Great Big Sea at the Woodland Park Zoo, 7/29/2010

There’s only one thing really that could have kept me from writing this up in a timely fashion–and that’s the simple fact that I’ve been working all weekend with solarbird on our entry for the Great Big Karaoke Contest! But I assure you, I’m still in a warm and fuzzy afterglow from Thursday’s awesome show.

This time around we didn’t get quite as much long, protracted banter as we did the last time the B’ys played the zoo–but we did get quite a bit of delicious Murray-focused banter, as well as sly remarks about how the sun beating down on the stage clearly meant the lads were going to have to start taking off some clothes. Compare and contrast this to how Lillian and Moira, ages 4 and 3, loudly demanded for me to take them up front to the dancing area and got me going around in circles with them singing “Donkey Riding” at the top of our lungs. That’s a Great Big Sea show for you, folks. Vast, and containing multitudes!

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Mirrored from annathepiper.org.

Speaking of the guitar pick of awesomeness

There’s a ridiculous amount of fangirly glee I can get out of something as simple as a well-used guitar pick!

I am not a professional guitarist by any stretch of the imagination; I’m barely at the level of competent amateur, really, and then only because I can play decent rhythm on a small set of songs, and slightly more complex stuff on exactly one song so far. But, that said? I know just enough to be able to make some fun guesses about the guitar pick sksouth snagged for me at the GBS show!

I don’t know how fast The Doyle goes through his picks, or whether this one was new going into the show–but if it was, he played the hell out of it. The tip of it as well as a good bit of one edge are worn quite ragged, and part of the words beneath the logo are worn off. I get this kind of wear and tear on my own picks after I’ve played with them, but only after a while; I suspect this is a function of the fact that a) I don’t play that often, b) I play on a nylon-stringed instrument, and c) I don’t play with anything resembling the amount of power that Alan Doyle does! Metal strings would tear up picks a lot faster, of course. I have observed this directly with any pick I play with for a while on my zouk or my octave mandolin.

I’m amused though to note the thickness of the pick as well. It’s pretty thin as guitar picks go and comparable to several I’ve got. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen this exact brand of guitar pick either at Trading Musician or at Dusty Strings, too. The logo on it is familiar!

I have had it suggested to me that I should frame this thing. My immediate plan for it is, I think, to use it for exactly one purpose: getting footage of me playing the guitar for our little contest video. And hope that maybe some of Alan’s guitar fu may wear off.

Then I’m going to put this thing safely away so I won’t lose it. :D

Mirrored from annathepiper.org.

The final portion of the Weekend of Great Big Awesome

I would be quite remiss if I didn’t post about the fun solarbird, technoshaman, mamishka, cflute, and I have been having putting together the audio track for our contribution to the GBS contest in progress!

And by “audio track” I mean “actual audio track”, not just whatever audio Dara’s digital camera might pick up. Dara’s already got considerable experience recording and engineering herself for Crime and the Forces of Evil, and she is pulling out all the stops doing it for this. She’s also got considerable experience with her own singing work, and she’s been cramming that into my and Glenn’s brains, too!

Props must be given to grian_ruadh, who supplied Dara with an awesome set of vocal exercises for singing. Thanks, Andra! Dara spent a good chunk of Friday and yesterday working with me and then Glenn on these–and we discovered that HOLY JUMPING GODS I HAVE A FOUR OCTAVE RANGE. To wit, WHAT?!

I’m also discovering my first real appreciation for how much hard work actual, proper singing is, when you’re able to slide seamlessly between your chest voice and your head voice. This is a huge challenge for me right now, because the song we’re doing, “Nothing But a Song”, has a vocal break for me right smack dab in the middle of the verse. And given that I’m singing lead, we cannot, cannot have me sounding weak on the verses. (Fortunately, I’ve just heard Dara do some pretty awesome remixing of my current recorded tracks, so we may not have to re-record me after all. Here’s hoping!)

Meanwhile, Dara got a hell of an impressive bass rumble out of Glenn for the harmony in the bridge. Let me put this in perspective for you, y’all. Those of you who’ve followed me on LJ for a long time may remember that when we attended the 2003 Vancouver show, the first time we saw Murray Foster with the band, he totally blew us away with the stunning low note he hit on the final note of “General Taylor”.

I am not kidding when I say that what Dara got out of Glenn for low rumbly notes made her AND me have a similar “WHOA” reaction. So big, big props to both Glenn and Dara on this!

Today, Mimi and Callie came over to contribute higher-level harmonies. I wanted Meems’ harmony support on the choruses of the song, and she laid down a kickass tight harmony on top of what I was singing. It is very telling that in fact when I think of this song right now, Mimi’s harmony is even overriding The Doyle’s vocals in my brain. Seriously, do you guys know how hard it is to dislodge Alan Doyle’s singing from my brain? That there is a mighty achievement. MIGHTY, I tell you!

Then Meems and Callie both threw in some very, very nice high harmonies for the harmony brick we’re assembling for the bridge–both singing by themselves and then joining Dara and me on a four-person track where we sang the dominant notes of the bridge, split up by octaves with Meems and Callie on the high octave and Dara and me on the lower. If I do say so myself, I think Dara’s done a stupendous job filling out the aural spectrum of the bridge. And I can’t wait for you all to hear it!

Now I need to start figuring out how to put together a video that’ll be worthy of this Awesomeness. If anybody out there has iMovie or QuickTime tips to share, now would be a very, very good time to drop a comment!

Oh, and just for posterity’s sake:

Anna in the Studio

Mirrored from annathepiper.org.