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Yikes! We were beset by the evil gremlins of Windows 7 and Pro Tools 9 today, as unexpected errors invaded the vocal session.

The recording system conked out at least three times during takes, plus a few BSOD's (Blue Screen Of Death) moments for no apparent reason.

Fortunately, our resident geek was to hand (me!) and with the aid of The Google (all knowing) and the very-recently updated Protools/Windows 7 optimisation tips, we got back on track.

The fact that the most recent optimisation tips was released 7 days ago suggests that we're not the only folks experiencing the joys of Random Software glitches.

For all you DIY recording enthusiasts, remember to keep calm and to avoid cursing the computer out too much - a little steam venting is ok, but you still have to get along with your hardware.

Here are my own tips for dealing with this kind of stuff:

1. Don't assume causal relationships between actions and failures. PC's are filled with software trying to coexist and despite your best efforts, or lack of apparent changes, sometimes things just stop working.

2. Try to get as much info about the errors as possible and then google the crap out of it. You will find other people all over the world have had the same problem (quite often) or a similar problem, and these may give you pointers as to what to look out for.

3. Learn basic PC maintenance skills - how to check the event log, how to check the properties of a drive, how to check the fragmentation state of a drive, how to update device drivers.

4. Use a process of elimination - in today's case, we had a DAE error, saying that the Hard Drive was running too slow for data to transfer properly. We tried error checking, a defrag, checkdisk, checking the cabling, changing the indexing service etc etc with little result. In fact, it looks like the CPU was busy running off to do something else during the recording and things went back to normal after switching the setting to prioritise Background tasks (counter intuitive huh?)

5. Don't expect any given solution to work - just be thorough and patient. For example, one of the Optimisation suggestions from ProTools was to disable the Networking services of the machine, which then sent the iLOK dongle authentication into a tailspin. Fortunately, we quickly reversed course and everything was Jake.

6. If all these Technology buzzwords scare the bejeebers out of you, perhaps a Macbook would be safer :-) For one, I can't offer any tips on how to fix those, so you're on your own.

Oh yeah, we also did some work on songs as well. We're still looking for the right approach for the chorus to Suit Yourself and Light In The Distance. No conclusions yet and it's fraught with peril - will they make it to the album? Are they too hard to get right? Was there something flawed in our musical thinking from the Get Go? -  but these are the necessary steps if you're keen on getting a good result. 

Back to Bondi! 8pm on Saturday night, 28th April. Will we have to erect crowd control? Who knows! Come along and find out!

Who knew Music was a contact sport?

We had a rather enthusiastic dancing moment last night . A shout out to my Irish Doppelganger Big Eddie (dude, can you get me some Corrs tix on the low low?). 

The dancing was in full swing, which is great. We encourage it.

As Hillary and her partner swung, the arcs began to get wider.  And wider and...yep, the gentleman in question lost it and fell backwards over the fold back monitors, straight into Rosie's Pedal Board. 

I stepped forward to try and grab the bloke before he hit the deck, whilst still singing, and managed to catch his outstretched hand, haul him up, push him back out and still keep my place in the verse. Am I feeling a tad smug? You betcha. That would have only been improved if I had managed to catch him before he hit the fold back monitor...oh well, next time :-)

On the downside, my harp cases went flying, the boys were a little perturbed and the crowd sucked in a collective breath of surprise, but the show must go on! I maintained a solid foot stance and prepared to repel boarders just in case it was repeated as the chap in question continued to dance, but after bumping into a few more patrons who gave him an earful, he sheepishly retreated to his beer in a safer place near the bar. I recommended a chair!

Strangely, the two glasses of water I had at my feet remained un-spilled during this whole time. Amazing.

 I am not sure that the my bandmates were quite as forgiving, but given our band history of hickeys, dry humping, threats from bikers, naked hens nights, stage invasions and the occasional band car theft and torching, this was pretty low key, but I think there is at least one member of the band who would have preferred that I had clobbered the guy with a mike stand. One of our regular patrons expressed his surprise at my lack of anger.

I can understand why Musicians get a bit mad at this kind of behaviour, but this was just enthusiasm + a bit too much beer, as opposed to other, less forgivable social sins. I think the poor chap in question was a bit embarrassed and I didn't want the rest of the crowd to be afraid of dancing. It's not the first time its happened,  my harps went flying a few weeks ago after another lass danced, tripped and fell into me, so I guess I am just used to it.

I would like to send a special thank you to the wonderful lady who came over and collected all my gear and put it back in front of me whilst we continued playing.

I am glad we motivate people to strut their stuff, it's part of the enjoyment we derive from a gig, and I must say, last night Rosie was on fire. He's due to record some solos for Feel So Blue and if last nights version was anything to go by, it ought  to be smokin'

We send our shout-outs to Lucky, Mary, Howard, Hilary, Claudette, our Canadian friends, Robert and all the folks who came down to hang out with us last night. It's never dull :-) 

Howdy Folks.

Well it was my turn in the barrel today, boy what fun.

A musical truism appears to be that the songs you think will be easy and the songs you think will be hard, turn out to be the opposite of your original assessment.

Yikes. I was worried about 'Feel So blue' and not worried about 'Even in a lifetime', and as you can guess from the thrust of this article,  it was the other way around. Even In A Lifetime took an hour and a half to arrive at a conclusion that we're still not sure of and Feel So Blue took 10 minutes.

The most interesting moment of the session was 'Country Radio', which jumped out of the starting gate with a whole new vibe after a couple of vocal treatment ideas. 

I'm about halfway through re-doing the vocals - seeing if I have a better take in me than the stuff gathered at Bawley Point during the location recording.

We'll take the next few days to review the current stuff and prepare for the next sessions.

 Howdy Folks.

Our studio sessions recommenced today with Guitar stuff with Rosie.

As per usual, I dropped by to get a few minutes of blog footage and wound up sticking around for a while.

Rosie has threatened me with excommunication if I publish any Flubs, so I have to walk a delicate line between getting the inside scoop and a well deserved thrashing. Fortunately, Rosie was in fine form today, as was Mr Pete.

I am constantly fascinated by the technical terms such as 'Rawl', 'Gnrrr' 'Fwang' and other Don-Martinisms, as Pete and Paul helped Rosie work ont he chord patterns and sounds.

I was glad I stuck around for some work on Even In A Lifetime. Sometimes songs take on another life in the studio and this song is one of them. I only caught the first bit of rosies guitar fills so I can demonstrate the way that the song is evolving into something with a much richer sound, without giving up the surprise of the finished product.

It's my turn tomorrow for some Vocals, wish me luck :-)