then bumping it up an octave during the mixing process; the point in getting the bass whammy pedal is that one of its key features is that it will bump the octave in real time as one is playing ‐‐ convenient for the studio and essential if I ever play live and decide to not hand over a faux guitar solo to the actual guitarist, though there are ones I absolutely would hand over.

I still do not have lyrics for this one and still only a vague idea of what they might end up being about. And the subject matter will potentially change, providing that my warrior-muse queen whispers a brilliant alternative into my ear.

COME PLAY ON THE GUILD STAGE:

The cast is two males, two females. If you're seeing this in time, (i.e.: before auditions close on Feb 4, 2025) there's a permanent link not far below that will take you to the current DTG audition specs.

Hope to see you there!

Blog Index

Home

Latest Post

STILL LOOKING FOR ACTORS WHO WANNA PLAY ON THE GUILD STAGE:

The cast is two males, two females. We are especially interested in reading more men, but more women would also be good. If you're seeing this before auditions close tonight, there's a permanent link not far below that will take you to the current DTG audition specs.

Blog Index

Home

Latest Post

PROGRESS, YES. PERFECTION?...NO:

For the record, this animated png is capturing probably only about the first fourth of the run section I'm practicing in the image. I also play the D and G strings, but that's not shown in the image sequence. At the risk of seeming terribly self-involved, I think it's still a cool image.

I wrote in the last entry about this venture how I was doubtful I'd be ready by last night to record the bass line for the first song started from the new album sessions, and I was 100% correct. I already knew I was likely not finished composing the bass line; as it turns out I am farther from completion than I knew at the time of the Feb 3 post. I also wrote that I was going to have to step up my musicianship some to skillfully execute the bass line as it was already composed; I underestimated that, too.

Last night I worked on the bass line, both rehearsing what I've thus far created and experimenting with that composition. In terms of the arrangement, I like where I'm going with the composition but I'm not fully satisfied; what I have is not an exact fit to the mood and feel I want for the music. And, as I've previously written, some of what I've come up with so far is a challenge for me to play at my current skill level ‐‐ which, as I've also already written, is below the abilities I had in an earlier time, when I was playing no less than an hour or two every day of the week, at least on average. Last night I upped the game with some modifications of runs in certain sections of the song.

I had to run those sections a bit to get anything close to smooth performance. I'd then run the whole song and it was a sloppy mess each time, though the last several times, less so. During the day, today, in my head, I've come up with variations on the runs that I know will be a challenge when I give them a try tonight. But I'm going to push though, goddamnit and master these runs.

I am determined not to get impatient then wimp out and go with something easier for the sake of expedience. If it takes me a few sessions, or a lot of session, to get this whole bass line as I want it to be, and to be able to play it well from start to finish, then however many sessions takes is how many will happen. I've decided that's the creed for the whole album. It's why I'm putting off the vocals for the other song that's been started: I'm not doing those until my voice is in shape to perform the vocals at the higher level I want.

Back on my bass playing, Sunday evening, as I was working out some of the more difficult bass runs in this first song, I took a break and posted the following to facebook:

What I have in common with Geddy Lee: 1. sometimes I have a bass guitar strapped around me 2. I rarely use a pick when I play 3. I know how to keep my bass in tune 4. that's pretty much it.....

One of my theatre friends, Abby, who is also a musician and often plays the bass herself for musicals, asked if I didn't also sing while playing. I replied that I did in my youth, but in these recent years all I've done is record, where I sing on tracks after recording all the instrumentation. So I'm not sure I can sing and play some of those bass lines at the same time ‐‐ at least not without the kind of woodshedding I'm currently doing. I then wrote: "I'm actually composing a bass line for a new recording right now, this very day, and I'm keeping in mind the fact that I may someday be singing it and playing at the same time. So I'm going more for the Tina Weymouth route of a simpler but effective bass line, at least during the vocal sections ‐‐ *as if any of my bass lines are as highly technical and complex as Geddy's!" That's basically still true. The challenging stuff I'm working out is in instrumental sections of the piece. The bass lines during the verses are much simpler. By-the-way, I am not equating my playing-level to Tina's, but if I were to catch up to either Geddy or Tina, I'm gonna get to Ms. Weymouth WAY before I get to Mr. Lee.

Yeah, I am taking my time working on things for this "2025 Music Adventure," which may mean that, as well as having technically began in 2024, it very well may spill over into 2026. But I intend for there to be much growth creatively and as a musician, and, hell, as a vocalist ‐‐ I can get back at least some of that vocal finess from my youth.

One last note: that line I'm running in the animated png, above, was pretty damned sloppy, if I recall, so it probably looks more impressive than it was.

THE CAST OF CHANCERS:

Here is the cast:

CHARACTER		ACTOR
Aiden		Dustin Schwab
Dee		Carly Risenhoover-Peterson
J.P.		Jack O'Connor
Gertie		Cheryl Mellen

Blog Index

Home

Latest Post

THE BASS LINE THAT DOESN'T KILL YOU MAKES YOU BETTER:

The bass line for the first new song is still the game "in the music room," as it were. It's been the focus all week. The composition of the part is at something like 98% complete. Any changes will be to add variations to the difficult sections to make them more musically interesting. First, however, I have master playing the damned sections; and I have to get to a point where I can play the whole bass line, from start to finish with smooth proficiency; then I'll start tweaking the difficult sections with some variation.

In my rehearsals of the bass line I've been running the whole song, with each run still being a clumsy mess because of those difficult sections, and that sometimes I completely blow. It's been gradually becoming less of a clumsy mess, but it's definitely a prime example of "Progress, Not Perfection." I've also spent time woodshedding each of the difficult sections, just running each of those repeatedly, then moving on. Again, improvement, but in relative terms. The mountain is a mile in front of me and I have trudge one-hundred yards. One-hundred yards is good; it's a lot. But there are 1660 yards left to go. That's how I feel. And here's the reality check for me: For any really competent, seasoned bass player, these sections would not be a challenge. I have a pretty big ego, but I'm not delusional.

One other little tweak I've made is that in certain parts of the song I'm turning the Overdrive/Distortion pedal off, though I'm leaving the Super Octave pedal on, although I've pulled back the intensity of the low octave addition to the bass sound. It's there and it effective, but it's not as pronounced as it was. It's now a more subtle, deep flavoring to the color of the bass tone.

Another thing I've realized over the last several days is that I need to do at least a partial setup of my Embassy Pro bass. The intonation is a bit off. The octave fret notes are slightly out of tune with the open strings, so the notes are slightly out of tune with each other in different areas of the neck of the guitar. I need to address this, and it's on my agenda for tonight. It's been a while since I've done any setup on the Embassy, or the Viola Bass, for that matter. It was during the COVID shutdown, I do believe. I mostly remember how to do it, but there are also a couple good How-To YouTube videos that will be helpful. I certainly want to get this addressed before I record the bass line, whenever the hell I'll be ready to do that! Won't hurt to do a little setup work on the Viola Bass while I'm at it, either.

---

On another front of this song, I have written one stanza of a verse. At the moment I have it positioned as the first stanza of the second verse, because it seems like, or feels like, it's a followup to a main idea that will be established in the first verse. That idea is still a bit vague but it's starting to come into focus. Right now it appears that the working title might become the official title, and that the vague, original concept for the song will remain, to be focused and refined.

THE NEXT SOUNDWORK:

Soundwork has begun. It looks like there'll be twelve sound cue executions, not counting preshow/intermission music.

Blog Index

Home

Latest Post

I'M NOT A GUITAR TECHNICIAN, I JUST TRIED IT AT HOME:

I worked on the partial setup of my Embassy Pro bass last night, but ran into a snag. I couldn't get the E string intonation adjusted. The screw on the bridge would not turn far enough for me to get the octave E (at the twelfth fret) to flatten down to a perfect octave. I believe the truss rod needs adjusted, too, and I am a bit reluctant to tackle that. I'm considering taking the bass to an experienced guitar technician. I may call some local guitar techs, or guitar tech services, and at least get some price quotes. I might also spend a bit of time with the plethora of How-To YouTube videos, as well, and maybe give a fuller DIY setup a try, including adjusting the truss rod. The good news is that the Embassy's intonation is overall better, but it's not really where it should be. And I should check the intonation on my Viola Bass, too.

After I abandoned the intonation adjustments, last night, I rehearsed the first song's bass line. I'm glad to report I'm gaining ground on those difficult sections, still have a ways to go to get to smooth proficiency, still some sloppiness and stumbling. But it's getting better!

---

And back at that proverbial ranch, more lyrics have been written for song 1, which solidifies the workshop title as the official title for the song. The three stanzas of the first verse are now written. And that original stanza, written over the weekend, is staying in the second verse, at least right now, but has moved down in the verse.

LEONE, CLEM, UPTON, CHARLIE, THE ROOSEVELTS, ET AL, WILL, THE ACTORS & THE CREW, AND ME:

Once again I'm playing catch up to get this "little" essay out into the ethernet. The show closed last October 20 and we're almost a full two months into the new year as this finally gets posted. What can I say, the plate gets a little cluttered from time to time (oftentimes). It was mid-November, 2024 when I begin to write this. When the show opened, and before that, it was already clear how painfully relevant the story of Leone Baxter and her partner, and eventual husband, Clem Whitaker, et al, is to present-day American politics. That relevance was one of the reasons this play was considered for October of 2024 on The Guild stage. Now, for me and millions of others ‐‐ we Americans who stand against fascism, have a righteous moral compass, and command some measure of wisdom ‐‐ the pain of that relevance is torturously agonizing. Baxter and Whitaker have a low-key culpability in this deep-gray American world being ushered in, especially Leone. As our playwright, Will Allan, noted in a Zoom session with our cast and crew, Ms. Baxter is one of the most important politcal minds of the twentieth century, and yet, very few have ever heard of her. I would add to that, that she is also one of the most unfortunately important political minds of the twentieth century. Her contribution has been to the detriment of a healthy democracy.

But much of the above discussion is far beyond the scope of this post mortem. This essay should focus on the production, itself, its execution, its process, and with an emphasis on the successes and failures of the director. First, though, I should give well-deserved credit to Will Allan for his great, well-written script. It's intelligent and funny and, as alluded to above, terribly, even horribly, germane to present times.

Between the well-written script and my wonderful cast, this was not a difficult production to direct. The biggest challenge was blocking the damn thing, as is always the case on our three-quarter thrust stage. And my biggest personal critique of my directing here was the blocking. There were places where various parts of the audience got cheated for too long of periods of time, during various scenes. At least it was different parts of the audience at different times rather than one section getting cheated all through the show. Though I wouldn't say the blocking was horrible, it was definitely the weak link of the production. Blocking on that stage is always a tricky proposition, and as familiar with that space as I am, as a director I am yet to achieve what can be called total mastery of that particular issue.

The major reason for the success of our production was the Campaigns, Inc. company that was built. I had a talented assemblage of stage manager, designers, actors, technicians, and stage crew.

I had one of the best SMs in the local theatre community, Shannon Fent. She's been doing it for a while and she knows her stuff. Red Newman gave me a lovely, if simple, scenic design; I think a far simpler design than would have been to his liking; but he worked within the parameters of the restrictions I put on him and gave me as interesting a set as he could under my restraints. Though there was again no need for anything terribly elaborate, the lighting design, by Marjorie Strader was perfect for the show's needs. We got the usual well-researched costuming from Carol Finley; as well, we got more well-done dramaturgy from Heather Atkinson and Sarah Saunders to meet our period properties ‐‐ including Heather's great find of a prop movie projector. Scott Madden was our producer.

And the sound designer didn't do too badly, either. Although, the sound needs were not exactly demanding: a tiny handful of sound effects and period music for preshow, intermission, and production.

The show was fortunate to have a strong ensemble cast, too:

Stephanie Henry as Leone Baxter Dustin Schwab as Clem Whitaker David Shough as Upton Sinclair Matt Lindsay as Charlie Chaplin Jim Walker as Frank Merriam Ryan Hester as George Hatfield Jamie McQuinn as FDR, Photographer, Douglas Fairbanks, Kyle Palmer, Louis B. Mayer, and the voice of Ty Cobb Carly Risenhoover-Peterson as Eleanor Roosevelt, Mary Pickford, and Waitress Sandy Lemming as Reporter (on stage) cameo appearances in the propoganda film that was shown during each performance: David Williamson as Real Person 1 Heather Atkinson as Real Person 2 Ryan Hester* as Foley Operator Donny Dorko Spelvan as Reporter (on screen) *) The movie was shot before most of the actors for the live stage performance had been cast. Ryan was not cast yet as Hatfield, and at that point, had no plans to be in the production on stage.

I'm not going to bother singling any of the cast out because everyone was on top of their games and gave the script and the production what was needed from them in a stellar manner.

We had a great crew working in the tech booth and back stage:

Rhea Smith ‐ light tech Sarah Saunders ‐ sound tech (her other hat for the show) The run crew: Emma Allington Sandy Lemming (her other hat for the show) Abby Williams

In fact, the whole cast helped with stage-hand work, at various points during the performances, helping the run crew strike and place set pieces and props. That's quite common in theatre productions, and I love how the actors are more than willing to do such so-called "grunt work," even in professional productions; although on an Equity stage I believe an Equity actor is only allowed to if they are exiting from the previous scene (i.e. can help strike a set piece or prop) or will be in the scene being set (can move something on). I once brought a set piece on stage at a LORT theatre, when I was in neither such scene, but I'm an EMC actor, so that union rule doesn't apply. At any rate, I love the spirit of teamwork and collaboration involved here. Yet, as a director, I would prefer that my cast didn't need to have such responsibility. Go figure. But, for me, during this show, it was about the practicality of how many crew members we had measured against what human resources some of the scene changes needed ‐‐ enter: "team work."

As most of you reading this may know, our playwright, Will Allan, is a native Daytonian, and he was thrilled that his play was being mounted in his home town. He had every intention of flying in from the west coast for a performance. We were even planning on a talkback, probably after the Saturday, October 19, 5 p.m. show.

However, Will's citizen job, his "rent-payer," is with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and they were on their way to the 2024 MLB World Series against the New York Yankees. He works in the PR department, so getting vacation time off was simply not going to happen for him. By the way, if you're not already aware, the Dodgers won the series.

In order to keep him from completely missing out on the home-town production, I offered to make a DV movie of one of the performances, for which Will readily granted me permission to do; and why wouldn't he? As it turned out, I shot that Oct. 19 performance that would have been the likely day of the talkback. I did a four-camera shoot. There were three cameras in the booth\ ‐‐ one placed on the stage right part of the booth window, angled to POV the shot up to the up left corner of the stage area, one positioned exactly oposite of that, and one centered in the booth to catch more of the centralized action on stage. That third one was actually capturing the monitor image of the stage we always send to the greenroom and lobby TVs during performances. I sat in the audience, up stage right of the thrust, to get better shots of particular scenes or parts of scenes where actors were facing in that general direction, especially at key moments.

Now all I gotta do is sit down with the five-some hours of footage and edit the show together for Will. And gee, it's only been almost four months since the show closed!

I have at least migrated all the footage onto an external harddrive and have looked through it to see that I have good footage. But I had a weird experience when I was migrating that footage back in October or November. Three of the four cameras that caught that Oct. 19 performance were, as explained above, in fixed positions on tripods in the tech booth. Only one camera was moving positions during the show, the camera in my hands. Yet, as I was looking at the footage, there were shot setups on some of those stationary cameras that were contrary to the setups for this shoot. It was a WTF moment for me, for sure. My first thought was that maybe the booth techs had messed with the setups for some reason, even though none of the three cameras were in either of their ways. But that didn't seem likely for a couple of reasons: first, neither of them would do such a thing, and second, some of the setups could not achieve such angles from the booth. Then it dawned on me: these setups were footage from the show's promo trailer. I hadn't deleted that footage, from Tech Week, off the cameras! Thusly, "WTF!" became "DUH!"

My DOH! moment with the DV footage aside, my take is that the DTG production of Campaigns, Inc. was a success and added to what has thus-far been another stellar season for the theatre. I am most happy with the work of my cast and crew, and I'm most-ly happy with my work as the director.

I've thrown in my hat to direct at The Guild next season; we'll see soon if I get to put that director's hat on again in 25/26.

Blog Index

Home

Latest Post

Blog Index

Home

Latest Post

A pROGRESS REPORT:

Maybe I'm being a tad self-critical here but here's a progress report, with an emphasis on the lowercase "p," in terms of the bass line I've been working to master. It's getting better, yet I am most certainly still heavily entrenched in the "progress rather than Perfection" zone. It's seems akin to a rather slow boring of hard wood. As I worked on it last night I felt I was doing better with it, but I am still not at all close to being ready to lay the track. There are still trip-ups and fumbles of those two challenging sections. First of all, I have not mastered playing what is already created for those sections. Second, I cannot get to the variations I want to add until I have mastered them. And the variations will throw another roadblock to having the whole bass line mastered, though I hope not a very difficult roadblock, just a minor slowdown.

One thing I could do is piecemeal the bass line in the recording session by recording these more difficult sections as stand-alone performances, where I punch them in and out. I did that with the bass line for "Cozy Anxious Chaos" on the last album, basically because some of the muscles in my hands, especially my right, plucking hand, didn't have the stamina to play the bass line all the way through the song. It was the last thing recorded for the album and I was impatient to get the sessions wrapped. But I do not want to punch in parts of this bass line for this song. I want to play the damned thing from start to finish with smooth, accomplished proficiency. And though there are absolutely no plans on the horizon for this, I'd like to be able to play all my bass lines to all my songs in live performance in front of an audience ‐‐ if there are lyrics, then while singing, too.

And I want to again emphasize for the few of you readers who may be returning, I'm not trying to master some intrinsically-fantastic, virtuoso-level bass work here. You don't have be Flea, Geddy Lee, or Tony Levin, etc., to play these sections successfully; you just have to be a moderately accomplished player; and you have to be better than I am at this moment. And also as I've written before, I'm pretty sure I was accomplished enough to play this stuff in my youth. But whether I'm woodshedding to regain lost ground or to journey into unchartered territory, this is my current task for "2025 Music Adventure." So, onward I trudge.

Blog Index

Home

Latest Post

COUNTDOWN TO CHICAGO:

The seating chart in this image is a screen capture from last November, so I am highly doubtful many, if any, of those unclaimed seats are still available. The yellow dot within the red circle IS my seat, if you hadn't figured that out: Row D, seat 7, thankyouverymuch.

Just four days away now from seeing Helen Hunt at The Goodman Theatre in Harold Pinter's Betrayal, along with Ian Barford and Robert Sean Leonard. I'm headin' Chicago way on Friday and seeing the show Saturday night. This'll be my first excursion to Chicago, for theatre or otherwise, since before the COVID shutdown. My last trip was to see Jen Silverman's The Roommate at steppenwolf, starring Ora Jones and Sandra Marquez, directed by Phylicia Rashad. By happenstance, I actually ended up directing that one at The Guild, as an on-line, screen/stage hybrid during the lockdown, with Melissa Kerr Ertsgaard and Linda Donald in the cast. It wouldn't be hateful to direct a Guild mounting of Betrayal, either. But then, it would probably be more satisfying to be on stage as Robert ‐‐ 'cause let's face it, I have aged out of playing Jerry in anything but a poorly-cast production. But I'm a bit off the topic, now....So, I head northwest on Friday and I sit in the audience at The Goodman on Saturday night.

Blog Index

Home

Latest Post

STILL ON THAT "PROGRESS" TRACK:

I hadn't rehearsed that troublesome bass line for a few days, and won't get to it while I'm on my mini-vacation, so I put some time in last night. Gladly I can report that I played it last night better than I ever have before, but I am still not at the place where I can record it. But, you know?: ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ progress.

COUNTDOWN TO CHICAGO, PART 2:

Besides seeing Helen Hunt, et al, in Betrayal at The Goodman tomorrow night, on my little weekend vacation, I plan to finally get back to The Art Institute of Chicago. I've not been there since the summer of 2014 ‐‐ almost frickin' eleven years ago! I still won't be able to spend as much time there as I'd like. I'll only have Saturday there, though I intend to get there at the opening and stay until closing. But you really need to spend at least two days there to take it all in, maybe more.

I could do that, go back on Sunday, but instead I believe I'll go to the Field Museum, which for those who don't know, is a museum of natural history. If my wallet would allow, I'd also head to the Sheed Aquarium, right next to The Field, but alas, the budget is already about as tight as it can be for this trip; plus, I'm not sure there'd be enough time on Sunday to fruitfully visit both.

Blog Index

Home

Latest Post

Blog Index

Home

Latest Post

JUST HOW LONG OF A DISTANCE IS THIS DAMNED PLATEAU?:

My "progress rather than Perfection" state with this frickin' bass line I'm woodshedding seems to be in limbo. I have reached a plateau and it's as if the incline to the next level is about as far away as the south border of Texas is from the north border ‐‐ it's 800 miles, by-the-way.

I don't seem to be progressing with these trouble spots, especially the one section. It's rough and fumbling; it's been rough and fumbling. I realize I missed a few days of rehearsing, during my trip to Chicago last weekend, but still, the lack of progress is bothersome. Maybe there is progress, but if so, of late it's been microscopic. As I've written before, it's not as if I've composed some difficult, complex lines in these sections that require a Jaco Pastorius or Geddy Lee to execute! I'm fighting discouragement and focusing on "plugging along."

I will admit that my rehearsal last night was a little better, but that's a relative measurement; if we keep with the north to south Texas border analogy, then last night was a forward gain of maybe a foot or two of that 800 miles, maybe more but not much more. And for the record, the short little movie up over on the left, shot last night, makes me look good, but believe me if there was audio, you'd hear that there are a series of serious clunkers going on in that bass work.

Though woodshedding this confounded bass part will still be a daily routine until I conquer the little bastard, I'm going to work on other instrumentation for the song, too. I need a sense of real, measurable progress on the song, and getting back to actual recording sessions is seriously needed. That's going to start happening later today. I haven't decided yet whether I'll get on the chorded bass part I'm planning (the rhythm guitar part, or parts) or the MIDI-voiced sax part, with a solo during the first musical bridge, the bridge with a bass line I can currently handle. At some point, there'll be the faux guitar solo ‐‐ my first employment of my new Whammy Pitch Shift Bass Pedal, which I've yet to play around with. There will probably be entries here of me bitching about "progress rather than Perfection" working out that "guitar solo," too.

It might not be bad to get a finished set of lyrics sometime soon, as well. I did work on them a little bit yesterday. I didn't add anything but I did rewrite some of the lines already written, a bit of punch-up, if you will.

PREPRODUCTION STUFF:

I've also started to delve into some soundwork, mostly focusing on the curation of the music, preshow, intermission, and production. I listened to a lot of potential music on the drives to and from my mini-vacation, as well as otherwise. There are specific parameters for the artists and the music, a mutual meeting of the minds between myself and Director Marjorie Strader.

AND MORE SOUNDWORK:

Couldn't have the discipline to resist getting some merch ‐‐ my Goodman cap and my Art Institute t-shirt that features Edward Hopper's Nighthawks.

You five regulars and anyone else returning from recent visits will know that last weekend was my mini-vacation in Chicago, where last Saturday I spent most of the day at The Art Institute of Chicago then the evening attending The Goodman Theatre production of Betrayal.

I have a ton of photos from the Art Institue to process and post, as well as some narrative about my day and evening. It's probable that some of the art I photographed this time I also photographed last time I was at the Institute, in 2014; a few I'm sure about and actually retook those photos on purpose. I could have taken five times as many pics, but I restrained myself. I hope my post about the trip is coming soon.

Of course, if you've spent anytime at this blog you may be aware that "COMING SOON!" is more or less a relative term....

Blog Index

Home

Latest Post

STILL TRUDGING THE DAMNED PLATEAU!:

It's appropriate that I find most of the bass line for this song I'm working on to be a reasonably adequate version of Tina-Weymouth-inspired work, because as I think of my "progress" on mastering that bitch section, what I hear is David Byrne's voice saying: "Same as it ever was, same as it ever was, same. as. it. everwas...." It's not EXACTLY the same as it ever was, but remember in the last blog post when I wrote about a "forward gain of maybe a foot or two of...800 miles?" That's definitely the same; though I'm not sure "a foot or two" is accurate; I think maybe more like a few inches. But, goddamnit I am going to play that line as it should be played! I guess the "silver lining" in this grayish cloud is that I've been making time to practice on my bass pretty much every day.

---

This is currently what the word document of the lyrics looks like. Full disclosure: there are full lyrics for the first verse, but those will stay under wraps until the song is released.

Also in the previous blog post, from last Saturday, I wrote of plans to work on other instrumentation for the song. I know that the first instrumental bridge will feature a sax solo that I'll do using a sax voice from Logic Pro on my Oxygen 61 Keyboard. I know I'll also add at least one chorded bass part, as rhythm guitar, where I have a re-tuning idea I'm going to try that involves the use of my capo. And I will also finally take advantage of my new toy, the Whammy Pitch Shift Bass Pedal to play a "guitar solo" during the second instrumental bridge ‐‐ the bridge with that M-F-in' bass line that is the current bane of my bass-playing existence!

As I wrote the last post, my hope was to start at least some of that other instrumentation later in the day on Saturday. I have not gotten to any of it. Between woodshedding to master that frickin' trouble section and the obligations of some theatre work, I simply didn't fit any of these musical goals in. Neither have I done any more work on the lyrics.

I have, however, given some thought to the musical composition of some of these parts, especially the "sax" part and the "lead guitar" part. I've thought more about what the two will be doing during the verse sections, but I've consider at least some elements of the featured solo sections, too.

S.O.P.:

ON THE BRINK OF TECH:

Blog Index

Home

Latest Post

ANOTHER SIX INCHES, OR SO, FORWARD ON THE PLATEAU:

Still trudging along with this troublesome bass section of the song I am currently recording, or am supposed to be recording, and would be if I could wholly conquer this bass line! Last night I came probably closer to a satisfactory performance of the whole bass line, from start to finish, than ever before, but it was still far too lacking. I ain't there yet. But there's "progress," at least: about a half-foot on that 800-mile journey on this plateau I'm traversing.

I'm also trying to correct some things in my fretting technique, dealing with how I position my fretting fingers. For one thing I have a natural tendency to hang my pinky finger out rather than keep it close in on the fret board *(see the pic above). I do at least utilize it as a fretting finger, but I can play more efficiently if it's not hanging away most of the time. That's going to take some training on my part, because it is my natural tendency to let it pop away. It may be the physiology of my hand, but I think it's something I can alter with some work. I also am starting to work on keeping my fretting fingers from being too scrunched together, to keep them a bit more spread which makes it easier to fret different notes, especially those not right next to the previous note played.

I OUGHTA BE IN PICTURES.....maybe ‐‐ (probably):

SAME OL' S.O.P.:

I believe I am done harvesting the music for the show. I now have some processing to do. There's also the curation, the deciding what music goes where: what will be production music, what will be preshow or intermission music. I also had to get one unique, script-specific sound effect; that's been acquired and processed. The rest of the minuscule amount of sounds needed for the show are already in my sound library.

AND WE HAVE TECH:

Yesterday was, of course, Tech Sunday, and it went off quite well, with a comprehensive cue-to-cue then a full tech run. In terms of tweaks to the sound design that was brought into this reprise production, yesterday I decided to add more sound cues beyond the additions Director Sarah Caplan requested on Friday. This full production needs scene-change music; last summer there were no set pieces coming on and going off, and there was narration of relevant script directions being read. For the most part, I've just used all the preshow music, but I did have to curate a few additional songs, but they're all in keeping with a certain idea of the show, as is the preshow.

Blog Index

Home

Latest Post

PERHAPS A FEW FEET FORWARD ‐‐ MAYBE A YARD?:

Yesterday, before I headed off to tech rehearsal for The Cure at Dayton Playhouse, I pulled out the ol' Embassy Pro and put in some time on that bass line. I tried something that helped. During that bitch-of-a-challenge-for-me section, I just slightly changed some of the notes, and consequently a subtle bit of my fretting. It helped greatly. I'm still not at the point where I can play the whole bass line well enough to record, but I gained more ground last night than I have for a while.

I could consider this slight changeup cheating, and I don't want to cheat. I want to conquer the beast. I want to use this "ordeal" to become a better bass player. And I would feel like I'm cheating if it weren't for one thing: the alteration has made the bass line better in that section. Something had been lacking in that section, aside from my crappy execution. The rhythm-and-flow was broken. Also, something was disjointed or unsatisfactory about the totality of the notes. Some of what was bothering me certainly was due to my bad bass work in the section, but not all of it.

The slight alteration has more than slightly improved the line there. It now fits the feel I'm going for in the section whereas it was somewhat deficient beforehand. Interesting how a small change can make a big difference....Is this some kind of Hallmark Channel life lesson, or something?

LAST SOUND DESIGNER CAPS FOR 24/25:

Tech Week continues for The Cure. It's possible, maybe even probable, that I am done tweaking the sound design for this show. But, Tech Week ain't over and so my adjustments may not be over. That is why, as sound designer, I do like to be at every tech rehearsal, or as many as I can make, if not all of them. I did adjust the volume on two production songs, last night. They both might demand further tweaking from me tonight.

The show opens this Friday, by the way, and runs for two weekends.

The harvesting of music for this one is finished, as far as I know. Now I'll be stepping up the sound work all around for the show. It's getting time to decide what songs end up in the production and what is relegated to preshow and intermission. I have ideas.

It's about time to fire up Show Cue System and write the sound cue programing for this one. But it's not exactly going to be a long and intense process:

program the preshow music program the song going into Act 1 program two internal sound cues program the song coming out of Act 2 *(Act 1 & 2 are together) program the intermission music program the song going into Act 3 program the curtain call song

The biggest work is picking the production music from the pool of choices.

Chancers opens March 28 and runs for three weekends.

Blog Index

Home

Latest Post

MORE INCH-WORMING IT:

More woodshedding Wednesday afternoon. Still not close to ready to record the bass line....

A really fine production opens tonight at Dayton Playhouse featuring some top-notch performances. I recommend the show as more than worthy of your time and hard-earned money. This show mark's Sarah Caplan's debut as a solo-director and she has much to be proud of. Kudos to all involved.

The cast of players:

Heather Martin as Joan Jared Mola as Matt (& others) Chelsea Jenkins as Nancy Mikki McKenzie as Amanda Andrea Wintrow as Annette Audrey Albers as Dagney

Remember how I wrote in the last post that I was maybe done tweaking the sound design but that it was still Tech Week? Yes, well, the second part of that came into play. Ms. Caplan decided she wanted a couple production songs swapped out and that was dealt with yesterday.

ANOTHER TECH LOOMING ON THE HORIZON:

Blog Index

Home

Latest Post

---

WHERE ARE WE ON THAT 800-MILE TREK?:

That trouble spot in the bass line I'm working on?: Better, but.....

GETTIN' CLOSE TO THAT FINAL STRETCH BEFORE OPENING:

I haven't had a great deal of producer stuff to do here recently, but there's been some. The creative budget stuff has been the biggest deal, as it often is.

This week will be very much about sound design, although, as previously noted, that's not going to be a heavy burdon, either. Probably a lot of my evening tonight will be dedicated to the soundwork, and the lion's share of the work is likely to be done tonight.

THREE DAYS OF SHOWS:

I attended Opening Night of The Cure by Alex Dremann, for which, of course, I designed the sound. And in terms of full productions it was the world premier. It was a good opening and Playwright Alex was there. He also came back Saturday for the talkback after the show, so I went back. Both performances were well-done. Kudos to Director Sarah Caplan, to the production staff & crew, and to the cast: Heather Martin (Joan), Jared Mola (Matt & others), Chelsea Jenkins (Nancy), Mikki McKenzie (Amanda), Andrea Wintrow (Annette), and Audrey Albers (Dagney). The show runs this coming weekend, too.

Yesterday I attended the closing performance of Angel Street, by Patrick Hamilton at Beavercreek Community Theatre. Really fine work all the way around. Congratulations to Director David Shough, his production team, and to this fine cast, most of whom I have worked with on stage: Megan Cooper (Mrs. Manningham), Mike Beerbower (Mr. Manningham), Jim Walker (Rough), Olivia Burchfield (Nancy), Caitlin Larson-Deer (Elizabeth), and Cole Penzier & Gus Perdikakis (Policeman no.1 & 2).

Blog Index

Home

Latest Post

SMALL STEPS FORWARD:

The individual tracks, thus far, in Logic Pro for the song I'm currently working on.

I'm improving on my execution of the bass line for the song I'm currently working on, which you five regulars may remember is the second new song/recording started for the new album project.

In fact, Tuesday night I even recorded a take, though I didn't intend it to be a real take of the bass line. My goal was to get a demo of the bass line recorded so I could do a rough mix of the rhythm track as a stem to aid me in finishing the lyrics.

I'm consciously considering what I'll be singing during the verse sections of the song, which is where all the vocals are, over the bass lines I've written for each verse (each verse has a different bass part). There are some bass players out there who are quite adept at playing any level of complex bass lines while singing, sometimes vocal lines that conflict with rhythm and flow of the bass line; McCartney and Sting immediately come to mind, as does Mr. Geddy Lee. I have always had some level of problem with that second skill, and though it may be a compromise for expedience's sake, I want to have the rhythm of the bass in the verses in my head while I finish the lyrics so I will be able to well coordinate my bass work and my vocal work in the vocal sections. Having the bass line audibly available, rather than just in my head, is preferable. The expedience comes in my goal to create syllables in the lyrics that match, or at least coordinate with the rhythm of the bass notes.

To get this mixed rhythm-section demo stem, I finally exported all the tracks recorded thus far for the song from my 24-Track recorder onto my laptop and into Logic Pro. That way I could get a cleaner stem. I had previously done a rough mix by recording a real-time playback of the tracks, with a rough stereo mix, into Logic Pro, rather than mixing inside Logic Pro and rendering that. This time I went with the latter, and have a rough mix that is about half mastered as well. The bass line is still a demo. It's probably about 80% of the performance that I want, so it definitely will be rerecorded, after more woodshedding. To be honest, though I went into the recording on Tuesday with no expectation at all of it being a good take, I certainly would have welcomed one.

Last night I again rehearsed that bass line, and though iI am still improving, perhaps even greatly improving, there arte still unacceptable imperfections.

I also exported the tracks for the first new song for this project, that Winter season song, which again, you five may know is only lacking the vocals; all the instrumentation has been recorded. In fact, the lyrics are done, I think. That, too, already has a crude rough mix, also recorded in real-time from a playback mix off the 24-track. That rough mix is fine, I suppose, but since I was migrating the tracks for the other song, I though I might as well grab these tracks, too. And I will shortly do a better, half-mastered, rough mix of this. I don't really need it to work out the vocals, though I may use it for such. What I really need to do is finally get my voice completely in the shape it needs to be to record the vocals.

And otherwise, it was past time to get the multi-tracks for both songs imported into Logic Pro, anyway.

A WEEK FROM OPENING:

Sound design is close to wrapped. The music has all been curated, mostly be me, partially by Director Marjorie Strader. I did add a couple songs Marjorie wants in either the preshow or the intermission play list and one that we'll use as production music. The final decision on the curtain call song has not been made; there are three choices; two of them are mine; all of them are good choices.

Blog Index

Home

Latest Post

TECH WEEK ‐‐ THE LAST STRETCH TO OPENING:

Four days till Opening Night!

STILL IN THAT LOWER-CASE "pROGRESS" LANE:

It's not a rut, but it is somewhat frustrating! To steal from Aerosmith: "It's the same ol' story, same ol' song and dance, my friend." I'm still woodshedding to get my performance in shape for the bass line for the song I'm currently working on for the new album project. There's that molasses-slow drip of improvement that is starting to try my patiences, but at least it is improvement. Last night I played the bass part better than I ever have before ‐‐ ONCE. But my execution is still not where it needs to be.

With my ambition for this "2025 Music Adventure" on both bass and keyboard (mostly piano) being that I up my skillset, this woodshedding, frustration, and impatience is likely to be a commonly recurring theme. So, be advised.

COMPUTER FOLLIES:

For the promo trailer this isn't a real problem, I can just work with FCPX using my main harddrive as the storage location, which is what I did last night. Though I like using external drives for most movie editing because movies take up a lot of memory, especially the raw footage.

The big issue for me is that there are uncompleted Final Cut movie projects on that 4-tb harddrive. Some of them aren't so vital that a loss would be a super bad thing, but such will be a shame. Others, are an "Oh, damnit!" situation. I haven't given up hope about a recovery, but I'm bracing myself for the possible disappointment.

See what happens when you don't back shit up?

Blog Index

Home

Latest Post

THE LAST STRETCH OF THE LAST STRETCH BEFORE OPENING, & THE DV TRAILER IS UP:

All four cast members are at the top of their games giving a riveting telling of this dark Irish comedy. (Aren't ALL Irish comedies dark?). I've worked with all the cast members in one aspect or another. Though it's been a while, Cheryl Mellen and I were in a FutureFest play together, Inside the Gatehouse in 2008. I was the sound designer for Criminal Hearts at The Guild, ten years ago, with Jack O'Connor as a cast member. And I just directed Dustin Schwab and Carly Risenhoover-Peterson earlier this season in Campaigns, Inc., by native-Daytonian Will Allan. I also played Dustin's father in Broadway Bound, at The Guild two seasons ago.

Rehearsals are dark tonight; the cast and most of the crew get the night off, to be back tomorrow night for Final Dress. I may be one of those who still comes in tonight. I want to revisit normalizing the volume levels of the preshow and intermission music; I've noticed some inconsistencies. I'll either drop in tonight or be sure to be there early tomorrow for that task.

I shot the promo trailer at Monday's rehearsal. The performances license grants permission to use up to three minutes of footage of performance from the script with dialogue. I shot a specific scene, about two-and-a-half minutes of footage, but edited that down to one minute ‐‐ well, one minute and three seconds, to be precise.

One stupid mistake made by the DP (aka: Steven Dorkberg, aka: me) had to do with the batteries for the DV camcorders. I have four cameras; one, camera D, is in service at the theatre in the booth, feeding the action on stage to both the lobby and greenroom TV monitors ‐‐ a gig which camera D has for every Guild production, from Tech Sunday through to the show closing. On occasion I actually use that camera, in its position in the booth, for footage for the trailer, but usually not. My SOP is to use cameras A, B, and C. B and C are stationary on tripods with different POVs of the scene from two separate shot setups. Camera A, which is slightly newer and a little better than the others, I operate as the mobile, hand-held cam.

Here's where the DOH! blunder with the batteries comes in: Camera A, though giving slightly better quality images of the four, also has a damaged external power input, which makes it terribly tricky to charge its battery when the such is attached to it. I attach A's battery to one of the other cameras to charge it, and did so Monday afternoon when I got home from work. I then left A's battery at home after taking it off the other camera; I discovered it missing when I was prepping the cameras at the theatre, right before rehearsal began. So, I took the battery from D, in the booth. But then I discovered I had also left the original battery for the substitue camera at home. I had three cameras for the shoot but only two batteries on site. So, I used cameras B and C, on their trip[ods as always, and I used my iPhone as the hand-held.

The only issue there is that the iPhone movie images are a superior quality to the camcorder images, enough that it's noticeable. I did sweeten the camcorder footage a bit, but the iPhone's images are at a better resolution that you can't sweeten the other footage to match. So when you see the DV movie you'll be able to tell which shots are from the iPhone.

You five regulars may know that whenever I am directly involved with the DTG production, I take a vacation day to edit the trailer to final cut, almost always the Tuesday of Tech Week. This is because I need and want to be at all the tech rehearsals in the evenings; and if I'm in the cast or am the director, my presence is required. Yesterday morning as I was setting up to edit the DV movie, I was so wishing it could be just a little warmer outside; the urge to sit on my patio as I worked was pretty strong. Oh well.

Click here for the trailer.

Working lunch, not on the patio.

The FCPX list of the footage from the three-camera shoot.

The trailer, up at our DTG YouTube channel

"PLEASE STAND BY; THE PROBLEM IS NOT IN YOUR HARDDRIVE":

Then on a whim, after making backups, I deleted what I assume were a couple of FCPX index files, dated for Sunday, from the directory of the original 4-tb HD, then opened Final Cut up on the 4-tb and low and behold, the only project that wasn't accessible was the Chancers trailer project I had been working on when the problem first occurred. The issue indeed was that the power cut experienced while I was working on the trailer had corrupted something in one or both of those files. The harddrive, itself, is okay. I checked the other projects and I have access and the ability to edit. So I'm good.

As I wrote on Monday, though I'd have rather not lost any of the FCPX projects on the harddrive, there were a specific few that would have really been painful to me to lose, including all footage of the full October 19 performance of Will Allan's Campaigns, Inc., with Ms. Risenhoover-Peterson, Mr. Schwab, and the rest of that excellent cast. I still owe the final cut of that DV movie to the playwright.

Blog Index

Home

Latest Post

H E Y D U M B A S S ! C H A N G E T H E D T G C U R R E N T E V E N T S T O C O M I N G E V E N T ! !

There was a small preview audience at last night's Final Dress, about ten people. A couple were friends of mine from the rent-payer. Both my firends and everyonew else I spoke to after rehearsal loved the show.

: One stupid thing that I discovered last night, that which falls directly in the lap of the moronic producer, is the misspelling of Jack O'Connor's last name. In the playbill and in the promo trailer it's spelled "O'Conner." It was incorrect in other places, such as in this blog, on my Dayton Theatre page, and in social media postings, but I've been able to edit these to the correct spelling. Unfortuantely, the playbill can't be reprinted and the trailer can't be rerendered. Actually, both those could happen, but both would be a major hassle. I will be able to fix the error in the lobby movie and rerender it before tonight's opening, so the audience members who bother to watch it will see his name spelled properly. The fault lies on me for the bungle. Though I was originally given his name spelled with the "e," I had ample opportunities to catch the error ‐‐ in the bio & headshot he sent me, and his email address forgodssake! Yet, it never registered. So: DOH!. Sorry Jack.

Click here for the promotional trailer of the show

THANK YOU YO-YO:

I didn't rehearse that confounded bass line, the one that's been biting me in the ass for weeks, on Tuesday night or last night, and I won't tonight. I did log in some time Wednesday night, since Chancers rehearsals were dark, and it was a mixed bag, as usual of late. I did get a couple runs through the song where that trying section went relatively well, once, almost damned perfect, but not quite so. Other little blunders happened, too, in sections I usually get right. Plus I'm also getting a little more picky about perfecting the execution all the way through. So, we are still traversing that damned 800-mile plateau; and I'm feeling like the ground gained Wednesday night was minimal.

Earlier in the day, though, I did run across the Yo-yo Ma post from social media that is screen-shot above. It was something I needed to read, and it's an aid in approaching this challenge. Here's my response comment on his post:

As a bass player who's been woodshedding the same F@#$%$%G part for weeks now, trying to get it good enough to record, I super appreciate reading a master making such a confession and sharing such a great philosophy.

And, believe me, what I'm trying to gain ground on touches nothing you can do.

Blog Index

Home

Latest Post

BACK ON THE SCREEN?:

Still frames from each of the monoluges.

This weekend I shot and submitted the DIY screentest for the casting call for the local indy short film that I mentioned a couple weeks ago. The next step, if there is one, would be a callback. Whether that would be another DIY screen test or an in-person audition, screenest or otherwise, I don't know. I used two contrasting monologues that I've used before. One of them I actually used in a previous DIY screentest during the lockdown, the other was in person, both for The Human Race. I was going to simply reuse the footage for the one I'd shot in the past, but I was a good 20 to 25 pounds heavier then so I reshot it. My plan had been to to prep myself Saturday then shoot yesterday, but as I was doing the preliminary shot set-ups Saturday evening I went ahead and did one of the monologues, then went ahead and shot the second. For the record, I used my new iPhone rather than one of my DV cameras.

WEEKEND #1 DOWN, TWO TO GO:

And, as almost always, I was house manager Opening Night so I didn't take in the performance. I was not there the rest of the weekend but the word about Saturday and yesterday is that they were great shows, too ‐‐ as usual.

Two weekends left! Ya oughta check it out!