Musing

Today there is no overall arch to the blog, just thinking out loud.

Is less more?

My last few MP3 collections have been pretty big. Nine songs on “Ashes and Dream” and 10 songs on “Shadow and Light”. But the first MP3 collection, Get Zorched had only four songs on it, and it was great. As a matter of fact, “Get Zorched” is one of my all time favorites.

Shorter collection take less time to produce, they cost less to the consumer, and most importantly, they really FOCUS the song selection. I'll admit, there are songs on “Songs in the Key of Green”, “The Sound of Red” and “Shades of Blue” some might consider “Filler”. Yes, they are song I've written, but they are not songs I've played live. I felt at the time as if I was providing people with a more rounded vision of my music. But I don't think they are what the listener was expecting.

The most positive response I've ever gotten from a collection was elicited by “Shadow and Light”. All the songs were performed live, and people had a familiarity with them. “Shadow and Light” also came out in a timely manner so people were not burned out of hearing the songs over and over.

What am I saying here? Well to sum it up, I might be releasing shorter collections but more frequently. Yesterday I overheard somebody commenting they were looking forward to the MP3 collection that had “Sweet Taste of Home” and “Mo Anam Cara” on it. “Sweet taste of home” will be on the upcoming “Me and My Monkey” collection and “Mo Anam Cara” will be on the collection following, tentatively entitled “Emotion and Reason” The Monkey should drop before the end of this month.

Me and my big mouth

I hope I'm not letting the cat out of the bag, but speaking in the broadest of terms, a certain SL Artist web based radio show is considering letting me host a call in radio show. In case you are wondering how that would work, no, my phone number will not be part of the program, you would have to call via Skype.

The owner of this web based radio station seems to think I'm funny. Frankly, I've never seen myself at particularly funny, but maybe I'm not paying attention.

Would anybody listen? Would anybody call? And more importantly, would I say something that will get a lot of people pissed off? About the only thing I'm sure of is it would be entertaining... in a train-wreck kind of way.

When a crazy person tells you to duck... you might want to duck

I've been doing a lot of thinking about the way things work, and while Moody is out of her mind, she has figured out at the most superficial level how the Second Life music scene works. Of course the part she understand has more to do with “scene” then with “music”.

Each passing day I care less and less about the trappings of Second Life music. I don't need to puff up my group numbers, and I don't need to write spiffy notices. I'm not suggesting these things are unimportant, but I am suggesting I don't care about doing them.

In my little fantasy world, I come to a venue, turn on the stream and try my best to do the kind of show that makes people hard core believers. And while I'm sure I'm converting a few, faith is a fleeting thing.

Tips matter

It's been reported to me that one long time supporter was belly aching, “Zorch isn't about fun any more, it seems all he cares about is the amount of his tips”. Of course this grumbler said this after attending a show where the artist playing insisted on how he was all about the fun and he was not worried about the tips. That artist was getting a fee... so he could concentrate on the fun.

I have 12 shows booked this week. Only one pays a fee, and that fee is less then half of what most artist charge in Second Life.

If I were a hobbyist as so many Second Life artist are, things would be different. But just different in how it effects my real life. In other words, if I had a Mc Job, and didn't need tips to pay the rent, Tips would still matter.

Why?

Am I some kind of money grubbing freak?

No, simply put, tips are the most genuine display of appreciation an artist can get. Your wicked cool emotes are nothing more then chatter.

When I get to the half way point of a show and look at my tip jar and see L$ 384 there, I'm not feeling very appreciated.

When tips are good, I don't worry about the tips. I feel the love and attempt to give more of myself. Simply put, the better the tips the better I play. I always play the best show I can, but working against the distraction of people under valuing my efforts makes this quite difficult indeed.

When I play live in real life, I make a lot more money then playing in Second Life. In most cases, I'm haired as incidental music. People enjoy it, but they are eating, or drinking, or trying to make a good impression on their date. In Second Life I'm a musician with an international following. I have an impressive discography, and I get a good deal of play on the web based radio stations.

I'm not looking for some magic solution to my situation here, and I'm not trying to guilt anyone in to giving me better tips. But I am saying, Tips matter. They are the most profound way you can show your appreciation of someones efforts.

To those whom tip me very well, thank you and bless you.

Attendance matters

While tiny tips are distracting, audience or one are even more so.

To those of you that don't have a lot of money to spend in Second Life, let me tell you, when you show up it still makes my day. Once again, when I am playing for “Just the host”, I still try to play the best show I can. But it's hard, real hard. Last week, Thursday I played for a audience of one, and Saturday I played for an audience of 78. It's very hit or miss for me. I never seem to turn the corner.

But to those of you that do show up time after time. Thank you and bless you.