I'm posting this not because it's perfect, but because it's filled with miscues that neither Alan nor I let get in the way of a good time--and audience pleasure, I trust. This is Eddie Harris's "Listen Here," something we've woodshedded on but have rarely played out. We've added a cool ascending/descending thing to make an AABA structure (the ascending/descending thing is the B section), and we're still working on the timing. But I like the song, I like the groove and space and melody, and I hope you enjoy it:
Oh yeah: I'm wearing a bowler for the the first time in my professional career. The wind was messing with my longish hair, so I walked down to Deak's shop and borrowed the hat. I think I may start wearing one. I felt good in it.
Last Edited by kudzurunner on Oct 20, 2015 7:00 PM
Adam , Aaron here (returned Deaks hat for you) , I like this tune and it sounded good Sat. .. had a good time watching you and Alan perform. You looked the part with the hat, go for it ... and... Thanks , made my day to hear you liked my playing enough to make mention of it to Deak , and, to myself.
I enjoyed your harp piece on a great song. The drums are off and detract from the playing. Let the guitarist put down a solid bass line or actually play a bass and thats all you need.
Just my 2 cents- you can get away with the drum thing without a guitarist but together they point out the uneven timekeeping
Last Edited by Goldbrick on Oct 21, 2015 11:09 AM
About the drums: the song needs a bass drum, and if you listen on headphones--as I'm sure you all did--you'll hear a very steady 4/4 beat. Alan has chosen to wear earplugs (I don't know why) in every performance context, and when he's that far away from me, he sometimes has a hard time hearing the beat. He did pretty well here. He tends to rush a little when he gets excited, which sometimes happens on his solos, but here I specifically kept the bass drum very slightly behind the beat in an effort to stave that off.
The question is what goes best with the steady 4/4 on the kick. I've pretty much figured out that the tambourine pedal, played 4/4 with occasional double hits, is what works best. Here, for about 15 seconds, I tried hitting the snare, but I don't like that sound on this song, which is why I stopped.
It's fun to workshop a song on the street, especially when there's nobody watching.
Last Edited by kudzurunner on Oct 21, 2015 6:11 PM
I liked it. It was walking passed a couple of guys jamming on the street like that that got me interested in the harmonica in the first place. I remember just standing there amazed at how cool it sounded and how different it was from the music my parents listened to. That must have been 40 years ago. I wish I knew who it was so I could thank them. I'm sure many of you have inspired some kids even if you don't know it. Thank you.
Huh? The wind messes your hair and you buy a hat. The wind messes up your recording and it's 'small sh't? Beam me up scotty. cheers, Mark. ---------- King Casey's Web site
You play harp at such a high level - you dont need the party trick. Maybe if you just hit the 1 and 3 that would accentuate the drive. Or maybe a porchboard like Chris Smither uses.
Sometimes simple is better- but again no offense its your show.
Relax, King. I don't know how much busking you've done, but from my perspective, as somebody who has done a lot, the last thing I'm thinking about when I stick a camera out there before we sit down to play is, "Uh oh, the wind might create sounds that will get somebody to criticize this video when and if I decide to post it on the forum." I've got other things on my mind. In this case, Deak was around the corner and had a huge PA and it was ricocheting off the glass across the street from us and drowning us out. The last thing I had on my mind, truly, was wind-noise. It was impossible to hear wind noise, sitting where I was sitting.
But your perspective is obviously different than mine, and that's cool.
Goldbrick: Party trick! That's hysterical. I spent $1600 making Kick and Stomp--amplfied harp and a much earlier, clunkier version of footdrums--and I've made back more than ten grand on the album. My Crossroads video has almost a million hits--700,00+ the second time around (the current version) and 260,000 in an earlier YT iteration. Somebody out there likes this sort of stuff--and since I'm enjoying the process of working out the drums-and-harp thing, I have no intention of ceasing and desisting. I need MORE party tricks like that, in fact. Please send me your worn-out party tricks and I'll make money with them.
Last Edited by kudzurunner on Oct 22, 2015 4:57 PM
Jinx: I couldn't use most of what we recorded in Clarksdale because the harp was completely drowned out by the guitar and I knew that if I posted it here, people would criticize the videos for the harp being too low. This was the one street song where the harp was roughly equal to the guitar.
In the rehearsal video, of course, the camera was sitting directly in front of the harp amp. That's why the harp is loud. Camera (i.e., mic) placement makes a lot of difference. If the harp's too loud in your headphones, BTW, just turn down the volume a little. Works for me.
Last Edited by kudzurunner on Oct 22, 2015 5:01 PM
I'm quite relaxed Mr. Gussow. I remember the first time I used my Zoom H2 to record the Mordialloc and when playing it back sounded like they were in a hurricane. Doh! The Zoom range all have a windscreen included in the box..just got to remember to use it. I am a full-time busker for years btw. I wouldn't even contemplate setting up within a bull's roar of somebody else. That's another fundamental in my book. I've incorporated wearing a hat for many years also. Most people don't wear a hat so you have something else that makes you 'different'. If you need any other handy tips to reject out of hand let me know :) cheers, Mark ---------- King Casey's Web site
Last Edited by King Casey on Oct 22, 2015 7:59 PM
