It appears I may be a very busy Beaver in the next few months or so.  Musically singing that is.  Not only do I have practice and rehearsals with Wilton Said... for the upcoming NUANCE Show on May 19th.  I've also been getting some responses from vocalists with regards to the Rock Opera. This means organizing and co-ordinating schedules to have them come in and record. On top of that, I may be involved with another prog project. Why another prog project you ask? With Wilton Said..., I am the captain and I'm the sole one responsible for promotion, marketing, setting up shows, writing, organizing rehearsals etc etc. While this has been a very rewarding experience and successful for me, it is also very tiring. Plus, it's not like we're rehearsing or playing shows every weekend or even once a month. So I thought it would be a change to be in a more democratic situation with everyone pulling weight with regards to promotion, writing, rehearsals, decisions etc. I'll be meeting up with a guy to discuss all of this to see if we can move forward. Either-way, it won't be the end of Wilton Said..., perhaps just a slightly longer break then usual. We'll have to see.

Thanks
Wilton

As stated in my last blog, it's been a bit tricky to find bands for the next NUANCE Show.  After much back and forth, confirmation and non-confirmation from various bands and artists, I've settled on just my own band and one other called Vermillion Skye.  www.vermillionskye.com. Not only are these guys great melodic Art Rock (a cross between Rush and Styx), they have been fairly quick with confirmations, and been very accomadating with the changes to the event.  Members also came out to my CD Release Show last November.

Thanks guys.  I'm looking forward to playing with you guys.

Wilton

P.S.  More details regarding this NUANCE Show will be coming throughout the month.

Well it seems like it's harder to find other Local Prog and Art Rock bands to play with or that I'm interested in playing with. There are a few artists like Steve Cochrane, Ken Baird and Plenty who I've played with in the past and hope to play with in the future. I am extremely grateful for their support over the years in attending a few of my shows and some of the NUANCE shows. Hopefully I've been able to show similar support in the past when I've been able to. This brings me to my rant.

There are a few other local prog bands who have over the past couple of years been very glad to play at my NUANCE events, ask me for positive quotes for their websites, and invite me to their shows. In fact I used to frequent some of these shows as often as I could. However you'd think they'd at least return some of the support by perhaps coming out to a show or two. At the very least you'd think they'd watch the other bands sets before or after their own set. But no, they only appear to be interested in their own shows. I would understand if they just weren't interested in playing with me, or being a part of NUANCE. But when I announce the possibility of a NUANCE show, these will be the same artists who write back that they're interested in playing. These will be the same artists who ask me for a reference for their Factor Grant. These will be the same artists who email me or Facebook me to tell me about their shows. These will be the same artists who ask me to forward their gig information on to my own mailing list.
No thanks, I'm not interested in supporting you anymore.

As a result, the pool of Art Rock and Prog artists which I want to interact with is unfortunately getting smaller and smaller.

Rant Over
Wilton

So I've been thinking about holding another NUANCE mini festival sometime in the spring.  I've already talked to one particular venue and have gotten an amazing rental rate making this particular venue the only one to consider.  Next up is to hear back from my band regarding playing.  I know Frank, Chris and Richard have things going on at the moment but hopefully their schudule will free up in time for spring time.  Hopefully getting 3 other bands to play won't be a problem.  I've already got a few ideas on who to ask.  So I'll keep you all posted.

I was really annoyed at myself a week ago as I thought the Factor Grant Application for the Rock Opera would be settled by mid January.  As it turns out I misread a date and I have to wait till the end of Febuary.  Darn it!!!!  It's also frustrating as I'd like to start recording the vocal charater parts but i don't want to move ahead until I know what type of (if any) funding I'll have.  Grrrrrrrr!

Wilton

I'd like to take the opportunity to thank everyone who came out to the CD Release Show at the Black Swan on Sat Nov 26th 2011.  There was a nice size crowd and you all seemed very appreciative and supportive of our music.  It's unfortunate that I didn't get a chance to chat with everyone, but hopefully at either our next gig, or your next gig, I can rectify that.  Here's hoping you all enjoy the CD's, and if you really really really want to hear more Wilton Said... music, you can always check out http://www.wiltonsaid.com and purchase or download other releases through the various outlets.
 
Many and much thanks to the band, Chris Reid - guitars, Richard Rizzo - drums, and Deb Ray - bass for the fantastic job.  Also like to thank Sound Mixer Janelle Eisler for the great job of making us sound better in light of the dodgy sound equipment.  Thanks to the Black Swan and bartender Shelley for having us again and for letting us hold the show at an unusual time.  Thanks to Georgie Curry and Richards Friend (sorry, I forgot his name) for the photography.  And of course, I'd like to thank my wife Kerry for welcoming you into the venue and helping you to part with your money.
 
Thank You, Thank You, Thank You

For those of you who are interested, below is the setlist we played...

1st Set
In a People Bar
Endorphin Crash
Pretty
/Gender Bender
Bydlo
Halos
City on the Water (Wilton - solo vox/piano)
Outside
/Close
The Telling
In My Dreams

2nd Set
Star
/Shopping Asia
Merry-Go-Round
Down
All for You
Drum Solo/Kazzo Solo /Why Don't We Do it in the Road
Half Life
=================================
The Empty Sky
i) The View
ii) Goodbye
iii) Fallen

Until we meet again....

Rehearsals for the CD Release Show are going very very well, especially considering Bassist and Saviour Debashish Ray has only had a few weeks to learn the material.  While his playing style is a little different then regular bassist Frank Heisler, he's able to play the material with the appropriate groove, low frequency rumblings and confidence that's needed.  Over all, he sounds great.  We've got one more rehearsal to go and then it's the show.  Hurray Hurray!  So for any of Deb's science groupies, this is the time to come on out and see that the man is not only great with his eyes and a microscope, he's also great with his hands and his.... uhm Bass.

I'll say this again and I'll say it often.  A huge THANK YOU Deb for stepping in for Frank for this show. And of course, we all hope for a speedy recovery for Frank so he can get back to playing music.

Thanks
Wilton

I'm sure at one time or another, everyone has woken up in the morning to find that his or her voice is hoarse, gravelly and/or sore. No problem for most of the population, as with some voice rest, it probably goes away within a day or two, or maybe a week. However, for those of us that use our voices constantly in our everyday life such as Singers, Teachers, Presenters and Drill Sergeants, this can turn into a bigger problem. Without proper care, this hoarseness and soreness does not go away and, in fact, it remains present often making it difficult to speak and sing clearly for long periods of time. Singers have the added frustration in that their vocal range may become reduced, a nightmare for any singer. This happened to me during the middle part of the year while recording the Half Life CD.

I started noticing a problem at work. I am a Preschool teacher and my room had just changed over from the older children to the newer younger children. Anyone with young children will tell you that you need to be prepared to use your voice a lot as they need lots of vocal instruction, prompting and repetition. And repetition. Add to the fact that there was between 16 and 24 children at one time all acting and playing the way young children do, noisily. At times the decibel reading would be over 100. Of course, getting their attention often meant raising ones voice, there would be no other way. Add to this the fact that I was rehearsing and recording every weekend with my band and one can see where this was heading.

I started to notice a mild hoarseness to my voice and would often jokingly think that "perhaps I could sing heavy metal after all". The tipping point must have been at a weekend show for the rock band Marillion in April. Bear in mind that up until that point, Marillion had rarely stepped on Canadian soil, so this show was very meaningful for us Canucks. As you can imagine, there was loads of cheering and singing along and I too got carried away with the vocal yelling and sing-alongs. It wasn't until the following day that I noticed a more than mild hoarseness in my voice. And yet, I still went ahead and played an hour-long acoustic gig that day.
From that point on my voice was on extremely shaky ground with some days being pretty good, and other days being extremely gravelly. But did I give it a rest? No! During the guitar recording for Half Life, I had guitarist Chris Reid in another room and most of the time, rather then use the talk back microphone, I would shout directions to him. Pretty stupid, huh? As you can guess things didn't get better. I was starting to get concerned and thought that perhaps my week-long cruise vacation would clear things up. As time went on I started to get mildly depressed about the whole situation. The weekend before departure, I thought screw it, and I decided to lay down some vocals. With a lot of water, a lot of positive thought and a lot of takes, I was able to complete a song. Sure I had a bit of raunch in my tone, and my tone was a little thicker then usual, but it still sounded pretty good.

I went for my week's vacation and when I returned, my voice sounded almost better. I was even able to record more tracks for the CD. That was until I went back to work with the children and my voice became hoarse again. I started drinking loads and loads of water, getting a good nights sleep and not raising my voice and things became manageable. In the end. With a lot of breaks and water, I was able to complete the vocals for the whole CD and they sounded fine.
Afterwards, I got myself an appointment with ENT Dr. Brian Hands at Voxcura who specialize in voice disorders in singers. It turned out I had a very small Vocal Polyp and Muscle Tension Dysphonia. Vocal Polyps, I learned, are a result of a ruptured blood vessel in the vocal chords which form a lump on the vocal chords. Muscle Tension Dysphonia is when the vocal chords do not close properly during speaking and/or singing. In both cases, the results may be similar such as raspy and sore voice and/or the in ability to sing or talk for extended periods of time. I was also informed that vocal rest would NOT make this problem go away as the damage had already been done and the symptoms would return as soon as I started using my voice for extended periods. I was informed that I would need about 4 to 6 appointments with their speech therapist Aaron Low.

The first appointment with Mr. Low consisted of having a scope down my throat with me saying and singing various things so he could get a good look at my vocals chords and how they were functioning. The following appointments consisted of being taught vocal warm ups (lip trills), exercises (humming, lick back), breathing techniques (keep stomach area expanded during singing), and having my neck and voice box physically massaged. You read that right, my voice box physically massaged. Basically this involved Mr. Low putting his fingers on my Adam's Apple (which is where the voice box is) and squeeze, pull, and massage it. Not the most comfortable thing. After 4 sessions, I could feel a difference and didn't seem to be having trouble with my voice. For the last session, a scope was put down my throat again and the Polyp was gone and my vocal chords where touching. It appeared that all was well again.
Since then I've been; careful with my voice, doing morning lip trill warm ups, breathing and singing with an expanded stomach area, and keeping my speaking voice at a reasonable volume, and everything is sounding fine. A big thank you to Brian Hands and Aaron Low at Voxcura for their help.
So over all, voice problems can be fixed if seen to in a reasonable amount of time. So if you're someone who uses their voice a lot and you've been experiencing difficulties that won't go away, see a voice specialist and get it dealt with. You'll be happy you did.

Wilton Said... and band play their CD Release Show
in support of their recent release
Half Life
on
Saturday November 26th 2011
6:30pm
At
Holy Trinity Eastern Orthodox Church
201 Monarch Park Ave. Toronto, Ontario
(1 Street west of Coxwell, 3 Streets north of Danforth)
Parking and Entrance off of Glebholme Blvd.

$10 Cover includes CD at Show.
$6 Advance tickets includes CD at Show.

Wilton and his band will perform two sets of original Art Rock Music from "Half Life", along with older favorites.
Put on your 5/8 time dancing shoes and swing on by.

I had my last appointment regarding my vocal chords last week and things are looking fine once again.  The polyp is gone and my vocal chords close properly.  I'd like to thank Dr. Aoron Low and Dr. Brian Hands at Voxcura for all their help.

Mixing for the next Wilton Said... CD titled "Half Life" has been completed, checked and will be mastered next weekend at guitarist Chris Reids studio.  The only thing remaining is to get the approriate photos of the band guys for the CD art work.

I'm hoping to start rehearsals for a CD release show in the next few weeks which means I need to start practicing my parts.  Busy Busy Busy.

I'm still waiting on news from Factor Grants regarding funding for vocalists for the rock opera.  I'm hoping to get news in the next few weeks.

Until next time
Wilton

It's been an interesting few weeks for me.  I was able to finally see a specialist, D. Brian Hands, about my voice and I seem to have two minor issues.  The first is that I have a very small Polyp on my chords, and the secons is that my vocal chords don't close fully.  I went to another appointment a week later and was given some vocal exercises to do which would help warm up my voice before work, and also help address the issue of the polyp.  I go back again in a few days for more info and stratagies.

Last week had me and the band playing a gig at the daycare where I work.  Unfortuantly bassist Frankl Heisler wasn't able to play the gig and as a result we had Nabil Dursi fill in who did a great job.  We played mainly Beatles tunes and threw in a few originals.  Over all we had a great time playing and the kids had a great time rockin out.

Mixing for the next Wilton Said... release has been going really really well.  So far 4 songs have been mixed and one can expect a more warmer sounding mix this time around.

I'm still waiting on news regarding a Factor Grant for the Rock Opera.  Fingers crosses.

Wilton

Ya Ya!  Vocals for the Wilton Said... recording were completed last weekend.  I still had and still have my vocal difficulties but I was able to work around them and with some vocal rest between recording days I was able to pull it off.  Next week will have me starting to mix, oh the fun, the fun, the fun of hours of listening to the same phrase over and over again to get the sound just right.  Hopefully this will be time enough to help give my vocalsthe rest they need.

I'm currently waiting on an appointment with a laranxologist to see what's up with my vocal chords.  It seems strange that I need a referral to have someone stick a camera tube up my nose and down my throat to look at my vocal chords.  If possible, I'd do it myself and save myself the time of waiting.

Wilton