Westercon 2007 concert set list

[mdlbear]

Here's the setlist for last night's Tres Gique concert:

1. The World Inside the Crystal
2. Bugs
3. Daddy's World
4. Keep the Dream Alive
5. The Mushroom Song
6. I Wanna Be a Webmaster
7. Guilty Pleasures
8. The Rambling Silver Rose
9. The Owl and the Pussycat
10. Ship of Stone

It was after AJA's concert, which ran late: I don't think we started until 11:15 or so. Bailed on "TEOTW" and "Stuff that Dreams are Made Of" when it started getting late, and wrapped up a few minutes before midnight. Sold two album preorders after the concert, which was good.

For this concert Tres Gique consisted of me, Joyce, Jordan, and chaoswolf, so I picked songs that Kat knew the choruses for, and that didn't require cflute's voice. Kathy Mar told me later that Kat has the makings of a great singing voice: good breathing and volume, and plenty of enthusiasm. All she needs is little ear training to help her sing exactly what she's hearing. She's about where I was at that age, in other words. I still can't carry a tune in a paper bag without an instrument to back it up.

Comments

[chaoswolf]

There is that. I still need training, though it is fairly easy to do with CDs and stuff. BTW, I've been trying to work on what I can music-wise. Still having problems with that chord change you've been trying to teach me.

[mdlbear]

Kathy suggested trying several different voice teachers until you find one that you like -- you'd need to find somebody who'll work with you on the singing without making you sing stuff you don't like. She mentioned Kristoph, but neither of us remember whether he's still giving lessons, and in any case he's not really close enough. (The Cat gave me voice lessons from him as a birthday present one year -- very useful!) I can ask around. There might be somebody at Guitar Showcase.

You can only get so far on your own; most people can't stand to listen to a recording of their own voice, and you'll never know what needs working on unless somebody listens to you. (It's taken me two or three years working on the album before I can stand to listen to myself, and even now some of the old recordings that turn up on Live365 can send me screaming out of the room.) That's where a teacher can help -- you're paying them to listen.

As for the chord changes, that's something you can work on mostly on your own. A good book helps, and I'll try to find you one.

[hms42]

even now some of the old recordings that turn up on Live365 can send me screaming out of the room.

I suspect part of that is the poor quality conversions that were done by me (and others). I have sent in mp3s of out of print tapes to Eric specifically for playing on the filk.com radio station. Also, there is only so much I can do to a 10-20 year old commercial recording.

Harold S.

[mdlbear]

No, it's mainly due to the lousy performances. My voice has improved considerably over the last couple of decades.