fbpx

Tuesday 26 March 2024

Walk the Walk..live at Buchanan Memorial Hall

WE’RE a bit late getting up…the weather’s not bad outside and after breakfast I decide to see if I can reclaim any of our only dismantled decking for a new, much smaller ‘top step’ deck.

I measure up, pull out some of the better condition deck boards, give them a good clean and scrub and knock out some of the old screws and nails.

Margaret’s booked a slot at Balfron dump for late afternoon. Seems strange to me though this pre-booking that started during covid is still in force. That, combined with the very limited (and bizarre) opening times and the fact that they no longer accept stuff like plasterboard makes it a pretty shit facility.

Anyway, we have buckets of stones with broken glass from when the garden table got trashed by the wind that can’t be discarded over the fence so need to go to the dump along with other bits and bobs.

I save some more bits of decking and chop up the rest of the stuff lying around . The rotten stuff can go to the dump and better stuff in the woodshed for burning.

In the studio I mess some more with the video edit for Walk the Walk. LUTs, grading, aaargh…I’m out my depth but I manage to get a reasonable result and make widescreen, square and vertical versions for YouTube, Facebook and other socials. Not sure why, but the seem to get a bit mangled but he upload process which largely negates my grading efforts.

After our dump run I get back into the studio and lose myself in the video stuff…suddenly it’s after 9pm and Margaret’s got dinner ready.

Monday 25 March 2024

This week’s closing cover from my Wildcats’ livestream on Facebook

THERE’s a West Highland Way Gifts’ order to be made up – I get it started then hit the studio for a session with my regular Monday morning Zoom guitar student.

After the session the flasks have finished processing. I get them parcelled up, postage applied and book a collection for tomorrow (Tuesday).

Having rushed last week’s video edits form the local Memorial Hall show, I’m keen to try and up my game and have at least one song form the show edited to spin into tonight’s Wildcats’ livestream on Facebook.

The video was shot in log, but I converted some of it to make it more manageable in my ‘pro-sumer’ editing set up…I think the grading suffered so this time I import the log footage and work with that. More time consuming and cumbersome given my gear limitations (and my editing/knowledge limitations!) but I get things underway before my afternoon guitar student arrives.

I manage to get he video finished in time for the Wildcats’ livestream. I like to let folks in the Wildcats group see things first…I’ll publicly post the result in the next day or two….

Sunday 24 March 2024

AFTER breakfast we go outside and try to tidy up the garden a little.

It’s a nice day and Catriona, Will and the kids are coming this afternoon for pizza. Turns out the big plastic garden table has a broken leg that doesn’t look easy to fix…but a bit of ingenuity from yours truly and some super glue seems to do the trick.

Everything’s ready to go pizza-wise when everyone arrives and we only need to wait for the oven to heat up.

We have a grand afternoon and enjoy the unexpected sunshine then our guests heard off.

Later on I get a little work done in the studio then back tot he house and make some, more pizza for dinner…

Saturday 23 March 2024

NOT too heavy a day today so we enjoy coffee in bed and watch Saturday Kitchen while dealing with emails and dsocvial media stuff.

In the studio I upload a live video of Loch Lomond Home from last weekend’s show at the village hall to my YouTube channel and Facebook then share vertical clips of same to TikTok and various reels and stories rounds my socials.

I have a catch-up meeting on Zoom with my pal Kevin to put some plans in place for the release of his next single.

The weather’s not too bad so we tackle some of the big chunks of wood that have been lying outside for a while. First the chainsaw, then the log splitter. Good to get it all done and stacked int he woodshed.

I spend a little more time in the studio then start making a cake topper for Catriona…it was her (44…cannae believe it!) birthday yesterday so they’re all coming for pizza tomorrow (Sunday) and Margaret’s made a pavlova to serve as a birthday cake.

Then it’s time to hit the road to Gartmore for dinner at Duncan and Irene’s where we have a great night. I happily drive home…one of the biggest benefits of being ‘off it’. Thirteen mon the since I had any alcohol!

Friday 22 March 2024

I stumble across my episode of Blues’n2s with guest Andres Roots…

MAIN job of the morning is writing up news release about the May run of Scottish shows with my pal Andres….and getting the info out to the national press and longer lead-time media.

While pulling together media resources I stumble across a video of a Blues’n2s episode featuring Andres…I did the livestream series during lockdown back in 2020 and had guests from around the world.

After lunch my Friday guitar student arrives. She normally comes first thing in the morning but we had a wee change of schedule this week.

We need a few things from Costco and decide to take advantage of a wee lull in the schedule to nip into Glasgow and pick stuff up.

We’re home in time for a quick dinner – I made extra enchiladas last night 🙂 – then along to the village hall for the quiz night where we meet our team mates Fiona and Nicole. We take second place and have a grand evening….

Thursday 21 March 2024

OFF to to the school for a session with the kids. We have a blast 🙂

I finish up in time to join a Musicians’ Union (MU) Zoom meeting, albeit a few minutes late. I sit in the car and make my contributions.

Once done I get some shopping, drop off some merch at the post office then head home. Margaret’s been at a meeting in Aberfoyle and got a lift back to the village so I go and pick her up.

There’s a fair amount of stuff to be done in the studio and I’m keen to see if I can work out how to use the l;poppwer int he Quad Cortex. No real reason, just out of curiosity.

Betty’s coming for dinner and I’m running out of time. I need to make the enchilada sauce, some avocado sauce and then the enchiladas….

Wednesday 20 March 2024

I create an image for my new website landing page and Facebook cover from a B&W image by Bernie McAllister

I HAVE a guitar student coming first thing. Once she’s done I hot he studio and deal with a load of admin stuff then start working one an image to use on a new website landing page and also as a cover for my Facebook page.

Fiona arrives soon after midday top go for a paddle. My ‘rotator cuff’ shoulder problem means I need to take it easy so we have a relaxed paddle round Inchcailloch. Margaret’s got soup and rolls waiting for us when we get back 🙂

After lunch I spend time on the new website landing page. Once it’s done I put together a Facebook ad set using yesterday’s Devil’s Left Hand video post as the creative. Each ad in the set has an identical budget and set up but tests differently targeted audiences. I’ll let it run for two or three days then take stock of the resulting data…particularly the video watch time…

Tuesday 19 March 2024

Widescreen edit of Devil’s Left Hand form Saturday night at the hall…a simple, very basic edit destined for my ‘fan finder’ ad…

THERE’S some merch orders to be finished off and packed up to go out…and also a one-off item that I’m making as a gift.

A neighbour drops by to have us witness her signature on some documents. Then I get the one-off gift finished and set a pin on the back.

After lunch I edit more video and start planning a ‘fan finder’ ad campaign. All my past social advertising has been for specific shows or merch sales…I’ve never explored using ads to help reach a wider audience. The time has come where I think I really need to do that to try and move things on.

I’m not 100% that the theory actually works in practice but I’m willing to give it a bash.

A late afternoon guitar student arrives and once we’re done I start the ‘fan finder’ strategy. I aggregate all the info on doing such a thing, how in my own experience and thought and formulate my plan of attack.

First up, I need a full length song on video…a performance video rather than a ‘music video’, preferably without too much production of cuts/edits. I pull the footage of Devil’s Left Hand out from the weekend’s rushes from the local hall gig and set about creating wide, square and vertical formats.

I need to optimise a campaign for video views..and rather than use all my formats, I decide to follow some specific advice about using an existing video post as ‘the creative’. To that end I post the square version on my Facebook page and aim to let it get some traction before jumping into the ad manager. Watch this space for subsequent steps…

Meantime, it’s after 9pm and I’m on dinner…so it’s back to the huose to make a tofu and broccoli stir fry…

Monday 18 March 2024

Walk the Walk from PJ Molloys, Dunfermline on Friday

THERE’ some guitar pendants needing made to fulfil online merch orders. I manage to get the flask packed and mould ready before my first Zoom guitar session of the day.

I have a load of huge video files from the weekend’s shows converting on the computer in the background while I run my first Zoom guitar session…then I go back to the office and pour the metal for the pendants.

The video continues to process in the background while I join a Help Musicians’ Zoom seminar on music PR.

Then it’s back to those for lunch and a trip to the doc’s in the village to see what might be wrong with my left shoulder. Ive been having a lot of pain for the last month or more and, if anything, it’s getting worse rather than better. Time to get it checked out.

Robert, the ‘nurse practioner’ (whatever that fuck that is) gives my shoulder the once over and pushes and pulls my arm in various directions. Looks like I have a rotator cuff injury 🙁

I’m prescribed anti-inflammatory gel which I pick up at the chemist before walking home.

I get home just in time for my late afternoon guitar student arriving. Once we’re done I head to the studio and start editing some of the video…I’m keen to get a couple of songs done to spin into my Wildcats’ livestream on Facebook later on.

I have another Zoom guitar session with little time before the livestream but I manage to get everything ready in time…

Sunday 17 March 2024

WE ALL have a long lie. I’m aching all over and absolutely burst when I wake up.

A shower helps a little and we have a leisurely ‘brunch’ chatting and chilling for an hour or two.

I get a hard drive sorted to give Martyn to dump all the video footage form last night, Trevor and Emma hit the road…and Margaret and I go to get the rest of the gear from the hall.

Later on I go to pick up the hard drive from Martyn and top for a coffee and blether.

Back home I start getting some of the video files onto my system and tidy up the studio in readiness for tomorrow’s various guitar sessions.

ENTER YOUR NAME & EMAIL AND GET A DISCOUNT IN THE DAVE ARCARI MERCH STORE

10% OFF

...AND GET LATEST TOUR DATES, RELEASE INFO AND OTHER NEWS IN DAVE'S MONTHLY eNEWSLETTER