Kona Kai relaunch

Shawna Bubwona...you lookin' so nice! :D Congrats to you
— May 16, 2013 1:09 p.m.

Frank Zappa meets the Mahavishnu Orchestra

Oh yeah, also working with the Blitz Bros. AND RDG (Ray DiGiorgio). Keep an eye out, we've got some shows coming up.
— April 24, 2013 5:09 p.m.

Frank Zappa meets the Mahavishnu Orchestra

Wow! Awesome, possum! This is pretty amazing to see my mug in the big lights. Let me make a couple of corrections- • The Earl Thomas and the KOR album is actually a studio version, however right now it's sorta in limbo....licensing stuff and whatnot... • Mike Watson had a band called Schmaltz that was active up until the past few months or so. The band that was Schmaltz in the 1990's (Zak Najor, Chris Stillwell, Robert Walter) went on to form the GBA. The drums on the Watson stuff are pretty much completed and now we're adding other instruments and editing... I just tracked Justin James' new album with Andy Williams (the Williams Brothers) producing. Currently I'm playing the House of Blues on Wednesday nights as the "house drummer". It's a jam session so if'n you feel the urge to stop in cruise on down and play a few tunes! http://billraydrums.com http://billysbeats.com http://theoddgeteven.com Anyhow, I really appreciate the ink! :D
— April 24, 2013 4:46 p.m.

Tonga Ross-Ma'u Sextet live at Dizzy's

Some of the best times I've had playing music has been with Semisi, Tonga and Keli Ma'u. The depth of musicianship in that family is ridiculous.
— April 18, 2013 12:19 a.m.

Sulo King buys Black Box Studio, changes name to Iacon Sound

Good God man! I forgot all about that room. I did something there years ago and remembered it to be a very vibey, cool hang and we got good sounds in there. Congrats Sulo!
— December 27, 2012 3:14 p.m.

Another musician loses gear in 5th Ave/HOB garage break-in

http://google.com/alerts Set one up, be like Chuck Norris (without all the wingnut BS) and just wait. When you catch them, spank their feet bottoms with a rubber hose until they are screaming for mommy.
— December 19, 2012 10:56 p.m.

Weird noise manglers

Heya! Gonna be an awesome show. Here's an improv we did a few weeks back. https://soundcloud.com/billraydrums/niceworld-thi… http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/dec/0…
— December 7, 2012 6:36 p.m.

Blood money

Thom you can set up an online store with the help of http://ecwid.com an online shopping cart software that is free. If you need help shoot me an email.
— November 15, 2012 7:16 p.m.

Busted Drums

Here's something that every drummer who uses these drums needs to know. Oftentimes the sound crews don't even know this. If you play an instrument it's incumbent upon you to "keep up" with what will help you perform better. http://billraydrums.com/stuff/td20-offset.png When using the VH-12, the “VH Offset” needs to be set up. 1.Loosen the clutch of the top hi-hat and let it sit on the bottom hi-hat. * Do NOT touch the hi-hats or the pedal. 2.Hold down [KIT] and press [TRIGGER]. The “VH offset” parameter is set automatically. (approx.3 seconds) [TRIGGER] stops flashing and remains lit. If you need, make further adjustments to the parameters. Hi-Hat Settings [F3 (HI-HAT)] (p. 46) And therein lies part of the problem; operator error. They should provide a detailed simple list of instructions on how to make the most of these tools because 90% of the drummers I know do not understand how these things work. Hey, here's a link to the user manual for the TD-20. However, it's a ton of stuff that will glaze over the eyes of many but it's all there. Download it to your "Smartphone" and keep it handy. http://billraydrums.com/stuff/TD-20-manual.pdf One thing you cannot remedy via settings is a "busted" pad. It must be replaced. But you can "cheat" a little on a dying PD-105 (the snare pad) by reassigning the rim sound with a snare sound so you don't get that annoying "ping" that is synonymous with a rim strike. Just patch the snare sound through and through and it'll strike solid every time. Any other questions? Double triggering bass drum as in "it is too sensitive?" Gotta go into Trigger>kick the bass pad then dial up the "Threshold" setting. If you click "Lock" on the brain (It's one of the two buttons under the dial control) then you can kinda work on that trigger as you are playing; bump it up and down a little while you're playing and eventually it will feel natural. Once you dial everything in you'll most likely want to save it so go and dig through your old electronics drawer and find an old CF card under 1gb (newer brains can use those larger ones but the older brains max out at 512mb). Push the card in, select "Card" over on the left then "Save Kit" or whatever the dialogue box says. Now when you go to another casino you can slide the card in and select "card" and "Load" then scroll to the kit you want to load in. As a courtesy I always make a backup of what's there and leave things like I found them. ***CAUTION*** If you do use your own card at Valley View their brain is set up a bit different and there's a feedback loop that will occur; make sure Bill or any of those guys out therer are aware of your intentions and they'll walk you through getting your kit live. Also, you'll want to save a copy of that Valley View kit. OK, I hope this helps. Hey if I didn't give a damn I would not be spending all this time trying to get things fixed for us all; we'll see how it all turns out from here.
— October 18, 2012 11:13 a.m.

Busted Drums

Errata- I began playing at Viejas in 1993, it was 1998 that I fell through an open hole in the stage in the DC and tore my right shin open with a piece of metal. Got bandaged up, played the entire night and drove to the ER and got 9 stitches installed. Ended up paying my own medical bill as well. As a result I want nothing from the "V" other than what is coming to me, nothing extraneous expected. If they want me to pay for a coffee I would or bring my own. There' no anger, it's just the way it is for me. And DG didn't include the line I wanted him to- "How do you get a musician to complain? Give him a gig." Well I'm glad to hear that things were/are fixed. For the record, I've spent my own dime doing things like replacing the heads on the kit at Club M. I'm all about keeping the gear in good order and do what I can to make that happen. If I had parts for electronic kits I'd be fixing what I could. Also one thing to keep in mind is that the casinos have added these instruments to their gear list and as an instrumentalist who plays them, I've read the manuals and learned how to work these things. 99% of the drummers who use them do not. I even have a CF card with my kits that I've been maintaining for years and they work on every kit in town except the V-Lounge (Those drums are TD-9 model (mid-level) while the rest of the casinos use the TD-20 (pro level) drums). I've done my homework and could even be considered a specialist on the platform. I find it hard to believe that "no one has complained" because when this was all brewing there were many who were in complete agreement with me. I'm not going to name names but there's been a pretty good level of support. Anyhow, the tenor of this article makes me sound more than a bit stand-offish when it's really a proactive stance I'd like to portray here. If the drums are working now then great, glad to hear it. Not trying to stir anyone up here, just trying to get some better conditions for those who have to use these drums. The level of professionalism that is expected from us should be met with a sense of congruence all across the board. There are no attacks from me and I'm sorry that it had to come this far to even get a reasonable answer. What was I to do? I called, sent emails but got zero response. The silence spoke volumes. Well here we are.
— October 17, 2012 4:37 p.m.