Forum - Banjo Ben Clark

Netgrass: Hard Times

#101

Thanks for the kind words. I think your recordings sounds really good. I’d have to go back and A/B to see if I could tell a difference.

I started a new song, West Virginia, my home (Hazel Dickens). I am going to try to get my picking group to pitch in. I’ll ask the fiddle guy if he is interested. He may not have time as he is pretty busy. If he is and there is still room, I can ask him about doing a bit for hard times. I’ll see if he has time (with the other project), then confirm with you all before I offer on this one.

#102

I love the raw edge to Hazel’s voice. Do you have someone in mind to sing it?

#103

OK, I am back.

Will work out a break over the next day or so!

Check out this song I found on Kompoz…I am gonna throw down a flat picking break for this guy on the part after the banjo comes in…figured you guys may like this song…is not bluegrass but more but is a pretty simple little song he wrote/kompozed and I think it’s pretty good, love the lady singing harmony over him! Let me know your guys opinion of this song as I really like listening to it.

http://www.kompoz.com/compose-collaborate/home.project?projectId=37767

Edit:

Just talk to the fellows in the group I am playing out with, got a gig in 10 days at the “Fillin’ Station” outside of Nash…paid gig at that! Owner of the bar was with “War”…you know “Why Can’t We be Friends” and “Low Rider” Now you can’t tell me that the folks on here that are between 35 and 50 didn’t rock out to Low Rider back in the day! May have to “grass up” a version of Low Rider for giggles.

#104

— Begin quote from "ldpayton"

I love the raw edge to Hazel’s voice. Do you have someone in mind to sing it?

— End quote

Yep… Hazel sang like she meant it. It’s become a staple song for my picking circle and my wife generally sings lead on that when we play it. I sing the male harmony, and another female friend sings a higher harmony. I’d love to get my mother-in-law to lay down a track for it next time she is here. She has a very honest voice, and she is from the coal mining area of WV. She now lives in Eastern KY, but it’s the same kind of country. Back to the original question, yep, I do have vocals in mind (maybe two mixes already), but there’s no reason we can’t do different mixes with different people if desired. I can get you a vox-less mix track or the individual tracks if there is any desire. It might take a while for the various tracks to come together.

I am not sure about my fiddle guy being able to record, but I am thinking either way, some dobro would sure sound nice. :smiley: Nudge nudge, hint hint. :smiley: For the basic layout, I did it just like the recorded Hazel version, except I am in D instead of D#. In the original the verse-length break is split between mando and dobro. I figured I would work something up when I get my new mando, but I’ll still be short a dobro half break. If you would be interested, that would be awesome.

#105

— Begin quote from "Oldhat"

Let me know your guys opinion of this song as I really like listening to it.

— End quote

It’s well done. Not sure if it is my cup of tea, but I appreciate it nonetheless.

— Begin quote from "Oldhat"

May have to “grass up” a version of Low Rider for giggles.

— End quote

Oh yeah… that would be awesome.

Welcome back!

#106

— Begin quote from "mreisz"

I can get you a vox-less mix track or the individual tracks if there is any desire.

— End quote

Ha! I’m definitely not volunteering for vocals. I brought up the vocals excactly because I thought it would be so hard for me to sing. Pretty much all of Hazel’s songs are like that for me. I could probably be tempted to make some dobro noise, though, when the time comes.

Jesse, are you going to knock out a rhythm track, too? 'Cause my scratch track is in desperate need of being replaced.

I thought Winter Session was pretty good. Reminded me of Gram Parsons music.

Is the Fillin’ Station your first gig? Bet you’re excited. I get an adreneline rush anytime there are more listeners than pickers.

#107

— Begin quote from "ldpayton"

Jesse, are you going to knock out a rhythm track, too? 'Cause my scratch track is in desperate need of being replaced.

I thought Winter Session was pretty good. Reminded me of Gram Parsons music.

Is the Fillin’ Station your first gig? Bet you’re excited. I get an adreneline rush anytime there are more listeners than pickers.

— End quote

I can do a rhythm if I need to…nothing wrong with your guitar scratch anyway in my mind!
Yep “Winter Session” kind of put me in the Gram Parsons mood also.
The Fillin’ Station will be my first gig with the new guys I am playin’ with, I’ve gig’d before back in Ohio, biggest crowd was about 150 or so folks…and yes I understand what you mean about the nervousness, I used to get it, but college sports (golf) taught me to lose it…nothing like standing on the first tee box with 200 folks watching you tee it up and hit your drive…nerves go berzerk! Now with music or golf in a tourny I just tee it up and whack it or play it (guitar) without thinking much and don’t get nervous for the most part.

#108

I think my scratch track needs to be replaced. I purposely left out any bass runs or other embellishments, and in addition to being boring, the steady boom-chuck takes up a lot of sonic space. With the exception of the Am at the end of the song, I used the same chords you used in your earlier scratch track. I can make you a mix with the guitar level dropped down (or completely out) if you want.

— Begin quote from ____

I understand what you mean about the nervousness

— End quote

Sometimes I get the jitters worse than other times, usually without rhyme or reason. At last week’s jam I was the last person in the circle to call a song. By the time it got around to me, I had worked myself up so much, thinking about what song to do, I couldn’t do anything. And it’s almost always my singing that I get nervous about. A little liquid courage usually makes it better for me, but I’m not sure it helps anyone listening.

#109

Larry,

I will get a scratch track down. No need to do anything, I’ll just play over what we have.

Also, PM me your address, want to send you a poster. Although you are not getting the original, I did purchase an original signed print from 1977 , Dick Boak, Martin Guitar Print/Art. When I purchased the original I got the same print in a reprint from 1990 and I am gonna send it to ya. The signed original is going on my wall…that is as soon as I get the time to make a kick butt frame!

It’s not much, but to show some appreciation I will send you the copy for the work you have been doing on some of our projects.

I have attached a pic of the original. I think Martin still sells the prints of this on their website. Yours will look just like this but “newer”…from 1990.

#110

Sweet! Looks like a neat print. Make sure you don’t send me the wrong one. :smiley:

#111

I think I’ve just about got enough dobro parts figured out, but I wasn’t sure if I needed to come up with a dobro break or not. Are you working on an 8 bar or 16 bar break, oldhat?

#112

You know Larry I have tossed the idea around about doing a 16 bar break but figured the standard was 8, so I looked into an 8 bar break. Well there is not much to be done in an 8 bar break here on this one…that is outside of purely just playing the melody…with 8 bars it’s like “Oh yeah this is gonna be good I’m all over the melody now it’s time to get creative” …then it’s over! :smiley:

Edit

Um I plug’d in my Yeti Pro to record and she is deader than a door knob! Don’t know if it’s the usb cable or the mic…may be a delay due to technical difficulties…I’ll try a few things then buy a new mic if needed.

In other news: I’ve got a couple bids out for tickets to Day 1 and Day 3 at the PBS recording of “Bluegrass Underground Season 3” Day 1 Includes OCMS and Steel Drivers, Day 3 will be the day though… Infamous String Dusters, Yonder Mt String Band. Ozi I think you are doing about the same thing over in Oz aren’t you? Never been to Bluegrass underground as tickets are pretty tough to obtain. Guess I will go up to $300 for a pair just to say “I’ve been there” as it is just up the road from me.

#113

Sucks about your mic. It really frustrates me to get all prepared to record and then run into technical difficulties. Hope you don’t need to replace your mic.

Are you taking the next 8 bars after the mandolin?

Bluegrass Underground sounds fun. Nice line-up.

On a related note, I get to see OCMS in a couple of weeks, too.
[attachment=0]springfest.jpg[/attachment]

#114

Did you get your mic fixed, oldhat?

#115

Larry…no I didn’t get it fixed!

I have some time tomorrow and will go get a new one.

Got my break worked out. Was really wanting to hear some of Dianne singing before I worked out a break, but it will do. I am getting off the melody a bit with a jam but it sounds pretty good.

For some reason on this song I just can’t seem to find other places to stick licks/fills in…wanna hear a voice for that/Dianne singing then I can come back and put in fills. We all sing a bit different with our phrasing/emphasis we put on words so once I see how Dianne goes about her singing then I can add in some fills.

So I am pretty much ready for the guitar parts, just gotta get off my arse and go get a mic…any suggestions on a good USB mic? I have he Blue Yeti Pro and it is decent enough, however I’d like something better…I mean if I am gonna buy I might as well get the best right?

#116

Seems awfully soon for your mic to go bad. It’s not that old. You sure you don’t have some goofy problem like ozi’s friend had?

I’m holding off on recording any dobro until vocals are in place, too. It would be way to easy to walk over the vocals with a dobro. Kind of wanted to see what you did with the guitar, also.

The good side of waiting to record is that I’ve played dobro every day for about 2 weeks now. It’s the most concentrated practice time I’ve ever put into the dobro. I’ve managed to get beyond just finding something that sounds good to actually figuring out why it works. It’s really a good compliment to studying guitar.

With guitar, I’m thinking either rhythm (chords) or lead (single notes), but with dobro I don’t tend to play complex chords, usually just simple intervals (maybe a few triads), so lead or rhythm, I approach it the same way. It’s kind of cool to break down the intervals and see how they work over the chord changes, and it’s something I don’t think about as much with the guitar.

Dianne, how’s your voice healing?

#117

Hey Larry, that’s a good deal on the quality dobro time. I’ve been meaning to ask you: what are your “normal” options are for dobro tuning?
I haven’t had time to work through it, but I really liked the looks of Ben’s double stop mando vid. When you were talking about intervals, it reminded me of it. I would guess getting to know those common intervals for various common progressions on dobro would allow you to improvise noodling on demand on the dobro.

#118

Larry:

Operator error was why my mic went bad. Well “blame it on my kids” is why it went bad. I come home and the USB female port/receiver on the mic was toasted and likewise the male end on chord was toasted/bent all to hell!

Hey I am in the process of taking my break/fills and putting it into table edit and will also add in licks as ideas on what to use in this song…I was gonna post them at some point in the category that Mike started called “Give me a break”. Figured since there are lurkers watching this thread that they could go to that thread and actually see the break or licks to use would be typical to use in this song. Anyway, my problem is and has always been in Tabledit that when I go to click and highlight and move the mouse the damn thing will “select” like a bat out of hell and go about 10-20 measures of highlighted stuff…so did any of you ever deal with this…I mean if I want to highlight a section and I click and drag to do that it will scream off selecting like 10 measures or so before I can stop it…drives me crazy…what’s the fix? I have the “paid for version” of tabledit.

#119

Hey Jesse,
I have the “auto-select to the end of the entire silly thing” option in tabledit as well. What I do to get around it is select all six strings of the starting point, then hold the shift key, then use the right arrow button to run the selected portion out to where you want it.

#120

Thanks Mike!

Good to see that Tebledit requires 3 points of contact at all times for safety reasons! Guess you are blessed in having 3 hands or are you using your feet also?