Introducing myself (new to this board) - Meet and Greet

Re: Introducing myself (new to this board)

notes_norton — Sat, 24 May 2008 02:39:17 +0000

So you have musical talent, a beautiful wife and a life? I think I hate you already, Bob!

Just joking - although I do have a LOT of hair, if you want to trade anything?

Somehow I think the answer'll be NO......

Nice to meet you, see you round the forums!

:D :D :D

Vic Thanks for the warm welcome. .............. And no, I don't want to trade anything ;-)

Notes

Re: Introducing myself (new to this board)

Vic Lewis VL — Sat, 24 May 2008 02:25:24 +0000

Re: Introducing myself (new to this board)

TwistedLefty — Wed, 21 May 2008 01:15:42 +0000

Welcome to GN!

Re: Introducing myself (new to this board)

notes_norton — Tue, 20 May 2008 22:51:35 +0000

THANX!!!

Re: Introducing myself (new to this board)

katmetal — Tue, 20 May 2008 21:13:39 +0000

Welcome aboard! That's quite a resume! Hope you enjoy your stay on GN! :)

Re: Introducing myself (new to this board)

notes_norton — Tue, 20 May 2008 18:59:11 +0000

<...SNIP...>
This is the sax player in the last band I played with. I just have to know if y'all all wear the same hat? LOL! :lol: Hey, this guy has good taste in headgear!!!

I have this theory. Playing the sax creates pressure in the head, which pops the hair on the top of the head out by the roots. Thus the fashion of Sax players to wear hats. (I call it my Rock And Roll Toupee.)

Of course there are tenor sax hats, alto sax hats, etc. The gentleman in your photo is obviously wearing an Alto Sax hat. It's difficult for a non-sax player to tell the difference by sight, but it makes the sound of the sax is very different.

Some Jazz greats get to keep their hair if they don't play too loudly (smooth Jazz doesn't count). Stan Getz is an example.

Obviously, Kenny G doesn't really play the sax -- too much hair.

-----

I think I'm going to have fun here :lol:

Insights and incites by Notes

Re: Introducing myself (new to this board)

Elecktrablue — Tue, 20 May 2008 18:43:49 +0000

This is the sax player in the last band I played with. I just have to know if y'all all wear the same hat? LOL! :lol:

Re: Introducing myself (new to this board)

notes_norton — Tue, 20 May 2008 17:52:49 +0000

THANX!!!

Re: Introducing myself (new to this board)

Elecktrablue — Tue, 20 May 2008 17:45:24 +0000

Welcome to Guitar Noise, "Notes"! We look forward to seeing you around the forums! :D

Introducing myself (new to this board)

notes_norton — Tue, 20 May 2008 17:08:48 +0000

Hi,

My name is Bob "Notes" Norton and I was referred here by a kind poster on the Epiphone forum. Nobody calls me "Notes" to my face, but it is convenient on the Internet simply because there are so many people named Bob in the world.

I am a professional musician (Saxophone, Wind Synthesizer, Flute, Guitar, Bass, Keyboards and Percussion) and have been playing music for a living most of my life (except for a few unfortunate day gigs that I did while trying to become a fine, upstanding member of society instead of a musician). I've played in a variety of places, from bars where they passed the hat to show clubs, to 5 star hotels, to cruise ships, in the recording studio, and on MTV, CBS, NBC and ABC. Many years ago, I warmed up in concerts for headliners of the day, and were being looked at by a major record company, but negotiations between our lawyers and the record company failed (hence the first day gig attempt - but still gigging on the weekends).

Sax/Wind Synth is (are?) my primary instrument(s). Started in school, took first in the All-State band every year I was in school, and found that I could play in a pop music band, have a lot of fun, the girls will look at me, and people would actually pay me money for that!!! Little did they know that I would have paid them :D

Although I've messed with guitars for many years, and doubled on them (mostly bar chord rhythms) using the guitarist in the bands "other" guitar, I considered myself someone who "played at" the guitar rather than someone who actually played it.

I also played bass for a few years when psychedelic music put sax players out of work so I have put a lot of time in on a fretboard (I enjoyed the bass very much).

Last summer I got serious about playing lead guitar. Although I've owned a Gibson ES-330 for many years, it has become a collectors item so I didn't want to take it on stage. Especially when playing Sax, Flute, Wind Synth, Vocals and Guitar on the gig, there were too many opportunities to put a serious ding on the 330. So I bought a Kramer/Focus/Faux-Strat and really didn't like it as much as my Gibson so I traded it in for an Epiphone Casino, changing the knobs and pickguard so it looks more like the Gibson (I didn't like the white PG and the gold knobs)

I practiced a couple of hours per day, transferring my theory knowledge and bass chops and learned pentatonic, major and minor scales. I now consider myself an adequate guitarist. I'm able to knock out a decent rock, blues or country lead, but there is plenty of room for improvement (I like to learn new things, so that is good).

I also write Aftermarket Style Disks and Fake Disks for the auto-accompaniment program, Band-in-a-Box and have been doing it since the early 1990s. I've sold to over 100 different countries on the planet, and also sell disks made by a few other people from the UK to Hawaii, US.

One more thing. I'm now in a duo, The Sophisticats and we play gravy gigs -- one nighters -- mostly Yacht Clubs, Country Clubs, Private Clubs and Private Parties. Here is a picture of us.

My beard is starting to gray, and I've gotten a little balder ;) and my partner (and wife) Leilani's hair has gotten a little longer, but we look pretty much the same. I met my Leilani when we were playing in different bands (she is a fantastic singer and plays both a tactile MIDI controller and guitar - Parker Hornet). We were each other's groupies. Eventually we decided to start playing together, first in a 5 piece band, but when the economy got bad, we went duo with backing tracks (I do my own tracks - I tried buying them but it took longer for me to "fix" them than to generate them myself).

I hope to learn something here, if I can help someone with less experience, and generally have a good time "chatting" with the other group members.

Well, that's my story and I'm sticking to it ;)

Insights and incites by Notes