[Whazzzup]

here's a fav of mine, im no engineer, dj, sound dude, but play with logic pro x. tony visconti on making the song heroes with bowie

 

[liamo]

I found the album on Qobuz. Their catalog index is still a little screwy so I started by searching for Mr. Jeff, and I kept pressing buttons until the album popped up. Totally non-intuitive... sigh...

I'm enjoying the album now, thanks guys for the hint!

I ran across a live performance by Steve Martin and his band on NPR's Tiny Desk Concert Series. I knew he loved to play music from things I probably saw or read thirty years ago. Steve is still funny, but really serious about his band, and especially serious about his banjo. The genre is probably a slight left turn from bluegrass, but wow! Fantastic musicians and a lot of fun for me. YMMV, etc.

I'm playing out a fantasy about recording music for people and I'm reading and studying everything I can before I start filling out my microphone closet. The Tiny Desk series has been a great education on how to record a live show. One of the venues (think "house concerts." You have to start somewhere) who are interested in working with me is a lot like the library in the NPR headquarters in DC where Tiny Desk is recorded. The engineer posts regularly on his blog about the equipment he uses and his microphone setups. What I've seen is that he never does it the same way twice. Other than electronic instruments, there are no loudspeakers in the room. Whatever the instruments are playing, the singers have to sing over with no electronic help at all. That means that the singers have to balance with each other and that is where, for me anyway, the magic happens!

I've come to the conclusion that @Baldr is 100% correct about the effect of different tunings. I'm now also convinced that good singers will automatically adjust their pitch when harmonizing so that the overtones work out. I first heard the effect when I was in high school half a century ago. I was a member of a 16 member madrigal group. Everything we did was 8 part harmony, and most of our performances were a capella, just a toot from a pitch pipe to get started. The songs never sounded quite right to me until we all learned the music well. Then the magic happened. The blend became sweeter, more integrated when we didn't have to think about the words and the score any more.

I saw a YouTube video where some music guy was playing the individual tracks from Bohemian Rhapsody. We all know what Freddy Mercury's part sounds like, but the harmonies sound bizarre, discordant, and just awful when soloed. But when it was mixed down it sounded right. Queen recorded that piece by building up the vocal tracks one at a time. The key to what was going on is that each part was sung by a singer listening to the partial vocal stem and harmonizing with it. Add the new track to the stem and record the next part. I'm convinced that good singers naturally follow their ears and not some arbitrary pitch they are supposed to hit. Can you image what Bohemian Rhapsody would have sounded like if they had used autotune to clean up the pitch of the singers? Actually, it takes no imagination, just turn on a popular radio station... The death of music. I want my music alive and I plan to work hard to make my recordings sound as lifelike as possible.

Really enjoyed Jeff Golblum’s appearances on Graham Norton, especially with Gregory Porter, they’re on YouTube. I walked out after ten minutes at a Broadway play he was in with Hugh Jackman, awful. I think the music is the way to go.

 

[Mike-WI]

Mike, I'm glad you are convalescing well. I'm living the life of a (hopefully) temporary shut-in for now. I totally get what you are saying about appearing awkward to people. What I hate is being in a room with a lot of people and not being able to get up and socialize; I end up off in a corner watching. I'd rather be someplace else.

I still work (more than) full time as a key member of a professional production team, but no social life to speak of for the year to date.

So, what to do? Music is important to me, so when I noticed that the Tedeschi Trucks Band is going to be in town this Sunday, I said, "Phuc it, I'm going if it kills me." Okay, the show is outdoors, large venue, lots of microphones and loudspeakers, so not ideal for me, but it is a chance to see 12 excellent musicians who love each other and their music very much. So much so that Derek Trucks has finally gotten his Studer 2" tape machine up and running, and they recorded their whole album Signs with live takes through an old Neve console and classic analog outboard gear. Tracking, mixing, and mastering all done on tape. My modi multibit has been saturated with Rupert Neve's golden tones and all those fabulous transformers for some time now while I absorb all the goodness in those recordings. I wish I could listen to the tape master. They are nice people,maybe I should ask?

I think most large venues now have disability areas and protocols for helping people now.
May want to check on that.

 

[scottbrown5271]

Really enjoyed Jeff Golblum’s appearances on Graham Norton, especially with Gregory Porter, they’re on YouTube. I walked out after ten minutes at a Broadway play he was in with Hugh Jackman, awful. I think the music is the way to go.

I'm going to dig into all of that once I get through Jeff's album. Wow, his album is a whole lot of fun. I don't get to shows much, we both work too much, so to have a great band bring the show and the audience into a great studio for us is a real treat. I haven't heard anything like this since Nighthawks at the Diner. I love it! I've always liked Jeff's acting performances, and now I'm really enjoying his other career.

 

[scottbrown5271]

I think most large venues now have disability areas and protocols for helping people now.
May want to check on that.

Thanks, my wife is after me to do the same thing. I'll manage without if I can, but nice to know that is an option. It's still a few days away and I can't know how I will feel then... pretty good now, so here's hoping.

 

[SpeakerBox]

I'm going to dig into all of that once I get through Jeff's album. Wow, his album is a whole lot of fun. I don't get to shows much, we both work too much, so to have a great band bring the show and the audience into a great studio for us is a real treat. I haven't heard anything like this since Nighthawks at the Diner. I love it! I've always liked Jeff's acting performances, and now I'm really enjoying his other career.

He is quite the entertainer. Musical talent and a real connection with his audience. He truly seems to be having a blast doing it! I was also very impressed with all the musicians in the band.

 

[scottbrown5271]

here's a fav of mine, im no engineer, dj, sound dude, but play with logic pro x. tony visconti on making the song heroes with bowie

Thanks for that! It always amazes me how they put so much into so few tracks. Tony really is a musical genius!!

 

[rkw]

I think most large venues now have disability areas and protocols for helping people now.

Yes, in fact accommodation required by law in many localities.

 

[earnmyturns]

So this may be a bit too out there for y'all, but it just came on for digital download on Bandcamp, and it is mesmerizing (to me and some buddies at least). If you get over the "what's this avant-garde craziness?" initial reaction, it is remarkably rhythmic and melodic, connecting to the blues in multiple subtle ways. John Tchicai is sadly gone, but Billy Hart (on drums) is still going strong.

 

[Whazzzup]

cecile last night. What a singer and incredible accompaniment. Mcdonalds fries after so no pic of that...

 

[RCBinTN]

I want the piano!
Cool pics @Whazzzup - thanks

 

[SpeakerBox]

Great pics of Cecile. Here is a pic of the stage at Kodak Hall at Eastman Theater just before Jeff Goldblum came out (no pics allowed during performance):

 

[bosiemoncrieff]

Barenboim seems to have toscaninis old habit of sniffing loudly while conducting. During the prelude I couldn’t tell for a while whether it was him or a wind effect.

After one loud sniffing/bohème radio broadcast apparently an Italian singer still in Italy télégrammed Toscanini to tell him “it was so great to hear you sing again!”

 

[RickB]

Barenboim seems to have toscaninis old habit of sniffing loudly while conducting. During the prelude I couldn’t tell for a while whether it was him or a wind effect.

After one loud sniffing/bohème radio broadcast apparently an Italian singer still in Italy télégrammed Toscanini to tell him “it was so great to hear you sing again!”

Nasal allergies are a bitch.

 

[wink]

Caused by cats.......