andrew dodson

Here’s a quick wrap-up from the weekend:

• Something is wrong with the world.  The UK football team now sits at 5-0 and #8 in the latest AP poll.  It’s just weird seeing the football team ranked higher than our basketball team has reached in the last couple of years.  The consensus seems to be the #8 ranking is high for UK.  Most fans would feel more comfortable with the mid-teens ranking they had last week.  But, with so many upsets over the weekend – especially in the top ten – it only seems fair to reward the Cats for their strong play.  They face a tough test on Thursday night against South Carolina.  After that comes #1 LSU.  The week after that is a Florida team that suddenly looks beatable.  Could the Cats be 7-1 after the Florida game?
• I unloaded the Gretsch drumset and Zildjian ZHT hi-hats this weekend.  I didn’t get near what I wanted for them, but I needed to get rid of them.  I haven’t received much interest from anyone wanting to buy them, so I traded them in at Guitar Center for a Boss DR-3 drum machine, a set of Travis Barker double sticks, and two cables that will replace my need for two direct boxes (1/4″ TRS to XLR male).  The good news is that the drum machine will get a lot of use in my new electronic drum setup.  It has some great tom sounds, fairly good snare sounds, a good ride cymbal sound and very good percussion sounds.  It also gives me the ability to program my own drum loops.  So, even though I didn’t get the value out of the drums and hats I wanted, I at least got something I’ll put to use and not let collect dust in the corner.
• I was very excited about the Bengals-Patriots Monday Night Football game tomorrow night.  Until I remembered that I have JMB rehearsal tomorrow night.  It’s catch 22.  I love playing any chance I can get, especially with JMB working on new material, and I can continue to test and tweak my new setup.  But, I’ll miss most, if not all, of the Bengals playing the best team in the league on a big stage in front of a national audience.  Granted, they’ll probably lose, but it’d be nice to watch.  I’ll still enjoy rehearsal, though.
• One year ago, I was attending the Desiring God National Conference in Minneapolis.  This year’s conference has wrapped up and Desiring God has already posted all audio and video.
• I’m making tentative plans to attend the Resurgence Conference in Seattle early next year.  I’ll have to start saving my pennies, but it’s actually a fairly affordable conference – only $99.

The hybrid drum concept has been a winner so far.  I’ve been pretty happy with the results.  I’ve ended up trying to build the same idea at home.  My roommate has an old Roland TD-5 set from his shop, and some Pintech Concertcast pads.  I’m not terribly happy with the sounds on the TD-5, so I’m transporting my Yamaha module back-and-forth from church.

Here’s the next idea….

The last holdup of using electronic drums is not having the ability to multi-track record, or have multiple tracks for each voice in a live setting.  My module only has a stereo output, instead of direct outs for each input.  In order for me to get a module with direct outs, I’d have to spend at least $600 for a used Yamaha module, or over $1000 for the Roland TD-20.  Not gonna happen.  But, what can happen is using two modules to get two more outputs.  Here’s the breakdown:

1. Kick (acoustic/microphone)
2. Snare (panned dead left on module #1, coming out of left output)
3. Toms (panned dead left on module #2, coming out of left output)
4. Cymbals (dead right on module #1, right output)
5. Hi-hat/tambourine (acoustic/microphone)
6. Percussion sounds (dead right on module #2, right output)

I used this setup at church rehearsal last night, and while I was using the not-so-great TD-5 for my toms, it worked pretty well.  The sound man liked having more control over my kit.  So, I’m looking for an affordable option for another good module, or possibly trying some sort of MIDI setup (drum machine, computer setup, etc.).

I’m pretty close to having the perfect set for all occasions.  If anyone out there has a good module you’re looking to get rid of, email me.

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Yesterday, the David Crowder Band released their latest offering, Remedy. The set checks in at approximately 45 minutes. After a few listens, here’s my review:

Glory of It All – Passion folks will know this one, as a live version has already been released to date. This song is growing on me. Starts off mellow, but builds musically & emotionally through the song.

Can You Feel It – Definitely my favorite track on the album. I remember hearing bits and pieces on the band’s YouTube “making of” videos, and it accompanied a Passion promo video recently. The song has an upbeat dance/techno feel to it. Four on the floor drum part. It’s cool.

Everything Glorious – The first single from the album. I can’t get into it. It’s “okay.” Part of me wonders if the song is solid theologically. “You make everything glorious / What does that make me?” I don’t know. I don’t think I’m too glorious when I go about sinning on a daily basis. Also, the DC*B is known for its love of electronic music. I think the electronic parts are overdone on this song. They don’t seem to fit and seem forced.

Neverending – Every DC*B album has a punk type of song. Musically, of course. This one is similar to “No One Like You” and “Foreverandever” in style.

Never Let Go – A ballad musically. Pretty good. Think “Come and Listen,” in a sense that it’s piano-driven.

O, For A Thousand Tongues to Sing – Every DC*B album also has a hymn of some kind. Here, they rework this hymn with their own chorus. I really like it. They’re good at putting their own twist on hymns.

Rain Down – Fans will notice this song originally appeared on their independent album, All I Can Say. I always like it when bands resurrect songs from the past. This new version is definitely better than the original. More upbeat and mature musically. A good choice of a song to bring back, now that more people will get to hear it.

We Won’t Be Quiet – The sequel to “We Win?” Perhaps. A good song, and it’s very similar “We Win” in style. Will likely be great in a live setting.

Remedy – Title track. Mellow & soft. Almost has a folk vibe to it. Choruses build up, verses are soft.

Surely We Can Change – The set closes with a lullaby of sorts. Very sparse musically.

As you can see, I’ve really only paid attention to the music so far. Lyrically, the album is fairly similar to previous albums. Crowder can at times be poetic and others be very simple and poppy. The gist of the album is that we as Christians can be a remedy for a lost world. We can do our part to help bring the message of salvation to the lost. The album isn’t near as experimental as A Collision, but is more in tune with Illuminate and Can You Hear Us? Overall, I like it a lot. It will get a lot of play.

A few screenshots from the new JMB DVD…

After a weekend break, I have some catching up to do….

• My apologies to Rich Brooks.  A couple of years ago, I was wondering why UK would ever hire a retired coach and expect to build a program.  Seems he’s done quite a good job over the last two seasons.  Sitting at 4-0 and looking at the rest of the schedule, I think UK is capable of a 10-2 record, but that’s awfully optimistic.  The thing is, it’s hard to tell just how good they are.  We’ve beaten two ranked teams in consecutive weeks.  At this point, the sky’s the limit.  With Notre Dame sitting at 0-4 for the first time in history, it would seem the college football world is off its axis.  Why not dream about a 10-2 season for the Cats?
• The Bengals played much better against the Seahawks than I expected.  They still couldn’t pull it out, but I had expected a loss anyway.  Granted, it would’ve redeemed their loss against the Browns last week, but I still think they have a decent shot at my prediction of 11-5.  I don’t expect them to beat the Patriots next week, but after that, the schedule softens a bit.
• The Josh Martin Band DVD is finally available!  I watched bits and pieces Saturday night, and watched it in its entirety yesterday.  I’m very pleased with how it turned out.  I still think it’s the best mix I’ve done to date, and Bert did a great job editing the video to get the best camera angles of each shot.  Bert also did a wonderful job on the artwork.  Thanks to Kari McGrath for some great photos to work with!  The DVDs are $15 and you get a copy of the audio CD as well.  I’m planning a fairly large update and/or redesign of the JMB website, so it will be available at our online store very soon.
• The hybrid drumset has performed admirably over the last two weekends.  I think it’s fairly close to being the perfect drumset for all occasions and playing situations.
• My new Motorola Q is pretty cool.  I’m really glad I didn’t spend a lot more money on a new Treo because it seems the Q can do everything the Treo can do.  I had to purchase a special program to get the phone to sync with my Mac computer, but that has made it very easy to keep track of contacts, calendar dates, etc.  I’ve yet to drop a call since switching back to Verizon, and the reception on my calls has been very clear.

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My good buddy, band mate and brother in Christ – Josh Martin – has a neat idea going over at his blog.  He’s blogging about each of the people on his blogroll.  Having the good fortune of a first name starting with “A” and his blogroll being in alphabetical order, I get the pleasure of being blogged about first.

I sincerely appreciate Josh’s kind words – they come in the form of encouragement to me.  He’s been a tremendous influence on my life as a Christian and as a person, and I thank God for our relationship.

Thanks Josh!

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We’ve all heard the weird stories.  Twins leave their house at the same time on their way to see the other and crash into each other on the highway.  I’m sure you’ve heard similar stories.  Today’s odd story of the day…

A married couple were both chatting with significant others on the internet.  When they decided to meet, they found out they were talking to each other.  Now, they’re getting divorced.  Read the article here.

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Next time you need a piece of software for a new job, a project, or something else, try open source. What’s open source, you say? It’s free software. Free? Yes.

There’s a whole multitude of computer programmers out there that create software out the goodness of their heart. There’s a sense of rebellion from these programmers, aimed at the big, greedy software companies of the world.

The two programs I use the most are Firefox and NeoOffice. I’ve bragged on Firefox many times before on this blog. It’s an awesome internet browser that is constantly being updated and improved, fully customizable with plugins of your choice, and it’s standards compliant. That’s a fancy phrase that basically means, when I create a website, it renders correctly in Firefox. I usually have to make concessions for other browsers that aren’t standards compliant.

Today, I want to brag on NeoOffice. This program is only available for Mac users, but there are similar options available for Windows people – OpenOffice, for example.. The next time you think about buying Microsoft Office, or upgrading a copy you already have, give NeoOffice or OpenOffice a try. I’ve been very impressed with NeoOffice’s abilities. It can read and save files in Word format, it can read and save all Office files (Excel, etc.). I’m not a Microsoft Office expert, so I can’t speak for NeoOffice’s advanced capabilities. But, for a normal user that just needs the option of opening and saving Word or Excel files, it works great. There’s also a handy feature to save as PDF files.

How can you find open source programs? The easiest way is to type the kind of software you’re looking for, followed by “open source” into a Google search. For example: “audio recording open source.” This search would yield a find of Audacity – a great, free audio recording program. You get the idea, though.

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Now playing: Pat Monahan – Thinkin Bout You
via FoxyTunes

As of tonight, I’ll be switching my cell phone service back to Verizon.  They were the company I originally signed up with when I first bought a cell phone about five years ago.  I was with them for a few years.  Seems everyone around here has Sprint, so with the Treo coming out, and Wireless Blue being a Sprint dealer, I decided to switch.  I got a great deal on a used Treo, so I didn’t want to pass it up.  I’ve loved using the Treo, but the Sprint service has been not-so-great.  I drop a lot of calls, and the coverage where I live in Frankfort isn’t good (go figure – across the street from my neighborhood, it’s great coverage).

My new Motorola Q will be delivered today, and I’ll get it activated tonight or tomorrow.  I never experienced a single problem with Verizon while I was with them, so I hope that continues.

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I got some stuff I want to get rid of.  Maybe someone out there wants some of my stuff that I want to get rid of:

Gretsch Catalina Mod Drumset – Blue Alien Finish – $400

Excellent condition; Comes with drums ONLY – no heads, no cymbals; does include tom mount, cymbal arm, and basic bass drum pedal

Zildjian 14″ ZHT Mastersound Hi-Hats – $100

Great for a beginner or practice set of hats; excellent condition; includes hi-hat stand

Edirol FA-101 Audio Interface – $250

Very good condition; for a list of features, visit the Musician’s Friend page description.

LaCie 160GB External FireWire Hard Drive – $75

Great for storing MP3s, photos, important documents and more.  Includes power supply, software, etc.

Portable 120GB External USB/FireWire Hard Drive – $75

Storage on the go!  No power supply needed.  Perfect for laptop users who need more space.  Can be used as either a USB or FireWire drive.

If anyone is interested in this stuff, send me an email.