Video Killed the Radio Star...
Wealth. Beauty. Celebrity Status. As showtime drew near, my head spun as I was surrounded by Powerball Winners, Belly Dancers, and Wally the Beer Man. Bricks surrounding the hallway were signed by the likes of Candice Bergen, Desi Arnaz, and The Beastie Boys. Sure, I played it "cool", but being a musical guest on a live network TV talk show made me downright giddy. Vocal groups and TV are not often mixed together; however, I think this musical media concoction went down nice and smooth. Thanks to Christian for having us on the show.
They say the camera adds 10 pounds; I was hoping for me it would 10 inches. Alas, I once again looked like a fledgling Oak amidst giant Redwoods. I have received a nice 50/50 balance between comments of my singing versus my height/size on screen. I guess it could have been worse; I am suddenly recollecting the disturbing tragedy of my only childhood TV "appearance". My sister and I were filmed eating ice cream cones at a summer festival for the local six o' clock news. Family and friends were gathered 'round the televsion to see our 15 seconds of fame. What transpired, and the feeling of complete emptiness and worthlessness that followed, cannot be understood unless you are many inches under the average height and have experienced something similar. As the credits begin: A heart-warming shot of a young girl and her ice cream cone, smiling at the camera. And lo! Who could that mystery boy be with only the very top of his hair visible at the bottom of the screen? Poor thing! Surely they could have given him a stool? Or a box, perhaps? Kudos to my mom. I am sure consoling a 7 year old boy who had just been completely mortified and reduced to nothing in front of everyone wasn't too easy. Now that I think of it, I haven't yet watched the video of our performance from Friday. I think I will watch it with my mom, just in case.
Dono
Sounds of Silence...
Our rehearsal this week marked the first time we(read: Jason)hooked up our sound system in its entirety. Upon lugging our massive speakers and subwoofer up flights(plural!) of stairs and down mirror-filled hallways of doom (for which I was very fortunately absent), we were greeted by the sounds of silence....and static. I am sure Casey and I constantly asking Jason the questions, "What does this mean?" or "What does this thing do?" sped the process along quite nicely. Glad we could help.
Once we had Michael Rowfones up and running, it was time to prep for our TV gig. 1 time on our system + 20 second clips of songs= 2 much to account for. We definitely had some frustrating moments, but I think the 15 minute "effects" session we had in between allowed us to blow off some steam. Hearing Casey sing tenor and bass simultaneously is something one must experience to believe.
Singing on Mike Rowfones is an interesting thing. The main difficulty I have is the issue of "volume wars". For example, you are watching TV and your sibling/roomate/spouse(I hope not all of the above) is watching or listening to something in the next room. You begin to have trouble hearing your own, so you turn up your volume a little. Nice, right? Well, they in turn do the same thing. This goes back and forth, little by little, until you neighbor calls and says "they can hear it fine on their TV and don't need surround sound." The same thing happens when singing on a system; everyone must constantly be checking their volume and be listening for balance. It adds a very different set of challenges in addition to the regular musical ones. From what I understand, Jason has some mystical knobs and buttons that can limit the volume at a pre-determined level; I do believe eyes glazed and drool flowed when he tried explaining it to me. I don't really remember.
Dono