I thought I was doing pretty good during this extra little time between jams. I was continuing to practice and work on a new song or two while starting to work with my new recording solution and get a few other things done that I had been neglecting. I thought. Then I read the announcement for the next Blues Jam this coming Sunday. After I finished being excited because; “OH BOY! We get to do it again!” My next thought was “Crap! I need to practice.”
We had an extra week between jams because of Father’s Day. I hadn’t heard until Father’s Day if we were even going to have a second jam for this month and I guess I let my guard down a little, or something because, I suddenly felt completely unprepared for it. Maybe because I have a new tool to work with and I don’t feel like I’ve had near enough time to make good use of it. Maybe because something finally clicked with me for my vocals that I’m still working on and I feel like I’m learning everything new again. Or because I am learning some new stuff on guitar that I want to incorporate but I’m not sure I’ve got it down well enough to do it.
In art this place is called the valley of suck. Artists enter it when they go from creating art
in a manner they feel relatively competent at to trying a new technique or medium to create their art and they have to spend time learning all over again how to create a circle. It’s frustrating. It’s exasperating. And you feel like you are never going to be good enough again.
I might have known that this same experience was possible in music. I’ve heard about Neil Peart, at the top of his career, learning how to play drums all over again in a completely different way. He probably had something of the same feelings at times. As I don’t feel I’ve mastered anything to a level that changing things up should give me that feeling, I’m a little surprised to be here. I have a feeling, I will be visiting this valley often as I continue to learn new things. Still. Wow.
While I’m working on my guitar playing, learning lead, getting better at rhythm and finding more interesting ways to play the rhythm parts, I’m also working on my vocal. Some songs feel like they just fit. Maybe I’ve heard them enough or they have a groove that I can really get into. Whatever the reason, they just feel really easy to wear. Which is what finally clicked for me. What each song is supposed to feel like. Every song is going to be different, and have it’s own feel as the nature of the song, but singing it, performing it should have a certain feel of comfort. Not that I should feel comfortable with it. Though that too. Rather it should feel comfortable to perform. Like when I get just a little cold and put on my leather jacket. Kind of like putting on that perfectly worn pair of jeans straight from the dryer on a cold day. Minus the hot zipper. That’s what I’ve started working on for my singing. Getting to that feeling with every song. Since this only clicked a couple of days ago, I have not had the time to make near as much 
progress with it as I would like before the next jam. Which, no doubt, is contributing to my feeling unprepared. I’ll get there though. I have that new tool.
My new tool is the recording solution I mentioned. I think I mentioned it last week as well. I’m sharing photos and a little more about it this week. I had most of it already. The computer, the microphone stand, the cables, and even the microphone. I just needed the interface. So I got the Presonus Audiobox 96. I’d like to give a shout-out to Paul at Sam Ash for the recommendation. It was as easy to set up as he said it would be. The only trouble I had initially was that I forgot to install the Universal Controller so the recording software couldn’t see the box. Once I installed the controller it worked like a champ. Well, until Microsoft insisted I update Windows 10. Then it didn’t work. But a quick look though the help for Presonus and I got the idea to re-install the controller software. Now it’s all better and working again. It connects and is powered via USB. It has two inputs for instrument or microphone and phantom power. It has headphones out as well as left and right speakers out. Oh, and I believe it takes midi in as well. I’m using the two inputs and then just the headphones out. 
My microphone is a Sterling and requires phantom power for it to work so this covers that.
As much as I have a feeling this is one rabbit hole I could really get lost in if I’m not careful, I also have the feeling that will make a big difference in how I progress. I can’t wait to get back to it.