Ah, um, er... digital to analog and back to digital I suppose...

[jedblue]

So like I was up in the attic on Friday night mucking around with three mike mixes on my crappy chinese drum kit and cheap cymbals with horrible drum kit and mike placement and no room treatment (asides every corner filled with spare house junk), and failing miserably as usual to get anything that constitutes any sort of reasonable drum sound but being determined to get something to noodle around with on the little Boss BR1600.



So I'm humming this little one chord riff in my head and banging away on that three piece kit trying not to make too much noise and imagining some sort of verse, chorus, solo structure with no click track to keep things in tempo. Just an old EV PL6 in the kick drum, an AKG D190 on the snare and an EV RE200 condenser up over my head pointing across sort of at the right hand ride cymbal.

So I get this sort of drum sound and get out a semi and plug it into the little Blues Junior and stick an even older EV 676 in front of that and put the repetitive guitar riff on it. So now I need a bass track so I get the Jazzie B and stick that into the Blues Junior as well and plonk another EV PL6 in front of that and double up the guitar riff.

Then I'll stick the Roland VR760 in organ mode through the Junior as well and try an EV RE10 in front of that.

So now there's some sort of rhythm thing happening there. Now I need some words if I'm going to keep at it so Saturday morning I'm sitting on the back deck in the sun writing a load of old cobblers. I had no idea what to do so I've invented this fictional but helpful cat who lives on the internet and helps people out...

So now I've got some vocals and rather than use a whizzie condenser I stick on an EV RE11 and have a few goes at some vocals through that.

Now it needs some solos and fills so get the semi and the EV 676 out again and do some dilly blues scale things (I need to stop listening to so much Jimmie Dawkins).

Then a bit of an organ break with the Roland, BJ and EV RE10 and finally some maracas and a tambourine through an old AKG C5 battery condenser and mix it all up into something.

So now it's Sunday and I can't be bothered doing any more on it so I stick the whole lot through the Otari 5050 1/4" at 15 ips and hot hot to see if there is any useable tape compression and smoothing of those little digital crispy bits (there was).

Then suck it back to digital and stick it up on mp3.com.

So now here is a one man band experiment that wasn't really supposed to be, recorded in my attic on a Boss BR1600 over a couple of mornings and evenings, dodging departing intercontinental airliners flying overhead, screaming children and my wife pissed at the fact that the rubbish hasn't been emptied, the windows washed or the lawn mowed. And finally passed through an analog tape stage so it qualifies for insertion on this bit of the forum (rather than the mp3 mixing clinic).

Given that it's got a digital source, it can't be the Lonely Few. Given that it's not electronic but mikes in front of voices, drums and amps it can't be rOn.KnOb and given that it's amp'd and not pure acoustic 4 track cassette it can't be Geedon.

So I guess it'll have to be Donald Deep Jeffs then...

Like I said, a one chord bluesy thing about a helpful but fictional cat who inhabits the internet.

Oh, and the tune is called.... Doctor Z .

http://www.mp3.com.au/Forms/MediaVie...MediaId=135937

Oh dear ... I suppose I'd better go and deal with the rubbish now.

Geoff

[Dr ZEE]

"They say you're Bad. They say You're Nooooooooooo Good."

"Give me all your Money. I'll give you (some) Honey"

Righteous stuff. Timely attitude.


Do you play live?

Find three (or so) guys who can handle your riffs and a pair of slick vocal ladies for spacious side-action and You'll take over the World (or at least, your entire island )

[jedblue]

Ah Mike, one wife, three kids, two dogs, one cat, two goldfish, one house note to pay and one day job but...

Monday nights it's noise band stuff with the Lonely Few (and some beer), Wednesday night after the chores it's bass playing at the blues club weekly jam down at the local pub (and, ah some more beer) and Thursday evening it's drumming with The Rented Mules (and just possibly some more beer there). An every once and a while rOn.KnOb comes out with the old Yamaha CS-30 and does some solo free form analog knob twiddling.

Gee, no wonder my wife get's pissed at me sneaking up into the attic to go noodling.

Mostly it's just hobby stuff now but there have been quite a few gigging bands over the years.

Geoff

[student8]

Honestly I thought the 'chinese drums' sounded pretty damn good! (kinda had an early, '70's vibe' going on)

Amazing how a song like that, came together so quickly for you. And I much prefer hearing material like that, vs. the trite, 'American Idol/Emo-gel hair' rock that's everywhere you turn nowadays

- seriously, nice job man.