Original Blues by Jobless-Recovery
Hi,
When you have a chance, go to my band’s web site,
Jobless-Recovery: A Boston-area Blues Band and check out the music page for Casio Blues, an example of an original Blues shuffle done with n-track studio. This track uses canned drums and bass, but more tunes with the full band are planned.
This was my first home recording project. Despite being a complete novice and only having very basic hardware and studio environment (the mic was plugged directly into a SoundBlaster Live card!) to work with, I was impressed with the result. Mix hasn’t been compressed yet, which I understand is a must.
Just got an analog mixer to handle multiple mics with better preamps and monitoring capabilities. First tests with my National Steel very promising…
Take care,
-Jim
The tone of the organ and guitar sound fine. You can tell that the drums and bass especially are synthetic. I realize you are going to update when available.
Nice organ work!
You said this was an original blues song but it sounds an aweful lot like Tore Down by Clapton. 
I would get rid of the rhythm riffs if you plan on going further as an original.
Keep recording. It gets easier! 
Sax
Sax,
Thanks for the quick reaction. I’m more interested in production (or lack thereof in my case!) critiques from this forum rather than the playing. But I’ll pass the kudos on.
re: drums and bass–yes, they stink. Actually, it was taken directly from a patch in a cheap Casio keyboard, hence the name. We intend to replace it with real players–and a Hammond organ–soon.
re: “I’m tore down”: Yes, the rhythm is stock, very similar to “I’m tore down” (it’s a patch!), and 10’s of other Blues shuffles. Blues, as you all know, has a tradition of borrowing bits from others; see Eric Clapton w.r.t Albert King, Muddy Waters, Freddie King; Muddy w.r.t. Robert Johnson; Johnson w.r.t Skip James. I don’t think we’re breaking any rules here.
Thanks again. If people are interested, I can post the particulars about the recording and how I used n-track (again, to solicit comments, and learn how best to use the software).
-Jim
Jim
Haven’t been to these song pages for a while - and never often, but I listened to your Casio Blues till the end so that says something!
It passed a few minutes on a rainy afternoon in Auckland, and got me thinking about guitar tones.
I tend to play with more top end - but run the risk of being too much in your face. Liked your smooth o/drive, compression etc. What guitar? What FX?
cheers
dd
Jim
Haven’t been to these song pages for a while - and never often, but I listened to your Casio Blues till the end so that says something!
It passed a few minutes on a rainy afternoon in Auckland, and got me thinking about guitar tones.
I tend to play with more top end - but run the risk of being too much in your face. Liked your smooth o/drive, compression etc. What guitar? What FX?
cheers
dd
dd,
Thanks. I often get complements on my tone. It’s really old school, i.e., little effects (except echo & reverb–more later); just an overdriven low-wattage tube amp. I’m in the process of writing this up for my band’s web site, but here’s a summary.
My main guitar is a late '50s Gibson ES-125. It was the entry level archtop in Gibson’s line at the time, with one P90 pickup. It has tons of mid-range, sustain and a wonderful crunch when pushed.
For electric slide, I use a mid-90’s Hamer Special set up for slide (heavy strings, high action). It has two Seymour Duncan P90s.
The amp is an early 80’s Fender SuperChamp–really more or a hot-rodded Deluxe Reverb, although I just use the normal channel. I use a separate cabinet w/Weber BlueDog 12" spkr.
The tone comes from a number of things, but I think the main
point is to boost the mid-range so it overdrives the preamp and play loud enough to drive the power tubes into clipping / compression. I use a EQ pedal + the “fat” switch on the SuperChamp to make this happen. The P90s also help–I love 'em!
Effects are minimal. I always use a little spring reverb. For Casio Blues, I added n-track echo after the fact. Today, I use an old EchoPlex for a touch of echo, again to fatten up the sound.
Thanks for the interest. I’ll post more as they’re ready.
-Jim