shadesofmauve | Entries tagged with pinniped

Tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day, that wonderful time of year in which we celebrate players of traditional Irish music by giving them gainful employment while everyone else gets shitfaced.

Tomorrow is also the day I will be attempting the near impossible. Watch and be awed, ladies and gents, as yours truly attempts six, yes, I said SIX, hours of fiddling for your listening and viewing enjoyment!

We'll kick off with Tom Dulcimer, dad, and I at O'Blarney's in Lacey from 11 (ish) to 1 (ish), un-amped ~~and quite possibly inaudible~~. Then for the main event and grand finale, Pinniped will play at the Little Creek Casino's Starlight Lounge from 6 to 10!

Having been some days in preparation a splendid time is guaranteed for all! (Henry the horse sadly not appearing).

In preparation for this stupendous feat, yesterday we played a house party (unamped) and managed a solid three and a half hours with energy to spare. The crowd was a known and friendly one -- we've played there the last two years -- and it was an excellent dry run. More than excellent, in fact -- yesterday was the first time when someone said "Where are your CDs?!" that I thought we really deserved it. A musician in the audience said "Last year you were fun, but this year you were tight."

So sit back and prepare to be astounded!

And if you don't hear from me by Tuesday evening, my arms have probably fallen off.

Pinniped is going to play at the Little Creek Casino (in the lounge bit, not the giant real stage with lighting bit) on St. Patrick's day, for more money than we've ever played for before! Because booking agents are pretty cool! Now, the agent gets 15%, and we're probably going to pay someone to do sound, and we just pre-spent $250 on another nice monitor, so we'll each take home a pretty standard amount -- but we'll do it having invested in the band and (hopefully) had a much easier show. :D

Spurred by that, we had a really long, productive practice on Sunday. We're working on a bunch of new songs, and helping dad work up to his lead vocal debut. I got my first on-stage lead singing thing out of the way last year, and it was frankly horrible, as was the next time, and the time after that -- but each one improved a tiny, and I feel like I'm almost comfortable now. So I'm glad to see dad starting that process, even though I suspect the first few times will be a disaster, just like they were for me. :P

Before practice dad and I worked in the studio. I started air-sealing -- inserted foam cord all around the windows -- but it was too cold to use the caulk, so couldn't finish the job. Knocked out an electrical box that was too small and replaced it, cleaned up, etc -- all sorts of little things while dad went around and finished dressing out outlets, which is something that's almost impossible for me to do if my fingers are cold (I can do it just fine if it's not cold; I did all the ones inside the house). I did wire one of the switches, and I got down and pretended to be an electron* with my finger so I could be sure I understood how the switched outlet was wired.

Saturday night I bussed down to traditions (in the snow!) to see Randal Bays play, and had a lovely evening with Jesse, who happened to be there as well. I had lots of offers of rides home -- including from Randal, who's a sweetheart -- but since I live up a mini-mountain I called Erik to rescue me. Ex-Connecticut boy is far more comfortable driving in snow than most of the people here. That meant I was stuck hanging out at Traditions for awhile after everyone else had left, so I bussed other people's tables and helped Dick coil mic cables and such. It was kind of nice. Really a lovely evening all told -- good people and warm soup and cheer inside, pretty snow outside. We sat by the window so we could watch it.

I also wrote a lot this weekend, but since I ended up cutting most of it, I'm not sure where to count it on the 'productivity' meter. I am The Un Writer. :P

*Yes, I know it doesn't really work that way with AC, but it was close enough, darn it. Leave me to be an electron in peace.

Pinniped is going to play at the Little Creek Casino (in the lounge bit, not the giant real stage with lighting bit) on St. Patrick's day, for more money than we've ever played for before! Because booking agents are pretty cool! Now, the agent gets 15%, and we're probably going to pay someone to do sound, and we just pre-spent $250 on another nice monitor, so we'll each take home a pretty standard amount -- but we'll do it having invested in the band and (hopefully) had a much easier show. :D

Spurred by that, we had a really long, productive practice on Sunday. We're working on a bunch of new songs, and helping dad work up to his lead vocal debut. I got my first on-stage lead singing thing out of the way last year, and it was frankly horrible, as was the next time, and the time after that -- but each one improved a tiny, and I feel like I'm almost comfortable now. So I'm glad to see dad starting that process, even though I suspect the first few times will be a disaster, just like they were for me. :P

Before practice dad and I worked in the studio. I starteda air-sealing -- inserted foam cord all around the windows -- but it was too cold to use the caulk, so couldn't finish the job. Knocked out an electrical box that was too small and replaced it, cleaned up, etc -- all sorts of little things while dad went around and finished dressing out outlets, which is something that's almost impossible for me to do if my fingers are cold (I can do it just fine if it's not cold; I did all the ones inside the house). I did wire one of the switches, and I got down and pretended to be an electron* with my finger so I could be sure I understood how the switched outlet was wired.

Saturday night I bussed down to traditions (in the snow!) to see Randal Bays play, and had a lovely evening with Jesse, who happened to be there as well. I had lots of offers of rides home -- including from Randal, who's a sweetheart -- but since I live up a mini-mountain I called Erik to rescue me. Ex-Connecticut boy is far more comfortable driving in snow than most of the people here. That meant I was stuck hanging out at Traditions for awhile after everyone else had left, so I bussed other people's tables and helped Dick coil mic cables and such. It was kind of nice. Really a lovely evening all told -- good people and warm soup and cheer inside, pretty snow outside. We sat by the window so we could watch it.

I also wrote a lot this weekend, but since I ended up cutting most of it, I'm not sure where to count it on the 'productivity' meter. I am The Un Writer. :P

*Yes, I know it doesn't really work that way with AC current, but it was close enough, darn it. Leave me to be an electron in peace.

On Saturday Pinniped played a set up on Bainbridge Island, as the featured act at the Seabold Second Saturday Open Mic. It was a really fantastic evening -- Westrider's mom made a lovely dinner, and we had a really nice visit with both of them, someone I met through tumblr but hadn't met in person came out to the show, the open mic quality was quite good, and the acoustics in the little old schoolhouse were amazing.

We also had fun on the road-trip part, listening to the "Ma-" section of dad's 30 gig music collection because he hasn't figured out how to turn the shuffle setting on.

Sunday my folks headed down to Oregon. Without dad and lacking a firm decision on my lighting arrangements, there wasn't a whole lot I could do on the studio, and I was pretty tuckered out from the day before, so for the first time in a long time I had an actual weekend day. E and I went grocery shopping, and I dropped a lot of money at Fred's and Hong Phat (much of it for stuff that lasts and will be used multiple times), then he went off to have his day and I started pork/chicken stock (pork stew bones, chicken legs, onion, ginger), which simmered away on the stove like a big ol' vat of Fuck Vegetarianism. After a few hours of stock-simmering, I grabbed a few cups from the pot, whacked up 2 pounds of pork shoulder, and started dinner -- another long, slow cooked thing: Red Braised Pork, from one of Dunlop's cookbooks.

I basically kicked back and played Skyrim with occasional breaks to defoam the stock and stir the pork. It was fantastic.

Dinner was excellent (stir fried choy sum and shitake to compliment the very rich pork), and really astoundingly simple. We ate it watching City of Ember, which was rather more charming than I'd expected.

Monday (holiday) my brother came over and worked for me, removing the insulation from over the laundry room so it doesn't fall on my head when I tear out the wall and ceiling. He worked reasonably solidly for two hours, and got the job done -- that's huge for him. I spent the time cutting and fitting cardboard baffles, a job I'd been avoiding.

The rest of the day was Skyrim, delicious leftovers, and an optometry appointment.

I know this is all rather banal, but it was so nice to have a real weekend!

EDIT to add: The one bad thing about the last few days is that my possibly-stress-related uticaria -- the randomly appearing itchy rash on the back of my hands -- has been showing up more days than not for the past week. That hasn't happened in eight years or so, and it's really frustrating. It tends to appear at night, making it harder to relax and sleep, and inspiring me to take benedryl, which leaves me slow and groggy for work the next morning. So though I had an excellent weekend, I could use about eight more. Zzzzz.

We have one behringer wedge monitor, but we should probably look into a two monitor set-up. It feels like overkill, but then our monitor isn't parked right in front of me, and the guys have a better chance of hearing each other.

Problem: We can't fit another wedge monitor in the car. We had the car topper on Sunday, and just fit everything. Granted, that's because we brought our own stools... but when you play venues without a stage stool versus chair makes a difference, and when you play for three hours 'not standing up' is pretty important, too. (As my feet are happy to tell you, since I stood up for 4 hours sunday because I forgot my fiddle mic).

There are smaller monitors, of course. Not cheaper, naturally...

We also need to figure out whatever needs figuring so we can use the PA as stereo sound instead of daisy-changed off a monitor mix. For small venues and reinforcement I don't think the stereo thing matters that much, but I'd like to use sliders properly; it's easier to see at a glance when tweaking stuff between sets.

For a long time I regarded microphones and sound equipment as an annoying complication that I just didn't want to be bothered with. I suspect it comes from my all acoustic upbringing -- between years in orchestra and in sessions, I had no experience with mics, and damn it, I just want the instrument to sound like the instrument sounds!

Now that I've performed amplified quite a bit, and done my part of set-up and sound check,* a lot of things that slipped right out of my brain in audio class are starting to make more sense -- but I only started to become interested in mic-as-instrument in the last few days, because I bought and-am-probably-returning a vocal mic.

I have a fiddle mic, but that choice came down to the fact that I don't like pick-ups (except for very high end pick-up & mic combos) and I do like to move a lot when I perform. There are a lot more options for vocal mics, even under $175, and while I feel a little self-important obsessing over ~~mah vocaaaals~~ as an unsure beginner, I really need all the help I can get at this stage. :P

Saturday I bought an SM58, because that's what our other vocal mics are and they're a workhorse stand by. It's what I used in the market gig. This morning my teacher said she uses a shure beta 57, and liked it for 'darker voices like ours' (i.e., the ever-popular I Am Not A Soprano club).

Anyway, I'm going to see if music 6k will exchange the SM58, and hopefully they can do a comparison set-up, too.

If they can, these are what I want to try (if they have 'em):
- shure beta 57 and beta 58 (I know the grill is the only difference, but it does make a difference))
- audix OM-2 (might be better for guys' voices, per reviews, though?)
- sennheiser e835

Part of the interesting thing here is that I don't know what my voice wants. I know my fiddle, and so I know to look for strings described as warm, rich, or dark, because the instrument itself is very bright and brash. I don't have that level of analysis of my own voice, yet -- I can barely stand hearing myself recorded at all.

*We've had a sound guy once. It was GREAT. Other than that, we balance everyone in pairs and hope it works as a trio, basically.

On Friday Pinniped played at Kitzel's Crazy Delicious Delicatessen to an awesome ArtsWalk crowd. We didn't get people really going until the last couple of tunes, but we had people up and stomping and clapping to two sets at the end, one of which we hadn't performed before, so that was awesome! I'm especially thankful to the group of ladies who'd been holding up the wall most of the show; for the last few tunes they came right up front, even though it meant sitting in tiny kindergarten-size chairs, and having people up front really helped get the energy going.

westrider and Kiyoko and a friend of hers made it down in time for the concert, and a whole bunch of our music friends dropped by.

The space is high and echoey, so we probably should have taken the time to set up a monitor, but once we'd played a few tunes and corrected the sound it was great! At the last minute E's coworker volunteered her husband to run sound for us, and it was just fantastic to have someone else focus on that part so we could focus on playing. We may have to find a way to bribe him to come to our next show, because he was great.

Also, I now know to start with the fiddle mic at ~60% compared to everything else for decent balance. The sound-guy was actually impressed that I figured that out -- probably because he's not used to people asking for less of themselves in the mix. :P

After the show one of the brave kindergarten-chair ladies approached Erik about this producer she knew in Seattle who we should really get in touch with. I heard the tail-end of the conversation, and, sure enough, the producer in question is Hearth Music, the brain-child of my music acquaintances Devon and Dejah Leger. I told her I knew them and occasionally played music with 'em, and it turns out Kindergarten-Chair Lady is Dejah's aunt. Small world!

Before the show I spent quite a bit of time coming up with new graphic ideas for the PinniPage and business cards, which I should be able to finalize fairly quickly, so things are moving right along.

Current Mood: good
Current Music: US!

Does this embed work? This is Pinniped playing our Canadian-to-the-Carribean set -- a trad quebecois tune, a Virgin Islands melody popularized by Sonny Rollins, and a more recent quebecois tune inspired by calypso.

Canadian Calypso
Pinniped

Download Share

(Thanks for the tip,

solarbird!).

It's bare bones at the moment, but you can now find us at pinnipedmusic.bandcamp.com, and hear two tracks that were recorded live last summer in booming Duvall, Washington.

Unfortunately LJ doesn't love the embedded player -- go check out the two tracks at band camp, then come back. I'll wait.

We finally cleaned up a few audio files from a gig -- not studio recording quality by any means, but at least Pinniped can have SOMETHING online -- and I want to know the favorite service for hosting such things. Obviously I can just throw the MP3s up on my own host, but there are a bunch of other options out there that probably have easier integration with other web services, and I don't know about 'em.

Anyone enlighten me?

And yes, in case you've been one of the people asking, this DOES mean you'll be able to hear a few snippets of us in the near future!

My schedule is insane, and will remain so until October 8th, but in the odd moment here and there I've played with the sketch I posted here, and I cajoled a very tired Erik into posing for reference last night (hooray for pliable significant others), so...

( Be amazed by my anatomical disasters! Be bored by my stunningly slow progress! )

In other arts news:

I'm involved in a little Quebcois demo gig at the FiddleFest (we're the Quebequackers and we start at 8:30), which is the best part of fall artswalk. (Sorry, Erik, I know you're playing that night too, but my gig is more fun). We just had the second rehearsal, and It was great, though if my old orchestra teacher knew that *I* was the go-to person for upper position work in this bunch, he'd be spinning in his grave. And he's not dead.

Pinniped is playing a very tiny gig as the opener for the Shelton Timberland Library grand-opening tomorrow, which is made a tad more intense since we're all going to Oregon at various shades of early the next morning (visiting my grandparents).

In totally non-arts news...

I have a pile of SHIT!

For reals. Great Western Supply refused to sell me compost -- apparently someone's cornered the compost supply for their construction project? -- and so with Nancy-from-work's help I picked up a yard of dark bark/manure mix for the yarden instead. Nancy-from-work is also Nancy-plays-freaking-polo, so her truck is built to haul ass. Now I have a steaming dark pile in my front yard. It makes me happy, though not as happy as the organic compost would have.

We'll be playing for the one year anniversary of the Globe wine bar Saturday, July 16, at 5:00! If you're near the Portland area, come on down and hear us play! We're hoping for good weather, so we can be outside welcoming everyone in with tunes.

Note: Alliteration is not a requirement of our gigs, but it is certainly a bonus.

Hey all! Pinniped (Dad on bodhran & gutar, E on guitar & vocals, myself on fiddle) is playing down at The Fish Tale for Saint Pat's! If you or someone you know is in the Oly area next week, come down, have an excellent local brew, and listen to some rockin mostly-Irish tunes. We'll even throw in some drinking songs, since it is the Beer Holiday.

Current Music: All For Me Grog

Tuesday, Erik contacted me while I was at the optometrist waiting for my eyes to dilate. Through no fault of our own, Pinniped landed a surprise!Gig at the Spar downtown (now run by McMenamins). A real gig with a stage and a sound system and sound guy and everything...everything except more than 48 hours notice. :P

We played Thursday night, and it was a blast. Considering that Erik had banged his finger in a car door Sunday and Dad was up past his bed-time, we did really well. I took a few wrong turns (which Erik referred to as "death defying improv") and managed to find my way back, a few friends showed up, and the manager seemed to like it (Yay!). There weren't a lot of people, though, which you'd expect for a thursday night with less than two days notice. When the people with kids started leaving around 10 the place emptied out a lot and it made it really tough for me to keep the energy up -- as on as Erik and Dad are bringing music and using stands, I'm the 'front' person -- I really pour on the energy to make up for the distance imposed by the stand. It's a lot harder to do that for any length of time when you don't have a crowd giving you energy back.

Still, there was much dancing about!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...
In the same exciting 48 hour span, I found out that there was a whole lotta water on the ceiling in B's room, and apparently there had been for some time. I hadn't known, because B rents from me, and We Do Not Enter Renters Rooms Without Notice And Permission. Whole lotta water. Which he apparently just forgot to mention.

Slight roof-related panic ensues, in which we discover they didn't pull a permit to do the roof in 2009, and I have no record of the company. Luckily, my realtor was totally on top of things (If you're looking for a house in the Oly area, Marle is great). The roofers had someone out within an hour, and...

It was condensation. B's window and door were always tight shut, and the dirty clothes pile was...daunting. I didn't believe them at first (did I mention it was a whole lotta water?) but I've since been up in the attic, and it's dry as a bone, except...

Except for the bathroom fan vent. The fan had vented into the attic; when I bought the house I stipulated that it be vented to the outside as a condition of sale. Which they did! ...by running venting 15 feet over to the gable, instead of 3 feet straight up and out the roof. And not actually attaching the 6 in diameter vent to the 4 in diameter fan exhaust.

Uninsulated attic + 15 feet of vent + weak fan = vent is FULL of water.

Dad and I emptied it onto the bathroom floor and the lawn outside in the process of discovering this. Amazingly, it's never dumped on the ceiling drywall. Yet.

UPSHOT: Pinniped might be asked to play at a McMenamin's establishment again, and as soon as it's warm enough to work with roofing tar, I'm installing a new fan/vent! Wheeeee!

Did I mention all this started on my day off? And that in the same time I was pulled over by the state patrol*? Remind me never to try to relax.

*I may have slipped up and told my mother I was stopped by the space patrol. Maybe. btw the Space Patrol man was very nice and was just telling me the headlight was out.

We're playing at the Shelton Timberland Library tonight at 6:30, in our firstest ever public gig (we've played for weddings and private shindigs so far).