Tonight Alastair Vance and I played a few songs at Loco Lu’s Coffeehouse at their weekly open mic night. We had a good time! Lu had a great turnout – we got to hear some really talented musicians.
Here are the songs I played:
Set 1:
I played toward the end, so they asked if anybody wanted to play a few more songs. So, my 2nd set was:
Alastair did an awesome cover of Perfect by Pink.
I still remember the first time I heard it. I was on a vacation with my family in California visiting my cousins. It was sometime in the early to mid 90′s – I was probably 13 or 14. My cousin Mark asked if I’d ever heard of U2. I probably hadn’t. After all, I grew up in small-town western Oklahoma. Garth Brooks was big, but I wasn’t much of a fan.
Anyway, Mark puts the CD (maybe it was a cassette?) into the player, and all the sudden I’m hearing the coolest sound I’d ever heard in my life. This crunchy overdriven auto-wa’d electric guitar riff with some weird percussion behind it. Then the song kicks in. I’d never heard anything so incredible in my life. I was hearing Mysterious Ways by U2 for the very first time.
I got the name of the band and the album, and as soon as I got home, I ordered it – probably through one of those BMG or Columbia House programs where you get 8 CD’s for the price of one, but then you are obligated to buy 15 more CD’s over the next year or so.
A few weeks later, Achtung Baby arrives in a little brown cardboard package, and I think I wore it out. To this day, it remains one of my favorite albums of all time, and I consider it one of the more influential albums as far as shaping my taste in music. U2 is absolutely my favorite band ever. I always cite “Joshua Tree” as their greatest work, but I think if I had to choose between the two albums, Achtung Baby would win.
The album has a few tried and true U2 classics, including One and Mysterious Ways, but some of my favorites are the more lesser known tracks. Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses has always been a favorite, and Ultraviolet is really cool. This is one of those albums that you can just put on and listen to straight through.
If you haven’t heard this entire album before, go check it out. What are some of the essential albums that have shaped your taste in music?
I recorded our worship set today using our new recording setup at church. I’m pretty happy with the results – not too bad. I don’t think I’ll be recording a live album anytime soon, but maybe I could get it tweaked to do something like that.
Song of Hope – Robbie Seay Band
Though I Walk Through The Valley – original song of mine
How He Loves – John Mark McMillan (David Crowder version)
Our God – Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman
I have been wanting to do decent quality live recording for a long time at church. I’ve done some recording of our worship before using a hand-held recorder, but nothing like a full-fledged multi-track setup. That’s all going to change now. I’ve got us set so we can get a full mix, each track recorded individually. I’ll break down the equipment I’m using and exactly how we’re doing it.
So – we’ve got 9 to 10 different inputs going in – all of them eventually go into the board either direct or mic’d. We run a regular snake to the back of the stage where everything plugs in.
Jon left a comment here, and I sort of randomly clicked through the link he left as his website. It’s his Bandcamp page, and the song I listened to there was pretty awesome, so I thought I’d share it with you all.
Jon is releasing the EP this month – I’m looking forward to hearing more! Well done, Jon!
If you’d like to support Jon, consider contributing to his Kickstarter campaign here.
In this video tutorial, I illustrate the technique I use to line up audio and video clips in Apple Final Cut video editing software. I’ve been asked how I do this several times, and it’s really a lot easier than it might seem.
Let’s say you’ve recorded an acoustic version of a song and you took video during the recording. So, you’ve got a video clip with audio from the mic on the camera you used. Plus you’ve got the audio from your recording interface. You’ll want to use that audio from the recording interface and ditch the audio from the built-in camera microphone. Syncing the video and the audio can be a tedious task! In a nutshell, do this:
The Studio Projects C1 is a large diaphragm condenser microphone. Mine is a version 1 (the original model). The current production model is “version 2″. I’m not exactly sure what the difference is. Mine is also identified as “797 Audio”. A quick internet search id’s 797 Audio as a company in China that produces “electro-acoustic” equipment.
The new models retail for $249. Back when I bought mine they sold for more like $200, and I got mine used for around $150 or less. Either way, you could definitely call these budget friendly.
I also recall from the research I had done that the C1 is widely regarded as a very good vocal mic for the price. The Studio Projects B1 is known as more of an all-purpose mic, but I use my C1 for absolutely everything.
It comes (at least mine came) with a really nice metal case, foam pop filter, and a well-made shockmount. Here’s a photo of what I got with mine:
The construction on all of it is top notch. I’ve owned this mic for several years, and you can kind of tell the previous owner put some wear on it.
I’ve recorded the following things with this mic:
I’d say this mic is best suited for vocals. It’s very articulate and clean sounding. I’d say bright, too. When comparing with my Shure Beta 58a, the C1 has a lot more clarity. That’s one of the big differences between dynamics and condensers.
This mic has become my main acoustic guitar mic (actually, I’ve sold the mics I used to use for acoustic). I like the sound – very bright and clear. It really does a great job of capturing the sound of whatever you put in front of it.
I know the SM57 is the go-to mic for electric guitar, and I have one, but I like the sound of the C1 on the amp. Again – it does a good job of capturing the source.
The only con I’d say about this mic is that it can have the tendency to sound a bit harsh/brittle. I’ve never had the privilege of using really high-end gear, but it’s my understanding that using premium tube preamps and microphones give you a lot of warmth, and using these budget mic’s results in a lack of said warmth. That’s my experience.
Overall, I really do love the way this mic sounds and performs. I have a feeling I’d have to spend way more money than I can afford to get any noticeable improvement.
Reviewers can babble on and on about these things, but listening to recordings gives you the best idea of this mic. I’ve embedded my “Strings EP” below. I recorded pretty much all the acoustic guitars and vocals on this whole EP with the C1 into my PreSonus Firepod.
Looking for one single mic that you can do pretty much anything with in your home studio? Put this one on your list for sure. If you can find a retailer and try one out, that’s the best way to decided. Line it up with a few others in your price range, sing (or play) into it, and pick the one that sounds the best. Overall I’m very happy with this mic.
I think I’ve finally got this business card design knocked out. Here they are, front and back:
Clean and simple. Thoughts? (that’s not my number, by the way…)
Those icons (all except the guitar) can be downloaded for free here.
That’s an actual photo of my PreSonus FirePod. I’ve had it for years, and it is the heart of my recording setup. I’m not even sure how long I’ve owned it. I wrote a review over at Harmony Central back in 2005, so it’s been at least 6 years. Presonus has renamed this unit the “FP10″. I’ve got one of those, too – I daisy-chain them together. It’s been discontinued, but can still be purchased on the used market for a steal.
Let’s get started with what it does…
It’s firewire – 10 in and 10 out, but two of those channels are digital (spdif). It does 8 XLR or 1/4 inch ins (combo jacks), 8 1/4 inch outs. Here’s a look at the front and back:
I’ve worked in Youth Ministry for a few years, and I’ve spent many years as a youth leader/sponsor/camp counselor/etc. From my (not so) vast experience, I’ve compiled an essential list for surviving a mission trip – or any youth trip. for that matter. Every one of these is inspired by an actual event. I call it…
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