The Demos where great the tone of your sax was especially pleasing and the overall site has a nice layout to it.

Now one little thing I would like to see different. On your home page I would put a short who, what, where, when, why, with an option to read the expanded bio if I choose.
I would like to see an opening paragraph or even statement with a larger font (for emphasis) that says who you are, what you do, maybe your age or age group (approx), where you do it (area).

To be honest I got to the homepage and said to myself I'm not reading all that and skipped to the demo page.

Again that's just my opinion and I consider myself an average guy but if it doesn't grab my attention and make me want to investigate further in the first few seconds...you've lost me. I'm not a web designer or an advertising guru of any sort.

This is where I put in a bunch of smiley faces and some initials (afaik) (imho)and hope I haven't offended anyone.

[This message has been edited by mikeathome1 (edited 04-15-2008).]

Mike - actually, your suggestions are welcome and very insightful. I have a 5-page limit w/GoDaddy, but I am going to check and see if I can maybe make the front page more abbreviated and put a link to the details page. Right now, I have all pages used up, but I think I could probably work the "photos" page into a detailed page and intersperse some of the photos I have on that page within the text. I'm using GoDaddy's "Website Tonight" vice building my own HTML scripts and there are a some limitations w/Website Tonight. But I believe I might be able to implement what you are suggesting. I'll check it out and if I get it changed, I'll let y'all know and you can check out the new arrangement.

Thanks again for the suggestions!

PS - and thanks to all for the kind words.

Chico - I did the keyboard part on "Rainbow" too. Kirk Whalum plays "Over the Rainbow" by starting it the same way, so I wanted to do it that way too. Glad you liked it! Thanks Much!

Randy

Maybe you don't even need a new page just put up the brief descriptive paragraph on top, like I said with a larger or different font, then add a line like " to see more of my story read on" and then separate it by using a couple of spaces and a smaller font for the text.
I think it could work that it's all on one page, as long as the first thing I see draws me in.

I would take the last paragraph maybe expand it a little , make it larger, and use that first.



[This message has been edited by mikeathome1 (edited 04-15-2008).]

Randy ... excellent site ... excellent playing ...
Everything is good, but I agree with Chico about 'Rainbow' ... I thought it was the best ... Who are your sax influences?

If you wouldn't mind, could you give us more details about the recording process? ...
thanks much for sharing...
t.

PS: I had the same impression as Mike when I saw the opening page ... but while listening I did read most of it ... you have been fortunate to have an interesting and seemingly fulfilling life ...
t.

Superb playing. I can't believe we even have arguments about which keyboard has a better sax after listening to your live playing!

They keyboard sounds great as well. What styles are you using?

Amen to that, chony!

Tape yourself playing a sax solo, then listen straight away to a Lester Young solo, or some Stan Getz, and be prepared to be humbled!

Guys – thanks for the words of encouragement. I recorded “Over the Rainbow” about 10 years ago. All my sax recordings were done in the following way:

- Sequences done w/Power Tracks
- Sound module was Roland MGS64 rack mount unit
- Tracks from there into a Mackie 1202 mixer
- Sax recorded on a CAD mic into the mixer
- Effects from an Alesis Midi-Verb unit
- Tracks recorded onto a Yamaha MD4S minidisk recorder
- Tracks merged onto my computer and tweaked w/CoolEdit Pro

All the Tyros recordings were made by recording them directly to hard disk using the Tyros 2 functions.

Regarding my sax playing, Cannonball Adderley came and did a clinic w/my jazz band in college. I listened (in those days) to Lou Donaldson, Eddie Harris, Dexter Gordon, and Sonny Stitt. Later on I was lucky enough to see Grover, Stanley Turrentine, Dave Sanborn, and several of the “war horses” live. Lately I have enjoyed attending several jazz festivals and listening to the modern players too, including Steve Cole, Kirk Whalum, Art Porter, Gerald Albright to name some.

Here are the styles I used for the Tyros samples on the web site:

- Besseme Mucho --- Beguine (116) and 2nd Intro
- Thought of You --- Pro Bossa Nova (124) (no Intro used)
- Ain’t No Sunshine --- Chillout 1 (80) and 2nd Intro
- Name of Love --- R&B Soul Ballad (85) and 2nd Intro
- So Cool --- I renamed the style I used and haven’t retrieved the original name yet. However, three other styles that are also great on that song are Chart Pop 2, Modern R&B, and Pob Guitar Ballad. Tempo I use is 96.

To all – I must agree I have been very blessed to have an interesting life. It wasn’t all fun (I went the “prostate’s gotta go route” 10 years ago). My wife is wonderful to have tolerated me and she is a beautiful, wonderful lady. I only hope that the next chapter will have plenty of pages in it for music. It’s a wonderful and very therapeutic thing as you all are aware. I have several recording projects in mind and look forward to getting the time to pursue them.

Thanks again to all for checking the site, listening and commenting.

Randy

Looks and sounds like you have the whole package - congratulations on a great life

Well, you did a good job and got a great sound for a sound module from ten years ago.

Chony - yes, I am still a "stone ager"... HA HA... Anyone need a Roland U-20? The MGS-64 is still in my rack. Haven't done anything with that stuff in the last couple years since the arrangers arrived.

I did buy a Korg 16-track recorder so my next stuff will be less of a wiring mess. Some of my tracks - "Can You Stop the Rain" for example, was done using Band in a Box arrangements. Now if I just get the time.

Randy