Sound, Recordings, Live Shows, and a Mailing List

I performed at Wine Time Restaurant in Chico last Saturday, and had wonderful show - a group of delightfully fun and entertaining friends came and supported. I've played at this venue at least five times now, and for the first time ever during these shows, when I played last week, I had a bit of an issue with the sound, simply because there was such a large crowd that night (much more than usual) and I found myself struggling a little to be heard of over the chatter. I normally just use a mini-amp and a mic that attaches to the speakers on my digital piano, and that's normally more than enough. So, as a result, I may invest in a PA and/or a soundboard for these types of situations (especially if I'm going to start playing in larger venues), so if any techno-savvy folks out there have recommendations, they are always welcome!

I recently moved, and I now have a TINY place of my own (as opposed to living with roommates) and will be using that to test some of my recording equipment. Aside from a little laziness that I need to kick out of my lifestyle completely, the only reason why my recordings are not on iTunes or Amazon is because I am being picky about the sound quality. I've been given to understand, and completely agree with, the notion that quality recordings can actually "make or break" people's reaction to a person's music, even if it's subconscious. I've scheduled myself to start some of the sound testing and/or recording tonight, as well as tomorrow (1/17/06) before heading up to Quincy for a day to spend with my Dad. More YouTube videos will be uploaded too, and I plan to share them with friends, in hopes to spread the word. By the way, those of you who are spreading the word around already... THANK YOU!!! :)

I have to say I consider myself pretty lucky that I have friends who are "techno-geeks". If it wasn't for them, my current website would probably not be as fancy and slick as it is, and at this time I'm in the stages of planning to build (and building) a brand new second website, which will be used ONLY as an artist's website for my music, catered mainly to people who are interested in live performances and buying CD's. The current one is the official site for Arctic Melodies, which is a business that I started which offers many services under that one umbrella (including piano lessons). Speaking of live performances, for those who have been kind enough to listen to my music, I do offer "house" concerts if you have fans you want to invite. And yes, I can also come over just to visit!

I'm excited about prospects for 2016, even though I know it's going to be a lot of work, and a lot of self-educating with regard to technology. I've known for a long time by now that an Internet presence these days is one of the essential/key elements to success in this particular endeavor. That being said, my day job does get in the way, and that can be annoying. But this blog is a good way of keeping myself focused on the steps I need to take, and the more readers/subscribers I get the better! In future blogs I'll also be updating people on information about my Mailing List and discussion forums that I intend to start. I can get more into that in future posts, but for now I'll still make a point to say that, YES, people on this Mailing List would get discounts on CD's and live shows.

Thanks again for taking the time to read these posts. Feedback, thoughts, comments and questions, by the way, are always appreciated too!

Thorsteinn