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Socrates1
No Better Than This - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
[en.wikipedia.org]
Wikipedia

No Better Than This is an album by American singer-songwriter and musician John Mellencamp, ... using a 1955 Ampex portable recording machine and only one microphone, requiring all the musicians to gather together around the mic.

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IanBillen

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Socrates1
No Better Than This - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
[en.wikipedia.org]
Wikipedia

No Better Than This is an album by American singer-songwriter and musician John Mellencamp, ... using a 1955 Ampex portable recording machine and only one microphone, requiring all the musicians to gather together around the mic.

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A novelty thing as is said here .. but note:

Cougar says: ...."Everything was set up exactly as Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley recorded. They had 'X' marks made with electrical tape on the floor where Elvis and his musicians stood and where the instruments were placed, because Sam Philips walked around the room and decided where everything sounded best."

... As I said.. after multi-track recording they stopped this .. especially with the console evolution.


"As for the organic recording process of the album, Mellencamp says it's unique for this day and age. “The same mic I was singing into is the same mic that recorded the drums at the same time,” Mellencamp said on his website. “And everything was cut live with no overdubs or studio nothing! These are real songs being performed by real musicians—an unheard-of process in today’s world."


This is a 'novelty thing' here ... Isn't practiced anymore .. Still can't fathom one single mic picking everything up in a room accordingly as he said. Levels would be far too low causing more need for compression which would make mixing it and mastering it a night mare after the mix.. If ya CAN mix it? Then again ... I guess there is no need.

The album really would not need mixed.. because there is only one source... one track.... (?) Very odd ..

I love the discussion though.

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maumau
new one





video: [www.youtube.com]

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1962
Sounds like "Mick Jagger and The Red Devils" recordings.
Great!

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HMS

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GasLightStreet
Drive-By Truckers do the same thing. Other rock bands do the same thing. It still happens.

Doesn´t matter what the Drive-By Truckers do, they´re just epigones, just like most today´s rock-bands. The Rolling Stones are the greatest R n R band in the world.

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HMS
a) It does matter who says it. If Mick says it, I do believe it. If my neighbour or anybody outside the Stones-camp says it, I´m not too sure.

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HMS
b) They can go and release a single if they want to. But nowadays a Blues-tune will not make a good charts-position, that is clear to see. I don´t buy the single anyway, the song will most likely be on the album and I´ll buy the album, so a single release is irrelevant to me and probably to a lot other Stones-fans too.

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HMS
c) The picture of the harps accompanied by the Stones-picks would be a great cover, it tells everything there is to know about the record and who made it.

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1962
What is "bluer"??

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DandelionPowderman

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1962
What is "bluer"??

More "real". The Devils were a bit more hard-rocking, imo.

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1962

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DandelionPowderman

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1962
What is "bluer"??

More "real". The Devils were a bit more hard-rocking, imo.

The only thing is I'd prefer a BW bass.

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IanBillen

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GasLightStreet

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IanBillen

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Socrates1
I'm really excited about the blues album. It's amazing the way they recorded it, with everyone circled around one microphone...that's what I wanted to read. Crosseyed Heart is not computerized music. The acoustic guitar is the most important. I can't wait to hear the new one. Probably Charlie naming it is the best idea.

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Well.. coming from an audio engineering background I know that you have misunderstood. Everyone was not circled around one (<a single) microphone.

They were sitting in a circle using separate microphones. Since they were so close, there was 'leakage' .. One instrument intended for one microphone or set of microphones (Charlies Drums) bleeds in to the microphone intended for another (Micks vocal Mic).

Still a cool concept for this record and it is certainly 'not the norm' as far as recording songs as far as any sort rock act goes ..in a multi-million dollar, multi-track recording studio situation (a not so 'standard' recording assembly for them as their usual stuff / set-up requires.. BUT ..with that said... Jazz and blues recordings can allow this type of thing at times)


Ian

The Stones have been recording in the same room and have had leakage on just about every LP their entire recording career (not every song, of course).

Drive-By Truckers do the same thing. Other rock bands do the same thing. It still happens. Some are careful about isolation. Leakage is cool.

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I'm not going to go into something in defending what I said when it's what I do and have been doing for years lol. I've recorded hundreds of rock bands .. 19 times out of 20 the vocals are overdubbed later. The bass and drums are kept and the guitars are kept sometimes.. sometimes the entire guitar tracks is overdubbed or added to later as a comp track. All I said is it was not 'standard'. To have them all sit in the circle and play things together keeping even the leakage for a 'rock act' and keep all the individual tracks (with no fixing before the mixdown) is not only unusual.. it's pretty rare.

These guys sat in a cirlcle.. jammed out some blues and didn't overdub (or fix) anything by the way it read .. (<very unusual).

Leakage is generally not desired .. (unless it is Jazz or perhaps a blues styled thing such as this). Leakage occurs at times but especially when it is <heard> it is not a good thing and is not kept.... in 95% of the recordings and can relate to phase issues (generally not optimal when it comes to getting a quality recording .. that would bleed over into getting a good master or not). For every 20 bands I've recorded .. (in about 100 different places from an SSL Board to a ProTools Rig in someones bedroom) only one would have such a situation where we kept the entire take with them playing live in the studio.

The Stones 'supposedly' sat in a circle.. jammed and kept everything (with no overdubs.. and no fixes). Not the standard in their relative positioning or in how they kept / used all the material with no overdubs and not even a minor fix to anything (not to mention keeping the leakage that occurred).

Whole thing is not only unusual .. it's pretty rare .. which ...>> is the very reason Don Was mentioned how it was done (<Cue). I'm not saying it didn't happen or that it never happened before .. I'm simply saying how they did this record is definitely pretty 'non-standard'.

Trust me on this one..


Ian

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HMS

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GasLightStreet
Drive-By Truckers do the same thing. Other rock bands do the same thing. It still happens.

Doesn´t matter what the Drive-By Truckers do, they´re just epigones, just like most today´s rock-bands. The Rolling Stones are the greatest R n R band in the world.

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DandelionPowderman

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1962
Sounds like "Mick Jagger and The Red Devils" recordings.
Great!

It sounds "bluer" than that

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Hairball
After hearing the brief 10 second clip (which sounds good), I'm beginning to wonder if these bew Stones covers of sacred blues tunes are even necessary. Why bother listening to some old white Englishmen doing covers, when one can easily listen to the real authentic product? Why listen to Mick blowing the harp when one can listen to Little Walter? Why listen to Ronnie playing a lead guitar when you can listen to the real McCoy? Unless they reinterpret them to another level (which they probably won't), the tunes will be redundant and inferior to the originals, and will probably gather dust on the shelves of those of us who appreciate authenticity. It's doubtful that any of them will be superior or even equal to the originals, just as most if not all Stones covers fail to elevate what came before. With that said, I'm happy they finally took this route as it will more than likely be better than their originals from the last 30+ years, and I look forward to hearing and soaking them all in...hopefully it will be worthwhile to listen to them all more than once.

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DandelionPowderman

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Hairball
After hearing the brief 10 second clip (which sounds good), I'm beginning to wonder if these bew Stones covers of sacred blues tunes are even necessary. Why bother listening to some old white Englishmen doing covers, when one can easily listen to the real authentic product? Why listen to Mick blowing the harp when one can listen to Little Walter? Why listen to Ronnie playing a lead guitar when you can listen to the real McCoy? Unless they reinterpret them to another level (which they probably won't), the tunes will be redundant and inferior to the originals, and will probably gather dust on the shelves of those of us who appreciate authenticity. It's doubtful that any of them will be superior or even equal to the originals, just as most if not all Stones covers fail to elevate what came before. With that said, I'm happy they finally took this route as it will more than likely be better than their originals from the last 30+ years, and I look forward to hearing and soaking them all in...hopefully it will be worthwhile to listen to them all more than once.

Because The Stones sound like... The Stones?

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Maindefender
Will a DVD accompany the release??

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shadooby

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Maindefender
Will a DVD accompany the release??

Why of course! After you buy the new album you'll have to buy the deluxe edition that will come out a month or two later to get the bonus dvd at 3x the price...ain't life grand?!!!