The Player's check in - Oct 2021 - GuitarTalk Community

The Player's check in - Oct 2021

V8

I've had another loooonng break from regular playing - don't think I've touched a instrument with intent for at least 6 mths. T'was cold and I was under inspired 😸

Even worse, I spied the two electric guitars and neither has been touched this year, I can tell from how krusty they are - even the bass has been chillin 🤪

But I did get some joy the lat few weeks from an acoustic drum kit - there's nuances to an acoustic kit that I can get really into. Sadly I've been dropping so many beats, that I have to clean up after myself 😀 , At least the jam room where that kit lives is a bit of a mess....so it's okay (and thankfully well sound proofed!)

Not that I plan to become a drummer - but I suspect it'll get me bashing away on the other instruments again soon. Even had the briefest jam with a mate on guitar - wow, was I terrible. But it was fun.

What have y'all been mesing around with to keep interest up?

Tinkering, collecting, playing, watching?

guidothepimmp

I have been rearranging my spare room (ie. Mancave, studio, general storage room etc.) In the hopes of reducing clutter and making the space more amenable to jamming.. without my getting a braincramp whilst trying to set stuff up.

Amazing what a little organisation does to revitalise the soul.

Part of this meant making a multi stand for the fiddles. Helped getting rid of stand alone stands and really cleared up floor space. Also, found a smarter way of storing the amp.

Couple that with a reorganisation of the desk, monitors and interface.. its now literally walk in, switch on, and jam. Now setup for silent jam or comfortable room jam levels at the flick of a on/off switch.
Also made me want to get into the room now that it is organised. Tossed stuff i havent used, sold one or 3 things, and got the mojo back.

Also been trying to figure out how tobuse the drum pads and keys on the midi controller to play drums.. that has been tough going though

V8

guidothepimmp Amazing what a little organisation does to revitalise the soul.

Spring cleaned! This is probably my main issue a.t.m - I've been neglecting the playing space. Nothing is setup permanently, so every time I wanna jam, it's preceded by setup time. Not conducive to playing regularly at all.

Talking about it helps though - I did crank it up yesterday for a bit - nice n loud, drum machine rawking away. Bass only, but a fuzz face gave a bit of the cathartic-ness that 'make it louder' brings ✌️

Bluetone My band, uh, disbanded

Arggghh, that sucks! From the tracks I listened to, you'd invested a fair chunk of time & effort? Cool that you turning it around quick, I'm still figuring out what the 'solo' project is - 3 yrs after leaving the last band 😀

Bluetone I'm getting quite excited about releasing stuff that's, well, me.

I be super curious, looking forward to hearing it!

But 22 cover songs, solo n all? Geeeezjus, that busy!

Bluetone

My band, uh, disbanded (won't bore with story) so I had to face up to "what next?" in music. Decided I would start a solo project and do something different, but that quickly raised some difficult questions about how. My singing isn't great; I can play drums but don't own any; I'm rubbish at keys. Would I bankrupt myself through hiring session guys to finish everything?

Now I have two songs nearing completion with a singer based in Wales (old school friend), my MIDI controller doing duty for some non-guitar orchestration and I'm getting quite excited about releasing stuff that's, well, me. At least, as me as can be without my dreadful singing.

(Also, I have been filling in for an absent guitarist in a cover band.)

So, what's really been keeping me busy is the admin of getting something new off the ground, learning how to do a LOT more in Reaper, and learning 22 new cover songs. (Hence non-participation in slide challenge.)

guidothepimmp

Sorry to hear about your band, Blue. Hope your projects take off

Bluetone

guidothepimmp Thanks, man. Ja, these things happen. I'm actually relieved in some ways (though sad in others). Also, I don't have overly ambitious goals for what I'm doing now; I just want to have fun making music.