Big Fat Albert Sound Sample:

**cyoungnashville** · 09-12-2010, 03:06 AM

heres an example of the tones im getting out of big al. im in love. its massive, with just the right amount of girth to growl ratio. this is a quick little "bass up / vocal down" mix i threw together of a typical song from a demo session i played on last week. its a little loose, but i kinda dig that.

some insight into the nashville songwriter "demo sessions":

we spend no more than 20-30 minutes per song on these demos. the songwriter comes in with some kind of worktape (crappy, noisy recording of writer hacking his way thru the tune on acoustic gtr) and a really bare bones number system chord chart. they play the song once, so you can catch the vibe of the tune, and correct all the mistakes they made on the chart. alot of times they just play up to the bridge, because youve already heard the chorus that comes next, haha. everybody goes out from the control room to their stations, chooses their weapon, sits down, and puts their headphones on. a few seconds before the drummer counts it off, they tell you what key they want you to play in, many times its a totally different key than the demo you just heard. the drummer says four, and you are recording. most of the time, we get it on the first take. if you dont get it the first time.... it's ok, no big, take one more. there will not be a third take, so hopefully if you messed up, it was only a chord or two that can quickly be punched. if you need to punch more than a couple chords, or consistently need 3-4-5 takes...... you're recording career is over in nashville. master sessions move much slower, and pay much much better, but theres fewer of them, so everybody does both to fill up their schedules. the demos can be brutal though. its not at all out of the ordinary for me to come home from a solid day (3, 3hour sessions) of demo sessions having recorded 20 songs that ive never heard before in my life. this sound clip is a good example of a "first take". little loose, but good energy. if it was a master recording, we would play it over and over and over, until there was no life left in it at all, cuz apparently, thats what music fans want. all the motown masters, were cut at the same pace our demos are cut. there might be a big lesson there, but no one here seems to get it. i digress..... ON WITH THE BIG AL SHOW!!!!

http://www.thecraigblog.com/media/bigaldemo.m4a

**kamakazee** · 09-12-2010, 04:05 AM

Great tone and nice groove! Amen to not picking through the songs with a fine tooth comb. I hate recording more than once... beating a dead horse...

**adouglas** · 09-12-2010, 04:33 AM

Yet another awesome post.

Further confirmation that I'll never make my living as a musician. I could never hope to keep up with that. Learn a new song on the fly AND have to come up with the right groove and feel instantly? Whew.

In this light, now I REALLY know that I suck. At least we don't need to put chicken wire in front of the stage....

My official tin foil Bongoloid hat is off to you, man.

**7broccos** · 09-12-2010, 04:46 AM

Njce feel and nice amount of funk for a"country" tune.Nice work,much better than some the other sessions players I am hearing in Nashville. Oh yeah,bass does sound great!

**Big Poppa** · 09-12-2010, 05:23 AM

love it what else is in the chain? Is that active or passive? Paper or plastic? silicone or saline?

**Holdsg** · 09-12-2010, 07:43 AM

nice turnarounds

**Smallmouth_Bass** · 09-12-2010, 07:58 AM

Yeah, I was going to ask the same thing: what setting were you on for that tune? It almost sounds like there's a bit of a T-Wah to it.

That tune is really catchy! Great beat, great bassline, good vocals. If that's loose, I can't imagine what your tight sounds like! Love it!

**MK Bass Weed** · 09-12-2010, 08:45 AM

Hey Hey Hey..Yeah..what's that big tubey head with the powersoak on it?

**TheAntMan** · 09-12-2010, 09:10 AM

Great post.

Tune is catchy and had me tapping my foot (this is from someone who doesn't listen to country music). Very groovy bass line. I like to motif work between the bass and the guitar - very cool

I have only recorded with bands I am a member of. I don't think I could do this type of work, but I can absolutely appreciate the need for and the huge amount of talent it takes to pull this off.

Awesome work CYN and thank you for sharing this -- in the words of Oliver "more please"

--Ant

**bovinehost** · 09-12-2010, 09:52 AM

MAN. That bass sounds so fat. I mean, I know it's all in your hands, but still.

**fly** · 09-12-2010, 10:53 AM

hellagood sound man.........

**zuma** · 09-12-2010, 01:03 PM

That sounds great! Nice groove everywhere but especially those funky verses. The music may be modern country but that bass is pure funk.

Reading your description of the session...I was with you all the way 'till you said the key signatures change. That would throw me off! Of course, if the rough chord chart was in front of me it would be easy enough to transpose but would I have time is the question!

Again, great tone and great playing.

**sometypeofplay** · 09-12-2010, 01:23 PM

Reading your description of the session...I was with you all the way 'till you said the key signatures change. That would throw me off! Of course, if the rough chord chart was in front of me it would be easy enough to transpose but would I have time is the question!

That's the beauty of the Nashville number system, the key can change on the fly and getting through a chart is not that difficult. Once I figured it out, it made all the sense in the world and made getting through changes in both a live and studio setting a breeze.

**Manfloozy** · 09-12-2010, 01:29 PM

"hey Hey HEY!"

And yeah I think I'm going to pack up my s*!t and give up now.

Great cut and the Big Bad@$$ Al sounds frigtastic.

Ya know what I REALLY love? Stuff is getting recorded with EBMM gear. This means THAT awesome tone is going to start getting the mental click recognition that has been reserved for two particular models for so long! What you are doing right now is what is going to make 2010 EBMM basses classics in the next generation. This might be a bit over dramatic but you get the idea. Winning hearts and minds people, winning hearts and minds...