One Man's One Man Band Videos

Helter Skelter I am excited to have completed my first full video in my new studio!

But, Honestly (Foo Fighters) Here's a little something so you can blast into your weekend! If you don't have patience, then just start at 2:26. This is one of the most underrated Foo Fighters songs.

Just a simple jam over a 5-measure chord progression. "Black, White, and Other Colors"

Drums came first. I then noodled on the guitar until I found something that fit. Bass came third. With those three, it still didn't sound quite right, so I threw in some organ from the B9. It's rough in a lot of parts, but my philosophy is to just finish and then make the next one better.

Hanging out with a buddy, and we decided to try laying something down.

Were You There on That Christmas Night
Were You There on That Christmas Night

Saint Cecilia (Foo Fighters)
Saint Cecilia (Foo Fighters) This song by the Foo Fighters is one of my favorites. I woke up last weekend and just knew I had to give it a shot. This video didn't take me anywhere near as long as my others, but it is one of my favorites. It might sound clickbaitey, but the roar at 2:22 is otherworldly and is perhaps my favorite moment of music I have ever created! Electric guitars were recorded through a Blues Jr. (left) and a Vox AC-15 (with Celestion Blue) (right) or a Marshall DSL40C. Each amp was miced with a Sennheiser e906 and sent to Reaper via a Focusrite Clarett 8 Pre USB interface. Vocals were done on a Shure SM58. The drums were from a Roland TD-30. The bass was direct via a head. The audio was mixed in Reaper. All video was recorded on an iPhone X selfie cam and edited in Premiere.

Lake Massawippi (Tim Blais (music and lyrics) and Reuben War (music))
Lake Massawippi (Tim Blais (music and lyrics) and Reuben War (music)) This beautiful song is by Tim Blais (music and lyrics) and Reuben War (music) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtPRZ4h7SmM). I stumbled onto Tim's video years ago, and it is hauntingly beautiful. To be honest, I was terrified that someday Tim might take it down, and that was part of the motivation for making this video. (Mr. Blais, if you happen to see this, I hope you will forgive me for making this without having first obtained your permission! Please know that I am not in this to make money or to increase my reputation. I just sometimes record as a hobby only.) You may know Tim Blais from his creation Bohemian Gravity (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rjbtsX7twc), which predated the Bohemian Rhapsody craze by many years. I have spent years watching episodes of PBS Space Time (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7_gcs09iThXybpVgjHZ_7g), so that I might someday understand that video a bit more. You can buy Tim Blais's version of this song here: http://timblais.bandcamp.com Other of Tim's relevant links are as follows: http://www.youtube.com/TimblaisMusic http://www.youtube.com/acapellascience http://www.youtube.com/cabin9music http://www.myspace.com/nintendor All vocals were recorded through an SM58 into a Focusrite Clarett 8Pre interface. The guitar is a 2018 Gibson R8 run through a Klon KTR and a JHS Bonsai into a Fender Blues Jr. The amp was miced with a Sennheiser e906, and the signal was sent to the Focusrite. The audio was mixed in Reaper. The video was done in Adobe Premiere. (Incidentally, getting a 68bpm looped video to display correctly in a 29.97fps video format was the stuff of nightmares. I spent perhaps 20 hours trying to figure it out. Then, after inadvertently deleting the entire video, I restarted and was done within about 8 hours. Laying down the vocal tracks took only about 2 hours.) Enjoy!

Fix You (Coldplay)
Fix You (Coldplay) I spent about 50 hours on this one. Much of that time was spent figuring out how to use Reaper, but I think I learned a lot. I first captured the drums and bass on a Zoom R16. Drums were done with an SM57 on each tom and on the snare. The bass drum was done with a Beta 52A lying on a blanket inside. Overheads were cheap MXL 603s condensers. The bass guitar was an 18V active signal straight into the board. I then realized that the 9-year-old Zoom's preamps weren't going to be quiet enough to do everything I needed them to, so I upgraded to a Focusrite Clarett 8Pre (USB). It was an expensive decision, but I think it will be worth it in the long run. Vocals were done on an SM58. Guitars (Gibson ES-335 and Epiphone Nighthawk) were recorded through a Fender Blues Jr. into a Sennheizer e906. Guitar signal chain was Wampler Ego Compressor, Keeley D&M Drive, Rowin delay, amp. The "organ" was done on an Epiphone Wildkat. That signal chain was Dyna Comp, EHX B9 Organ Machine, Boss GE-7 Equalizer, Focusrite. Everything was mixed in Reaper. Video was done on the selfie camera on an iPhone X. And if you have made it this far in the comments, I'll just say thanks for watching, and I hope you enjoy! And yes, I did mean to troll Dave Grohl!

Remedy (Black Crowes)
Remedy (Black Crowes) That took a lot longer than I thought it would (114 takes and about 25 hours of video editing production)! The signal chain was as follows: Vocals were all done with a Shure SM58. Guitars and piano were done with a Sennheiser e906. Bass is an 18V active signal directly into the mixer. Drums were done with a Shure Beta 52A placed on top of the blanket inside the bass drum. There was also a Shure SM57 on the hi-hat and another on the snare and another as an overhead. I originally tried using condensers, but they were giving too many untamed highs, and I decided to simplify and just go dynamic. The acoustic guitar had an active Fishman piezo, under-bridge pickup that I sent straight into the board. Everything went directly into a Zoom R16. All audio mixing was done on the R16. Video was taken with the selfie camera on an iPhone X. Video production was done on Adobe Premiere Pro CC. This was my first project on Premiere, and it took some getting used to, for sure. Thanks for watching!

Proud Mary (John Fogerty)
Proud Mary (John Fogerty) 2018.01.31

Cherub Rock (Smashing Pumpkins)
Cherub Rock (Smashing Pumpkins) One of my favorite songs to play on drums. Given the limitations of the software used to create this, I wasn't able to fix all of the multifarious mistakes. My motto is to finish and then make the next one better. (The next one is better!) 2018.01.31