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Post by Phil on Aug 27, 2015 18:24:35 GMT -6
You guys who've been around awhile probably know that I'm a big fan of the late Magic Sam. He only did 2 studio albums, "West Side Soul" and "Black Magic." There are a few live albums floating around that are pretty much late '60s boot leg quality - in other words very poor quality. Well, I just got a CD that arrived today called "Magic Sam - Live at the Avant Garde." It was recorded in June 1968.
The quality is pretty damn good (very good in fact). It was recorded by a high school senior with a few mics going directly into a tape machine with y-cables - no mixer. Just goes to show you what can be accomplished with primitive gear.
I just wanted to say that it is one of the best Blues albums I've ever bought. He does a great version of Muddy Water's "Still a Fool" (which has exactly the same arrangement as Muddy's "Rollin' Stone/Catfish Blues") - that "Delta Mood" kind of sound and a great version of "Hoochie Coochie Man" among others. He also does a few instrumentals including a version of Freddie King's "San-Ho-Say."
Anyway, I just want to recommend a really good Blues Cd that captures a live performance with no editing or overdubs by one the Blues greats. He died at age 32 just as he was about to break into the big time probably as a Soul singer. He had a great voice in addition to being a great Blues guitarist. It hard to believe when listening that he played with bare fingers.
I'll post a very small sample tomorrow so you might be enticed to go out and buy a copy. Downloading will be blocked, so I don't think I'll be violating any copyright laws.
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Post by Phil on Aug 28, 2015 3:51:21 GMT -6
Here's a 30 second sample of Magic Sam performing Muddy Water's " Still a Fool." If you like it you can buy it at Amazon.com |
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Post by Phil on Aug 28, 2015 4:49:46 GMT -6
Phil, thanks again for drawing my attention to the late great Magic Sam. Theses days I focus very much on listening to tunes from the three kings, but Magic Sam is very high up on my list. I'll probably get his two studio albums first (as I feel that studio recordings make the best reference point for any feeble attempt to transcribe songs), but your recommendation doesn't fall on deaf ears and is much appreciated - I already save my pocket money  Greetings, T. In that case I recommend getting "West Side Soul" 1st. That one has the songs he's most well known for - "Sweet Home Chicago," "All of Your Love," "Feel So Good," "Lookin' Good." On most of the tunes you'll hear this very cool "quacking" sounding rhythm guitar provided by another little known Bluesman, Mighty Joe Young. |
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Post by Phil on Aug 28, 2015 13:13:44 GMT -6
BTW, this could be a good tutorial on the tune, but better don't tell me... I intend to resist watching it and rather figure this out on my own... but for those who arten't obsessed about such things as I am these days this might be more than just entertaining: The Bobby Radcliff tutorial is about the best for "Lookin' Good." But even he doesn't play it like Sam. If you watch Sam he hardily goes out of the open position "A." He also has long fingers and can do stuff that's impossible for me. If you're starting on this one that might motive me to get moving. I've been putting this off for a year and a half.  Listen to the studio version from "West Side Soul." It's much slower and much more clear. It has a rhythm guitar in the mix that you have to filter out, but I think it's much more approachable than his live versions. |
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Post by joachim on Aug 28, 2015 14:05:27 GMT -6
Yeah, that's easier to play... I'll put it on my to-do-list. BTW, speaking of filtering out guitar sounds, does someone know how to get the lead guitar out of original tunes? T-Bone, I don't think you can... |
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Post by Phil on Aug 28, 2015 14:22:15 GMT -6
T-Bone, I don't think you can... Are you referring to learning "Lookin' Good" or removing the lead guitar from a recording? |
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Post by joachim on Aug 28, 2015 14:25:51 GMT -6
T-Bone, I don't think you can... Are you referring to learning "Lookin' Good" or removing the lead guitar from a recording? Don't fight battles you can't win, right? |
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Post by Phil on Aug 28, 2015 14:27:45 GMT -6
T-Bone,
When I said "filter out the rhythm guitar" I didn't mean it literally I meant in you head. You know, try to hear it clearly and mentally separate it from the rest of what's going on.
I think Rich has tried to remove sounds from a recording and he might be able to help. It's been my experience that when you try to remove certain frequencies from a song you also remove things you don't want to remove and the result sounds horrible.
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Post by joachim on Aug 28, 2015 15:22:01 GMT -6
I know it (both ) can be done... there are some original tracks meant to be used as BTs for instrumentalists floating around the www (YT) in which certain instrumental parts have been filtered out - I really doubt the guys who did that had access to the master tapes and were allowed to split up the tune in order to remove single tracks to their liking... I heard such tracks also, and I concluded that master tracks of such recordings must have been leaked. I strongly doubt that can get such results by filtering out the lead guitar from a mixed track. But if it turns out you can do such a thing, then I will trash my engineering diploma... |
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Post by bluesbruce on Aug 28, 2015 16:07:43 GMT -6
But if it turns out you can do such a thing, then I will trash my engineering diploma... That's funny, Joachim, I trashed mine years ago... Bruce  |
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Post by cunningr on Aug 28, 2015 18:29:08 GMT -6
Well I'll chim in on removing things from tracks, but I am under the influence and take no responsibility here . You can't actually remove the whole instrument, but it is possible to reduce the levels to a point that you can play over the track. Basically you mak a copy of the track paste it into a new track, then invert the track. Now you have to go in identify the frequency you want to remove and eq the main tone frequency. If you are lucky the rythm and lead are on the right or left chanel. It's a real bitch and my results weren't perfect, but with enough tweaking it's possible, there are some daws that have the tools included to help isolate and remove vocals and such. I actually spent a couple of hours today watching some tutorials on mastering and tweaking individual instruments one tool is a multi channel limiter, this might help reduce the levels to a point where you can't hear the guitar part you are trying to eliminate. Sorry for bableing I did warn I am under the influence. Good night, Rich |
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Post by joachim on Aug 29, 2015 3:57:43 GMT -6
Rich, thanks a lot for taking the time to explain this to me. So, it's doable, but not easy and probly hardly worth the effort. Well I guess I have to push my luck then and chase those tracks I'd like to have on YT and elsewhere... Greetings, T. Here is a specific example: www.guitarbackingtrack.com/play/hendrix,_jimi/the_wind_cries_mary_(2).htm You think that backing-track is produced by filtering the mixed CD audio track? I find that hard to believe considering how many artifacts (so-called musical noise) is generated by noise-removal algorithms in hearing-aids, VoIP coders, etc. But perhaps filtering out a single guitar is an easier task since the signals to be removed are almost sinusoidal - in fact, in a small time-window you even know which frequencies to remove since you know the original score. Still, I am surprised if you can get results as good as in the Hendrix backing-track by simple filtering of the mixed master-track. EDIT: T-Bone, I stand corrected - in some parts of the Hendrix backing-track, you can actually hear part of the guitar, so someone managed to filter out the guitar to the point where it's barely noticable, and without noticable degradation of the remaining track. |
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Post by cunningr on Aug 29, 2015 12:07:06 GMT -6
Yeh that was what I was trying to say in my drunk enough stupor. There is some priffesional software that can do a solid job, when I did it I was eliminating drums which is easier, it's all about frequency isolation, the problem I had I thinned out the left over track a little too much. However it was good enough for my son to make a demo over, and I was able to get some of the lost upper frequencies back. It's not something I want to do very often, there are some you tube videos that go over the techniques.
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