Once I got through all of that, though, it was the most fantastic night and the best concert I have ever attended. I mean, just looking at the number of legends I saw in this one evening is a bit overwhelming to take in. It is hard to believe that it all actually happened.

Let’s start at the beginning.

I was rather stressed as I flew to L.A. with my husband because there were a few details that were still up in the air. There were some snafus that shook me a little but, in the end, I was able to get my hair done, and I was able to move our drop-off time up by an hour and a half. So, when it came time to head to the hotel lobby and get into our town car, I had no room for anything but excitement.

The drop-off process was very quick and smooth. Too quick in fact, as we were trying to settle up with the driver while the greeters opened the doors for us to get out.

It was really illuminating to see how the red carpet process works. Unlike the Oscars, where you see the birds-eye-view cameras and the crowds of fans lined up to cheer, the Grammy red carpet is an incredibly long tent tucked back behind the convention center. There was only about 50 feet of drop-off space before the entrance to the tent and the staff herded guests into it pretty quickly. I was shaky nervous trying to get a photo outside of the tent before I had to put my camera away.

Upon arrival, just before entering the tent

I actually had a hard time trying to work the buttons on my phone. Another disadvantage of such a small area is that I didn’t really have time to check that my dress was in place before I found myself in front of cameras. Luckily, everything was in place!

I quickly learned that the “no camera” policy was more aimed at certain aspects of the event than the event as a whole. For example, if you were walking past all the interview booths, you could not take photos, but they had areas for photo ops that were strategically placed so that you would not be able to snap a pic of something you were not supposed to. One such photo area was the classic sponsor wall.

That is when I got these photos:

Iconic Red Carpet Photographs

So… what does go on inside of that tent?!

Upon entering we were asked “Are there any nominees in your party?” Nominees were escorted to the right where all the networks and entertainment shows were set to do interviews. The first booth the musicians walk past is Entertainment Tonight and the second is E! After that, they sort of ran together for me and I do not recall who was where. I think there were maybe about a dozen interview areas. At the end of the line, there was a very small seated audience who clapped as the celebrities got their photos taken by the gaggle of photographers squeezed into a booth.

Behind-the-scenes photo via the official Grammy fb page

Though we were not allowed to linger, I did my best to walk slowly and take the whole thing in. I did see Bonnie McKee, Joy Williams, Sasha Gradiva wearing that bizarre robo-arm outfit, and the two darling little girls who had been on Ellen. I’ll admit, I am not as celebrity-savvy as I thought I was because I had to look up a couple of these people.

One of the coolest things that happened to me was that, as I walked past one of the TV booths, the video camera guy pointed to me and motioned with his hand for me to twirl. I looked over my shoulder and then looked at him, pointed at myself and mouthed “Me!?” He nodded, and so I did my best runway twirl. I walked behind one of the many support walls, freaked out a little, and giggled with the woman behind us who seemed just as excited about it as I was. When I reappeared from behind the short wall, he asked me to do it again! This was just before the photographers at the end of the line, so I tweeted it quickly before I might be asked to check my phone at security.

Then we went through the metal detectors and they didn’t take my phone. By the way, they check for tickets about every 50 feet it seems. There is no sneaking in or getting through to any area into which your ticket did not allow.

We were then shown into the convention center where the pre-telecast awards were already under way. The organizers were thoughtful to provide water and so we grabbed a couple of bottles, did a lap around the lobby and then headed into the awards.

Shortly after arriving, I saw Tony Bennett receive an award for the duet he did with Amy Winehouse. He accepted it along with Amy’s parents. It was really moving to hear Amy’s father speak about her and the foundation they have started in her name.

Tony Bennett and Amy Winehouse's Parents at the Pre-Telecast Awards

After 15 minutes or so we decided to find some seats. It was a giant convention center ballroom, so the seating was very casual, with folding chairs, wide aisles, and the ability to seat yourself at anytime in any seat that was available. We sat down close to the back along an aisle. Getting settled in, we saw Taylor Swift receive two awards for “Mean.” She was so cute. She talked about the satisfaction of the whole experience saying there’s nothing like someone being mean to you, writing a song about it, and then getting a Grammy for it. Satisfying and validating indeed, Miss Swift!

A few more awards were handed out, but some of the winners were not present because they were probably at rehearsal in the Staples Center.

Then an award in the rock category came up, and Foo Fighters were announced as the winners and, oh my goodness, they stood up RIGHT across the aisle from where were were sitting. We were right next to the Foo Fighters?!? SO cool! They made a similar speech to the one they gave later that night about being old school, recording in Dave Grohl’s garage and using all analog equipment. I love the part he added later in the televised awards about really needing to practice your craft and not relying on computers to fix or enhance a musician’s performance. He said that it must come from the heart, not the computer. Well said, Dave.

At the conclusion of the pre-televised awards ceremony, everyone exited the convention center, and headed toward the Staples Center. This put us right out onto Figueroa Ave at the big front entrance. It was a beautiful late afternoon and we slowly filed into the large venue. Upon arrival, we once again had to go through security, and once again, no one confiscated our phones. We were handed hefty programs and strange, colorful bracelets that said “COLDPLAY MYLO XYLOTO.” We hung around for a bit trying to waste some time before going to our seats, but my feet were starting to rebel from my footwear. I took one look at the escalator and realized that there was no way I could get on it. I envisioned some sort of escalator-style paper shredder incident and we quickly located an elevator. This is when we learned that our seats were apart from the general admission and required us to go through the VIP seat section. Did I mention we had to show our tickets about every five minutes? It was still happening. We should have looked for our seats sooner, because the food and beverage stand and the area as a whole was much less crowded on the VIP level. We located our seats at the top row of the mezzanine level, below the box seats, house right. The seats were fantastic and completely worth the extra money we spent on them.

As soon as my husband and I sat down, I saw that everyone around us had their phones out and some people even had cameras. What a relief! I was going to be able to document the evening after all. That is, until my phone’s camera started to freak out and my battery started getting hot to the touch. Thank goodness my husband has the same phone, so the video and pics are seamless with mine. At least I was able to squeeze out a few tweets when everyone else was NOT tweeting or texting and sucking up all the bandwidth.

In my seat. Great view, wouldn't you say?

The show was pretty much how you see it on TV. There were large screens above and to the sides of the stage, so when they went to commercials, we saw the “coming up” announcement that viewers saw. It was at this time that I saw the fastest set-up tear-down of sets that I have every seen in my life. Many of the sets were huge and complex, yet they were up and down in minutes. There are two points of interest that viewers might not know in regards to what goes on during the commercial breaks. The first is that the large screens show performance highlights from past Grammy Awards, and the other is that if you decide to get up to go to the bathroom, no matter where your seats are located, you are forced to wait until the next commercial break to be seated. I ended up watching Katy Perry’s glass-shattering performance while standing in the aisle.

The people on my twitter feed were sort of underwhelmed by Coldplay’s performance but, I must say, as an audience member it was absolutely magical. The bracelets all lit up differently and went of in different patterns. The lights were as neon as the artwork that towered over the band as they performed, and the whole space felt like a colorful constellation. I just kept saying “wow.”

One of my two Coldplay wristbands

After the show, those of us who purchased the “2012 Grammy Celebration” after-party tickets headed back over to the Convention Center. The path was mostly indoors or covered, and again, we experienced more metal detectors and ticket checks.

The after party was a bit of a let-down. It was a grand affair, don’t get me wrong, but I am not sure it was worth the cost of admission. Entertainment was provided by Kenny Loggins, OneRepublic (remember their song “Apologize”?) and DJ Michelle Pesce on the main stage. Arturo O’Farrill along with members of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra entertained in the Jazz Lounge. The Jazz Lounge was swanky, but there was no available place to sit unless you had some sort of special pass. The main stage area was an ADHD sufferer’s dream. Everywhere you looked there was something going on. While the musicians performed on the main stage, there were also smaller stages scattered about the room.  Some stages held Vegas-style dancer girls, while others held shirtless men doing some sort of martial arts, or flipping around in the air on elastic bands. The food was fair but the dessert line was too long to tempt even me. And that is saying something.

The organizers provided other entertainment in the form of activities at various booths. We got to play pinball on machines that have not yet been released. One was a really fun Rolling Stones-themed machine with small band members positioned around the playfield. This was when I got my one celebrity sighting of the after party: Kathy and Richard Hilton, also know as Paris’s parents. Not exactly who I was hoping for at such a massive gathering of musicians I adore, but at least I can say I smiled and they smiled back. My husband and I got our photos taken at the “Rock Star Photo booth” where a video of a photographer walked you through your shoot and flashed photos of celebrity poses to mimic. Props and a hair fan were provided and we got an 8×10 printout of the photo collection. It was actually quite fun and we laughed our way through it.

There was also a long line for an area where you could get false eyelashes, but I was not sure what it was all about and not willing to wait in another long line after the photo booth. There was free champagne though, so that seemed to keep people happy.

We were ready to go just before midnight. It had been a very rewarding, but very long day. Overall it was a magical, inspiring evening full of legends and up-and-coming stars. It was a dream come true to be there in person and be a part of the glamor.

Want more coverage? I made a wrap-up video containing video footage plus photos not shown here. There is minimal overlap with the blog. Enjoy!

Another event that has me nearly exploding with excitement: I will be attending the 54th Grammy Awards this Sunday.

I have mentioned it on all my other social media, but have neglected to post about it here. I will be sure to post a wrap-up upon my return. I may have a scoop about what happens during the commercial breaks, or perhaps an anecdote about running into someone I admire.

If you want live coverage from an insider’s perspective, follow me on twitter.

I present to you, the Ardour 2.8.12 “box”:

Recording:

• Ardor exports to WAV, WAV64, AIFF, CAF, RAW, Ogg Vorbis, and FLAC.

Mixing:

DSP (Digital Signal Processing, aka plugins):

MIDI:

• Ardour 2 is not a MIDI sequencer (although that function is implemented in Ardour 3, which is currently in beta testing.)

Audio Interfaces:

• Ardour is closely integrated with JACK, a computer sound system which is a hub for all of your audio hardware and software. It can even connect to other computers. JACK lets numerous audio programs run simultaneously, and even exchange information, while still operating at a low latency. This functionality is a major advantage of using Ardour.
• In Linux, JACK uses ALSA to interface with audio hardware (and FFADO for FireWire audio hardware).  In Mac OS X, it uses CoreAudio.

Latency:

• JACK is designed to operate at a low latency and this can be fine-tuned in the JACK configuration. A new Ardour session will automatically use the current JACK configuration for its settings.
• Choosing the correct latency setting depends on several factors: your computer hardware, the audio driver you are using, the sample rate you are using, and the amount of audio data being processed.
• In addition, Ardour offers automatic latency compensation for plugins.

Mastering:

• Ardour offers three forms of dither: Rectangular, Shaped, and Triangular.
• In addition to its other features, Ardour can be used in mastering a project because its use of JACK allows you to connect to free open source programs such as JAMin (JACK Audio Mastering interface).

The professor put up a list of DAWs to choose from, and of course, Ardour was not on there… and he had never heard of it… he asked how to spell it.  Ardour is what I have in my Linux-based home studio, and becasue I am not super familiar with it yet, I figured this assignment would be a great excuse to spend hours looking this stuff up.

So, I need to find some solid information on this product. I have a list in my head of all the statistics I will need to do a side-by-side comparison with ProTools, the DAW we use at school.

Sure, I will admit it: part of me just wants to be able to stand in front of the class and gloat about how my free software is superior, but Ardour does not make this easy! I mean, in some ways, that is much to my home studio’s benefit, because Ardour claims to be able to handle whatever you give it as long as the hardware can support it.

But how do I present this information? I am going to look like a used car saleswoman. “Oh yeah? ProTools 10 finally records at 32 bit? Well Ardour can record at 160 bits… if your computer could handle it!” At least I can say Ardour supported a 32 bit floating format long before ProTools.

And because there is no box to flip over and read, I am having a hard time finding other stats. Can you really record an unlimited number of tracks at a time? Can I individually mic an orchestra and say “GO!”? Again, depending on your hardware… blah blah.

This is what I NEED

Oh Ardour, you are making this a difficult assignment! I am a musician, NOT a computer nerd. Well I guess I am a computer nerd-lite by necessity, but I just want to play my piano and sing and get a nice recording of it.

The assignment is due Thursday. I will try to have it posted shortly there after.

We also spend time on current events in digital music news. SOPA comes up regularly and I did not really get a good grasp on its consequences until I read an article today on techdirt.com that was posted by the EFF (The Electronic Frontier Foundation.)

It is not a short article, but one that I feel is very important for musicians and fans of music to read.

Let me sum up why: Legal action was taken against a music blog which “leaked” new songs by artists. The source of the leaks? The artists and labels themselves. Excited to promote a new song and create some buzz, the folks who owned all the rights gave the music to the blog. The domain was seized, was shut down, and was accused of  taking part in criminal copyright infringement.

No, actually they were not infringing upon copyright… and a lot took place to cover this up.

Be careful out there folks.

This is why SOPA is a bad, bad thing. Shooting first, and asking questions later only leads to trouble.

Here is the article to which I refer

It is called “Virtual Barbershop” and you MUST be wearing headphones for it to work.

This technique is called binaural recording. From wikipedia: Binaural recording is a method of recording sound that uses two microphones, arranged with the intent to create a 3-D stereo sound sensation for the listener of actually being in the room with the performers or instruments. This effect is often created using a technique known as “Dummy head recording,” wherein a mannequin head is outfitted with a microphone in each ear. Binaural recording is intended for replay using headphones and will not translate properly over stereo speakers.

You cannot tell me that that guitar player is not in the room with me, and well, I will not say any more.. you MUST listen for yourself!

Amazing, right?

Problems with the Ardour plug-ins aside (mystery!), the two look pretty similar at the start of things, but I have not really done any editing on Ardour yet to know if the two are parallel.

Here is my problem: next quarter, I have to pass a proficiency exam in order to move forward with my major. I will be seated in front of a computer with four professors standing over my shoulder as I load up ProTools and be told to do various tasks while I am being timed.

So I kinda sorta need to know ProTools inside and out. Hey guess what? There are about a billion forum entries on various websites and all the authors say they could not get Linux to run ProTools. I can’t tell if it is a software or hardware problem. Many laughed that Windows still cant get ProTools to run properly (some of these were a few years old though.)

One of my professsors stated that ProTools is the industry standard. He said that I need to know the lingo in order to communicate with other professionals and to get a job – that no one will follow me if I speak in Ardour terms.

Is this correct!?!?! Are they THAT different?

We are going to try to load it onto the desktop that is partitioned to run Linux and Windows Vista. I will not be able to record onto it (the room is too loud with various computers running in there – including our server) but I will be able to edit on it.  If it runs. I have some hope it will work because there was a comment on the forums that said ProTools actually seemed to like Vista over 7.

Any comments on this would be appreciated!

The second author to inspire me was Alma Katsu. I knew within 5 minutes of her talk that I was going to purchase her book “The Taker” ~ its Gothic, dark nature being right up my alley. But also, she spoke of the writing process and her words really struck a chord with me. She said that in the end, the novel one writes is really the novelist’s own story. It is the thing deep down that the author is ashamed of, or afraid will be exposed. She said that until the author figures this out and embraces it, he or she will keep writing the same book until that story is expressed in an honest, fully-disclosed way.

I talked about this with my friend Grace between shoots. I wondered what my “story” was. We talked about songs and films that move us in ways that seem to affect no one else in the same way. What was it about these particular pieces that move me so much?

On the way home, Arcade Fire came up on shuffle. I thought of the song “Wake Up” and quickly found and played this song. This is definitely one of those songs that affect me. Every time I listen to this anthem of lost childhood, I sing it at the top of my lungs, half shouting, to the point where I am so choked up that I can no longer produce notes.

“Wake Up” by Arcade Fire

Somethin’ filled up
my heart with nothin’,
someone told me not to cry.

But now that I’m older,
my heart’s colder,
and I can see that it’s a lie.

Children wake up,
hold your mistake up,
before they turn the summer into dust.

If the children don’t grow up,
our bodies get bigger but our hearts get torn up.
We’re just a million little gods causin’ rain storms turnin’ every good thing to
rust.

I guess we’ll just have to adjust.

With my lightnin’ bolts a glowin’
I can see where I am goin’ to be
when the reaper he reaches and touches my hand.

With my lightnin’ bolts a glowin’
I can see where I am goin’
With my lightnin’ bolts a glowin’
I can see where I am, go-go, where I am

You’d better look out below

And then I knew my story. I knew what I needed to get out of me. I wrote for a very long time last night. A stream of consciousness that spilled out onto six pages of my notebook, and it is still not all out. With Alma Katsu’s words still fresh in my ears, I was mindful of how, as soon as I got close to the really difficult stuff, I would drift back into safe territory. I think I am onto something here. It might be painful, but I do not think I will be able to rest until I can express myself clearly – until my story has been given the attention it deserves.

I wanted to recount my favorite moments. Perhaps you were a part of these memories.

• January 2008: I perform as Witherwings for the first time at the DA  meeting at Cricketer’s Arms Pub in Orlando. This was the first of many, many performances that would feature the Orlando trio of Witherwings, The House of Black and Fred Lives.
  

  Introducing: ~W~ FL and HOB!

• February, 2008: the trio joins a touring Tonks and the Aurors and  The Chinese Chomping Cabbages at the library in downtown Orlando. I performed as Witherwings for the first time on a stage, and members of the OHPC sang along with all of my songs. I was almost in tears. I had no CD out yet, so these people were going to MySpace and listening often enough to know all the words. Blown. Away.
• May 2008: I perform at Florida Superconat a private event for the actors of the HP films. We then got to hang out with them for the rest of the evening.
  

  Colin Creevey, Seamus Finnigan, Angelina Johnson, Tonks

• June 2008: The Accio Bodyguard Tour comes through town and I play my keyboard live for the first time. I shook like a leaf, but it has been a part of my set ever since.

• August 2008: Terminus (Chicago, IL). I decide to get my name out there by playing sets in the elevators as convention attendees (HP and otherwise) come and go. Almost fell down from dizziness, but had a blast. Also was a part of the famous 2458 shows. At one point I counted over 70 people in that small hotel room. The second night of the event was also my first official date with my (now) husband.
• October 2008: Wrock the Boat. Witherwings takes to the high seas. It is not everyday that one’s stage sways with the ocean. I sang “Malfoy” to Brian and Bradley, and met some of the most amazing people I have ever known.
• December 2008: Mandala at Twilight. I would have never created this project  if it were not for the success of Witherwings. I got to perform at a Regal Cinemas during a big Twilight event, and because my parents were visiting for the holidays, they got to see me perform live for the first time.
• January 2009: I perform at the CBGB. This would be the beginning of many hp-ohio-related shows.
• April 2009: AccioCon. I perform as Witherwings. I perform as Mandala at Twilight. I act as the MC and interview the celebrities. I was way over-extended, but had a blast and made some great new friends!
  

  squeekphoto.com

• May 2009: A small tour takes shape as I do back-to-back shows in the Northeast from Armonk, NY, to Bethlehem, PA, to NYC, and ending up in Columbus, OH for MARCON. These shows were the result of the Witch Rock series, put together by Stacey of Swish and Flick, at The Sidewalk Café in NYC. Somehow, we just kept adding more shows and more bands so that many of us followed each other from city to city. MARCON was crazy fun. I will never again experience anything that will equal the awesomeness of having Mandalorian Mercs  as back-up dancers!
  

  Mandala and the Mandalorian Mercs

• December 2009: I coordinate and release a holiday compilation album to benefit the Brukner Nature Center  in Troy, Ohio. The best part though, was getting to perform with my Daddy at the CD release concert.
  

  Me and my Dad

• May 2010/July 2010 I release two CDs in 3 months. What a crazy idea, but it still remains the largest and most significant music-related goal I have ever accomplished.

• July 2010: Infinitus. Main stage. Biggest. Show. Ever. I am not sure how many people were in attendance, but it was several hundred. I even did a belly dancing routine with my friend Jasmine to “The Patil Twins.”
• 2010 was my big convention year: Feast of the Superb Owl, Confluence, MARCON, Infinitus, Ohio Vally Filk Festival, and Con on the Cob.

• October 2010: TOUR! Snidgetand I hit the road to perform in 8 states in 8 days, but we traveled through many more than that. Starting in Ohio, we traveled as far south as Dallas, TX and as far north as Chicago, IL. It was something I never dreamed I would be able to do.
  

  Snidget and Witherwings in Dallas, TX

• May 2011: Witherwings goes Hip-Hop. Undesirable #1 approaches me and asks if he can do a remix “Alone.” The song came out really well, and we performed it live a month later at Incendio 2011.

• July 2011: The craziest plan ever: I drive to Charlotte, NC for a show one night, drive to Orlando, FL for a show the next night and then back home to Northern Virginia in order to attend class Tuesday morning.  But the best part? Reuniting with my Orlando band-mates (SusieCool and the Coolottes) to rock out my set as I have never done before. The band sounded amazing, and it was the best home-coming a girl could ask for. <3
  

  The most fantastic reunion.

• September 2011: Sonorus II. I asked some of my wrocker friends to play in my set. Eddie and Christie of Hawthorn and Holly provided rockin guitar and percussion. Scott of The Blibbering Humdingers created a flute part to “Oliver Wood” that has changed that song for me forever! I cannot perform that song without him now.

So now I look forward to the future and all the wonderful memories that it will bring! Thanks to everyone who has made this dream a reality! I appreciate each and every one of you! <3

Sonorus 2011, or Sororus II, was amazing and I am really lucky that it was so close to home. First of all, the venue was fantastic. Grace Kendall, who was one of the people who put this together, was able to secure this incredible location after a very successful Sonorus the 1st. Jammin’ Java sounded like a coffee shop or maybe a deli, but when I told my classmates that it was the location of my next show, they lit up and said they have been there many times to see musicians perform.  It was the first place I’ve played to have a green room (well, it was red, actually) and it made me feel like a star!

The bathroom of the Green Room. Apparently bands like to leave their “mark.”

All the bands were great. This was the set order (or really close to it): Muggle Mike, Leth I. Fold, I Speak Tree, Fred and George the Band, Snidget, Witherwings, Bella and le Strangers, Hawthorn and Holly, and The Blibbering Humdingers.

I love that so many of the bands shared the stage with each other.There were so many fun, spontaneous moments.

Dancing back-up singers join Fred and George the Band.

This brings me to my favorite memory of the show. I emailed Scott of the Blibbering Humdingers and Eddie and Christie of Hawthorn and Holly and asked them if they could help out during my set. It was a fleeting thought one morning in the shower that turned out to be one of my favorite performances. It ranks up there with the rockin’ show in Orlando two months ago.

Eddie and Christie during "Oliver Wood."

"Oliver Wood" (Scott, me, and Eddie)

I haven’t been performing “Oliver Wood” recently because, though I wrote it on the piano, I had always intended it to be a guitar song. Not being a guitar player, and not fond of singing this song to a pre-recorded track, I was super excited to get to do this song at Sonorus.

Not only did Eddie nail it, and live percussion elevate the energy of the song, but the addition of a flute part, performed flawlessly by Scott Vaughan, was the icing on the cake.

I am always surprised at how supportive the fans are at wrock shows. I shouldn’t be anymore, but every time I am just so amazed at how loving and kind everyone is. And they buy so much stuff which keeps me being able to make more music and keep Witherwings going. Thankyouthankyouthankyou.