If you are interested in performing at Fresh n Live then this page explains everything you need to know about the night.

 

We welcome everyone from individuals looking for a chance to recite a piece of poetry, to single musicians, to groups willing to play live or perform to backing tracks, or anyone else willing to get up there and entertain, amuse, shock, or even rant.. as long as it's funny, entertaining or interesting. In the true spirit of Open mic/Open mind, the idea of the night is for it to evolve and develop organically, with as little control by us as possible. If you have any ideas or special requests in terms of equipment or arrangement please let us know in advance so we can try and accommodate you. The only thing we ask is that at least some of your material is your own, unless you are doing a new take on something.

In terms of stage time, the general idea is to work on a first come first serve basis, allowing each performer a spot of up to 20 minutes, with 5 or 6 performers back-to-back and then a break to allow people to get to the bar, have a smoke, a chat or visit 'les toilettes', and then the same again. Obviously if things are a little slower, especially earlier on, then we will be flexible. Often artists who arive early choos to do two sets, early and late.

Despite being a turn up and play event, it is possible to book a slot if you really need to perform at a particular time, or if you can only make it for an hour or so and can't wait around. You will have to email or call us with some notice to do this.

 

Technical stuff

Over the last few months we have managed to build up a very nice little set up, capable of producing a nice warm acoustic sound, whilst recording all performances in multi track into Cubase. We also record video footage of all events for the web site, but the sound is from the camera mic, which is quite a basic stereo mic. At the moment we use the video footage for the web site, and the audio is simply archived 'for future use' as it were, which basically means we might do something with it one day.. if we get time.

It would be nice to produce DVDs and CD for people, but we simply don't have the time at the moment. We have just bought a house, have a small child, and are in the process of building a recording studio in the 'outhouse', but this may take some time to complete so you can see why we are a bit snowed under. In the mean time, if you really want any material from any of the events you are welcome to come round and get it.

Below are details of the equipment we currently use for Fresh'n'Live. We are committed to achieving the best possible sound quality. The reason is simple.. to make you sound as good as possible.. it's so annoying to hear a good artists on a crap sound system.

Instruments

In terms of instruments, we now have an M-Audio Prokeys 88; a very nice stage piano with 88 keys and hammer action, with 14 easily selectable voices.

We don't have any drums simply because they would rarely be used and take up a lot of room on stage, but the landlord did say he had a full kit if we needed it, but please let us know in advance so we can check that out.

Gabrielle will have a spare acoustic guitar, though we recommend you bring your own. We no longer have a clip on guitar pick up, so if your not wired up, then you will have to borrow our guitar and plug in, as we have not managed to find a good enough way of mic.'ing up the guitars and have had feedback problems. We are looking into this, with a view to getting a decent quality clip on pick-up, but nothing doing yet unfortunately.

P.A.

The mixing desk is a Yamaha 01X digital mixing console coupled with an i88X audio/midi interface (primarily for the outstanding mic pre-amps). We haven't managed to get the i88x working for the last couple of gigs, and so went straight from stage to desk, but hopefully that will be sorted soon so we can use the mLan feature from stage to desk, and for foldback.

The stage monitor is a Renkus Heinz TRX 82/9 run from an MC2 T2000 which together, are very sweet sounding indeed.

Microphones are 2 Shure Beta 57A's, and we have just added a pair of Beta 58's as well as they are more forgiving for those not familiar with 'microphone technique'.

Most of our stage cables are currently Planet Waves professional cables, but for lead vocals and guitar we now use the Chord Company Chameleon Silver+ mic cable, and the Chord Cream Instrument Cable. Both are exceptionally high quality cables giving crystal clear definition on vocals and acoustic guitar. We will be looking to replace all our stage cable with the Chord equivalent as soon as we can (afford it!).

The new speakers were showcased at the September event. They are a pair of Renkus Heinz RFX 151-E (similar to the TRX 151). They give a wonderfully rich but clean sound, which is just what we like! We have the matching 2x15" sub also, but it's really not needed in the pub to be honest.. so we are saving it for the tour!

The amplifiers are a pair of MC2 T2000.. top notch kit indeed, and the main reason the whole set up sounds so nice.

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Anything else you need to know, email or call us. For techy stuff call me (Ian) on the number below. For musicians stuff or to pre-book a time slot call Gabrielle on 07881 622 664 (no later than 10pm please).

Please spread the word to as many musicians and performers as possible.. all types, however weird and wonderful. diversity and surprise are the spices of life after all! We have had a very good response so far, and now have a mailing list of over 500, so we are very confident you will have a good crowd to perform to.

See you all there..

Ian