Bernie's again
Went to Bernie's again for open mic. This time, first up was some (adult) students of "School of Rock" with their band. For some reason it took them a really long time to get ready to play. Might have been problems getting the house board ready, a substitute for the usual board, which is being repaired. So the open mic got off to a late start.
I went second, played solo using the Nord Stage 2. I ran stereo to the board but for some reason the output to the speakers was mono anyway. I did Morning Rain (Fleetwood Mac), Shadows on the Street (Gentle Giant), Bell Boy (from Quadrophenia), and Get High (Brandy Clark). I was pleased that Shadows on the Street came out well. For that tune I used all three sections of the Nord: a B3 on 88800000, a wurlitzer piano, and a sawtooth wave with a slow downward filter sweep with some resonance. I put the piano across the whole keyboard, the organ on the top half, and the synth on the bottom half. The song is based on an ostinato on the piano, with an overdubbed organ part holding down chords. Then, I disabled the sustain pedal on the piano, and enabled it on both the organ and synth. Holding the sustain pedal down on the organ simply causes the played notes to be held forever, so in essence the organ held down the same notes as were in the ostinato.
After me, I stayed on stage for a few more tunes featuring an African drummer. He had a djembe with a couple of jangly metal plates sticking up from it, and a couple of congas. Really interesting.
I like Bernie's but the open mic seems to have shifted to a later time slot since the changeover of MC. It's really punishing to get up for work the next morning. So I'll be going less often.
I went second, played solo using the Nord Stage 2. I ran stereo to the board but for some reason the output to the speakers was mono anyway. I did Morning Rain (Fleetwood Mac), Shadows on the Street (Gentle Giant), Bell Boy (from Quadrophenia), and Get High (Brandy Clark). I was pleased that Shadows on the Street came out well. For that tune I used all three sections of the Nord: a B3 on 88800000, a wurlitzer piano, and a sawtooth wave with a slow downward filter sweep with some resonance. I put the piano across the whole keyboard, the organ on the top half, and the synth on the bottom half. The song is based on an ostinato on the piano, with an overdubbed organ part holding down chords. Then, I disabled the sustain pedal on the piano, and enabled it on both the organ and synth. Holding the sustain pedal down on the organ simply causes the played notes to be held forever, so in essence the organ held down the same notes as were in the ostinato.
After me, I stayed on stage for a few more tunes featuring an African drummer. He had a djembe with a couple of jangly metal plates sticking up from it, and a couple of congas. Really interesting.
I like Bernie's but the open mic seems to have shifted to a later time slot since the changeover of MC. It's really punishing to get up for work the next morning. So I'll be going less often.
