beer and blogging

I attended Beer & Blog last night at the Brazen Head, apparently the first of these revamped get togethers amongst folks who are (apparently) more consistently inspired than I to keep adding current entries to their blogs. This is my first entry in over 13 months.

The nice thing about a blog is that it can be used in such a wide variety of ways, from being a marketing tool to literally, an online journal. Two of my favorites are by Seth Grodin and Michael Campbell - Mick makes me laugh and both make me think.

There's a lot of talk about how blogs can help drive business, build brand identity and overall, create commerce, which is true enough. If you find a trusted resource 's blog helpful often enough, you'll eventually end up doing something with them that compensates them for their expertise. Or that's the idea anyway. I have purchased a copy of Michael Campbell's book and read a couple of Seth's (unfortunately, I don't think Seth collects a royalty for the number of times one of his books is checked out from the library).

It's not that I can't write on a topic when I want (or need) to, I just don't get motivated to without a deadline. I dated a woman for about 18 months that was big on journalling (late 90's with bound books full of blank paper). She thought I needed to express myself and was very adamant about encouraging me to take to time to write. I created 3 entries the first week. The first one was a page and half. The second one was about a paragraph. The third one was 2 sentences.

My fourth entry was the week after we broke up.

Maybe my next entry here will be less than 13 months from now, but I'm not sure. I'm happily married and SHE doesn't push me to write.

A Life Unlived

My wife has a habit of checking the obituaries. This is a routine I have always attributed to "older" folks, however, unfortunately, all too often she comes across an entry for someone we know. This was the case yesterday morning. The obituary was for the infant son of a couple I had lost touch with over the past several years. We attended the viewing last night and paid our respects and talked to our friends briefly. Their son was four weeks away from being delivered and they had discovered there were two knots in the umbilical cord. The poor kid didn't have a chance. Up to that point, the pregnancy had been normal and healthy so there had been nothing to warn them of any potential issues.

I've been to a lot of viewings and funerals over the years for folks of all ages, and they always have a way of reminding me how short our time on Earth is with each other. I have no doubt that my regrets about not staying in as touch as I would have liked to are fairly common when it comes to the passing on of an older friend or relative. What I wasn't ready for was the overwhelming feeling of shock and loss over the "life unlived" that I experienced as I saw their baby in the casket. All I could think of were the things this child and his parents would never get to share - midnight feedings and diaper changes, holding and being held, first words, first steps, birthdays and Christmases, first days of school, playing catch... and how lucky and blessed I've been I've had those opportunities as both a child and parent.

These are the times it's especially comforting to know that we are immortal and will know these people forever, though we may lose touch with them for the interim. Unfortunately, it's not always easy to remember that, and even harder to find the words to convey it sensitively to someone suffering from such a loss.

Winter evenings

Sometimes I really enjoy winter evenings, and not just the "Currier Ives" fresh snow variety. Sometimes I like nights like this, when there's no snow around, and Spring has barely begun to add little dashes of green amongst all the brown and gray. When there's a chill mist in the air and I'm inside with a good book, surrounded by sleepy puppies, it's a tranquil moment worth savoring.

Friends and family...

How do you tactfully handle dealing with a needy friend - especially one that has recently moved back into town after having been gone for 7 years. It's a tough situation for me to balance - my friend has been a close friend for nearly 40 years.
He moved away just a few months before I met my wife. So we were both single, then he left and I met Kim, and as with most healthy relationships, she has been my best friend since we started dating. Now he is back, and looking for things to be like they were before he left, and I have have all the things going on that have become part of my life over the past 7 years. To be fair, I'm spending less time with him than I'd like to, but more time than with any other friend (outside of my wife). I definitely get the feeling he has far fewer options for how to spend his free time, and I'm sure that is where the tension is coming from.


Maybe I should have been more active with my live journal account. For now, I think I need to knead my wife's stiff neck.

It''s good to be needed. :)

The recording process

I really enjoy the recording process; it's a lot of fun working with folks in an effort to help them capture the essense of their artistic expression the way they hear it in their mind. I've also been fortunate enough to have mostly worked with artists who have a goal in mind for their project, whether it be to simply record a rough acoustic rendition of the song or a full fledged arrangement.

The band that I worked with this weekend falls somewhere in the middle - the goal is a 4 song demo to help them with landing gigs, but the singer/songwriter in the band has a real solid feel of what he wants to hear. The biggest drawback for these guys is that although they have pretty decent chops, they have not been playing together very long so they are still learning the arrangements.

I have had two experiences of a completely different sort, in one case (the first band ever in our studio), a Metal Band - the act had some real internal problems. If you had asked each one of them why they were there, you would have had a similiar answer - something to the effect of wanting a good demo to use for booking - but they obviously were in completely different spaces emotionally. It was full of Spinal Tap moments, from the the singer gargling with cheap whiskey to prep for the session to the guitar player being too wasted to play and wanting to solo over EVERYTHING, to the drummer being the last to show up, and re-writing his parts as he felt like through each take. Needless to say,that session was a bust.

The other "unfocused experience" was with a solo artist who has amazing gifts when it comes to playing, writing and performing and no gifts at all when it comes to focus. He booked the session with the intent of re-mixing some tracks cut at a different studio, showed up without the tracks and decided to lay down some song ideas that had come to him the previous day. We were busy working on things the whole session, and he booked a follow up date. Not so bad so far. Next session date arrives and so does my client along with another musician to work on the tracks we cut at the first session. Instead, he starts experimenting with an electronic drum kit and blows most of the 4 hours booked on that - then has his friend loan him the money to settle up for both sessions to date. He came back a third time and didn't get anything more done on any of the work started at the earlier sessions and never followed up again - 16 hours of studio time, 0 results... Weirdest thing I've run into, but it still beat the Metal Band experience.

Lessons in recording...

Thursday night is normally the night I get together with Bill and Clete to work on the mixing room in Clete's studio. Normally it presents us with an opportunity to cuss at old gear, the OS and/or ProTools. And drink beer. Along with hearing how different gear works together (or against each other) to contribute to the quality of the sound, it has provided me with invaluable time to get "ears on" experience on a regular basis in a room with a guy who's made a living as an audio engineer for 30+ years.

Last night's topic was "Mic choices and placement for quality drum recording". Ear plugs were advisable. Despite all the hoopla surrounding some of the more popular "kick drum mics" on the market, Clete prefers the venerable SM57 as part of a minimalist approach to miking the kit. He uses the overhead mics as the primary resource, simply accentuating the sound with mics on a few individual pieces, kick, snare, and high hat. By the time we were done tweaking the mix, everything was sounding wonderful and we had left the high hat's mic out of the mix completely. I am sure that having a high quality stereo pair for the overheads makes a big difference.

I think I am craving a croissant, and alas, there are none about the house.

49 sans funk

10 years ago I started learning guitar, and while that is a journey never really completed, I still have a LONG WAY TO GO. Learning scales would be nice.

I recently took a huge hit in pay so the New Depression has hit home in a very real way. I am blessed by having a very supportive and understanding wife, and an understanding that God only gives me challenges that are designed to bring me closer to Him. Based on this particular challenge, one might surmise I've wandered off a bit. Maybe I still have a long way to go here as well.

My "To Do" List rarely has less than 30 items on it.


Our 3 dogs like the fact I'm working from home and it occasionally amuses the clients I'm on the phone with. Not that our trio is made up of small dogs, but they apparently sound much larger over the phone.

Thanks to Ty, no plastic bag will ever sneak into our backyard.

Breakfast is calling.....