Stormcellar Band Home Page

Here's a great videoclip sent to me by GC. In an alternate universe, James Brown was Japanese!

 Cheers GC! 

Howdy Folks.

We did a dash to the central coast and back on Friday night for a gig at the Wyong RSL and its now official, we are no longer a 'Station Wagon' Band.

What the heck happened?

Oh well, we headed for the Central Coast late Friday afternoon, and traffic conditions were sketchy:

No that's not a parking lot, that's the Pacific Highway. Still, after we cleared town and made the freeway it was back to open road and another scenic trip out of town. Ah, relaxing.

We made our way to Wyong and the very swankily titled 'Club Wyong' (Wyong RSL) for our first gig there.

At the Stevie Nivcks gig last week one of her support acts, a certain Irish Performer, made some mention of playing at RSL's and he didnt sound too thrilled about it. something about 'Meat Trays' and Raffles and the constant sound of Pokie Machines. He would have felt right at home at Wyong...

But how can you knock a Raffle for a Meat Tray? Look at what you get!

And I am sure that particular performer would have been as happy as Vertical, our honorary Roadie, when his number came up and he won a Breakfast Tray!

Here's Theo with Dave as Dave contemplates a big breakfast tray! Funny, Theo is smiling more than Dave

See? Playing at RSL's is fun! And Meat Filled!!

We were very glad to see some of our central coast regulars, cheers to Sandi (love the new ink), Jimmy, Les and Judi, and thanks to Grant for looking after us so well.

We had another solid night of playing and received Sandi's tick of approval for the new songs, so all was well.

After a full three sets, we packed up, got on the road and headed for home just after midnight, expecting a smooth run into...ARGH!!

Roadworks!!! Ye Gods.

We're playing closer to home this weekend with Mr Wizards Birthday Bash at the Bald Rock. No meat trays, but hopefully no traffic! Hope to see you there!

UPDATED RSVP LIST!!!

WOOT! We're going to have more muso's than Space as we have now received RSVP's from:

Ross Ward (ward's Express)

Mike Kerin (Slim Dusty Band)

George Rigatos (Midnight Ramblers)

Dave Tice (say no more)

YE gods! Where will we fit them? What will they play? Where did I leave my car keys???

These questions and more tomorrow night at:

UPDATE JAN 2012 - I cancelled my order for Custom In Ear Monitors from the Melbourne Based supplier listed in Part 1 of this review  and have removed their company name from the blog because I am petty and snippy, so there.

Funny thing happened to me at the Dave Stewart/Stevie Nicks concert I was at last night - Dave Stewart's In Ear Monitor and wireless guitar transmitter went haywire and he had to complain to the audience that he couldn't hear...watching the poor old Soundo running back and forth from side of stage to Dave to try and fix it and then give up and run a cable should be a lesson that Technology Has Its Perils!

With that warning in mind, it's time to write up my initial results on my own investigations of In Ear Monitoring. For those who didn't read the first part, take a moment and read it here before continuing.

Ok, up to speed? Right, so to briefly recap (for people who don't click on links), I picked up an entry level PSM 200 In Ear Monitor kit, including a transmitter, belt receiver and default Shure 115 IEM earpieces and tried them out at 3 gigs on the weekend

Ok, whats the result?

I fricking loved them.

Ok, time for Pro's and Cons of the particular setup I used which was:

Vocal Mike and Harmonica Mike to PSM200 Transmitter, direct pass through to PA, monitoring Vox/Harp mike directly from the front inputs on the PSM200 transmitter (not a desk mix), no Desk mix  return (I didnt bother with a return signal from PA mix), default Shure 115 earpieces (came with the kit).

BTW - for the record, any pricing references here are based on Australian dollar figures as at 30 Nov  2011, with the $AUD at roughly parity with the US Dollar (AUD $1 = US97c), for overseas reader reference

PRO's

*Fast to deploy. Took minutes to setup

* Easy - the instruction manual is not long and with good reason, it was quick.

* Could hear my vocals and harp better than ever before, which gave me greater confidence and also showed where I was nervous in singing, which were obviously notes that I couldn't hear as well (from the upper and lower ends of my vocal range).

* With greater confidence I could hit the notes with certainty. It means I am going to adjust my singing.

*Put less air through the harp, which meant not jamming the reeds from inadvertent overblow/draw, will let you know if that means less maintenance after a while.

* Some degree of sound isolation with the Shure 115s, but not as much as I'd like, looks like the custom fit earpieces are the way to go.

Con's

* Scares PA operators who are not used to them. Thankfully, the PSM200's are a direct pass through, so I can just give the operator two plugs and say dude, these re just the straight forward normal mike inputs.

* Sound isolation wasn't as good as I wanted, as above, when I get the custom earpieces I'll test and post the results.

*Reduction in situational awareness of the bands live sound - people warned me about this, 'you wont be able to hear the rest of the band, wont feel like you're part of it' etc etc and I get it, but given that I've been wearing attenuating earpieces for 4 years anyway, it wasn't a problem, in fact it was better.

However, if you don't usually wear Musicians Earplugs, it might weird you out for a bit, so I acknowledge that this is a fair point, just wasn't a problem for me.

Also, I could still hear the band because my open Vocal Mike was picking them up anyway.

Sidenote: Shure offers a Lapel Mike add-on so you can feed sound from around you into the mixer (or transmitter), I hear that other bands run ambient mikes and feed it into the monitor/mix to compensate for the sound isolation.

* Big reduction in Bass - I couldn't hear the Bass player as well as I normally do, even when I'm wearing my normal sound dampening (attenuating) earplugs.

This might be why The Phantom (Bass player) recommended the 3 driver earpieces, they give you much better bass reproduction. but yikes $$ out of my budget range.

* The Shure 115 earpieces don't have a loop that goes over your ear, so you need a clip to keep it on your shirt, or the damn things get pulled out from your ears when you move, which is rather disconcerting.

* $$$$ - I was lucky and got the kit + custom earpieces for under $1200, - (UPDATE JAN 2012 - I am looking for another, alternate supplier and will update it when I get the new one's in)

but that's still a bunch of cash and I did not get top of the range stuff. I get the feeling that to pickup a 3 driver earpiece and the latest and greatest transmitter/receiver, I'd be spending somewhere between $3-$5K, as at today's prices, and although it might be worth it, you'll only do it if you're mad, keen, or have a definite need of them.

* Fitting a whole band out with these is going to be pricey

* if you're fitting a whole band out with them and want separation, you will need a desk that issues multiple feeds (1 aux send per instrument), although in the case of the PMS200 it had 2 inputs, so one could be Desk and the other Instrument, but it starts to get more complex  if you're singing as well, etc etc omg..I'm overthinking this.

Ok, lets just say the solution I tested worked well for 1 dude, vox and harp, still hearing the ambient sound of the band because they are close to me, but its gonna get more complex and expensive when you start adding multiple people into the monitoring equation. -  I should note that if you find yourself playing a bigger stage, with instrument amplifiers miked into the PA, you will probably have a full sound crew and Gold Plated Roadies, just like Dave Stewart, LOL! Beware!

Summary:

I feel like I got a good value option here that fit my objectives and so far, has worked well. I don't feel like I've overspent, or that I have been chasing technology just because I Geek Out occasionally.

Conceptually they work well, and given my stated objectives, seem like a practical solution to keeping my hearing, hearing what I'm singing and playing, and reducing my harmonica reed busting abilities (hey those little suckers add up!) 

As a buyer, I'm still careful on any tech spend - too little and you buy stuff that falls apart or is cheap because its crap, too much and you're paying Audiophile Sucker prices (solid gold leads with Yttrium Connectors and Flux Free Capacitors for your ipod! I can hear into the future!!).

My results and comments must be considered within the context of the gear I picked, my stated reasons and objectives, budget and date. If you're considering this sort of stuff yourself, look at the process as well as the results - Decide what you want, why, use that to set your measurable objectives, research, price, ask, get opinions from Them What Know Better, Google Your Ass Off, hmm and haw about the cost and then go for it.

For my part, I'll post up another report after I get the custom earplugs from --- -------- --------- (UPDATE JAN 2012 - Name removed after order cancelled, I'll repost when I get a new supplier)

- Note - no financial benefit has been received by the author of this article for his opinions - yet.... but I am given to understand he can be bought. Seriously, I know a guy, gimme a call, we can discuss it over lunch. Your treat.

MJEB 

A whole lot of dancing this weekend...

Howdy folks, we were so shagged out after the weekend , it took longer than usual to put the gig report online. 

We started in Kurnell on Friday night

ably assisted by our Bass Confederate Mr Steve Corbett,(cheers Steve) and the PA help provided by  Henry S, which made my life a lot easier, thanks Henry.

The gig at the KRC doesnt start until after the meat raffle (important) but  as soon as they were done, we rolled into the music and saw quite a few folks strutting their stuff on the dance floor. When they ran out of women to dance with, the blokes just danced with each other. Vive La Sydney!

 Cheers to Paul, Travis and the patrons of the Kurnell Recreation Club for a great night.  Rosie's Guitar work for the night showed that he was chomping at the bit after two weekends off and he delivered some quite outstanding stuff during 'up the line'.

The next evening saw us head down to the foreshore of White Bay, where I got a shot of the harbour at Sunset - not the touristy Sydney Harbour, the working bits.

 Yes it was time to go to our choice Rozelle Musical Establishment, The Bald Rock,

where this time we had a surfeit of Women dancing with each other. Go figure. Now if we could only pair up the men from the KRC with the Women from the Bald Rock...

Dudes! Dont just sit there! Ze Vimmen Vish To Dance!! (sigh)

Cheers to Sue, Garth, Mika, Alan, Josh, Theresa and a special mention of the Phantom Dancers (Carl's extended family) who came up to visit with Carl 'The Phantom' Alwert as he took  up the deputy Bass spot for the night.

Things were so hectic there they spilled out on the street. here's an improvised Al Fresco Dining arrangement just outside:

Another great night at the Bald Rock. We have two more gigs at the Bald Rock before the end of the year, with Mr Wizards Birthday Bash and a Christmas Eve gig.

And so it came to Sunday and a gig as the Houseband for the Sydney Blues Society's Monthly Jam, which entailed a trip to Newtown to the Botany View Hotel:

WHich is sporting a nifty bit of street art on the rear wall of the pub:

 With a small stage, we had to set the  mikes off the stage and extend them all the way up:

We had a brief set and the start and end of the night and the rest was filled with some very solid Jam Bands whipping up a storm.

Thanks to Jed, David F and all the SBS jammers for making us so welcome. A special shout out to the lovely Jamie for visiting with us and Confrere De Corbett for yet more solid work on Bass for the night.

If you're in need of a play, check out  the SBS's website for dates and times for their monthly jam sessions, www.sydneyblues.org.

Next, on to Wyong for Friday night's gig!