Christmas on Tape! Seriously funky christmas album

iamkellen · Post by **iamkellen** » Mon Feb 04, 2013 12:02 pm

Hey guys! I'm new to the forum, just made this record 'A Normal Christmas' on my Otari MK5050 8 track. This is my first project on the tape machine.

Check out the album, all of the musicians are very killer, pretty much everyone is a jazz major at WMU, but the record is far far from jazz...

www.anormalchristmas.bandcamp.com

Any feedback is appreciated!

boid · Post by **boid** » Wed Feb 20, 2013 12:43 pm

holy shit

absolutely amazing performances
and really "authentic" funk sound

tell me about the drumsound for ?let it snow" please

where can one find such talented musicians nowadays?!

iamkellen · Post by **iamkellen** » Thu Feb 21, 2013 4:08 pm

Thanks!

The drums were recorded with just one mike almost always (I think everything apart from December and Santa is Comin'). I just experiment with placement, and hit the tape real hard. You can roll down the low end on your EQ in order to blast the tape harder without it "breaking".

There's really no consistency to what kind of mike I used or where it was or anything. Just plug a few in and don't look at where you plug them in, go upstairs and listen to them, find the one you like best up there, then start moving it (little by little) till you fine tune it to sound very good. Then blast the bejesus out of your tape deck!

boid · Post by **boid** » Fri Feb 22, 2013 6:34 am

YUS! KNEW IT!

haha
my drummer (huge funk fan) always goes like
"no man, why would we only use one mike if we can use 10 and then you can do more while mixing"

but that's just how you get that damn funky sound!!
good job

iamkellen · Post by **iamkellen** » Fri Feb 22, 2013 9:16 am

Your drummer is whack. Mix while you play. If the high hat sounds weird, move the mike. if you try some spots and that doesn't help, tell your drummer to hit his high hat differently. You have to be open to manipulating yourself and your playing to get the sound you want. Its okay to play your snare hard as hell while just tickling your high hat, or your bass drum for that matter. Just do what your ears tell you, and fuck the rest!

Check out the shitty is pretty articles if you haven't, and tell your drummer to check it too. There's obviously some whack shit in here, but there are a lot of great things in here that no one talks about because they have their heads shoved up a sweetwater's catalogue. (http://www.funkydown.com/downloads/shitty2.pdf).

Also... how come nobody is reppin' The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm band?! That's some of the funkiest music ever laid down! James Gadson on the drums!!! My god!

lyman · Post by **lyman** » Fri Feb 22, 2013 9:39 am

I can't believe I listened to 'santa claus is coming to town' in february, but that's a cool track. Great vibe you captured.

iamkellen · Post by **iamkellen** » Fri Mar 01, 2013 6:20 am

Thanks! I think Santa Claus is my favorite one. The outro is key!

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