Member Recordings Non-Mats

I couldn't see an appropriate thread to use, so I thought I'd create a new one for those of us who have music or performances featuring [gasp!] non-Mats guitars. Yes, Virginia, there are such things. If this is in the wrong place, please move it to where it should be.

Long story short, I finally managed to transfer that oft mentioned old VHS live performance tape to disc. The original quality was not great and of course it degraded when I made the dub of it 24 years ago [gasp again!]. You can read a bit more about it on my web site, and of course, watch the small clip I excised and worked on a bit. Hope you enjoy:
The Old Man Down the Road

Always liked that song and that was quite a ballsy version.... Nice!! Whose the young fella on vox?

noisy grind stuff I was doing about 6 or 7 years ago
jackson dinky pro soloist reverse through a Laney GH100L, simple yet effective

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zisCkbptesU

corsair wrote:Always liked that song and that was quite a ballsy version.... Nice!! Whose the young fella on vox?

He'd be happy to hear you call him a young fella!
That's my band buddy Glenn, and I think he was playing an Ibanez at the time. I'd completely forgotten that he had this guitar, he's a dedicated Strat man now.

Hey Barry

Well done and more than a little hint of a famous Canadian in your voice - Neil Young!!

Graham

Geez, thanks Graham!
Over the years I've been compared to (but not in this clip) Billy Joel and Don Henley, among others, but Neil Young is a first. Ironic, since these days I do play a few of Neil's tunes on the acoustic.

I live in a suburb of Buffalo, New York which had a great Heavy Metal scene in the 1980's (Goo Goo Dolls - they were punk/metal back then, Cannibal Corpse, Mehemesis and so on). When I was 14-20 years old I played in many metal bands in and around the Buffalo area until I was put under contract by the now defunct Polaris Records for a rock project. Anyway, the Buffalo area is seeing a small resurgence in the metal scene and as such a few bands have reunited for shows or remakes of old songs...including a band I was in from age 14-17. We are 8 songs into a combo old and new music CD. 7 original songs from the 80's and 5 all new songs written in the same style and overall feel of the old material. The bands name was Embalmed (you can't get more metal than that, or so we thought at age 14) and the CD is called rebirth. This is a short clip of the song The Dark Season (which has already been remixed and sounds slightly different, but we wanted to get a sample out as we all answer emails daily from friends and old fans wanting a taste of the new stuff). Anyway, I used a Washburn N4 Relic. Buckle your chin strap, this stuff is metal. LINK

Good on you!! If you don't use it you lose it, eh - my chops have pretty much disintegrated!

I've got to say that I've always wondered about the singers in these bands; I mean whilst I'm getting on and all, I can't, and never could, understand the lyrics because of the whole growling/screaming/throat-full-of-kerosene & gravel thing; are they not meant to be listened to?

And why, oh why, does every drummer in the genre feel the need to have the double-kick pedal going flat out all the time?

boutjp97 wrote:...Buckle your chin strap, this stuff is metal...

Holy Fire and Brimstone Batman!! As a singer, I'm with Corsair re: the gargling with glass vocals! How can anyone do that and still talk afterward??

Barry wrote:As a singer, I'm with Corsair re: the gargling with glass vocals! How can anyone do that and still talk afterward??

from my experience its practice, the more you do it the less you croak afterwards, after a couple of years off I can still do it but I sound like I've got a bad throat the next day!

The "Singer" Ed has always been a guttural growler. When we were kids we called him baby growls as his voice hadn't fully developed due to puberty. We actually get him to do a little singing on this CD and it isn't bad at all but not his normal style. But yeah, his voice takes some time to warm up to full on napalm, tough act to follow. The drummer Louie has an odd drumming style even for metal and that is why we stuck with him for so many years as teenagers. I personally like drummers that are more reserved with the double bass and use it to enhance a song tastefully (yes, I used tasteful as an adjective to describe heavy metal) but Louie's odd style of drumming helps us look past it. We all have faults...except me, everyone else in the band though.

I only made the comment because I couldn't do that sort of thing - not even roughly! - but can youngsters listening to it tell what the lyrics are? I can't, and I've spent a little time listening to a Metal TV station over here called - called, appropriately, Scuzz!! - and I'm buggered if I can tell what's being said... but that may be due to old ears!!
Don't get me wrong, man - I like all sorts of music and generally the heavier the better; I just can't get my head around those vocals in general!!

some vocalists are easier to decipher and some are a mystery
I find the screamier hardcore/grindcore easier to work out than the deeper growl/grunt death metal styles, I also kinda like that weird high pitch classic black metal style

when I did it for a couple of years the lyrics I sang were written by the guitarist so I always tried my hardest to get some sort of pronunication in as a respect to him and what he was trying to convey
when I did it temporarily in the band I played guitar in however I was much more interested in tone and shape of noises trying to treat it more like a complementary instrument than a traditional vocal

I wrote 90% of the old lyrics and a fair part of the new lyrics and I can't even tell what he's saying on some parts. I think Ed looks at his voice more as a vocal instrument rather than lyrics, though he has commented to me that does want to make sure there aren't many effects on his voice so the lyrics can be understood sort of what xbarnesx was talking about as a vocalist. I don't think it's old ears, I couldn't understand it when I was young. Any young ears want to help here?

I finally got an old 1986 Beta video tape of the early GetbacK band transferred to disc, and I've added two more clips to my web site via YouTube for them what cares to 'ave a look.

The conditions under which it was shot are described there so I won't repeat it here. In one of the clips I'm playing the Spectrum ST (yay!) So finally, proof that it was actually gigged! It is a bit embarrassing to look back though. This was an early version of the band and we had not had too much experience working together. Still we had our moments...
Hope you get a giggle or two.

p.s. For the masochists, I have a few more clips on the way as soon as I upload and link, etc., etc...

Great vids Barry nice to see the Spectrum been played..it would be great if the moderators / admins could make a section or a sticky for links to members Vids / recordings only. I know they are a lot on here but they take some finding... I wanna be able to see and hear some of these Westone guitars in action all in the same place.

Hey thanks for that!
As I say, it was the earliest version of the band and still a bit raw (myself included). Pity I only have still pix of the '89/'91 version, BUT we do have studio recordings of that band at least.

And there is a long shot possibility that there may be yet another lost video lurking on a shelf at the home of a friend. Might be a New Years' dance we played at a hotel in the late '80's...still not the "definitive" version of the 6-man band but should be a better outing. Film at eleven.

bowenjaybee wrote:..it would be great if the moderators / admins could make a section or a sticky for links to members Vids / recordings only.

How the hell do I do that, then?!

corsair wrote:...How the hell do I do that, then?!

phpBB Moderation tools

Ahhh... righto!!



Where're they then?!

It's OK Barry - I'll have a crack at doing that shortly!!

I have previously mentioned somewhere in these forums that sometime in late 2009 my old band mate Glenn and I were axed to play at a friend's wedding reception. I had heard afterward that the event had been taped but until now the videographer hadn't the time to edit the thing into clips.

Last week I was surprised by a call from Dan (the groom) who told me he had prepared a few clips for us, and in HD too! He also added some captions which was really nice of him. That's the good news. The so-so news is that the whole thing was recorded from a stationary camera high up in the corner. The mic of course is on the cam so the sound, while quite good, is still a bit "remote" sounding and picks up a lot of the room chatter. My "p.a." was also on the fireplace hearth to my left and pointing away from the mic. but Glenn and Bill sound good.

I uploaded them to my YouTube Channel and I'll eventually put some links on my web site as well.
Meantime, if you are curious to see what the ole rocker looks like these days, here ya go:
Peaceful Easy Feeling
Standing on the Edge of Love
Stand By Me

Nice one Barry.

Jee Bazz, you play & sing well, a hard thing to combine.
Good on ya mate & keep rockin.
Cheers,
Richie..

Thanks guys. 'Appreciate it.
On a good day it's still fun!

My only 'regret' is that I wasn't able to use one of my Mats guitars. But, because it was such close quarters, it didn't make sense to go with my usual rock n roll gear. I opted instead for the Ovation Elite 1868 and the Parker Hornet PM20 for versatility and light weight.

I also took a gamble on the amplification and opted to use my little VOX DA-5 modeling amp (5 watts!). You can just make it out on the floor behind me; it's that green box about the size of a 4-slice toaster.

I had a brief moment of doubt at first and wondered if I'd made a huge mistake, but it worked just fine, even stacked up against Glenn's Crate amp, and was extremely light and portable! I've mentioned the VOX here before. Just a great little piece of equipment.

Great stuff there Barry! Sounded tight, even though it was in such a different setting (which can make all the difference for a band). And I second the good job on guitar and vocals at the same time. I know that doesn't always come easy.

I'll have to get a recording with my band on here soon. I'm the vocalist, but also play guitar on certain songs. Our guitarist likes his Hamers and custom mades, but he played my Dynasty for the first time last week. "Wow", he said, "it's almost like you don't need another guitar with this one!", speaking of the versitility. We have a gig this weekend, I'll be playing the Dynasty there. If someone records it I'll put it up for ya'll.

I like quiet, laid-back sets like that; nice job, mate - even if I don't particularly like the Eagles stuff, any song well sung gets my vote!!

If my band ever gets decent enough video, I'll be sure to toss it up on youtube for you all to see. I usually use my Uncle Mat basses. Great playing, Barry!