Campus Five in the studio

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Ron · #16 Post by **Ron** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 8:10 pm

I'm sure your new CD will be as excellent as your previous ones--which were great.

texas-eddie · #17 Post by **texas-eddie** » Fri Nov 17, 2006 2:31 am

Awesomeness! Can't wait to buy it... so are we looking at a double CD maybe based on that set list?

Campus Five · #18 Post by **Campus Five** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 12:22 pm

So here's what we got in the can.
Moppin' and Boppin'
CV Jam
Wholly Cats
Gone with "What" Wind
Swing, Brother, Swing - we only ended up doing one version at around 215-220 bpm
Bei Mir Bist Du Schon - two version, we'll see what works better
A Smo-o-oth One
Royal Family
I Can't Believe that You're in Love with Me
As Long As I Live
Judy
I'm Beginning to See the Light
Just a Little Bit South of North Carolina
920 Special
Bli-Blip
On the Sunny Side of the Street
S' Wonderful
I Don't Know Enough About You
Rhythm Itch
Bugle Call Rag / Blues for Greasy

We'll see what fits the album, along with the other tracks from last time:
Illinois Goes to Chicago
Jacquet Bounce
Sweets
It Don't Mean a Thing

Campus Five · #19 Post by **Campus Five** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 12:39 pm

The players:
Jim Ziegler - trumpet and vocal on Judy
Albert Alva - tenor sax and clarinet
Chris Dawson - piano
Wally Hersom - bass
Josh Collazo - drums
Jonathan Stout - leader, acoustic and electric guitars
Hilary Alexander - vocals

For the gear geeks among us, we recorded in the same studio we used previously, meaning we used a bunch of vintage RCA 44 microphones. Also, we used the new Campus Five drum kit which is a 1941 Leedy with huge 28" bass drum - it really lays down the thump. As far as guitars went, I used my Eastman guitars, but with a 1947 DeArmond guitar pickup through my 1940 Gibson EH-160 amp (the very, very rare AC/DC version of the EH-150 amp used by Charlie Christian). Wally's bass is a 1940's Epiphone.

Bob the Builder · #20 Post by **Bob the Builder** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 3:19 pm

we used a bunch of vintage RCA 44 microphones

I'm going to be using one of these myself very soon, RCA 44BX.
I'm interested to know what configuration did you end up using.
I would have assumed two RCA room mics would be enough along with the appropiate individual instrument condenser mics.
Maybe you had another RCA for Vocals?

The RCA 44BX has to be one of the best mics ever built. It's hard to believe a HiFi mic of its type was mass produced in 1932, and designed back in 28. Nearly a perfectly flat frequency response from 100Hz to 10KHz. A pick up from 50Hz to 15KHz.
What a beautiful piece of equipment.

Brian

Campus Five · #21 Post by **Campus Five** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 3:57 pm

[warning audio geek discussion follows]
The main room sound is a Mid-side pair. Using the RCA 44 as ears (right and left, since its bidirectional) and a conderser facing forward, you can widen or narrow the stereo spectrum by adjusting the phase of the bidirectional RCA and the consider. Then as safety, both horns get their own 44, and there is one on the piano as well. The guitar amp, acoustic guitar and bass also get their own mics and there is a set of mic overheads. Most of what you hear is the room mics.

Bob the Builder · #22 Post by **Bob the Builder** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 5:20 pm

Thanks,

There are not many studio's that would have that may RCA 44's

Brian

Campus Five · #23 Post by **Campus Five** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 9:33 pm

He's easily got 10 of 'em. Seriously.

By the way, I should point out that its the same studio the Dean Mora has used for most of his records as well.

Bob the Builder · #24 Post by **Bob the Builder** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 11:32 pm

Wow,

My mate has 3, RCA 44BX and 2, RCA 77DX.
Over here, they cost about 6K each & I'm not sure how often they are used.

B

Campus Five · #25 Post by **Campus Five** » Mon Jan 01, 2007 7:55 pm

So here's a little teaser:

Here's the first track: Wholly Cats
Here's how it ends: Bugle Call Rag / Blues for Greasy

These are some short samples of the rough mixes I just got back a day ago, They are not mastered and the mixes are definitely not final.

Campus Five · #26 Post by **Campus Five** » Mon Jan 01, 2007 11:58 pm

A few more...

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

GemZombie · #27 Post by **GemZombie** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 6:27 am

They sound great. Got a date in mind for a release yet?

Campus Five · #28 Post by **Campus Five** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 8:41 am

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

Mr Awesomer · #29 Post by **Mr Awesomer** » Mon Jan 08, 2007 5:31 pm

Hey Jonathan, did you record this in the same studio as you did the others? I can't put my finger on it, but it sounds... different. In turn it feels "odd" to me (not bad, mind you, just... odd) and I can't figure out why. Maybe it's cause I'm at work listening to it, but I actually have pretty sweet sound even at work, haha.

PS. I'll be buying this so I can finally have a studio recording of Josh's intro to Moppin' and Boppin.

Campus Five · #30 Post by **Campus Five** » Mon Jan 08, 2007 5:48 pm

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.