Telemiracle 31...great cause...lousy sound mixing engineers!!!
Well, I think it's safe to say that Celebration Folk Group walked away from our much anticipated performance, yesterday, feeling disappointed and possibly a bit embarrassed.
After weeks/months of practice, we all made the icy drive up to Saskatoon on Saturday. I know I was extremely excited to be given this opportunity and, on a personal note, to have one of my own original compositions showcased province wide.
I'm going to make this short (HA!!), as I'm still feeling quite sick this morning.
So, we're on stage. Kelly made a presentation...meaning that the sound technician had the opportunity to correct any problems with his microphone. None of the rest of us got this opportunity, nor did any of the instruments get the benefit of a sound level check.
Jason began the song with his guitar strumming. He hit the tempo right on...Dale (our drummer) could not hear Jason clearly, so came in a touch faster, causing the song to just take off...sort of in the wrong direction, but we could work with it. At this point, I could only hear guitar and drums. I could not hear Lisa's keyboard and could faintly hear Rick's bass.
Lynette, Kelly and I came in....or did we? Hmmmm...sounds like Kelly is doing a solo! Lynette and I had no level, whatsoever. So, the song went with, pretty much, only Jason's guitar and Kelly's voice. The rest of us could have stayed home!
Now, don't get me wrong, Jason is an awesome guitarist and Kelly has an equally as great voice, but it's the group that makes the song what it is. We have harmonies, echoes, incredible bass playing and piano that fills in melodically. Even the drums could barely be heard by the audience present and at home.
Ok, so we know that TeleMiracle is a fundraiser, but many performers travel a fair distance to showcase a talent and we all put the effort in to make sure that talent is at a level that we, and the rest of the cast, can be proud of. The least that TeleMiracle could do is make sure they have sound technicians who know how to do their jobs. Instead of ones that leave the performers feeling foolish and thinking, "why did we come?" For the cause, yes, but, man, there was a lot of time and effort put into that 4 minute performance. We were informed later that at the onset of our performance, there was only one person at the sound controls. By the middle, there were 3 of them fighting over who was doing what wrong.
For myself, I kicked myself for not being able to sleep the night before. I was afraid I wouldn't wake up in time. So, I sat up all night watching TeleMiracle. Anyone who has been 5 months pregnant, with consistently severe morning sickness, knows this will come back to get you the next day. I was SICK the rest of Sunday. Right after breakfast up until 9:00PM last night! Proof that I am telling the truth when I say I need to get to bed early and get a solid 10 hours sleep to help fight off the inevitable daily sickness. No amount of medication was helping, yesterday.
So, all in all, I'm proud that we took the initiative to be a part of TeleMiracle 31. I only wish that our effort, hard work and talent could have been properly portrayed during our performance. For anyone who has not heard us perform, we are really good...darn good! We have performed at many other events, some in less ideal conditions, and have had a better experience than this.
Oh well, it was an experience and we know what to do and what not to do if we should ever do this again. Which I do hope we will. Despite the outcome, it was a group endeavour that we worked very hard on and supported each other through, when it went wrong.
-Denise
P.S. You're welcome Kelly, for the help in kicking off your solo career. Are there any other songs you would like to take a shot at?
After weeks/months of practice, we all made the icy drive up to Saskatoon on Saturday. I know I was extremely excited to be given this opportunity and, on a personal note, to have one of my own original compositions showcased province wide.
I'm going to make this short (HA!!), as I'm still feeling quite sick this morning.
So, we're on stage. Kelly made a presentation...meaning that the sound technician had the opportunity to correct any problems with his microphone. None of the rest of us got this opportunity, nor did any of the instruments get the benefit of a sound level check.
Jason began the song with his guitar strumming. He hit the tempo right on...Dale (our drummer) could not hear Jason clearly, so came in a touch faster, causing the song to just take off...sort of in the wrong direction, but we could work with it. At this point, I could only hear guitar and drums. I could not hear Lisa's keyboard and could faintly hear Rick's bass.
Lynette, Kelly and I came in....or did we? Hmmmm...sounds like Kelly is doing a solo! Lynette and I had no level, whatsoever. So, the song went with, pretty much, only Jason's guitar and Kelly's voice. The rest of us could have stayed home!
Now, don't get me wrong, Jason is an awesome guitarist and Kelly has an equally as great voice, but it's the group that makes the song what it is. We have harmonies, echoes, incredible bass playing and piano that fills in melodically. Even the drums could barely be heard by the audience present and at home.
Ok, so we know that TeleMiracle is a fundraiser, but many performers travel a fair distance to showcase a talent and we all put the effort in to make sure that talent is at a level that we, and the rest of the cast, can be proud of. The least that TeleMiracle could do is make sure they have sound technicians who know how to do their jobs. Instead of ones that leave the performers feeling foolish and thinking, "why did we come?" For the cause, yes, but, man, there was a lot of time and effort put into that 4 minute performance. We were informed later that at the onset of our performance, there was only one person at the sound controls. By the middle, there were 3 of them fighting over who was doing what wrong.
For myself, I kicked myself for not being able to sleep the night before. I was afraid I wouldn't wake up in time. So, I sat up all night watching TeleMiracle. Anyone who has been 5 months pregnant, with consistently severe morning sickness, knows this will come back to get you the next day. I was SICK the rest of Sunday. Right after breakfast up until 9:00PM last night! Proof that I am telling the truth when I say I need to get to bed early and get a solid 10 hours sleep to help fight off the inevitable daily sickness. No amount of medication was helping, yesterday.
So, all in all, I'm proud that we took the initiative to be a part of TeleMiracle 31. I only wish that our effort, hard work and talent could have been properly portrayed during our performance. For anyone who has not heard us perform, we are really good...darn good! We have performed at many other events, some in less ideal conditions, and have had a better experience than this.
Oh well, it was an experience and we know what to do and what not to do if we should ever do this again. Which I do hope we will. Despite the outcome, it was a group endeavour that we worked very hard on and supported each other through, when it went wrong.
-Denise
P.S. You're welcome Kelly, for the help in kicking off your solo career. Are there any other songs you would like to take a shot at?
posted by Denise @ 7:57 AM
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