*laughs* I think you have more music cred saved up than I do. I played flute all through middle/high school, which I quite enjoyed, but there's not really a whole lot you can do with it outside of a band (unless you find something really creative like this guy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59ZX5qdIEB0)), so mine's been sitting in the closet for several years now. I took voice lessons in college and have done a lot of karaoke, but figured if I'm serious about this performing thing I should have some way of accompanying myself properly. (Nobody told me how tough it can be when you're singing one thing and your hands are playing the counterpoint....aaaargh. Still, I'll get it eventually.)
One of my very good friends in Juneau is like you - she and her husband have all sorts of acoustic instruments (piano, mandolin, lap dulcimer, probably some others I'm not remembering) about the house and will just pull them out and play them of an evening. Her dulcimer especially is just gorgeous - she showed it to me when we were up there in June. Beautiful woodworking, beautiful inlay work too. And, of course, a lovely sound. Anyway, I'll tell you something I told her - if you ever find yourself in the Tucson area, take a trip to The Folk Shop. Fantastic place for people who love to play music; they've got new and vintage versions of all of the above instruments as well as banjos, didgeridoos, lap steels, ukeleles, and all sorts of things I'm probably not remembering. Plus they actively encourage you to take things down and play them, and get to know other musicians - it's like a musical instrument library, almost. (The really expensive/vintage stuff they keep in the back, but are very friendly about letting you play with if you ask nicely.)
I'm sorry to hear that the sound mixer on your performance dropped the ball so badly. One of the nice things about doing it all myself is that I can indulge my control-freak tendencies to my heart's content. :) (What? A performer being paranoid about things she can't control making her look bad? I'm sure you've never seen this before.) I've never actually dinked around much with recording in the past, although I know the theory behind it and (in fact) have some quite nice equipment. We'll see how it comes out...
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One of my very good friends in Juneau is like you - she and her husband have all sorts of acoustic instruments (piano, mandolin, lap dulcimer, probably some others I'm not remembering) about the house and will just pull them out and play them of an evening. Her dulcimer especially is just gorgeous - she showed it to me when we were up there in June. Beautiful woodworking, beautiful inlay work too. And, of course, a lovely sound. Anyway, I'll tell you something I told her - if you ever find yourself in the Tucson area, take a trip to The Folk Shop. Fantastic place for people who love to play music; they've got new and vintage versions of all of the above instruments as well as banjos, didgeridoos, lap steels, ukeleles, and all sorts of things I'm probably not remembering. Plus they actively encourage you to take things down and play them, and get to know other musicians - it's like a musical instrument library, almost. (The really expensive/vintage stuff they keep in the back, but are very friendly about letting you play with if you ask nicely.)
I'm sorry to hear that the sound mixer on your performance dropped the ball so badly. One of the nice things about doing it all myself is that I can indulge my control-freak tendencies to my heart's content. :) (What? A performer being paranoid about things she can't control making her look bad? I'm sure you've never seen this before.) I've never actually dinked around much with recording in the past, although I know the theory behind it and (in fact) have some quite nice equipment. We'll see how it comes out...