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Title: Colorblind Chameleon
Post by: Mac on September 16, 2013, 11:03:14 am
Colorblind Chameleon (http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i266/Chiprocks1/Star%20Ratings/HTL_05star.gif)(http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i266/Chiprocks1/Star%20Ratings/HTL_05star.gif)

Well guys, I’ve unofficially launched our bands website.

We are Colorblind Chameleon (http://www.colorblindchameleon.net/)

While it was fun working with band names, it did start to get frustrating. Everything, it seemed, was taken. In fact if you’ll notice colorblindchameleon.com is taken. We are colorblindchameleon.net. From all indications, the .com means little today. Linked up with Facebook and think we are covered.

It just hit us while shooting the ****. It’s humorous and catchy. Anyway, I think it is.

So I bought the name through Go Daddy and that comes some templates. I chose this simple but elegant one. I do want to acknowledge you guys for alternative web building sites. I appreciate it.

Check it out. I’m open for suggestions, critique, etc. Right now it's using most of the template properties, so ignore the pictures. To be replaced with more relevant images.

I think our band requirements are pretty basic. About us, our music, how to contact us, and where we will be performing. Down the road, some video’s perhaps. The link to Facebook, I guess will keep current.

I asked my nephew to maybe draw up some designs for a logo and font layup for the name. Thinking about the website and a banner we would be putting up at the site. He said he’s busy, I get that. So maybe we will, maybe we won’t get something.




oh. wait, I wasn't supposed to 'rate' the site was I
Title: Re: Colorblind Chameleon
Post by: Mac on September 23, 2013, 06:12:11 am
Made a few updates. Mostly with images. Some behind the scenes stuff.

Much more to do.
Title: Re: Colorblind Chameleon
Post by: Mac on January 15, 2014, 07:56:36 am
Well, we practiced for the first time in two weeks (snow issues) and we were all rusty. WTF. As Bango said, we are not going to get far practicing blue moon style.

Even though I've been practicing everyday at home, it's different when with the guys.
Title: Re: Colorblind Chameleon
Post by: Chiprocks1 on January 15, 2014, 08:38:55 am
First off, congrats on your progress with your band, the name, the website and your drumming.

But WTF! How come this thread never popped up till now?
Title: Re: Colorblind Chameleon
Post by: Chiprocks1 on January 15, 2014, 08:40:33 am
FYI, that neon kit better be on tour when you land in San Diego.
Title: Re: Colorblind Chameleon
Post by: Chiprocks1 on January 15, 2014, 08:44:00 am
As for suggestions, once you feel comfortable and in sync with each other as a band, you need to do 3-5 song set list and video tape it and of course post it so that those clicking on the site will know exactly the type of band you guys are. You know this already, but just reminding you should things slip through the cracks.
Title: Re: Colorblind Chameleon
Post by: Mac on January 15, 2014, 09:33:14 am
Quote
But WTF! How come this thread never popped up till now?

I have noticed a time or two in the past at looking at the 'unread' links, that once I go read one and then click on 'unread' again, it's gone. So I've missed some in the past. Not often, but I know I have.

Quote
As for suggestions, once you feel comfortable and in sync with each other as a band, you need to do 3-5 song set list and video tape it and of course post it so that those clicking on the site will know exactly the type of band you guys are. You know this already, but just reminding you should things slip through the cracks.

Funny you mention that. Tony, the Guitarist, set up the basement over the break. Added lights and such. He also just went out and bought a HD video with mic. We in fact started to record. 1) for the guys to slowly get used to the jitters. We will slowly start inviting friends and family. 2) Figure out camera and audio stuff. 3) put those video's online to help us land those gigs.

You're right... good suggestions.  We're getting there. ;)
Title: Re: Colorblind Chameleon
Post by: Mac on January 15, 2014, 09:42:14 am
While I'm generally happy with the website... there are still some graphic elements I want to do. I just need to figure out how to do them.
One of the guys bought a very cool graphic of a chameleon. I'm assuming we can use it for a variety of purposes.

Also some technical stuff like linking the site to facebook, etc.
Title: Re: Colorblind Chameleon
Post by: Mac on January 16, 2014, 11:51:19 am
Quote

Funny you mention that. Tony, the Guitarist, set up the basement over the break. Added lights and such. He also just went out and bought a HD video with mic. We in fact started to record. 1) for the guys to slowly get used to the jitters.

Ta-da... Tony just sent me a video. Take it all in boys and girls. This will definitely go on our outtakes and rarities album.

As I said, just beginning to trial out the camera, the stage, the sound, etc.

December - Colorblind Chameleon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5U56qfniXw

Note to self: I'm on camera, quit picking the nose.
Title: Re: Colorblind Chameleon
Post by: Chiprocks1 on January 16, 2014, 12:19:13 pm
Dude, that was awesome! No lie. I'm actually very impressed with the quality of playing given that the band is fairly new. Would love to see more. Play Freebird!  ;D Seriously, give me some more!! Props to everyone in the band.
Title: Re: Colorblind Chameleon
Post by: Mac on January 16, 2014, 01:37:54 pm
Thanks bud

I'm a perfectionist. Since this was a test, I'm hoping we create something a little more polished and post that instead. Did you see/hear my mistake?

Yea, we'll get more out. Like you said, if anything, for places to sample our stuff and know what we do.

Dave, The singer/guitarist just picked up the guitar when we got together. So for him to learn guitar and sing and such, is quite the accomplishment.

I work pretty hard at it too. I know the other two guys do too. Love the approach we all are taking.
Title: Re: Colorblind Chameleon
Post by: Chiprocks1 on January 16, 2014, 01:42:59 pm
Didn't hear any mistakes.

One suggestion is to zoom out just a bit so that the band doesn't look like its jammed into a sardine can. I know you guys probably have a small rehearsal space, but I think just zooming out would still be a good thing in presenting the band as a whole.
Title: Re: Colorblind Chameleon
Post by: Mac on January 16, 2014, 02:52:56 pm
Yea. He had the camera at the same position as some curtain wall he hung up. Thinking now, that curtain wall is unnecessary... And move the camera back to capture more.

Again, this was a real quick test.

I found him a slick little video on how to build a DIY steadicam for $15. If his wife or whoever takes on the shooting duties, we could have a little more dynamics going on.
Title: Graphic Manipulation
Post by: Mac on January 22, 2014, 09:06:33 am
Graphic Manipulation

Gentlemen, I have a project in mind and need some advice/guidance/assistance

For the band Colorblind Chameleon (http://www.colorblindchameleon.net/), we want to add graphic elements. They include physical things like banners for the stage and virtual like web pages.

Found a graphic/photo quality of something we would like to use. We will purchase the graphic and use it within the seller’s guidelines (this will not be our logo).

The help I need is how to work with the graphic in a couple of different ways. I only have Inkscape and Gimp for graphic manipulation. I guess I could get a free copy of Paint Shop Pro too?


1)
What I’m looking to do is be able to add this image to banner and web pages minus the ‘white’ background of the graphic. A Transparent background, so wherever I add it, the background of the banner/web page is viewable. What’s that process called and how do I go about doing that?

2)
Another issue is the ‘shadow of the chameleon’ the graphic has. How do I get rid of that? Take a look at similar graphic we are thinking about.
Robot Chameleon (http://gallery.mobile9.com/f/2127295/)
Speaking of background, what would be the recommendation for this graphic? Light? Dark? Fade? Pattern? Solid?

3)
To take this project a step further, on the web page I would love for this graphic to change shades of color. Fade through various colors. Or maybe parts of it. How would I accomplish that? Is that generating a .gif image?
Title: Re: Graphic Manipulation
Post by: Chiprocks1 on January 22, 2014, 09:17:54 am
I don't see any image other than the name on your site, so I can't go into specifics regarding that. But if all you want is just the logo and no background, you will want to delete the background (the white as you say) and then be sure to click Transparency (in Photoshop) and save as a GIF file. It's the only file extension that allows for transparency.

Animating changing colors can be done a couple of ways, depending on how seamless you want the animation to be. You could do a series of still images with different colors and then animate within Photoshop. But I don't know how smoothly it would appear once it's on your site. Might have to try a test to see how it works out. The other way would be in After Effects. But that is a bit more complicated and since I don't even have the most current version to do so, you would want to export it out as a FLV file to drop into your website. Try searching on YouTube and be very specific about what you're trying to do and what programs you have access to. This will narrow down your search considerably and you might get lucky and find exactly what it is you're after.
Title: Re: Graphic Manipulation
Post by: Chiprocks1 on January 22, 2014, 09:20:19 am
FYI, the first place I go to is YouTube whenever I have a certain idea or FX that I want to accomplish is to check and see if there are already tutorials for the exact thing I want and 99.99% of the time, I get a hit for what I'm looking for.
Title: Re: Graphic Manipulation
Post by: Mac on January 22, 2014, 10:54:09 am
Good idea about youtube. In part, that's why I was asking what the process was called.

I'd hate to youtube search on something I didn't know what it was

You might have missed the Robot Chameleon link (http://gallery.mobile9.com/f/2127295/)?

and then you can enlarge the image to big
Title: Re: Graphic Manipulation
Post by: Mac on January 22, 2014, 11:16:25 am
How do you 'select' all but the background?
Title: Re: Graphic Manipulation
Post by: Chiprocks1 on January 22, 2014, 11:26:20 am
Quote from: Mac on January 22, 2014, 11:16:25 am
How do you 'select' all but the background?

Well in photoshop, you would duplicate the image. Then you select the top new duplicated layer. Use the Magic Wand tool to select the solid background color (white color as you said) and then hit delete key on keyboard. This will knock out the color, leaving a checkerboard graphic where the white color use to be. All you have to do after that is save the image out as a GIF file.

Tell you what, just post the image in this thread so that I can grab it and then convert it for ya. This is probably going over your head anyway.  ;)
Title: Re: Graphic Manipulation
Post by: Chiprocks1 on January 22, 2014, 12:06:28 pm
Robot Lizard

(http://i.imgur.com/qjB0RNZ.gif)

This was a pain in the ass. I had separate the background from the Robot by hand because there were too many spots that were blending into one another to use the Magic Wand. Took about 45 minutes. I have to go back in and clean up the halo fx because you can see some of the white is still there. Ack!

UPDATE: All cleaned up
Title: Re: Graphic Manipulation
Post by: Mac on January 22, 2014, 03:23:26 pm
Good Gawd that is gorgeous. Wow Chip, you didn't have to do that

You know some s hit. I don't know why all those people say bad things about you.

No, seriously that is an awesome job.

Thank you so much.
Title: Re: Graphic Manipulation
Post by: Mac on January 22, 2014, 04:25:54 pm
OHMYGAWD....

I just threw the image on there to see how it looks.

Take a look (http://www.colorblindchameleon.net/home.html)

That is exactly what I was thinking of. Chip, you da man.

(http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i266/Chiprocks1/Smilies/0%20All%20Smilies/carrot.gif) Now I know there is a lot going there, but graphic wise, that is what I was looking for. (http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i266/Chiprocks1/Smilies/0%20All%20Smilies/banana.gif)
Title: Re: Graphic Manipulation
Post by: Chiprocks1 on January 22, 2014, 04:37:28 pm
Very cool. Glad I could help.  :)
Title: Re: Graphic Manipulation
Post by: Chiprocks1 on January 22, 2014, 04:38:39 pm
Think we should merge this thread with your existing Colorblind thread to keep them all in one? That way you can track all your steps from it's birth all the way to the Grammy's. I want front row seats, b*tch!
Title: Re: Graphic Manipulation
Post by: Mac on January 23, 2014, 03:54:12 am
We can. I know I'll have more stuff regarding graphics, art, etc.
Title: Re: Colorblind Chameleon
Post by: Chiprocks1 on January 23, 2014, 05:09:51 am
Consider it meeeeeeeeeeeeeeerged.
Title: Re: Colorblind Chameleon
Post by: Mac on January 23, 2014, 06:11:51 am
Yazum - that works.
Title: Re: Colorblind Chameleon
Post by: Chiprocks1 on March 02, 2014, 07:29:41 am
We want UPDATES! We want UPDATES! We want UPDATES! We want UPDATES! We want UPDATES! We want UPDATES! We want UPDATES!
Title: Re: Colorblind Chameleon
Post by: Mac on March 02, 2014, 10:52:53 am
Uh... added 3 more video's.
Reduced the size of the chameleon too. Thought it was too big for the page

The Kryptonite song is being performed by the band's old singer. Our current singer Dave is out on business and Kurt steps in on occasion.

We've added doing Learn to Fly by the Foo Fighters. Dayum the opening drum beat was throwing me there for awhile. It shows in that video.

Also decided to pick up Wicked Games (Chris Isaak) for a slow song.

Colorblind Chameleon (http://www.colorblindchameleon.net/home.html)

Title: Re: Colorblind Chameleon
Post by: Mac on March 02, 2014, 10:58:50 am
On a side note, my wife and I were invited to a private Birthday Party event and they hired a local band BOOM  (http://www.boomstl.com/html/schedule.html)to perform.

They are a wedding band and did what they do best. It was OK. I thought they sounded shrill. They were performing in a big basement, but still they could have go the sound balanced. The girl singer was meh. The guy singer did very well. The band played decent. The guitarist was almost inaudible. I guess relying on voices for their performances.
Title: Re: Colorblind Chameleon
Post by: Mac on March 12, 2014, 06:29:07 am
Last nights practice we focused on just a few songs. Shine by Collective Soul. Come Together by The Beatles and Learn To Fly by Foo Fighters. Learn to Fly and Shine are both new to me, in the sense, I’ve never played them before literally and mentally in my head. They are more complicated than I originally thought. We’ve been playing for about 2 months, but we tore them apart for the first time last night. I was playing most of the drumming very messy. Not really close to the original. Tony, the guitarist, knows his stuff and helped me figure out what was going on.

I’m just enjoying the hell out of this. Learning songs. Taking on challenges. It can be scary and frustrating, and especially embarrassing. But I’ve already proven to myself, I will get it. It just takes practice, practice, practice.



Title: Re: Colorblind Chameleon
Post by: Mac on August 12, 2014, 09:01:52 am
I am many things today… Frustrated, ****ed, Sad, confused.

Part of the band imploded last week. Things boiled and came to a head and they kicked the singer out, because his did not communicate well and missed several practices due to job and personal travel. And he was learning the guitar very slowly.

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck me.

So I had to ask what was going on. A brief explanation followed up, they are going to ask their old singer to come back.

F uck.

They dropped him earlier a few years back… because he was an alcoholic. Always drunk at practice and the gigs. F uck that.
Also, since he doesn’t have a good memory, he sings with lyric sheets in front of him. At gigs… Double F uck that.
And the kicker is he has a deep gravely voice, so the band focused on old rock where his voice works. Triple F uck. That kind of music is OK for a few songs, but I don’t think people wanna hear that much. The ones that do have two teeth, smoke and drink a lot in some hole in wall bar.

None of this sounds appealing to me. I want to entertain. Play fun songs ‘everyone loves’.

Almost 2 years practicing and nothing and this new future with these guys is taking a hard turn and steps back.

Gahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh


Guess my avatar is very appropriate today.
Title: Re: Colorblind Chameleon
Post by: Chiprocks1 on August 12, 2014, 09:38:10 am
Man, that sucks. I was actually thinking about where your band was a few weeks ago. I figured that with no new updates you guys were deep into rehearsals and possibly doing live gigs, which I for one was looking forward to seeing, albeit by way of video. But still wanted to see you rockin' the joint LIVE! Bummer to hear that things kind of hit the fan. Was really hoping that this was going to work out for you cause I know your passion for playing the drums is high. Don't let this discourage you one bit dude. Stay the course, keep playing and pounding those skins. When one door closes.....another opens. One comment from my perspective regarding any singer that has to have lyric sheets in front of them........GOOD RIDDANCE! Nothing screams 'amateur' than someone that can't be bothered to memorize their f*cking songs! What the f*ck!
Title: Re: Colorblind Chameleon
Post by: Mac on August 12, 2014, 09:45:40 am
Quote
One comment from my perspective regarding any singer that has to have lyric sheets in front of them........GOOD RIDDANCE! Nothing screams 'amateur' than someone that can't be bothered to memorize their f*cking songs! What the f*ck!

Exactly... I will not stand for that.

We actually had September 6 as our introductory gig date. It was at the Bass Player's house who lives by a lake. It was billed as Rock the Dock to the lake homes and family and friends. Motherfu ck.

Oh, I'm not going to let this stop me. I might be frustrated, sad and mad, but I'm moving forward... somehow.

I like these guys and they are good, but we need a plan... Direction... quality.

I'm pretty sure the guitarist is also frustrated but to me he's taking the quick easy lazy way with calling on a old singer. As the Bass Player says, we are not a power trio. We need another guitar or keyboards. Just a vocalist is really limiting.
Title: Re: Colorblind Chameleon
Post by: Chiprocks1 on August 12, 2014, 09:57:04 am
I'm sure you have already voiced your concerns with the rest of the band, but I will play devils advocate here and just reiterate the obvious just in case you haven't. Just talk to them and point out why he was kicked out of the band in the first place and what the issues were that led to his exodus. Then ask them if the problems have ever been resolved (my guess is the answer is 'no') and then ask them if they think the problem will ever be fixed. The answer will most likely be the same as before, at which point ask them firmly if they want to waste another 2 years 'babying' him only to realize they have to find another singer that can actually bring their A-Game. If you call them on the idea of willing wanting to waste another couple of years out of their precious time, you'd be surprise at how many people will get their 'Wake-up' call. And if by chance they offer you lame excuses like "he's changed or this time it will be different', then you need to seriously question whether this is the band for you. If they do offer lame reasons to keep him, personally I would just look for another band as this would be a dead end situation. There's plenty of bands out there that are looking for a serious drummer that can bring it. Mac, don't sell yourself short. I've seen you drumming in the video's you posted and you've got skills that shouldn't be wasted in a band that's not willing to seek out a solution that moves forward.....not backwards. Just my 2 cents.
Title: Re: Colorblind Chameleon
Post by: Mac on August 12, 2014, 10:15:39 am
First, thank you for your thoughts. I appreciate them.

And agree on everything mention. This implosion happened so quickly and within the last week and without warning, so I haven't even had an opportunity to talk to the guys about this 'new direction'. That's the other thing, it suddenly happened. I really didn't see things peculating per se. I had some concerns, but nothing this rash.

Quote
Just talk to them and point out why he was kicked out of the band in the first place and what the issues were that led to his exodus. Then ask them if the problems have ever been resolved (my guess is the answer is 'no') and then ask them if they think the problem will ever be fixed. The answer will most likely be the same as before, at which point ask them firmly if they want to waste another 2 years 'babying' him only to realize they have to find another singer that can actually bring their A-Game.

I cannot stand drunks and have zero tolerance. In fact when the boys asked me to try out way back when, they discussed just this issue about drinking, attendance, commitment. I will have no problem of letting them all know, I don't have time for that drama. I'm old.

Quote
If you call them on the idea of willing wanting to waste another couple of years out of their precious time, you'd be surprise at how many people will get their 'Wake-up' call. And if by chance they offer you lame excuses like "he's changed or this time it will be different', then you need to seriously question whether this is the band for you. If the do offer lame reasons to keep him, personally I would just look for another band as this would be a dead end situation.

So, since I have very little to go on, I'm assuming they would revert back to the old songs this guy knows. I'm pretty sure he doesn't have the vocals to doing the songs we are now familiar with. Either way, it sounds very questionable to the making of entertaining band. Not to long ago, the guys told me about a guitar player they had who had a drinking problem. Put up with him for 6 months of practice and then the first gig he fell down while playing. The walked away from that band configuration that night.

Gawd, now that has me thinking.

Quote
There's plenty of bands out there that are looking for a serious drummer that can bring it. Mac, don't sell yourself short.

I know. I've come a long way since first joining and since those videos. I think I can hold my own and I've always been up for the challenge. Challenge to me to get the song right. Not to just play anything. I've actually taken a sneak peak into Craigs List. Also found a web site that help find people for bands and bands that need people.


Title: Re: Colorblind Chameleon
Post by: Mac on August 12, 2014, 10:21:34 am
I love these guys and appreciate their asking me. Being patient with me and teaching me. But I have no illusions about running in place or worse taking steps back.

And in a direction I'm not thrilled about. That's it. I need to be thrilled about the direction, otherwise the passion will fade or die.
Title: Re: Colorblind Chameleon
Post by: Chiprocks1 on August 12, 2014, 10:53:55 am
I have faith in you brother!  :)
Title: Re: Colorblind Chameleon
Post by: Mac on August 22, 2014, 07:44:33 am
Colorblind Chameleon is Over

A complete shock to me. It happened swiftly and quietly. I’m pretty confused, frustrated, sad, angry and everything else.

The guitarist wrote a 1 paragraph email talking about how he’s thought about it for a while. He’s not progressing as a musician, just maintaining. No more cover bands, no more band. He’s taking a break.

WTF, we just spent 21 months practicing and for it to suddenly stop? That’s a lot of freaking time to put in to just suddenly quit without warning. Dayum. He has definitely has lost my respect. I do appreciate him embracing me and teaching me things. I’ve come a long way and feel pretty good about my skills. But that does not come close to someone pulling the rug from my feet. We had our first planned gig in 2 weeks. To be so close and this happen. Phuck me.

My wife is not surprised. She’s worked with him on a professional level (he’s a carpenter/contractor by trade) and told me when he gets an idea to do something, it comes swift without warning.

It got me down the first day, but I said phuck it and I’m plunging forward. I contacted the Bass player (a friend of mine) and asked if he wanted to continue forward and he said yes. I guess it’s a matter of a sit down and figuring what to do next. I have ideas definitely for me. Hopefully they mesh with his.

So I guess this thread is over.

But I'll continue on with something else with my new journey's. I'm scared, excited, determined, passionate. Wish me luck.

What should the new thread be?
Title: Re: Colorblind Chameleon
Post by: Chiprocks1 on August 22, 2014, 08:05:47 am
Sorry to hear about the abrubt end to the band. But as I said before, one door closes...another opens. Look at this way, you've already got your Bass player on board. Now YOU get to put the band together and make sure it's the right personel instead of having to live under a cloud of uncertainty. This is going to be YOUR band and for that, I'm very excited to see what you can build.

As for the next thread, I'd go with something like Mac's Garage Band Experience or Mac's Music Project Thread as this is more open ended and can be used to track everything you're doing musically rather than a specific band project. I'll leave it up to you for obvious reasons since you never took my suggestion for Mac and Cheese.  ;D
Title: Re: Colorblind Chameleon
Post by: Mac on August 22, 2014, 09:43:36 am
Wasn't Mac & Cheese a cartoon or kids movie? Wait, that was Mac & Me (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095560/?ref_=nv_sr_2)

Yea, I know about new windows and I'll look for them.

Let me think about the thread a bit more.
Title: Re: Colorblind Chameleon
Post by: Chiprocks1 on September 28, 2014, 09:21:26 am
Hey Dawg, any updates of new band? Name?