I plan another day of sifting through job ads. I’ll create a job if I must, the all important factor being a paycheck that shows payroll deductions. My previous 306 checks had no deductions. I’m learning. Jobs are watered down to the point where the most determining factor is how little you will work for rather than any advanced skills or experience. Florida people need to learn how to quit complaining about that and they’ll be happier.There is nothing unusual about a bad job market in a down economy. Nor is returning to school necessarily the answer, witness by my comments on clip artists. Remember false advertising is condoned in America. Every fourth job ad is a come on for some ineffectual college degree. Another distinct change is also the number of ads to buy on credit which are now appearing on job pages. You can imagine my thoughts seeing computers advertised for $9 per month or a $149 desk and chair that says a layaway plan is available. What the hell gives with that?
It’s great you checked in today, though I haven’t time to tell all. The general good news is that I may have met someone; the bad news is that several musicians I know have lost their regular gigs. The in-between news is that this blog may finally get some Southern exposure. Who remembers Steve, the sports disk jockey? Steve has still not learned to quit finding bargain computer people. Trying to save a dollar always winds him up in my store with some impossible deadline.
The deal is radio advertising for computer work. Trading apples for oranges. How does one evaluate the relative values of plugging this blog on a sports trivia program? What’s more, that show is on Sunday mornings down in Miami. (880 AM, they still make AM?) If that sounds convoluted, it is. He emcees CASH (“Calling All Sports Heros”). I respect anybody who can make a living like that but I got to make a living, too. Media people are also great for free coupons.
There was a technician quiz on-line for a New York company so I figured I would take it. See if I’d qualify. Nope. At least I recognized what the questions meant, but the level of detail was so complicated I had to use guesswork and elimination most of the time. True, I don’t exactly understand wireless networking (because I cannot find a definitive text on the subject) but I’ve connected around twenty such systems. I still could not answer those questions.
Did I meet someone? That depends. When it comes to “age-appropriate” women, there is a fine line between the ones that remain overly romantic and the ones who hate the deadbeat men they chose. As a rule, I don’t date my students, but the gal in today I found attractive and we walked a few blocks afterward. She tends to the jaded side but I can keep that in rein (speaking from experience). She also sings a bit. We have an audition set for Thursday morning.
Meanwhile I’m slowly overhauling all my musical equipment. You know, I’m far easier on gear than the days when I’d throw speakers onto a truck bed. I pack all loose gear in fancy suitcases. But they just don’t make things as rugged as they used to. A scratch in my amp vinyl reveals particle board. One single trip over a PA phono plug means a re-soldering job. I’m telling you, everything has gone to seed. I’m considering replacing all with a small Fender Passport. If you are not sure what that is, look it up. It will tell you what PA systems have evolved into since the 60s.
Another plan is drum tracks. I have a programmable Alexis drum machine. As with all such devices, they can be thorny to operate on stage. Face it, they are mainly designed for studio work. It can be a hassle twirling dials in the half-dark trying to find cryptic names or presets while the guitarist is riffing off. Additionally, the machine has to be placed for each gig which means cables, transformers, pedals and a box to carry them in.
What I’m going to try is burning 106 popular drum tracks in MP3 format onto a CD-R. I’m experienced running my stage act off a DVD player. When a musician comes along with a particular tune, instead of fumbling, I zoom to that drum track. The name is in plain English on the same disk. Boom, we are playing “Love Me Two Times”. No muss, no fuss.
Now I can just hear somebody, and that somebody thinks they are smarter than I am, saying, “Why don’t you just play the karaoke track?” Because they are not thinking. Of course, they won’t go try it and find out it won’t work, but that is a big part of why they think they are smarter than I am. I’ll give them two hints. One, the karaoke drum parts sound bad. Two, the karaoke drum parts are not all on one track.
Having long since noticed that people who object to drum machines often don’t know how to work them correctly, my idea leaves the machine at home. In case anybody missed the fact, I took drum lessons from one of the world’s best, Burt Gunter. You ain’t heard nothing until you’ve heard what I can do with a programmable beat. Call it the poor man’s midi, but it is proven technology around here and I intend to give it a try.
