Wow, remind me not to talk about my cats again. I know that pet stories range into Jean Teasdale territory, but I didn’t think they were THAT uninteresting. Ahem.
Well, on to another subject then: the new band. As I’ve mentioned, it’s been about seven years since I last sang in a band, and probably twelve years since I was in a cover band. If you watch bands on TV these days, you’ll notice that the latest thing is nearly-invisible, in-ear monitors. Gone are the days of the wedge monitors, feeding back from the front of the stage.
For our first mini-gig, I wore dorky-looking regular headphones onstage. By next week I’ll have a pair of the cool Shure E Series ‘phones (the cheap ones, of course, which can be had even cheaper on eBay). With my hair covering them, they’ll probably be nearly invisible.
I already love playing with headphone monitors. I have my own voice cranked up in my personal headphone mix, which allows me to sing even challenging songs without straining. The volume never creeps up (much) or gets overwhelming. Since all of the instruments (guitar, bass, electronic drums, vocals) are run directly into the mixing board, the only sounds anyone can hear in the room without the headphones are quiet string noise, stick hits on the drum pads and singing.
After today’s practice, we should have close to 20 songs learned well enough to perform them. Twenty more and we’ll have enough for a real gig. I’m working frantically to learn all of the lyrics; I believe memorization must be a “use it or lose it” skill!
Well, I’d better fire up iTunes and listen to the songs I’ll need for tonight. Have a lovely Thursday!
Leave a Reply to Charlie Cancel reply