jump blues on the brain

[helliott]

Coming off some needed holiday time, and that meant some time in the basement. Here's what happened with a bunch of jump blues/big band stuff stuck in the mental jukebox.
http://public.box.net/howard87401

[sunvalleylaw]

That was really fun stuff!

[Lev]

Nice playing & feel - what setup did you use for this clip?

[stingx]

I'd like to know more details too as to how you laid this down. That was like a mix of several styles of playing. Really good time feel to the music. You sound great on this. Great job of instrument panning on the track. This just flat out rocks!

[helliott]

Thanks. Sorry for the lack of info. I recorded this on my Boss BR1200. The rhythm and lead are on an Epiphone Sheraton, through a Mesa Lone Star on the clean channel.
Funny story about micing that amp. I've been struggling to get a sound that fairly represents the Mesa live, and having limited success. Recently, while trying to get the right mic positioning, I found a sound I really liked, then discovered I was actually running through a vocal mic at the other end of the room. (My kid had his band over and left the vocal Sure plugged into the Boss instead of my amp mic.)
Anyway, I moved the amp mic to a similar position and got this sound, which I like as it really makes the amp and guitar sound crisp and alive. I guess I discovered room mic'ing by accident.
The bass is just my Squier P bass through a fender bassmaster amp. And the drums are just the patterns built into the Boss, manipulated in rather clumsy fashion by me.
As far as the playing style, it was pretty casual. Had the horn riffs stuck in my head, tried them over a standard shuffle, then goofed around with some blues and jazz chords to get a rhythm I liked, trying for a bit of a syncopated feel.
The Boss hard drive recorder is really good pre-mixing and mastering, so I was able to add EQ on the rhythm and bass as needed, plus some reverb and the panning noted. I used the soft compression setting in the mastering toolkit, and the rest is just a mix of fun, some sweat and a bit of vino blanco.
Thanks for the comments.

[Justaguyin_nc]

Great Job Helliott... I first listened to this thru regular computer speakers.. Liked it..but man did it shine when I listened again in good headphones! A real Jim Dandy!! :) applause

[helliott]

Thanks for the kind words. I had the same experience as you when I first loaded onto my PC. Worked pretty hard to get a sound I liked through the headphones downstairs, then was deflated when I heard it through the crappy computer speaker. I probably need to upgrade my computer speaker sound system.
Tell ya what, this was a ton of fun!

[jpfeifer]

helliot,

I just heard your track. Really nice. I love the tone you're getting on that Epi Sheraton, I love that sound.

-- Jim

[Spudman]

Very nice. I some how missed this. Nice playing and very bold tone.

[helliott]

Thanks. The tone, and bold is a good word, is just what came from plugging that sweet Epi into a top drawer amp. I played it through my other amps and it sounded really good. But through the Mesa, it just kinda melted. I'd love to take some credit, but it's all the gear in this case.

[SuperSwede]

I missed this before too... Its sounds really cool. Really nice melody!