DiggyDog's Progress

Yep, I think that would do the trick.

Interestingly enough, the problem with The Beast returned. It hasn't budged from its spot on the garage floor since I brought it home from the gig but the pitch-changing thing is happeneing again. It may be a short or a leaking capacitor.

I am going to open 'er up and see if I notice anything out of place. It's kind of like when my old man used to try to fix the car. The procedure goes something like this:

1. Notice funny noise.

2. Ignore it for as long as possible.

3. Scratch your head and try to figure out what it could be.

4. Open the thing up and poke around a little while, touching various wires and components wondering what they are.

5. Recruit son to hold flashlight and complain if he moves it too much or not enough.

6. Scratch head again.

7. Tighten any bolts or screws that could possibly be loose even if it is obvoius that they have nothing to do with the problem.

8. Scratch head

9. Crack open a beer and repeat steps 6 through 8 until wife complains.

10. Tentatively disconnect one or two wires and see what happens.

11. Breath a sigh of relief when the thing does not blow up.

12. Beer.

13. Call a qualified repairman and complain about how "they just don't make 'em like they used to".

Well, the Dog Gig went really well.

We played what turned out to be a Doggie Halloween Party and helped raise $1,500.00 for homeless dogs.

The thing was held at a shelter in the bad part of town and the first thing that hit me when I opened the gate to the back yard was the smell.

There are several canines living there full-time and they have a lotof "output" if you know what I mean.

The poor girl whose job it was to take care of this output was hauling away two large trash bags of it when I arrived.

The second thing that hit me (literally) was the number of flies. There was quite an active eco-system in this place.

The second guy in the band arrived and I could tell he had some serious mis-givings about setting up and playing there. I convinced him that it was for a good cause and we would have a chance to capture some interesting footage on video.

Long story short, the smell soon disipated and the flies figured out that the buffet was gone so they went away too, but not before allowing my band-mate to capture some great video closeup footage of several blow flies landing on a theremin as it is being played.

The guests (human and canine) arrived and the free beer and food started flowing and a good time was had by all.

I didn't mention this earlier but one of the band members had been saying that this would probably be our last gig together as he was getting tired of the whole thing. We hadn't played as Barnyard for a few months because of numerous side projects we all had going on.

Afterward he said we should keep it going and do some more gigs soon. (I have to say here that this guy is a bit "out there". This makes for some great talent and willingness to experiment musically but it also means he gets bored easily and wants to start a new project every few months.)

I think the reason for his new-found dedicatin to the group was that the nature of the show required us to pare down the sound to be more acoustic and less noisy/experimental, thus forcing us to play real music at a reasonable volume.

The dogs liked it and the humans didn;t seem to mind too much either.

"[i]The dogs liked it[/i]"

I can see the headline now.

[b]Doggies Dig Diggy Dog[/b]

Way to go!

It was interesting how they seemed to have preferences for certain songs.

I'm not sure if the ones they barked at were the one they liked or the other way round but someitmes they sang along and sometimes they quietly listened.

BTW, there were several that would have made good candidates for pets.

If Mrs. Diggy had been there I am certain we would have ended up with another mouth to feed...

The inlaws are coming in from The Old Country and the wife and I have been scampering around like crazies getting the house in shape/

Yester I finished the last couple of tasks to spiffy up the place and make it safe for old people to inhabit.

In addition to pressure washing the front walkway, driveway and pool decking we have put up all of our Christmas lights and decorations. We have leveled the pavers out front and put down a few non-slip area rugs on the tile inside.

I was able to farm out the window washing and yard work to the professionals but there has still be plenty to do.

All this hard labor has left me no time to rehearse for Wednesday's gig at Yesterday's in Riverside.

(Well, I DID get about 15 minutes of time to play the Yamaha but I am still debating whether I want to bring the beast to the venue.)

It has been acting fine lately with no temperamental pitch problems so maybe I should drag it out.

I am bringing the theremin and the circuit-bent stuff for sure. I am undecided on the following: bass, synth, saw, CD player )for looping sound effects CD's).

Hopefully the lack of rehearsal will not affect our noise-making abilities too much.

I am kind of hoping this show will be a bit of a reversal with the theremin being the main melodic instrument while the rest of the instruments are making abstract noises and effects.

Well the show was a reversal of sorts. There was some melodic theremin playing on my part but it was mixed in with some real noise.

The Beast behaved herself this time around and the crowd was really up for some wierdness so it was a lot of fun.

This coming Thursday (in two days) will be a totally different story, though. I am playing part of a show with my freind, Trey. We will be doing some John Prine as well as other stuff in that vane.

I am going to play the new bass on most of it but there will be a couple of theremin solos slipped in to give it a weird electronic-country vibe.

The show is at the Starlight in 5 points so come check it out if you're anywhere near Cowford.

Otherwise, read about it here...

OK, anyone who has booked plane tickets for this gig to hear some theremin might want to think twice.

I am just going to be playing the new bass. We went over a bunch of songs last night and never got around to setting up the theremin.

We are going to use it at some future dates when the girl singer is back in town.

She is into the idea as is Trey, who I will be playing with tonight.

In fact, I met him I was in the music store trying out amps for the theremn. We walked right up to me and within 15 minutes I was inviting him to come play a few songs with Barnyard.

Last night's rehearsal was a litlle wobbly. I don;t know what was going on with me but I was suddenly having trouble following along with songs I had played incessantly several years ago.

Maybe all those years of noise are catching up with meso I can no longer play "normal" music...

So I’ve got something going on that hasn’t happened in years. I am actually a little nervous about tonight’s show.

I do not have enough common sense to suffer from stage fright or even nerves before a show but this one is different.

I went over to my friend Trey’s house last night to break in his new music room with a little session where we went over a few tunes. All of them were easy and most of them were songs I had played in a band I was with in the early 90’s.

Almost all of the songs were three or four chord country/folk ditties, not much thinking involved but for some reason I was having difficulties keeping track of where we were a few times. It could have been the acoustics in the place. It was all bare walls and an uncovered window so there was some low-end rumbling that was messing with my bass notes. (Like I said, we broke in the place last night. He hasn’t put in the sound dampening stuff on the wall or anything.

Maybe I would blame it on not quite being used to the new bass but I have bene playing it almost every day since Christmas morning so that’s not the problem.

Aside from Barnyard, which is all over the map musically, most of my bass gigs in the last several years have been with a reggae band so maybe I just can’t hang with the Appalachian stuff anymore or maybe I am just getting old and senile and can’t remember a chord progression anymore.

On a positive note, it is an informal gig at a popular local hangout. The place will be packed with friends of ours and I am only playing for one set or so. Also, we are doing Ring of Fire and St James Infirmary, which is a song that I have always wanted to learn. (Learned it last night and it was easier than I thought).

OK I'm sure htis gig matters to somebody. I think that somebody may be limited to only me....

One more update. I am bringing the theremin after all. Trey just emailed me and asked me to bring it so we can jam a bit later in the set.

For some reason that makes me feel better about the whole thing...

[i]I am actually a little nervous about tonight’s show.[/i]

I was of the impression that was a good thing.

Sad to say I did not buy airline tickets, on your advice, so will be unable to make it.

Have a great time.