John the Revelator & Soul of a Man instrumental covers on the National

[dobrodaddy]

Recorded this a couple of days ago.  One of those middle of the night 'revelations' on the arrangement. 

It's in open D on my 1930 National.  Single stereo track using H2 mics and using H2 as interface to Audacity.  A bit of compression, no other fx. 

I included a bit of tab if anyone's interested.  It lays out pretty simply and is really fun to play.  Thanks for listening!  Hope you enjoy the medley.  DD

[launched]

Wow, that sounds awesome - I have been meaning to listen to some of your tunes. Powerful, soulful playing - Love it!!

Mark

[Mojo1961]

Dang, Geo that was fantastic. I love the tone of that National, there isn't anything else like it! Thanks for posting the tab on it to, been practicing a little more slide with the help of your audio lesson, one day I'd like to do a whole song using open tunings and slide and you've been a huge help.


Martin

[Farrell Jackson]

So cool dobrodaddy! The 1930 National has a special tone and resonance that newer instruments just don't have. I'm not familiar with this cover but the way you play it sounds great! I also have an H2 that doesn't get much use besides capturing some scratch song ideas. You have  captured/recorded an excellent sound.....where/how do you place the H2 to get such a full and vibrant sound? Any details would be appreciated.

Farrell

[dobrodaddy]

Thank you very much folks!  I really appreciate you kind words and encouragement.

Martin, I'm thrilled you found the tab helpful.  It's great you're  trying out some slide and glad my info was helpful.  Please feel free to contact me when you have Qs and I'll see if I can answer them.  

Farrell, The National is tricky to record w/o overdriving the H2 mics.  I found the key was raising the mics above the National so they don't take the direct sonic shot from the cone.  I estimate the H2 is 17" away from the National and about 8" above it.   I angle the chair so the H2 90 degree mic separation points them roughly toward the neck and cone.  

I use the H2 fabric cover as a windscreen and set mic sensitivity to low [3-position toggle switch].  

The signal comes into Audacity really light.  I amplify it, but 0.5db or so less than Audacity prompt.  Still it's 10 db to 30 db amplification.  Then I compress and reamplify, usually 8 db to 9 db.  I do noise reduction to get ambient room sounds out of there.  The tone seems natural to me and the National isn't distorted unless I lost my mind and really overdrove it.  

I rely on the instrument's tone and EQ and my own 'balance' in playing it, so I don't mess much w EQ or 'normalizing' the track.    I go for single good takes, I don't overdub much except on lap steel sometimes.

I've played guitar for 45 years, this National for 25, but I'm pretty newbie to this side of the recording console.   I'm finally learning to play and record vocal and gtr tracks separately.  I get a fair bit of 'involuntary vox' [hummng, moaning] when I play.  I'm working on reducing the vol on that, tho I doubt it will go away LOL!

Hope this is helpful.  My recording set up is REAL stripped down.  I'll be interested in any suggestions you might have.  I've done a few multi-track mixes and I'm learning about panning.  I've played mostly as acoustic solo or in duo or trio, so I tend to hear things more 'live' and stripped down, not so much 'studio production'.  Cheers!  DD

PS 'John the Revelator' and 'Soul of a Man' are both Blind Willie Johnson songs. Both covered quite bit recently.  Several vids up on YT.  This was a late night/early morning noodle that decided to go somewhere LOL!

[SE]

That sound is just fantastic, just a great listen!!

[andy casson]

Blimey Geo, I just love the tones you get from that National , the way you play, and the way the recording is so intimate - love it man!

andy

[Snowpig]

Bang on again Geo !
Loads of feeling.
Love it

Roy

[Burtog]

Amazing Geo, the tones you get are great and your playing is very soulful.

1930s National - wish I had one,.........................................not that I'd be able to make it sound like you do.

 

[AndyR]

Lovely stuff. LOVELY stuff

Are you playing it on your lap?

I have trouble mic'ing up resonators as well - and that's using separate mics - they kick out a whole load of sound pressure!

I've got a couple of resos - a cheapie one made by "Vintage", which sounds a bit banjo-like, and a Chinese-made one that sounds gorgeous. It beat the new National that was in the shop at the time (at half the price!). I'd love to have an original 30s National though. The drummer in my old band had an old Dobro, it was OK, but it didn't quite have the tone I covet. I think it had had a bit of rebuilding in it's life, so maybe it wasn't a brilliant example.

Anyway, a mighty fine track. Very inspiring. I think I might even go and grab mine off the stand in a bit...