friend music

Banish Misfortune

chapel
 
With my new Neumann’s in hand, I headed on down the road to the Heineman Ecumenical and Cultural Center, otherwise known as the stone chapel at Framingham State College, for a casual evening of tunes and recording. It has been sort of a personal goal to record with as many of the Stone’s session players as possible. To date I have recorded with Sally the hammered dulcimer goddess, Eamon the accordion acrobat, and of course, my good friend Mustachio the bouzouki bad ass. To the list I wanted to add Mark, sometimes known the White Rabbit, though I don’t really know where that name came from…and am somewhat afraid to ask…but I digress. Anyhow, Mark has both an incredible voice and nice touch on the button accordion. In addition, Mark has the keys to the stone chapel, which we thought would lend itself nicely to some recording. In addition to Mark and I, we also convinced Mustachio to come along.

After a tasty dinner at a local Indian restaurant – musicians don’t play well on empty stomachs – we headed over to the chapel to set up the mics.

 
chapel
 
Like most chapels, there was lots of natural reverb, which sounds great when playing but adds additional challenges when recording. From a recording engineering perspective it is nice to have well isolated tracks that can be individual tweaked after the recording. Playing live in a reverberant room introduces a bleed of the other instruments onto each mic as well as potentially slathering the tracks in reverb.

We had no real plan and just played tunes that we thought would be fun to try. Sometimes we played them twice, sometimes we didn’t. We played all the instruments at once and there were no overdubs.

After spending a few days listening to the tracks, we decided to do an additional session. Out of this second session came the track included with this post called Banish Misfortune / Sliabh Russell.

In some cases I had two recorded versions to work with and it was possible to take the best bits from both versions and merge them together. That is the case with Banish Misfortune. The first eight measures are from our first take, while the remainder of the track was from our second take. I mixed the two because Mustachio and I were subtly more in sync on the pickup measures in the first take.

Lastly, for recording geeks only, here is an interesting mixing technique the I tried with the concertina:
1. I made two identical copies of the original concertina track.
2. I shifted the first copy 17 milliseconds to the right, thereby creating a delaying of 17 milliseconds.
3. I shifted the second copy 19 milliseconds to the right, creating a delay of 19 milliseconds.
4. I panned copy one hard left and panned copy two hard right.
5. I then brought the volume of both copies to zero.
6. I then slowly brought up the levels of both copies until the delays were barely noticeable.

This gave the concertina a slightly fuller feel and makes it sound like it is in a nice room. With enough mics and good mic placement I should have been able to get a similar effect naturally from the chapel. But I did not have extra mics to work with.

Anyhow, it was lots of fun and I think we did a nice job of capturing three friends just playing music together. Also, I’m looking forward to posting lots of other tracks from The Chapel Sessions including a killer version of Amazing Grace sung by the White Rabbit.
Banish Misfortune / Sliabh Russell by baconworks

Uncategorized

Mic Reviews

I’ve been in search of a new microphone for the purposes of recording my guitar. I had been using a Rode NT1-A but felt that it might be interesting to try a few others. So, I got in touch with Parsons Audio, my local audio guys. After some helpful conversation Chris, my man at Parsons, set me up with microphones from four different companies.
 
all_mics
 
There they all are, stacked on my table. Here they are up close; a Charter Oak M900, Neumann KM184, Shure KSM141 and a Beyerdynamic MC 930.
 
mics1
 
Before I go much further, I should mention what I’m recording and some of the equipment that I’m using to make the recordings. First, I’m playing a Lowden O25 with a cedar top and rosewood back/sides. I’m also playing on a set of John Pearse Slack Key strings, which I’ve tuned to DADGAD.
 
o25_15354full
 
In addition, I am running my mic through a PreSonus FireBox and into a PC. Now, before I get flack, I know what you’re thinking, all those nice mics running through a less-than-optimal pre amps. Well, yeah. It’s what I got, and I imagine that most everyone’s road to audio nirvana passes over a few bumpy roads. Having said that, the firebox has served me very well and I have thoroughly enjoyed that road.

So, onto the mics. First a brief description of what I found in the case.

First up, the Charter Oak M900. The case, while attractive and functional, seemed a bit weak in places, such as the handle.
charter_oak_closed
 
When I opened the case I found a rugged looking mic with two switches. One for bass roll offs at 150Hz and 75Hz. Another for a -10dB and -20dB pad. In addition there were capsules for cardioid, omni and hyper-cardioid. Lastly there was a nice shock mount for the mic.
 
charter_oak_open
 
charteroak
 
Next up, the Shure KSM 141. The case on the Shure is obviously not as flashy as the Charter Oak, but it still served its purpose.
 
shure_case_closed
 
Inside the case were a couple of funky looking mics. One cool part of their funkyness was that with a twist of the capsule, you can change it from a cardioid pattern to an omni pattern. Neat. These mics also have a three position bass roll off switch as well as a -15dB and -25dB pad. Lastly, there were the typical mic holders.
 
shure_case_open
 
shure
 
The Beyer mics came in a plastic case as well. Once inside the case I found a shock mount similar to that of the Charter Oak mics, but a bit bulkier. The mics also had a two position switch for both bass roll off and a -15dB pad.
 
beyer_case_closed
 
beyers_case
 
beyer
 
Finally, the Neumann KM184’s. First, the case. The Neumann’s come in an attractive case, which does make them feel a bit special. Inside the case the mics are found with a cleaner and simpler design than the others. They also do not include any switches for roll offs or pads. Also, if your looking for a different pattern you have to pick up the 183’s or the 185’s. The mics also have a very sturdy and compact feel to them.
 
neumann_case_closed
 
neumann_case_open
 
neumann
 
I tested these mics, as well as my Rode NT1-A mic in the following manner: First I set up a single mic at ten inches away from the 12th fret of the guitar. I then proceeded to play a few short pieces. I varied capo positions as well as style. I repeated this process for each mic as carefully as I could.

My first reaction was that all four of the mics were noticeably better sounding than the Rode. I always felt the Rode had an artificial sound on the mid ranges of my guitar, which was not the case with the other mics. My other observations were that the Charter Oak seemed to have places in the frequency range that were slightly hyped and others that were not. The Shure felt more even but sort of thin and not a lot of character. The Beyerdynamic had the most bass response of any of the mics, which has garnered a lot of praise from others. At first I was impressed, but the more I listened, the more I felt it might be too much for my instrument. The cedar topped Lowden is a warm, full bassed sounding guitar to begin with. The Neumann’s seemed very even, maybe a bit light on the bass response, but overall a very consistent sound throughout the entire frequency range. At first I thought the Neumann’s and the Shure sounded similar, but then came to the conclusion that the Neumann’s seemed to capture more of the nuances of the strings and I ultimately felt they were more well rounded with a nice character. These are just my impressions.

I should note that I also did not really have too much time to try different mic placements, which might have compensated for some of the above mentioned characteristics.

After this first test, I narrowed my choice down to the Neumann’s and the Beyerdynamics.

Next I decided to try them in a mix that I have been working on, which includes a bouzouki, bass, hurdy gurdy and a bodhran. As I suspected, the Beyerdynamic was a bit too bassy without EQ, whereas the Neumann seemed to fit easier into the mix.

Lastly, before I had to return all the mics to Parsons, I decided to try setting up they pair of Neumann for a stereo recording. I had not really planned on buying two mics, so this was sort of a last minute experiment. I shouldn’t have conducted that last experiment, because the results were so impressive to me that I ended up buying the set of Neumann’s. To me they were the mics, without getting real technical, that were able to best reproduce how my guitar really sounds, which none of the others were really able to do.

So, there you have it. I’m the proud owner of two Neumann KM184’s. Along with this post I’ve included one set of my audio tests. Each recording was essentially left as is. In other words, I did not add any EQ, compression or reverb. I did, however, adjust the volume slightly on the tracks so that they would be close to even in terms of loudness, so as to not be swayed by the louder track. Also, I labeled each recording with a nondescript label so that you can do your own blind taste test, so to speak. If you download the files you can get the mic name from the properties of the mp3. Also, I will post which mics go with which files in a couple of days.

I would love to hear what others think as they listen to these samples.

new music

April 19th…the real Patriot’s Day

Every year the Sudbury Militia and Sudbury Fife and Drum Corps marches from old Sudbury center to the North Bridge in Concord on April 19th. This is not a parade, it is a ten mile march starting in the wee hours of the morning. Why April 19th? Because in 1775 in the morning of April 19th the colonist “made the first forcible resistance to British aggression.” What followed was America’s war for Independence.

Here are a few shots from the march, as well as an mp3 of some of the music that was heard along the way.
 
volley
 
line
 
fifes
 
flag
Hanover / Harem Scarem by baconworks

new music

William Hollander

flying_cloud2
 
Sometimes music takes a long time to develop. Often, in spite of all our efforts to make something creative happen on demand, it just takes years for ideas unfold. That is very much the case with this song that I refer to as William Hollander.

Somewhere close to five years ago I was playing a seisiún at The Skellig in Waltham where I heard an Irishman named Tony sing a song. An amazing song. For ten minutes he sang for the Skellig patrons, entirely acapella. His voice strained as he reached for notes describing his childhood, his loving parents, becoming bound to a butcher, a merchant sailor, a slave trader, a pirate, a condemned outlaw denouncing piracy and whiskey. It was a sprawling song that wove a tapestry of imagery, some beautiful, some appalling. I was stunned.

I had to have this song. After buying him a pint or two I asked him to repeat the melody for me while I scratched the notes onto the back of a napkin. He kindly agreed to email me the lyrics the following day, which he did.

The moment I picked up a guitar to try the melody I knew what to play. That part unfolded quickly. But the lyrics were another story. Tony’s version had thirteen verses and some renditions have up to nineteen verses. Far too many for me to a) remember and b) be able to retain anyone’s attention. I had learned this lesson from another well known song that I sing called Arthur McBride, which has, depending on how you count them, eight to sixteen verses. That is a long time to keep people interested.

The original song, often called The Flying Cloud, has a mysterious origin. The real Flying Cloud is a famous clipper merchant ship that made a miraculously speedy run in the 1850’s from New York, around the horn and to San Francisco in 81 days and 21 hours. Her speed record stood until 1989. The song, however, speaks of piracy and slave trade, which is not part of the Flying Clouds true history. It is, therefore assumed, that the song grew like any great tale. The story gets bigger and better as time passes, which may account for the vast ground the song tries to cover. So many themes in one song are rarely found in modern music, especially without a repeating chorus.

So, I was faced with a dilemma. How do I distill the song down to capture its essence and do so in a manner where I am capable of selling the performance? For years I have mulled over this question. I have tried dropping verses and rewriting verses but have never really been happy.

The version that I’ve recorded here is my first real demo of it with newly revised lyrics. Like other projects that I’ve posted on baconworks, I expect that this is going to take on a life of its own and that this version will not be the last. And, true to the form of folk music, will continue to evolve.

…I was going to post the above earlier today, but before I got a chance my fellow musical Junkie Luke broke into my office, stole the track and worked his bass magic. Take a listen to how the bass changes to reflect the story of each verse, brilliant.

Also, there are already plans in the works to add Mustchio’s killer bouzouki part, and Beave’s bodhran.
William Hollander by baconworks

announce

St. Pat’s Concert at Framingham State

Last year myself and my friends from John Stone’s, affectionately referred to as the Stoners, played a concert at Framingham State College. We will be playing there again tomorrow afternoon (March 11th). Here is our setlist, or at least the beginnings of one.
 
setlist
 
Alright, admittedly it is kind of small. I can’t give away all the details. But I can tell you that we will be playing from 1:30 to 2:30 at the Ecumenical and Cultural Center, which is a big stone church. You can find a map of the campus here.

Also, we will be playing a session at John Stone’s on Saturday, March 14th starting at 7:30pm. As much as I enjoy the Framingham State gig, I enjoy the session more. They don’t usually serve pints at the church.

technology

Deep Zoom Image with Seadragon

Below is a Deep Zoom Image created using Microsoft PhotoZoom and Seadragon Ajax. Users can change the scale of the viewed area in order to see more detail or less. In fact, you should be able to quickly zoom in and find the maker stamped on many of these instruments. Really this just scratches the surface of what is commonly called a Zoomable User Interface (ZUI). There are some quite astonishing examples of ZUI’s such as the memorabilia collection at Hard Rock Cafe.
 

new music

Sylvia’s Mother

guitar playing
 
For the last two months I’ve been musically focused on a project for work. We’ve been working on a MathWorks related spoof of an old Dr. Hook song. It was great fun to work on, had thirty overdubbed tracks of audio and an associated video. Last night I returned from a trip where we had the good fortune to show the video to a couple thousand receptive audience members. It was a lot of fun, but mentally draining. After traveling all day, tired and a bit melancholy that the whole experience was over, I found myself feeling restless. Kids were in bed, wife asleep on the couch, not interested in watching T.V. and not focused or awake enough to read I decided to retreat to the basement and just play some guitar. Just play.

While I was playing I decided to try my hand at another old Dr. Hook song that I have grown to enjoy during the last few weeks. This time there were no new lyrics. No spoof. Just a straight cover. Also, no multitracking. One mic, one track, one take. Just playing.

Thanks to Sylvia’s Mother, I can now move on.
Sylvias Mother by baconworks