faq

If you have a question that isn't answered here, drop me a line directly.

hearing Dave

Q: I'd love to hear you play with [insert name of artist or band I've appeared with here]. How can I find out when and where you're playing?
Q: When's the next time you're playing in [insert wherever you live here]?
Q: I'd like to learn more about, and possibly purchase, an album you've played on that's listed on your discography. Where should I look?

hiring Dave

Q: Are you available to play on my CD?
Q: What do you charge for recording?
Q: Are you set up to record at your place and send files back and forth?
Q: I saw one of your charts on a gig and it looked great. Can you do charts for my band/project?
Q: Do you give bass lessons?

 

Q: I'd love to hear you play with [insert name of artist or band I've worked with here]. How can I find out when and where you're playing?
A: Your best bet is the artist/band's website or facebook page. I add shows to my own performances page here as well.

Q: When's the next time you're playing in [insert wherever you live here]?
A: Most artists typically visit a specific area or venue yearly, more or less. Around larger metropolitan areas, it's not uncommon to appear at several different venues over the course of a year. The performances page will have new dates added when they're confirmed.

Q: I'd like to learn more about, and possibly purchase, an album you've played on that's listed on your discography. Where should I look?
A: First of all, thanks for even considering spending your hard-earned money and supporting a recording artist in the brave new world of the post-record business, where CDs (i.e. "physical media", in the parlance of the interwebs) are largely an anachronism, apart from sales at the "merch" table after the show. Of course, most of us these days, myself included, choose to buy music from the itunes store, and that's perfectly fine. You should be aware, however, that for an artist who makes their recordings available directly from their website (either as CDs or downloads) there is a significantly better profit margin for them in selling to you directly – so I recommend visiting the artist's site and purchasing directly from them if possible. After that, itunes is the ubiquitous legal download format, and while some in the higher reaches of the audiophile world may quibble that the file format is technically less than "CD quality", I've never felt that the AAC format detracted from my enjoyment of the music. Itunes also has the advantage, whether you purchase from them or not, of offering an ample audition to give you a good idea of what you're getting. After that, Amazon and other non-brick and mortar retailers often have difficult-to-find rarities. But I would be remiss in not pointing out that, if you are lucky enough to still have a local, Mom-and-Pop record store of any stripe in your town, you'll be doing them, yourself and the artists a nice favor by supporting their continued operation. I happen to have just such a place close by in Brookfield CT – Gerosa Records – and you'll have a great time visiting and browsing, even if you're not old enough to remember when record stores were the only way to get new music to listen to (apart from those mail order record clubs where you taped a dime to the card and got ten new records in the mail, including the latest Billy Joel and Supertramp). No smiley neccessary...

Q: Are you available to play on my CD?
A: Sure. Email or call me and we can talk about particulars.

Q: What do you charge for recording?
A: I don't publish rates because there are so many variables: number of tracks; music prep and rehearsal; recording here at my studio or elsewhere; travel; scheduling and more. Give me a call and I'll be happy to discuss specifics and offer you a quote.

Q: Are you set up to record at your place and send files back and forth?
A: Absolutely – my studio, Flying Squirrel, has been in operation since '00 and I've done tracking, editing, mixing, and mastering for a wide range of projects. I can do bass, bass and drums, or complete rhythm section tracks for your project, and upload clean, edited files ready for you to drop into your DAW, in any format you need. I use high end gear such as Avalon tube and class A solid state preamps and DIs, and Neumann, Sennheiser, AKG and other mics.

I've listened and compared the quality of my engineering work to tracks I've received from other private and project studios and can confidently say that my engineering skills and results are as good or better than the best work you'll get from any commensurate facility. I have a far deeper background in electronics than most musician/engineers (I built an analog patch bay synthesizer when I was eleven years old and was designing and building digital logic circuits from chips when I was a teenager in the 70's). I had a successful consulting business in the early nineties specializing in MOTU products and converting recording studios from the then-prevalent digital tape formats to in-the-box hard disk based recording. I've had my hands on this stuff for a long time and I know what I'm doing.

Q: I saw one of your charts on a gig and it looked great. Can you do charts for my band/project?
A: Sure. I've gotten increasingly busy creating accurate, well thought-out, easy-to-read charts for a number of artists I'm associated with. I use music notation software to create "bass books", rhythm scores, and more. More than ever, having clean, readable notation can be the deciding factor in whether a gig (and its attendant prep and rehearsals) goes as hoped and planned – or not. The reality for any artist who has yet to reach the coveted but all-too-rare status of working constantly is that there will be a number of musicians coming and going on your gig as they juggle their schedules. Unambiguous, easily sight-readable charts are one of the few ways you can easily and effectively exercise quality control over your presentation – and avoid laborious, unneccessary and expensive rehearsing. Why re-invent the wheel every time you bring someone new on the bandstand? Remember, great charts will be invaluable even if you're not a reader yourself. It makes any questions that arise simple to answer, allowing you to focus on the myriad number of things that are calling for your attention when you're getting your thing out there. Please contact me through the contact page to get information on my very reasonable rates and samples of my work.

Q: Do you give bass lessons?
A: Sure – I've been teaching, as my schedule allows, almost as long as I've been working as a musician, and have taught privately at the secondary and college level at a number of public and private high schools and universities, in addition to teaching at my home studio. Please feel free to contact me to discuss scheduling, rates, and your goals and objectives. I've taught everyone from brand-new beginners to working professionals interested in coaching to go to the next level, and I'm happy to help everyone regardless of their experience. I have a methodology based on my own studies at Berklee College of Music as well as professional experience gleaned from over thirty years' working as a performing and recording bassist with some of the top names in the business.