mike1488793 + Musician in Arvada, CO

SEEKING

ABOUT

Im primarily a lead guitarist. Not the kind that sheds or constantly needs to solo. I believe in listening, connecting and finding my place in the pocket. I have a lot of diverse sounds that allow me to create different textures and layers and add to the overall groove. I love playing soulful solos that emphasize melody and thematic content that is being developed. I love to guild a groove without anyone actually soloing and letting the music define what happens next. I love to find a nice melodic phrase to ride on as part of the groove and build it into a solo. Even when on top of the groove, I dont feel it to be a "solo" but more of a melodic idea that is driving the groove. And when soloing, i always try to emphasize melody, thematic content and create a flow that helps the whole band build together. I do love soloing and being the lead, but there is a time and place for that and it certainly isn't all the time, lol.
I can play plenty of rhythm and backing chords as well a voice leading chords to accompany the soloists. I love laying down some scratchy wah lines, syncopated funk rhythms, fingerpicking chords / passages, and also using effects to create really cool layers and sounds that sounds nothing like a guitar. I have some cool effects that I love to use in unique ways. Using cool stereo delays to create rhythmic patterns with sparse playing, fat reverb swells and drones, I have a synth to create straight up synth sounds to create pads, keyboard style chords changes, unique lead lines and arpeggiated changes that canals be thrown into a looper to create unique layers for accompaniment, texture, soundscapes and rhythmic patterns that can be played over after being looped. I love doing ambient soundscape stuff as well and have some cool ambient presets already rolling on my board.

Screen name:

mike1488793

Member since:

Oct 17 2020

Active within 1 week

Level of commitment:

Touring

Years playing music:

30

Gigs played:

Over 100

Tend to practice:

More than 3 times per week

Available to gig:

4-5 nights a week

Most available:

Nights

Influences

Jimmy Herring, Trey Anastasio, David Gilmour, Steve Morse, Jeff Beck, Pat Martino, Wes Montgomery, Leo Brouwer, Villa Lobos, Jerry Garcia, Clapton, Mark Knopfler, Frank Zappa, Dweezil, Bill Frisell, Carlos Santana, Eric Johnson, Joe Bonomassa, Derek Trucks, John McGlaughlin, Lou Reed, Robert Fripp, Adrian Belew, John Scofield, Steve Stevens Black Light Syndrome work, Jake Cinninger, Jimmy Bruno, Mile Davis, Coltrane, STS9*, those monkeys you wind up and bang the cymbals together and many more........

Instrument experience:

Rhythm Guitar:

Expert

Lead Guitar:

Expert

Acoustic Guitar:

Advanced

Bass Guitar:

Moderate

Keyboard:

Intermediate

EQUIPMENT

For guitars I have a custom built hollow body, a PRS CE 24 and a Takamine nylon acoustic from brazil.
Amps: Friedman Runt 50 head with a 2-12 cab and a Fender Deluxe i run in stereo.
Board: Volume, wah, aquavibe univibe, Bad Stone phaser, AM Chorus, Astral Tap tremolo, Pulse rotating speaker pedal that sounds amazing and runs in stereo, Keeley Compressor, 2-Modded TS9's, Hermida ZenDrive. Andthen for the fun stuff I meris pedals: Polymoon Delay, Merc7 Reverb, Hedra Pitch shifter, Enzo synth all running in stereo. Everything is controlled m=by a Morningstar MC8 midi controller that has 3 expression pedals and a 3-buttin aux switch for tap tempo midi clock that st=yncs everything and also provides amazing control over parameters like delay mix / feedback, reverb decays and levels, pitch bends, synth filter sweeps, etc. Theres not much the midi controller int do with this board. I also built a switch that allows me to switch between stereo and mono. So if I can use only 1 amp, I just flick a switch and it sums the stereo signal to a single mono output sp nothing ha to be rewired. Ive built a lot of boards and have learned the value of mounting certain things underneath to save space. SO even with all of this stuff, the board is actually not that big: 24" x 16" and the expression pedals is off to the side. The rig id very portable and easy to set up. Pedal board, amp, Cable crate and guitar. Takes me about 5 mins to set it all up even in stereo with 2 amps.
Studio: 32 channel console interfacing with my iMac for Logic Pro X, Ableton and Pro Tools. I use a G-Raid lightning drive for storing the projects and A lacie drive for storing the DAW sound libraries and other content. That way only the DAW is stored on the machine and using the processor. Save a lot of space and processing power when using a lot of tracks. I have a Tascam DR-680 II 6-channle hard disc recorder with a set of matched condensors for live room recording, matrix mixes for tracking room mics and board feeds simultaneously and for send master mixes from DAW to Two track. I like to dynamically mix as well as set up cues on mixer and use fx in the mixer to save processing within the DAW. I do use automation and effects within the DAW and plugins, but like to combine it with things in the mixer to take advantage of everything's capabilities. Makes for a huge plethora of sounds, routing and other possibilities within the DAW and the Hardware. I also have an AVID Eleven Rack for interfacing and playing through. Theres also an aka keyboard for controlling sysex functions, plug-ins, virtual instruments, etc along with the ableton PUSH 2 controller. My studio has a full bass rig and a drum set as well.Set of JBl studio monitors for mixing and playback. I also have a real Leslie cab for guitar and keys (or anything really). I also have a chair for sitting in. It only seats one, but more can be added. Let's Play Some Music!