Lee Knight

Ha! Well... there's that...

Precisely why I gave an over-generalized bull{censored} answer.

But yeah, Ram, you make a great point. The Greeks had many cities situated from from each other and not sharing all that much is common with what the stereotypical view of them is.

The Romans prided themselves on conquering and ruling. Then, wanting to tie all the conquests together. All roads lead to Rome. You know what they say about the Roman roads. Very well made. So they were doers. They appropriated things as their own. Even the Roman gods were "borrowed" from the Greeks via the Iliad.

The Greeks, on the other hand, made many discoveries and were as a result well versed in mathematics, geometry, astronomy. The Romans used all those discoveries. Used them. Doers. The Romans built aqueducts, dams, roads, bridges, architecture. Much of this doer mentality of the Romans was facilitated by the discoveries of the Greeks.

The Romans were realists, the Greeks, dreamers. A Roman statue of a leader has a big nose, the Greek version would be idealized view of that leader. And a pretty nose.

It's in the order of their hedgerow oh-oo-ohs

it's in the way their curtains open and clo-oo-ohse

it's in the look they give you down their no-oo-ohse

all part of decency's jigsaw I suppose

Is this done?

http://www.youtube.com/user/KnightLee1#p/a/u/2/unYVVt8LPhk

Maybe I should've added a

I do really think it's a shame that you're missing out but of course I respect another's opinion. I used to say "I hate BACH!" and lots of guys would say, that's a shame. I disagreed then, now... I bow to the man.

But I'm not being serious here. Just playin' with ya.

That is a shame...

I don't believe in an angry God.

Wow. Not trying to be contrary but I really liked that.

I'm still of the mind that "making sense" is a moving target. Does Come Together make sense? Even with the Leary explanation it doesn't in the traditional way. But does it move you? Engage you?

Absolutely.

Does it take you somewhere like a great work of art? Yes. Job done. Like Byrne said, Stop Making Sense. That works too...

I think he might have left them in cause he looked at his splattered wall and said, "That's... pretty freakin' cool."

^^^Those lyrics^^^ make sense. In an artistic capacity they absolutely leave a very clear impression of some very vague images. And some very crystal clear images as well. The meaning, if there is one in the conventional sense, is secondary to the impression.

But, to some degree, that's the way a literal song works too. The words leave an impression. It might be starkly literal like "School's OUT... FOR... SUMMER!" or it might be splatters of Pollockesque image-word-phrases like:

He got feet down below his knee

Hold you in his armchair you can feel his disease

Hold you in his arm(s)... chair? That's pretty cool. Leaves an impression on me. One that wouldn't be possible in a literal lyric. Considering he shoots coca-cola I can actaully see his arms. Cah-reepy. So...

...does it make sense? Well, maybe not. Did he have a vision he was trying to get through to you and me... absolutely. Can't you see that guy?

He wear no shoeshine, he got toe-jam football

He got monkey finger, he shoot coca-cola

^^^ That guy^^^ the above phrase conjured in my mind used to scare the hell out of me as kid. But in a good way. Creepy Crumb-like 60's Sunset Hipster Jamesdeaniewithlonghiar Junkie Loser Handsome Svengali Seer Dude. Keep On Truckin' You Spinal Cracker. Over me. CRACK! Right through to my jaw.

Scary. Makes sense to me. No?

I did an impression of Elvis Costello after hearing his brand new album My Aim is True. I thought the guy was a joke from the cover photo till we put the album on. Whoa. What's this... My band buddies urged me to cover Angels cause I sort of sounded like him. So I started singing in a cover band. I must've been 17.

But Costello completely grabbed my imagination. I transcribed all his song lyrics my best and created a short hand for vocal inflections and taught myself to sing that whole album.

But those songs... those lyrics... maybe I could..

So I started trying.

Yeah! There's a twist. Did he ham in up without you asking?

Really great photos. Congrats on such esteemed praise as well. That's got to be very gratifying. I love the Monks in particular. The way you've captured that famous robe color with their facial expressions. Just so captivating and a twist on the more common "monk photos" I've seen.

You've got a good eye for seeing things others miss. Really nice.

The deal with a 57 is you're going to get pops pretty easy so be sure you use your wind screen / popper stopper. I have cut guide vocals with a 57 and a wind screen, not eating the mic, say... 4" off, and have kept them because the guide rocked. I've never wanted for a better sound when that happed. A 57 can sound great on a rock vocal.

Bear in mind a 57 has a bump around 4k. Lots of voices sound great with that boost. Some don't. Just be aware of it.

The SM7 is a better choice but the 57 can rock assuming the 4k works in your favor.

It can be a bit confusing starting out with PT. Pardon if this is too rudimentary for you. It wasn't for me the first time in PT.

Create a track in PT

In that track assign an input (AnalogMic1)

Plug a mic into that input (Mic1)

Click the little "R" on the software track (channel strip) you created in PT

You should now see your meter jumping about if you clap your hands.

Click the record button on the transport window. That's the one with the play, stop, etc. icons. The record button is the one with the round dot. It should now be red. Click play and start screaming like a banshee!!!

And it flew! Wrap your head around that symbolism!

I agree with you. But it's strange... I don't see my interpretation as literal at all. The mention of NASA and space travel... no, no. It was only mentioned because this was a hot topic at the time. It is NOT about that. The image is symbolic, made more powerful because of it. That's all.

I agree with you.

Like a song today let's say, that is about "forgetting the poor". And the term bail out is used. That's going to strike a chord today. It's going to get you in the gut as you listen. It means something given the context of the day. But the song isn't about Corporate Bailout. Maybe the song is about making sure we remember the little guy. The little girl crying in the park.

It's just an image that wields more power, that resonates, given the era it was released.

I don't thing it's a direct slang, no. But if someone said, "that guy's on the moon" that's how I'd take it. Or, "they've all gone to the moon". That would read, "Mama, they're all crazy" to me.

Right. And the fact that it was a powerful image and useful double meaning for the songwriter. Not a pointed ctitisism of NASA, no. Just a cool image to make a point.

And yeah, marcellis, the wife's a limey.

That's what I got.

And Lee's point about the race to get a man on the moon. Back then, you mention the moon and that's what you'd have thought of. "Every thing's going to crap and we're racing to go to the moon?"

Plus gone to the moon meaning "Gone off his rocker".

Then playing off the sun and moon imagery. Sun good, moon bad.

So the synopsis:

Everything's going to hell and we're wasting time with a space race? Mankind is overlooking their brother in need and only sees what others have that we don't. Meanwhile there are people in very real need all around us right here on Earth. So instead of using our arms to help we use them to stuff our greedy faces and race to the moon. We must be off our rockers.

Wow... that was really good. I've never categorized performers in that way but I comp all the time just like that. So as I read I recognized all the various types mentioned. That's pretty cool.

The Slow Starter. I had a 42 year old blues guitarist here who has never been in a studio before. The classic weekend warrior. It took a whole 6 hour day to finally get to the point of quality stuff happening. But I could see the progression so I was encouraged to stick with him. Finally rushed through several tunes to get him while he was on fire... then it went. Done.

The Anything Goes. I know him well. My old singer. Constantly searching for "it". How about if I try something like this? Now, how about... And you never know when the it going to be magic or nonsense. And Craig makes a great point. This kind of guy takes direction,section by section, very well. They like to think and try something. Think again, and try this...

The Quick Starter. A recent lead singer for this old timey R&B rocking band. He knows his style. He gets out there and it isn't' about pitch, it's about a vibe. He gets it right away. After that... "Why are we still doing this?" He's right. You got it a take ago. Let's move on.

Very thought provoking article.

Killer V PM'ed me and asked to comment on his tunes and recordings. I've only listened to Uhuhu so far. I wouldn't typically go in depth with suggestions like this but he asked that I do so. So...

First off, I really dig the overall style you've got going. Hard Rock without the silliness.

Uhuru

Nice playing all around. Cool vibe and cool tune.

Great guitars. Love the wah-delay intro sections. Nice bass tone. Nice kick.

The snare needs high end. The OHs in general are favoring the cymbals. A bit swishy? Ever try the Glynn John's style OHs? I dig the natural snare style but think you need to get more impact. Bell at 2k, shelf at 8k. Notch at 500Hz or so.

Solo. You could stand to set the solo back a tad with some ambience. Either a mono room panned off or a delay into a mono room. Try this... A 400 ms delay into a room reverb. Sometimes it's cool to pan the solo off 50% one direction and the delay 50% in the other. This is especially cool with the 400ms into a mono room. Sounds like you're lighting up a Chicago nightclub/Theater hitting the back balcony. Then pull the level down just a tad from where it is now. The spread will sound like a roar and you'll give more an impression of VOLUME!!!

The vocals need to go either way for me. Either right up in your face, or more set back and hi-fi. I'd go up in your face. While your vocal level is fine, it needs more aggression. Cut some of the low mids, maybe limit and distort the vocal slightly. If cutting isn't enough, try boosting some mids. Maybe a distorntion would get it there. Try some doubles in the SEE/DOWN sections. And when you do an octave above, go wild with the singing. More intense, then set it back with delay. Overall the lead vocal really needs more intensity. Consider retracking and opening up like you do when you guys are onstage and on fire.

Overall I really dig this first one. I just think you need some fun production tricks to lift certain sections and more emphasis on the snare and vocal.

I just switched form a new Dell quad core to a dual 2.4 iMac. And yes it is a touchy subject. I'm no flag waver but... I got to say, PT runs very well on a Mac. Sorry, I've been rocking PC for a long time and have always rolled my eyes at Jobs slaves. And now I'm doing the V8 head bonk thinking doh! This simple iMac kicks ass.