Kirk,

Sounds like you've got a stellar release in the works! I'd like to hear it when you get it shrink-wrapped. Excellent idea of mixing up the textures and sounds (hats off).

As far as Keith's sound -- Man, I've gotten the same haughty attitude from him when I've begged him for 20 seconds of his attention. Geez, I promote his music on the air here in Dallas. Needless to say, the artists that give me the time of day get heavier rotation. That aside, Keith's tones and stylings are templates for all nouveau zydeco -- always has been so it seems. Last time I saw him (at Richard's) it appeared as though he was running his sound through a mixer on stage. I'm not a knowledgeable backline dude, but that's what I recall. I've seen a lot of zydeco accordionist run through a powered mixer, but Keith's high-volume clarity coupled with organ-jarring bass tones makes me wriggle and squeal like a little school girl... sippin' a beer, of course!

Sounds like Larry has some very good solutions to managing multiple accordions and mic'ing systems. He's a great source of gear info for this forum. As I mentioned in my earlier thread, after 14 years of trying various internal mic'ing management methods, the Magicstomp seems to have solved most of my internal mic'ing issues with a simple tap of my foot between accordion exchanges, all in very small, easy to use device. I like to keep my area of the stage cleared out for the accordions!

Big-ups to the internal players!

R!CK

I was fortunate enough to be at Slim's Yi-Ki-Ki the night Keith recorded his Live at Slim's CD. He had a veritable festival-sized PA in the house. I looked at his setup, and recall he had a guitar foot-switch EQ box, set in a V pattern (bass and treble maxed out, and mids tapered down to nothing). I've never tried an EQ box, and I don't know how much of his recording went direct to the recording device compared to how much came from putting a mic on the PA speakers, but it looked like his accordions went through that eq device. The subwoofers moved so much air, that when I stood in the door, many feet from the stage, I could feel the air blowing past me with each double clutchin' kick drum pedal stroke.

Now that's a cool story! I know that feeling from the knees down, where speakers kick up dust and ripple your Wranglers; where the wood floor vibrates like a decent foot massage. Where the kick drum bumps your uglies, the snare makes you blink and the accordion buzzes your teeth. I *like* that!

...Nothing better than live zydeco in a Creole club.
Keith's "Live At Slim's" is the best live zydeco recording ever, and quite possibly Keith's best CD. It ranks as one of the best zydeco CDs in my collection.

Keith's "V" set-up... no mids... innnnterrrresting. I'm gonna monkey around with that. Thanks for the info Capt. Russ! I know when Keith first hit the scene on his first two cassettes, the sound of his accordion resembles a tenor sax, kind of a "horny" sound in my opinion. How he achieved that quality remains a mystery to me. The same punchy low sound emerged on brother Brad Frank's "Walking To The Moon" disc, i.e., the tune, "Uptown Swing." I love that sound. Maybe the "V" is how it's acheived? I'm intrigued...

EV mics are good stuff. I've never heard of 'em being used as internals. I wonder if Jr. Martin knows about that -- I'll have to ask. That might prove to be very unique and quite good. Vocally speaking, I use a Shure Beta 58, which I've had for 8 years. I've gotten my money's worth from it and would hesitate using anything else from a reliability standpoint.

Good thread, Braves.

R!CK

Rick, Keith's live CD is high on my list, as are Beau Jocque's first live CD and Boozoo Live. They're so different from each other, but front such tight bands that hit a deep groove from the first note.