"Melissa" by The Allman Brothers

[Bluesberry]

So awesome.  I am loving this song, this arrangement, this jam very much. 

[Ferryman_1957]

Great jam, great sound for a living room. You guys have fun and it sounds REALLY good! I'm impressed that you can get such a good quality recording with what seems like minimal effort. But I know it's because you know what you are doing that you make it seem effortless.

Cheers,

Nigel

[Blooby]

Thank you, all, very much for your comments.  I especially appreciate the kind words about the mix because that's where my head is at these days.  I wrestle with the vocal level constantly.  And even now, I wonder if it is too high, but then it's a ballad, and the vocal should carry the tune.  But is that B3 buried?  What about the rhythm guitar?  Damn, that friggin lead is loud!  Too much reverb on the drums?  Should you even have to compress an electronic drum kit?  The vocal punch-in was at a slightly different volume.  Ahhh, I told you I was wrestling.  Argh.

Those real drums sound so good.

The drums are that Yamaha DTXpress IV electronic set that was the final piece of the puzzle for the living room jams (to control volume).  I love that thing and the way our drummer Dave gets around on it.  We'll have to record something that highlights his very substantial skills one of these days.

Was the first lead yours?

I'm on lead up until the Stratocaster outro.  That would be the singer/other guitarist.  It's the first time I've dragged out a guitar with humbuckers in a dog's age.  I just haven't been able to stop playing my piece o' crap Affinity Telecaster I bought after a head wound (documented in the "Amusing Anecdote" thread).

Can I come over next month? I'll bring some Canadian beer  .

Vaancad, you're invited.  I myself am a Guinness man, but I sense my compadres would knock down the elderly, a nun, and a girl scout for Canadian beer.

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I love this mix-listening in headphones sound fantastic

For my past several posts, I have been complaining of a subtle mid-range warble that is driving me crazy.  My assumption has been that it is my MP3 encoder, but I've seen several comments about the decent fidelity some folks are hearing in my posts (like guitarron's very gracious comment above).  It got me wondering.  Do you guys hear this waffle, or should I start looking at my hardware?  Again, it's subtle when I hear it, but it makes me want to be petulant, throw things, and spin around on the floor like the third stooge.

On another note, our motley assortment seems to be gelling more personality-wise, which can only be a good thing.  It's great to be playing with such genuinely nice folks.  And again, I think not having the specter of playing out looming ahead helps to keeps things lighter.

I really like how Everett, the guy who sang this song and "Gravity" delivers ballads (especially since everything he does is just a first or second take), but we are going to expand the sonic palette a bit and try an additional singer next Thursday.  He's an old buddy of mine who first impressed me by belting out the last two lines of "Whipping Post" while filling a beer at a keg party years back (When he finished, the party erupted in spontaneous and drunken applause).  I've also seen him just kill the harmonies (in a good way) to "Seven Bridges Road" and do a great version of "Oh, Darling."  No guarantee it will work out.  I think every time I heard him sing, I may have been drunk (a trend?), so we'll see.  I'm obviously excited about the prospect, though.

Finally, I got a 4 channel headphone distribution amp a while back and put a bid in on another about ten minutes ago.  Maybe we'll try to do a silent jam (except vocals obviously), which would eliminate most of the bleedover into the mic (destroying live vocal takes).  I've been mulling this for a while and would need some more cabling and headphones, so I'm not quite there yet.  Hmmm (plot, ponder, scheme).  I have to wonder if the headphones would detract from the fun factor.

Take care.

Blooby

[launched]

Finally, I got a 4 channel headphone distribution amp a while back and put a bid in on another about ten minutes ago.  Maybe we'll try to do a silent jam (except vocals obviously), which would eliminate most of the bleedover into the mic (destroying live vocal takes).  I've been mulling this for a while and would need some more cabling and headphones, so I'm not quite there yet.  Hmmm (plot, ponder, scheme).  I have to wonder if the headphones would detract from the fun factor.

Not to change the subject, but what kind headphones are you thinking of getting?

Thanks,

Mark

[Blooby]

Not to change the subject, but what kind headphones are you thinking of getting?

I actually haven't researched this yet seriously and am trying not to right now as I have, ahem, overextended myself once again.  The second headphone amp I just bid on is being sold with some closed sennhiessers (no model number given).

This is a good topic for a thread.  I put one here:  https://songcrafters.org/community/general-discussion-b8/headphone-advice/new/#new

Blooby

[lg]

This is pure Ear Candy!
Sweeeet
Great song! Great cover!!!!
Rock on

LG

[launched]

Not to change the subject, but what kind headphones are you thinking of getting?

I actually haven't researched this yet seriously and am trying not to right now as I have, ahem, overextended myself once again.  The second headphone amp I just bid on is being sold with some closed sennhiessers (no model number given).

This is a good topic for a thread.  I put one here:  https://songcrafters.org/community/general-discussion-b8/headphone-advice/new/#new

Blooby

Excellent - I want to get a new set. Hopefully we'll get some good suggestions.

Mark

[Blooby]

For my past several posts, I have been complaining of a subtle mid-range warble that is driving me crazy.  My assumption has been that it is my MP3 encoder, but I've seen several comments about the decent fidelity some folks are hearing in my posts.  It got me wondering.  Do you guys hear this waffle, or should I start looking at my hardware?  Again, it's subtle when I hear it, but it makes me want to be petulant, throw things, and spin around on the floor like the third stooge.

Still hoping for some input on the matter and didn't want it to get lost after the last few posts in this thread. 

Peace.

Blooby

[64Guitars]

For my past several posts, I have been complaining of a subtle mid-range warble that is driving me crazy.  My assumption has been that it is my MP3 encoder, but I've seen several comments about the decent fidelity some folks are hearing in my posts (like guitarron's very gracious comment above).  It got me wondering.  Do you guys hear this waffle, or should I start looking at my hardware?  Again, it's subtle when I hear it, but it makes me want to be petulant, throw things, and spin around on the floor like the third stooge.

I know what you mean. I've heard that warble in many of the posts here, including my own, and it's very annoying. But I don't really notice it in this particular recording. It's probably more noticeable to you because you know how it sounded on the BR and, presumably, the MP3 sounds different. But we have nothing to compare it with.

I've always assumed it's an artifact of MP3 lossy data compression. This Wikipedia article says "Compression artifacts in compressed audio typically show up as ringing, pre-echo, drop-outs, warbling, metallic ringing, an underwater feeling, hissing, or 'graininess'." The higher the compression, the more noticeable the artifacts. So, the 5MB attachment limit is probably a big factor in this problem since we often have to resort to very high compression to reduce the file size to 5MB or less.

I really miss the good old days when we could link the site's MP3 player to files stored offsite. Then we could make better quality MP3s because file size wasn't a concern. I wish Pedro would bring back that ability.


By the way, when I heard the first two chords of your song, I thought you were going to play "Something In The Air" by Thunderclap Newman. Very similar.

[Blooby]

Thanks, 64.  I've described the sound as both a "warble" and as a "swishy underwatery sound (Yes, my vocabulary is really that impressive)."  I have to agree with you.  At least I can refrain from throwing things for now.

Really appreciate the information and quotation.

Blooby