[Harp-L] Interesting Recording session

[Michael Rubin]

I might have sent the wrong link.

https://soundcloud.com/friendstotheend/at-the-matinee-instrumental-featuring-michael-rubin/s-cm1Fh?fbclid=IwAR3amAAEIT1G9X0R1ZQ5nT1d1i6aeNpMZ7Yur4uW9dT516AnoMt7fSQaV2A

On Tue, Mar 26, 2019 at 4:12 PM Michael Rubin <
michaelrubinharmonica at xxxxx> wrote:

> Around a year ago I experienced an interesting session.  The leader had
> written a song and recorded it with vocals.  That is the second link on the
> message, for those who dare (or have the attention span) to listen to two
> recordings.    Sadly, the version I found with vocals is just a minute long
> sample.
>
> If I remember correctly, he was inspired by The Lovin Spoonful who
> recorded a vocal song and then a harmonica version of the same melody.  He
> wanted me to imitate his vocals to create an instrumental version.
>
> He sent me the written music version of the song.  I quickly assessed that
> his vocals strayed wildly from the written melody and timing.  I tabbed my
> own version.
>
> Recently, I had been on Harp-l and someone was selling a bunch of
> chromatics in different keys.  I quickly emailed her, asking the amount of
> money she wanted.  "$150.", she said.  "Per harp?"  "No, for the lot of
> them."  SOLD!
>
> So I was interested in seeing which chromatic was really right for the
> job.  Although I play diatonic chromatically I felt chromatic was the way
> to go.  I retabbed it into scale degrees so I could easily play in whatever
> position the key dictated on each differently keyed chromatic.  Honestly, I
> forget the chromatic I played, but I am remembering a G.
>
> We had around 30 minutes to record the song.  The main issue was how much
> improvisation he wanted to add some flair to the melody.  Simple techniques
> such as vibrato by hand, throat or jaw, slight bends, etc can really become
> overbearing when playing something so simple.
>
> When we got a cut we wanted, the engineer was very good at theory and we
> had good communication.  We came up with a bunch of harmonies that we put
> on extra tracks.  Harmonica harmonies!
>
> Hope you enjoy it!
>
>
> https://exit.sc/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ffriendstotheend.net%2Fsongs%2Fat-the-matinee%2F
>
> And here's the vocal:
>
> https://soundcloud.com/friendstotheend/sample-at-the-matinee
>
> Thanks for listening.
> Michael Rubin
> michaelrubinharmonica.com
>