The Heavenly Chillbillies Blog

Fixed High Pitch Squeal With Firewire In Ableton Live And Other Programs

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 17:33:24 GMT

Just wanted to post this so this will hopefully help people that have had the same issue.

There are tons of posts regarding various firewire audio interfaces including the phonic helix mixers, RME Fireface interfaces, MOTU Ultralite Etc. This happens on both Macs and PCs...generally on newer OSs (Windows 7 and MacOS 10.6).

It has very little to do with drivers for the hardware. It turns out it is a problem with the processor switching speeds...via Intel Speedstep and/or C states. I fixed my issue by disabling C States and SpeedStep altogether in my BIOS. (Dell Latitiude e6250)

For Windows 7 there is also a regitry change will change the latency of the OS telling the processor to change speeds. That fix can be found here (I did this also...but it wouldn't explain the issue on MACs.)

http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/kcs/document?c=us&cs=RC956904&docid=55913&doclang=en&l=en&s=hied

A combination of these three things fixed my problem...probably didn't need to do all three...but once it stopped being broken I moved on to better things :)

Hope this helps people out there.

Blog moved for now.

Mon, 19 Jul 2010 15:04:26 GMT

Hi everyone.

Just wanted to let you all know that for the time being I have moved the blog over to our official site at http://thcbillies.com

I’ll be posting there until I can find a better way to integrate wordpress in to our existing website.

Bunch of Festivals coming up.

Wed, 23 Jun 2010 13:42:47 GMT

In the next month or two we will be playing the Brockport BBQ and ArtFest at SUNY Brockport, Beat Fest, College Street Block Party, and the Buffalo Blues and BBQ Festival. Going to be a lot of fun and a lot of eating :)

The Jambulance has LANDED!

Wed, 23 Jun 2010 13:36:11 GMT

So...after much shopping...the official Jambulance has landed and is in my driveway. It's needs some work but should be up and ready to rock and/or roll in the next month or so.

People can be assholes no matter what side of the stage their on.

Sun, 23 May 2010 00:02:23 GMT

So…same night…two different places. Watching one show…and I have ‘that guy’ in my way…you know the one who just will not budge either direction even though you have asked politely several times for him to move…and then when you go to get passed him he moves in to you. Well he did that…even though we had been standing in the same spot for two hours…which was on the side…out of the way. Any how…I wound up grabbing him firmly by the back of the neck and informed him that he need not rant any longer…I has said excuse me 3x. Life goes on.

So an hour later…different venue, different show…I notice another annoying personality trait…this from some one who was going on the stage. What is the deal with musicians who just are too stressed out by a gig…so much so that they can’t talk and be normal to people. Playing a t shitty bar is such a big deal that they just can’t deal with it. Just a personal observation…but if you have been playing for 20+ years, and you are really tweaked out by a local show in your home town…at a bar…on any random night…maybe it’s time for you to find a new hobby.

THC begins their Biggets Loser (aka Least Fat Bastard) Contest.

Sat, 22 May 2010 23:53:34 GMT

So on Monday we got together and had our weigh-in followed by ‘the last supper’ at a Chinese Buffet in Cheektowaga (yes I know…the dinner should have been first ). Anyhow…the official beginning weights are Mike @ 200LB, Me/Gabe @ 225LB, and Big Earl at 300LB even. In the essence of full disclosure Earl had his boots on so he’ll were them for the future weigh ins. Pictures of the weigh-in to follow shortly.

Once I figure out the best way to have the fans vote on who they think will win I’ll let everyone know.

–Gabe

So we're buying the 'Jambulance' this weekend!

Sat, 22 May 2010 02:30:53 GMT

So we are buying a 1984 Ford Ambulance this weekend. With some love and care it will become the ‘Jambulance’…a diesel powered mobile performance/touring unit. When done it will have everything we need to get us on the road including the ability to sleep three, haul all of the gear…and most importantly…be able to pull up and play anywhere at a moments notice without unloading anything! Will post ‘before’ pics as soon as we procure it!

THC to headline the Buffalo Blues and BBQ Fest

Thu, 13 May 2010 02:50:00 GMT

We are happy and super PROUD to announce that we have been named the headliner for the First Annual Buffalo Blues and BBQ Festival in LaSalle Park. Their will be food, drinks, kid's areas, vendors and more. It will be taking place in Lasalle Park on 8/7 from 12-8p.

So I'm designing business cards for the band.

Thu, 22 Apr 2010 03:00:09 GMT

I came up with what I think is a pretty good design for a band business card. I got the type that folds in half…like two business cards hinged together. I have the logo on the outside. A 2010 calendar on the inside and all of the contact info including all the guys names, their instruments, facebook, web, twitter…all that.

I think this is going to be very handy. Let’s say I’m talking to someone. Give them the card…logo makes the first impression, then I can highlight our next show on the calendar and write down when/where…and all of the contact info is on the back. It makes an impression, acts as a flyer, and has all the important info. $50.00 for 1000 of them at vista print? Not too shabby. Like this idea? Have a way to improve it? Let me know.

Just got the first song back from being mixed!

Wed, 21 Apr 2010 11:35:37 GMT

About a month ago me and the guys went out to Tempermental Studios in Geneseo, New York to make a record. Tempermental is owned by Mike Brown our close friend and beautifully talented producer. The studio itself is a work of art…kind of a cross between a studio, a history museum, and a bed and breakfast. It was built in a church that dates back to the early 1800′s and to say the least…it is one of the most creative and inspirational places I have ever been.

Anyhow we got the first mix of the first song today and it sounds incredible. I’ll post it at thcbillies.com shortly.

Thanks Mike!

A little about me, The Heavenly Chillbillies, and where we're at now.

Fri, 16 Apr 2010 14:33:34 GMT

So as you may or may not know…I am Gabrial Mayer and I am the guitar player for a band called the Heavenly Chillbillies. It’s a three piece band that plays blues, country, rock n’ roll, rock-a-billy, and a bunch of other stuff. We like to call it Booze-Infused-Americana. We love to play and write about the things that interest us most…mainly women, having a good time, and drinking beer Earl Irving play’s bass and Mike Olzak plays the drums. We also have a fourth guy named Mike Brown who plays a lot with us (more about him later). We affectionately call him the fourth wobbly wheel. Mike is also a very talented solo artist and producer who just helped us make our first record which should be ready to go in a few months.

Right now we’ve been together for about 2 years, and have played about 75 small shows in bars in the Buffalo, NY metro area. Now that we have finally made our first record, and have honed our live show, we are ready to take it to the next level. This blog is going to chronicle from this point on.

A little about us. I like to fish, am an avid gamer (read that: I am straight up addicted to Lord of the Rings Online), and a bartender. Mike has been playing drums for 25 years and owns Majestic Pizza in Cheektowaga, NY. Earl has been playing bass professionally for 35 years, likes to ride his motorcycle, and mooch food and beer from Mike and I . Mike and Earl have been playing together for many years and moved out to Boston together when they were kids to become rock stars. I met Earl a few years ago at the bar I work at…and wound up joining their band a month or two later. Sparks flew and the rest is history.

The First Post In Hopefully A Long Journey

Fri, 16 Apr 2010 13:52:17 GMT

Hi,

My name is Gabrial Mayer. I am the guitar player in a band called The Heavenly Chillbillies. I have been playing guitar for 20 years and have been in dozens of bands and now, at the age of 35, I have finally found MY BAND. I love the guys (more on them later), I love the music, the vibe…everything about it. So now, years after I had given up on the childhood dreams of being a big time rock star, I have decided to give it one more shot. And I’m going to give it my all.

This blog is intended to chronicle the journey. I may succeed and I may fail…but at least I will know that I gave it a shot. I also intend for this blog to be a resource to other independent musicians as I plan to document the steps I take to get to where I want to be. Making my band’s website, learning to blog, learning how to market on the internet, recording, creating and selling merchandise, buying a vehicle to tour with, writing songs, making an independent record, booking shows, touring, and everything in between.

So how did I wind up here? Writing my first blog entry? I found a GREAT guide for musicians regarding internet marketing written by Ariel Hyatt of Cyber PR. You can find it here. If you sign up on her site she will send you a free .pdf file that goes in depth on how to use the internet to market yourself. And one of the thing’s it says is to start blogging…so I figured what a better thing to blog about then my adventures in trying to make it as an artist. So here it goes.

This will either be one of a few posts that winds up being a fleeting bit of motivation…or the beginning of many. My hope is for the later and my goal is to be touring as a full time musician in two years from the start of this post. I don’t plan on being on MTV or winning a Grammy. I just want to be on the road, making a humble living, playing the music that I love. Wish me/us luck. Check back often and see how we’re progressing and hopefully we’ll be playing in a town near you soon.