Fishman Aura | JOHN GILLIAT

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What is it like to perform two gigs in one day?

February 17, 2011 in Behind the scene at the Gigs with 0 Comments

Willowbrook Solo Concert

Today I’ll be playing back to back gigs beginning in Langley at 11:30 am.

My first performance will be a solo rumba flamenco guitar gig at the Willowbrook Shopping Centre for a two hour “Random Act of Kindness” event hosted by the property management company. I’ll be there at 11am to set up and be finished at 1:30 pm.

Then I’m off to play for an open house event for a law firm out in Surrey. For this one I’ll arrive at 5 pm for a 5:45 pm start and it will finish up at 7 pm.

For both gigs I’ll be using my RC50 loop station and I’m also trying another little experiment with my guitar sound.

Today I’m plugging my flamenco guitar into my fishman aura 16 pedal then into my Bose T1 mixer. Nothing to new here however, I’m going to use heavy compression on the guitar to control any feedback and to give my guitar more presence.

The problem I’ve experienced lately is that my guitar sounds distant and thin. Any time I use volume to hear myself better I get feedback. So using heavy compression seems to really help. At least it appears that way in my studio. So we’ll see what happens today.

So the gig at Willowbrook started out great however my RC50 quit half way through my performance! It was no fault of the RC50 as boss products are built like tanks. My chair leg was on the power adapter cable and that shorted out.

So it’s off to the local music store between gigs.

For such a big foot pedal the RC50 is powered by a 9volt dc power adaptor. So purchasing a new adapter was easy and not to expensive.

My next gig was a law firm out in Surrey. This was a really nice event to play as my client was a friend and fellow guitarist. Again this was a fairly short performance, around 2 hours. So I usually play the whole time. I’ll take breaks if the gig is 3 to 4 hours.

Btw… The new guitar set up using heavy compression is sounding really good. Tomorrows gig will be another good test for this new set up as it will be a trio performance for a very large corporate event.

A look back at 2010

December 28, 2010 in Day to Day with 0 Comments

This was a good year for me as I discovered the power of Social Media. I created a blog, discovered reverbnation, twitter, facebook, blah, blah, blah… All really wonderful tools for the independent musician.

I’m now on the top of the heap when you Google “flamenco” or “flamenco guitar” how cool is that! I’ve also tripled my web traffic which is a really big accomplishment. For years I studied and bought e-books on developing web traffic, online marketing, etc… With very little success. I gave up until I discovered Ariel Hyatt’s “Music Success in 9 Weeks” That book made my year!

As a nylon string guitarist, discovering the Fishman Aura 16 acoustic imaging pedal has been a massive find this year. For years I have been frustrated with my live guitar sound and thanks to Fishman my guitar sound is better than ever! I currently play a great flamenco guitar built by Jeff Sigurdson. I installed the LR Baggs classical element pick up, which string balance and gain make it the best nylon pickup ever! And I’ve tried a lot! You can read more about the fishman aura pedal in my previous post.

2010 was also the year I disposed of my glasses. Thank you IRIS! You guys are the best!

IRIS has been playing my music in their retail outlets so when they found out I would be a good candidate for laser eye surgery, they offered it to me and I accepted.

I now live my life in HD and it’s fantastic! No more dirty glasses. I can walk and run in the rain! No more contact lens’s, etc…

This was also the year I performed with Benjamin Woods. What a great guitarist and I’m really excited about playing with him again in an upcoming 2011 performance.

2010 was the year I performed for our Winter Olympics. What a great experience! I had multiple performances with my rumba flamenco, latin jazz quartet as well as performances with Vancouver Gypsy Jazz quartet Gypsalero.

I’ve been performing with Gypsalero for years and the year was the first time I was in the studio with the guys to begin recording a new Gypsalero cd.

This year I also began performing with Gabriel Mark Hasselbach. Gabriel is a fantastic musician that I have looked up to for years and it’s a been a thrill for me to now be gigging with him!

This year I began this blog that gives my fans a behind the scene window of what it’s like as a working musician and guitarist.

This year I’m also back to being my own manager and have began booking my own tours. I’m still looking for management however it’s been a breath of fresh air to be back doing it myself.

So first up for the new year will be my new online guitar school that new guitar students can study with me from anywhere in the world. The new site is already up but will be officially announced in January.

What it is like to perform at the Five Sales in Vancouver on Christmas Eve & Day

December 27, 2010 in Behind the scene at the Gigs with 0 Comments

This year for Christmas T and I are staying at the beautiful Pan Pacific Hotel right downtown in the heart of Vancouver on the waterfront.

I’m performing solo rumba flamenco christmas guitar at the fabulous Five Sales restaurant christmas eve from 5pm to 10pm and christmas day from 4:30pm to 9:30pm.

My setup here is quite simple but very effective for this venue. I’m using my fender PA7500 power amp with 2 small yamaha speakers. Also my Bose T1 mixer and the Fishman Aura 16.

I arrived at the hotel at 1pm to check in. I was given a really nice room on the 17th floor with a fantastic city view! My first task was to bring up the christmas tree and lights. This was to be our first christmas away from the kids and I wanted it to be really special.

With a Starbucks coffee in hand I went at it, set up the tree and pulled out all the lights. I even ran down to the local Hallmark store for candles. T’s gonna love it!

So, back to the gig. The Five Sails is a very nice venue to play as a soloist and the food is absolutely amazing. I’ll set up in the middle of the room with one speaker above my head facing everyone in front of me and the other speaker facing everyone behind me. This setup works great in this round glass room.

I begin by playing one hour then I’ll alternate 15 minute breaks with 45 minute performance sets for the remaining 4 hours. I’ll have my dinner during my last break. I had the beef christmas eve and the bass (fish) christmas day. Both meals were outstanding!

Next I’ll be back at the Five Sails for a New Years performance from 6pm to 11pm.

A Christmas performance at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver

December 16, 2010 in Behind the scene at the Gigs with 0 Comments

Today I’m playing guitar for a private event at the Fairmont Vancouver Hotel with my fiery rumba flamenco “christmas” quartet.

Brent (bass), Andre (guitar), Lyndon (percussion) and I hooked up last Sunday to review and rehearse all my Christmas music and we’re all set to play it all for our client tonight.

I’m really looking forward to this gig as it will be the first time I’ll be using the Fishman Aura 16 imaging pedal with the quartet.

So, the gig went very well and so did the Fishman Aura!

I arrived at the hotel at 2:30pm to begin setting up. The room Pacific Ballroom was set up as a winter wonderland. Every thing was white with real christmas trees every where covered in snow.