Cadence Last Night

4 on stage. No instruments
Originally uploaded by BassBassDude.

A great Cadence show last night at Hugh's room. All a capella; no instruments attatched.
I was glad I could catch the tail end of the show.

Visit: Flickr for a couple of pics.

Cadence @ Hugh's Room - Tonight

WHO: Cadence, plus Special Guests Onoscatopoeia, the University of Toronto's Hart House Jazz Choir
WHEN: TONIGHT. Wednesday March 29. Doors open at 6pm, show at 8:30pm
WHAT: 2 sets of vocal fun!
WHERE: Hugh's Room, 2261 Dundas St West, Toronto Ontario
(1 1/2 blocks south of Dundas West subway station)
WHY: Good vibes for the Juno Awards! We're nominated for: Best Vocal Jazz Album, Best Engineer (for producer/mixmeister Adam Messinger and Dylan)
HOW MUCH: $10 advance, $12 at the door.

I'll be taking photos...

Hopefully good ones.

Well, I just downloaded a Blogger widget through Google and this is a quick test to see how it goes.  I'm a big fan of all things Google and this seems like it is something that I could use.

The Better Way

The Better Way
Originally uploaded by BassBassDude.

I was doing a bit of a walk-about close to where I worked and found the subway zooming by. I probably could have used a slower shutter speed but I was without a tripod. Still working on my technique, but, that's part of the fun of photography.

Warden passage

Warden passage
Originally uploaded by BassBassDude.

I took this shot on my way home from work in Scarborough.

Cadence this Wednesday

Here's the Scoop...
Cadence's Juno Celebration Performance
@ Hugh's Room, 2261 Dundas St West, Toronto Ontario
(1 1/2 blocks south of Dundas West subway station)
Tickets are going fast, so reserve a seat and coming early for dinner. They have great food at Hugh's.

To order tickets in advance, call: 416 531 6604
$10 advance, $12 at the door

I'll see you all there. I'll be at the back taking photos late in the evening.

NYCO Rehearsal Last Night

Well, just had another North York Concert Orchestra rehearsal last night. After being off for a week, I felt like I was sight-reading again. At least I have proper music to take home and practice. Anyway, you always sound good when your part is covered up by the whole orchestra. Once you are singled out, you really notice what you need to work on.

Rebel XT continued

Now, I'm not a camera aficionado, but I do know what I like. After purchasing the Canon Rebel XT, I've become camera crazy. I'm playing with all the creative features that this camera offers and I'm still trying to learn more. I am finding that I like playing around with the different shutter speeds and the different types of photos it can produce. I'm still trying to wrap my head around ISO speeds and when to adjust the aperture, but overall, it is a fun hobby. I feel like I have to drop a few of my many hobbies in order to improve on my other hobbies.

Canon Rebel XT

I just purchase the Canon Rebel XT. I am a big fan and I highly recommend this camera to anyone who has the money. I just have to figure out how to use its full potential.

Quick Tip: Relax to play fast

Playing quick passages can be very difficult. More often than not, it is a mental hurdle that holds us back. Frustration tends to settle in and then we tense up. Once tension takes over, our playing muscles cannot move as freely and quickly as we would like them to. Try relaxation exercieses when your practicing leads you into a brick wall. Breathe easy, slow things down and chill out; it's music.

Practice Backwards

While at my last NYCO sectional, a fellow contra-bassist suggested we practice some of the difficult passages backwards. Not it in the literal sense of going backwards via note-by-note, but breaking phrases up in sections and starting from the end first. I have found this practice technique quite useful and extremely practical. When attempting to learn a piece of music, most people begin from the beginning of a piece and plough on through until they get to the very end. What ends up happening, at least in my case, is that I get quite familiar with the opening sequences of a piece of music because of all the starts and stops that come about. Eventually, when I'm at the middle of a piece, I begin to lose interest and when I finally reach the end, I am completely disenchanted, that is if I ever reach the end. What eventually happens with this latter method is that I will start a piece of music strong, but then I will fade in technique and energy by the time I hit the finale. To paraphrase Joseph Conrad "In with a bang, out with a whimper." Now, this inferior technique also applies to the micro level of difficult runs, passages, bop heads, memorization, etc. By first learning the end, one can set theirself up for continual growth. The way I see it, "end-first" is kind of like building blocks. First you learn the last note, then you stack on a couple of other notes that lead into that last note. After that has been mastered, add a couple more notes to that phrase, and so on. This isn't revolutionary but it does make sense. We, as musicians are essentially trying to communicate. The notes and phrases we try to employ in our craft are our sentences and simplifying the language is the best way to get our point accross, or at least for us to understand our own thoughts or the thoughts of the composer. It can be as simple as "See spot. See spot run. Run Spot run."

Practice...

I haven't practiced in a while due to various circumstances. I feel awful for it and want to get at it again. Here's hoping tonight I get a good session in.

Quote of the week

"There are lies, big lies, and then there are statistics"-anonymous

"35% of households asked know not to believe statistics" -BassBassDude

Bass Stool

Normally when playing bass, whether it be jazz or classical, I trained myself to play standing up. Seeing that I'm not getting any younger, I'm finding that standing for 3 to 4 hours at a gig or rehearsal is slowly taking its toll. To make a long story short, I am now in the market for a bass stool. Anyway, I don't want to break the bank on a seat, but, I would like something that does the job. The only drawback to having a bass stool is the fact that it's another thing to lug around. Getting through doorways was hard enough with only a bass in hand, but with a stool in the other, things could get a little tricky.

(PS- Call it immature, but I thought it was humerous talking about stools and how awkward it would be to lug them around)