I would like to invite my fellow Stickists out there to join me in what could
potentially be a highly beneficial endeavor, a way to facilitate our own personal
progress while contributing to the collective progress of other's in the pursuit of
Stick proficiency and beyond.

(I had formerly used the term 'virtual recital', but abandoned it hoping 'Virtual
"Live" Performance' would attract wider participation.)

Here are the guidelines of how it works...

Step 1 : Prepare for your "Live" Performance of your chosen material.

Guideline 1 : Do your preparation in advance rather than in the same exact setting.
Make sure that you have not touched the Stick for at least 30 minutes before
recording. Remember, this supposed to be a virtual "Live" Performance practice,
not a multi-take studio recording. Taking a break before hand will best simulate
live performance.

Step 2: Set a firm date and time for your single take recording to take place and
ideally announce it in advance to others.

Guideline 2: Be honest with yourself here, that is why you may want to announce
it in advance. Often being honest with yourself is the toughest form of honesty. It
is probably best to set your date and time at least 2 days in advance thus allowing
any fears time to surface. Performance anxiety, if you are prone to it, will be fairly
well simulated particularly in light of Guideline 3. Well rounded growth takes
account of all factors relating to performance. The potential distractions of live
performance are a bit tough to simulate.

Step 3 : Record a SINGLE take video (or audio if no camera) of your chosen
material like a true "no second chance", "no delete and re-record" virtual "Live"
Performance.

Guideline 3 : No "hidden" backing tracks or metronome clicks unless it is heard in
your recording. If you mess up try to recover as best you can for your given skill
level just as you would in a real live setting. Swallow your pride it is for your
greater good, even if you botch it big-time you post it quick-time. Subconsciencely
a botched performance may help you more than an perfect one because of the
message of accountability and needful preparation that it will broadcast throughout
your personhood if you hold to this guideline.

Step 4 : Upload your video and announce it's link via this thread ideally with a
request for constructive criticism & instructive comments.

Guideline 4 : This will not only benefit you and I but anyone who watches the video
and learns from any instruction offered by others that they can apply to
themselves as well.

The above process can also be used for goal setting, the acquisition of new
material, or even "live" improvisation experience. For instance, announce that you
will be playing let's say "Autumn Leaves" on January 1st @ 2pm. Then, the video is
posted by evening come what may.

There you have it. That is my proposal. I hope many will participate.

************
I ask that anyone posting a video to this thread will "stick" to the guidelines above.
I also request the participation of our most esteemed seasoned players to
graciously offer their insights to those of us so aspiring.
************

I plan on doing one of these roughly once per month or so and invite anyone interested to
do the same.

-Curtis

Hi

I didn't prepare this recording as formally as you describe it. Just switched the iBook on. Here's the result. Enjoy.

http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=Hz7CJ0AaLAU

Olivier

Wow! Great job. I trust that someday I'll be able to play like that if I keep working hard at it for sufficient years. Fantastic.

-Curtis

Thanks for the good words, Curtis.
All (well almost...) it takes is 1 hour a day, 7 years in a row

Hang tight!

O.

Since Oct 6th I have averaged right at 100 minutes per day with only minor day to day fluctuations. I hope to log 600 hours of quality practice for '08. I would be quite pleased if my next 7 years yielded those results.

Great job again.

-Curtis

Hey everyone - I just added three songs to my MySpace page: myspace.com/jimstorm

Two of the three meet the the requirements of this challenge - they are one take, non edited songs, as is the one that was there originally. Dm Mood, Hitting Bottom and From the Ashes are all three one-take and non-edited. The last song, Reflections from a Still Pool is close - It is two takes, no editing - I just added the pad effect over a single take song, so it kind of fits the requirements. Check them out and let me know what you think.

I may be adding two other songs in the future. I recorded about 12 new songs last month, and have nowhere else to put them.

Jim

Jim,

Keep up the great work. I have always liked your song "From the Ashes". I just got done listening to "Dm Mood", "Hitting Bottom", & "Reflections in a Still Pool". I am impressed, great job.

I would love to see a video.

Wow, you recorded 12 songs in one month. I guess if they are one takes that is not so much work, but it still sounds like a whole lot to me.

I like your songs, very pretty. You asked for comments and the only ones I have are definitely not a critique but an observation. "From the Ashes" seems to have a real sense of direction, while the other 3 above had more of a lingering sense to them with "Reflections on a Still Pool" seeming to reflect thoughts of future "travel".

I look forward to what is to come. Great job.

-Curtis

Actually that is a good observation, and not one I had really thought about. Dm Mood is one that I recorded over a year ago, then forgot, and then found. I relearned it, added a little, and let 'er rip, so it is mostly improv. Hitting Bottom is the first part of From the Ashes, and is still mostly improv. Reflections was an attempt at improv, and could never be re-played, as I have no idea what I was playing. About half of the 12 songs were improvised on the spot, as the idea was to honor my father's request to put together ambient music that he could set travel pictures and videos to. He made the request two weeks before Christmas, so I had a very short time to record, attempt to mix and produce, then burn onto CD, and these songs were the result. The "record" ended up with 9 songs, as I scrapped three for various reasons, mostly technical issues (like somehow, I recorded two of them in mono instead or stereo, LOL).

Thanks for the comments. I was beginning to believe that no one liked any of the songs, and just didn't want to tell me how bad they were, LOL.

Jim

I just hadn't commented yet, too busy. I love your music. I saw you perform them at the Heartland seminar and I'm really glad to be able to listen to them again. Keep 'em coming!

-Eric