TV Too
Part of the process of getting ready to go out and gig (in support of the CD) is playing with other folks, with a particular emphasis on finding possible bandmates. This is especially true for those of us who are past the big six-oh: it’s hard to play three-set gigs solo. I have been jamming with several folks for a while on Wednesdays (see the June 2 post) and, to make the story short, we have wound up with a television show featuring live music.
Of course, this is not something that’s readily available to everyone, although in most cities, it is more attainable than you might think, particularly if your city’s agreement with the cable system there includes a ‘public access’ channel. I produced a public access show for some three years or so but finally gave it up because it was simply too much work without any particularly obvious payback. (I wasn’t playing out at that point.) The experience was useful because I learned quite a bit about the process of making television, which is not nearly as difficult as it might seem.
Some subsequent opportunities also came my way courtesy of a friend with thirty-plus years in commercial television. This friend also has a longtime interest in putting Louisville music on TV. He started and continues to produce a country music video show; we also did a line dancing show for a year, shooting a dance instruction show at Coyote’s Dance Hall in Louisville. It was quite a production: seven video feeds, involving two mobile cameras, one on sticks, one on the floor, another over the bar, a mini-cam in the DJ’s booth and a feed of the videos the dancers were following. My friend built a remote setup in the back of his van, including a switcher, time base corrector and a pair of Sony 3/4 inch U-matics video recorders. Every week, we’d unload all the cameras and gear, run the cables, set up the cameras and Clear Comm headsets for the camera operators and, after the show, pack it all back up.
That was something of a chore but I really learned about TV.
It was this friend who dropped by our jam session who suggested that we could do a TV show with acoustic players and, using just one pro 3-chip camera, do a pretty good job. He also had a line on a local low-power station where we could buy airtime for a dirt-cheap rate. The other players were interested; I had other friends who had some TV experience, with the upshot that we moved to jam to a different club and began putting together the show. A friend who had done camera work on the linedance show also had a pro camera (Sony 3000) and a new Mac Powerbook with a next-to-the-last current version of Final Cut Pro, which he subsequently upgraded. Another friend - also a musician - volunteered to sell some of the advertising (also dirt cheap) and we were on the way.
The show was titled “The Player’s Spot” and we invited various singer/songwriters as guests, two per program. The folks who had been regulars at the jam became the house band, under the title of Tingo. We established the rule that only original music would be played, just to sidestep any copyright issues and began to record, getting three shows in the can before airing the first one.
TV taping is the same as any other recording; sloppiness is embarrassing. Immediately, various folks began to insist on rehearsal, which caused scheduling issues all around. We still have not quite worked that out, even though some of us get together on Mondays to play. We are still hashing through the details, with particular problems finding a rehearsal space, which is no different a problem than it is for any band of any age.
So that’s where it stands at the moment. We recorded a show last night; the first program aired last Tuesdays. We have a thirteen-week commitment at a minimum and life has gotten busy. I just hope that I can continue to perform and not get bogged down producing TV, a monthly newspaper and managing a constantly updated website. Plus write two blogs.