Hi, ya'll from Houston!

[dapa]

Hi, my name is Doug, I'm from Houston, Texas and it's great to be posting here on the Forum at last! I was a professional musician years ago, but have managed to hang on to some chops by playing in church for years (piano and organ). Genres that I like to play are classical, pop, jazz, country, some standards. I like to compose and have a small studio at my home. Sorry for the delay in introducing myself, I just read the post that newbies like myself should do that. Well, it's over a year now that I've been casually glancing at the Taxi forum posts. I joined Taxi in 2012, but have been so bogged down with intense job responsibilities that participation in recording and submitting has taken a back seat. Finally determined to overcome my inertia, I submitted my first track a few months ago. It did not hit the mark, but the person who sent it back was kind enough to include some helpful comments, even though it was was a yes/no listing. I'm very blessed that wife Pat is very supportive of my music business endeavors and when I mentioned that we should go to the Road Rally, she said "Let's book it!". We had such a great time listening to the wonderful presentations and meeting new friends (if you're reading this, hi to Matt from Boise, Richard from New York State and Megan and her Dad from Canada). Thanks, Michael, for you and your staff's prodigious efforts in putting on such an event; y'all were really working hard! It was really worth going.
Anyway, looking forward to meeting some you online and hopefully at next year's Rally.
Thanks,
Doug-

[funsongs]

Welcome, Doug (& wife Pat)...
I know we're not supposed to be envious...but admit to such with news that you've already been enabled to
become a member and attend a rally (neither for me yet).

Nevertheless, this has been a great place to hangout and get acquainted with some fellow music-livers (living what they love).
I can appreciate your church (service) background; similar history here, behind a drum kit, guitar, or at the sound controls.

And, if you've been there, you might recognize that my photo-avatar was taken during a visit to Luckenbach; a place I dream of playing someday.
Got lots of family and friends living in Texas; feels like 2nd home.

The Peer-2-Peer is the place to share your wares...looking forward to hearing what you got.
Cheers.
Peter R. aka "fun"
http://www.soundcloud.com/funsongs-1

[feaker66]

Hi Doug

I am from Michigan and have been staying in Lake Jackson Texas (45 min south) for a few months in the winter. I have a daughter there that works at Dow Chemical ( a chemical engineer)

Post one of your songs in peer to peer and hang on for a ride. folks are great here.

Welcome

paul

[dapa]

Hi, Peter and Paul; good to meet you. I've posted on the Peer To Peer forum as you suggested. Please check out "Everything Is You" on my Taxi page and comment if you have time..

BTW Paul, Lake Jackson is a nice town. Spent some time there when I was working at STP for a few years. Enjoy!

Thanks, Doug-

[VanderBoegh]

Hey Doug and Pat! Glad to see you on here! I was hoping you'd join the forums. It was really a pleasure meeting you & Pat for the 4.5 hours we waited in the registration line. That seems like such a LONG time when I tell people about it, but really the time just flew by, and that was because I was with such great company.

I'm looking forward to hearing what kinds of noises that amazing piano of yours can churn out. Stay in touch and remember: 50 songs a year isn't too tall of a task... it's just one song per week. So, I'll be looking for 50 songs in the Peer-to-Peer section as the 2014 gets rolling!!

Stay warm down there. I woke up to ice on the ground here in Boise this morning. Brrrrrr.....

~~Matt

[dapa]

Hey, Matt from Pat and I; great to hear from you! Yes, we realized after the Rally that the forums are one of the best places to be so we are trying to get to know a few folks. Good times at the Rally, eh? We enjoyed meeting you and Rick, Megan and Glen and realizing we are all moving in the same general direction at our own pace. I listened to your track, "Sneakin' Around" on your SoundCloud page and really liked it. Sounded like it should be in a Pink Panther movie! If you get a chance, have a listen to "Everything Is You" on my SoundCloud page; link is in my signature.
Take care,
Doug-

[VanderBoegh]

Hey Doug, just listened to "Everything is You". Man oh man, you've definitely got some ivory-tickling skills, and some great composition to boot!

If I could be so bold as to make a suggestion, your synth strings aren't doing the job on this song. Do you know of any cello'ists? Or violinists? This song would absolutely jump out of the speakers with live strings, even just one or two players. If you don't know of anybody, you should look into some good Virtual Instrument strings, as some of them can sounds fairly real with enough tweaking. But right now, they're screaming synth, and the synthiness is taking the attention away from your beautiful piano playing. Hey, here's another thought... ditch the strings entirely and just bounce a piano solo?

Keep me posted on any new songs as you get them recorded, and keep tickling,

~~Matt

[dapa]

Hi, Matt, thanks so much for the listen and the comments. I'm pretty inexperienced at programming string VIs at this point, even though I have GPO4 and Miroslav, I have not gotten them to sound realistic. It's going to take some woodshedding to get up to snuff, so you're probably right about ditching the strings and just going piano solo at this point. Let's stay in touch and review one another's work from time to time; I'll keep you posted on new recordings; please do the same for me.
Take care,
Doug-

[TimWalter]

Hi Doug. I have a similar situation, play in our cont worship 3 to 4 weeks per month (guitar). Welcome to the forum Tim

[dapa]

Thanks, Tim; good to be here and to meet you!