Donovan Banks

That's the question I hear all 65 of you ask about the recording of my last gig.

Not so great, is the answer.

There was a lot wrong with the way the whole event was executed to begin with and there are some things we can all learn from here.

Planning
There were 13 bands, each playing 2 songs with no sound check in between. The stage was nicely laid out with enough gear and we as the band knew what was expected of us. We were prepared. So we thought.
I got on stage and made use of a Laney Cub amp. I chose that over the other 2 Fender amps because I knew it had good tone and figured since it was mic'ed up, I could have the mix in the monitors and not hear it too much from the source. Unfortunately when I should have told the sound engineer which amp I was using I didn't because I was rushing to set up. I will NEVER forsake quality of sound for time. The result of this was that when I broke into my solo, and it was a great one, it was inaudible. You could hear nothing at all. I tried in between sections to crank the amp but it was at 10 and still nothing.

Execution
I just carried on playing and by the second song I was definitely hearing guitar. My moment had passed. Nobody heard me. I checked with the engineer recording the audio and he had recorded the stereo mix and not each instrument on separate tracks. Recording stereo can work out awesome when the live sound is up to the right standard. Unfortunately, now there is a recording with absolutely no guitar, not even a track that can be compressed and amplified to rescue it. I can probably try dubbing some guitar over it after the fact but I am not sure how usable that track, or the recording will be.

We played our two songs with gusto and pizazz. The audience enjoyed us and we had fun. Hopefully the end product is usable, or at least YouTubable (c) so you can see it. Maybe I can also get my hands on the audio and add what guitar I can but we will see.

Frankly I can't blame anyone for the shortcomings but myself. We knew what we were getting into and we prepared for it. I just disregarded lessons and experience that I have had from this same venue. I knew something was going to fail and didn't look hard enough at what could go wrong.

I still had an awesome jam though....

We're playing a 2 song set along with some other great bands. The event is being recorded to be released on DVD with the Zack's compilation album. Stay tuned for more details.

I got my hands on the Snap Jack, which is a guitar lead with a difference. The folks at Zzyxz have created a cable that you can separate at the Jack making the connection faster and a lot quieter.
Take a look at my video


I like it. I'm glad I have one and I want more...

Last night I played a short acoustic set with the singer of Stereo in Flight, Bevan Lynch at Zack's in Windermere rd. It was a simple affair, hosted by Steve Fataar and was very laid back. It is a lovely, intimate environment to play, especially if you want to interact closely with your audience.

Before I get into our little set, I must mention that there was a duo that played before us. They go by the name(s) Matt and Mike, or was it Mike and Matt? Thats aside, they were very good. I enjoyed their set and was very surprised to see talent like this floating around. Great voice, great guitar playing, excellent songs and a very personable interaction with the audience. I am hoping to see them a lot more often.

Our set was planned to be only two songs. Bevan played his Yamaha steel string, I don't know the model number, I played my Aria Nylon String. We played well and executed the songs well enough, but in the video that our drummer, Brett Robertson kindly took I noticed something about my guitar, well, the guitars in general.
There was a major lack of bass presence in the out going sound. Which resulted in us sounding very thin and like half an ensemble. Sure, we were only half the band but plenty people play unplugged with no bass and get a good, balanced sound.

I can only guess what the problem was out of a number of possibilities.

1. My Battery is a little flat. Any adjustments I make to the preamp above or below zero suck so much power out of the already dead batter rendering the guitar a lot quieter. I think it's time to invest in rechargeable's. We'll see how that turns out...
2. My guitar isn't the greatest sounding instrument. I have played guitars with a much better bass response. One of them being Brett's Ibanez that I pinched borrowed, another being a Martin that  I played in store. Maybe, just maybe, it's time to start  looking at a higher end Nylon String. For now I think I'm going to try the stolen  borrowed Ibanez and see what comes of it.
3. We didn't do any sort of sound check. There was no EQ'ing done before we started. We merely tuned and played. It may have been a contributor to the lack of bass response as I don't recall any other performer's sounding very bassy either. 
4. There were only 2 small speakers for the PA. I'm sure my guitar doesn't get down to the frequencies that require bass bins but it could have also contributed with the other, above-mentioned points. 

Yesterday I went to mass at my old Parish on the Bluff. I spent many years playing guitar in a small folk choir there. In fact I started out playing there.
In my confirmation years we were told to do something for the parish and seeing as I just started playing, I tried my hand and joined this group. I had only just started playing and could barely hold a barre chord but I joined anyway. I sat at the back with my trusty old Nylon String and strummed away.
I learned many things in that group. I was forced to play in front of people every week. I learned that mistakes don't count, you must just carry on playing. I learned about song structure and some very strange chord progressions. I made some good friends as well.
I must have been part of that group for over 12 years. I only ever wrote one piece of music I consider a hymn. I taught this choir the song, never letting them know where it came from. they all fancied it and we played it a few times.
I left that parish when I got married (just over a year ago) and haven't been back much. Last night was the second time I have returned in 18 months. I was listening to them play one of my favorite songs and it reminded me how grateful I am to be able to make music. It reminded me of my start, when I couldn't play Bm and I was so nervous. For all my dreams and hopes about music, the foundation was laid there.
they finished the song and I felt humbled.
Then they started to play their next song and a wave of goosebumps came over me. I had completely forgotten about the hymn I had written and they were singing it. They still have no idea who wrote it and I like it that way. It was so surreal. I just sat there, closed my eyes and listened to this small group perform a song that I penned. They sang it with heart and I could feel their belief in the words.
What a humbling experience to know that not only have  I written a song that is a spiritual connection for people, but that they sing it because they like it.