Music Banter - View Single Post - Home Recordings by DAKTARI - (an odd-ball collection)

Daktari · 01-10-2010, 07:04 AM

Hi there,

Erica, first, thanks for taking the time to have a listen and secondly, for the comments you made after listening.

I have always loved and played reggae music but more recently I have been getting into African music, imparticular the guitar led music of Zimbabwe and Oliver Mtukudzi. If you lean more towards the lyric/poetic side of songs I would recommend giving this guy a listen. Great, meaningful lyrics yet simple but all of it hung on some really well played catchy music.

Now, you did ask several questions so here goes:

On the blue grass song, yup, I recorded this by standing the recorder about 9 ft in front of my Bose L1 pa tower. This is what I use when playing out live. I managed to stamp on the tambourine with my right foot but it was a bit of a stretch cos I had not planned on that when I pressed start on the recorder. The harmonies are live as well and are produced by a Digitech Vocalist Live 2. This amazing box supplies 2 backing harmonies which are actually the main vocal which it records and sends back out in a split second. It works out the correct harmonies based on the guitar chords being played. Old music style, new technology to get it, ha,ha...

Next. Africa 1, Africa2 and Harare Waltz were just quick sketches used as something to learn my recording. I am not vey quick on the techy side so these three tunes were just quickly put together really to test my recording technique. At the time, the idea was that if any of them sounded reasonable, I could revive them in the future and maybe make more of them.

As far as immitating a Jamamican accent. Well, I had a reggae band years ago in England and I wrote loads of songs back then. The accent must be a subconscious thing. I don't set out to sound like Bob Marley. The style of vocal automatically comes with the feel of the music. Just like in the blue grass attempt, you thought I had a 'COWBOY' type vocal. I was thinking more hill billy but there ya go,, it just suits that type of music and might start to sound funny if I forced a Lancashire accent on to it...

'Women of Ireland'. I have always loved the melody of that song. The original poem is in gaelic which I coudn't attempt that. There is a wonderful version recorded by Kate Bush though and she sings it in gaelic. I'm sure there would be a translation available on line somewhere. It is all about the hardships and suffering and contributions the women of Ireland made throughout that countrie's turbulent history, most of which was unrecorded and forgotten.

Thanks again for listening and watch this space, I will post more examples as I find time to record.

Cheers, Gordon.

01-10-2010, 07:04 AM	#6 (permalink)
Daktari Music Addict Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Originally from Lancashire, England, lived near Largs, Scotland and now live in Rocky Face, Georgia Posts: 154	Hi there, Erica, first, thanks for taking the time to have a listen and secondly, for the comments you made after listening. I have always loved and played reggae music but more recently I have been getting into African music, imparticular the guitar led music of Zimbabwe and Oliver Mtukudzi. If you lean more towards the lyric/poetic side of songs I would recommend giving this guy a listen. Great, meaningful lyrics yet simple but all of it hung on some really well played catchy music. Now, you did ask several questions so here goes: On the blue grass song, yup, I recorded this by standing the recorder about 9 ft in front of my Bose L1 pa tower. This is what I use when playing out live. I managed to stamp on the tambourine with my right foot but it was a bit of a stretch cos I had not planned on that when I pressed start on the recorder. The harmonies are live as well and are produced by a Digitech Vocalist Live 2. This amazing box supplies 2 backing harmonies which are actually the main vocal which it records and sends back out in a split second. It works out the correct harmonies based on the guitar chords being played. Old music style, new technology to get it, ha,ha... Next. Africa 1, Africa2 and Harare Waltz were just quick sketches used as something to learn my recording. I am not vey quick on the techy side so these three tunes were just quickly put together really to test my recording technique. At the time, the idea was that if any of them sounded reasonable, I could revive them in the future and maybe make more of them. As far as immitating a Jamamican accent. Well, I had a reggae band years ago in England and I wrote loads of songs back then. The accent must be a subconscious thing. I don't set out to sound like Bob Marley. The style of vocal automatically comes with the feel of the music. Just like in the blue grass attempt, you thought I had a 'COWBOY' type vocal. I was thinking more hill billy but there ya go,, it just suits that type of music and might start to sound funny if I forced a Lancashire accent on to it... 'Women of Ireland'. I have always loved the melody of that song. The original poem is in gaelic which I coudn't attempt that. There is a wonderful version recorded by Kate Bush though and she sings it in gaelic. I'm sure there would be a translation available on line somewhere. It is all about the hardships and suffering and contributions the women of Ireland made throughout that countrie's turbulent history, most of which was unrecorded and forgotten. Thanks again for listening and watch this space, I will post more examples as I find time to record. Cheers, Gordon.