Accidental vintage recording

Pollyanna

Platinum Member
The other week the digital recorder malfunctioned at rehearsal and most of the recordings were too muffled and distorted to be useful.

However, the recording of My Baby Just Cares For Me cracked me up so I figured it might give you guys a laugh too.

We'd only tried it once and then I had the bright(?) idea of playing Nina's piano solo as a drum solo because our keyboardist's first instrument is guitar and Nina's solo is classic. The drum/piano solo turned out so vaudeville it's ridiculous :)

Somehow the thing turned out like a scratchy old 78 rpm recording. Watch out for the ending - it's a killer!

Cheers

P

PS. Is there a free way of putting an MP3 on YouTube with a video still? I don't want to use Windows Movie Maker because that program does my head in.
 
Sounds it was recorded in the 40-50's. Pretty cool effect, nice brush-playing and the ending was funny.
 
Thanks GD, our singer would like that. He's gotten us playing At Last recently as well.

I haven't ventured this close to the middle of the road for 25 years, when I subbed with a restaurant band (it paid as much as my meagre tertiary assistance at the time). Wait till you hear our version of Sunshine of Your Love - lol (no, really!)

Yeah Thaard, the messed-up recording reminds me of those old 78 rpms (way before either of our times). It's a good song for brush newbs - as straight-ahead as you can get. My fave parts are the cymbal crash at the end of the solo for pure corn and "Welcome to the House of Horrors" at the end :)
 
I recon I could just about manage the brush parts as a brush neverby. Great ending! I love comedy collapse endings, especially at gigs. I think the poor recording actually added to the feel of the number. Would be great to have a loop of record scratches going in the background at a gig. Ooh, cool suggestion KIS. I might just steal my own idea. Look, my avatar audience really appreciated the performance.
 
I recon I could just about manage the brush parts as a brush neverby. Great ending! I love comedy collapse endings, especially at gigs. I think the poor recording actually added to the feel of the number. Would be great to have a loop of record scratches going in the background at a gig. Ooh, cool suggestion KIS. I might just steal my own idea. Look, my avatar audience really appreciated the performance.

KIS, this is how patent disputes and music lawsuits happen. I was thinking the same thing about the crackles and pops yesterday. Try it and I'm gunna sue! :)

I went looking for some record crackle sound effects to add to the song. The only site that had them already had a user names Pollyanna, Polyanna, Pollyana and Polyana.

So I came up with another username but then I got a message saying they wouldn't accept Hormail as contact address.

So I gave them my ISP email and it gave me the same Hotmail message.

I tried again after closing the browser and starting over. Same Hotmail bug.

Then I gave up.

The ending was funny. Colin messed up and, in frustration went "whaaam" on the keys, at which point the rest of us went "yayyy - let's go crazy!"

I learned how to play the brush sweep earlier this year through Zack Albetta's YouTube brush newbies video (thanks Zack) and then spending many hours practising on a pizza box lid, hence the sophisticated [sic] technique :)

The hardest part for me was feathering the bass drum fours so they'd be felt rather than heard because I've spent over 20 years just about driving the beater into the kick drum head. Jazz is another world.
 
KIS, this is how patent disputes and music lawsuits happen. I was thinking the same thing about the crackles and pops yesterday. Try it and I'm gunna sue! :)

Yes, but I went into print first!! Ok, I'll let you have the Idea because I think you're luurrverly. I'm practicing the key & guitar solo beatwork to Van Halen's Jump today. I don't think the crackle & pop thing would work on that sort of stuff. Hey, the beatwork on that Halen solo section's really counter intuitive. Sounds such an easy number to knock off until you try to play it then your brain goes urgh? Technically it's a breeze but really arkward to get into the grey matter. Another 30 mins and I'll have it licked.

p.s. luckily, Steamer & the other jazzers haven't seen my reply to the "some traditional jazz baby" thread. Think I've got away with it.
 
Yes, but I went into print first!! Ok, I'll let you have the Idea because I think you're luurrverly. I'm practicing the key & guitar solo beatwork to Van Halen's Jump today. I don't think the crackle & pop thing would work on that sort of stuff. Hey, the beatwork on that Halen solo section's really counter intuitive. Sounds such an easy number to knock off until you try to play it then your brain goes urgh? Technically it's a breeze but really arkward to get into the grey matter. Another 30 mins and I'll have it licked.

p.s. luckily, Steamer & the other jazzers haven't seen my reply to the "some traditional jazz baby" thread. Think I've got away with it.

Phew! The charm offensive worked! Oh, and KIS, do you have a spare $10,000 by any chance? :)

I usually don't like Van Halen but Jump is a killer song. Some tricky drum parts tho' - and then there's all that sweaty grunting and whacking to do. Better you than me.

Every time I go to the rehearsal studio I hear the other bands with drummers pounding the living crap out of their kits and thank my lucky stars that I don't have to do that any more. Sweat. Blisters. Sore muscles. Exhaustion. Ears ringing like sirens.

S'pose I'd better add some content to justify all this gasbagging. Contrast the drumming style with this funk-rock rap from the 80s, which was the last drum "solo" I played before this one:

http://www.sangrea.net/rijidij/mp3/7-Deadly-Sins_Fell-in-a-rut.mp3

If I tried that song today, I'd perish. It's wonderful to be bumming around playing old people music with other oldies these days :)

PS. Your open-toed sandals and socks comment was a hoot. It brought back some memories ...

Back in the Paleozoic Era I had a friend who used to wear slippers out in the street (yes, he was a mad keen jazz fan and learning alto sax). One time we were sitting on the steps leading down to Sydney's major jazz club at the time, drinking and waiting for the music to start and a woman coming into the club stopped, looked at him, said "Nice slippers", and walked on. lol

I used to work at a scientific institution. Some scientists are big on the sandals'n'sox look. Most elegant with baggy khaki shorts and Hawaiian shirts ...
 
I love that recording. Great time keeping Polly. The middle 8 drum section reminds me of Prairy Prince playing on the Tubes track "Monkey Time". Wonderful (I like The Tubes and think Prairy Prince is a seriously underrated player).

Although I'm doing Jump I won't be grunting a lot. Once I've got it in my head, I won't be putting a lot of effort in. I never bash the kit but get huge volume from it if I have to. I have my old timpani & percussion teacher to thank for that. She taught me good mallet whip technique and I've used the same technique on kit with sticks ever since.
 
Hey KIS, since we're pretty well just having a PM-kinda chat here, I digress a bit. I just came across this link of Ronald Bruner Jr: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTra8IOtsfQ.

We're both keen fans of simple playing but isn't that clip just the most insane thing? His energy and excitement level is through the roof, the kit sounds sweet, and love the light show.

Ta much for the thumbs up ... bear in mind it's 5+ bpms fast because it was dumped to digitial on an old tape player. That might explain some of the Prairie Prince-ness?. Love Prairie. The first three Tubes albums are just great. What I did in the funk number was a morph from my old days jamming with a guitarist who was into Santana. Sixteenths with accents are cool because they're not so hard but sound flashy - lol

Good that you have the kind of technique that doesn't force you to you grunt and sweat like a beast. If a drummer doesn't have that kind of technique they either have to keep extra fit or have a lot of willpower to keep up the oomph!

But without the technique you can't sustain it when you no longer have the energy and drive of youth. Hence My Baby Just Cares For Me :) You're timpani teacher's blood's worth bottling.
 
I recon I could just about manage the brush parts as a brush neverby. Great ending! I love comedy collapse endings, especially at gigs. I think the poor recording actually added to the feel of the number. Would be great to have a loop of record scratches going in the background at a gig. Ooh, cool suggestion KIS. I might just steal my own idea. Look, my avatar audience really appreciated the performance.

Theres a product out from Izotope that allows you to put the scratch and pop sound in to reproduce old recordings!!!

I use it along wirh a 10 gig sample of sounds... Great for adding background crowds noises, etc.....

Very cool thing you did Pollyanna!!!! Has that old recorded feel to it!!!
 
I was having a good day before I saw that clip. Wow, what a player. There's one tiny similarity between myself & him, we both play a monster back beat. I'm a rimshot back beat player. Always have been, always will be. Really bad for the hearing health though.

Hey everyone, ignor this top part of the thread. We're rambling. Go listen to Polly's clip at the start!
 
Polly, you're "I in a rut" song really cooks! Great job! Great time feel! Great everything!
 
Thanks guys!

Sorry about the Ronald Bruner link, KIS. I have many similarities with him - two eyes, arms, legs, ears. I didn't pick you as a recidivist rim shotter. To cut through or you just like the sound?

Larry I get tired just listening to the funk number. I can't believe I played that way. We were a f loud band too so I had to hit hard. Backbeats at close to 100%. The 80s was hard work IMO.

Phil, it's funny. The keyboard mistake at the end really made the song for me :) Thanks for the Izotope recommendation. I usually don't have use for sound effects but if you could see your way clear to sending over those crackles and pops ... :)
 
Thanks guys!

. I didn't pick you as a recidivist rim shotter. To cut through or you just like the sound?

To cut through sometimes but mainly the sound. I play with my snare sloping away from me. This allows me to really exploit the rim. I have to be careful though, my main snare is a brass piccolo and way too loud, even without the rimshots.
 
I can get this song out of my mind, the my baby just cares for me song. It really does sound like something from the 30's, especially w/ the sounds you get when you play w/ the piano solo. Instant vintage. It's really pretty cool.
 
I could hear that song as the first song in the beginning of a relationship type movie, before any dialouge starts. It's really a throwback. I'd release it as is, not kidding. What have you got to lose?
 
KIS, yeah, rims sound great. I've never been a reliable rimshotter with sticks. Much more room for error with brushes.

I know what you mean, Larry. Yesterday I was unconsciously singing the wong at work while washing my hands in the Ladies. One of my coworkers came in and sprung me doing and had a laugh. I just smiled and kept singing :)

It's a pretty radical idea about releasing it but it just about crosses that threshhold of being so bad it's good (which is why I posted - if it made me laugh it might do the same for others). Would need the record crackles, though.

I'd probably give it a try but there's no way our singer would agree. He's super-fussy about his public image because he had a minor public profile in entertainment for a number of years.

Even though he'd be considered radical in a number of ways he's ultra-conservative when it comes to music. I ran the idea of us including more comic elements in the band because we're not good enough to get past our lack of clear target audience or market and pick up decent gigs as a serious band. He vehemently rejected the idea *sigh*

Not sure he realises that he's now middle-aged and the clock is ticking ... those young 'uns in their 40s still think they going to live forever and too often take themselves seriously!
 
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