WHEW. Well, that was a long marathon session of non blogging. Not blogging really tires you out.
ANYHOO. I’m here to discuss a very important topic to all of us on this day, November 4th 2008. And that is Digital Recording Technology.
Lets go back in time if you care to join me, to a time circa 1960-1979. We have some music to record, so we go into a studio. We prepare in advance, we write some songs, discuss sounds with an engineer. We purchase some Tape, which is kind of expensive, we get sounds, we record, we rewind the tape, do some punch ins (brief sections of recording within a master take), we do minimal edits, we mix, we’re done. Most of the day is spent playing music, arranging parts, rehearsing, getting the perfect take. Now, lets take out time machine and transfer this exact scenario to modern times.
There is one main variable thats different. The Tape. Its now a hard drive. Lets look at positives vs negatives.
Positives:
the hard drive can hold hundreds of hours of audio.
Negatives:
At any point, the hard drive can unpredictably die, losing all data with no warning, present odd errors when trying to open files, freeze up and crash, god knows how many other things.
This is my argument. While tape has its limitations (which some find to be advantages) It wont randomly disappear. It wont give you errors when starting up. It won’t refuse to load in a tape machine. It will be compatible with other tape machines. Some even say it sounds better.
The hours spent in a creative burst are precious, and sometimes rare. Anything can kill this creative spark. NOTHING kills that like having to wait for a session to transfer, or to troubleshoot file errors, or most importantly to lose an important take because of a drive failure. Maybe thats whats killing music. There’s less time to actually create. There’s less focus on the music itself, and more focus on the technical mishaps and advantages. there it is.
ON WE GO.
So its been a very long time since I’ve contributed any sort of music oriented review in this space, and there have been so many in recent months its impossible to recall them all, but last night I did see a particularly interesting event.
Myself and Ross The Sauce Krentzman, revived our lifelong tradition of seeing The Black Crowes. This was a somewhat special event though, they were performing an all acoustic set at Town Hall in New York. (the same venue used in A Mighty Wind!) The last time i heard of the Crowes doing an all acoustic performance, it was circa 1996. The album Amorica had just come out, I was 14. There was a secret taping of VH1’s Story Tellers at The Bottom Line, a now defunct classic West Village cabaret type venue. I was lucky enough to see many shows there in my adolescent lifetime, mostly older blues and folk type musicians. The only way to get in was through local radio stations- answering trivia questions on the air. And oh man, I called in hundreds of times. I knew the drinks were made by Johnny Wong’s in the liner notes to Southern Harmony. I knew Brendan Bud Obrian played organ on Shake Your Moneymaker, I was all over that shit. But alas, it was not to be, and I did not get it. Years later, I did get a bootleg video of an unedited camera perspective from the taping, and it was fucking fantastic.
Anyhoo, I had hoped last night would be an enhancement on the video watching experience. The band took the stage promptly at 8, all seated, 9 piece lineup, extra percussion, 2 backup singers, a very full stage. The sound was beautiful, we were all very happy to be there, you could feel a wonderful excitement as they opened with Under A Mountain, off the often neglected Three Snakes and One Charm, a brilliant, if somewhat depressing record. But oh man, was it wonderful. It felt great, I was transported to being 14 again, and rocking out to the mildly psychedelic sounds of this southern rock institution. Just as I thought it could not get any better, they went into Nonfiction off Amorica, the hands down best Crowes record. This is my favorite song, and I was floating. Never before had i heard an arrangement so close to the original recording, Luther Dickenson playing lap steel, Rich Robinson on a beautiful 12 string , could this get any better? No, the answer is definitely no, because it got worse. A Lot Worse.
He entered unassumingly enough, a guy in a neatly ironed white dress shirt, and a wide shiny tie that seemed to say “i sit at a desk making phonecalls all day, brokering high powered somethingorother without exuding enough energy to wrinkle my nicely pressed $300 shirt.” and oh my, did he look like a meathead. With the voice and girlfriend to match. Now, I’m going to try to imitate his voice with the following text, so imagine if you will the voice several octaves below my own and several decibels above:
WOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOO YEAAAAAH, SEE HONEY, THATS CHRIIIIS, THE GUY NEXT TO HIM IS HIS BROTHER RICH! YEAAAAAAH! LOOOK AT HIM WORK THOSE ELBOOOOWS!! (side note: he literally said this, and i have no fucking idea what he meant, everyone in the band was seated and barely moving) I JUST WANNA YELL OUT- I THREW CRAPS WITH YOU IN VEGAS!!!!! WOOOO!!!! MOST PEOPLE DONT KNOW I DID THAT, BUT I DID! SEE THOSE PEOPLE BEHIND THEM? THOSE ARE BACKUP SINGERS!!!
Well, this was not good. I wanted to tell him that the Jets game was on next door, they would be doing a play by play there if he’d like to go watch. Fucking frat guys. They really have no place in modern society. They fucked up our economy with their banking system snafus, they have ruined our cultural centers with their douche-baggy ways. Eventually we could not take any more of this shit, we asked him to quiet down, and for the most part, he did, at times bringing his voice back up giving his slut bag arm accessory the play by play, and also yelling SKOOOT! at the top of his lungs, which neither of us understood. I’m guessing it was some type of mating call to attract the Long Hairs on stage, which he might have confused for hippy chicks.
Besides that, the band performed well, some classic jams, some newer tunes, some oddly electric tunes for an acoustic performance, good sounds overall.
Wow, its been a long time Señor Blog, where did we leave off? I’m not even going to explain my absence. I was spelunking in Altimira, cliff diving in East Orange, spear hunting in Bolivia, oh how the list goes on. But on this rare occasion, I swoop in, back to the land of the blog to discuss an important topic, one near and dear to all of our hearts: COMPLAINING. Now, obviously, I’m as guilty as anyone. Who among us has not complained recently? But I feel there are some cases where it gets excessive. Case in point: the workplace. Now, it has been discussed several times my never ending dream of working in a corporate mail room, delivering correspondence to corporate higherups with such ease and determination that those bigwigs will have no chance but to say ” That Weiss is a real go-getter!” But alas, it is not to be. I work in a small environment, in a profession which I enjoy, having nothing to do with mail. But on occasion, and that occasion recently seems to be the coming of each new day, certain people at the office complain incessantly. Here’s a hint, I work in a 2 person studio including myself, one person pays me. Now, this has taught me many a valuable life lesson. The most important being, consider those you are complaining to before you let loose the tides of Kveching.
Lets assume something about most employees; they get stressed. When someone else is telling you what to do, it’s gonna stress you out at times. I’m not going to go through the hardships I experience at my job, because do you want to hear it? Probably not, you got yo own problems. So incessantly, on top of the everyday work stress, I get complained to, and really homes, this shit has gotta stop, I can only handle so much. Involved in this complaining is a production this person is working on, and has been for a long time, it has the potential to be big and popular,and it just might….now it migggght…be going to this persons head.
I’m a tolerant person, I really am, but I am reaching my breaking point. Lets devise a little dialog, as an example. UP2 will be unidentified person 2.
Steve (walks in): Hello
UP2: (makes whiny noise) I got 2 hrs of sleep last night
Steve: Up Late watching The Hills?
UP2: this big project has me so stressed out. I only have 3 interns and an assistant to help me do a job most people do on their own. meeeeeehhhhhhhhh (this noise may or may not have actually occurred)
Steve: Well, that must be really tough, you know, working on creative projects and all, putting in extra hours, I don’t at all know what that’s like
UP2: I’m telling you Steve, working on a project of this stature, which let me tell you, is SO IMPORTANT, is really bad for your health. If you want to stay healthy, don’t work on THE MOST IMPORTANT PROJECT EVER FOR WHICH I AM SOLELY RESPONSIBLE
Steve: ok, I’ll make note of that, do you want to get lunch soon?
UP2: Well, considering I had 2 HOURS OF SLEEP LAST NIGHT, in addition to the fact that I’m working on THE MOST IMPORTANT PROJECT EVER….then yes, I would like to get lunch.
Steve: deli?
UP2: Well, at this deli, do they serve extremely elaborate dishes not listed on their menu with substitutions for every ingredient possible?
Steve: you’ll have to call and check
UP2: Well, in that case, i’ll have the 2 HRS OF SLEEP with a side of I’M WORKING ON AN EXTREMELY IMPORTANT PRODUCTION THE LIKES OF WHICH HAVE NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE
Steve: Dude, I don’t think that’s an actual dish.
UP2: MAKE IT SO!
Steve: Want a turkey sandwich?
UP2: I guess that will have to do.
This is really not that far off from the truth. Completely unrelated emails come in about invoices or something and he responds with “sorry about the late payment I HAVE HAD 2 HRS OF SLEEP AND AM WORKING ON THIS INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT PROJECT THE LIKES OF WHICH WILL BLOW YOU AWAAAAAAAYYYY” and the response is “so do you think you could submit payment?”
Now, granted, this thing he’s working on has great potential, but do you have to constantly complain in that way where you’re only complaining to let others know how important you are? I think that makes sense. Like when someone goes “OH MAN, I’M WORKING SO HARD, ITS NOT EVEN WORTH THE MILLIONS I’M MAKING” you know? and you just want to put something foul in their drink?
In my life, I’ve been fortunate to meet and work with some people who I have greatly admired. These are people who could shit on the collective work of myself and everyone I know creatively. Yet you don’t get that vibe from them, they’re extremely professional. I was in Pat Metheny’s studio once and was floored by it, this place was beyond beautiful, which i told him, and he responded “yeah man, you know, its just like, the result of playing 30 years of one nighters, no big thing, just stick to it.” Then we had an awesome talk. there was no “OH GOD I WORKED SO HARD LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT IT” I’m sure he got no sleep for many of those nights.
If you choose a creative profession, you’re going to have to work your ass off no matter what it is. In fact, in a non creative profession you’re going to have to work your ass off to be successful. It seems you have to work as hard as possible for just a CHANCE at success. So, from the collective me, to the collective you, please, stop bitching. No one cares how hard you work if they’re working hard themselves. We all do it. so please, shush.
Safety First, thats what I always say. I emailed Michael Swart (maker of the amp) just to give an email Hi Five, and he responded right away, seems like a good guy. I don’t think Marshall or Fender would send me a personal email, so I like him already. TB and I had a small guitar session at the house, breaking out the various axes and turning it up in the living room, positive results all around. The battery on my fulltone distortion pedal died mid rock out, thats always disappointing. I need some more effects. Maybe an Octave pedal?
I ordered a Stylophone a few days back, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stylophone I’m very much looking forward to it. Sometimes new instruments bring new ideas, and I think the recent acquisitions are proving this to be correct. I’m in the process of some new recordings, wonderful sounds all around.
Also, can I say that Ryan Adam’s blog is far superior to mine in both content and craziness? He makes entire metal band videos just for the blog, writes impromptu songs, completely whacked out poetry, its really just genius. He even chronicles himself dying his hair blonde. He is pretty much my idol in every aspect of life…except that whole Speedball Ingesting thing, and most of those albums post heartbreaker, and those moon boots he wears sometimes. But everything else, I love it. So I’m going to try to adapt his style a bit…here we go
When things get busy, one constant source of entertainment for me is LOL Cats.
Spring time. Allergies. Apocalypse.
I just had a conversation with my 5 year old homegirl, it was the first conversation we’ve ever had, i’ve known her for 2 years.
The orange juice I drank with lunch was like drinking a King Crimson album.
There are certain times when your goals and opinions change. I’m speaking of course musically, you think I would discuss career or relationship ambition on the blog? Seriously man, seriously. For the last year I’ve been obsessed with a new amp for recording purposes. Like any other instrument, when you’re young you get a small practice amp to start, its not enough so you buy a 100 watt monster, then you realize somewhere along the line that its too loud for most practical applications other than live performance, so the quest continues. Its a big myth that louder bigger amps sound better. I hear you saying “I still don’t believe you Steve, can you give me 3 pertinent examples?” why yes dear reader, I never thought you’d ask…
1. Layla, Derrick and the Dominoes, one of Eric Clapton’s most important albums, recorded solely on a Fender Champ.
2. The Rolling Stones. A secret weapon of Keith Richards is a 5 watt 8 inch speaker early Fender Champ. He now uses a Victoria champ replica, but its the same thing mannn.
3. Led Zeppelin. That early stuff was recorded not on a giant ass Marshall stack… but a small Supro combo amp.
Serious stuff? Why yes. So the thing is, you see the Champ is popular, but the one these guys used is a 1950’s tweed thing, in short supply, incredibly expensive, and incredibly fragile. I just don’t have that kind of dedication anymore. Amp repair is expensive, so are old parts. So then a while ago I heard of the Swart amp co, after seeing the one and only Jeffrey of Tweedy playing one. The sound was serious, as you could imagine. check it yo:
Thats it on the left. Its a modified champ thing, in a weird 1940’s looking cabinet, love at first sight. So it took a long time to find one. There were no dealers anywhere near me. Theres always mail order, but when spending a large amount, and making a serious commitment, you want to test drive, ya know? So last night I came home and randomly checked the Swart web site. Well….Ludlow guitars is the first NYC dealer. As they say…it was on.
So I went to work in the morning, pre passover, and gave a call. They did have it in stock, the tension was building. As quickly as I could, with the MTA on my side, I made it from midtown to the lower east side in record time. Even the infamous F train was there right as I needed it. Once at the destination, it was perched on top of a few other amps….a shining beacon of awesomeness. As I walked up to the counter to ask to plug that mofo in, another guy walks in, guitar strapped to his back. I inquire about the Swart, the dude behind me goes “oh I’m actually here to try it too, I brought my own guitar to test it” yep, those were fighting words. Luckily as the rules of the house go, I was there first. So he hovers over me the whole time as I’m trying it out. I can’t really blame him, I might have felt the same way, but I wouldn’t have gotten all up on his shit about it. He was moving the amp as I was playing, annoying stuff. So after like 2 minutes, it was decided, this amp is fucking awesome. Its beautiful, sounds perfect and everything. So i wave to my homey behind the counter, typical rocker dude named JJ, tattoos, long hair, I say “so, I know this guy wants to try it and all, thats cool, but I’ll take it” and the other dude kind of give a “Oh shit” look, yeah, take that! The store dude (and he most certainly was a dude) was on my side, hes like “as soon as you want that guy off the amp, just let me know, I’ll gently nudge him out” So the guy gave me minimal attitude, and I was on my way.
In a cab, a few blocks walk, on the PATH, then home through JC, it was not too much of a burden. Tonight being passover, I did travel back to the Hillsdale, a good excuse to bring the amp and crank it up at the house. Well…
This thing is the Secret weapon. Think the Stones “Sticky Fingers” album. Its just pure and wonderful. Extremely detailed, your guitar volume knob does most of the work, as there are only 2 controls on the back:
Yeah, they do go to 11. The low end on this thing is just plain silly. Its 1- 8″ speaker! how does that happen! Its gotta be this cabinet design, its a little taller than the Champ’s I’ve seen, and its supposedly some badass finger jointed pine thing, hand made by one dude, so extra love is a key component. Mine is serial # 236, still made by the one dude, Michael Swart, so I’m hoping he goes into mass production, so I can claim to have one of the originals. But all that stuff aside, this thing is beautiful. It sounds like a monster in a tiny package. And also, what other American products are still the best on earth? Think about it. Technology? umm, no Cars? haha, yeah, umm, ok. Clothing? Luxury goods? Anything? Guitars and Amplifiers. You come up with a better example, I’ll buy you a cheesesteak. God Bless America.
Of the great American songwriters, how many are truly badass and versatile? Start the list….it doesn’t go too far. Dylan is kind of versatile, depending on the era, not really. So we come to Paul Simon, who does not get too much respect in the “badass” arena. Just for the record, I do not like Simon and Garfunkel. I just can’t identify. Shoot me. But everything afterwards starts to get a little more interesting. There was a time when several tracks from Rhythm of the Saints were my main jams. So, when this BAM series was announced, a month of Paul Simon spanning various eras…I jumped. The obvious prize was “Under African Skies” a mix of Graceland, and Rhythm…featuring David Byrne and a bunch of others. Its like watching God and Jesus kick it for a bit on stage. Well, you get what I mean.
Yes, we were far back, but it was a small theater. And also yes, thats Steve Gadd on drums. Look up his list of credits, he’s a legend. I think thats Alex Acuña on the right, and Cyro Baptista on the left…a serious drum section to say the least.
The evening opened with Ladysmith Black Mombazo, of Graceland fame, the 9 piece African vocal group. Just sheer beauty in their voices. Simon didn’t appear until 3 songs into the set, and seemed to take it easy. He was clearly happy to be there, doing some excellent little dances (he is a tiny tiny fellow) lots of joy in the room. A few semi forgettable guests later, Luciana Souza took the stage, and brought out David Byrne as her backup vocalist. Right off, he owns the stage. Coordinating dances with the rest of the band, he looks like a cartoon character, 8 feet tall, shiny blue shirt, shocking white hair. His voice instantly cuts through the 11 other people on stage.
Simon and Souza leave the stage, handing it over to Byrne, who looks like an excited 10 year old. He bounces back and forth from left to right, ready to tear it up. His dance moves are probably the greatest I have ever seen. The crowd is in the palm of his hand, he can do no wrong. He tears up Born at the Right Time, a song I am not so familiar with, then launches with incredible force into “You Can Call Me Al”, a somewhat cheesy song, which seems like it was written for The Byrne.
Just plain amazing. It was worth the price of admission to see Byrne’s 2 songs.
So they take a little encore break, and Ladysmith returns to the stage, just 9 dudes, and does the a capella intro to “Diamonds On The Souls Of Her Shoes” and its goddamn fantastic. There were no words to describe it. Simon even came out and could barely contain his joy, he had a hard time getting the words out through a giant ridiculous smile (I mean, we could see it from the nosebleed seats) and the band was just non stop. Amazing stuff.
Its reassuring to know that once an artist reaches that level, he doesnt just hang out and count his money, buying expensive cars and banging models and shit. He puts together a flawless band and tears up a month at a small theater in Brooklyn. I once heard some review of a giant amphitheater Simon show, and they called his band “note perfect” which is pretty much exactly how they sound, but not as rigid as that term implies. Not one note sounded out of place, but the feel was beautiful, the band breathed as one giant piece. Very serious stuff.
We also saw Mike Jorgenson from Wilco at the restaurant we had dinner at, but the Cuica Sugimoto was not a Wilco fan, so it was not a big deal. Cyro Baptista did play a cuica at one point in the evening, so it was exciting nonetheless.
This is a wonderful week of live music, with tonight being possibly the greatest show ever performed on the east coast…Paul Simon and David Byrne doing some African music…oooooh…but lets focus on last night for the time being.
Spoon.
Ok, so Britt Daniel had me fooled, and I will tell you why. From every photo I have seen, he looks to be commanding the guitar with the utmost authority. Good posture, good guitar, thats about it. He looks confident with the Axe and writes some good songs, what else is there? Check out this photo for reference
Well Texas Man, you duped me. His playing is choppy as hell. Their albums are tight little masterpieces, but it just doesn’t translate. It took them about 8 songs to really get going. The last few jams had it together, but the entire opening of the show just didnt work. He sounded like he was straining vocally, the tempos were not syncing up…just kind of eh. But, here’s another photo
They did have some kick ass guitars, a great old Gibson J160-e, the John Lennon acoustic, and a badass looking ES-335. Serious business. Try as they might, they just couldnt get it together. Several horn players were on hand for a few tunes, a recipe for awesomeness. But still…nothing. They even missed that kick ass part in “The Underdog” just after the chorus where there is an alternating acoustic strum thing happening, listen to it, you’ll know exactly what I mean. They played it with one electric…the 2nd guitar/keyboard player just playing tambourine. Yeah,really, come on dudes.
Anyhoo, this new Terminal Five venue is a little freaky. For one, they’re suddenly sponsored by Camel. Wasn’t there some law passed against that? There are video screens with constant cigarette commercials between bands, which was just disturbing to see- i mean, have you ever seen a cigarette commercial? Just a lil weird. Also giant neon camel signs everywhere, check it out:
It was just odd. Everyone was noticeably uncomfortable with it. Also, I was very uncomfortable with this incredibly foul smelling Canadian in front of me the whole night. This kid was just offensive, and it was really packed in this venue. I need to carry some fabreeze, or a tazer.
So, I’m not going to suggest any previews for tonight’s show, I’ve been looking forward to it for months, we’ll see what happens…
For years I spent hours upon hours searching out a particular era of Gretsch drums. Do distance was too far, some prices were too high, but I somehow managed to build a nice collection. 11:00pm on a Wednesday night? Sure i’ll drive to upstate NY to check out a kick drum! But after a while, it got excessive. Where am I gonna put all these things? I can’t play more than a few at once…whats the use? So, I switched back to my trusty Ludwig 70’s workhorse, it has never let me down. It still sounds good, so whats the big deal? Well, this is where the problem is introduced. I went back to the parents house Saturday morning en route to a recording thing, and had some time to kill. After the water heater in their basement exploded (i’m still convinced it was an elaborate plot by my mom to get all my instruments out of there and re-do the carpet) The drums were forced to my childhood bedroom. Several sat unplayed for months. So, why not, I set up a gretsch tom I never put much thought into. The bearing edge was a chewed up mess (the point of the shell which the head sits on), there was an extra hole drilled in it, one hoop is not original, nothing special. But….oh my god, it sounded frikkin amazing. I couldn’t stop playing it. Just plain ridiculous. I hate small toms, sometimes I dont even bring one out, but now…oh man, my whole opinion has changed once again. This also kind of pisses me off, because it does in fact sound significantly better than the tom on the Ludwig kit. god damnit.
So, continuing on the inspiration path, I set up the Elvin kick, which happens to match the tom, here are some photos:
So, thats that.
I saw the one and only Rhett Miller last week in a solo acoustic performance, at my favorite venue ever, Maxwells. Now, I learned something, which I learn over and over again; The difference between a pro and an amateur is very apparent, very quickly. Some neck tattoo sporting jackass opened the show, and constantly blabbed about his songs on Veronica Mars, and all sorts of hollywood shit, but he just plain did not cut it. When he hit a high note, he would grit his teeth and not really open his mouth, I wanted to throw a bottle at him, something I rarely feel towards performers at a show.
But as soon as Rhett took the stage, it was all different. Yes, he was a little drunk, and forgot more than a few verses, but no one cared at all. The show consisted of just him and one acoustic guitar, but he flung himself around, screamed his little lungs out, and we all left satisfied. His writing is getting better, not that it was anything to scoff at in the past, but the new Old 97’s material played seems strong, I’m psyched. I tried to take some photos, but as we know I do not believe in using a flash, and the club has maybe 1 stage light, so, deal with that.
So take a listen to this, its among the greatest 15 seconds in music, I came across the entire multitrack session, some intense possibilities, here is a small mix of just some vocals:
EDIT: I’ve continued to listen, and I cant stop here. so on we go
All sorts of things float around the internet. Some entertain you, like a small monkey riding a motorcycle in Thailand. But rarely are they as signifigant. I think someone found a solo vocal of DLR singing Runnin With The Devil, and while awesome, it was not phenomenal. So I got 24 wav files, they only had 24 tracks in those old days…pshhh. There are all sorts of iffy analog punch ins, harmonies cut out in the middle of takes, guitar solo licks that were never included, but beneath it is some incredibly serious music. If this solo vocal does not give you chills, you are not human my friend:
Next time you listen to some bitch ass whiney imitation of a rock vocalist (hmmm..My Chemical Romance? Fallout Boy? Blink 182? oh how the list goes on!) go back and listen to one verse of Freddie. This was before auto tune, pitch shift,I doubt they even had a compressor. thats some raw shit right there. Notice the breath edit just before “as if nothing really matters” Damn man, damn.
Then we have some of this:
Honestly, how did these guys do it. There are no effects on the vocal. Thats 5 vocal tracks combined, and a cymbal played with mallets, It does have a flange on the percussion though. You think Coldplay sits around the studio, just musicians, charting out beautiful vocal harmonies? When the older crowd bitchesabout musicians not having it together or sounding like the “good old days” this is pretty much what they mean.
Then why not, here’s a guitar solo
So I’m going to go lock myself in a studio and try to figure out how they did this. At least I’ll have a kick ass beard when I come out.
