Jim Alfredson

Pretty amazing.

I had a lot of fun and also learned a ton recording the MSU Jazz Orchestra 3 last night at MSU. First thing I learned: make sure you have the cardioid capsule on the acoustic bass mic instead of the omni capsule! Yikes... lots of bleed from the drums, guitar, piano, horns, that fly on the ceiling, the keggers on MAC Ave, and residual microwave background radiation from the Big Bang in that mic (ok I'm exaggerating on the last two). Thankfully it still sounds good, so no big deal. But a bit more isolation with a tighter polar pattern would've been better. Second thing I learned: the two channels I used for the room would've been better spent on spot mics for the soloists. And thirdly, stereo overheads on the drums is gratuitous and I should've used one mono overhead and the other mic on the snare.

But overall, it came out good and the students played really well. It will be enjoyable to mix.

Tonight I'm recording a big band. Going over my list, checking it twice, to make sure I don't forget anything. This should be fun.

The Cubase IC Pro app for the iPad is handy. Wireless DAW control from a touchscreen. What will they think of next?

Happy Birthday to my eldest daughter Zora who turns 12 today. 12!!!! She has been the most challenging and amazing child but in the last year she has settled into a very easy-going, responsible young lady... for the most part. And she can play a mean French Horn. Love you, Zora... and I'm immensely proud of you.

Looka me! I'ma walking stereotype!

Looka me! I'ma walking stereotype!

l

In case you missed it yesterday.

Tonight I finished writing lyrics on the last of the new songs for my next THEO release. This one was giving me fits; the music has been done for months but I just couldn't figure out how to tell the story. But it finally came together.

I feel a huge weight off my shoulders.

Bowie, George Martin, Maurice White, Emerson, Glen Frey, Haggard, and now Prince? Criminey. This has been a rough year for our musical legends. Prince was the funkiest of them all in the 80s... nobody funkier or more trailblazing. Wow.

Could It Be I'm Falling In Love - organissimo - Live at the SpeakEZ Lounge: https://t.co/sRQ6sKacAc via @YouTube

I made dinner tonight. It was rather tasty if I do say so myself.

Posting again because I love this for so many reasons.

Had a great day at Sweetwater Sound in Ft. Wayne, demonstrating a new product (can't wait to tell everyone more but I'm on hush-hush retainer right now) and hanging with my longtime sales guy David Mikautadze. If you need any audio gear, call Sweetwater and talk to David. He's the man.

Happy birthday to my dear Stella Bear! She turns 8 years old today (wow!) Here's a picture of her when she was just 2. So sweet.

How about we skip over the consideration part and just move directly to the education part?

It's Tax Day!

Just arrived in the mail. Full review coming soon.

Tonight I'm at ONYX in Royal Oak with Jimmy Smith, Lawrence Barris, and Beth Stalker. 7pm.

It's getting nutty in here.

It's happening.

This is cool.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WilPI1qAkZc

Whoa. I had probably 30 messages in this folder, including some real humdingers from disgruntled conservatives. One guy back in December wrote "Who's the fascist now, asshole?" Uh... I don't know. Trump? Another sent me a screed against my posts about Scalia's faux intellectualism, essentially bestowing sainthood on the prick. My favorite? 'Stick to music'. Actually no. I'll write what I want, thank you very much. And the beauty is you don't have to read it. Amazing, isn't it?

But most of the messages were groovy people asking for Hammond help. So that's cool.