copy of blog I wrote for for www.newberryoperahousesoundaudio.blogspot.com

John, Jazz, & The Starlight Quartet

Just this past Sunday, September 13, 2009, we played host to an amazing Clarinetist and Flutist, Dr. John W. Wagner. He brought the Starlight Quartet with him for the first half of his show. The Starlight Quartet consisted of Paula Harshaw (First Violin), Tina Pulley (Second Violin), Charis Burger (Viola), and Bruce McLean (cello). I have to admit that it was a such a nice change of pace to see a very good string quartet. We get them from time to time here, but sometimes it just feels like they are few and far between. For their audio I decided that, with some discussion with the performers, in order to keep in line with classical tradition I wasn't going to mic the ensemble. Of course not using any instrument micing, from a technical standpoint, makes for a very easy work day. Our hall here is very intimate. From the lip of our stage to the back wall of hall is 75 feet. Acoustically, it doesn't take much sound reinforcement to get a very good, even, and balanced sound and sometimes the best decision to make in order to have good sound is to have no sound reinforcement at all. I did, however, set up two of our wireless mics on each side of the stage in order to accommodate the singing and announcements that were to be in the jazz portion of the second half of the show. The first half of the show consisted of the quartet playing:

Three Pieces for Clarinet Solo,

composed in 1919 by Igor Stravinsky

Third Piece, preferably for Clarinet in B-flat

and

Quintet in A Major for Clarinet and Sring Quartet, K.581

by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozard

Allegro

Larghetto

Menuetto

Allegrettocon Variazioni

After Intermission Dr. Wagner brought out his Jazz Combo. The Combo consisted of Muisicians:
Millie Keefe Black (Vocalist)

Shawn Hair (Pianist)

Katie Justice (Electric Bassist)

Martin Gailes (Percussion)

Together these talented musicians took us on a forty-five minute journey through such tunes as:

I want to be Happy by Vincent Youmans

I Love You for Sentimental Reasons by William Best

Nice Work If You Can Get It by George Gershwin

and many others spanning a wide range of sub generas within the"jazz" idiom.

For this half of the show I used only 2 microphones. Again, to keep it as simple as possible. Remember my two wireless mics that I was using for announcements and singing vocals. Yep, those were the only two I used. Of course Mrs. Millie Black, was using one for her wonderful vocals and the other, when it was not being used for Dr. Wagner's tune intros, was being used for picking up the rest of the ensemble on stage. I thought of early days of recording when engineers would use only one mic with the band performing around it as inspiration for this mix. I must say it was fun to "get more" by using "less." In order to pic up enough of the ensemble with 1 microphone I had to push the gain and then of course lower it to it's original level for Dr. Wagner's speeches. To polish off of the mix, I added the slightest bit of reverb and a pinch of slap back delay. Of course whether or not/ how much of effects I used was depended on what I felt in that moment the tune and performance called for.

Overall the performance of Dr. John Wagner, his Jazz, and the Starlight Quartet was a great way to unofficially start our 2009/10 season. Many thanks to all of the people who came out to the free event.

Thanks, Peace, and Blessings,

~JAG

Sometimes I wish I was Ron Carter... or at least could play like him.

So, being a bassist and an audio engineer you spend most of your time listening to music. In your car, at work, at home, radio, internet, internet-radio...etc. It is rare to hear something that really combines the best of both worlds. A song, let alone an entire record, that has both killer bass and spot on audio production.  Well have I got a record for you. It has it all. Killer bass playing, spot on audio production, and I am even going to throw in, some amazing playing and composition.  Ron Carter!! is the man I am speaking of and his album "The Bass & I" is one I constantly find myself coming back to. You can check it out in the discography section on his website. If you can put this record on a good sound system, awe heck!, even on my computer speakers it still sounds amazing, though, if you can play it through a good set of speakers or sound system that's rated for Frequency Response of 20 hz->20 khz and listen to the subtle sonic qualities of the recording come alive. You will find that both the warmth and, what I like to call, the "realness" of the recording come alive and are amazing. It doesn't feel like a recording, it puts you, the listener, right there with them on the gig or the rehearsal studio. It's as if the quality of the recording let's your imagination run wild, seeing in your minds-eye the room and the musicians. Seeing them playing the notes and looking around at one another watching and listening to see where "this is all going." As a Bassist listening to his playing can be quite, do I dare say, euphoric.  At first listen, he isn't very notey. He isn't filling up all of the measures and sonic space with bass.  His playing is subtle, timed, and quite honestly perfect. He let's each note breathe. Each one is played with passion and expression, feeling like it is has been perfectly hand picked and placed in that moment. To a point where theory and grace all come together. He sets the stage for the other players to express themselves.  His bass playing is so consistent that the other player's don't have to think, what is he gonna do and what am I gonna do when he does it. Listening to the record you get the idea that everyone feels comfortable and relaxed. That is something that is truly rare. Sure, other guys may know the tunes and play them right and well, but "that feeling" never comes across.  I wish I had a better way to describe it and perhaps one day I will. The best way I can is to say, "that feeling" is like talking about the "it factor" "you either have it or you don't and you've got it". Be assured this album has "it."


Thanks + Peace and Blessings, ~JAG

This is a copy of a blog I did for the Newberry Opera House Sound/Audio Blog

Well, sound check and rehearsals/warm-ups for tonight's shows have finished. We have about and hour before the House opens and the seats begin to fill. Tonight, we have a very easy set up audio wise. Our input list consists for only 4 inputs, 4 wireless microphones. For the mic's we have used our two Sennheiser wireless handheld microphones and two of our Shure wireless handheld microphones. The Spirit Singers consist of about 30 teenagers standing on risers. The two Sennheiser microphones have been positioned directly in the front line of the chorus about 3 to 4 feet away and they will be used for solos taken by the front line singers, as well as, picking up the overall image of the chorus. The two Shure microphones I have placed behind and to the outside of the chorus and they will be used for the rest of the individual singers solos. The plan at the moment is for the students to pass the Shure microphones to one another. We will see how that pans out during the performance.

In order to keep things as simple as possible I have decided not to mic the piano for tonight's performance. There were a couple of reasons for this. They are playing with the lid on half stack and facing the chorus. At first thought "Yeah let's throw our mics on it".. However, for our piano mic set up I usually use our Rode's NT1A

microphones. Our stage's area is about 40 feet wide by 30 or so feet deep. Not very large. When we use the Rode's NT1A microphones I generally have to careful and considerate on my placement and treatment so I do not get a ton of bleed from other instruments and performers. Second was that while listening to the overall sound I was getting off of the stage during sound check with the microphone at, what will be, show levels, I decided that some of my microphones I was already using were picking up enough piano already and even all of the microphones in use or muted everything could be heard, distinguished, and understood. So, after a touch of House EQing we were finished with sound check. Not bad, it was quick, smooth, and painless.

This is all for now. The doors to the house open in 20 minutes. I need to go and do some last minute battery checks. I will let everyone know how the show goes on our end later on tonight.

Thanks & Peace,

~JAG

For the Love of Social Networking, plus other things.

I have found, after recently being given and accepting the job of "guy who creates my job's social networking accounts and pages", that I really like doing it. I have enjoyed learning something new.  I feel like there is so much out there. So, many social networking sites. It feels like an ever evolving process. There is so much new news all of the time. Which I find engaging. I do not consider myself a "computer literate person" by any means. Though I do feel like there is quite a bit I am starting to grasp and comprehend.

I have been trying to think of things to blog about through out the day. I always seem to have many different ideas. However, when it comes time to sit down and write I can not seem to remember them all. In the case of right now I can not seem to remember any of them. I have often thought that I need to write them down and perhaps from this point on I will.

Tomorrow is the unofficial start to the 2009/10 season at the Newberry Opera House. I have mixed emotions about this time of year. Even more so now that I have a family of my own. I get so used to having so much free time during the summer that when fall starts to roll around once again you start to realize that soon very soon a lot of your time will be spent working. It'll be good financially though.

This evening my wife is out with a friend and I have been left home with the children. Some might run screaming the other way when given this situation. Not me. It was a good chance to spend "one on one" time with the children. I guess I really mean, "one on two" time. Me being the "one" and the children being the "two." We had a blast. We went and got some pizza and came home watched cartoons and ate dinner together. After dinner we went outside and played. My neighbor was outside with his two children. He was in the same boat as me. His wife was out and he was entertaining his children. Luckily enough his children and mine get along very well. They played with rocks and tricycles. I was really happy with the way my son was being very inclusive to his little sister during all of this playtime. Helping her to play. Though both of them still pretty much play "next to" and not so much "with" each other. That, like all things, will change and is starting to change.

It is funny how fast life changes even though it feels like you are waiting forever for the changes to happen. Take for example my daughter. It seemed we were waiting forever for her to walk. Then one day it seemed she just started walking. In and instant her time of being a little infant who needed to picked up, held, and carried everywhere was over. My wife often says that these are best times of our lives and she is most certainly right. Our bodies are in the best shapes. We don't walk around in constant pain. Though in the morning my left foot continues to hurt, but once I take a shower and put some shoes on it feels fine. Our minds are still good. We still have a lot to accomplish instead having a lot to look back on. These are the times of you life.

This is all for now. Thanks for reading, ~JAG

anyone else hear this thunder?

I would ask my son what about "no" don't you understand? he's 2 so none of it, I'm sure. ;)

@ work waiting on the city's IT department to arrive.

done for the night!

got my external hard drive.. uploading an large amount of pics. :)

realizing yet again, that my wife is freaking amazing.. she found my phone today!! and the house is clean.. you are the bestest Elizabeth..

about to head home in just a second.. still can't find my phone. :(

watching Carolina game.. let's do it gamecocks..

Taking a break..

Check out http://ping.fm/7O8uk I just found out about this.. Who all knew and his been holding out!!

Sept. 2, 2009

Where to start. For the past week I have been heading up the social networking e-marketing campaign at work. For any one who reads this, I work at the Newberry Opera House, in Newberry, SC. I have been updating social networking pages and blogs. Thinking of things to say and talk about all day. It is amazing how exhausted that can leave you. I really love doing it, I just didn't anticipate feeling like I was doing so much. I guess, I can take some comfort knowing that I am getting some really good experience that will always be useful to me in the future. I have been working on my creative writing skills. Though what I write isn't very imaginative. I have found some pretty good resources online to help guide me along in the social networking world. I would share them now, but I do not feel like pulling up the web pages. You can find links to these pages on my facebook account: www.facebook.com/jallengraham. There is a facebook page icon on the side of this page that can automatically take you there. :)

In my quest to gather information on what I am doing, should be doing, and need to be doing. I checked out a book from the Newberry County Public Library, after getting my library card, entitled Practical Publicity! by, David Tedone. This particular edition has a copyright from 1983. So, there is not anything on E-marketing, but it has a lot of information I have found really useful after kind of translating it in my head for today's internet market. It has been a good rent. It is due back on the 9th of this month, I am not sure I'll be reading and note taking by then. We will see.

It has given me some really good ideas not only for the Newberry Opera House but for my music project. As far as, getting people interested in it and getting it off the ground. I have been working on some songs that range from Bill Withers to Red Hot Chili Peppers, to Victor Wooten. Most are original musical arrangements that I have put together for the songs I really love. Not so much as an attempt to be different, but to arrange it for solo bass where I could play what I need to play for the song to sound like what I think it needs to and sing at the same time. Which reminds me, I need to break out the metronome and practice tonight. I think tonight I will time out the tunes I am doing. Get more of idea of how long of a set I am working with. That is my wife's favorite part. The metronome that is. I think the constant clicking drives her crazy. I am glad she is supportive of me and just tells me to "do it" already. Which I should and I will.

She is a good woman and I am still learning so much about her. There is so much I do and will do that I couldn't do without her and she smells good. Lately it feels like a lot of things with me, her, and our family are falling into place. Perhaps we are all getting used to it and it is feeling normal and stable for all of us. Which is great. We both seem so get up and go and on top of things. Something has definitely been changing just like the seasons and I love it. I love seeing my wife with a smile on her face everyday. I think maybe her 2 years of 2 pregnancy hormones just might be starting to stabilize. Thank God! ;) just kidding honey, if you read this. I am proud of you Elizabeth or should I say, you make me proud.

Tonight when we put the kids to bed we read four books to them. They both love it when they get read to. Though with both of them at once it is hard to get them to sit still for the entire reading. Noah is getting so smart. He can point out all of the animals in his books all of the colors and that is all thanks to Elizabeth. He also knows his manners.. and he is very consistent with "Excuse Me" when he lets out certain bodily functions and little Juliana is walking up a storm with almost no stumbles or "Uh Oh's" as she calls them. Every time she stumbles there is this little voice that says "Uh Oh" and it is incredibly cute. I am so proud of my children.

I am proud of my family! Here are a few pictures of some proud moments. Couldn't find any recent pictures of Elizabeth but she is there in spirit. Love all of you Grahams.

Till next time, Peace, ~JAG

heading home, shades on, windows down, jammin' out loud to DMB Big Whiskey!! NICE!!

packing up to head home!!

my brain feels overloaded.. taking a break.

taking a break.. perhaps a coffee break..

wow!! I can't believe the weather!! 66 degrees and not a cloud in the sky.

heading to bed for the evening.

fixed the vacuum.. it was clogged with a baby sock.. HAHA!! Kids finally in bed.

It feels so good coming home to a nice and clean house. Elizabeth B. Graham you have out done yourself once again.

ahh turkey sandwhich you were ever so much more delicous than I could have hoped for.

ahh turkey sandwhich, how I am going to love devouring you.

can't wait to see my family!!

working on a linkedin profile for the newberry opera house

Glad it feels so nice and cool outside.