It’s been a while since I posted up a recording here. Lots of reasons and shan’t bore you with the details. And I hadn’t intended to upload this. This is a dry run recording I made in the afternoon before the Community OM19 event. I don’t share the dry runs as a rule given that the performance is in the shared recordings (if you’ve never looked at an OM recording, worth a look Open Mics Archive: Recordings + After-Show Chat). But I started well, fell apart, and so there’s no performance to ‘enjoy’. So glad to be able to share a recording when it went OK.
While that was disappointing, even embarrassing, I got a lot from the preparation and don’t regret not giving into the impulses to bail out.
This is my second song to make use of the Digitech Trio+. For those not in the know, it is a pedal that allows you to create drum and bass accompaniment by ‘teaching’ the band a song by playing chord progressions. There may be easier ways to create simple backing tracks but there is lots to learn and gain plus fun using the Trio.
I worked through the Beginner Course as it was before the Musopia App was available. So in my learning I never invested time in playing along with original songs or backing tracks. I know I could have found a way but given where I used to practice with an acoustic it just wasn’t easily done at the time (lots of reasons, more boring details not worth sharing. I now find playing with the Trio a challenge. That’s good but like all challenges, sometimes it just doesn’t go well.
Setting up to produce a ‘good’ quality audio recording live is also something that I find interesting and fun. To achieve what I want I found it necessary to upgrade my Audio Interface, from a Focusrite 2i2 to a Behringer UMC404HD, needing three inputs. That arrived in the week before the event, giving me Saturday to get all the ducks in a row.
That worked out OK, though I need to experiment a little more as I think I can achieve a better setup for performance in the Zoom meeting. Another moment not to bore you with details.
Maybe some production details will be interesting to folk wondering about how to make recordings and perform live.
- The Trio was plugged directly into the 404 using its amp output
- Electric guitar plugged directly into the 404, no pedals, multi-fx between guitar and 404
- Vocal was routed into the 404 via the TC Helikon Play Acoustic
- Audio and webcam setup in OBS, using 4 audio sources, two for the electric guitar
- OBS filters used to simulate an amp and fx on the guitar tracks
- Guitar tracks panned left and right with different fx plus a 50ms offset to create a fuller wider sound
- OBS then feeds Zoom with a virtual cable and camera for the OM or to make the recording as shared
For those interested in this and regular users of a DAW who’ve experienced plug-in GAS, I discovered in the process that Waves make a free plug-in, Studio Rack, which is essentially a channel strip enabling you to setup a chain of fx, either in your DAW or in OBS. I’ve suffered plug-in GAS over the years so was able to use a few CLA Waves plugins to create the guitar sound. Sadly the trying to drop the Waves GTR plugins into Studio Rack in OBS was too much and crashed OBS.
Anyhow, that’s about enough chit-chat, here’s the recording, which is best listened to through headphones.
I enjoyedd this performance and it clearly shows what you are capable of and how much you love the blues. 
. As I’ve just started my blues journey (I’m currently at module 13), I’m now familiar with this song. It’s got a very bluesy vibe, your shuffle rhythm was really good and steady 
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… it will probably be a while before I have 2 hours in a row to sit in front of it.
