waltertore
1856 posts
Jan 14, 2012
6:40 PM
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Every now and then I get the urge to play with a real band instead of my 1 man band. I found this backing track and overdubbed my harp and vocals in one take on the same mic. The words and playing are all spontaneously done. I listened to the backing track for about 10 seconds, downloaded it and did this take. Walter
rushing to the grave
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walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year.
" life is a daring adventure or nothing at all" - helen keller
3,500+ of my songs
continuous streaming - 200 most current songs
my videos
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XHarp
465 posts
Jan 15, 2012
6:04 AM
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Walter, I always love what you do. Backing track, 1man band whatever, it always works very well.
Nice tune.
Thanks for that.
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"Keep it in your mouth" - XHarp
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waltertore
1858 posts
Jan 15, 2012
11:07 AM
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thanks XHarp: I did one more this morning- a shaking boogie thing. Sometimes I miss having a real band behind me. It also makes me realize how much more work the 1 man band thing is. The backing track stuff is fun to mess with but it is set in stone and too much on the perfect time for me. I feel like I am being rushed all the time. The same goes for most real band grooves. I think I mess with the backing tracks every now and then to work on mixing tones from what I do to the backing track. Music wise it is pretty generic to my ears when I am done. The one man band allows me to drift anywhere I want. I will take the 1 man band anyday for the freedom factor even though I can't "hot rod" much.
overdubbed vocals, amplified harp (shure 57 into a vintage altec lansing mixer I use as a preamp), slide guitar.
I think I am done with this and going back to my live 1 man band.
takin out on the run
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walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year.
" life is a daring adventure or nothing at all" - helen keller
3,500+ of my songs
continuous streaming - 200 most current songs
my videos
Last Edited by on Jan 15, 2012 11:14 AM
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Duane C.
34 posts
Jan 15, 2012
11:13 AM
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Hey Walter, great sounding tune I like it! I done a vid with this same backing track. It was my first attempt at playing a whole tune improvised. The completely different results is pretty darn interesting to me.
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Pistolcat
109 posts
Jan 15, 2012
2:55 PM
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Sounded good Walter! I would have liked more of those high blow notes, though, I just can't get enough of them. It's nice to see that you too sometimes uses backing tracks. I always feel like cheating but there's no musician with more integrity than you, that I know of, so that eases my troubled mind :).
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Pistolkatt - Pistolkatts youtube
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ElProbeta
5 posts
Jan 15, 2012
3:15 PM
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If you don't mind telling...how did you record this tune, in terms of equipments I mean?? Loved it BTW
Last Edited by on Jan 15, 2012 3:15 PM
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waltertore
1859 posts
Jan 15, 2012
3:58 PM
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Duane: which track did you use and give me a link if you have one.
Pistolcat: I dig those high notes but use them very sparingly. IMO most harp players, even the big names way overplay, to show they can play. I am a minimalist with notes. When I used a real band to back me it was always a bassist and drummer and they played bare bones. I couldn't hang with those busy players that try to make a trio sound like a big band. I dig space over a wall of noise. I had memories of JB Hutto on the slide and the general vibe I learned in where you laid back and hit things when it was right. Today it seems people are hitting it 24/7 more and more.
I also feel like I am cheating as well but more so than that, I lose the feel compared to playing everything live. It is like I am an outsider on the song. I do go to a place where I feel the memories of being onstage with real musicians. That helps some but I have already lost interest on backing tracks for now. I get by ok but I would not point to these backing tracks as stuff to check out for people just learning of my music. I do it mostly to work on my recording skills- blending tones, etc.
ElPobeta: Thanks. Recording is my passion and equal to playing music. I see them as a yin and yang type thing. One without the other would put me all out of balance. I have dreamed of having total control over my music and now I do. What I put out is how I like it to sound. I stay away from trends and let my ears guide me. On a kind of funny note- I play stock harps - big rivers, marine bands, and delta frosts. I figure for all the gear money I have spent to get to this point could have easily went to custom harps. I get by fine with stock ones and have been playing them so long I get use to them sticking and what not. Someday I may learn to customize them some so they play easier if the right person comes along. The list of what I use is pretty long but here goes:
I normally use 5-6 tracks at once to capture everything live. For the backing track songs I used 2 on the first song(harp/vocal and backing track) and 4 on the second one (vocal mic, guitar mic, harp direct and the backing track). I added some plate reverb to the backing tracks to try and blend it all together.
samplitude recording software
motu 2408mk3 audio interface
universal audio plugins-
neve 1081 eq
pultec pro eq
emt plate reverb
studer tape emulator
ampex tape emulation
LA-2A compressor
1176 compressor
mastering plugins:
universal audio precision limiter, universal audio multiband, universal audio precision eq
mics/preamps:
amplified harp- shure 57 into an altec lansing 1592 mixer
vocal/acoustic harp- electrovoice R20 into a universal audio 6176 mic preamp/compressor. I change around to the AKG C414 and Oktava MK -219 occasionally but the R20 is best for capturing the vocals and harp on the same mic due its lower high end pickup.
guitar- shure 57 into universal audio LA-610 preamp/compressor
snare - AKG C414 B-ULS to a Universal audio 610 preamp
ride cymbal- AKG C414 B- TL - II into a FMR RNP
room mic - Michael Joly modified oktava MK-219 into a FMR RNP
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walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year.
" life is a daring adventure or nothing at all" - helen keller
3,500+ of my songs
continuous streaming - 200 most current songs
my videos
Last Edited by on Jan 15, 2012 4:17 PM
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XHarp
466 posts
Jan 15, 2012
5:14 PM
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Walter, I understand your reservations about using a band. I left it behind because I tired of having to regurgitate the same thing night after night and having to always compromise with various egos.
Now, I play for me, what I want. My passion for acoustic blues allows me to pursue my desires.
Who knows where it will go, but for now I enjoy the ride.
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"Keep it in your mouth" - XHarp
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waltertore
1861 posts
Jan 15, 2012
6:23 PM
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XHarp: I am glad you found your balance! I fell back into the 1 man band due to falling out of the pro level scene in austin and moving to northern california. I didn't have the depth of pro players available that I had in austin, the number of venues to play with a band, and had a steady day job that kept me to regular hours. The ego problems were pretty minimal with my band. My bassist was with me for about 12 years and we genuinly enjoyed each others company and he was 100% behind spontobeat. He helped me come up with the name. the drummer was a constantly rotating spot. I once figured I have had well over 200 in my band over the years. I don't miss going up to the last minute for gigs and tours without one. That was an ongoing stress. I remember once playing corpus down in texas and we had no drummer. It was a fri/sat night gig with good pay and accomodations. We heard a mexican mariachi band playing down the street and I talked my pigeon spanish and got the drummer to come up and play for us. I have way too many stories like that....
My normal pattern would use the big gun drummers when they weren't on tour with their bands or work a talented but unseasoned one in. they were committed but eventually a bigger band would offer them a gig and they were gone. I supported that. You got to follow your dreams. Anyway, I have 4 people I would still enjoy touring with. Like you said, one never knows where things will end up! Walter
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walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year.
" life is a daring adventure or nothing at all" - helen keller
3,500+ of my songs
continuous streaming - 200 most current songs
my videos
Last Edited by on Jan 15, 2012 6:26 PM
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XHarp
467 posts
Jan 16, 2012
4:18 AM
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I lost track of how many drummers we played with. For the longest time we used a drum machine. It wasn't well received but getting a reliable steady drummer was frustrating.
Bass players seem to be stable and easy going. Ours is still with the band, keeping that same groove and just chilling' out.
Must be in their bones.
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"Keep it in your mouth" - XHarp
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Duane C.
35 posts
Jan 16, 2012
10:47 AM
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Hi Walter, I don't have a link to the track. It was called "Swamp Blues" and it was my first attempt at playing with a backing track. Here's a link to my video, I called " 1st Blues Improvisation"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mB3g1Ay8XIE
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waltertore
1863 posts
Jan 16, 2012
11:40 AM
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Hi Duane: I checked out your song. It is a different backing track that the 2 I have poste here as far as my ears can tell. Walter
I did these back in april 2011 and this is the same track as yours. I got it fromt the guitar center backing tracks. It was good to hear it and how my recording skills have improved some.
link to the song
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walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year.
" life is a daring adventure or nothing at all" - helen keller
3,500+ of my songs
continuous streaming - 200 most current songs
my videos
Last Edited by on Jan 16, 2012 11:51 AM
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Frank
105 posts
Jan 17, 2012
8:22 AM
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Really enjoyed those tunes Walter....It's not easy for me to listen to songs all the through, it's rare that I do - for what ever reason. Those couple a tunes of yours on this thread 'rushin to the grave" and "swamp slim 3" hooked me rather quickly and reeled me in all the way into shore. Great tone, overall sound [textures], phrasing[shapes], dynamics and above all INTERESTING!
Last Edited by on Jan 17, 2012 9:02 AM
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waltertore
1866 posts
Jan 17, 2012
9:08 AM
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Hi Frank: Thanks! These songs sort of brought me back to when I had a real band behind me. I am not interested in doing the typical slim harpo/sbw riffs that would fit this song "perfectly" for most. I like to mess with time-s tretch and shorten it. Miles Davis, frank sinatra and chet baker did that wonderfully IMO. One can still find new stuff in the old beats IMO. Walter
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walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year.
" life is a daring adventure or nothing at all" - helen keller
3,500+ of my songs
continuous streaming - 200 most current songs
my videos
Last Edited by on Jan 17, 2012 9:09 AM
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