"POLE DANCIN' FOR JESUS" (&C.)...

I now know what I’m doing almost every day and night next week (I am developing the kind of rigid schedule I had as an employed person). Sunday is “beta” rehearsal for the play (I think that’s one step below dress rehearsal), practice in the evening with “the impromptus” (we don’t have a name yet), and I need to do the press release for the music publisher; Monday, I have a Garibaldi Days meeting (one more pitch to have Deathgrass play) and I’ll do my first shooting for the video class’s documentary; Tuesday is dress rehearsal for the play (and taking promotional photos of the actors—second time I’ve done that); Wednesday and Thursday I have my “office hours” for the Arts Center, and Thursday night is a tsunami post-mortem meeting in South County I should cover for the paper. Friday is the job interview. And Friday night, the “Southern Hospitality” play starts its 3-weekend run.

In between all that, I have stuff to write for the paper, and the album to send off for replication. The latter has been more problematic than I expected, because DiscMakers can’t seem to get my artwork positioned right. (In defense of DiscMakers, it could always be my fault, of course.) But I’m not approving my order until (and unless) it’s perfect. I have approached a different company, that does it a little differently, and I’ll see if they can get it right. Failing that, I may have to order unlabeled CDs in bulk, like I have in the past, and package them myself, like I have in the past. I’ll need to find a company that can shrink-wrap them if I do that. With uber-professionalism in mind, I want the product shrink-wrapped and bar-coded, just like the Big Boys.

Satisfying to have a new song done, and done quickly. “Pole Dancin’ for Jesus” may not be anything particularly special, but it is topical—prompted by a bona fide news story, in fact, that apparently a lot of people have seen—and from inspiration to writing to production was a matter of only a couple of days. One advantage independents have over the Big Boys is we can do this. It is a matter of having the tools, knowing how to use them—and knowing people. (The song, by the way, is at http://www.soundclick.com/share?songid=10441842. And I might have even a better recording up soon, because Polly Hager wants to sing it.)

The recording setup I’ve got is by no means perfect—but with a few add-ons, one might be able to produce a very acceptable product. One thing I can’t do with the Tascam is record drums—that requires multiple mikes. I do have two mikes, but the Tascam has only one mike input. A little mixer could take care of that, and I’ve seen John record drums with just two mikes. I’d need a second mixer—or a splitter—so the drummer and I could both have headphones at the same time. At that point, I’d have all the pieces, I think. I know rather a lot of musicians now, and could assemble an ensemble to record almost anything—I even know a cello player—and can do a recording in pieces, because the Tascam is portable (one of its biggest advantages). That allows things to happen faster. People don’t have to come to one place—I can go to them.

With some practice, I think I could add video; that may entail simply having one of the cameras on hand while I’m recording somebody. (I need experience putting this stuff together, too. That’s where the video class comes in.) Combine footage of the individual musicians as they’re recording with appropriate background film (“B-roll,” instructor Wil Duncan calls it), and one has a quick music video.

There isn’t much one can do with video except post it on YouTube, and put on a flash-drive album (and we haven’t tried a flash drive album yet to see if that works)—but it could be a good “teaser” to promote a live concert. (Same for the audio recording—and I do know a few radio-station DJs, one of them local, who have control of their playlists.) Maybe this is something to try for the Manzanita Farmer’s Market performance by “the impromptus.” I’ll ask. We practice Sunday night.

Joe