View topic - Calling all Canoeing Musicians ????

I once had an album recorded in Woodstock, NY by a group including Happy Tram and John Sebaston (sp?). I forget the title.........its not important!

What was interesting about it was the idea......a bunch of acoustic oriented musicians got together over a weekend, rehearsed some new songs and some standards, recorded them essentially live, then put it out as an album. I think that they made 2 or 3 volumes!

Well, as I read the Thread on "Other Interests" I got thinking....... a bunch of us here play guitar, harmonica, fiddle, banjo, mandolin, flute, bass ( not the fish) etc. A few of us also write canoeing/camping/wilderness songs.........

So what if we got together some weekend to jam and rehearse some original material related to our shared passion....... then recorded it ( I have an old 4 track, I'm sure others have similar or better equipment) and made it available either to ourselves or to the community here........maybe to raise money for the Boreal Forest or some other worthy cause........

I have always wanted to put together a little folk group ( guitar, flute, violin. keyboard bass drums) called.......you guessed it.....Watersong ....... to play the music that I am writing, and cover music that I love. Maybe that dream could evolve from this one? Who knows?

Anyway, is there anyone out there interested ( Tripper, Richard etc?) Anyone got a place big enought to host? Is the equipment out there? Can anyone sing?

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Dave

"The way of a canoe is the way of the wilderness, and of a freedom almost forgotten." Sigurd Olson, 1956

I'd be in for sure ... sounds like a hoot! Would be nice if we could exchange some of the music online via mp3's or whatever to begin to get a feel for it before we got together.

Maddogbob ... where are you? we may need a bass player.
Dave Gillen ... time to dust that guitar off.
Dave Hadfield ... want to join the amateurs for a session?

Anyone else?

Glad to see that there might be interest Richard......do you record your own MP3's????????

I would love to record some of my stuff your local consumption if nothing else....anytips from anyone out there??????

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Dave

"The way of a canoe is the way of the wilderness, and of a freedom almost forgotten." Sigurd Olson, 1956

Yup,
I would be interested.
Richard whatcha mean by MAY need a bass player? Should be ... we certainly need a bass player
Bob

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morning sun, it's good for the soul

We don't do a lot of recording at home, but we're starting to work toward that. Full-scale, 64 track hard drive recording c/w audio and midi is now quite affordable. Other than the software, you just need a decent sound card and some sort of mic pre-amp or powered mixer.

If you want a quick 'n easy way of getting your stuff into an mp3 ...

record it on tape
dump it from the tape deck to the mic or line in jack on your sound card
record it as a .wav file on your computer
convert it to an mp3 with your burner software

You can even do multi track recording, add effects and tweak things with audio manipulation programs. A great example (and a fabulous program) is Audacity. It's open source GPL license (that is, free).

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

If you're a musician, you should get this software. Many, many uses.

For example, I'll import an mp3, and slow it down whatever percent I want ... without changing the pitch! A good way of learning a lead guitar or mandolin part.

You can also change the pitch of songs without changing the speed. Useful if you want to play along.

Another handy feature ... use cut 'n paste to pull a little section of a song out and save it. Voila ... the lead part isolated from the rest of the song. You can put it on a cd, put your cd player on repeat and practice to your heart's content.

Count me in, I could play the Triangle

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www.friendsoftemagami.org

Sure! I'm in! I might even be able to supply a fiddler.

I can host if it helps. I live 10km SW of Barrie.

I have a basic 4-track digital recorder, but it's not much to write home about. And a lot of cords and speakers and a mixing board.

But, to be honest, recording is very time-consuming. It might be more fun to have a Saturday afternoon to Sunday afternoon session, and record it with a simple area mike.

Let me know!

Dave

When asked about my religion, I tell people I'm a lapsed accordionist. If I had a good reason I'd probably go back to it. But then, somebody told me that a gentleman is a man who knows how to play the accordion, but doesn't!

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Hell is other goats.

Jean-Paul Satyr

This certainly sounds interesting!
I haven't played regularly since the early 80's (have one electric and two acoustic guitars-6 and 12 string).
The electric one needs some work to glue down the loose mother-of-pearl inlays on the fretboard so that strings don't buzz at that location, the pots are scratchy and need contact cleaner (I don't want to replace them if I can help it, because it's a pain in the neck to do that in semi acoustic (mine is a 60' s vintage Epiphone Casino), the old Traynor tube amp works fine but the pots need the same treatment.
I used to jam around with friends in the 60's in various groups (I actually played bass which I haven't played since that time and must say that I miss the easy relaxed bass playing as opposed to all involved lead or rhythm guitar.
I aslo read and write music and have written songs ( have done about 60 -haven't written any in 20 years).
Family and canoeing have taken over from music playing (I still listen whenever I can but really miss all those days when I played everyday for hours!!)

It brings to mind that Gary Larson cartoon where they show St. Peter at the pearly gates saying "welcome to heaven - here's your harp." Of course, the panel below shows satan saying "welcome to hell - here's your accordion."

As the guy who started this off, let me make a few comments........

a) Thanks for the enthusiastic response.......I was worried that people would think I was a little nuts

b) This is what I envision...........
- We meet at a central location, and after a group warm up/fun jam, break into groups to rehearse the material ( pre selected????? Original is best......, no copywrite enfringment!!!)
- Some key instruments may need to travel between groups ( ie bass or fiddle) if we don't have enough to cover all needs
- Each group learns a song or two.....
- we set up the recording area and get a good "live" cut of each song
- songs are then mp3'd ( probably at a later date) and made available through Richard(?) for a donation, all money to a good environmental cause!!!

- I can forsee a couple of variations:
- some people may wish to just show up in a more social role......
- some may wish to jam only......different groups could evolve depending on the seriousness of the players to record material as opposed to jam.

Socializing ( with and without alcohol) and some great food is obviously a large part of the whole picture.......

How does this sound??????

PS where is Tripper on this????????????

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Dave

"The way of a canoe is the way of the wilderness, and of a freedom almost forgotten." Sigurd Olson, 1956

I read this thread earlier but only now found time to reply. Sorry Dave.


I'll dust it off just as soon as I can pry it from my oldest son Shane's hands.

Sure, I'd be interested. But with the distances involved we might have to find a way to practice the songs and parts before we get together. I remember Richard mentioning at the S.O. gathering about a method he and his friends use. Any thoughts Richard?

We'll have to a find a new name for the band though. I pretty sure CCR is already taken.

Dave

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The Wilderness needs strong voices to protect it. And yours can be one of them.
Visit the Friends of Temagami website to learn more.

Just wondering about vocal harmonies?
Anyone gifted this way?

Bob

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morning sun, it's good for the soul

Hi everyone.
I play in a worship band. Electric, acoustic and bass guitar. I have an electric violin that I haven't had the time to master yet but it's winter, I may find the extra time now. I also sing lead and/or harmonies. Sounds like a lot of fun if it's in a central place I'd be interested in sitting in.
Dale

I'd sing backup / harmonies, but I don't have a lead singer voice ...