I’m on the train back home to Berlin. It’s still dark outside as I’m writing this on my iPad. I’m not a fan of new year’s resolutions because most of the time you end up giving up trying after a couple of weeks. Yet, this time I’ve got one. One I’m intending to stick with because it’s nothing to do with the new year, but with a necessity.
I’ve actually sat down and made a yearly plan. I want to release an EP and an album. Considering that I already work part time in tech support at Ableton and how many things an independent musician has to do these days… I dearly need a plan or I’ll forget stuff or don’t manage deadlines. And I want to do it right.
I’ve been looking into different project management softwares, but they all seem to lack one thing or another. I tried iProcrastinate, but it gets cluttered too fast and lacks an overview. Projector looked the most promising, but there’s no recurring tasks available. So Wunderlist will have to be my guide in keeping all the small pieces of the puzzle held firmly together.
I must admit that seeing all the work laid out in front of me was pretty daunting at first. Yet I know not planning ahead doesn’t work too well. The toughest part is keeping the rule of scheduling things in a way that you only plan out 50% of the time as there’s always unexpected extra things to take care of or things simply take longer. I always have so many ideas I want to get done as much as possible and end up overwhelmed or overworked.
So Janunary is the test month where I’ll see how good I’m planning things timewise. It will serve as the blueprint for the other months. The most important thing with it is to be honest. To admit that if I tried to achieve too much in too little time I need to make adjustments.
Happy New Year to you! May 2012 turn out to be an amazing year all around!
New Year is the time where you look back at what you’ve achieved and when you make plans. I’ve been doing quite some thinking… about some of it now…
Today my boyfriend asked me why I do the making of the next album as a series of webcasts. I was completely stumped for an answer. I’ve been so caught up in doing it that way I didn’t think about it anymore. It was supposed to be quick and dirty. Just going online with only a little preparation. Yet the setup is not working for me. I can’t hear the music while it’s playing which makes the whole thing stiff and unspontaneous.
So why don’t I do it as youtube videos instead? I could do it whenever it suits me and have it online by Sunday at 9 pm just as the webcasts. As one take with a better setup where I can react to the music. And I could film myself in the recording process and add bits of it. I’m planning on making more videos anyway. Making it a habit to involve the camera would be a wise move, methinks.
I’m sitting on my couch, listening to the state of the songs I have so far. This is the second attempt at writing a catch up post, but the last was swallowed by WordPress for iOs. Again. Anyway…
As the year nears its end, I feel like it’s time to take stock, look and listen back of where I got this year. I didn’t quite get as far as I wanted, but I love the new songs. Moving into a new place has been part of that, but it’s taken up some time as well. Right now I have 8 songs in various stages: ‘Audacity’, ‘Live & Learn’, ‘Too Soon’, ‘In Time’ and ‘Patchwork’ more or less roughly mixed, ‘Together’ and ‘Afterglow’ as rough demos and last, but not least ‘Aurelia’ somewhere in between. So about halfway there. Not too shabby!
Compared to ‘Minutia’ there are more live instruments on the new songs that give it a sort of live feel. I got more instruments since finishing the last album and my boyfriend, whose studio is next to mine, has even more. Working in tech support at Ableton has me staring at Live without making music. This made me crave the tactile feel of tines, strings, keys and so on. As an act of deviance against all the MIDI, editing and goggling the screen, I guess.
In the last few days I’ve made a list of all the things that need to be done before a release besides the music. I had set a deadline for mid February ages ago, but it’s dawned on me that it has become pretty much impossible or I’d have to rush things too much. So I’ve decided to instead release an EP in mid May and the album in late August or so. This way the wait is not too long. Sound good?
Webcast
If you want to have a listen to the progress on the songs of my sophomore album… I’m doing a fortnightly webcast and the previous videos are available to watch. Wanna hear the songs emerge? Or watch live from now on? The next one is on New Year’s Day at 9 pm CET, then Sunday every other week.
Bass, Minimoog, mbira, glass harp, kalimba, metallophone, tom
The concert on Tuesday was an absolute disaster for me. Instead of being able to focus on the performance I was battling serious feedback issues. And why? Because the one (!) speaker was behind me on stage pointing directly to my mic. It was not to be moved so their solution was to turn the mic almost all the way down. I asked the guy if the mix was alright and he nodded vaguely and vanished with the words ‘If it needs any more adjusting you can do that yourself.’
I introduced myself and beckoned the audience to get closer as they had spread out during change over. They ignored me because the mic was so low in volume they couldn’t hear me. I didn’t realise that and was slightly irritated by it. So I got started with my first song ‘A Little’ which is all looping. After I finished I asked the few who had come back to the front if the mix was alright. The vocals were barely audible, was their reply.
I use in ear monitoring to hear everything well while looping. This means I wear headphones and don’t hear much of the outside. On top of that when there’s feedback it goes straight into my ears. I bought this last year because a lot of venues don’t have a monitor and looping vocal harmonies is very difficult when you can’t hear yourself properly.
Off stage upping the volume, back up, instant feedback, back down, turning it low again. In the end, turning the speaker away helped somewhat, but the vocals were still too low in the mix. Also, each time I turned towards my MIDI controller – which was positioned too low – it produced new feedback. I tried to be professional and just grin and bear it, but the whole thing left me rattled and shaken which translated directly into my performance.
I had sent the booker my tech rider and enquired about the setup of the speakers and the availability of one bigger or two small tables. I was assured everything would be as requested. Yet, it wasn’t. Putting the speakers behind you usually results in feedback because the microphones used on stage are facing them. Especially when you’re looping with a mic. This is Audio Engineering 101. It’s the speakers that feed back, by the way, not the mic. I had perfected my setup as best as I could, spent money on in ear monitoring and other gear, but the one thing I still need is the speakers in front of the stage. Otherwise looping is impossible and I don’t want to stop doing it as it’s an integral part of my live show and I enjoy doing it.
Already last year I had come to this conclusion and so rather booked select shows ahead of time. Because there are decent venues out there, but you have to be early when booking. This mini tour through Berlin was in tandem with Vibeke Falden and it was pretty short-run. I had voiced my concerns about booking so late and my gut feeling told me no. Yet, I went along because I promised. I shouldn’t have. That was my mistake.
I walked home with all my gear. Devastated. Back home I talked to my friend who booked the concerts for me in Sicily. She reminded me, I had played a show while still recovering from a bronchitis and unable to sing. I did an improvised set instead and people enjoyed it a lot. I don’t cancel that quickly. If I think I can deliver a decent performance. Yet, this last show was awful. The conditions were awful which rendered the performance subpar. The audience went home with the memory of me as the woman with all that feedback. The rest of the tour would have had similar conditions.
I don’t cancel lightly, but the last show was good for no one. Not the audience, not me. Well, the venue made a quick buck by selling liquor.
The cautionary tale: Don’t sell yourself short. If you need certain conditions to perform well, only agree to gigs that meet your minimum requirements.
And speakers in front and keyboard stands or tables at the same height is not too much to ask, now is it? I don’t even ask for a monitor or a sound guy. This can’t be too much to ask.
Don’t sell yourself short! … and trust your gut feeling!
The new year has begun and it’s the perfect time for hatching new plans and setting things in motion. It seems I can set myself one big goal to achieve for each year. 2008 was for making Minutia, 2009 for starting my label and getting the album released. Last year was all about getting a somewhat financial stability for me.
So what’s the plan for 2011, you might ask?
One thing I have not managed yet is touring. My publisher had the idea to send me on the road as a tour support. I was already getting really excited. But then he became unsure if I was ready for it. Yet, he has never seen me play live.
So… I’ve booked a wee Berlin tour for mid February with Vibeke Falden from Denmark. The idea behind this is to play four or five concerts in one week to get a routine and lose my stage fright.
Just because I can’t make it out into the world right now, doesn’t mean you can’t see me live these days. I’m also going to play a first internet streamed concert in mid February. If you live in Italy you might not have to wait much longer to see me in the flesh. My friend Nicoleugenia who I visited last December in Sicily is putting together a tour for me for March.
When I was there in December I was supposed to play gigs. I got a Bronchitis, had completely lost my voice and wanted to cancel. They really wanted me to play so I agreed to play a shorter instrumental set. The first gig at Lomax in Catania didn’t happen because there was no power. And that after I had been nervous all day long. For the second one in Caltagirone I was hardly nervous and the concert happened and went well. Admittedly it felt very strange to improvise and not sing at all. It made me get out of my comfort zone and I needed the experience. In Berlin the market for live music is totally oversaturated and it makes you feel unappreciated. Playing in Sicily is so different. They’ll tell you repeatedly how much they enjoyed your concert. They want me to come back to Catania and so I’ll return for a week of touring.
Depending on how all this pans out I might just continue doing little tours in different European countries. Possibly with a little help from you. I have some ideas, but I’ll get to that later. Enough rambling about ideas now. It’s time to start making them happen.
The Berlin Tour Dates with Vibeke Falden
February 15: East of Eden Bookshop
February 16: King Kong Klub
February 18: Die Fabrik
February 19: La.D.I.Y.fest
