During recording the demos for 'The Green Eye of the Little Yellow God' I became somewhat facsinated, if not obsessed, by the sound the tin-box-&-broom-pole bass was making.
It's a difficult instrument to record. It has a built-in piezo microphone, but plug it into an amp and you've got feedback only people with names like 'Jimi Hendrix' could control. It's not a subtle or, in fact, particulaly loud instrument either which makes using an external mic tricky. It ends up being a trade off between volume or horrible string scrapie noise.
'EQ to the rescue then?'
Errr, no, not until the track is recorded. I just try to get as close to the sound I want in the finished product.
That's all well and good, in theory. In practice, well... it didn't happen. The string buzz won the day.
Now EQ?
Yes. Now EQ.
I haven't the faintest idea what I set the various parametric EQ controls to, but I ended up with something that fit the overall sound of the track.
I wrote in the original post about how I'd managed to make the bass sound like a crumhorn: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crumhorn
It was the only thing I could think of comparing it to and yet I knew that wasn't 'it'.
To avoid rambling on like this... I eventually, through subsequent recordings and re-recordings, boiled it down to the harmonica family.
I can not play the bloody harmonica!
I've tried, I can't, and don't have time in this life to sit around learning how to be a medioca player.
and... while I'm on the subject of the 'tin sandwich' and the players thereof...
The bane of the open-mic events I used to visit in my old home town were bad 'blues harp' players who would leap in with 'wotkeyzzitinmate?' whilst juggling pockets full of slobber encrusted 'organs' before I'd had chance to plug my guitar in let alone decide what I was going to play or what key it might be in when I played it and then the endless metal calculations of 5th above, or 5th below, 'E' would be great, 'ang on I'll try this one...
My God, the bollocks were endless.
To be honest I'm not really into Blues Harmonica playing. Enjoyed it when I was about 16, but now the thrill is gone.
There are however, Harmonica players I really like. They have names like 'Larry Adler' & 'Max Geldray'.
So, I typed 'bass Hamonica' into the interwebs and eventually found "The Tombo Pocket Bass Harmonica' which, after studying various YouTube videos and establishing even I could play it, I bought.
Since banging the button on 'pay-now' I've bored anyone who came within 10ft of me to death about it.
It arrived today.
The manual has the mandatory 'Engrish' hilarity:
"Many thanks for purchasing Pocket Ensemble Series. We, Tombo musical instrument Co.,Ltd., are a serious manufacturer specialized in producing harmonicas consistently since1917
Pocket Ensemble Series are epoch-making Ensemble Harmonicas innovated with new concept for players to enjoy the harmonica ensemble with much ease..
Both Bass Harmonica and Chord Harmonica consist of C-key and the other keys which are used frequently for the pieces in Am-key. For the pieces in the other keys, you can enjoy playing a wide variety of the pieces by transposing to these two keys.
Small, lightweight and easy to carry, so, these do not pick the place. Why don't you take them along freely and enjoy the harmonica ensemble anywhere and with anybody?"
(The manual covers the Tombo Pocket Chord as well.)
Spec:
- Blow only, 10 holes/10 tones (2 tones duplicated)
- Tonal range E~f (E/F#/G/A/B/C/D/F)
- Plastic body
- W145 x H59 x D49mm
- 395g
- Complete with carrying case
Cut to the chase...
Oh, I'm going to have some fun with this.
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