kudzurunner
5121 posts
Nov 07, 2014
12:32 PM
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I'm in LA right now at the American Studies Association meeting and I'm planning to play hooky tomorrow--Saturday, November 8th--and make the trek from my downtown hotel out to Venice Beach, where I'm going to busk solo in the middle part of the day (noon to 3 PM, at least). I haven't busked solo in a while. Should be interesting.
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jbone
1799 posts
Nov 08, 2014
5:30 AM
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Lucky you!
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http://www.reverbnation.com/jawboneandjolene
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000386839482
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbTwvU-EN1Q
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Littoral
1154 posts
Nov 08, 2014
7:58 AM
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I appreciate the woodshed post -helpful for us to see it stripped down. I was working on soloing over this yesterday thanks for some direction.
Have fun.
Last Edited by Littoral on Nov 08, 2014 7:59 AM
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JInx
934 posts
Nov 08, 2014
8:40 AM
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Too shrill for me,givez me ear fatigue
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messy ventura
136 posts
Nov 08, 2014
8:57 AM
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I just might cruise down and say " Hey!" to ya Adam. Looks like a perfect SoCal beach busking kinda day today .
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Mirco
223 posts
Nov 08, 2014
11:12 AM
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Hope to see some video of this.
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kudzurunner
5125 posts
Nov 09, 2014
9:37 AM
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Big fun yesterday at Venice Beach. I'll write more and post video. Meanwhile, here's a video about the most legendary VB busker of them all. I didn't see him yesterday, but I heard about him:
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kudzurunner
5126 posts
Nov 09, 2014
9:52 AM
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Here's a bit of video. Not a great angle for me--knees to waist, basically--but a great angle to get a sense of who I was playing for, the endless stream of the boardwalk, and the sound is very clear.
I'm of two minds about the tambo pedal. I like what it adds to the sound--it helps make the groove--but it also locks me down, somewhat awkwardly, to one spot on the ground. It was much more fun NOT using it. I've got a clip of that, which I'll upload later.
More later.
Last Edited by kudzurunner on Nov 09, 2014 9:53 AM
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BronzeWailer
1516 posts
Nov 09, 2014
3:24 PM
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Interesting, Adam. I like being able to see the punters, so the camera angle is a good one, in my view. I am nervous about setting up a camera on a public thoroughfare, mainly due to worries it will get knocked over rather than knocked off. If there is a handy pole, attaching it with a gorillapod can do the trick. I agree that the sound quality was good, excellent in fact. What kind of camera were you using?
BronzeWailer's YouTube
Last Edited by BronzeWailer on Nov 09, 2014 3:26 PM
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Bilzharp
38 posts
Nov 09, 2014
6:04 PM
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Looks like you were doing about as good on tips as Joshua Bell at the DC Metro. Like the guy in the above video said, "people are at the beach for other reasons." Sounded like you had at least one fan though. Couple of those runs would have stopped me in my tracks.
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kudzurunner
5128 posts
Nov 09, 2014
8:47 PM
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My tips were pretty bad, but according to the heavy metal dude I was sharing the spot with, that's typical for Venice Beach. He said he'd been doing $120 a day in Vegas--he had a pair of Marshall amps set up ON THE STREET, he claimed--but here, with a tiny little amp, he did worse than I did during the three hours we shared a spot.
I'll write more tomorrow about my little odyssey, including the guy with the Manson stare who I almost got into a fight with.
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kudzurunner
5131 posts
Nov 09, 2014
10:07 PM
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Here's the best song of the day. It was the last song. I gave up on the tambo pedal and kept the groove with my singing and the soles of my shoes. At the 2:50 point, more or less, I clicked off the digital delay pedal and went for a dry sound. There are advantages to wet and dry; the bottom line is, they're different. You can keep a crisper beat with no delay.
This is why I went to the beach in the first place: for the chance to see what stripped-down solo playing could be. I didn't make much money at all. It was a professional challenge. It's not always about the money. Sometimes it's about saying, "Can I do this? Can I make this happen?" It took three hours in the sun to get to this one song where everything was clicking and it just felt right. I'm glad I got the chance to do this.
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jbone
1802 posts
Nov 10, 2014
4:14 AM
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Sometimes too, it's just about spreading some music around whether or not one gets paid. Karma.
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http://www.reverbnation.com/jawboneandjolene
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000386839482
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbTwvU-EN1Q
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yonderwall
81 posts
Nov 10, 2014
12:15 PM
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I really liked the "dry" sound in the second half of that last video. It gave you a opportunity to showcase the finer details of your playing (subtleties of attacks, and other aspects of your great tone) that too often get masked in reverb. Some of us use the reverb intentionally for this purpose :) The improv was pretty killer as well.
Last Edited by yonderwall on Nov 10, 2014 12:49 PM
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JustFuya
641 posts
Nov 12, 2014
9:45 AM
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OT - Tourists have the money and a certain odor. If you don't smell coconut oil within 2 blocks of the beach you have missed the crowd. I would have suggested Manhattan Beach, by the pier, had I been so inclined. It has a local flavor during the off season and fists are not as tight.
For the record, I had a 9 year inland hiatus during the late 80s. When I made it back to the west coast the first thing I noticed was thongs. After seeing the first one I was sure she would be arrested for indecent exposure. Then there was another and another. I'm not a prude but I was shocked. We used to pay big dollars during lunch breaks in NYC to see less.
So that's it: A certain odor and bare ass in your face = money.
One more thing. I spent 9 years in NV. It is musical Mecca but I made more money on the sidewalk than I did recording or playing in the bars and casinos. No wonder there. During breaks I could step into free shows and see the likes of Norton Buffalo and sit with him and his Mom in a near empty house. We talked and were envious of each others calling. Music is a bodily and soulful thrum but as a business I never cracked the code. It's too much like work, only harder. Hat's off to those who make music exclusively while covering the rent and feeding a family; and to those with a second job who whistle while they work.
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kudzurunner
5137 posts
Nov 12, 2014
12:29 PM
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One thing I've learned is that it's a mistake to generalize from past experience about how profitable a given busking pitch will be. Young people, for example, carried cash 20 years ago. Far fewer of them do that now.
I spoke with a handful of buskers on the Venice Beach boardwalk. All of them said that even talented players didn't make a lot of money--for a range of reasons, including the hippie atmosphere ("It's not about the money, dude!") that predominated and the middle-class attitude that since homeless people were incredibly well taken care of in VB (with lots of shelters and free meals), they didn't need cash largesse from passersby. And yes: buskers are essentially put in the same category as homeless.
I would definitely have tried Manhattan Beach if I'd had another couple of days. But it was fun and satisfying playing Venice Beach, regardless.
Last Edited by kudzurunner on Nov 12, 2014 12:30 PM
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Goldbrick
765 posts
Nov 12, 2014
1:39 PM
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I busk all the time =usually for the past 4 years in the same spot== somedays you are the windshield some days you are the bug.
The best thing is the freedom- bad day I can walk away- good day- awesome.
Have a thick skin and dont take shit personally
I would rather play on the street and take my chances than have a club owner busting your agates and complaining about paying the band a pittance at the end of the night
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BronzeWailer
1523 posts
Nov 12, 2014
4:28 PM
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I hear ya, Goldbrick. The bad tip days are "character building" I always tell myself. The good days reflect the public's excellent taste!
BronzeWailer's YouTube
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King Casey
27 posts
Nov 13, 2014
1:10 AM
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I can agree about the 'character building'.
October always seems to be the quiet period for me.
Looked like my 2 hours were gonna be character building when suddenly one $50 dollar note cured me.
cheers, Mark.
http://kingcasey.com.au/
Last Edited by King Casey on Nov 13, 2014 1:14 AM
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JustFuya
643 posts
Nov 14, 2014
12:17 PM
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@Adam - you are correct. I do leave dinosaur tracks in the sand. I've busked twice in a little over a year and still love the rush. On neither occasion did I wake up that morning saying, 'I'm gonna busk today'. I admire those that do. If I catch them in the act I will have a few dollars in my pocket to reward their effort. If I have an instrument and the planets align I will horn in (on the music, not the take).
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2chops
293 posts
Nov 14, 2014
1:58 PM
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JustFuya: When I was in Flagstaff back in Sept., I got to talking with one of the buskers who was playing guitar. After a few minutes he invited me to sit in with him. My goal was to have fun, and try to sound as good as I could in order to try to help him get a few more tips. We got some nice compliments. No way I would have kept anything that came in while I sat in with him. It was his gig.
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I'm workin on it. I'm workin on it.
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