My Office

Just before the show last night at Brooksby Village, I decided to take a picture of my setup and send it to my family. I called it my "office."

The idea came Wednesday afternoon just before the open dress rehearsal started. I had a quick conversation with one of the cast members.

"So, are you having fun?"

"Absolutely," I replied. "I could do this for a living."

"Nice work if you can get it," the cast member commented.

So it got me to thinking. This week I have been doing this for a living. I had a house party gig on Saturday morning, rehearsal on Monday, blues jam on Tuesday, open dress on Wednesday, and performances on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. And not only am I working but I do in fact have an "office" setup for each one.

Here's what Saturday morning looked like:

The client had a family brunch gathering and had the fireplace going to add to the awesome vibe of the day. (We were facing the cooking area and were able to converse back and forth with the cook on what was being prepared and how it was progressing.)

You can see that I was tucked nice and neat in the corner with my 2 amps (acoustic and electric) behind me. And believe it or not, it wasn't hot where I was located.

The Tuesday blues jam at the Roma was a little different.

The bass amp was positioned along the drummers hi-hat side and when I got up to play, I stood where I could best listen and communicate with the other jammers. (Yes, the piano player is the same guy I did the brunch with. And to give him credit, he booked the gig and introduced me to the jam. Thanks Ken!) I didn't use any pedals of need a music stand.

Here's the last "office setting" of the week at the Brooksby Village show:

I'm tucked in to the piano player's right side along the curve of the baby grand piano. The drummer is to my left. (I play both guitar and bass in the show as evident by 2 guitars and 2 amps...) It's a little snug but I've actually got plenty of room.

So I guess even though I don't have an official "office" anymore, I still can say that I have a remote "office" anytime I play out.

And as the cast member said to me Wednesday afternoon, "Nice work if you can get it."

Nice work indeed.

Beatles Box Sets: Stereo or Mono?

Here's an interesting and long time question that's I've discussed with my friends for many years and is quite timely with the recent release of the Beatles remastered CD's.

If I had to choose between the stereo or mono box sets, which one would I choose?

When the Beatles mixed their albums, up until "The Beatles (White Album)", they only though in mono terms. That's because it was not only common in England, it was also the only method available during their tenure at EMI. EMI had the capabilities for 8 track recording but didn't feel that "Pop" music needed all those tracks or was as "sophisticated" as classical music. (This argument was also the main reason the Beatles started to build their own recording studio in the basement of their Saville Row offices in 1968.)

The mono versions have been long thought of as the "definitive" mixes because they were supervised by the Beatles and George Martin. When it cam time for the stereo mixes in the USA, Capital Records had their own producers and engineers remix for stereo. (Americans has better stereo equipment and multi-track recording capabilities as is evident with most of the recordings in that era. Listen to the Motown and Stax recordings and listen for the richness in the recordings--especially the bass...)

So my vote is with mono for 2 reasons.

The first is that's the way they were intended to be heard. The second is because of the limited edition nature of the box set and the fact that the mono recordings won't be available individually. With the stereo versions you can be more selective and choose your favorite record of ones that sound better in the stereo realm (i.e.; Sgt. Pepper, Magical Mystery Tour, The White Album, and Abby Road)

If you've got an opinion, please let me know!