Rated Blue - "Vaguely New Orleans"

[GMaq]

Howdy!

Over the Christmas holidays 'Rated Blue' was able to get together for some jams and a bit of Video. A couch doodle I had been working on with a funky arpeggiated and syncopated E7 chord got a little more developed one night when we rehearsed and later once Connor and I tracked some guitar and drums live one afternoon and felt we had a bit of a toe tapper on our hands but nothing really to write home about... I sent the track to Peter to see if he could do a bass part for it and as Peter usually does he showed up at the Studio one night muttering about how he "didn't really have a good part" and "wasn't sure what to play" and "maybe he'd have to work on it for a few more weeks" etc. etc. Then I queued up the track and as usual Pete levitated off of his chair and summoned the 'thunder magic' and took our little sketch into the funky stratosphere! We thought it would be fun do up a little Video so we had Adam film it with a few other tunes that we will be putting out over the next few months.

The intro chord and groove really brought to mind the New Orleans sound of 'The Meters' who were the backup band for Doctor John and numerous other luminaries of the rich New Orleans music scene and sound and a hitmaking band of their own with 'Cissy Strut' and other super funky hits. Since it sounded vaguely New Orleans we named the track 'Vaguely New Orleans'...

Recorded with a Zoom Livetrak L-20 and mixed/mastered with Ardour 6.9. Video edited with Cinelerra-GG

Here it is: https://youtu.be/cXiHRzHdMvo

[j_e_f_f_g]

Oh, I wanna do a keyboard solo over that!

Sadie: Move your ass so I can get to those Doritos dropped behind the couch cushion.

[GMaq]

Oh, I wanna do a keyboard solo over that!

Sadie: Move your ass so I can get to those Doritos dropped behind the couch cushion.

Challenge accepted!

Session WAV mix is here: http://bandshed.net/sessions/VaguelyNewOrleansMIX-c.wav

[Rainmak3r]

Really cool track! I've never been to New Orleans and I'd love to go someday.
I love how you think the riff starts on a certain beat, then the band joins in and it's on a completely different one!

PS: More Cowbell!!! (cit.)

[jeanette_c]

And where's the MC presenting the band and telling us about the rest of the concert? Such a live sound in the best possible way, like recorded by a good FOH! And that energy! This would go very nicely with a big band or extensive brass section. Thanks for sharing!

[carlv]

the riff starts on a certain beat, then the band joins in and it's on a completely different one!

The funky thighed of things...
-n-stuff..

[GMaq]

the riff starts on a certain beat, then the band joins in and it's on a completely different one!

The funky thighed of things...
-n-stuff..

Thanks everyone for the comments..

Haha, I wish I could say we were brilliant enough to plan that but that's just where the song took us..

[Rainmak3r]

PS: love that Fender Jaguar, it's gorgeous! Is it a comfortable guitar to play? Closer to a Telecaster or a Stratocaster? (I'd venture the former, without knowing anything about it)

[GMaq]

PS: love that Fender Jaguar, it's gorgeous! Is it a comfortable guitar to play? Closer to a Telecaster or a Stratocaster? (I'd venture the former, without knowing anything about it)

Nice! A gear question!!? Yay!!!:D

The Jag belongs to Connor and he bought it of course for it's post-punk lineage with Nirvana and Sonic Youth etc.. I of course also love listening to those bands but since I primarily find Telecasters cover the sounds I want in recordings I had enjoyed listening to him play it but hadn't really touched it myself. I play tuned down to D on all my guitars and also play Baritones but in my recent work with The Elder Brothers I needed a guitar in regular tuning and the Jag was lying around the Studio so I picked it up and was really surprised and impressed! The controls are just bizarro... essentially you can control it with the upper switches and roller knobs or the slide switches and more convention knobs on the bottom, it's a redundant either/or thing. For me it's absurdly comfortable to play because most of my guitars have .012s with a wound G and this thing having a set of .010s on it makes it play like butter, the neck is very Fender-y and familiar and is a nice width..

Tone-wise this thing is really different than a Tele or Strat, I've learned Jags have earned their niche.... It's hard to put into words... Jags have much less tonal range in a way... like there are no round jazzy tones to be found so you don't get that fatness that you do from the neck pickup on a tele or strat. But within it's narrower tone spectrum you do get a really 'dimensional' crystalline kind of jangle that sounds more 3D than a Tele or Strat. Jags (or at least this one) seem to have less sustain though... I can see why they are more identifiable with players that play drone-y, jangly and more ambient kind of styles of guitar. I'm not that great a player but it really seems like this guitar doesn't like you play single note lines, they seem to really come across lifeless and flat even with heavy bends etc.. but add a string and drone or play some chord melody licks it sounds magical and thickens right up.

For this song I plugged it direct into a Fender tube amp, no pedals or anything and I was really impressed with how swampy it sounded.. Since this song is really chord based with no single line stuff it seemed to fit really well and I used the neck and bridge pickups together which gave a nice thickness and body to the tone. I think a Tele would have been either too harsh or a little too mellow on this tune and the Jag won me over because it seems to excel at shades of treble..

Sorry for the novel... sorry you asked??

[Rainmak3r]

Sorry for the novel... sorry you asked??

Not sorry at all, it was a refreshing read! I guess I wouldn't enjoy that guitar much then, which is a pity because guitars-wise I'm hedonistic: I only care about how good they look (which is why I have ~10 very cheap ones around the house, and not a single one *really* good), and yours is gorgeous

[j_e_f_f_g]

this song is really chord based with no single line stuff

That's exactly what got me thinking it needs a keyboard solo.

[GMaq]

this song is really chord based with no single line stuff

That's exactly what got me thinking it needs a keyboard solo.

I mulled over putting a guitar solo in it but I was really thinking more along the lines of Steve Cropper or Leo Nocentelli who are better known for playing funky rhythm stuff and not really as soloists (although both are up to it when needed).

In the vein of The Meters or Booker T . & the MG's prolly a nice B3 solo or complimentary part would prolly fit right in, I'll look forward to what you come up with... Dave my friend who usually plays the Hammond in the Studio has also chided me about letting it out without a keyboard part..

There must be a meme about this whole dynamic out there somewhere...

<meme>

Guitarist: Hey, wrote a funky riff want to add some keys?

Keyboardist: Nawww I'm too busy...can you pass me that DX7 programming manual??... Plus it's in E... Could we do it in the key of C??.

Guitarist: OK, never mind I'll just put it out as is...

Keyboardist later that week: Hey that tune kinda sucks, it would have been so much better with keyboards...Why didn't you ask me to play on it!!??

</meme>

[j_e_f_f_g]

My typical conversation with the guitarist transpires differently:

G = Guitarist
K = Keyboard player

G: I wrote a funky riff? Want to add a keyboard part?

K: Sure. What key is it in?

G: I don't know, I think E, but I'm not sure. Anyway, I can't play it in that key, so I put a capo on the second fret.

K: So I'm in F sharp with 6 sharps???

G: I guess.

K: What are the chord changes?

G: I don't know. But I can give you the tabulature so you can play it. Anyway, here's the audio track I want you to record over.

K: I'm going to record some MIDI tracks. You used a click track when you recorded so I can sync the MIDI to the audio? And you give an audible count off at the start of the track?

G stares at K blankly, then wanders off to pilfer some "beer money" from his girlfriend's purse.

[oscillator]

Greate groove!

I really like what is happening at 2:00! And your videos are always fun to watch.

+1 for your dog

[folderol]

Very nice work
Oh, and who does the nice camera work?