ABOUT
A Progressive recording duo. We are no longer auditioning local musicians at this point as we are returning to New England. No blame, no regrets, it's just time to go home.
In the meantime we are able to travel for jams, and can be found performing as an acoustic duo around the winery circuit.
- Screen name:
- Vondhylla
- Member since:
- Jan 10 2016
- Active within 24 hours
- Level of commitment:
- Touring
- Years together:
- 25
- Gigs played:
- Over 100
- Tend to practice:
- More than 3 times per week
- Age:
- 53 years
Influences
Influenced by many things from other centuries but very little by this one and the tail end of the last one. Blue blood to the end, we'll burn at the stake rather than turncoat. Jethro Tull, Blackmore, Al DiMeola, Genesis with Gabriel, Camel, RTF, Weather Report, Black Sabbath, Pentangle, Fairport Convention, Deep Purple, Iron Maiden, Cream, Led Zeppelin, Judas Priest and countless others. Gothic, Classical, Folk, we are known to play Wicca Circles, Burning Man festivals, Ren Fair type things, etc. Also strongly influenced by writers such as Tolkien, Robert E. Howard, Lovecraft, Martin, Homer, Zimmer-Bradley, etc. Shows like Game of Thrones, Vikings, Robin Hood and King Arthur movies, Harry Potter, Last Kingdom, etc.
Members Of Band
We've adjusted to being studio cats, having worked in commercial rooms for years. Both of us can manage something on most of the instruments because like any cat we get curious and you only need to learn music theory once. When we jam and rehearse, we default to bass and drums, but are equally at home on keyboards (me) and guitar. The string instruments we can sight read for but improvisation is a work in progress. (The mind improvises great. If only the fingers would obey...)
We are lifer players, been in bands almost continuously since high school. We read, write and cipher but also communicate in all musical languages from drum tab to grand staff, jazz charts, the midi editor in Pro Tools, etc. The musically illiterate will be barred at the door. It's that important.
Seriously, we don't know any other way to play, communicate, etc. We were both classically-trained pianists. We didn't learn by ear and we don't watch hands, we're strictly chord charts and theory until/unless memorization. I get dizzy from watching hands. The cello is the only thing in here with 4 or less strings, then there's odd tunings, capos, not to mention many fretless instruments. It's not worth it. It's better to learn the notes, that way none of that matters. The sheet music is copyrighted and published, we can print out a page at any time.
EQUIPMENT
We scour Reverb, eBay, Craigslist and every retailer and luthier we can find to obtain the finest rare instruments which make up most of our unique sound. Normal gear you get at Sweetwater. One offs and custom stuff not so much. The pictures don't and can't do it justice, but they should convey our attitude about tone and timbre.
The Bose PA that we use for everything other than outdoor stuff consists of 2 F1 columns, 2 L1m2 sticks and 4 B2 subwoofers plus 2 S1 Pro speakers. The "desk" is the Bose T8 and 2- T1's. It's 6000 watts that hit like 10,000 and if we need more than that we have it. (Old, functional, humongous. Flight cases full of DBX gear, no more to say) Lights, fog, props, most of it still works.
Keyboards include the Moog One, Model D and Subsequent 37, there's a Yamaha Genos, TX81, Ensoniq KT-88, a bevy of Korgs from X-3 and Karma to Triton Rack. Various Roland and etc relics from the 80's. Kawai upright piano. We also have a real Rhodes that needs to be fixed, say that to remind us to get it done.
Drums are in the pics, we also have extensive Latin percussion and other electronic stuff. The acoustic kit is Tama, 22x18" kicks, 3 floor toms and 5 mounted toms plus the 8 Octobans. The pic is kinda cut off, but there's also a percussion tree, blocks and all that and a massive stage gong. Yes, we wrap the frame with gauze, soak it in lighter fluid and hit it with a flaming striker in the videos. Who wouldn't?! The Roland set is modeled after the Tamas but lacks a few of the accessories.
The commercial-grade hardware studio features a 48-channel modular Neve console and the usual "must-haves" from Distressors to 33609 and Shadow Hills compressors, Eventide H9000 and a mainly high-end German mic locker.
