Over the years I’ve played in a lot of various live band lineups. I’ve played in 3, 4, 5 and 6-piece rock bands as well as some 20 person Jazz bands. One thing I’ve noticed over the years is the bigger the band, the bigger the problems. I’m talking about scheduling problems, personality conflicts, incompatible work ethic, weak skill levels and mismatched goals for the band. It can be a real challenge in a band with a lot of people to keep it functioning. Fortunately there is an excellent solution to this problem. All you really have to do is have a compatible, stable group of core musicians.
For today’s live artist spotlight I’m going to feature two amazingly talented singers that were discovered on the British television show titled “Britain’s Got Talent”. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if you’ve already seen these video clips as they’ve had millions of views on the Internet. The clips are from the 2007 season of Britain’s Got Talent and the winner has already been decided. If you don’t know who won, I won’t spoil it for you. Although I will say the winner was chosen from one of the two singers that I’ve posted clips of below.
First up I have little Connie Talbot who is 6 years old. I am a jaded old musician and I’m extremely critical of other musicians. So it’s easy for me to write off this little girl since she doesn’t sing spot on, dead perfect. I have to remember she’s 6 years old!! So honestly, I am amazed at her skill. Second on the list is Mr. Paul Potts. A man who struggles with self confidence and who has the glamorous career of mobile phone salesman. So it’s a bit shocking to see such a boring old regular guy just kill it singing a very unexpected tune.
I’ve posted up the auditions of both singers as well as a couple more clips that show their progression through the show. In the last clip, you can find out who won the Britain’s Got Talent competition.
6 Year Old Connie Talbot Audition (fast-forward to :55 to see her sing)
A while ago I wrote a post on Live Musician Central about working with Celemony Melodyne Uno to pitch correct your vocal recordings. Melodyne Uno has been a great tool for fixing out of tune notes on my studio recordings. I have really enjoyed working with Melodyne Uno but I finally decided I wanted more features and the ability to work with multiple tracks simultaneously. So I went ahead and upgraded to Celemony Melodyne Studio 3.
Melodyne Studio 3 has been fantastic to work with. As I said, my main motivation for upgrading was the ability to work with multiple tracks simultaneously. It does this perfectly and the ability to work with multiple tracks at the same time means that my recording projects get completed a lot faster. It’s so nice to be able to compare two, three or more harmonies together while having the ability to shift individual notes in any of the lines. Being able to bounce between tracks instantly and then being able to hear how the harmonies play back is really a huge time saver. (more…)
One of my favorite bands also has one of my favorite bass players, Mr. John Entwistle. His recorded work with the Who is just incredible to listen to and his bass solo on My Generation is one of the most famous recorded bass solos ever. He’s also an outstanding live musician and has no reservations about taking exteneded bass solos live. Today I’m posting up a clip of John Entwistle playing a bass solo in the middle of the song 5:15 from Quadrophenia. It was recorded at the Royal Albert Hall in 2000. I really like the way his bass sounds on this solo and the camera attached to the top of his bass neck really gives an interesting visual perspective. It’s cool to watch him use his E-String drop tuner as well. The scales that he plays are pure John Entwistle and they’re comprised of a style that the man himself forged. They may not make perfect sense in a music theory setting but they’re pure Entwistle. Any musician that can create such a unique signature sound as well as a unique melodic signature should be revered. I like how Roger Daltrey introduces him at the end of the song.
In Stereo rocked the Canyon Inn this chilly January weekend. The Canyon Inn in Salt Lake City, Utah is a great place for live bands to play and we really enjoyed being there. We hadn’t played for a while so we had quite a bit of rust to knock off for this show. We started out pretty rough on Friday night but by the time we finished on Saturday night we were back in really good form.
Friday night the effects of the U.S. economies current recession was really evident in the club. Usually during the peak ski season the Canyon Inn fills up to capacity every night. Friday it was only about half full. That was probably a good thing because we didn’t have our sharp edge intact as we were a bit rusty from the time off over the holidays. Luckily we pulled it together and ended up giving a really good show. (more…)
I’ve got a great clip for all you keyboard players out there. It’s from phenomenal live musician, Jordan Rudess who plays keyboards for Dream Theater. I find it extremely inspiring to see how far a skilled musician can take their playing on their instrument. Jordan is definitely one of the best keyboard players in all of rock-n-roll. I hope you enjoy the clip!
All this week I will be featuring the best content of 2008 from Live Musician Central. These posts are made up of the most popular on the site as well as some of my personal favorites. Just click on any of the articles highlighted in the slideshow at the top of the main page. You can also get to them by clicking this link: Live Musician Central Top Posts of 2008. -Matt-
Merry Christmas from Live Musician Central! I hope your day is filled with joy. I am posting this video clip of John Lennon – Happy Christmas (War Is Over) as I believe it still has some relevance in our world today. I often wonder what John Lennon would make of the state of the world in our time. Even though this song is a protest song, I believe it has an underlying message of hope. The song’s actual title is Happy Xmas (War Is Over) and Wikipedia has a great write-up on the song’s origin and history. Check it out here.
This is one of my favorite celebrity charity get togethers as well as one of my favorite Christmas songs. Spearheaded by Bob Geldof, it features some of the most popular live musicians of 1984. Some of the words are surprisingly gloomy but overall the song is hopeful and has a good message. It’s like looking at old home videos of when your family was young. The people in the video have really changed over the years. Can you dig how cool Sting’s hair looks in this video and how Bono is rockin’ that mullet? I hope you all enjoy it and have a great Christmas Eve tonight! (more…)
I thought this was a fascinating video looking at some of the physics of drumming. It features drummer Mike Mangini who has played drums for Extreme and Steve Vai. He is currently a faculty member at the Berklee College Of Music in Boston. Mike Mangini is an extremely fast drummer and has held 3 world records for speed drumming.
In this video clip from Discovery Channel’s Time Warp series they discuss the physics of drumming on the drummers body as well as the drumset. They take a super slow motion look at the effects of a drum hit on a snare head and cymbal. What really amazed me is how the cymbal flowed like liquid when it was hit. It’s really incredible to watch. I hope you enjoy the clip! (more…)
