Recording Some Kind Of Blues, track 5 Mean Streak

Mean Streak is my take on the sentiment expressed in Stevie Ray's
Pride And Joy.  I guess you could say that song was its inspiration.

I made this recording of Mean Streak backwards, or rather in
reverse order from the way it would normally be done.
I had a previous recording on 4 track tape, so I recorded the bass
and rhythm guitar tracks from it onto my computer.  As I recall,
it was not all that easy to get them synced with each other.

Then I recorded a MIDI drum track by playing along with the bass
and guitar.   The drum track has the kick, snare, toms, and high hat.
Another MIDI track was created for crash and ride cymbals. 

The lead guitar track was played on my Fender Strat Plus.
One thing I really like about Ableton Live is the ability to use
envelopes to control the parameters of a track, including volume,
panning, and effects.  For instance, I recorded the lead guitar at a
constant volume, then used a volume envelope to bring down the
volume during the vocals.

There you have it.  Mean Streak is a fairly simple recording.
Just 6 tracks:  bass, rhythm guitar, lead guitar, vocal, drums, and cymbals.

Still, it's a lot of work getting all the tracks mixed properly, using EQ to
to remove rattles and string squeaks on the bass guitar, for example,
and then mastering the resulting stereo mix.

Listen at PWCarr Music
http://pwcarrmusic.com/

Mean Streak by Patrick W. Carr
Personnel:
Pat Carr - all instruments, vocals

The Mysterious Origins of Nola Blues video

Here is a video I made to demonstrate my post on the Secret, Mysterious Origins of Nola Blues.
You can hear these songs on PWCarr Music.
Enjoy!




View this video on Screencast

The Secret, Mysterious Origins of Nola Blues

If you have ever heard "Nola Blues", you know that it is an acoustic guitar based Delta blues song.  Did you know it actually started out as a song played only on keyboards?

I wrote a whimsical keyboard instrumental called "Traffic Light" that was so-named because it reminded me of the sights and sounds you might experience while stopped at city traffic light.  It was recorded in Ableton Live, and has only five tracks - drums, bass, and three piano tracks - all played on midi instruments using my Alesis QS 8.1 keyboard as the midi controller.

However, I am a die-hard blues lover, so I took the bass and drum tracks from "Traffic Light", added a few bars to the verses, and started playing some guitar blues over them.  I added a lead guitar part and a harmonica solo in the bridge, and "Nola Blues" was born.

Several people have commented that they really like the slide playing in "Nola Blues".  I take that as a compliment, because there is no slide guitar.  There is just one rhythm guitar and one lead guitar that is duplicated and delayed slightly to add a little fullness.

But here is another little secret.  The rhythm guitar, played on my mahogany Guild D-25, is done in a tuning that probably few people in the universe have ever dreamed of.  It is so rare, I don't even know what it is called.  I call it a D5 tuning, and I have used it on several of my songs, including "Put Yourself In My Place" and "What's Gonna Happen".

As for the name "Nola Blues" ...
it could be a girl's name,
it could stand for No. La., as in North Louisiana blues,
or it could be N.O.L.A. for New Orleans, Louisiana, where I first started playing professionally.
You decide.

I'd be willing to bet that if you heard "Traffic Light" and "Nola Blues", you would never know that they are the same song.
Check out the clips of them on the PWCarr Music web site, and see if you can pick out the similarities and differences.

Note that you will have to stop the music player to hear the clip of "Traffic Light", then you can use the player to hear an extended clip of "Nola Blues" and the other two songs I mentioned.

http://www.12path.com/blog/songs/

Get your copy of any or all of Pat Carr's songs at the Music Store.