Vai Academy 6.0 - 2022, Las Vegas

TSJMajesty said:
Well then isn't that a bit of false advertising? I mean, if for example, let's say half the reason I decided to go was because FAS was there, and then they weren't, I'd be pretty pissed. Otoh, it does say Fractal "Designs", which isn't the name of the company, right? Although it's still close enough that I thought it meant FAS would be represented. Hmmm...
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Read the actual announcement on the website and not a partial picture?

The full section of that page says this:

49A51281-3858-491B-B1B4-F4678AE1DDAF.jpeg
 
I'll probably try to get to this...I've been to the Paul Gilbert one this past summer, 2x Petrucci, and 2x Satriani (of which Vai was at one of them), but haven't actually done a Vai Academy yet.

Timing is a bit of a challenge (?) as I'll also be doing the Andy Wood camp again at the end of August, which I usually drive to and make an extended week out of...perhaps a longer road trip will be in order next year. I'm spoiled as 4 out of those 5 that I've been to have been less than 2 hours driving distance for me.

The 10% discount before Halloween is nice (basically offsets the tax) but they've traditionally done an Alumni discount at some point as well, @unix-guy probably knows what I'm talking about as far as finding/waiting for the best deal with various promos and such, lol. Got a few weeks to figure it out.

Definitely one of the cooler Vai Academy lineups as far as my tastes are concerned.
 
vetteboy79 said:
Timing is a bit of a challenge (?) as I'll also be doing the Andy Wood camp again at the end of August, which I usually drive to and make an extended week out of...perhaps a longer road trip will be in order next year. I'm spoiled as 4 out of those 5 that I've been to have been less than 2 hours driving distance for me.
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Not seeing a new Woodshed Experience announced. The one I'm seeing online is for August 2021. You can still register there :)

Do you have knowledge there will be another one in August 2022? Honest question.
 
Henry said:
Not seeing a new Woodshed Experience announced. The one I'm seeing online is for August 2021. You can still register there :)

Do you have knowledge there will be another one in August 2022? Honest question.
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At the one this past August, they extended a pretty good discount to anyone who wanted to register for the 2022 event if we did it in-person that week.

So I've paid for something that will be happening the last weekend of August 2022. If you're interested, I'd make sure to leave that date open...don't really know much beyond that, but Andy and the venue both really want to make it happen :)
 
vetteboy79 said:
At the one this past August, they extended a pretty good discount to anyone who wanted to register for the 2022 event if we did it in-person that week.

So I've paid for something that will be happening the last weekend of August 2022. If you're interested, I'd make sure to leave that date open...don't really know much beyond that, but Andy and the venue both really want to make it happen :)
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Thanks, appreciate that insight!
 
Silvertree said:
These events always say that "any level of player is welcome." I've always wondered how true that is.
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I'm sure everyone would be welcome, but I doubt someone with skills that are, less-than-they-feel-confident-with, shall we say, would be willing to drop 2500 bucks, plus plane fare, tax, etc. on an event such as this. There'd be no better time though, to get your playing to a level that's squarely within your comfort zone. I'd be so nervous...
 
Regarding ability level, I'd say don't let that be a hangup for you, if it is. From the one I went to that @unix-guy mentioned, "any level of player is welcome" was definitely true, and there was a very wide array of ability levels represented. An extreme example... there was one guy who spent his whole jam with Steve quite literally playing 2 notes in a slow shuffle for a minute or so, then changing to 2 other seemingly random notes for a few minutes, and so on. But Steve and the band just went with it for a good 4-5 minutes and really worked hard with him to make it into something musical. Then you'd see someone get up there and totally tear it up, with most of us landing somewhere in between on the intermediate spectrum. I never heard anyone in the crowd making any rude comments or anything about beginner level performances, everyone just seemed positive and just happy to be experiencing the event.

Personally, I never know where to rate my ability level and am generally very self conscious about what I'm capable of and any mistakes I make, so I was very nervous and nearly didn't go as a result. But my wife convinced me to get over it, so I went. When I got there, before I even checked into my room, I joined a small group hanging out with @Larry Mitchell and the vibe was so chill and positive I knew it was going to be good and my anxiety melted away. Two days later, trading licks with Plini in Stig Mathisen's jam room felt downright natural, even as he slowly upped the ante until I had no idea how he just played what he played. Jamming with Steve and the band, same thing; it felt like we were engaging musically and they're such top rate, pro musicians, they can really adapt to what the jam needs. My roomate who was coming off of several years not playing and was in between novice and intermediate skill level felt the same way. We talked every night about how positive the atmosphere was, and how great of an experience we were having.

TL;DR "All levels are welcome" seemed to be true in my one experience two years ago.
 
Silvertree said:
These events always say that "any level of player is welcome." I've always wondered how true that is.
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Very much so. I've been to 5 Dreamcatcher events and 3 similar independent events, and there is zero competition. Sure there are always a few guys who will shred their ass off at any available opportunity in a 'hey look at me!' attempt, but no one cares, and those people largely get ignored.

The master classes are largely more general / philosophical in approach, rather than just technique and theory. The breakout sessions are the ones that can get into nitty details, but at the same time there are always breakouts (and jam rooms) structured for people who barely know the intrument.

TSJMajesty said:
I'm sure everyone would be welcome, but I doubt someone with skills that are, less-than-they-feel-confident-with, shall we say, would be willing to drop 2500 bucks, plus plane fare, tax, etc. on an event such as this. There'd be no better time though, to get your playing to a level that's squarely within your comfort zone. I'd be so nervous...
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You'd be surprised, that probably describes at least about a third of the people at any given one of these things. I've met plenty of people who didn't even bring a guitar. One guy at the Paul Gilbert camp this past summer had been to two previous camps and finally decided to join the main pub jam for the first time, and had a blast. The stereotype of the 'blues lawyer' is also real; guys in retirement who maybe loved Steve Vai their whole life but never had a chance to learn guitar, and finally have the time (and means) to dive into it with an experience like this.

At the jams I find myself on bass, keys, or drums more often than guitar, because I play out at least 1-2 nights per week around here and it's way more fun for me to help support a guy who's never played outside his bedroom before get up there and bust out a 12-bar jam or an AC/DC track with a full band.

Then you always have the 13-year-old kid who makes us 20+ year veterans look like chumps :grinning: all walks of life at these things for sure.

The only people I've ever seen walk away with a negative impression from one of these are those with unrealistic expectations. No you're not going to have 1-on-1 lesson time with every single instructor. No you're not going to spend 4 days and leave with the ability of Vai. It doesn't matter that you shredded your ass off at the jam, Vai already has a second guitarist and doesn't need you on his next tour.

You'll likely walk away with some cool things to integrate into your practicing and playing, some new approaches to the instrument/songwriting/lead crafting, maybe some new tone ideas, a shitload of great memories and experiences, and as I'm sure @unix-guy will agree, lots of great friendships. Truthfully the artists, workshops, and concerts are only a part of why I keep going back to these things. Being immersed in this kind of environment for 4 days, with likeminded people, and especially fellow alumni that keep coming back as well, is really what it's about.

(at a John Petrucci camp a few years ago, I also walked away with some tips for setting up my AX8 thanks to @Admin M@ , and they actually distributed Petrucci's delay block to everyone after talking about how he sets up his stereo delay timing etc. I still use that in my live rig. Sucks that FAS won't have a presence there, that was always very helpful)

Happy to talk more about how these things go if anyone has questions.
 
vetteboy79 said:
You'd be surprised, that probably describes at least about a third of the people at any given one of these things. I've met plenty of people who didn't even bring a guitar. One guy at the Paul Gilbert camp this past summer had been to two previous camps and finally decided to join the main pub jam for the first time, and had a blast. The stereotype of the 'blues lawyer' is also real; guys in retirement who maybe loved Steve Vai their whole life but never had a chance to learn guitar, and finally have the time (and means) to dive into it with an experience like this.
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Ok, that makes a lot of sense.
So how do they handle amplification for the jams, when you have several guitarists on stage together? Do they just have a certain # of amps set up, and that's how many people are able to jam at one time?
 
Dale LeClaire said:
Regarding ability level, I'd say don't let that be a hangup for you, if it is. From the one I went to that @unix-guy mentioned, "any level of player is welcome" was definitely true, and there was a very wide array of ability levels represented. An extreme example... there was one guy who spent his whole jam with Steve quite literally playing 2 notes in a slow shuffle for a minute or so, then changing to 2 other seemingly random notes for a few minutes, and so on. But Steve and the band just went with it for a good 4-5 minutes and really worked hard with him to make it into something musical. Then you'd see someone get up there and totally tear it up, with most of us landing somewhere in between on the intermediate spectrum. I never heard anyone in the crowd making any rude comments or anything about beginner level performances, everyone just seemed positive and just happy to be experiencing the event.

Personally, I never know where to rate my ability level and am generally very self conscious about what I'm capable of and any mistakes I make, so I was very nervous and nearly didn't go as a result. But my wife convinced me to get over it, so I went. When I got there, before I even checked into my room, I joined a small group hanging out with @Larry Mitchell and the vibe was so chill and positive I knew it was going to be good and my anxiety melted away. Two days later, trading licks with Plini in Stig Mathisen's jam room felt downright natural, even as he slowly upped the ante until I had no idea how he just played what he played. Jamming with Steve and the band, same thing; it felt like we were engaging musically and they're such top rate, pro musicians, they can really adapt to what the jam needs. My roomate who was coming off of several years not playing and was in between novice and intermediate skill level felt the same way. We talked every night about how positive the atmosphere was, and how great of an experience we were having.

TL;DR "All levels are welcome" seemed to be true in my one experience two years ago.
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I totally agree!

I've been to Vai Academy twice and The G4 Experience once (my first camp).

All were very much like this.

And that pre-camp hang with Larry was epic. Just a bunch of guitar nuts hanging out and enjoying it!
 
vetteboy79 said:
Very much so. I've been to 5 Dreamcatcher events and 3 similar independent events, and there is zero competition. Sure there are always a few guys who will shred their ass off at any available opportunity in a 'hey look at me!' attempt, but no one cares, and those people largely get ignored.

The master classes are largely more general / philosophical in approach, rather than just technique and theory. The breakout sessions are the ones that can get into nitty details, but at the same time there are always breakouts (and jam rooms) structured for people who barely know the intrument.



You'd be surprised, that probably describes at least about a third of the people at any given one of these things. I've met plenty of people who didn't even bring a guitar. One guy at the Paul Gilbert camp this past summer had been to two previous camps and finally decided to join the main pub jam for the first time, and had a blast. The stereotype of the 'blues lawyer' is also real; guys in retirement who maybe loved Steve Vai their whole life but never had a chance to learn guitar, and finally have the time (and means) to dive into it with an experience like this.

At the jams I find myself on bass, keys, or drums more often than guitar, because I play out at least 1-2 nights per week around here and it's way more fun for me to help support a guy who's never played outside his bedroom before get up there and bust out a 12-bar jam or an AC/DC track with a full band.

Then you always have the 13-year-old kid who makes us 20+ year veterans look like chumps :grinning: all walks of life at these things for sure.

The only people I've ever seen walk away with a negative impression from one of these are those with unrealistic expectations. No you're not going to have 1-on-1 lesson time with every single instructor. No you're not going to spend 4 days and leave with the ability of Vai. It doesn't matter that you shredded your ass off at the jam, Vai already has a second guitarist and doesn't need you on his next tour.

You'll likely walk away with some cool things to integrate into your practicing and playing, some new approaches to the instrument/songwriting/lead crafting, maybe some new tone ideas, a shitload of great memories and experiences, and as I'm sure @unix-guy will agree, lots of great friendships. Truthfully the artists, workshops, and concerts are only a part of why I keep going back to these things. Being immersed in this kind of environment for 4 days, with likeminded people, and especially fellow alumni that keep coming back as well, is really what it's about.

(at a John Petrucci camp a few years ago, I also walked away with some tips for setting up my AX8 thanks to @Admin M@ , and they actually distributed Petrucci's delay block to everyone after talking about how he sets up his stereo delay timing etc. I still use that in my live rig. Sucks that FAS won't have a presence there, that was always very helpful)

Happy to talk more about how these things go if anyone has questions.
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Yep... Totally the same opinions.
 
TSJMajesty said:
Ok, that makes a lot of sense.
So how do they handle amplification for the jams, when you have several guitarists on stage together? Do they just have a certain # of amps set up, and that's how many people are able to jam at one time?
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Yep, usually about 3. Generally turns into sonic chaos beyond that :tongueclosed:

Usually there's the 'main jam' that's at the bar or pub or whatever, that one is usually more structured and an open-mic/'put your name on the list' sort of deal. Look at the list and some guy wants to do Highway Star? Cool, I'll go find that guy and see if he wants me to jump in on organ. Likewise someone signed up to do The Trooper, and you know the harmony guitar part? Nice!

The smaller rooms are more for open jamming but they'll still have drums & bass. Different levels there, as @Dale LeClaire said the jams with Stig were truly a treasure. He'd have a backing track and explain what the key/mode is, show some examples, and then everyone gets to pass the cable around and give it a shot. The camp will send out a list of maybe 5 songs as jam suggestions ahead of time, to give people an idea of something to learn and have a starting point when you're sitting around wondering what to play, and Chris Ciscernos runs a jam room centered on learning those songs catered towards people who are maybe not comfortable improvising yet.

Worth noting that almost no one at any of the jams uses a pedalboard/fractal/etc. Just grab the cable and go. The amps are generally decent and it's more about just playing and hanging out than making everyone wait while you set your stuff up.
 
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