Band Practice Tonight (09.11.2012)

Band Practice tonight, And it should should be a good one we've got a new bass player auditioning. Lets hope he's a good one and stays. Paul just rang me and he's coming and Dave will be aswell as myself all we need now is a Rhythm guitarist and we're a full band. We're working on "So Far To Hell And Back" Tonight because of a lack of rhythm guitar it's easier to compensate. Massive Overload is a bit more complex and requires 2 guitars to acheive the sound. I think i'll bounce down just the Rhythm guitar from the track in Pro Tools HD10 and use it as a dummy guitarist to jam with like a backing Rhythm guitar. Hopefully it'll work OK for now. We really need a Rhythm Guitarist... If anyone wants to try out please message me or call Phil on 07899042598 FLASHPOINT are a good rhythm guitarist away from completed material and gigs hopefully we'll find the right person real soon.

UPDATE [03.11.2012]

I havn't posted anything in a while because practice's have been few and far between lately but all with good reasons. First Illness then no Rhythm Guitar then no bass then Paul forgot to come to practice cause a friend came to see him from Manchester. The last session at Big Noise was far from wasted though both Dave and me went fuck it lets do it anyway! So we hit big noise last Friday night just Lead Guitar And Vocals. I hooked up the new Condensor mic to the Mixer plugged it in got it all working with a little help from Big Noise staff cause i was'nt familiar with their mixer :) I then fed a line from the mixer headphone monitor output to the Mic input on my laptop running Cubase 6 to record the signal. Then i ran another lead from the laptop Headphones out to a track on the mixer connected to the PA. Fired up Toontrack Superior Drummer with the MIDI for So Far To Hell And Back and bass in Cubase then Recorded the Rhythm Guitar parts and played back as a backing track where Dave sang and i played lead to it In seperate tracks creating a backing track of our song to account for missing bandmembers then using the Condensor mic in the figure 8 position to record the room. We then spent a couple of hours going over the arrangement of the Vocals. Everyone is gonna' be there next Friday and we have a new bassplayer trying out so we'll just be without a rhythm guitar. Practice was cancelled this week due to the birth of our baby Daughter Lily. Lisa and Lilly are staying in hostpital until Monday afternoon so i'm watching my son Leon full time until they come home.It';s definatly on next Friday and we'll be working towards the completion of "So Far To Hell & Back" which is complete but not fully arranged yet. Next Practice is gonna be awesome and i can't wait.

Friday 26th October 2012

Practice at Big Noise Room 3 8 - 11 tonight. We'll be working on So Far To Hell And Back tonight, This track is finished but not arranged so we'll be working on the arrangement tonight & hopefully come out with something definate. Setup might take a little longer tonight because of using the new Condensor Mic and i'll have to figure out the studios mixer to set it up how we want it. Hope Dave does'nt forget to bring the leads and the pop sheild.

Update [23.10.2012]

Not much has been going on the past month. Illness and lack of a Rhythm guitarist has rendered the band in suspended animation for a short while. I've continued to write new potential riffs and practice the other tracks. Dave (Singer) has been constantly putting lyrics together for the already established riffs. We're confident about the new material and practice will resume as normal next Friday even if it's only the 3 of us, Me (Lead Guitar) Paul (Drums) and Dave (Vocals) after a long break we really need to get together and work on the material. I've got The Studio Condensor mic and some Sony Studio Monitor Headphones now aswell so we can plug the Condensor mic into the Mixer at the studio for the Phantom power and XLR connection then plug the headphones to the the monitor and the output to my laptop running Cubase 6 to record the sessions using the Condensor mic in the figure 8 position to pick up the vocals on one side and the rest of the band on the other using it like a room mic.Dave (Singer) has got the leads and the pop shield so he'll need to remember to bring them to the session. I got the laptop the other day. It was kindly given to me by my good friend of mine who's name is "Campino" he got himself a new one so very generously gave me his old one. "Thanks so much for that mate, it's greatly appreciated & will be very usefull to me and the band Thanks" The search for Rhythm Guitarist and Bassist is still ongoing & I'm sure that we'll find the right people eventually but for now the grindstone still turns and we need all the practice we can get. New material is being written all the time we need to get back to work on it. So! Practice as usual this Friday 26th October people see you there. And remember that it'll cost us a little more this time because there's only the 3 of us. I work it out a about £6.66p each for the session. What dy'a know "666" :) \M/ lol.

Progress Report

We did't go to Big Noise this week i did't see the point since we had only one guitarist and the track need two guitarists because the two parts played together make the tracks what they are and if only one guitar part is playing then the whole thing sounds empty. So instead Paul Dave and me had a songwriting session round at mine instead. I figured that it'd be a good chance to put the new Pro Tools HD 10.3.0 to work :) Anyway we went over possibilities for the verse and chorus parts to It's So Far To Hell & back its soundimg really good. The lyrics are virtually done there are a lot of definates on paper now and its coming together well we wrote a chorus riff and some possible lyrics for it aswell. Its all about arrangement & presentation now. Daves been writing and recording possible lyrics on his phone and we gave them a listen aswell as some guitar ideas from me and Drum ideas from Paul. It's shame Ryan did'nt come Wednesday or Friday because he's fallen behind now and thats not a good idea concidering the length of time he's been with us. He can't make it on Fridays and thats a problem with everyone in the band for conveniant practice time. Wie really need to sort something out cause we need that Rhythm guitar there. Apart from that progress has been good and theres talk of a new track in the band.

Rehearsals Friday 14th September 2012

Practice is on as usual tonight Big Noise 8-11 Room 3 Ryan is coming tonight for his second audition. Hopefully he's got some understanding of how the tracks are build up by now after a week with the tabs he should know the basics by now. Dave ssays he's got some new lyric ideas for Massive Overload so i look forward to hearing what he's got and i know he can't wait for me to hear it :) We're all gon na have to p+ay +a +li+ttle e-xtra tonight to cover w hat Sean did'nt pay the practice he walked out and i'm not sure if we should be asking Ryan to chip in on his second audition although he might want to. I work it out at £8.33 each and i pay £8.34 to make it what we owe and Ryans share. Thanks Sean. Anyway hopefully it'll be a good one tonight Dave and me got together last Wednesday to throw around some lyric ideas and we'll be putting em' into action tonight. Now i'm gonna eat my dinner go for a smoke and carry on with my warm up.

Song Writing Session [08.09.2012]

Cancelled going to Big Noise tonight due to lack of a Rhythm guitarist and funds to pay the bill :) Instead Dave came round to mine and we spent a few hours going over some riffs and putting lyrics together. I'm Well happy with the progress where making despite the lack of Rythm Guitar and bass. It's given us a bit of time to focus on the lyric writing and melody placements. We have possibilitys for the 1st and 2nd verse to Massive Overload and also put together a verse riff the verse melody and some lyric ideas for So Far. It's going really well. The vocals are rough at the moment but given a proper vocal recording mic a mixer and time to practice and get the placement and key right it's gonna be amazing. I'm feeling very optimistic. Gonna audition a few new Rhythm guitarists next week i really hope i can find the right person who can play the riffs as well as i can play them. I don't mind teaching but i'd prefer not to have to. I've posted the tabs for 2 FLASHPOINT tracks and i'm asking anyone wanting to try out for Rhythm guitar to look at them and learn them to the sample tracks before meeting up to audition.

Auditions

Due to the amount of interest to audition for Rhythm guitarist i'm gonna tab out the rhythm guitar parts for the 3 sample tracks posted on the FLASHPOINT blog and bandmix. Anyone wanting to audition for rhythm guitar please listen to the tracks and work them out using the tabs. The decision to keep you in the the band will be based on your ability to play the already established patterns for these tracks. If you are accepted to join the band you will be free to add your ideas to any new material we write from then on. I have already tabbed the Rhythm guitar parts for Massive overload and it's posted on this page i will be tabbing out the other 2 tommorrow for anyone interested. To everyone that has contacted me about a tryout please be patiant i will get to you. There's quite a few people wanting to try out and i'm finding time to hear everyone that wants to be heard real soon. In the meantime please listen to the sampe tracks and work out the rhythm guitar or bass parts whchever applies to you for each track. I will be posting Rhythm guitar tab tommorrow as mentioned above. Use this time before meeting up to work out and practice these tracks to the best of your ability. Thanks.

Midweek songwriting session

Dave (Singer) Mentioned that he would like to have a midweek practice. Paul (Drummer) won't be able to make it because of his working hours, And Sean walked last practice but it will just be a melody and lyrics writing session so Dave and me could do it at my home studio. I'll multitrack the whole thing through Pro Tools and use MIDI to fill in for the drummer. It'll be good to have some one on one time to get the lyrics finished for Massive Overload. I think maybe Wednesday's but i'll have to confirm it with Dave.

Girly Strops Over Picks

Well just got back from the studio, We Got the first verse lyrics written for Massive Overload tonight,Finally! We're gonna work on the chorus next week. Oh yeah and Sean packed up his shit and walked out half way through the session because he said someone had nicked all his picks... Yeah i know... I had a tin full of picks with me i would have given him a few of mine if he wanted them Not sure what's happening. I think i'll be looking for a new rhythm guitarist now. Paul (Drummer) and Dave (Singer) are still up for it i asked them and made sure. I said "If you don't wanna be here then don't come, I'll find someone that does wanna come" They both said that they still wanted to carry on. It's just Sean hes been moody and unco-operative for a while now. And he can't play half the stuff i write anyway so it might be a good thing. FUCK! Now i need to find a new guitarist that will turn up co-operate and can play my riffs.. Grrr!!! But As "Gene Simmons" once said "The thing that got me through was my own selfish stubborness to think Why should i let some knucklehead ruin what i have built, I'm not gonna let someone elses problems or ruined life destroy everything i've worked so hard to achieve" Next weeks mission is to finish the verse we where writing this week then write the chorus. Dave was talking about having a midweek songwriting seesion aswell as the Friday night 8-11 session. I think that's a very good idea, Infact i've been pushing for jaming 3 times a week for some time now. For now i'm gonna record all the rhythm guitar parts as a backing track to replace the missing guitar until i can find a new Rythm guitarist.