The Piano Guys Came To Nottingham!!!

The Piano Guys performing What Makes You Beautiful
at The Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham, UK.

I had been waiting for this for far too long and finally the day has passed. I brought three tickets back in October, I believe and then my dad brought another. Even though my dad decided not to go after an arguement I still managed to fully enjoy myself. I invited on of my friends along at the last minute to ensure the ticket my dad brought got used as they were all very good seats. I sat on seat E28, just five rows from the front so I had a very clear view of the stage. I got so excited just as the show was about to start. Before the lights dimmed I was watching the right hand side of the stage very closely, mainly watching the tech guy on stage. The exciting moment is what happened next. In the far corner I saw Steven Sharp Nelson lean over to him. It was that moment when I realised that I was so close to my heros.

Just after the intermission after Steven had finished his solo set, something special happened. During the intermission my mum must have gone up to the stage guy and requested this but, I was unaware of what she had said exactly. Anyway, next minute after Steven had finished doing an impression of a cow with his cello, Jon Schmidt had something to announce... That it was my birthday!! (Well, not quite but what are the chances of them actually playing on the 28th of June?) This made me so happy. The played me a short birthday song. Literally. It was so funny.

I have followed The Piano Guys since way back when I was studying in my second year at college for my first year of my BTEC Level 3 Diploma in Music Performance. If I remember rightly, that was way back at the end of 2011. I have been following these four guys over the internet for nearly FOUR YEARS!!!!!!

I really wanted to go and see them live last year, here in the UK but, the venues just seemed so far away. I'm so glad that they came to Nottingham and would gladly welcome them back again. I am already planning to get VIP tickets next year, I'm way too excited about it.

A Mid October Moan

Well, again it has been a while since I last posted. Time has been going by so fast recently it's starting to become difficult to keep on track. My last month has mostly consisted of job searching and all things associated and such, that and practicing with my band Zebra Crossing. We've played at a couple of open mic nights now but, we are wanting to build up our set list now. We're still not even completely sure what genre we are but, we're content with what we do and that is all that matters.

More recently, in fact last Sunday we started working on a new song which we managed to finish yesterday in our practice session. We haven't recorded it yet in anyway but, I do think it needs a little bit of 'tidying up' first. It's early days! We usually video parts of our practice and put them on YouTube. We've had a couple of views and likes. It's really nice to get feedback.

Not too long, ago we sent around a link to video of ourselves performing live at The Guitar Bar in Nottingham. That video at current has just reached 15 likes, 345 views and it's still live and counting. Check out the video here!

CLICK-HERE>Zebra Crossing - Chocolate (Cover)<CLICK-HERE

Lucy, our singer recently brought into some post cards for us to pass around for promotion. I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to do with mine yet but, I'll think of something.

Check out our Facebook page!

CLICK-HERE>Zebra Crossing<CLICK-HERE

In other news, my job searching isn't going to well but I have some possible work experience on the line as an Assistant Theatre Technician. It sounds interesting and I am looking forward to it. I've been told there is a lot of traveling and 'time in the van' involved but, also that travel is provided.

In other news, the Ilkeston Charter Fair starts today and as if by chance it is raining! Every year, it rains for the fair so it's not exactly unbelievable. *sighs* No doubt, I will go this year. If the weather is miserable or not, it's almost tradition. Besides, it really is the only time of the year when Ilkeston is busier than out neighboring cities Derby or Nottingham. It's not far off a ghost town now, it's already been ripped on national television by being compared to a better town. Still, I will continue to listen to The Piano Guys and mull it over in deep thought.

Till the next time!

YouTube Covers

Hello everyone!

As you may have seen already, I am starting to get into filming and recording covers. I've watched many people do this before and I think that now is the time to jump onto the bandwagon, though what I don't want to do is simply copy everyone else before me. I do want to challenge myself and keep myself musically active, (that is the main point of this) but, I do fear that this can't happen without small complications.

The software I use for editing videos and recording are very basic and at the moment I don't really want to buy into new software that could make my work better, (my budgets won't let me) it's not that I don't have the money or that I'm a 'poor kid' but, I don't have a job currently and I don't want to splash out cash when I have no income. That wouldn't be clever. I know that is good software out there for around £40 but, I question it's potential.

My ideal for covers are not pop songs and  I have already agreed this with myself though, I don't want to do metal covers either (even though metal is still a sub-genre of pop). I want to make fun covers that are enjoyable. My sudden inspiration to dive into this kind of work comes directly from The Piano Guys as I find their videos not only very fun and enjoyable but, very uplifting. If I had or were a cello player, I would go down those roots and maybe even if I were a better piano player but, this is not me. Plus, there are five of them yet just one of me! I highly recommend giving The Piano Guys a listen by the way, they really are an amazing group of people.

As I've said before, my set up is very simple at the moment. I do not own my own recording  studio, just a mixer, a laptop and a couple of leads that do all of the magic. People have questioned me if I use MIDI with this setup, possibly assuming some kind of USB connection. Well, no I do not. I have the option to use MIDI on my keyboards and also my Zoom G.7ut Guitar Effects Processor (which is fantastic) but, I do not use it because I do not have the the correct leads or an interface, I'm not even sure I would if I could either.

Tripping back to the original subject of covers, I'm going to count my cover; Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness, Miror B Theme as my very first. Before this, I did an acoustic cover of Rush's 'In The Mood' But, I'm not too happy with the video for that or even the overall audio to be honest. I think it needed a little more than I originally gave. I'm not going to bother going back to that one, however it is finished and still a decent quality piece of work that I'm happy with for at least that reason. I can't wait to get started on my next cover now, it can be a painfully long process for a couple of minutes of entertainment but, it really is totally worth it!!!

If anyone has any suggestions of song for me to consider making a cover for, please comment. :')