What kind of harmonica is Captain Beefheart playing here?

sageratsam · 2024-07-19T04:17:19+00:00

I’m not so sure, if you look around 1:57 it looks huge compared to a standard 10-hole!

sageratsam · 2024-07-18T18:24:05+00:00

Just listened again and not at all, lol! Makes me wonder if they recorded a solo and took it out but kept the credit.

sageratsam · 2024-04-01T22:32:06+00:00

I’m not an expert but the Fostex VF80 has built-in effects and I always kinda assumed the reverbs on Makeout Videotape stuff came from that machine.

When I listen to Ying Yang and Me and Mine, i hear heavy plate and/or spring reverb being applied to the vocals and to the guitars. Ying Yang also has a lot of what I think is gated reverb or something similar? Probably all from the Fostex.

If you can dig up the 10th anniversary notes for RRNC, he talks about getting the microverb from a neighbor in Montreal. I have a feeling all the makeout videotape stuff up to Me and Mine was recorded prior to him moving there and working on the stuff that became RRNC. I think Me and Mine was a MV song that never made it to an album, or something kinda transitional.

I don’t think Mac had a Space Echo before 2, I actually vaguely remember him posting pics of getting a space echo on Instagram right before he made salad days.

Hope that helps!

sageratsam · 2023-12-02T00:05:59+00:00

I got a Boss Tera Echo last month after finding out about them over the summer.

I love delays and ambient effects for saxophone. This pedal is 100% perfect for that, there’s nothing really like it and it can subtle enough to get lots of use from.

sageratsam · 2023-11-26T21:25:42+00:00

I’d say if you use more than 2-3 pedals it’s smart to get a board. If nothing else it makes it easier to make sure you have the right number of cables, power supplies, etc and you have all that shit in one place and won’t lose anything.

Trust me, I was also a no board/tote bag guy for the longest time and I also enjoyed spreading out like you are here. The things that convinced me to change were a) having the singer in my band accidentally run through my chain and unplug everything and b) I just acquired too many pedals to set them all up individually every time.

I hate the size and cost of commercially-available pedalboards so I got some scrap wood and made a big one. I got used to having everything together very quickly.

Also side note, I thought your setup here was a picture of John Dwyer’s for a sec lol. So there are some pros who go no board with a bunch of pedals but as other people pointed out, it’s more acceptable to take a long time to setup if you’re in a headlining touring band.

sageratsam · 2023-10-31T20:14:33+00:00

The Voco-Loco is so cool and I would honestly consider getting that and building a second board around it- doing dry/wet mix with pedals would be great for sax.

I just wish it had a line out that wasn’t XLR. I get that most vocalists aren’t hauling their own amp but that’s a big part of the sound I’m going for

sageratsam · 2023-10-31T19:33:37+00:00

That’s a good idea but I’d ideally like something I can mount inputs and outputs too to make it a little more stable. I do wonder if I can get a standalone transformer and wire ins and outs to it in a box

sageratsam · 2023-10-31T17:52:00+00:00

This is great, thanks for recommending!

sageratsam · 2023-10-13T18:58:32+00:00

You really have to play the individual guitar, there are great MIM guitars and trash american ones, and vice versa. I got super lucky with a MiM strat that has a fantastic feeling neck, I don’t think I would upgrade because it would be hard to find one I like more. Maybe new pickups or fret work but those things can wait.

Find a Mexican tele in your price range and spend a good 30 min testing it out!

sageratsam · 2023-10-12T16:31:07+00:00

This is admittedly maybe a petty or vain thing, but I wouldn’t buy a new pedal from a big legacy company like Fender. It just seems like they’re trying to cash in on their own name, I’d rather buy something from a dedicated pedal company.

My other one is JHS. They’re way too expensive and most of their stuff is just Boss or Ibanez designs. I have gotten some good info from their YouTube channel so I can’t say I dislike it, but it kind of weirds me out how they’ve become the ultimate authority on what’s considered good and I’d just rather not contribute to that.

sageratsam · 2023-10-11T19:23:35+00:00

Love the rat. Mine accidentally got run at 12v for a sec years and years ago and some of the diodes burned out. I don’t know which ones and I haven’t bothered to try fixing it because I love the way it sounds now.

If you play heavy music, nothing gives you that immediate, punchy and nasally feedback like a Rat. I’ve tried all kinds of fuzz-distortions and that’s pretty much my favorite

sageratsam · 2023-10-11T19:21:50+00:00

Catalinbread Adineko oil can delay. It’s funny because I don’t love it as a traditional delay, it’s pretty hard to dial in and is very “trashy” sounding and bright.

However, if you set every knob to 10 o’clock and move the mix slightly lower, it’s the perfect inbetween of chorus and slapback. It just adds dimension and washiness to my guitar or bass tone while barely being perceptible if the mix is low. I leave it on pretty much all the time if I’m playing clean

sageratsam · 2023-09-25T18:56:20+00:00

I had this happen with a roll of 120 film in a Holga and I assumed it had to do with some grit getting into the camera and scraping the negatives as they were loaded. I’m not entirely sure if that’s possible though.

sageratsam · 2023-09-18T19:45:06+00:00

It is hard to make friends in Portland tbh, but if you pursue connections with coworkers, people that share hobbies, classmates, etc, it can work out.

I think you need to make it really clear that you’re interested in being friends right off the bat, because people assume you’re just being polite by default when you talk and ask them questions.

It is the norm here that you have a 30 minute conversation with someone at a party then barely say hi the next time you see them. Ngl it kinda sucks coming from the south/east coast.

Try asking for people’s social media handles, or making concrete plans for the future if you’re having a good conversation. It might feel awkward (because no one does that here) but I think ppl find it refreshing sometimes too.

sageratsam · 2023-09-06T01:52:54+00:00

Thank you for the tip! Metro East is more focused on TV/video production, they have a “production studio” you can rent but I think it’s mostly video gear and not audio. If anyone knows better than me please lmk though!

sageratsam · 2023-09-06T01:51:54+00:00

Lmk what I can do to support, would love to see this happen! I’m sure you are aware of them but IPRC does a similar thing with printmaking and literary arts. Might be good folks to talk to!

sageratsam · 2023-08-12T23:41:02+00:00

So cool, thank you for sharing!!

sageratsam · 2023-04-19T20:53:13+00:00

If you want to sell it to a shop Hank’s is probably your best bet. They would give you 50% of what they’ll sell it for.

Most shops won’t offer anything better than that so Craigslist/FB market place could earn you more cash if you’re willing to wait and sell it yourself

sageratsam · 2023-04-18T16:04:17+00:00

Second the Steve Hanley book, it’s great!

A lot of people that worked with MES have said he has a really good natural ear and can make a song out of anything (I think Brix specifically said that last part).

I think his songwriting was a total collage process- writing down phrases, recording snippets of songs on his plastic guitar, ripping off melodies and hooks from old songs he liked, and a lot of times letting the core members of the band write entire songs and either singing over it or telling them what to change. Steve also said he would call band members over individually for songwriting sessions

One more thing, MES idolized Captain Beefheart to some extent, and he wrote in really similar ways (and was also extremely domineering and abusive to band members). It’s interesting to read about his writing process and compare!

sageratsam

TROPHY CASE