Trip to Pine

Cool legato thing

Tim Birchard — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 22:07:20 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcSZy2BtlMs

A friend of mine sent me an incredible 3-minute lesson of a common legato lick that guys like Steve Vai and Joe Satriani use. While they play it at light speed, flawlessly, I am currently just getting it to fall beneath my fingers. So it’s pretty slow and sloppy right now.

But that’s okay. Because if I keep at it for the next month… three months… five years… sooner or later, it’s going to be pretty smooth.

And I’m not playing guitar on any sort of deadline, anyway. I love to play. That’s reason enough for me to keep playing (hopefully) for the rest of my life.

Steve Vai agrees: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atGBKuCJ-Jc&feature=related

Garageband to Logic: How to save $500 with a version upgrade ‘workaround’

Tim Birchard — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 21:26:27 +0000

I was so excited when I arrived at my buddy’s front door yesterday.

Flash drive in hand, I was ready to give Charlie our first three Kirtan chants to work on. Last summer, Cheryl and I tracked guitar and vocals to a ‘dummy’ drum loop track that I knew we wouldn’t be keeping. But it was a great placeholder. And better than a simple click track.

He came back from his studio into the living room with a concerned look on his face… turns out that while Garageband files CAN, INDEED be loaded into Logic (but not the other way around), in THIS case, he got a pop-up message informing him that he needed to upgrade to the latest version of Logic before he could continue with this function.

Cost for upgrade: $499.00.

Had it been forty or fifty bucks, I’d have split it with him and we’d have moved on. But this was a bit pricey for an unexpected purchase. And it was threatening to slow down our plans to create.

This morning while shaving, a workaround idea hit me:

1) In Garageband, I unlocked all tracks and then selected all tracks, moving everything ‘downstream’ 8 bars.

2) I then deselected everything, then selected only the dummy drum loop track. Applied that drum loop to the first 8 bars, and ENDED it at the beginning of Bar 9, where all other tracks now started. This now meant there was NO percussion after the first 8 bars.

3) Share/send to iTunes (mixdown). Saved as AIFF. (*Note: in the name of the file, I included the Beats Per Minute –”BPM”– for each song to make Charlie’s job easier.)

4) Saved to thumb drive, delivered to Charlie. He then loaded the AIFF into Logic (no problem).

5) Now the AIFF track he loaded into Logic becomes Track 1 of his project. He has the BPM, the first 8 bars, then our original vocals/guitars/etc. beneath which to place as many percussion tracks as he likes. Of critical importance, he’ll leave the length of the entire track exactly the same so that we’ll have matching Start Points.

6) When he’s done and ready to mix down, he’ll MUTE the original AIFF track that I provided, so that only his additions will be audible. He’ll then provide me with an AIFF file of the mixed-down percussion tracks.

7) I’ll fly those back into GarageBand, where I’ll simply line it up with the original vocals and guitars, then mix the final product. At this point, I can trim out those first 8 bars of reference (“dummy”) drums. And if I’m interested in gaining some sort of pan control over the percussion, I can simply duplicate the mixed-down percussion track and pan one left (maybe 11 o’clock) and one right (maybe 1 o’clock).

8) Final mixdown.

Just saved $500.

2012 — A Year of New Music!

Tim Birchard — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 01:53:44 +0000

The wrecking crew is right outside the window every day. In each moment. Sooner or later, it’s all coming down.

That’s why 2012 is The Year Of New Music. Currently I’m talking with a good friend about working together on a few different projects this year…

1) Putting out a Kirtan cd full of songs that Cheryl and I have already written;

2) Creating the next Tim Birchard cd to follow up on the success of A Place Of My Own;

3) Releasing Cheryl’s next hymns cd, for which there have been multiple requests.

In addition, I’m looking at the possibility of playing out more often this year… joining accomplished jazz musicians on stage in front of live human beings. We’ll see how that goes.

After last month’s house fire (electrical fire in the attic due to faulty wiring), it’s taken some time to get the house back in ‘livable’ shape. We’re approaching that point now.

By the way — if you’re reading this and you’re a renter like I am, please hear this: Get Renter’s Insurance. We have $100,000 worth of coverage. Only costs us $199/year. That’s about 50 cents per day. SO worth it!! Ours is through State Farm. But lots of companies offer it.

Go get some. Call now. Go ahead. It’s okay. I’ll wait.

In the blink of an eye

Tim Birchard — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 20:10:13 +0000

My Aunt Bev and my “little” cousin Logan (now in college) lost their husband/father (respectively) just a few days ago.

Sending them light and love.

http://www.meyerbroschapels.com/sitemaker/sites/MeyerB2/obit.cgi?user=493538Roth

Jerry Roth 11/17/53 - 10/20/11

Gerald Roth

November 17, 1953 – October 20, 2011

Gerald “Jerry” Roth, 57, of Jefferson, SD passed away Thursday, October 20, 2011 at a local hospital following injuries sustained while helping others that were involved in a car accident.

Funeral Mass will be held at 1:00 P.M. Monday, October 24, 2011 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church with Father Craig Collison officiating. Visitation will be Sunday, October 23, 2011 from 4-8 P.M. with the family present from 6-8 P.M. and a Vigil Service at 7:00 P.M. at Meyer Brothers Colonial Chapel. Online condolences may be given at www.meyerbroschapels.com.

Jerry was born November 17, 1953 in Dubuque, Iowa the son of Art and Alberta (Burlidge) Roth. Jerry graduated from Iowa State College. He married Beverly Birchard on February 20, 1992 in Jamaica. Jerry worked in the credit union industry for the past 23 years, and most recently was the President and CEO of Sioux Valley Community Credit Union for 9 years. Jerry loved to hunt, fish, boat, and golf. He was an active member of the Pheasants Forever and the Ducks Unlimited.

Survivors include his wife Beverly Roth of Jefferson, SD; his mother Alberta Roth of Dubuque, Iowa; a son Logan Roth of Jefferson, SD; a daughter Susan Roth-Shotland and husband Aaron of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; a brother Robert and wife Terri Roth of Nashville, TN; and a sister Doris and husband Dan Keyes of Madison, WI.
He was preceded in death by his father Art Roth.

No better time than this very moment to give thanks for my time on earth.

JEFFERSON, S.D. — When Gerald Roth came upon a car accident Thursday night, the Jefferson, S.D., man did what came naturally, his family said: He pulled off Interstate 29 to help.

At about 9 p.m., Roth — the president and CEO of Sioux Valley Community Credit Union — parked on the shoulder and walked to assist drivers involved in a two-vehicle crash that happened a short time earlier near the South Dakota-Iowa border.

As Roth, 57, entered a lane to warn oncoming motorists of the crash, he was struck by a Dodge Durango, police said. Responders rushed him to a Sioux City hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

“He would never think twice of putting himself in danger; he would always run out to help someone in danger,” said Roth’s son, Logan, 18.

The South Dakota Highway Patrol on Friday said Roth stopped to help in a crash involving a 2002 Oldsmobile Aurora driven by Jefferson Galvin, 15, of Dakota Dunes, S.D., and a 1998 Mercury Sable driven by Lena Ramirez, 21, of Sioux City.

Galvin had lost control on a curve while traveling northbound, crossed the median into the southbound lanes and struck the Mercury driven by Ramirez, police said. Both drivers were taken to a Sioux City hospital with what authorities described as serious, non-life threatening injures.

Then shortly after 9 p.m., a southbound 2004 Dodge Durango driven by Kenneth R. Farley, 40, of Lincoln, Neb., struck Roth.

Roth was a father of two who loved his family, said wife Beverly Roth. He is survived by his son Logan, a freshman at South Dakota State University in Brookings, S.D., and daughter Susan Roth-Shotland, of Philadelphia.

Roth was known to go around his neighborhood lending out tools to help others with projects, his family said.

He was a sportsman who enjoyed the outdoors, especially pheasant hunting and boating. He cherished time spent training his two Labradors, Nash and Cooper, every day in the field, Logan Roth said.

“If he could be with his family while hunting or fishing, it was a good day,” Beverly Roth said.

Visitation is scheduled from 4 to 8 p.m. Sunday at Meyer Bros. Colonial Chapel, 3220 Stone Park Blvd. in Sioux City. A funeral mass is planned for 1 p.m. on Monday at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 5000 Military Road in Sioux City.

Best source for oak firewood delivery

Tim Birchard — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 00:18:26 +0000

Professional. Efficient. Great communication. Reasonable and fair pricing. Top quality oak.

I purchased a cord last week. I was incredibly impressed by Mr. Sanchez’ professionalism. I will definitely order from him again.

My new favorite band: The Reptoids

Tim Birchard — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 00:30:48 +0000

http://reptoids.bandcamp.com/

This demo is raw, powerful, and in-your-face. At the same time, it’s tight, clean, and no-nonsense. A touch of old Girlschool, “Too fast for love”-era Crue, and Ramones. REPTOIDS, please release more soon!

Tim Birchard soundtrack for local cancer fundraising video

Tim Birchard — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 22:15:42 +0000

Watch it here: http://vimeo.com/26294031

New album now available on cdbaby

Tim Birchard — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 13:00:18 +0000

http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/TimBirchard

Listener review: A Place of My Own

Tim Birchard — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 03:43:51 +0000

“A place of My Own takes me to a lonely, desert highway. We’re almost home, whether that’s good or bad, and a storm is building on the horizon. We are wearing comfortable, worn, blue jeans and everything is in slow motion. Telephone poles, jackrabbits, tumbleweeds, lightning. The landscape allows for our thoughts to drift back to a different place and time… Should we stop for gas? Naw, we can make it. Or maybe we don’t want to make it back to wherever it is we call home. A song comes on the radio….a confident yet soothing voice is singing “I’m fallin’ in love again.” We glance at each other and maybe we really are falling in love again. The guitar strings are playing a beautiful lullaby as we drive into the storm. We’re going to paint this drive blue.”

Katie K., Colorado, US

Suicide prevention training

Tim Birchard — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 00:01:26 +0000

Special thanks to SUCAP for making this two-day training available.

Last school year we lost two students to suicide. Now I have a few more tools in my toolbox. This was one of the most worthwhile trainings in my life. Highly recommended, whether you think you’ll need it or not.