kudzurunner
1804 posts
Aug 29, 2010
2:00 PM
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I've added a new page to this website and it has links for Tradebit:
Kick_and_Stomp
I hope you guys enjoy listening to it as much as I enjoyed making it.
14 tracks totaling around 70 minutes. Harp, vocals, percussion. No overdubs. No other musicians.
I'll be happy to answer any questions you may have: amps, harps, studio miking, reverb settings, the mastering process, etc.
I used stock Marine Bands on every cut except "The Entertainer," where I used a Joe Spiers Stage 1 MB.
Many thanks to Adam Marsh (Kyser) for the album cover design.
Play it loud.
Last Edited by on Aug 29, 2010 2:03 PM
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Blues13
57 posts
Aug 29, 2010
2:23 PM
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Hi Adam. I'm downloading it right now. C'an't wait to listen to it.
Martin
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nacoran
2645 posts
Aug 29, 2010
2:30 PM
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I'll have money Wednesday. :)
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Nate
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HarpNinja
591 posts
Aug 29, 2010
2:42 PM
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I downloaded the WAV and it won't open using WinRAR. Help!
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Mike
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Blues13
58 posts
Aug 29, 2010
2:53 PM
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It's great, congratulation Adam.
Mike I don't have winrar I just open the file and drag the album in another folder.
Martin
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HarpNinja
592 posts
Aug 29, 2010
2:58 PM
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Well it appears it only dl'ed 108MB the first time. I only opened it because the computer said it was done. I am trying to redo it.
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Mike
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cdsprocket
16 posts
Aug 29, 2010
4:44 PM
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Adam: Sounds great- listening to the cuts now! very nice-love it! sunshine for your love rocks. Are you using your old Mouse & the shure pe for this project? Keep rockin' and thanks for sharing your talents....Chris D from Long Island
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kudzurunner
1805 posts
Aug 29, 2010
4:55 PM
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No, I actually used the two amps in the cover photo: early 60's Premier Twin-8 and early 60s Kay 703. Plus a Boss DD-3 (I turned it off for three tracks) and, yes, that Shure PE5-H.
Last Edited by on Aug 29, 2010 4:55 PM
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cdsprocket
17 posts
Aug 29, 2010
5:04 PM
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oops, forgot to look at the photo in the zip file...of course now I see the two amps! Actually, your arrangement of crossroads is my favorite now. I'm really digging this-it's great. Thanks again.
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oldwailer
1324 posts
Aug 29, 2010
5:09 PM
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I just got it--I'm about half way through. Every time I get a new CD I have to go through and rate it--that way, when they go into my ipod, the correct tunes get moved into the "Ass Kickers" catagory--which is what I listen to most. Anyway--so far, all the tunes in this CD are 5 star--definitely ass kickers. . .
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jodanchudan
93 posts
Aug 29, 2010
5:12 PM
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This is great stuff - haven't heard anything else like this out there.
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Heart2Harp
120 posts
Aug 29, 2010
7:19 PM
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Just dowloaded it.
I think the first cut is a kick-ass way to start the album.
To be honest, at first I was a bit surprised by how ''loose'' some arrangements were. And it also bugged me that there were tempo variations, the overblows weren't as clean as the regular notes, some of the vocals were a bit difficult etc.
But then, as I listened to it again, I realized that this is one of the contributions of the album. It is real time, organic, honest, blues. And as I thought more about it, I came to the conclusion that I like these imperfections. They, in a sense, become part of the album's identity. Every cut is straight from Adam's lungs to our ears with very little standing in between. It's kind of the same principle as Alan Lomax's recordings. Straight from the source.
My favorite cuts are ''poor boy'' and ''Mr. Cantrell'' which, in a way, is surprising because they are less energetic ones. But I think I like them because of the contrast between their tempos and the other faster tempo songs. After many fast tempo cuts, a slow one stands out more.
All in all, I think this album as a lot to offer. It is beautifull in it's imperfections because it has a lot of honesty to it. And it goes without mentionning that the harp playing is ''Gussowesque'' (meaning light years away from what I ever hope to accomplish one day)
Thanks Adam and well done
I think I'll be listening to these cuts for quite a while
Mathieu
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Heart2Harp
Heart2Harp
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Kyzer Sosa
765 posts
Aug 29, 2010
7:42 PM
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What was the reason, in particular, that you used the stage one on the entertainer and not the others.... just curious..
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Kyzer's Travels
Kyzer's Artwork
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arzajac
328 posts
Aug 29, 2010
8:53 PM
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Congratulations Adam.
I love it. I hear a lot of tributes to Mr. Satan in those crashing endings.
On a side note, I converted the WAV files to FLAC (which is supposed to be just as high quality since it is lossless compression) and it totals just under 390 Megs. If you wanted to reduce the download size of the masters with no loss in quality, that's how much savings there is to be had...
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Last Edited by on Aug 29, 2010 8:54 PM
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isaacullah
1146 posts
Aug 29, 2010
9:03 PM
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Just downloaded it! I'll give it a listen tomorrow afternoon while I grade papers! I'm sure it'll make the process MUCH more enjoyable! :)
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View my videos on YouTube!"
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sammyharp
5 posts
Aug 30, 2010
12:45 AM
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Only on track 3, and I already wanna go start shedding. Awesome album, Adam!
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Ant138
551 posts
Aug 30, 2010
3:23 AM
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Ahhh, I don't get paid til tomorrow!!!:o(it will be mine oh yes it will be mine.
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kudzurunner
1807 posts
Aug 30, 2010
5:17 AM
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@Kyzer: "The Entertainer" has a couple of quick overblows on arpeggiated downward runs that are easier on the Stage 1. On the album, I only play one other song on a C harp, and that's "Sunshine of Your Love." I'm hitting the harp really hard on that track, and I prefer the feel of stock MB's when I'm hitting them that hard. I can throw them away when the reeds blow out. If I used the Stage 1 on that song--gigging, practicing, then recording--it would show the wear and tear. I'd rather save it for the right occasion. "The Entertainer" is the perfect occasion: a showpiece. I'm glad I had the harp for that tune.
Last Edited by on Aug 30, 2010 5:18 AM
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kudzurunner
1808 posts
Aug 30, 2010
5:27 AM
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@Heart2Harp: You're right about occasional slight variations in time, although that's not something that everybody will notice. But there are a couple of cuts where I speed up slightly when I get into the music. Little Walter was my model here. He did that. :)
In "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl," of course, I completely messed with time--stopping and starting, faltering, pausing. I did that at the suggestion of my engineer, Bryan Ward. It was a brilliant suggestion, as far as I'm concerned, and it's the reason why I gave him co-producer credit on the album.
I also deliberately inserted a couple of slight time-shifts in "The Entertainer." Accelerando, rubato. This is one place where one-man bands can profitably steal from the classical tradition.
I'll agree with you on an important point: In "Mr. Cantrell," I allowed one outright, audible clam (as we call it) to stand, rather than editing it out or airbrushing it away with ProTools. It's a kind of wheezing note. In "Mr. Cantrell," which is a dirge, the clam struck me as equivalent to a down-and-out guy who has a lot of grief on his mind but can't even tell you his story without coughing. Yet that doesn't stop him, and he keeps on with his lament. One element of the blues ethos, as I understand it, is that even when you're wallowing in the s-it, you pick yourself up. I realized that I'd missed a note almost the moment I missed it, so I quickly adapted what I played immediately after it--the evolving song structure--to bring the song back to its familiar cadence.
Last Edited by on Aug 30, 2010 7:52 AM
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Littoral
67 posts
Aug 30, 2010
7:15 AM
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All 2nd position unless otherwise noted?
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N.O.D.
140 posts
Aug 30, 2010
7:33 AM
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Adam would you care to tell us of the message in the tune The Entertainer, i hear a very loud message
with your attacking certain notes and styles of emboucure used, ie Toungue Blocking Lip Purseing and over blows:)
i do know what your saying but others may not:)
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Cheers
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kudzurunner
1809 posts
Aug 30, 2010
7:58 AM
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That cut was the album's lagniappe--the little something extra; the clown in mufti wandering onto the stage after the party is over, the disco ball has been taken down, etc.
Since all but two of the cuts on the album were cross harp, I though it would be good to show that I can play a couple of other positions. "The Entertainer" is a piece that I figured out right after I learned how to overblow back in the fall of 1987. I bought the sheet music and very, very slowly worked my way through enough of it to satisfy myself that I'd gotten the heart of it. I was touring with Big River at that point; I worked the song out in the dressing room and my various hotel rooms. It's been kicking around in the bottom of my repertoire barrel ever since then. I hauled it out and dusted it off. I could have done it on a stock Marine Band, but it sounds better and was easier to play on Joe Spiers's harp. Those octaves are perfectly in tune! Spit tends to accumulate, though, because it's almost all blow notes (it's hard to swallow spit when you're blowing), and I come close to missing a couple of notes at the very end.
There isn't much message, except one: choose what you need from the available techniques in order to serve the music. I use lip pursing, overblowing, tongue blocking, an some old-school tongue-trickery in order to bring the song to life. But the point is simply to create that life, not to showcase techniques.
Last Edited by on Aug 30, 2010 8:01 AM
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arzajac
329 posts
Aug 30, 2010
8:01 AM
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Adam, I love the tone. Your harps' tunings are dead-on.
Do you still tune your harps the same way (as you once described where you use a guitar)? Or are the harps you play here unmodified out-of-the-box tuning?
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Last Edited by on Aug 30, 2010 8:01 AM
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kudzurunner
1810 posts
Aug 30, 2010
8:03 AM
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@Littoral:
Yes.
One curiosity is that the final two cuts of the album, in 3rd position and 1st position, are both in the key of C: C minor (on a Bb harp), then C major (first position on a C harp). It happens that those two tracks felt like the right way to end the album, but the minor/major thing, when I noticed it, seemed cool.
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kudzurunner
1811 posts
Aug 30, 2010
8:05 AM
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@arzajac:
I still tune up my harps the same way, using a guitar, but in this case, I didn't do any specific retuning before the recording session. When you play solo, the small flatnesses that make a difference when you're playing with other musicians (such as a guitarist) are irrelevant. As long as the harp sounds reasonably in tune with itself, you're fine.
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Hakan
30 posts
Aug 31, 2010
11:02 AM
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I´ve only listened to it once but I think My Baby's So Sweet and Sugar are my favourite songs for the moment. The album is filled with a constant flow of good time music (just like another album in my ipod, Satan & Adam's "Word On The Street".
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LIP RIPPER
286 posts
Aug 31, 2010
1:07 PM
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arzajac, I've seen Adam take a new harp right out of the box and tune it to his guitar, equal temperament. I find that very interesting.
5 Star ass kickin & stompin? I gotta download this now.
LR
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BAG
5 posts
Aug 31, 2010
2:58 PM
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Downloaded late last nght, but only had the opportunity to start listening during morning commute. Can't wait to try to figure out some of the licks. Loved the version of "Crossroads" and thank you for including "Sugar". First heard that tune played by Clint Hoover on the chromatic and was so blown away that I bought a whole Stanley Turrentine cd just so I could have that song, studio and live version. I've never had the audacity to give it a try, but might have to figure out what Adam's doing with it.
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nacoran
2658 posts
Aug 31, 2010
3:27 PM
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Just finished listening the first time! I downloaded the .wav's and WMP wouldn't recognize them. I had to convert them into MP3's, but it was worth the effort!
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Nate
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arzajac
330 posts
Aug 31, 2010
3:46 PM
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LIP RIPPER: "arzajac, I've seen Adam take a new harp right out of the box and tune it to his guitar, equal temperament. I find that very interesting."
I will dig up that thread. From what I remember, I don't think it's ET. If he used a guitar tuner to tune every note to zero, it would be ET, but he doesn't quite do that. It would be interesting to take one if his harps and find out what kind of tuning it most resembles (ET, compromised or JI).
In listening to the album, I hear a lot of sweet overtones which you don't get from ET - that's why I asked the question in the first place...
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rpoe
202 posts
Aug 31, 2010
6:15 PM
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Wonderful album Adam. I really like what you did with "Good Morning Little School Girl"
I recognize bit's and pieces from some of your youtube lessons. Nice to see them worked out for the "street". Inspirational.
"Goin Down South" is a blast to play with. The tradebit lesson allowed me to jump right in.
All I need now is the delivery of my Deak Harp album I ordered and I can call it a great week :)
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Rob
Rob's Tube
Last Edited by on Aug 31, 2010 6:17 PM
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kudzurunner
1820 posts
Aug 31, 2010
6:57 PM
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I have no idea what tuning I use. I rarely use a tuner. I tune the high E string of a guitar to the 3 blow of a new A harp. Then I tune the 1,2,3, and sometimes 4 draw so the various octaves and double stops sound right to me. I listen particularly for the 12 draw, and the 14 draw and blow. The 1 and 2 draw, at decent volume with proper embouchure, almost always need to be sharpened slightly. I tune my Bb harp next, then my C. Higher key harps need less of this sort of tweaking because their pitch is less sensitive to increase air pressure.
I do little to the blow reeds of OTS harps, initially, but eventually the 4 and 5 blow need a little sharpening. I find that more difficult than the equivalent draw reeds.
I'm a primitive with good ears, basically. What I did worked quite well when I was playing with Sterling Magee--as long as his guitar stayed in tune once I'd tuned up my harps and insisted that he start off in perfect tune with me. But there were train wrecks. And, significantly, if I DIDN'T follow this tuning regimen before a gig, there were always problems--half of them involving a flat 2 draw on my A harp, meaning that we never sounded perfectly in tune in the key of E, which he did a lot of songs in.
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captainbliss
271 posts
Sep 01, 2010
2:29 AM
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@kudzurunner:
Huge congratulations, Professor. I look forward to listening to it!
xxx
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MySpace | Facebook | Calendar | YouTube | London Harmonica Group | My Main Gig
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roberth5
16 posts
Sep 01, 2010
2:44 AM
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Congratulations Adam on a great album.
Even the spouse is bopping around to the Cream track, Sunshine of Your Love.
Rob
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LIP RIPPER
287 posts
Sep 01, 2010
6:23 AM
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Okay, I downloaded it in the WAV format. The files are in my computer. When I try to copy the files to the "D" drive, the CD, it looks like it's copying but nothing seems to be happening. Has someone else done this? How long did it take to make it to the "D" drive? I know it took an hour or so to download the files to my computer.
LR
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arzajac
331 posts
Sep 01, 2010
8:21 AM
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LIP RIPPER:
Are you trying to burn them to CD?
You need software to do that: Download this:
http://infrarecorder.org/?page_id=5
It's free and open-source so you don't have to worry about malware. There is no advertising so it won't run slowly.
Make it start a new Audio project and them drag and drop the files into the window. Then, tell it to burn the disk. That's all.
There are, of course, other programs which allow you to burn cds, but they won't work any better than this one for burning WAVs to a CD.
It shouldn't take any longer to burn WAVs than MP3s...
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nacoran
2660 posts
Sep 01, 2010
9:18 AM
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Holy cow, an hour? I didn't even know you could find a modem for two tin cans and a string! What is your D drive, a stone tablet?
Sorry, just woke up and I'm cranky. What is your D drive? Is it a hard drive or a CD? If it's a hard drive it will depend on the speed of your computer, the speed of your hard drives and what else you are trying to do at the same time. It took me a couple minutes. If you are trying to burn it to a CD, you need a burnable CD in there. Windows should let you burn the CD when once it's in the right folder. Not all devices or players recognize wavs. I had to turn mine back into MP3's, but I kept the wavs for backup. If you are trying to save the wav files you might be up against the limit of how much storage a CD will hold (if it's a DVD or BlueRay burner that won't be an issue.)
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Nate
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LIP RIPPER
288 posts
Sep 01, 2010
11:32 AM
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Arzajac, that worked, thanks.
Nate, the D drive is the CD. I first downloaded it to the C drive. If you downloaded 600MB in a couple minutes then I need a new computer like yours.
Two cans and a string? I remember when I was a little kid I took a coffee can, a Campbells soup can, a broken string from my dad's guitar, two nails and made myself an instrument. I poked holes in the bottom of the cans, ran the string through, wound it around a nail inside of each can and I had it goin. I squeezed the coffee can under my right arm against my chest and pulled on the soup can to vary the pitch and plucked away. My mother made me get up in front of the church and play a song, how embarassing. Anyway it worked pretty good. The cans made today might be too thin to make it work.
LR
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nacoran
2666 posts
Sep 01, 2010
11:40 AM
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Lol. I just got my new computer. I'd been saving up for a year and hadn't had a new computer in several years. My old one just kept crashing whenever I tried to do any audio editing or host Skype chats. My car is 23 years old though (and not a classic). Glad Arzajac's advice got the job done.
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Nate
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Buddha
2413 posts
Sep 01, 2010
11:53 AM
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I actually loved this album.
I RARELY fully listen to the albums of other harmonica players unless specifically asked to do so but I listened to Kick and Stomp twice (had it on repeat)
The last player to demand my attention that way was Jason Ricci and his rocket 9 album.
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"All is bliss"
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kudzurunner
1823 posts
Sep 01, 2010
12:14 PM
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Thanks, Chris. That's a heck of a compliment.
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jodanchudan
97 posts
Sep 01, 2010
1:50 PM
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Favourites at the moment: Mr. Cantrell (when I heard it, I thought, 'Christ, I hope he's all right!' Strangely, it's both tragic and uplifting; got the same vibe from Gavin Bryars' Jesus' Blood Never failed Me Yet, not that it sounds at all similar). Also Good Morning Little Schoolgirl - cool stuff going on with the rhythm.
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LIP RIPPER
290 posts
Sep 01, 2010
2:02 PM
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Well my friend, ya went and out done yourself bigtime didn't ya? Has Sterling got a copy yet? I can see his face and here him shoutin. I made a copy and on the way home I stopped and slipped it into the CD player of Deedie's car. Player on and volume up so when she hits the key she'll be quite surprised. Man I can't believe the bottom that you guys pulled out of that kick drum in the studio. I could feel it moving the hair on my legs in the Tundra on the way home.
Way to go man,
LR
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jforrest
18 posts
Sep 01, 2010
6:19 PM
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Loved the album, Adam. I had it running in the background on the computer all day today. In particular, I love your take on "Little Schoolgirl".
Again, great job! Makes me wanna build a foot drum (It'd cover up my poor harp playing!)
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roberth5
17 posts
Sep 02, 2010
2:21 AM
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Just played the album LOUD through the Hi Fi system, and it sounds bloody fantastic.
Rob
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Ant138
554 posts
Sep 02, 2010
10:35 AM
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This might seem like a silly question but i can't figure it out. When i open the zip file each track is in Real Player format, Does anyone know how to open the album in itunes or how to send it to itunes?
Its frustrating the hell outta me:o(
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arzajac
332 posts
Sep 02, 2010
10:53 AM
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Ant - You have your settings to open the files (MP3s or WAV - you didn't say which one you downloaded) in RealPlayer. I think you can right-click on a file of that type, select "Properties" and set "Open With" to use whatever program you want. Then the default program will change to that.
I think you can also tell itunes to import it. I'm not 100 per cent sure since I don't run iTunes, and never will...
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Last Edited by on Sep 02, 2010 10:54 AM
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Ant138
555 posts
Sep 02, 2010
11:18 AM
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Thanks arzajac thats worked:o)
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isaacullah
1155 posts
Sep 02, 2010
1:13 PM
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Well, I put the album on my music-playing phone (non-Apple), and have been listening to it on my bus commute to campus and back. Now that I've listened to it several times over, I think that the real stand-outs for me are remake of Mr Cantrell and Sugar. Mr Cantrell is my favorite song from Mother Mojo, and I'm really glad you chose to revisit it here. It really works well with the new OMB format. Sugar is just a beautiful beautiful song, and it really sounds great in the OMB style. Of course the other songs are just great too! I especially like how you reworked some of the tunes from a couple of the YT lessons into full songs (ie. power harp groove into kick and stomp, and not a shuffle blues into buford chapel breakdown). That's something really special for us dudes (and dudettes) who've been following you since the first YT upload! Also, Goin' Down South is another standout for me... It's one of my favorite songs of all time, and I really think you did justice to it in the OMB style...
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View my videos on YouTube!"
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jaymcc28
305 posts
Sep 02, 2010
1:19 PM
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I downloaded the WAV files and then struggled to convert them to mp3 but...done. I've listened several times over and I can't turn it off.
I LOVE the duo of Satan & Adam and those recordings will always have a special spot in my heart but this new format of Gussow OMB really blows me away. To pick a favorite song would be like picking one of my kids as a favorite over another.
Adam, get back up to the Northeast ASAP so we can see you live again!
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"Take out your false teeth, momma, I want to suck on your gums."-P. Wolf
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