Open Mic 02: Recording + After-Show Party & Chat

Richard_close2u · December 31, 2021, 2:49pm

Open Mic 02 - May 15 2021.

Running Order
00:00:00 Introduction by MC Jason
00:04:15 Jason - Rossco01 [Seaside & Karma Police]
00:11:28 Adrian - adi_mrok [Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life) & Falling Slowly]
00:18:28 Lieven - LievenDV [Creep & Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes]
00:26:24 David - DavidP [Wonderful Tonight & Heart Of Gold]
00:34:23 Mari - Mari63 [Momma Tried & Heart Of Saturday Night]
00:45:36 John - Willisie01 [Hallelujah & Ghost Riders In The Sky]
00:56:17 Brian (& Chris) - brianlarsen [Nothing Really Ends]
01:07:55 Toby - TheMadman_tobyjenner [Behind Blue Eyes & Times like These]
01:19:13 Clint - CT [I’m On Fire & Ring Of Fire]
01:23:45 Richard - Richard_close2u [Romeo And Juliet]
01:33:25 Jason - Rossco01 [Zombie]

Richard_close2u · December 31, 2021, 3:01pm

Selected responses from the original Forum After-Show Party & Chat here: Open Mic 002 - After show party

Richard_close2u · December 31, 2021, 3:02pm

Richard_close2u:

Good morning everyone. Breakfast time here. Phew.

from start to finish the OM yesterday was a blast. You good folk are just wonderful and the steps in guitar play / performance are immense.

On a personal level, as soon as Clint finished I knew I was up. Once the hellos and chat were done, as soon as the time came to play my song, I felt a palpable and instant hit of a very real physical reaction to being the singer in the spotlight. The moment it came to starting the song my hands started to sweat like crazy. I flubbed my picking immediately and cursed myself. I think as I got in to the performance I settled a little. But knowing I flubbed the intro disappoints me as I had spent the last two or three days playing that on repeat.

I have to tip my hat to anyone who gets up to play and sing. I am wholly accustomed to being the ‘side man’ lurking in the shadows, not being the focus of the audience’s attention. To put myself front and centre was a whole new experience, way outside my comfort zone.

Richard_close2u:

Thanks Toby. We are entirely our own worst critics - you’re right. The audience take in a performance in the round. But a performer dissects their own in minute detail I guess - in real time too. You’re determined to have me a Geordie lad haha. Maybe I’ll have to go for some Teesside Tunes next time. Did I just say next time?

@SS7 wrote

Don’t sweat it!

You should have seen the sweat on my hands … like rivers they were!

@SS7 wrote

No idea why you keep saying you don’t and shouldn’t sing, I thought you were incredible…

That’s very kind. Years and years and years of me singing around the house or with friends at social events and being told / knowing I don’t carry a tune so shutting myself up after a line or two. I guess it has reinforced my belief that I can’t and become part of my non-singing identity. I did find that wearing the headphones and having them loud in my ear helped a great deal as I could monitor myself and concentrate on my vocal.

DavidP:

Glad to say you said “next time” Richard. Your play we know, from being that “side man”, but you also have ability to sing. Your voice has a lovely timbre and richness, and of course the fact that you can play so well allows you to be more freely expressive in the singing. I really hope you’ll continue to explore this and develop a repertoire of songs for you to sing. And can imagine that Mrs C adding harmony will add another dimension to your performance together.

As for the inner voice and feelings, I’m with you, and long for the day when I can play a couple of songs live without what I consider to be a mistake. Then I know I’ll raise the bar and beginning making a whole new set of mistakes but at least those won’t be the entry-level mistakes, as I think of them…at least I played the right chords in the right order and remembered the words (I think) … so the never-ending adventure continues.

And the song last night was a classic, I’d love to sit in a room and enjoy you playing that.

TheMadman_tobyjenner:

Richard. That was exactly me for decades. Even now I am not comfortable hearing my own voice, as I hear it and not others. Headphones allow you to lose that inner voice and hear what everyone else hears.

I just thought I was tone deaf, so apart from screaming in the car or when lubricated I would not bother, as I was so embarrassed. I had heard myself speak doing presentations and that kind of thing at work but would not consider attempting to sing. Using a mic and headphones for the first time when Roman got me to do Ascension Day was an eye and ear opener. I think we forget the world hears us differently.

As David said you have a wonderful tone and timbre so I think despite the nerves and sweats, which I am sure we all get once in that spotlight, you can call yourself a singer !! Believe.

Cheers Toby 8)

LievenDV:

Hey Richard, confidence seems to be key.

You are the epitome of “to lead is to serve”. I always take honor in that statement but you take it to the next level. That is a Strength. It is also your Threat: it can put you in the role of “pleaser”. Always in service of others. Loyal guard.

You gathered your confidence to actually DO the solo act yesterday. Not only that, I genuinely think you picked a tactical choice as a song and your prepared well.

Your playing was fine and your vocal was smooth and you sounded quite confident. I saw your act and I thought. “Damn Richard isn’t used to doing this and he seems more chill than I was!”

You are totally able to hold pitch; you possess the knowledge, skill and ear. I heard it, it was pretty solid.

You have a great voice to do Knopfler but you can hear you play it “safe” in the range. In the meantime, vocal and guitar brought the story of R+J in a convincing way.

I could be wrong but singing gets better by stepping a micro step out of the comfort zone each time. I could challenge you to challenge yourself to “get used to that feeling”. You just did a HUGE step already

Looks like only you need to be convinced after all these years of being told/thinking you can’t do it. After wat I saw and heard yesterday, I’d say you have some catching up to do By that I don’t mean practicing but confidence wise concerning that singing and performing solo. These open mics are the ideal safe z’n environment to experiment with your progress.

I know you you feel happy in the role of “side man” but if yesterday ignited something in you, don’t ever think it is an egocentric side of yourself or something :D. I’m all in in supporting Richard the solo artist too!

You really surprised me yesterday because of all of those things. Besides all that, I sound like sh*t trying Dire Straits and you rocked it. What you might think was a fumbled intro didn’t translate that way to the audience. Always remember that mishaps are far worse on your side than on the side of the audience. That equation is compensated by “entertainment factor”: you always need to bit a tad more drama into it because if you are on stage, the people want a show

I hope to hear you again next time!

@the rest: I kept chat to a minimum because this show is about you guys.

I’m delighted to see you guys rock away in a format that works; Corona or not. Thanks for giving me this chance and I hope I could entertain or inspire somebody. If the line-up fills up with other people than me; I could be even happier!

Richard and I could never have dreamt the community could become so close.

brianlarsen:

Much gratitude and good vibes to J&A for hosting another cracking event

Having left myself a little underprepared for this one, I too let ‘the nerves’ get the better of me (yes, my lack of self-consciousness is part of the show). There were times I muted the performers and left the screen to try and get a bit of last-minute practice in ::). I’m sure I’m not the first one to do this but am also looking forward to participating purely as an audience member.

I can’t wait to receive a link to the recording, so I can enjoy the show properly.

The early days of a project like this are always full of ‘unpredictables’ and firsts. Like many others, I was especially pleased to see the mods rock up and join in. It never ceases to amaze me how many accomplished musicians genuinely take seriously the efforts of those at a much earlier stage in their abilities. Well done lads and I hope you continue to share your performances. (Edit: just saw Lieven’s post and couldn’t agree more )

Chris asked me to pass on his thanks and congratulations to all.

He’s very polite but I believe he genuinely enjoyed it. Hopefully, he will join me again at another one and, who knows, I might even be able to persuade him to contribute a guitar song himself…

In a funny way this OM thing brings back memories of my early forum days when there were the competitions.

I used to look forward to them (with trepidation) and found they made me think much more about presentation than technical playing, but also meant I focused on that particular song to the exclusion of other areas I really should be paying attention to.

‘Nuff said.

DavidP:

Lieven, tip my hat to you. Whenever you choose to offer in depth feedback and encouragement you do so in a masterful way. And I find myself often piggybacking and taking tips and encouragement from your message to someone else for myself.

You and Richard are both incredible servant leaders. The Forum would not be what it is without you. Now shoosh, I can hearing stepping backing, being humble and saying it is all about the community…the sign of a true servant leader. And I hope, am sure, Justin knows and appreciates just what an essential magnificent contribution you guys make.

And as this progresses I hope that you and Richard will continue to play a song or two everytime. As I said before, you are part of the Family and we all get great pleasure and inspiration to have you participate. I’d go as far as to say I feel honoured and privileged that you both take time to attend and perform with us.

Brian, I saw your comment about the old contests. I agree that it ups the ante and brings focus as the contest did. Must also say I like this more. Perhaps I have aversion to us young musicians being in competition. The camaraderie and enjoyment in these OMs has brought some special to an already wonderful Community.

Long may it last.

Rossco01:

We seemed to have a few more internet related glitches last night (or it was just me). Hopefully they won’t follow into the recording.

Adi had messaged me with the video of last night so either he or I will share and get confirmation all are happy to post as is. I’m disappointed my slideshow didn’t work >:( oh well thats technology for you lol and my audio was a bit weird at times as well. Oh well need to setup better next time. Definitely need more practice for next time lol

I’m really interested to hear what the audience has to say as we had a good number of people who were only watching/listening and many of those are regular forum attendees too. I’m keen to hear if they would also give the next one a go or whether they’d need something else to bridge the gap for them taking part. I think they should see we all make mistakes and it’s just about continuing. For instance we talked about simply having people post their video as part of the OM…so they can introduce it live but don’t need to stress about performing. I think if that would help people take the next step then so be it. I’d hate the event to become just a social for a few of us…all be it a very enjoyable social and a good opportunity to chew the fat with people I’ll almost never meet physically.

mari:

Just watched a bit of the video - you all sound awesome! - and since part of what cut out from me was the comment I made about the comment I read on the forum about the Tom Waits song, I decided to post it here. Justin’s lesson on the song, and his own playing of it, really are brilliant!

@Rossco01 I really like what you posted Jason, it would be great to expand the group of players and encourage everybody to join in. All abilities and all styles are definitely welcome, it’s just a fun get together to play some music together. Be nice then to ‘meet’ a few more from the Forum too! Wouldn’t it be awesome to be able to build up the list of performers so you played every 2nd or even every 3rd time? I would love to hear everyone’s voice

I also don’t want to see it become a burden for you and Adrian either. If it gets to that point I am sure we can share out some of the organizing and hosting duties.

Mari

Richard_close2u · December 31, 2021, 3:04pm

brianlarsen:

I just spent a very enjoyable hour and a half reliving last night’s extravaganza and just scribbled down a couple of thoughts for the individual performers. Thanks to all who took part- performers and audience.

@Rossco01, I commented at the time, but once again- superb intro and I LOVE marmite- Well, not really, but Radiohead is kinda modern Pink Floyd to me. Everytime I here you I think I must use my Trio more.

@adi_mrok, lovely reminder of last week’s offering. You seemed more relaxed to me… and then Glen Hansard. Wow! Singing and picking away like a pro. Those high notes! How?

@LievenDV. I commented yesterday how you had ALL the bases covered. Your performance is just a confirmation of what everybody says- Practice and experience. Really enjoyed that you were able to substitute a different Radiohead song and pull it off with such panache. I love the way you made the PS song your own.

@DavidP - Man, those singing lessons are paying off! But what sensitive playing to accompany it? Small steps turn into leaps and bounds when you look back at where you were. A pity about some web interference with what sounded very accomplished. (I’m well experience in listening to good music on crappy audio, so can listen through the interference. I loved the low tones.

@mari REPRESENTING rockin’ women of the world. Didn’t know the song, but sounding fine with fab embellishments. You were the heart of this Saturday night X

@willsie01 You seem so much more comfortable and relaxed in this session. Cohen and Cash, two musicians I liked in their younger years, but who acquired so much gravitas and authenticity in their latter years. Love ‘em. This is your sweet spot.

(A thousand apologies for forgetting to mute and causing feedback, but happy to have ‘inspired’ you to play this). Yippee-I-Aaaay Yippee-I-Aaaay!!!

@Chris & me:

When Jason said we were running ahead of time and Chris was still at his house, I became slightly anxious. When we were on, I thought ok, we’ll pad it out a bit… but an over six MINUTE intro… how embarrassing! (Jason, you need to assert your authority and just cut in saying, ‘get on with it’)

As to the performance. Well, it might not have been awesome, as I promised, but priceless for nonetheless. A great learning experience for me and I really enjoyed playing with Chris. It could have gone much worse -I had flubbed the last two efforts at playing it. Ta again, Chris.

@TheMadman_tobyjenner what a fab version of one of my fave Who songs. You’re a consummate entertainer, but with some chops to back you up. I’m not familiar with the Grohl tune, but my jaw is still grinding away on that chunchiness. Not to go all biblical on you, but misquoting scripture, I declare: “Upon this rock I shall build my forum!”

@CT For a straight-shooting yank with no tolerance for BS, you have the ability to convey an almost unbearable gentleness when you pick up your acoustic and sing into that mike. You remain what I hope to be able to achieve one day with my music. (Oh yeah, and apologies for not commenting on your last couple of AVOYP uploads, but I took ‘em all in and enjoyed. Esp. the Natalie Merchant one)

@Richard_close2u I’m not going to go all hyperbolic on this one- I wouldn’t want to embarrass you.

You’re a modest man and that stands you well. I’ll just say if I could play and sing along as well as this, I’d be intolerable! I never owned a copy of this song but recall it so well from the time it received wall-to-wall airplay, at least on Irish radio. Bravo! Regarding any minor flubs- errare humanum est, even for perfectionists.

@Rossco01 What a great way to close out a rockin’ evening with virtual friends. Your rockin’ Zombie had all the undead shakin’ in the graveyard, with limbs flying in all directions. Take a bow!

Phew…

Richard_close2u:

@LievenDV wrote

… it’s just friends sharing songs. This community has gone further than I could imagine

Friends sharing songs. A great phrase to sum up this new aspect to our forum friendships.

@DavidP wrote

Glad to say you said “next time” Richard.

Whoops - a complete slip of the tongue. Silly me.

@DavidP

… the fact that you can play so well allows you to be more freely expressive in the singing.

Those are very kind words - I did try to tell the story and invest emotion to it.

@DavidP wrote

… I’m with you, and long for the day when I can play a couple of songs live without what I consider to be a mistake. Then I know I’ll raise the bar and beginning making a whole new set of mistakes but at least those won’t be the entry-level mistakes … so the never-ending adventure continues.

And therein lies the rub. Unless we become pro musicians doing it day-in and day-out then we remain amateur hobbyists. We may strive for and achieve better - but flawless must and should be a secondary, tertiary or even lower priority than enjoying the music and sharing that love and passion. With improved skills comes the option to play more challenging songs, which of course presents new opportunities to make mistakes in public even after some hours of practice at home.

@DavidP wrote

And the song last night was a classic, I’d love to sit in a room and enjoy you playing that.

Romeo & Juliet has long been a favourite, I fell in love with it upon release and have loved it ever since so to have that as my debut song is pretty special for me. I first started to learn it during a lengthy period of sickness and absence from work a few years ago. I tried singing it then, post-laryngeal as I was, and had an inkling I could perhaps sing it, sort of.[/quote]

Richard_close2u:

@TheMadman_tobyjenner wrote

… Even now I am not comfortable hearing my own voice, as I hear it and not others. Headphones allow you to lose that inner voice and hear what everyone else hears.

And now I know and understand why you wear them. It does allow one to step a little outside of one’s own conscious awareness of the sound you hear and into the hearing zone of a third party listener.

@LievenDV Where do I even begin with your wonderful post containing so many golden nuggets? I gave up trying to selectively quote and respond as it was proving too much. Suffice to say that your words, thoughts, advice and wisdom mean a very great deal to me. Ii’ll be your biggest fan boy if you’ll be mine!!

@brianlarsen

Kudos and vibes for your personal attention to remarking and encouraging everyone’s performance having sat through a rerun of the entire show already. 6 minutes - was that all? I could listen to you ramble for hours haha. Thanks to Chris for adding spice and extra dimensions to your ballad in the minor key.

glpguitar:

24 hours later: Thank you Jason and Adi for making this happen again! If this becomes a “regular every few months thing” and you ever want to distribute the load, I (and many others) am glad to offer a hand and help.

Thanks to everybody performing, it was a blast. I still have to re-watch it to provide any constructive feedback but Brian’s comments pretty much say it all. Overall it was a super fun evening with a bunch of great music. Also found some new artists to listen to.

Thanks to everyone “just” coming to the gig. It’s always great to see members of the audience as well. I hope we provided some entertainment to all of you and hopefully see some of you on stage one day!

Lastly, thank you everyone for nice feedback on my performance whether in the Zoom comments or here on the forum. I really appreaciate them. But all of thie supportive comments also made me realise I owe you a bit of an explanation why I requested to be removed from the video.

I like to release music on my own terms. Not in any snobbish or elitist way but just as a - if I am going to put my name/face onto something, I want to do it when I want it as I want it. Now, I realise this is an open mic and if it would be an in-person event in a pub, I could end up on someone’s social media story-thing (we’ll get to this part of my logic behind it in a second) so I am technically requesting something that is impossible in normal circumstances. I also understand that my decision undermines the spirit of the community a bit because some people cannot join in due to time-zones or other commitments but still deserve to enjoy the recording afterwards. With this in mind, I will be moving into the audience for the next sessions unless there is lack of candidates to play. But I think we saw yesterday that at least someone is really keen on playing (…jamming along on bass the entire time…), so this should not be a problem.

The second reason lies in my “special moment” logic for any live performance art. Imagine a stand-up comedian trying out a new joke. Show #1 of the tour is special but within hours (or maybe seconds these days) all of it is online and now someone (who has a ticket for the next show) will see it shared on social media, watch it and then the gig will definitely not be 100% as fun as it could be. The same goes for concerts, etc.

I know, a bit of self-control and you ignore everything posted online but let’s face it, majority of people will read reviews of concerts/watch live footage from concerts because it is great stuff to watch and listen to. But then you know the setlist and you’re not surprised by some deep-cuts (okay, some bands change the setlist for every gig, that’s true!). And I feel the same with albums for example. I am guilty of listening to singles before album release but I do try to avoid knowing more than two songs before I listen to the whole album because I want to get the fresh experience of the entire package the artist created.

Again, I understand it is not entirely the same with this event (actually not even close) but a bit of the logic applies at least in my opinion.

Enough philosophy from me for today. Thank you for listening to my rambling and I apologise if my decision is completely out of touch with the spirit of this community. You’re all great! See you around the forum!

Richard_close2u · December 31, 2021, 3:04pm

mari:

@Richard_close2u wrote

And therein lies the rub. Unless we become pro musicians doing it day-in and day-out then we remain amateur hobbyists. We may strive for and achieve better - but flawless must and should be a secondary, tertiary or even lower priority than enjoying the music and sharing that love and passion. With improved skills comes the option to play more challenging songs, which of course presents new opportunities to make mistakes in public even after some hours of practice at home.

Wonderful words of wisdom, Richard. I’m going to keep giving myself those opportunities to make mistakes in public by working on more challenging songs. 1 simple song and 1 challenging song seems a good mix for me though. I started working on Romeo and Juliet today. Wow, tough! You sure carried it off well though.

sairfingers:

I think the whole point of the open mic format is to allow forum members to perform in, or watch, a live show. We already have the AVoYP section on the Forum where we can post audio/video recordings so I don’t feel the open mic needs recordings. The exception would be (as was the case with the Justin livestream) in the event of a live technical hitch when a recording could be substituted in order to keep the running order intact and to allow someone who was all set up to go live still perform.

I take my hat off to all those who’ve taken part in the 3 open mics. They’ve all been terrific to watch.

I won’t be volunteering anytime soon as being live forever on YouTube does not appeal to me one bit! I will however continue to be an enthusiastic open mic audience member and AVoYP contributor.

Alex6strings:

I personally think that after the last couple you’ll have more than enough takers volunteering to perform in the next one. Maybe I’m wrong but I think after the success of the first few and the preparation time it will fire up some people for sure. (I’ll be sure to quote and repost this if you’re swamped with requests to perform in the next one 8) The environment and vibe of the whole event is very friendly and supportive and imo I think it’s inviting for new performers.

Personally it’s something I’ll always be in the audience for if I can be. Joining the lineup might not be for me right now but I will keep it in the maybe pile for sure. As an audience member and guitar player, I absolutely got the urge to join in after seeing my forum friends having a blast performing. 8)

brianlarsen:

@sairfingers wrote

I think the whole point of the open mic format is to allow forum members to perform in, or watch, a live show.

It is, and that’s what makes it special (and fun) for performers and audience- I hope. It’s an and, not an or situation

Don’t sell yourself short, Gordon! Our guitar journeys have a lot in common. If I remember correctly, you had similar reservations on sharing your music in AVOYP, but took to it like a duck to water. The camera and mic like you. You would have to agree, it has made you a both a better player and performer. OM, esp. the forum one, is not much more than a step up from the ‘one-take’ series you have taken part in. It’s early days yet, but it will be a much cooler/exciting project if it can entice forum members of every level to have a go and feel what it’s like to feel the excitement and fear of a live performance. You’ll never have a safer or more supportive environment than here

TheMadman_tobyjenner:

@stuartw Thanks for the kind words and support. Keep practicing and take baby steps when it comes to “performing”. As Richard always says learn songs learn songs learn songs. But on the recoding side, start with just the audio and just for yourself. Hear what you have done, then post when you feel ready and keep moving forward bit by bit. I am sure if you stick at it one day you’ll join us on the Stage of doom Zoom.

As to the audience, as was said lots of folk drift in and out but I am sure there is a core group, even outside of the AOVYP. You see frequent flyers asking questions, who may or may not visit the performance section (AUDIO-VIDEO AREA - PROGRESS, PERFORMANCE & FEEDBACK on the main forum index) or go direct to AOVYP, so they would miss this sub group.

Cheers Toby 8)

DavidP:

Been reading quietly and have a few replies to make to catch-up

@brianlarsen Thanks for the great feedback, Brian, I really appreciate it. There are a few people’s general encouragement that was ringing in my ears when I took the plunge to invest some time into my singing, your voice among them. Good to hear it is paying off in your ears.

Richard_close2u wrote

Unless we become pro musicians doing it day-in and day-out then we remain amateur hobbyists. We may strive for and achieve better - but flawless must and should be a secondary, tertiary or even lower priority than enjoying the music and sharing that love and passion.

100% Richard. Put another way, I think something I am working towards is consistency. And I do that without falling into being stressed about not being flawless or for that matter become so laidback that anything goes. A fine balance to strike, to continue to strive to improve while being gentle and appreciative of how far one has come. My brother and I often talk about the gap and the gain, the road ahead and the road already travelled. And remember to enjoy the moment right now.

@sairfingers wrote

My point is that although it’s in no way a competition, would you be happy to play live and follow someone who’s posted ‘take 23’ of their song?

Gordon my view on this is that I am not too worried about what other people share, whether it is take 23 or first take. As you say it is not a competition and I didn’t think anybody would think less of me when I followed Lieven. I do still think that the OM is about live performance and wouldn’t want to watch pre-recorded. I think I’d rather watch recordings posted in AVOYP.

My view is that there is a progression in terms of first recordings which may be exercises and drills or parts of songs, to playing with the app, to playing as if round the camp-fire. I began with recording a number of takes and picking the best one, to eventually doing One Take Wed style. I think the multiple takes worked for me in order to be able to share something which was close to my normal performance and in the early days I was pretty inconsistent in performance. And eventually came the next step, the live performance.