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June 19, 2011

Kevin’s Karaoke has new songbooks

Filed under: Overidon News — Tyler @ 6:16 pm
Kevin Karaoke

Kevin's Karaoke - Has New Songbooks that will astound you!

Last night I was at Kevin – “That’s 70’s Guy’s” Karaoke. This took place at Durty Nelly’s Irish Pub in Costa Mesa. I have been to several places for Karaoke, and I have also been to Kevin’s karaoke blasts before. But last night was something special. The reason for this is that Kevin has new songbooks. Now, you may be thinking, “Who cares about songbooks? They’re just a bunch of songs with numbers right?” No, these Karaoke Songbooks were 10 times better than any songbook I’ve seen at a Karaoke place before. And they were way better than Kevin’s sold 3 ring binder books. Kevin completely revamped his system for noting the songs and the the organization and presentation was nothing less than phenomenal. Let’s go into more detail:

Most of the time when you go to a Karaoke Bar, the song books are huge, unwieldy pieces of laminated paper, strung together in a binder that is usually falling apart. The songs are usually organized in one book by artist name, and in another book by song title. And each song has a strange number that you need to write down that is something like CD-10189-BJ and if you misprint the code on the little sheet that you need to give to the Karaoke DJ, then you may get the wrong song or some kind of horrible version of the song.

Kevin’s new system is the best I’ve seen so far. First up, the book looks more like a professional strategy guide or a a thick graphic novel than a karaoke songbook. It is printed and bound and extremely easy to read and high quality. And instead of having to write down long song numbers, he has quite simply, the song names and the artist names. Another book has the same thing, but it is sorted by artist.

Kevin has an impressive computer system that organizes all the music and he can also find music that isn’t on the list. I’ve never seen such a sophisticated system for karaoke, and the only time I saw something that came close to it, was in New York where you had to pay a significant fee per song. But Kevin only asks for tips and there is no cover charge or charge per song.

Durty Nelly’s has friendly staff and that always is a big plus to the venue. Another good thing about Karaoke with Kevin at Durty Nelly’s is that the place fills up and there was a great deal of fun and excitement and exceptional singing last night.

-Tyler

June 18, 2011

Overcoming Stage Fright

Filed under: Tips and Tricks — Tyler @ 8:23 pm
stagefright

Stagefright

The problem with Stage Fright is that it creates a barrier. It is a wall that prevents the performer from connecting with the audience. And especially with live performances, there is a proverbial “Fourth Wall” that separates the real or imagined Proscenium Arch that is in between the performer and the people observing the action. So by adding Stage Fright into the mix, there are two walls to overcome. First, the fourth wall of disbelief in the audience, and another wall inside ourselves manifested by the paralyzing stage fright. The reasons for this Stage Fright may vary from person to person. Let’s take the artform of Karaoke for example, some people may be exceptional and beautiful singers, and yet they feel a terrible fear when they are called to perform before others. Other friends love to sing in the shower or car, but they may feel that there is pressure to perform a song perfectly for an ever-critical audience, which the modern access to music makes everyone an expert…and everyone a critic.

For myself, I have a stage fright that. It is strange because I write and have performed music before. Yet when I am asked to perform pop music that was made by someone else, I feel this intense duty to bring honor and justice to the original composition. This may seem odd, because most karaoke-goers are quite forgiving when listening to music. Everyone has nerves and people generally accept that. But does that knowledge truly make stage fright go away?

The best way I have found to confront this paralyzing emotion, is to confront it through practice and repetition. So, whenever I have a chance, and friends want to hit up some Karaoke…which isn’t that often. I jump at it. In actuality, I was summoned to do some karaoke with friends tonight. I heard about the idea of it a few days ago. But I wanted to do a new song. Previously, my friends wanted me to do the song, “Even Flow” by Pearl Jam. I love the song, but I’ve done it so many times now, that the rock song is now part of my karaoke comfort zone. So, I’ve been practicing a new song.

This new song may not be in the book of songs, so it isn’t going to burst any bubbles if I don’t get to perform it. But the fact is, I know that since I’ve never done this song before, I will be afraid. There is no doubt about this. The first time is always the shakiest. But how will I ever master the tune, unless I am willing to take the risk to perform it?

Many people recommend breathing rituals and libations in order to beat Stage Fright, I don’t necessarily agree with them. I’ve found through experience, that the best way to beat Stage Fright, is to be willing to be afraid, and go up there and do it anyway. Once that barrier is broken and the loving connection of music between the performer and the beat is made, the audience will hear the sincerity and will listen past any fluctuations in pitch or melody. The sincerity and pleasure is the key to sharing. And if one keeps that in mind, the Fourth Wall will be nothing than a flimsy piece of Saran Wrap, waiting to be burst through.

-Tyler

June 17, 2011

Updated Menu System

Filed under: Overidon News — Tyler @ 7:07 pm

Here’s some quick news. We’ve updated the menu system here at overidon.com. So now a visitor can click on the “overidonTV” menu at the top of the screen and you will be immediately taken to our YouTube Channel. Also, if you click on, “Twitter” or “Shop” you will immediately be taken to the appropriate websites.

This new type of Menu system is very cool and it was recently added to WordPress a couple months ago, but I didn’t think it would be as easy to set-up as it was. The interface to setup the menu systems in WordPress are highly intuitive, it reminds me of the widget system. And it is very simple to fix errors and make things more streamlined. So big thanks to WordPress for making that possible.

-Tyler

The Beauty and Functionality of Simplicity

Filed under: Innovation — Tyler @ 2:57 pm

Over the past few days I’ve been tinkering with some thought experiments. I’ve been having to figure out how to properly create a functional model for steam. And within hours I already was able to frustrate myself with the idea of not knowing enough about thermodynamics in order to make the model work correctly. But I’ve been reading a great book called, “The Tao of Physics” by Fritjof Capra and I’m two-thirds through it. In the book, the author discusses the differences between Newtonian Physics and more relativistic forms of thought. After taking in the book to heart, I realized that I was over-thinking the entire model situation.

I don’t need to actually know everything there is to know about water, thermodynamics, surface tension, water cohesion and the myriad of other knowledge related to steam in order to get my model to work. All I really need to know is some formulas related to boiling points, pressure and kinetic input-energy-ratios. And believe me, this is a much smaller piece of the pie, then trying to create some kind of model that actually “knows” all the rules of thermodynamics.

So by breaking the problem into simpler and more manageable parts, I was able to overcome a huge hurdle in the pen to paper thought experiment. But that wasn’t enough, I wanted to actually draw the model and see if it made sense. But there were a bunch of things that were missing. One was namely the transfer of energy from one object to another. Yet after go through thought experiment after thought experiment, the solution presented itself and was far less daunting than I had originally anticipated. So the pen to paper rough concept came out and looked good.

Part of the beauty of simplicity is much more than the strange affinity the universe has with symmetry and balance. There is a way of accepting the unknown and putting it in a large enough box that has familiar properties, and if the box works…go ahead and use it.

One of my first invention concepts had to do with absorbing aggregate wind energy through a type of scoop. I spent money on the project and it ended up being a complete failure. But one thing that I learned from the project, is that simple parts can be connected to make impressive things. Even though the device collected no energy, it had a strange alternate use as an odd sound modification unit. If I still had it, it would have been cool to use on a recording for some hip-hop. But alas, it is gone now…yet the knowledge that was attained through its construction is permanently embedded in my mind because I spent so much time and energy on it.

As I look at the concept art for this new idea, I see a combination of old skills and information mixed with a new understanding of intermediaries and energy flow. And to my surprise when I opened my sketch book and began drawing, I saw my old calculations for the size of the main component on the last used page. How fitting it was to find them when I was finally able to put the thing together.

-Tyler

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