This clip is not exactly the most professional you’ve ever heard, and will definitely NOT make Mark’s Top 10 list. Here’s the history behind it.

About 2 years ago, before I bought a PA3x, I went to Sam Ash to try out a used model they had (which, BTW, sold for more than Frankie V charged me for a brand NEW one!). I spent an hour just trying to figure out how it worked. Finally, I managed to set a “big band” style (don’t remember which one), one piano patch, one brass patch, and one jazzy trumpet.

Then, I spent 3 hours going through the other styles and sounds and recorded everything so I could get an idea of what it could do before I bought one.

I just played this song by memory because most of my attention was on trying to access the different instruments on this very complex machine. I couldn‘t figure out how to lower the piano an octave which would have made it sound much better. And, I couldn’t find the trombone. And……the extra measures are ‘cause I just plain “couldn‘t figure out just what I was doing” so I took liberties with the measures.

The reason I’m posting this.....

I mentioned I was cleaning up my computer desktop of MP3’s a few weeks ago when I came across this. Forgot I even had it. Most of the 3 hour recording was absolute rubbish, but this didn’t come out too bad for not knowing how to work a PA3x.

So I’m listening to it every night for the past few weeks with mixed feelings. On the one hand I think I’d like to finally start learning that PA3x and do some songs correctly this time as, listening to it……….I think I never really appreciated what that board can do.

On the other hand, is there any point in spending hours on a PA3x when there’s hardly any place to play anymore no matter how good you are on it?

For the record, I’m a one-man-band player for longer than I’ve been a pianist and I can’t say I don’t miss playing an arranger, but…..I get more work as a pianist or accordionist

I’m also thinking maybe if I get back into playing, the jobs will just start appearing somehow, though I can clearly see the handwriting on the wall. Both live music and white, middle-class America are both disappearing rapidly around where I live (Bill Lewis is absolutely correct in his posts about disappearing venues and work in general).

As I already mentioned, I completely burned out of playing about six months ago and have hardly worked at all last year and this year. I picked a bad time to “burn out!” But it was the sudden change in the music industry and people’s crap attitudes nowadays that has left me with no desire to go back out there into the field.

Still.....bills have to be paid, so, in the meantime.....every night I listen to what I did with this tune and hope somewhere along the way it prompts me into cleaning up my act and getting back into playing somehow and getting reacquainted with playing an arranger again!

Mark

Hi Mark, you have some good chops for sure. As for the other stuff your feeling, I feel your pain bro. All I can really say is that you just got to LOVE music. I'm happy when my calendar is full of gigs and I get down when it's not, but the thing is, I love playing so much that I keep on going no matter what. Take a break if you need to, find some other interests. Enjoy yourself, life is short!

Hi Montuno.......thanks for your comment about "chops" though I used to be much better when I was playing arrangers regularly.

Mostly, thanks for your remark about "I feel your pain bro." I'm feeling Bill Lewis' "pain" and, at least, somebody's feeling mine. Only another musician would understand what I wrote.....I never discuss anything with friends....they wouldn't get it in the first place.

I already have a lot of other interests, but the bottom line is....."I'm burned out of music!" Most of the time now, I don't even want to LISTEN to music and as for the PA3x, I keep it covered so I can forget the money I spent on it.

But I'm financially OK......just not sure what direction to go in now!

But "life always fixes itself" if you give it a chance.

Mark

Mark

Thanks for the call today. Good to talk live to a fellow musician. Sorry I didn't listen to the sample sooner.
You can play, thats for sure. As we discussed its a revolving landscape in the business these days. Playing well isn't enough or sometimes even needed. We hit the important points in our conversation.
I'm still frustrated but there have been a few rays of sunshine lately. My thoughts are as I expressed them to you. They wanna hear you sing and shake their butts. Everything else is secondary. Even NH with their chair dancers. I've even started using the Chord Sequencer with my BK9 so I can do some silly hand motions with a new song I'm learning. YMCA type thing. That will sell better than any hot solo I can rip off the keyboard.
Keep plugging and do it as long as you enjoy it.

You can be the best musician on the planet, but there's so much more to this business than being a great musician. I'm NOT a musician at all - I'm an entertainer, and that's just a small part of this. I also a good salesman, a meticulous bookkeeper, self made accountant, advertising executive for my company, sound man, transportation specialist, engineer, singer, and player. It's the entire package that must be put together in order to make it, and this is regardless of what area you are trying to find work in the field of musical entertainment.

When Bill gets here on Sunday, he will meet up with very special people, folks that have all the work they can handle, and he will have the opportunity to pick their brains and find out how and why they are successful.

Good luck,

Gary

Bill......thanks for posting here. It gives me license to repeat what you said to me today.

Bill and I were tossing "war stories" around and he said something that knocked me for a loop. How could I be so dumb as to not see what was right in front of me.

The #2 remark of the conversation was: "people are not looking for great instrumentalists now.....it's all about "vocals!""

But the #1 remark was what really stood out for me: "people are looking for "action entertainment" no matter what form it comes in! There's no more sitting around listening to Henry Mancini playing Moon River or Roger Williams doing Autumn Leaves. They want excitement, and it doesn't matter whether the music or vocals is good or bad, as long as it's exciting!

So forgot the practicing every day to get better....just playing music is a dead-end street. Now it's.....find a way, entertainment-wise, to get people's minds off their problems, their fears, anxiety, worries about job loss, finances, health insurance....and the list goes on and on.

So, I think that solves my problem of what to do with my music (and my PA3x). And that is to go off in another direction than what I've been doing. As to what exactly, I'm not sure yet, but it definitely will be entertainment that gets people caught up in it rather than plain good music.

I'm starting to feel a little more positive about getting back into the music field!

Mark

I wouldn't be willing to change myself as much as to sacrifice high-level live playing for entertainment features that have nothing to do with musical skills. If people really have this excitement attitude, my consequence is to look for different audiences,even if harder to find. I don't think nobody cares for high-quality live-played background music.

I don't think nobody cares for high-quality live-played background music.[/quote]

Rosetree
Maybe where you live and with all due respect I admire your attitude of keeping the quality in the preformance. I wish it were possible to be so independent. But over the last few years I've gotten a real education and in this part of the world for solo, duo or trio preformers its who has the best backing tracks and vocals and kickin PA.
I've picked some some Happy Hour gigs and people do appreciate me playing the keyboard but its the vocals they listen to. If I didn't sing I wouldn't work.
Out fo all the places with music here, and remember I'm in a vacation zone so there's lots, there are two pianists of super talent working. No other "quailty" live music except for some bands at a the kid clubs or one of the wineries on a sunday afternoon. No arrangers and DJ's are even fading out. This weekend I went to the center of the kid clubs and heard some of the best live bands I've ever heard. 6-9 pieces is common.
Thats my story and I'm stickin to it LOL !

Bill, you are absolutely right. The crowds want to be entertained, and they want quality vocals - the backing is secondary. Rosetree, there are an enormous number of highly skilled players in my area, most are out of work. They cannot find a job anywhere because they don't sing and they don't have a singer that will work for the amount of money a duo would pay.

There used to be some jazz clubs here, but those jazz trios, and there were several around, no longer exist, mainly because there is no demand for them by the club audiences. The trios usually consisted of a guitar player, a slap bass player and maybe a drummer, or piano player - but no vocals. To everyone other than jazz aficionados this gets real boring after just 30 minutes.

The happy hours here, at least those in the restaurants and bars, and combinations thereof, VFWs, American Legions, Animal clubs, are almost all OMB entertainers. I know a couple sax players that used their PCs with backing tracks, but they also sing very well and are great entertainers. They interact extremely well with their audiences, and they have lots of weekend work. The same holds true with some highly talented guitar players. They too are using backing tracks and singing, and one of them that I know personally, sounds a lot like Don Mason on the keyboard when Don is emulating the guitar with his gifted right hand licks.

On weekdays, these same entertainers are working the nursing home circuit. Why? Because that's where the money is - it's not in the places they perform on weekends. Granted, they all claim they enjoy the weekend jobs more, but that circuit still pays the same as it did when I was a green kid sitting on a barstool with my 12-string guitar and a pawn shop amp singing country songs to a crowd of drunks in a smoke-filled bar room.

Bottom line, if you want lots of work, at least everyplace I've visited, you must first and foremost be a great entertainer, which includes great vocals and interacting with the audiences. Secondarily, you need to be a fair - not great, musician. If you have decent chops, can follow the regimented tempo of an arranger with both your vocals and right hand, you can find lots and lots of work everywhere in the U.S..

My wife and I have driven extensively throughout the eastern and central United States, visiting forum members, watching them work on stage, and taking notes on what made them successful. On one trip, we covered more than 5,000 miles, made stops in Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, both coasts of Florida and the Florida Keys, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Kentucky, West Virginia, New Jersey, and Delaware, then returned home. We met with performers, many of whom are forum members, in each of those states. We exchanged ideas, tips, and learned a lot from each other. In each and every instance, we all agreed that quality vocals were of paramount importance and had to be emphasized with the best sound system available, one the placed an emphasis on vocal quality. We discussed mics. Several entertainers, including one lady entertainer, seemed to like the advantages of using a headset mic. She tried my Crown CM311A, used it for 20 minutes, then said she just didn't feel comfortable with with and went back to her Sennheiser E855. She has a very bluesy sounding voice, really sexy sounding, and utilized the pullaway technique a lot because of her limited vocal range. We spent some time talking with her about taking vocal lessons at the local community college, she did take the lessons, and emailed me to tell me how much it expanded her vocal range because of improved breathing techniques.

Now, there are a handful of guys on this, and other, forums that have made a decent living performing just intrumentals, but that number is infinitesimally small. Captain Russ does real well, he has been performing at the same clubs for decades, and he's essentially part of the furniture at those locations. However, those performances are only a tiny fraction of his musical income, and he will verify this I'm sure. Chas is an incredible player, but I've never heard him sing, and I don't know if he plays out at all these days. Boo (brickboo) can play the sax as well as anyone out there, but Boo can't play the sax and sing at the same time, obviously, and where he's at in Colorado he says there is just no work for him.

I guess if I were a great, or even a good, musician, one that was Peabody trained, and could not sing, I would have a difficult time finding work anywhere I've traveled. But, as a mediocre player that can sing the ass off most popular songs from the 1940s to the 1980s, and perform a variety of genres, for me, finding work has been easy - not just here, but everywhere I've traveled.

My suggestion to anyone that wishes to find work in this business is to visit other players, on this and other similar forums, in person. Pick their brains, watch them perform, learn how they work and read a crowd, time their dead time between songs, take a close look at their entire rig, take note on how they run the entire operation from beginning to end. You can learn an awful lot from these very talented individuals - I know I sure did.

Good luck,

Gary

"Your a Good Student Grasshopper"