freelance projects

So here's the deal. Sometimes people hire me to work on their stuff. In fact, that's one of my favorite things to do, musically-- to contribute to someone else's project and help them realize their vision. I play a bunch of instruments, I produce and engineer, I compose and arrange music, I can build, repair, and restore vacuum tube and solid-state amplifiers, microphone preamps, effects pedals, and condenser microphones, and I will do pretty much anything else music-related. In other words, I feel like I'm a pretty handy guy to have around, especially in a recording studio. But my years of experience playing gigs with all kinds of musicians and in all kinds of situations comes in pretty handy, too.

My main thing is electric and acoustic guitars, of course. But I've also accepted money to play drum set, electric bass, five-string and tenor banjos, light keyboard duty, and the occasional vocal. I like to read music, I like to use my ears, I like to learn it and I like to make it up as I go along. I love all kinds of music and have experience playing most of them (no, really, not just faking it), but I have a jazz background, which means I am pretty good at listening, improvising, knowing about harmony, and all of the other stuff jazz musicians do. I've done a lot of R&B gigs and other freelance stuff, which means I know a lot of tunes and know how to play in a pocket and function in a rhythm section. Finally, I have done a bunch of indie rock n roll bands, which means I can do all of the above and still not take myself too seriously to have a good time.

I'm a little bit busy but not too busy (at least, not as busy as I would like to be), so I am often available for studio recordings or live performances as a leader or sideman.

Via Mail/E-mail/FTP

I have a solid home studio from which to work with nice-sounding rooms and a respectable selection of gear. Quality mic preamps of the most popular designs, a nice selection of vintage and modern microphones, great monitoring, and of course great performances, ensure great-sounding tracks in a timely manner. For one-off tracks recorded here, I use a Digidesign 002 Pro Tools LE system, and several great microphone-preamp chains are available. Visit the gear section of the site for a summary of instruments and equipment available.

Here are some old freelance-y things. I really need to put some more current stuff up:

Composition and Arranging

I'm always available to write original compositions arrangements for many different ensemble types. Attractive, accurate copy is done using Coda's Finale™ software. E-mail with project details for a time and price quote.

Gear

I can contribute a rather extensive collection of vintage and boutique instruments and gear of all types. In most cases, this gear is available for studio recordings. Some of it may also be available for hire in the right situation. Be sure to check out the gear page to see what's on hand (list is constantly changing and may not be 100% up-to-date). If you require something not listed, just ask! It might be obtainable depending on the project. None of my gear is for sale, so please don't inquire