Gene Gene The Dancing Machine - original

[Farrell Jackson]

[soundclick]12380194[/soundclick]

This is a song that Loren Risker and I collaborated on. It's an instrumental blues swing shuffle. Loren did all the backing tracks and I did the guitar riffing. You'll notice the guitar has a nice 3D binaural spread out sound. I got this not by panning or effects but by playing into two amps placed at opposite corners of my studio, about twelve feet apart. I then mic'ed each with separate SM57's placed on a dummy head (cardboard box not my own head ,lol) just like they were ears and up at head height. This contraption was placed equal distance from the amps at 6 feet away. The amps are a Fender Blues Jr. and a Fender Pro Jr. and the guitar is a Fender Squire Jagmaster. I made this set up from a small cardboard box stuffed with newspaper with two sure SM 57's inserted and placed on a tri-pod stand. I used the things I already had. Total cost about $200 if I factor in the price for the mics and stand but the fun was priceless. Neumann has binaural set up for over $6000. My DIY contraption did fine by capturing a unique sound without any use of effects, better heard with headphones..........the benefits of having your own home studio....experimentation! Here's Wikipedia's explanation of binaural recording http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binaural_recording

The song reminded me of the theme from the Gong Show when Gene Gene The Dancing Machine would shuffle out across the stage in the background as the performers were gonged off the show, lol! So hence the name....Gene Gene The Dancing Machine.

I hope you enjoy it!

Farrell Jackson

[Rata-tat-tat]

Man I used to love watching that show when I was little... I would race home on my bike where ever I was to watch it... It wasn't until a few years ago... I realized all those guys were half blitzed when they filmed that show... As a kid i was oblivious... I thought they were just being silly!!! Good stuff FJ... Long Live the Machine

[Farrell Jackson]

I did enjoy that Farrell, very cool on the recording technique. I have heard those 2 amps are very different beasts from each other but in the recording they fit together extremely well.
Great job, that was a fantastic listen!

Thanks Kenneth (and Rata)! You are right, the Blues Jr. and the Pro Jr. are different from one another. The Blues Jr. has reverb, 15 watts, 12" speaker, three tone controls, and has separate gain/level knobs so it can be over driven. All that requires a different tube configuration which seems to rob some of it's power. In comparison the Pro Jr. has no reverb, 15 watts, one volume knob, one tone knob, and a 10 " speaker....very basic. So all available power is going to the speaker. In my opinion, it actually kicks the Blues Jr's butt in volume and tone...at least for gigging it does but the Blues Jr. is still a great amp. The Pro Jr. is/was my primary gig amp for all venues. Large venues just requires micing or bringing them both.

Thanks!

Farrell

[Redler]

Lovely playing and stunning guitar tones! I would love to see and listen this on live gig! In my opinion this tune has very "live feel". Great collab, gents!

Kari

[Jarle]

Great blues shuffle. I agree with Redler, it has a nice live feel to it. Well done and thank you for the explanation of how it was recorded.

JOA

[swill]

Wow, you are an incredibly accomplished guitarist. That 3D binaural spread out sound...hmm why didn't i think of that. I'm a sucker for good guitar playing. You did it for me. Don't get me wrong, even though i'm a rocker/metalhead at heart, i do listen to a variety of music, it's how i learn

[Greeny]

Those tones! So sweet, dirty and full of Chicago blues wail. Brilliant playing. This is a fantastic track, and I was disappointed when it faded out! Fine, fine work.

[djbride]

Great guitar tone, I think the recording technique really worked well. The guitar has a live sound to it and you have some nice tasty licks on here. Nice swing feel to the song.

[ODH]

Great playing, great vibe.  Nice blues.

I was brought here by the post about the man Gene's death, so RIP to him.

[cuthbert]

I missed this one the first time around - the guitar really sounds great, even on the laptop speakers. Great blues, and a fine tribute to good old Gene Gene, the Dancing Machine. I'll bet he could have done a quite number on this one back in the day!