SwingDJs

I just got a break between class to listen to OOJ. Pianos are one of the softest instruments in a big band (sans amplification of course), so the band can't play behind a piano solo the way they play behind ensembles or other soloists. Basie being one of the "lightest" players around (not ...

Four on the floor only provides a solid bass - a foundation. The syncopations and dynamics are what make something pop beyond just chugging along.

I'll also come up with some examples of this later.

NO MASTERING After listening to a couple more tracks that popped to mind. It's amazing what a little compression and normalization can do. (for anyone who doesn't know what that means - compression is lowering the level of louder parts of a sound to make it more consistent, and normalization is mak...

This is the first time we've gone as far with the vintage equipment. Josh's old kit (which I've owned for two years now) was a mid 50's kit, and after it was stolen, I got a 1941 kit. Wally Hersom (ex.Big Sandy, also w/Bonebreak Syncopators and the Lucky Stars), our new bass players, uses a 1940 Epi...

3 things:
Different bass player
Different drum set
NO MASTERING

Trust me, it'll sound way better once the mixes are the final onces, and the tracks are mastered. Also, there's a little too much echo in a couple places - which is a little too hifi sounding for me.

K - you've got a couple terms mixed up and it would be really helpful if I could play you a couple of drum patterns, and for you to hear rhythm sections. I don't have time to record them or scour my collection for the best examples. But I'll get to it. As for the most immediate confusion. Your mixin...

The problem is not so much which ones have it and which one's don't - the problem is on which tracks can you hear what was actually going on? One of the hallmarks of the style was four-on-the-floor bass drum and four-beat bass - and the string bass had little sustain, so you really got a nice percus...

I routinely tell people that good swing is like 1930's house music - that same relentless thumping four on the floor.

The piano bassline is what gives the 8 - da-duh, da-duh, da-duh, da-duh..... I can't find the WB version, but the Adrews Sisters' one is not really that strong of a boogie - its hard to hear the 8-beat because you can't really hear the piano that well, and because the bass and guitar would still be ...

ba-doom-chhhhhh................
But seriously folks, what is the deal with airline food......

"2-beat", "4-beat", and "8-beat" have been traditionally used as I use them - just listen to Will Bradley's tunes "Bounce me Brother", and "Beat me Daddy, 8 to the bar". 8-beat refers to boogie-woogie rhythm which is a whole nother thing, and I didn'...

sorry, I mixed up the names.

Anton - you mean 4-beat. (it would only be 8 beats if you count like a dancer - not a musician) What's funny about this, is that a thumping four-beat is what I think of just as quintisential swing. The best stuff, and specifically the best recordings of good bands seem to have that thumpin' four bea...

As soon as its mixed and mastered and the cover is designed and the CD's are duplicated. March? April?

A few more...

Gone with What Wind
Moppin' and Boppin'
Royal Family
Rhythm Itch