Now with the good news, bad news. I listened to the tape that dad taped for him and us. The good news is that you all have good day jobs and I have someone who makes enough money for me not to. The bad news is, after you listen to the tape, you may want to take up another hobby, like bowling. What we need to do is listen to the tape and then be brutally honest with each other and get some of the problems fixed: Like, learning the right lick (pertains to some of us) lowering or backing away from the mike when we are not the lead and we are harmonizing (pertains mostly to Merri, some Robert, Glenn, but not Andy). They should choose songs that best suit their voices or get the right key, as in Riahanna UGH!!!! Get Keith to sing more. Keith do you not sing because you don't know the old songs we do? Are you too busy playing and can't do both? We need to work some things out so you can sing more. Dave some of your riffs are spiritual, but then you sometime get too much into it and speed up the pace. Glenn, you know those singing lessons you have been meaning to take? Anyway, Glenn has a theory. He says live music is much better ( for us, not for the Pro's) is better than the taped, because our exuberance and personalities come thru rather than our sheer talent. Well, "listen to the Music" first and then we will decide. The bottom line is its a good thing they all really really like each other and have a good time.

Although the Thanksgiving get-together is tempting, I'm not yet comfortable with exposing my family and relatives to us just yet. Although there are a few songs that we do pretty well, we've got much fixing/polishing to do before I'd want to declare an event as something other than just a practice session.

Happy Thanksgiving!

-- Keith

Having heard the new T.T.T Anthology album the other day, I gotta tell you, there's room for improvement.

It was obvious they were having a heck of a good time from all the banter in the studio. It was great to hear the creative process in motion. The way the songs evolved from take to take was brilliant, but the final product was creaky around the corners. Here are some suggestions for improvement.

Observations and Suggestions for improvement:

• All
  • Listen to what the others are playing and be influenced by it.
  • Everyone sings off key sometimes
  • A conductor to get them through some transitions would be useful
  • Discuss a song before playing it... and have everyone
    • stop playing
    • stop talking to each other
    • listen to the discussion
  • If a song has 2 lead instrumental parts, someone needs to learn the part Andy is not playing.
  • instead of new songs... polish some of the current ones
  • listen to the tape
  • end at the same time
  • continue having a ton of fun playing together
• Lead singers
  • Be ready to sing verse after solo or chorus
• Andy
  • get the harmony right the first verse
  • sing all the words (if there are words)
  • do oohs and ahhs when Robert does
  • don't miss the first line of a guitar solo
  • make a statement with the solo... don't just sort of fade out
  • get volume right
• Merri
  • listen for tendency to sing sharp when you're stressing a line
  • start the percussion at the right tempo
  • When you're not singing... don't talk into the mic
  • listen to CDs of the songs
  • learn a little music theory
• Robert
  • is not always singing on key...especially if 'straining'
  • Learn some guitar licks
  • Oooh when Andy does, and Ahhh when Andy does (oohs mixed with ahhs suck)
  • learn some music theory
• Dave
  • has a tendency to be a fraction ahead of the beat
    • especially during 'flourishes'
    • this speeds group up
  • Try some songs 'behind' the beat (black water, strong enough) for more 'wistful' feel.
  • perhaps a few less flourishes and pauses (listen to the tape and see what you think)
  • be ready to end ... look up after the 4th verse and chorus
• John
  • Since you're going from memory and ear, figure out which transitions you don't know... and learn 'em. (I know you do work on this)
  • learn some music theory(some scales, names of notes). It'll make communication easier.
• Glenn
  • Instead of playing a 7th, slide from flat 3rd to 3rd, and/or flat 5th to 5th
  • Practice the songs you have the key lead or lick in. Don't figure them out when you're playing in front of folks.
  • Listen to when the third should be dropped from a chord. Its pretty common to just play 1 and 5. Listen to when a full chord sounds better than just 2 notes.
  • If you don't know a song, or don't want to play keyboad for it, play percussion
  • Keep singing the way you do. That way Merri will blame you when its actually Andy screeching out of key.
• Keith
  • Take some more solos. Trade 4s with Andy
  • Turn up your volume during the solos
  • Sing more harmony
  • Learn some of the songs you don't know
  • If you don't know a song, play percussion

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