Topic: Death Don't Have No Mercy

[Duke]

Hi All,  I'm Dan from Fort Wayne, IN.  I've been a listening member for a while now, and thought it would be sporting to post a snippet of my version of this great Gary Davis song.  I'm just starting to figure out home recording, I have a Lexicon Omega going to my PC, and a Rode NT2-A mic.  Right now I have to record in the same room as the PC, so that noise is ever-present!  So anyway, a few hiccups here and there, ragged around the edges, you know the spiel...  I tried to post a take of this earlier, but I had the levels so low it was hard to hear, so I thought I should remove the thread and start with a clean slate!

Davis' music has opened an entire new world to me on the guitar.  I finally am starting to see the entire fretboard.  I have learned this and O' Glory from Woody Mann's great video lesson.  Has anyone seen the Ernie Hawkins tape on the Rev. Davis?

Thanks, I really enjoy listening to all the great music here.
Dan

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[a2tom]

man, I was confused there for a moment - I THOUGHT I saw this last night...

excellent - great playing, great to have you delurk.? I just love hearing people play (hint to everyone).? You sound great.?

I think even still you could probably stand to crank up the recording levels.? I don't know anything about your setup, but this may just entail getting the mic closer to you and away from the computer/noise source (if that's possible).? Otherwise, turn up the gain, computer fan be damned - just drown it out!

tom

[Duke]

Thanks Tom, 

One of the issues I'm trying to figure out is how to deal with the "proximity effect" of my microphone.  The mic literature said that this was to enhance softly spoken vocals.  As I move the guitar closer to the mic, the bass is really accentuated.  If I set the pattern from cardioid to omni, it is lessened somewhat.  But it still sounds really boomy.  Is the Rode mic ill-suited for a guitar?  I eventually plan on getting a second microphone, but the guy at Sweetwater said this one would be a good dual-purpose choice.

Part of the problem may be that I'm playing with a bare-thumb.  I'm practicing with a thumbpick, and it definitely makes the bass crisper on the recording, less muddy.  But still a bit overpowering.  On this take, I ended up eq'ing the bass down as much as I could, and also used the autogate function to isolate some low tones.

[Slack]

HI Dan, welcome again!   

Nice playing and the recording levels are better on this round!

Cheers,
slack

[a2tom]

I know next to nothing about microphones or recording technique.   Most people around WC , including me, just find some minimal solution that works for them and run with it.  I bet you can optimize what you've got.  I didn't hear the first version.  I thought the second version sounded great, I just had to turn all my volumes way up to hear it at a normal level.  I don't think you're that far off at all. 

tom

[whigski3]

Dan, I really enjoyed your recording... I listened to it about 15 times while I was Internetting (I intend for that to be a form of praise!).  I hope you'll post some of your other tunes too! 

-Bill

[Bluesymel]

Nice job! Listening on my laptop the volume is quite low but that is probably the crappy speaker in the laptop. I really like the various bass runs in the tune. Keep it up and post some more.

[Duke]

Nice job! Listening on my laptop the volume is quite low but that is probably the crappy speaker in the laptop. I really like the various bass runs in the tune. Keep it up and post some more.

Thanks, I'm in the same boat as you.  I have crappy little monitor speakers.  My headphones are even worse!  I really had no idea how it was going to sound on decent equipment when I posted it.

[Norfolk Slim]

I absolutely love this song.

And the guitar is pretty darned good to my ears.  So much in fact , that I have decided its time I learned it myself!  The bass runs are particularly slick and the timing is pretty solid, which can be tricky for a tune with so many 'twiddly bits'.

Thanks for posting it.

[si]

Very nice. You have inspired me to try learning this.