StephenG
Hey, thanks for your kind words..
It took us a year of rehearsing for that Dire Straits show and after doing it for another year I realised I was earning more as a solo musician playing for 50th and 60th birthday parties using backtrax! (the shame...!) so we canned it. We never made it out of the Western Cape, but I think we were a very good Straits Tribute Band.
I am a full time pro still playing mostly solo at markets, parties etc and also with Gian Groen's band .
I have no regular gigs to speak of and my marketing skills suck, but I still manage to eke out a living. Next public gig is a the Springbok Blues Bar in Somerset West 15 June..NorioDS I think Albert's a great blues-rock player and I have two of his albums but I gotta admit I preferred him with the Blues Broers..less two-chord "widdling"(like I see here) and more structured playing. I think Simon Orange(Keyboards) was a great foil for his guitar playing. Simon also tends to use more than 3 chords in his songwriting. ?
StephenG
Actually, I don't think S African songwriters are any worse than anyone else... it's a world-wide thing.I think in the distant past songwriting was a craft that took time to develop and if you had an album out it meant that usually someone or or some company believed in you. (you mostly had to be something special)
Today anyone with a computer and a collection of loops and samples can churn out an album and they do.
(Hell, I've downloaded my share of free mp3's and indulged in manipulating loops and samples and midi as well..)
But the result is that Music has become so accessible to the masses(making and listening to music) that it's become devalued now..the industry has become saturated.(the book industry has also gone this way, I think. I'm an avid reader and I've walked through discount warehouses full of books by new authors selling for nothing)
It is what it is, I guess.
Regarding Tony Cox...we can't all be great songwriters or singers...but.I do think he's a great guitarist in his own right.- Edited
I guess I'm just feeling frustrated and uninspired by what I see around me now. I know it's all a matter of taste and some would say I have no right to be so critical especially as I've never recorded or released anything myself. It just seems that there's tons of mediocre stuff being put out by anyone who can manipulate a computer and it just means I have to wade through mountains of arb music to find something that may blow my hair back. Don't get me wrong..there's nothing bad about using samples,loops and grooves to make music but it just seems that most of the people doing it are musical primitives..there are usually only 2 or 3 chords in their songs and the chord structure is boringly predictable..
I thought The Blues Broers were sounding great with wonderful (not typical boring blues)songs on their album "Out of the Blue" about two years back. Since their guitarist Albert Frost left them to go solo and they got a new guitarist Basson Laubser, I haven't heard them since but I'm looking forward to it.
I'm playing in Gian Groen's band as guitarist and he's a great Afrikaans song-writer..he's just released a new cd and although some would say it's a bit "middle of the road," there are definitely some cool moments I think.Well, just listened to the first one.."Goodluck".I hate to sound like an asshole and know I should say positive and affirming things about our local talent BUT... As with all the others in my opinion there's very little depth or songwriting skills here..or musicianship. (I don't hear any guitar anywhere) Cute voice and face and a "producer"on a computer.
Most of the music here is made from loops and phrases pasted together in a pretty repetitious form so typical of this genre. Harmonic structure(chord structure) is primitive but compensated by lush production (lots of ear-candy) and groovin' rythm loops.
Most of the South African bands I've heard are (in my opinion)mediocre American/Brit wannabe's singing in their fake overseas accents or Kwaito-morons. (including most of the "premium" concert headliners.
(sigh)Rant over..
Thankyou for your patience, I feel better now.- What about Virtual Arranger?(VA2)
This is a killer program that emulates an arranger keyboard(think BiaBox but in realtime! You can also type in the chords like Biab though)
It can play all styles (yamaha, korg, roland , ketron) and can be controlled via a midi keyboard or guitar. I have used it with midiguitar2 ($100)and it doesn't need any special pickup - just audio from your guitar pickup(acoustic or electric) via any audio interface. (eg edirol ua-25 etc.)
So, it reads your guitar chords and the accompaniment/style follows them in real time- wonderful for jamming!
It is especially great if used with a touch screen computer. Cost is 350 Euro which includes a very good quality virtual sound module.(although you can also substitute your own plug-in's and samples)
The designer/ programmer, Dan, is French and is a one-man show. He is extremely helpful with setting up or solving any issues.
Thanks, but it's been taken care of...Micron wrote: I have a friend that can supply you with gear. Including delivery it might cost more that R1000 though.
If you are interested send me a PM and I will forward his number to you.
Thanks for that, Meron... I am having to fly up to JHB in Feb to do a gig. I also need to hire a PA..Meron Rigas wrote: Hiya all,
Thought this info might be of use to someone.
Flew Cpt <--> Jhb recently with my full size acoustic. Used Safair on the way up and KuLula on the way back.
Safair didn't charge for the guitar, it was regarded as carry on luggage and I handed it over just as I boarded. Kulula did change extra (R290) and it was also handled as carry on that I handed over as I boarded.
Safair is fairly new so I'm not sure how long they'll be accommodating a 'free' trip for your guitar.- Hi
I am a solo musician based in Cape Town and have a gig at Tintswalo Lodge(waterfall) JHB on Sun 14 Feb 11am-3pm.
I need to hire a basic PA:
2 or 3 X 12”/15” speakers with stands, cables etc
Small mixer with FX
Mic +stand
Xtension and multiplug
2 mic cables
2 gtr leads
(My current setup is Wharfedale Titan 12(passive’s) and Yamaha EMX 512 pwrd mixer.)
I will need someone to set the gear up/ drop it off at Tintswalo Waterfall at around 9am Sun morning and fetch it again Sun afternoon after 3.30.Please let me know if you can help and what the costs will be.(I am hoping to pay around R1000) If not I would appreciate it if you could refer me to someone..
Thanks
Guy Feldman
0834526924
Aha..! I decided to check out the pickups myself and I discovered one of the neck pickups screw heads is stripped! So someone must've dicked with it...
Could explain why the tech at Bothners N1 was not keen to look at them...I'll have to give him the benefit of the doubt ..possibly he discovered it was stripped and left it at that, not wanting be held responsible...I did wonder though why he replaced the nut for free!(because , as he said "you're such a good customer!") :?
I managed to look at the bridge pickup though..still can't verify if it's mk2 or 3..just says Tokai B..with braided cable
.?
For whatever reason, I can't seem to insert an image here..I know that my Silverlight is out of date on my computer..maybe that's it? Or am I missing something?
Singe, I'm going to try pm you and send that pic..- Havent looked at the pickups yet..i asked them to check them out for me when the nut was done but the tech was a bit leery of doing so ..
- New nut and 10 gauge strings on ..definitely sounding better. Thanks Phillip at Bothners N1 for doing the nut and my buddy Joe Scheckle for polishing up the frets and conditioning the Fingerboard..
I find the sounds emerging from the neck pickup very like semi-acoustic(335-type), especially in cleanish twin reverb mode..reminds me of Pat Simmons 335 sounds(vintage Doobie bros)and strangely enough, Eric Gale(es-175) and Larry Carlton and John Tropea(also 335's) who all played on Michael Franks' stuff in the 70's.
Forgotten how heavy these things are !Well, let's see how things go... - I've been looking though the forums and the answers are there somewhere..I'll check the pickups when the nut's sorted..
- Thanks for the response, guys..I'm learning stuff here..
Do the pickups say "mk111 or mk11"on the back?