Hott Smoke

AlanRatcliffe

This is a guy I know from the FSGE (Forty Something Guitar Enthusiasts - a group of cantankerous old guitarists) group on Yahoo. Recorded in his home studio in the US. I was quite impressed with the recording and especially the mixing. It's a cover of Bubble Puppy's Hot Smoke and Sasafrass.

http://ratcliffe.co.za/music/hott_smoke.mp3

He goes under a variety of names online (Zammy, Zampuuji, Bolshy Yarblocko and many others), and every recording is under a different band name. He's outspoken and brash - quite simply, he's a pleasure to have around and is the life of the group. I asked him for a bio and recording info. Which are below. Interestingly enough, the equipment list is quite modest, but he's getting great results.

Bio
I'm a 52 year old electrician,and a veteran of local Detroit, MI. area bar bands. I play guitar and sing,and I do all the production and engineering of my recordings.

Equipment used:
Computer: I Mac with Intel Core duo processor and 2 gigs of ram.
Recording software: Cubase LE4
Mastering software: T-Tracks 24 stand alone version
Additional software: DrumaGog drum replacement software
Interface: Alesis I/O 26 Firewire
Mics: Condensers: AT 4030, Rode NT1.
dynamic mics: Shure SM57's and 58's
Guitars: Fender Rory Gallagher Tribute Stratocaster
Bass: Fender Precision
Drums: Tama
Guitar amps: Mesa Engineering Dual rectifier Trem-o-Verb, Line 6 GuitarPort and Pod.
Bass amps: Ampeg SVT, Line 6 Bass Pod
Speaker cabs: guitar: Marshall 4/12 Bass: Ampeg 6/10
Guitar effects: E-Bow
Electronic percussion: Roland HPD 15 HandSonic.
Playback: Sony Stereo receiver with Alesis Monitor One speakers.
Headphones Sennheiser HD 280

Recording notes
"Hot Smoke and Sasafrass" has 20 tracks total. First 8 tracks were originally recorded live,as guitar, bass,and drums. The remainder are vocals,additional guitars,and percussion effects. Drumagog software was applied to 4 drum tracks to replace the original recorded drum sounds. No software control surface was used. Everything was done with the Mac and a mouse. This may seem lot a lot of gear,but actually it's not all that much. Any musician that has any recording and live gear should have a lot of this equipment already.

AlanRatcliffe

BUMP

sepheritoh

Very, very nice. A full band always just sounds so much better than my sampled drum and 5 times me on everything else!

I don't know the original song, but this is great. (A bit noisy amp in the start)

AlanRatcliffe

Yeah, I tackled him on the buzz:
"I don't know where the buzz is coming from on the start of the track, I looked hard too. I suspect it's from from an overhead
condenser drum mic picking up some amp noise, but when I solo the tracks, It's not there!"

I also said the lead needs to come up a few dB.

Renesongs

Forty Something Guitar Enthusiasts - a group of cantankerous old guitarists

Oi - watch yourself youngster ?

I think these guys really rock - lots of energy, vocal need to be a bit clearer.

A lot of my generation played in bands in their teens, some into their late 20's but gradually most of them traded their equipment in for fridges and stoves. IMO musicians over 30 show that they are truly committed to music. Older rock musicians are becoming legends rather like old Jazzmen used to be - not all of them though - some people are just born to suck but won't give up ?

AlanRatcliffe

Renesongs wrote: Oi - watch yourself youngster ?

I didn't say all guitarists over forty (and I'm one of 'em) are cantankerous, just that this particular group is. Anyway, you fit the description perfectly

Renesongs

Bah humbug - I think i'll just have to poke you with your own stick for that

AlanRatcliffe

Midweek bump, as this was posted on the weekend and many of our members seem to access using their company bandwidth ?

FatBoy

This is so cool! You old guys aren't all talk then hey ? hehehe

I agree that the lead can go up a bit, and the vocals can be a bit clearer, but other than that I think it is kief!