We’ve got a new Zoom H2 recorder (well, actually a refurbished one off Ebay).
It had its first try-out at last Saturday’s gig.
We thought we would share a couple of tunes via the blog.
But first a health warning.
We simply stuck the recorder on a mic stand in the middle of the stage area.
The sound the band hears on stage has very little relation to what the audience hears out front.
This is because the horns and vocals are being projected by the PA. On stage we have monitors for these, but the sound can’t be too loud or we would get feedback. That’s a particular problem with the vocals. Not only was Veronica the furthest from the recorder, but the horns, who are naturally louder anyway, were much closer.
No bass, drums or guitar go through the PA so they have to be loud on stage so that they project with the PA into the audience. The recorder was also close to the drums and bass.
And of course any commercial recording is carefully mixed before issuing. You can’t do that when you just stick a microphone up in the middle of a band.
So if you’re prepared to use lots of imagination to imagine what the sound was like on the dance floor, here’s Man in the Street. This is one of the 60s ska original instrumentals we play, so the very quiet vocals are not a problem here.
Next up is our version of Kylie’s Can’t get you out of my Head – this is one of our bonkers covers.