Sink or swim

Hi Chris- hey buddy, they say "when the going gets tough, the tough go shopping"..
really though, I think since you are coming from a musical background and already play something with strings on it, then you ought to be able to play some belly dance numbers on your oud and get the ladies happily movin' and groovin' in 4 months (as long as the songs are not too difficult)...what numbers did they give you to learn? just practise and practise and then stay cool, calm and focused and remember we are all with you!

Well, the first weekend went off without a hitch... The cool thing is that with the Bellydancers dancing, nobody is REALLY paying attention to the music...

It was really something to be playing in front of 200-300 people... 6 more weekends to go...

Nice picture. Question, with 4 bellydancers dancing in front of you....how do you pay attention to your playing

In all seriousness, I wish I could be there to watch/participate ... it looks like a lot of fun.

Hi Chris,

About "stage fright," or jitters or whatever you want to call it: Most of us get over it with experience and eventually reach a point where we experience the physical reaction to performing as "exhiliration" instead.

One thing I always liked to do was sit out on a bench at my local university campus "playing" for the many passers-by (most of whom were in fact ignoring me). This way, I not only got used to playing in front of a lot of people, I actually met some musicians, made some friends, and--back when I was single--got to flirt with some pretty young ladies of just about every Near Eastern background.

When I sense that members of my band are nervous before a performance, I tell them to imagine that the audience is naked and sitting on toilets..."Now who should really feel embarassed??!!" When I sense that band members are nervous on stage, I furtively make silly faces at them to get the to laugh and loosen up.

All the best,
John

After the first Saturday it was pretty fun... The first two shows were pretty nerve wracking though... But, I've played the songs so many times now that I can play them in my sleep... It was a little weird though when I had to do my first taqsim/intro to a song (uskudara) --- I have no idea what I played... but everybody thought it sounded cool.... so it all worked out... The overall experiance is just awesome though... Even playing to a group of drunks who came to see the girls wiggle is powerful when there's 200-300 of them

The thing that made this whole experiance so weird is that I've only been playing a very very short time.... (6 months) and there is just so much I don't know about the istrument... but it was such a good opportunity to get my feet wet in the local Middle Eastern music community that I couldn't pass it up (lets face it, outside of the Belly Dance scene, there just isn't that much opportunity to play the oud in Charlotte NC...) So even though I didn't feel ready for it, it was too good of an opportunity to pass up and I'm really glad I did....

However, it's also been nice this week to go back to practicing semaii's and I even downloaded and wrote out the notes for Mahur Pesrev.... So I feel like I can finally start getting back into learning the OUD vs just learning songs on the oud...

Samer, I would love to hear what Mr. Sukkar thinks of his oud's new home.... We've had some difficulty with getting a good recording from the soundboard..... But I'm hoping to have some soundfiles to post soon...

In terms of the Electric oud... I've been really happy with it overall and I really appreciate the quick service I got from you guys.

In terms of a more high end electic oud... I didn't have any problem with the overall construction... There are some minor details, but overall it's a solid piece for $500.... To make that next jump in value, I would like to see either a hollowbody oud... with rosettes and a nice face... as well as better electronics... Or a solid body construction and not have the cutout.. it will make it bit more heavy, but it will look a lot cooler... Also, I think that guitar tuning pegs tend to look silly on an oud - even an electric oud, so I would keep the tension pegs...

My friend (has proff. camera & knows to shoot) was once invited to shoot a gig. In the very "important solo" of the guy who was paying him - he took a shoot of DANCER!!!! He was convinced that the DANCER is the "solo".
) ) ) ) ) )

Bill, you're dead on about the turban, but I think I've got it now...

Well, I'm almost halfway there 3 out of 7 weekends done.... So far, it's been an awesome experiance.... Except for the having to wear a turban thing, I'm really gonna miss it... the weather here is turning colder though... Up until this weekend it had been cool in the morning and warm in the afternoons... Yesterday and today were downright cold.... Playing the Oud while being cold was a new experiance for me.)

Also, I guess there is a lot to be said about really knowing a song... Last week, I pulled out the "Simplified Middle Eastern Music" CD that I had learned most of the songs from... It was AMAZING how much ornamentation I'm putting into the songs... Over the past few months, I haven't had a lot of time to really get into studying maqams or some of the classic pieces here - most of the time was spent learning sogns... But now that I know them really well... I'm finding myself being able to add little flourishes here and there that really add the the otherwise boring melody (and they all get boring once you've played it 1,000+ times ).

Also, this weekend, I put up the Electric Oud and played through my acoustic oud (w/ piezios) and didn't have any problems with feedback... And the sound was much better.... One thing I found was kind of cool was that when holding the acoustic I was a lot more willing to play "loose" and relaxed. I was putting little intros into the songs (I say intro cause Taqsim really ain't the right word... I'm still at the westerner trying to play eastern music stage...) But the sound is better with an accoustic - in my opinion.. However, having the electric is great for it's easy of play (ie, NO FEEDBACK) -- hopefully I'll still be able to play next week when our second drummer gets back from vacation.

Also, picked up a tabula to play in the drum solos... That was a lot of fun. I had bought a little tambourine... but I always felt cheesy playing it while the other guys actually played the solos... It made me feel like a poser.... But, I know them well enough now that managed to I hit the "dooms" and the occasional "tek" without messing up the songs...

Well, the Faire is over and we have an invite back for next year....

Since this was really my first big gig I thought it might be cool to share some observations....

1. People actually asked us if we had a CD for sale throughout the faire... that was a real rush... We're talking about trying to get something down for next year... but I kind of want to wait a bit before rushing out... just so I can get my playing a little better before trying to burn something onto CD. But I think we're going to try to have something ready for next year.
2. Timing got better and better as the fair went on....
3. It was really useful to know what all the knobs on my pre-amp and effects processor did... the couple of hours I spent messing with it at home really paid off when I needed to tweak something on stage.
4. While I was able to do a good job setting the effects on the electric oud, I really just like sound and tone of the accoustic one better. I want to try a fishman Aura processor with the electric one though since it was just easier to play... and it's one thing to notch out feedback on stage in the open air and another to do it in smaller hall.... so the electric still has a home but the acoustic just rocks
5. Getting paid to play music is awesome....
6. Big crowds or small, 56 shows will pretty much get rid of any nervous feelings you may have... though I sort of perfer a smaller crowd cause it feels more intimate
7. The human body can only handle so much fried mac and cheese for lunch... By the end of the fair I was craving a salad like nobody's business...
8. When Matthew said "when the going gets tough, the tough go shopping" he wasn't kidding... I refuse to add up what I spent getting ready for this gig...
9. Turbans are a lot easier to wrap than you would think.
10. Need to get something to record directly from the soundboard....
11. While it's taken all of my weekends for the past two months, I'm really going to miss it. Thankfully we have a gig tomorrow night and then one in December... so it won't be a complete withdrawl... but I miss it enough that I'm already looking forward to next year...

Here's a quick video somebody shot of the performance at one of the shows...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZiFNa5mXNY&feature=related