We're gonna be at the Blue Note Jazz Club in NYC tonite.

[Remoteness]

Yep,

We're recording the James Carter Organ Trio with James "Blood" Ulmer and Hamiet Bluiett tonight and tomorrow.

We are using our small truck we call "The Bread Mobile."
If anyone's interested in checking us out, come on by.

We will be there all day Thursday and from 4PM to late night on Friday.

You folks can get a chance to see my totally modular system at work.

Just pass by if you're in the area. Call my office number at 718.886.6500 and leave a message so we'll know (if and) when you want to drop by.

Sorry for the last minute message. I thought about it a few days ago but didn't get a chance to post it yet.

Maybe we'll see you there.

[NYC Drew]

shit.

I saw this a day late...just got back from some gigs overseas too...

Did you say tonight as well? If so, I may be in...pending wife's schedule.

[Fuzzy Logic]

i saw the bread mobile yesturday during the 10:30 pm set. steve put together a very happening rig

they are there today too. i think they were saying theywill be there from 6pm until the end of last set

i had such a great time i want to go back again tonight if im not gonna be in the way

these guys are on the money and the truck is evry cool too

i suggest you make it by if time allows

[dynamo]

Yesterday i dropped by to see Steve and crew in action” and to check the "Bread Mobile".
When i’ve gotten in the club, in the afternoon, Steve was tweaking a few things here and there and getting ready for the sound check with the band. Set up was: drums, Hammond and Leslie’s, a Roland JC, 2 saxes, a Korg Triton and a vocal mic for the guitar player.
There were a bunch of Milab mics clamped under the PA speakers hanging out for the audience and ambience. Steve was using mostly his own mics for the recording while the sound person of the club had arranged his own. There were two R20’s on the saxes, used for the house, and on the same mic stands Steve just attached two short booms with his TLM103’s saving space and maintaining a “clean” look on stage. That’s a little detail but talking about ” the right tools for the job”... We went then on the truck..i really liked it. Is a comfortable and ergonomic control room. Steve told that me that everything in there, including the acoustic panels, can be basically taken apart or re arranged so that the truck can be easily cleaned or set for different situations. Totally modular. So...the band starts to play..the mics are feeding three PRECISION TRUE SYSTEM the outputs are then splitted to two racks of recorders. One with six TASCAM DA-78’s ( three for TDIF backup) and the other with two MX-2424 ( one for TDIF backup). I guess they are not taking any chance... The three DA-78’s and the MX 2424 systems are then each feeding two adjacent MIDAS VENICE 32 channel used for monitoring. Steve can then rapidly switch between the two consoles in case of failure of a set of recorders so the show is always on..great!
When Steve soloed the different mics it was impressive to hear just the instrument the mic was supposed to pick up. Almost no leakage. It’s really all about the right selection of mics and the art of placement. I was particularly impressed with the M160’s OH’s on drums and the 409’s used on the Roland amp. The 409 is quite a mic. I think it really sounded beautiful.
Steve was not happy with the sound of the Leslie’s highs horn and after moving the two KM 140’s back an inch or so there was a tad too much “drums” bleeding so he decided to put a blanket over the cabinet covering the two mics. That really made the difference.
Everything was pretty fast and smooth and sound check and levels were done in about 20 minutes..no sweat. Musicians seemed at ease and cooperative and the music was nice.
I have to add Steve is a total super nice guy and very professional. Is always a pleasure to see somebody like him at work. Quite an experience and a lot to learn. The crew was also very efficient and in top of everything. Thanks Steve for the invitation and hospitality!

[cdog]

hey guys how was the show... can we just taste a leeedle tiny clip?

The Blood has great style

[Remoteness]

cdog,

I need to speak to the producer before I release any files.
But, I plan to make some of my other stuff available real soon.

Drew,

I wish you found the time to stop by. Maybe next time.

Furthermore, I want to thank everyone that did showed up. It was a real blast. On behave of the crew and myself, thanks a bunch for the kind words you gave us in person and on this thread.

Great report Jo!

To save space on stage we used our LP Claws on the exciting house stands. We ended up recording the Organ Trio with 19 mics. Three for audience response and room tone, the rest were on stage. Included in the stage mic'ing were two MKH416s that were clamped to the house speakers above the stage pointing down towards the two horn players. Even though we asked them to stay on mic, at times they were playing way off mic. I needed to capture 100% of their performances for the recording so the two MKH416s did the trick just right.

Like I mentioned to Jo and our other guests, everything in the "Bread Mobile" is interchangeable. Acoustic panels, shelves, consoles, racks, etc., can be taken apart and/or rearranged as per the client or engineers request. It's totally modular -- We can clear everything out or completely change the direction or position of any or all of the gear for a variety of different situations.

If one of our recording systems fail, I can easily switch to the other system via my Studio Technologies' Studio Comm controller. We can patch the dub out feed from the Studio Comm to our stereo audio distribution amplifier for a quick dump out of the failed set of recorders.

Yeah, it's all about the mics and their positions. I've been using the Beyer M160s for drum overheads for more then 20 years now. I love what they can do for me. My MD409s are another favorite. I still like to use them on toms, brass and guitar cabinets. We hung one over each of the JC120 speakers. Remember, unless modified, the JC120's speakers are out of phase with each other to maximize the amps chorus effect. You have to use two mics or place one mic in between the two speakers to get the full sound.

It's true, I wasn't too happy with the sound of the horns on the Leslie we miked. We played around with the mic positioning for a better sound and added a (blue colored to match the club's decor) sound blanket to help minimize the drum leakage. We would have miked the Leslie by the organist, but that cabinet was buzzing a lot more then the one by the drummer.

Fast and smooth is the way I like my sound checks to go. In general spending more then 20 minutes is forever for most musicians. I don't like to jam them up, that is why I usually multitrack my sound checks. After the band leaves the stage I can tweak the sounds until I'm happy or when the show is about to start.

Here's a few pictures of the "Bread Mobile" set up during this date.

[cajonezzz]

Yeehaw. Great thread.

Steve can you post some pics of the truck empty? wide shot's?

What's the year,make, and model of the "bread truck" BTW?

exterior shots?

[Remoteness]

Craig,

The truck shall be setup as an interview room for a TV awards show early next month. I will try to take some pictures of the new setup once we finish the interview booth build.

Our "Bread Mobile" which is a Chevy Grumman stepvan was originally Effanel's white truck back in the day. I love this truck a lot. It only has 49,000 original miles on it and is in perfect mechanical condition. I asked my mechanic to look for "money" on this truck and he could not find anything wrong with it other than the standard stuff you need to do.

Little by little we have turn this "Bread" truck into a "bread" making truck. August 2004 shall be the first anniversary of this mobile unit. My crew and I are very proud of what we've done to this rig and how successful it has become in it's first year on the road. It's a real bread winner.

I will post more interior and exterior shots as they become available.