Many happy returns, Gordon!
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Hi All,
I had a great time yesterday 
…never knew you could talk so easily Brian 
,…Toby ,it took me a while to realize that now you have to turn off the microphone with clicks in zoom and no longer with my keyboard on /off button??? 
AND WHO was standing in front of the door and keep ringing the doorbell 
,…
But …TJeemig de Peemig how good to see and hear how people get better so fast on the guitar and are confidently performing,… really cool
I was hugely impressed!!!
Greetings,Rogier
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Hope you had a good one Gordon ! MHRs
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Yes ! I think you discovered that at the exact moment I was about to mute you ! You muted yourself and Phil @twistor59 shunted up the Participant List and I ended up muting him instead when he was getting into full Floyd flow !!
Yes folks it was me, hands up over here. Sorry Phil 
But hey you got back on the horse and didn’t miss a beat !
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Haha, yeah no problem Toby 
One thing I learned though - listening back to Adi’s preview link, my guitar was a bit too loud relative to the backing track - not horrendously so, but could have done with a few dB off. Strange, because in the headphones it sounded right. Something for me to keep in mind for the future.
Phil, the ‘final’ zoom sound I get is definitely not what I hear from the mixer in headphones. (Maybe different frequency response?)
Anyway, using a dB meter on laptop I try and set guitar to around -12dB and vocals peaking at around 8-6dB.
Final test is to record using ‘new meeting’ on zoom and have a listen back.
Toby @TheMadman_tobyjenner had a whole thread dedicated to this, I’ll have a wratch .
Edit:
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Thanks for the tips Dave! I’ll have a look at the link you sent (yeah, I know, I should have looked before!). You certainly had the mix spot-on last night - and for that toon, it had to be! Turned out to be an awesome upper in Brian’s speedball
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There is definitely strange things going with the Zoom audio, if you are comparing headphones to speakers, still not sure I know how to get the right balance. I thought Mal was a little hot compared to Lara, when I listened last night. But after a very quick whizz through to check how I did on my Spotlighting debut, I stopped on their set and it was perfectly balanced through the PC speakers. Like I say still to discover the perfect balance on recording and playback. All good fun though !
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Yes, Zoom seems to be able to do some heavy audio processing - the fact that it can virtually mute an instrument but leave the voice untouched (if you don’t have the original audio thing enabled) is quite a feat. I guess it was primarily designed for the world of speech.
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Well that was my first time in the audience, live, even if I missed the first few performers, something to catch up on.
Must say I was hugely impressed with the whole event, really enjoyed the performances, nice to see a range of musical tastes.
Roll on the next one.
Michael 
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Watch this space, I am typing up the draft CFI at the moment.
Such a great OM! Congrats to all the performers! You’ve all raised the bar again, some incredible talent on display! 
Big shout out to the organisers as well! Not an easy feat and you bring it together so well! 
A couple of highlights for me were @liaty with some shredding Van Halen! 
@Jenndye429 (+1 of course! 
) with a stellar Joan Jett cover! 
And @jkahn with my fav Foos tune, Everlong!
All performers were absolutely outstanding, such a privilege to be in the audience. Well done everyone! 
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Okay so video is out ladies and gents, however David or Richard will have to edit out the main post to put the link in there 
in the meantime I will go through commentary I missed during the show:
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@brianlarsen
Great job on the MC front. Of course you would be performing the intro - brilliant 
… and loving your custom paint job.
@davidp
“Some one needs to be muted - thank you” - were you ever a school teacher David? That sent shivers down my spine.
Vocals are right on point tonight David, very nice.
Wonderful way to finish with the melody.
@jestersea
Jesse - great mentality, “I may be able to give it a go now that I’ve progressed a bit” 
Nice touch, tone and rhythm with the finger picking.
Nice dynamics with the singing too, well done Jesse.
@malz
Mal and Lara - Really sweet duet 
Yeah, lovely. The slight out of sync vocals actually highlight the contrast in your voices - it really works.
Well done both of you.
@trj
Tjeerd
Great technique and tone Tjeerd. Nice laid back vocals.
Well recovered, it takes something to carry on
Fantastic debut!
Really pleased with this one. Many hours were put in.
Yeah, the zoom sound algorithm didn’t like my dives at the end, happened a couple of times during practice recording too. I’m on the Linux version so no original sound option - closest you get is echo cancellation to auto (as opposed to aggressive) and suppress background noise to low. Hey ho , it was at the end so no big deal.
@twistor59
Phil - Pink Floyd Yeah.
- aargh! an interruption.
@TheMadman_tobyjenner @davidp
A quick search on the zoom site popped up that there’s a shortcut key of [alt] + M for muting / unmuting. I wonder if somebody fell foul of this? Also I think you are not muted by default when you enter the meeting.
Maybe one to add to the etiquette guidance or is there a mute on entry option at the host end?
…anyway, wow Phil another great performance, tone sounds perfect.
And building in anticipation for the solo - lifted to another level.
Outstanding Phil.
@eric.lennon
Lovely Gibson there Eric :envy…
Eric, love the vox really easy to absorb.
Then breaks out the solo
Great muting technique there with the fretting hand.
…great tone for the Brian Adams
Nice and tidy Eric, well done.
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@rodreilly
Sounds great Rod.
Singing is right on tune and you’re playing is nice and tidy, couldn’t ask for more, well done Rod
Second time up - were the nerves any better? Not a hint from this end.
@think2100
Jay, lovely heart felt originals.
Great clear sound from those finger pics.
Nice dynamics with the strumming.
A star is born! 
@jenndye429
Na, turn it up!
Jen and Dan wow! Only a year in and you’re going all out for the rhythm and lead parts. I like it.
Really well sung and played. Love the break down with just drums and vocals then boom - back in with guitar 
@thecluelessluthier
Mark and Jen such fun!
Beautiful harmony.
Well played both.(Marie sends a special well done).
Good luck with the variety performance!
@philsmith
Go with your way Phil
No nerves apparent in the voice, great performance.
Mad World, one of my favourites.
Loved it, well done Phil.
@Charlie_James
Very nice Dale. A nice fresh vibe.
Looks to be some tricky chord shapes there.
Wonderful debut. (These online open mics definitely help with the nerves.)
@jkahn
Go JK! Note picking from the chords, awesome.
Such tricky delicate vocals to nail, you’re doing well JK.
(PS. thanks for putting me onto the Stone Sour version).
Great timing on the stumming on the Foo Fighters there.
Vocals are spot on.
Fantastic way to finish the evening (morning)
Well done all and another shout out to Brian, Toby and @adi_mrok Adi for organising.
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Bloody hell @brianlarsen you killed it with the intro! Loved it, I think the MC’ing bar has been lifted to the highest level so far! Lyrics was fabulous, had you got an inspiration from anywhere while coming up with this new Community Open Mics new main theme?! 
Well @DavidP you say you’re not MC’ing ever again cause you are not going to sing the rules - never say never! Very well executed performance David, sounded really lovely. And a little solo at the end - love that you are stepping up and improving with every new performance, that is another milestone you should be happy about!
Wow this show is getting better and better, @jestersea I also followed chat and saw @jkahn 's comment and got very excited about your song choice! You haven’t disappointed (a big Pearl Jam fan here), really cool and this bloody picking pattern is a huge challenge with chord changes needed to be done. You pulled it off awesomely and you managed to sing along, as Brian mentioned every performance is something new and unexpected from you and it is so much fun to see you improve. And also your performance will be a huge help when I will be learning the song one day as I know the picking pattern but not all the chords
@Malz and Laura, pleasure as usually to listen to you both. Can’t say I knew the song but really enjoyed your harmonies, got chills while listening to it! I really hope you guys hit some pubs together to show local Yorkshire folks how it’s done!
@TRJ that was really great debut. Don’t beat yourself up about any mistakes, we have all done them (and still do!) and we all survived and managed to perform on plenty more nights, I am sure you will manage too! Again wonderful song and your fingerpicking was looking very neat. Another fingerpicking performance during the night, wish I had something like this prepared too.
Oh yes @liaty I absolutely love that tune, and another rock performance from your pocket - wow! Your vox was really amazing here, you have not been holding up and I need to say I feel partially responsible for it due to my last comment I made in your recent topic you started about honest critique Definitely you are ready to step out from the shadow and shine those skills to Open Mic that is apparently more popular and with some more advanced musicians you mentioned in the past. With this kind of performance - you are DEFINITELY there! And the solo… my heart melts honestly!
@twistor59 with his another touch of David Gilmour’s magic - fantastic! Phil you should never feel nervous anymore, your skills are definitely somewhere at the top of this Community so don’t ever feel nervous okay? <and the elephant in the room called muting button, Toby you naughty boy! Just kidding, could have happened to any of us 
> Really love how you do your vibrato with the first finger, something to aspire to!
@eric.lennon I really need to start with praising your guitar, almost getting some GAS because of you! not familiar with the song again, but really enjoyed it. Glad you have overcome your issues with audio, all sounded good on the recording and I am sure same was during the night. Electrical guitar debut definitely ticked off with a success! Oh okay wasn’t expecting a second song at all This one I knew obviously! Great cover Eric, slightly off tempo at the start but second attempt was definitely successful, well done really greatly executed. Hey, where were all the ladies in the audience to help Eric out with the chorus?! Damn another one with a great solo during the performance, I need to step up my game folks!
@rodreilly that was really lovely, embarrassed to admit this is ANOTHER one I didn’t know! Although I am glad I didn’t as I like not to have a reference to compare with, they do say that first version you hear of a song is the best to one’s years, so Rod you are my favourite performer of this gem! 
P2 below…
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@think2100 really nice debut! A couple of originals, wow really fantastic to had you during the night! Lovely hits you smashed out, jealous you are able to come up with all those originals that smoothly, keep it up and hopefully we all get your first EP signed once it hits a big label! Your first song is very current to be fair, the state of economy nowadays is already hitting lots of folks and will be only worse… anyway do not want to derail here to forbidden topics so let me just say really lovely tune. The second of course as well, really touching and moving song, just love it. And another fingerpicker singing tonight, blimey there is a theme clearly here tonight!
@Jenndye429 and Dan - great to see you both again in the screen! You guys need to sort out monitoring for Dan too as poor guy didn’t know what Brian was yatting about! Although this might have been a blessing… kidding! 
Anyway love the song choice and the performance, not an easy one to play and sing along so kudos for giving it a go! I’m sure with even more practice you’ll nail those difficult lead lines. I had a blast watching you guys, that was amazing! I have a song request to you folks- I can totally see you both doing song called Halo by Haley James Scott - awesome guitar, vox and drums, so perfect for you two!
@TheCluelessLuthier and Jen - usual high standard from you guys, good to see you again at OM As others mentioned looking how you perform together and enjoy music is just melting my heart down, absolutely happy for you guys! Lovely performance and a little show included, that is some real show biz stuff there haha!
@philsmith three times a charm - definitely your best one so far! You Dear Sir are really getting the gist of this guitar playing art, and now you included singing along into your routine which means you consolidated so far all the knowledge you learnt in a spotless manner. I wish I started singing along that early in my learning process back in my teens, you are on a right track! First song very well executed and following the original quite closely which is great. Mad world was another fine choice, great job overall and again - kudos for stepping up your game today.
Dale (now aka @charlie_james ??) that was some debut man, great to have you onboard! You have a mellow and lovely voice to listen to and I enjoyed your performance very much. Some interesting dynamics and picking in there, would love to see your picking hand next time too! I love how you managed to play simple chords during the solo and make it really interesting and engaging, you folks don’t need to play note by note or some complicated licks to sound awesome during the solo, this was pure class! Well done and hopefully see you around on the next ones to come.
@jkahn last but not least! I always enjoy your sets as our musical taste is quite similar and this time around I wasn’t disappointed again. Of course I heard about Stone Sour, although wasn’t familiar with their cover of this one so thanks for showing it to me. You Sir are also developing very fast, I think we guys all have some sort of a Stockholm syndrome where we all are developing in our guitar journeys and one follows the other and we all are becoming quite a strong group of skilful musicians. Picking individual notes was awesome, definitely a step up in your playing, well done. And of course you had to pick THAT SONG! One on my bucket list, thanks for spreading the worm! That was awesome dude, I can tell all the nicest words to you but you know you’re doing great. You must, and if not just listen to your first and last recording and I am sure you will spot it too
Fantastic night I regretfully had to skip, really enjoyed it throughout and as usual thank you to all performers for stepping up and making it happen. Also thank you to the audience, after all without you we would all be a massive narcissists who might as well act in front of the mirror haha! Take care of yourself folks and onto the next one.
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Thanks @adi_mrok,
Technically not a true debut, as I did participate in the Christmas one with Justin.
Truth is I picked that song partly based on a comment you provided on another song I did ( AVOUP), about adding some dynamics to my playing. I thought it was a totally valid comment so I looked for a song where I could play with that. So I’m extra happy you picked up on that.
I did mean to have my hands in video - but I was pretty flustered after sound check ( turned out to be user error or course), and ended up adjusting my camera position resulting in not being properly in frame - and input levels which I think resulted in me being on the quiet side as well.
The ‘Charlie James’ name change is a bit of a story.
I use different screen names for different interests. Charlie and James are the names of my grandfathers and my earliest musical influences. So I put there 2 first names together as my ‘stage name’, or in this case screen name. (Seeing as I would have to actually play on a stage first).
I had changed my name on the Justin forum months ago before active posting, but for some reason it just updated in the forum in the last week.
-Dale
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Dale apologies of course you were on Justin’s Christmas bash, how embarrassing for me to forget! Although to be fair I tend to remember more those Community Open Mics more, perhaps because I am also involved there in organising side of things (amongst some other stuff 
).
Yes you definitely improved on dynamics since my comment on Hey There Delilah, it was really good and I wished I could pull off a strumming solo that well myself! Hopefully we see you on another one too!
And thanks for explanation of your new nickname, pretty cool idea
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Reading that bit amazed me. Dale, you’ve got such advanced skills. I watched your livestream event performance too before Christmas. You haven’t played in a band, or some other gig - whether busking, real life OM, etc?
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