been uploading some of my new video's to you tube ...

Keira-WitherKay

hello all, just some new video's i'm uploading to you tube...

some of my jazz duo ... and some of my original solo material

this one is an original song from my new CD which i wrote in a ragtime style complete with the atypical ragtime drum solo and bass solo.... it's a light hearted fun tune..... hope it gets your foot tapping ..but written just after the floods wiped out so much of the traditional jazz quarter of New Orleans a few years back....and i call it the "streets of New Orleans"... so happy and sad ....

just a pity the tamborine under my right foot never came out loud enough ..... damn it makes a huge diference to the percussion parts.... btw i use a mic under my left foot for the bass drum hehehh the things we buskers do to get a full sound..... yeah so everything you hear is 100% live....

below is just a few jazz standards which i perform with my vocalist Alicia van Dyk....(fab musician who holds a B.mus and teach's music theory and vocals at the local technicon) we just have fun with these songs and make em our own.....

enjoy

peace and light
Keira

Manfred-Klose

Really good!!!

I enjoyed watching it.

Lethe

very cool!

AlanRatcliffe

I've hit my cap for this month already, but I'll check 'em out next month...

Riaan-Combrink

At a PC now with no speakers!!!! >☹

Will check it out at home!

Riaan

Wow...two lovely girls making beautiful music! And make it look easy too, which I know it isn't. Great!

Squonk

Good Stuff Keira

I love the little amp, Are the vocals going through it as well.
Dig the rhythms of Ipanema ?

Heath

Finally got to watch all of them , and all i can say i wow . i really digged those

Keira-WitherKay

Squonk wrote Good Stuff Keira

I love the little amp, Are the vocals going through it as well.
Dig the rhythms of Ipanema ?

mmm well Squonk what we playing trhough ...is my busking/travel rig..... and yes everything goes through the amp.... i have a 8 channel line mixer mounted on the cymbal stand.... (which is actually a camera stand cos it's lighter... and fold up to only 30 cm in length ...into the line mixer i take the mic i kick for the bass drum and a mic from the tamborine under my other foot ..(which did not seem to be loud enough cos video cam didn't pick it up) then the splash cymbal is also mic'd ....so 3 percussion mic's ...and the my guitar has 2 outputs one from the undersaddle B band pickup...and one from a condenser mic i had retro fitted into the guitar .. to make the top more active.... so i can use a brush on it.... and yeah then vocal mic also goes straight in.....

so nothing is eq'ed at all .... but the amp a Crate Taxi 30 W rechargable battery powered amp is very natural sounding so we needn't eq anything.... very odd but it works for me ...... since i think all the signals going in are good and the sounds are natural....and the singer has a great voice which does not need eq.....

also no compressors or even reverb..... the whole sound is dry and we rely on natural reverb to get the sound we get ....and if you acoustic it's a great idea to switch off the reverb..... cos if you want to sound natural.... like the audience is hearing the acoustic and voice unplugged ....reverb just makes the sound artificial....

i know i know the gear junkies are jumping up and down and saying how could you no eq/no reverb/no compression..... hehehehheehe but come listen to us play and even on the recording everything is clear and clean.... and thats just recorded direct into the camera....

oh and we play small venues 60 seater restaurants ect with just the Crate amp.... and we get a fabulous natural sound.... heheheh i even had a sound engineer ask me after my mothersday show in Northcliff restaurant...where i was hiding the PA speakers so yeah took me ages to find the Crate amp.... but it's the best natural sounding amp i have ever heard for nylon ..... and also being battery powered..... i can play anywhere...oh the line mixer is also battery powered so ... i'm totally independant of any powerpoints.....

so in middle of winter when escom goes down as ussual ...the show goes on hehheheeh

oh and when i play bigger venues.... i use same eq less setup and just line out the amp ( it has a well balanced line out built in) to 12' powered speakers and get more sound that way .....

i'm so happy with this system.... and to my ear it sounds totally natural sounding ..... sounds just like my guitar unplugged but louded....

and yeah the bad news ...these particular Crate amps (Taxi series) are no longer brought into this country ...yamaha used to bring em in.... but no demand for battery amps they said cos i wanted a second one....

peace and light
Keira

Spyke

Lovely Keira, great stuff!

FatBoy

Wow, awesome stuff there Eira!! Amazing what can be done with a guitar in the hands of someone that actually knows what to do with it ?

Bob-Dubery

Fritz Brand wrote Wow, awesome stuff there Eira!! Amazing what can be done with a guitar in the hands of someone that actually knows what to do with it ?

Like Keith Richards?

Squonk

Fritz Brand wrote Wow, awesome stuff there Eira!! Amazing what can be done with a guitar in the hands of someone that actually knows what to do with it ?

Having trouble with the letter K, I think I will go and switch on the ettle and have some coffee in my haki cup and finally eat my lunch of ippers on toast. ?

FatBoy

Indeed Bob! I heard he actually plays guitar as well...

Squonk, nah tis a funny I threw at Keira in chat one day, Keira WithHerKay sorta translated to Eira WithoutHerKay....

Squonk

@ Fritz , very good with the Eira ?

Riaan-Combrink

Fritz Brand wrote Squonk, nah tis a funny I threw at Keira in chat one day, Keira WithHerKay sorta translated to Eira WithoutHerKay....

Ha ha ? ? ?

Keira WitherKay wrote so nothing is eq'ed at all...... since i think all the signals going in are good and the sounds are natural....and the singer has a great voice which does not need eq.....

also no compressors or even reverb..... the whole sound is dry and we rely on natural reverb to get the sound we get ....and if you acoustic it's a great idea to switch off the reverb..... cos if you want to sound natural.... like the audience is hearing the acoustic and voice unplugged ....reverb just makes the sound artificial....
I know i know the gear junkies are jumping up and down and saying how could you no eq/no reverb/no compression..... hehehehheehe but come listen to us play and even on the recording everything is clear and clean.... and thats just recorded direct into the camera....

@ Keira: you've certainly challenged my preconceptions! I would never have considered having vocals without some reverb and a touch of delay. Particularly the latter (especially in noisy rooms). But I'm going to give it a go, and see what I think! ?

Great vids BTW - totally enjoyed!

TomCat

Riaan C wrote
Fritz Brand wrote Squonk, nah tis a funny I threw at Keira in chat one day, Keira WithHerKay sorta translated to Eira WithoutHerKay....
Ha ha ? ? ?

Keira WitherKay wrote so nothing is eq'ed at all...... since i think all the signals going in are good and the sounds are natural....and the singer has a great voice which does not need eq.....

also no compressors or even reverb..... the whole sound is dry and we rely on natural reverb to get the sound we get ....and if you acoustic it's a great idea to switch off the reverb..... cos if you want to sound natural.... like the audience is hearing the acoustic and voice unplugged ....reverb just makes the sound artificial....
I know i know the gear junkies are jumping up and down and saying how could you no eq/no reverb/no compression..... hehehehheehe but come listen to us play and even on the recording everything is clear and clean.... and thats just recorded direct into the camera....
@ Keira: you've certainly challenged my preconceptions! I would never have considered having vocals without some reverb and a touch of delay. Particularly the latter (especially in noisy rooms). But I'm going to give it a go, and see what I think! ?

Great vids BTW - totally enjoyed!

Just a few comments here.....

The Key to Keira's sound is the small Cate amplifier. Having a small loudspeaker means that the sound is dispersed virtually in all directions, exciting nearby surfaces and thereby creating more natural reverence and ambiance. The amplifier is on the stage near Keira's feet, thus radiating less direct sound at the audience at ear level and blending better with the already acoustic sounds being generated.

When a PA with larger loudspeakers is utilized, with the loudspeakers typically placed on stands forward of the performer, the loudspeakers become a distinctly separate sound source in itself. This is the reason why effects such as reverb and delay become so important as these help blend the sound of the loudspeakers with the natural acoustics of the venue.

@ Riaan. You may find that the effect of removing you reverb and delay might have the opposite effect to what Keira's Crate amplifier with dry signals is achieving. It will be interesting to see what happens.

Anyway, there's my two cents worth....... ? ?

Keira-WitherKay

Riaan C wrote
Fritz Brand wrote Squonk, nah tis a funny I threw at Keira in chat one day, Keira WithHerKay sorta translated to Eira WithoutHerKay....
Ha ha ? ? ?

Keira WitherKay wrote so nothing is eq'ed at all...... since i think all the signals going in are good and the sounds are natural....and the singer has a great voice which does not need eq.....

also no compressors or even reverb..... the whole sound is dry and we rely on natural reverb to get the sound we get ....and if you acoustic it's a great idea to switch off the reverb..... cos if you want to sound natural.... like the audience is hearing the acoustic and voice unplugged ....reverb just makes the sound artificial....
I know i know the gear junkies are jumping up and down and saying how could you no eq/no reverb/no compression..... hehehehheehe but come listen to us play and even on the recording everything is clear and clean.... and thats just recorded direct into the camera....
@ Keira: you've certainly challenged my preconceptions! I would never have considered having vocals without some reverb and a touch of delay. Particularly the latter (especially in noisy rooms). But I'm going to give it a go, and see what I think! ?

Great vids BTW - totally enjoyed!

yeah rian i agree with tomcat here... this works for me.... but i want a natural acoustic soft sound...... if you playing pop rock... i doubt i would use same philosophy .... it's "horses for courses" as they say hehehehh

but Tomcat is correct the crate amp truly is the key to the natural sound i get .... before i got it i was also an effects junkie.... but this amp sounds so great you just don't wanna mess with it..... anyway it works for acoustic jazz and world music.... but i think if you have the dreaded backtrax going and screaming guitar the reverb is back in play to blend the vox.....

peace and light
keira

Squonk

@ Tomcat

We need your 101 on sound and PA's

TomCat

Chuckle...Chuckle..... ? ? (wrings hands with an evil smile on his face....)

I'm working on it......Watch the PA and Lighting board. Something coming up soon..... ?