January 2009
Friday, Jan 16
Talbot Sound hosted the Steve Rundberg Trio, in recording song samples for a compilation demo CD.
They play 40's - 50's standards, for corporate parties and assorted other gatherings.
Guitars were an acoustic Horabe model 35 classical, and an electric Ibanez "jazz artist" (circa 1977) electric through a Fender Montreux w/ an EV Force 12 speaker.
Bass was a '92 Carvin, LB-75 Five String, Active Electronics, D'Addario Nickel strings, through a Genz Benz Shuttle, 10" speaker and tweeter, FET circuitry, 175W.
I mic'd the sax and clarinet with a Gefell MT71, acoustic guitar with a Beyer MC930, guitar amp with an SM57, and bass amp with an RE-20.
A TC Electronic VSS3 plugin was used for mix reverb.
I was generally pleased with the recordings, even with all three players in close proximity. The acoustic guitar track had considerable spill from the sax that was more apparent in some tunes than others; for those songs, I tried to blend the added reverb to taste. Some of the more quiet acoustic tracks had a fair amount of bass amp spill, which I was able to diminish by cutting around 200hz with a wide Q.
In future situations, I'll try to set up with instruments and amps in the maximum rejection area of the Beyer. I was satisfied with its sound, although I was compelled to boost the acoustic guitar's mid-high frequencies more than I prefer. However, the track took it well. Further test runs of the Beyer are on the way.
Check the music out:
Wave
Moonglow
Black Orpheus
Miss New Orleans
Watch What Happens
Sweet Georgia Brown
Wednesday, Jan 14
It is supposed to get cold as hell around these parts over the next two or three nights. A longtime family friend gave me a suet bird feeder, so I decided to make some suet mix.
First I did a search for how to do it. Then I went to Publix grocery, where the friendly meat department gave me a package at no cost, and bought some cheap peanut butter and a bag of "no waste" seed.
After choosing the simplest of many recipes I'd found, I cut up the suet, which is "the hard fat that is found around the kidneys and loins of cattle and sheep," and put the pieces in a large skillet on medium-low heat.
They cooked most of the way down, leaving firm, brown chunks. I poured the liquid fat through a strainer, and set it aside to cool. I then used around two cups of peanut butter, heated to softness in the microwave, and mixed it into the still-liquid fat. I used probably four cups of bird seed, mixed it all together, and set it outside to cool.
After it was firm enough to not drip all over, I packed some into the small wire feeder, and hung it on a rope within a couple of feet of the existing feeder.
I saw a small woodpecker and a couple of other small birds check it out. They ate some, but didn't linger. Time will tell how popular it becomes.
I think that I will forego the actual suet next time; peanut butter and ("no waste") bird seed by themselves make a nice, high-calorie foodstuff for my winged wildlife.
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