Did a quickie of a song by a very old friend, the unequalled Scott Olson of Madison, Wisconsin - āPatty Meltā - mp3s still suckā¦
http://www.soundclick.com/bandsā¦t=music
I donāt know what this song is aboutā¦
Mr. Spademan, had to listen with the cans this a.m. and it sounds good (wife still sleeping will crank the JBLās up later).
Mix wise no comment other than amp buzz at end. I will listen again later.
Good performance as usual 
Yaz
Yaz, I left the amp buzz there on purpose.
The song is properly heard in a college dive with really bad electrical.
The song is from about 1988; we all wanted to be the Replacements back then.
Poppa, see, thereās this woman, her name is Patty, and the narrator wants to meet her at the local diner, the Noll cafe (dunno if it exists anymore) and share a patty meltā¦and I suspect there is a sexual double entendre in there, somewhere, tooā¦ although, honestly, clarity in the lyrics was never a strong suit of either myself or the folks Iāve played with!
The main thing is, mp3s suck, and the original recording of the guitars at 24/96 sounds really smooth, but the mp3 sounds grainyā¦and what I wanted to do was try to get the real sound of the amp on CD.
Failed, mostly.
The amp is really cool - itās a āLittle Lanileiā 3350LT designed and built by Tris Mahaffey:
http://www.songworks.com/
I played a PRS with p90 pickups through the amp into a 1x12" cabinet, recorded with a 421 through a Presonus Eureka.
Iāve made some progress in my recording skills, I know, b/c the 24/96 recording really sounds like I wanted it to, but when I put it in 16/44 it loses a lot, and when I reduce that to mp3, well, itās like it died last week.
Pappa, I should add that there is one songwriter in the family who knows what her lyrics are about - my daughter Kate.
But you realized that already.
Yea Tom - I took a break from mixing Merrie Melodies (groan) - to listen to all of your stuff - that track really made my night last night. I have hours of my kids and grandkids on file.
I especially liked A to G - you nailed that whole deal very wellā¦ But I am particularly taken by Life is a Silver Stream - it has an enchanting feel to it. Is that you on vocal?
Some tunes cut through and beyond the technical. If the tune is āthereā it can be whatever format there is and reach through all that and touch someone, thatās what I work for anyway. Know what I mean?
I do agree thoughā¦ mp3ās suck.
Yep, nothing is much better than kids being themselves - most of the time!
Weāve made Christmas/Yule/Saturnalia/etc. CDs as a family every year since our oldest was born.
On that first one he merely giggled, cackled, and said his first word, which was, appropriately enough for the holidays, ālight.ā
I am very flattered that you listened through the stuff.
Is it OK to really, really like a song one has written oneself?
āLife is a Silver Streamā captured something Iāve been trying to write for years and years.
Funny thing, itās really simple. Lots of strumming on a D chord.
Wish I could write songs like that more than once every ten years or so.
In any case, I thank you wholeheartedly for listening.
Yep, thatās me singing, every sound on these was made by me, except for a few found sounds (especially the sounds that sound like Pres. B. W. Bush, which are, strangely enough, P.G.W.B), and, of course, my kids singing.
Ruby (Kateās twin sister) wrote āRainbow.ā Most of the kick and snare drums in the various recordings have been highly edited with the help of midi, however, since I canāt keep a steady beat.
the āmagicā is there on Silver Stream - real obvious that itās different and came from another place. Sticks out like a rose in the snow. Your vocal on it is awesome. Hope all that rubs off on the kids and grandkids.
Well, Iām a little late to the party, butā¦
Yes. I think youāve got something really special here. Patty Melt is a great song. And I love the ambiguity of the lyrics (especially when youāve constructed it so āmeltā could be either a noun or a verb!).
The guitars sound great: really warm and crunchy. If anything, they dominate the mix a little for me. Iād love to hear the drums and bass a little more. (But Iād probably say that even if it were a drums and bass duo :-).
What did you use for the bass sound?
KB
Thanks Kbub! I didnāt write this one, however - my good friend the great Scott Olson of Madison Wisconsin did, in about 1988. The whole point of the song, according to Scott, is the linguistic ambiguity.
Bass is very simple - Fender Jazz with active pickups DI through a Presonus Eureka, with a bit of compression and EQ. Played with a pick. I will say it again: mp3s suck. Glad you like the sound on it, but youāve had the same experience, I am sure - the original recording sounds soooooo much smoother, better, clearer, detailedā¦
Well thenā¦ Scott Olson of Madison, thatās a great song. It makes me want to make my own Patty melt.
Thanks for the info on the bass technique. It sounds really good. The pick gives it real definition. (Confession: I was guessing it was layered with a sampled slap/pop bass. My ears arenāt what they used to be. Or can I blame it on the mp3 encoding?
KB