No recording issues...but I ran into my first sub-par sound system issue just recently. Some friends and I did a gig at a local restaurant (here's 15 bucks and a steak, boys) and they were set up with a single condensor mic that would get too hot if you put any volume to it, and seemed impossibly low to sing into without looking like you had thrown out your back. We wound up crowding around it and doing the best we could...but it certainly put both the lungs and the "volume" chops of some of those old-timers into perspective. I was pretty well exhausted at the end of a couple of hours and felt like I had beat hell out of my hands.
On the other point, it was my first real paying gig...such as it was...and I managed NOT to embarrass myself. It was almost the best thing, ever. :) I have spent the last couple of weeks travelling for the job, first San Francisco, then North Carolina and then Arkansas, and I have taken to travelling with my mandolin in hand. I can't imagine why I haven't been doing this all along, despite the fact it seems to attract an inordinate amount of attention from the TSA. Curiosity, maybe... Anyway, just a ramble. ________________________________ From: Linda <lj...@intas.net.au> To: Taterbugmando <taterbugmando@googlegroups.com> Sent: Tue, March 9, 2010 6:40:14 PM Subject: Re: Crickets....... The band I play with recently did a recording session at a local venue, a 'live' effort. It was a great learning experience. I saw that its tricky to get the vocals and the instrumentals to all work at once to an acceptable standard ...and everyone gets kinda nervous, knowing its being recorded and tired as the session progresses, especially if there are several takes required. Seems there was endless time used to communicate between takes to clarify what we were going to do or trying to do...AABB ABAB, changing things on the spot, etc...solo bits, etc...the arrangement factor..dynamics and so on. Then there were the blunders..ha. We are a large group, and some of us did not go to all the preparation sessions. To communicate we made comprehensive arrangement notes...and they were a big job as well.. to get right. I was exhausted after the 10.am to 4.pm effort. There were about 3 tunes/songs that only needed one take which was cool. There were some though that needed many takes, that was wearing. Later some folks who could not be there on the day went to the studio and did a take, playing along with what was already recorded...which was then mixed into the existing recording somehow. I sang on one, and did great the first two times but the instrumental portion needed brushing up. The third take, the singing still worked ok but that take was not as good as the others, from the singing perspective, just one word ..but the first two times through I got perfect. Very frustrating. I don't know what they did during the mixing..and its not all that straightforward. Some things seem to depend on the type of sound gear and can't be mixed in or out. Its finished now and we have listened to a couple of the takes. It sounds pretty good and we are not in any way a pro group but we did have a music director/arranger/manger/ producer. That helped...someone to point, direct, lead, etc. Next came the excitement of the art for the CD cover, the packaging, the pricing, shopping for a supplier to reproduce and package...all to meet a tight deadline. Since we are a community group, lots of input to consider from members as to the art, images, etc...its a lot of work. The liner notes alone can get heavy...what to put in and leave out, what is required and what is optional, getting the credits and spellings, etc accurate. Its a lot... I don't recommend working to a deadline unless one has lots of experience... and capable people who know what they are doing. A lot has to get right to make it right...it seems... The whole package is supposedly in overnight night express post as of last night, to the folks who are going to make all the copies for us to sell. We need it by the first of April, for a big festival, our national event. Dang..I hope it all comes together for us. Shipping now is the issue to make the deadline. linda On Mar 10, 9:51 am, 14strings <perrypale...@gmail.com> wrote: > We're in the middle of recording our next ahem.... "album" Here's our > M.O. > > We have home recording equipment but decided to use a studio...nothing > beats the convenience of an engineer turning all the knobs. We were > fairly well rehearsed and had definite arrangements and ideas at least > as a start before we started recording. > > We book sessions that run from 2:00pm till about 10:00pm. That time > frame seems to work best for us. We all try to record live with a > scratch vocal. We try and shoot for a good solo but if we have to redo > one then there is enough isolation to be able to re-cut the solo. > Sometimes we'll play chords through the solo section on purpose to > create a strong back-ground and then overdub the solos later. > Sometimes the scratch vocal is a keeper sometimes a line or two needs > to be fixed. As far as laying down the nucleus of a tune: after about > three takes we turn to mush so it's time to move on to another tune > for the time being. If the overall take has a good feel/groove we go > with it and fix any clams; if you don't know about ProTools you would > be amazed as to what can be "fixed". So it's mostly live with the > ability to fix any stray clams; add extra parts and get the best vocal > takes. > > We bring enough elixir's to loosen us up a bit, not too much. After 4 > or 5 hours we'll go the Italian restaurant around the corner and step > away from the whole process. > > Two six/seven hour recording sessions have yielded us 6 or 7 tunes > that are basically complete but still have to be mixed. Some of the > tunes have been one take first take. Once in awhile you get lucky :) > We space the sessions a couple of weeks apart this way it give us time > to listen and absorb (with fresh ears) what we've done and also work > on the next tunes. We've been happy with the progress thus far. > > On Mar 9, 10:36 am, Robin Gravina <robin.grav...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > Ok. > > Got practice tonight with my little group Los Cold Hearts - we are writing > > away and getting some songs ready with a view to recording, but how do you > > all record? > > > When I did it before, with a rock band, it was a nightmarish process of > > doing it semi-live, then redoing everything until all track by track untill > > all my ability to tell whether it was good or not had vanished. Now I wonder > > if trying to do everything live would be equally nightmarish: doing take > > after take until you get energy and a version where nobody screws up... > > > What do you all think? Oh, and do you do acoustic music in Dobly? > > > On Tue, Mar 9, 2010 at 3:47 PM, Steve Cantrell <sec...@bellsouth.net> wrote: > > > I also noticed the tumbleweed, but I assumed it was just for ambiance. > > > > ------------------------------ > > > *From:* mistertaterbug <taterbugmu...@gmail.com> > > > *To:* Taterbugmando <taterbugmando@googlegroups.com> > > > *Sent:* Tue, March 9, 2010 9:35:52 AM > > > *Subject:* Crickets....... > > > > It is very quiet on the discussion front. Nothing left to discuss, > > > apparently. Hello? Is anybody out there? Check, one...two...is this > > > thing on?....test...test...calling Rangoon... > > > > -- > > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > > > "Taterbugmando" group. > > > To post to this group, send email to taterbugma...@googlegroups.com. > > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to taterbugmando+ > > > unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > > > For more options, visit this group at > > >http://groups.google.com/group/taterbugmando?hl=en. > > > > -- > > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > > > "Taterbugmando" group. > > > To post to this group, send email to taterbugma...@googlegroups.com. > > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > > > taterbugmando+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com<taterbugmando%2bunsubscr...@googlegroups.com> > > > . > > > For more options, visit this group at > > >http://groups.google.com/group/taterbugmando?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Taterbugmando" group. To post to this group, send email to taterbugma...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to taterbugmando+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/taterbugmando?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Taterbugmando" group. To post to this group, send email to taterbugma...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to taterbugmando+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/taterbugmando?hl=en.
