All posts by Dave Hamilton.

Gig Gab 271 Episode Image with text "Playing For The Love of Music"

Playing For the Love of Music — Gig Gab 271

One of the silver linings of our current reality is appreciating some of the things we might have taken for granted in the past. Playing music for the love of it certainly tastes a lot sweeter today than it did six months ago, and Dave and Paul talk through some of the current and future benefits of that.

Of course, it’s not Gig Gab without some practical advice, and Dave shares his experience — and thoughts about — interacting with a sound engineer for the first time. Then it’s on to streaming, Facebook, and more. Press play and you’ll hear it all!

  • 00:00:00 Gig Gab 271 – Monday, September 14, 2020
  • 00:00:53 The Opportunity to Rock!
  • 00:06:50 The sound engineer negotiation
    • Offer help, build trust
    • Ask if what you need is possible
  • 00:10:35 Every pro engineer: The vocals question!
  • 00:15:04 Monitors: Survival or Spoiled?
  • 00:20:41 Playing Music for the love of it
    • Covid brings that?
  • 00:33:26 Facebook Isn’t Banning You, But You Should Move Anyway
  • 00:51:36 GG 271 Outtro

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Gig Gab 270 episode image with picture of Red Rocks and text "Where is Live Music Going?"

Where is Live Music Going? — Gig Gab 270

What’s the future of live music going to look like? Pandemic or not, the momentum of change was already palpable. Did the pandemic accelerate it? Listens as Paul and Dave share their thoughts on what they’re seeing and where it’s going.

But first, a few Cool Things Found, including a new Logic plug-in AND a new feature in Zoom. Press play, and join your two favorite weekend warriors. Don’t forget: Always Be Performing!

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Gig Gab 269 Episode Image with guitarist working and rehearsing.

The Value of Preparation — Gig Gab 269

Paul and Dave dig into their brains… and share what they find! This week it’s about the value of preparation. How much work do you put in ahead of the gig? More than that, which bits of your work are truly valuable, and how?

That’s what you hear from your two favorite weekend warriors this week. Share your thoughts, would ya? feedback@giggabpodcast.com Oh — and always be performing!

  • 00:00:00 Gig Gab 269 – Monday, August 31, 2020
  • 00:04:17 Getting the band(s) back together
  • 00:13:05 Mixing Up Your Show
    • Key
    • Tuning
    • Tempo
    • Fingerpicking vs. Strumming
    • Feel (Love Songs vs. Sad Songs vs. Singalongs)
    • Mixing by Artist
    • Looping/layering
  • 00:19:45 Discipline vs. Systems
  • 00:27:20 Are singalongs responsible?
  • 00:32:01 GG 269 Outtro

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Gig Gab 268 episode image: hand writing notes with text "Take The Note"

Take The Note — Gig Gab 268

Giving and receiving feedback is never easy. Well, it’s super easy if you want to send us an email: feedback@giggabpodacst.com 🙂

But when you’re in a band, that feedback process can be the thing that drives a wedge between band members. Paul and Dave dissect that a little bit in today’s show, and borrow a phrase and concept from Dave’s theater experiences: Take the Note.

Both Paul and Dave are getting offered gigs, and are turning down more than they’re accepting. This has led to them each finding ways to have these conversations amongst their bandmates, though, and they share what they’ve learned.

Will you share what you’ve learned? As we said, feedback@giggabpodcast.com is easy!

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Gig Gab 267 cover image with young musician holding a guitar, "The Etiquette of Subbing"

The Etiquette of Subbing — Gig Gab 267

What happens when you sub out for a gig and your original member becomes available? A conundrum! Thankfully Paul and Dave have some thoughts — and recent experiences — to share. On top of that, what’s your band doing to stay connected right now? That’s perhaps the most important question to answer these days. Without the glue-of-gigs to hold things together, you need something else. Your two favorite weekend warriors talk through that and a few other topics, too! Press play and enjoy… and always be performing!

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Gig Gab 266 episode image with masked people dancing with a boom box. Text: The Same Amount of Crazy

The Same Amount of Crazy — Gig Gab 266

Keeping your band in sync is never an easy thing, and everyone knows it. Perhaps the most important thing is to make sure you’re all on the same page, and that doesn’t mean “like every other band.” It just means, “like this band.” Really it just means you all need to be approximately the same amount of crazy to make it work. Paul and Dave talk through and develop this realization, and share some examples of where to apply it.

That’s not all, though, because gear gab is back, especially for people using in-ear monitors. You’ll want to hear the segment about cables there, for sure.

Discussions about subbing and managing multiple guitarists and, yes, a little bit about the pandemic affecting gigs, too. All this and more… press play, and always be performing!

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Gig Gab 265 Episode image with Dan Ray, Adam Johnson, Paul Kent, and Dave Hamilton from Gig Gab and Cover Band Confidential

The Meeting of Four Minds — Gig Gab 265 and Cover Band Confidential 100

Dan Ray and Adam Johnson join Paul and Dave this week for a crossover episode of Cover Band Confidential and Gig Gab. Listen as your FOUR favorite weekend warriors talk through how they’re dealing with gigs during the pandemic, keeping their music lives alive (while prioritizing simply staying alive themselves!), and as they help a listener through finding a new gig.New for this week, you can even watch this episode on YouTube!

Press play, enjoy, and always be performing!

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Gig Gab Podcast 264 Episode image with picture of home recording setup and text "Where's the QuickStart Guide?"

Where’s The QuickStart Guide? — Gig Gab 264

Gear Gab is back! This time your two favorite weekend warriors are talking about Mackie’s new universal-fit in-ear monitors, microphone pre-amps (and devices to help them along), and a little bit about gain and mixing.

And hey, Dave played a gig this weekend (two of them, in fact!), so he and Paul talk about how that worked, what measures were taken to keep everyone as safe as possible, and what the future of all that might look like as we’re slowly marching forward here.

Don’t sweat the lightning, folks… it just made for some interesting breaks in the show. You know what they say? Always be performing!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:03:06 — 43.8MB) | Embed

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Gig Gab Podcast 263 Episode Image: Microphone with an asterisk on it, "Asterisk Pandemic" is title

Asterisk Pandemic — Gig Gab 263

Try as they might to avoid it, sometimes your two favorite weekend warriors wind up talking about the pandemic. This week weaves conversations about performances, streaming, syncing video, and Hamilton (the show, not the podcaster) with related thoughts about what it’ll take to feel safe doing all the things we want to do on stage again. Listen as Kent and Hamilton (the podcaster, not the show), talk through all this and more. And remember, always be performing!

  • 00:00:00 Gig Gab 263 – Monday, July 6, 2020
  • 00:00:55 Asterisk Pandemic
  • 00:17:40 The Hamilton Question
  • 00:34:26 Mike Mendoza’s July Fourth Streaming Festival
  • 01:02:04 GG 263 Outtro

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:03:20 — 43.7MB) | Embed

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Guitar looping pro David Shanhun at the mic, Gig Gab Podcast 262 Episode Image

David Shanhun: Looping, Streaming, Playing — Gig Gab 262

With David Shanhun, his smooth vocals and articulate guitar work are what you hear, but under the surface is an equal masterpiece of David’s looping and arrangements.

It doesn’t stop there: David has taken his fantastic YouTube channel and begun using it to help teach other musicians how to integrate looping into their performances, increasing everyone’s game.

Join us today to learn more about David, hear some looping tips, and some great stories, to boot!

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