I enjoyed making this one a lot! I have made several recordings in the last 25 years or so, including 4 CDs with my old band "Little Roger & The Houserockers", some vinyl, guest appearances etc. But this time, I got to do something I've been wanting to do for a long time but, like so many things, it somehow just never happened....
I mostly play in a band in Germany called Jan Mohr and The Backscratchers, and Jan and I went into the studio recently to record, just the two of us :-) Hence the name, Downsized.
We decided to do it old school. Straight onto tape, no mixing or overdubs possible - so mix it before you play, get it right or forget it. We recorded 11 tracks and 9 have made it on to a 30-minute CD which is coming out in the next couple of weeks - Roger Wade and Jan Mohr, Downsized.
Here are a couple I've just put up on YouTube. An instrumental and an interesting version of My Backscratcher!
Hey Roger. That’s some great stuff. Love it. I have to admit that I was not aware of your stature as a harmonica player. I can’t wait to buy the CD. Make sure you let us know where it can be purchased.
@dougharps – “Old school recording, old school blues grooves, old school harp..”
You could not have been more correct. All but one of the songs on this CD were played on some pre-war Marine Bands tuned to 7-Limit that I built for Roger back in December. It was a labor of love for me. It’s not often that I get an order for nearly a full set of pre-wars. (G, A, Bb, C & D) Whenever I restore a pre-war I try to imagine the craftsmen who made them 70-80-90 years ago. I wonder how they would feel if they knew something they built so long ago was still alive and kicking and making beautiful music. I am so glad to see that these five harps found their way into the hands (and mouth) of someone like Roger who can really do them justice. It kind of completes the circle and I am honored to play a small part in it.
If you click on the picture below you can see some nice pictures of all the harps.
Thanks guys. Appreciate it. It was great fun being downsized and having to go back to the essentials.
As Tom mentioned above, I used the pre-war MBs he made for me tuned to 7L. Great fan of this tuning now, particularly for the old-style stuff.
The mic is a Turner Chop with a white CR element - thanks to Dennis Oelig who made it for me a while back.
Otherwise it was straight in to a modded Champion 600 played at half volume, no effects. So really quiet. The reverb was added to the tape later using some ancient tape reverb machine.
Best Roger
Last Edited by Little roger on Jun 06, 2015 12:03 AM
Thanks rogonzab. It is a great little amp. I have leaned over the years that, in the studio at least, less is more. I started out with a Bassman, which produced only adequate results. Then on the next record I ran a second amp parallel to the Bassman. Results only ok again. And so on until relatively recently I realised that if you take a small amp and put a decent mic in front it, you are MUCH more likely to get a big sound. Even a 6" speaker develops bass and depth if you record it well. There are of course other factors in the equation but that's my experience. Anyone else thought about this?
Sounds great Roger. 7 Limit JI tuned harps are the bee knees in my opinion. I agree with you that in general smaller amps are much better in recording situations.
I gave this some thought and in thinking a bit about the physics of bass reproduction, I believe Rogers' thoughts make perfectly good sense. I spent too many years as an audiophile trying to achieve excellent bass. (I had it once; cost me a fortune)
Not sure which Bassman you use but I'll assume it has 4 x 10" speakers and is capable of about 50 watts. This sounds fine in a room of small club dimensions ( say, 20 x 40 feet) without having to really stress the amp for the required power to play with a complete band. ( the PA can make this easy ;-) ) But, if you use the Bassman in a recording studio of smaller dimensions, you can produce standing waves and mess up the sound of the mids and highs readily. The solution is to turn it down.
As Rick Davis says: A small amp turned up sounds better than a big amp turned down. (for the tone, the crunch and overtones we desire in the Chicago sound.)
In a small room with a small amp (6 inch speaker; about 113 sq in.) you can play it louder before it reacts with the room and sets off the sympathetic vibrations or eigentones. The 4 x 10" (about 1,256 sq. in.) Jensens (with more than 10 times the power) will move over 10 times the air of the small amp and so this can certainly overload the room easier and as result, we turn its power down in a small room.
The math & physics are simplified and anyone who wants the exact numbers can 'go figure' but these are my take on Rogers' thoughts. In the end, using the right tool to get great sound is 'the' best solution. The proof is in Rogers' recordings. Great music Roger & Jan ----------
Thanks, Owen. I don't really understand much about the physics of it all, but it sort of makes sense to me and seems to support what I have found out. Wish I had known it earlier!
@Iceman As it happens, I'll be recording with my new band The Backscratchers in two weeks and they will be videos for Youtube. In the meantime, I have put up a couple of tunes by my old band Little Roger and The Houserockers.
This one is an instrumental with a five-piece, playing the same little amp.
This is a slightly different, swingy tune with horn arrangements by Sax Gordon; a type of BB King thing I guess.
There are also another couple of tunes on the Tube already.
A Sonny Boy style number a la Storyville.
And a tune by the Beatles featuring the amazing Tee on vocals :-)
Yep, great little amp for recording I think. I have even used it on bigger festival stages but only if I think the sound guy is not going to completely mess up my monitor sound. Still, sounds big in a studio. Best R
The new CD is now available :) For now it's only available from the bandstand or via me - so drop me a line if you are interested. Just a paltry €10 euros plus postage (I'll keep this to envelope size) for this little gem! I'll let you know who else is stocking it if and when it happens.
By way of answering a couple of questions that have been asked:
It is sent as a letter in a padded envelope.
Shipping is therefore cheap and works out at €3 to the U.S and €1.50 for most of Europe. Making a grand PayPal total of $15 including postage to the U.S. Not too bad methinks ;-)
Sold the first from the bandstand last night - always fun ;-)
