Live From Daryl's House

[mingustoo]

Maybe Daryl would be into releasing multitracks for a remix contest (or otherwise)?

[PMoshay]

Originally Posted by Sounds Great

What? No sound treatments?


Seriously, what a great concept, and show. Peter thanks for keeping us up on this. Any way for someone to get to watch one of these performances live?

I simply must request that Daryl sing 'Lady Rain' sometime, one of my all time favorite songs. Oh, and 'Me and Mrs. Jones', I saw it on A&E Live By Request so many years ago, most memorable live performance ever!

No treatment at all, the room gets real loud since it's all hard surfaces & glass windows...... and Daryls like to hear himself fairly loud, and besides...drums are what they are...the loudest thing in the room!. Daryl did not want to change the room when he was building the house since its in the middle of the house. He actually built another studio barn house about 200ft from the main room, but sadly we'll never use it (long story).

As far as having people watch the show.... no chance as we are all tripping over each other all day long as it is, there's just no extra space even though it looks like there may be, trust me it's extremely tight in that place.

I'm sure those songs will come out one day..... i remember Me & Mrs. Jones performance very well, i mixed that show the next day very fast as we were touring a lot then and we were doing that song in the live show too, so Daryl was on his game that day.

[PMoshay]

Originally Posted by mingustoo

Maybe Daryl would be into releasing multitracks for a remix contest (or otherwise)?

I have been trying to do that for more than 12 years with H&O or Daryl, but the sad part is that its too legally complicated.
When Ableton Live first came out, i was a big fan of that program and used it for the H&O live sequencing rig (we have not used sequencers for many years now). I had a big plan to release all the H&O hits as multitracks for remix contests, etc..........but........ "Say No Go"
All the people in the record business at the time were paralyzed in fear by digital music, so it all got squashed...... big opportunities were missed.
Daryl & John loved the idea of letting people do it, but the suits wanted nothing to do with it.

I'm still trying

[PMoshay]

A new show out today with John Rzeznik of the Goo Goo Dolls......... a truly memorable musical experience....... hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

[andersmv]

Great concept and execution, I'll be browsing through a lot of these today! I would love to be able to do this one day, it's great to get some ideas from someone who has done it well!

I have one humble suggestion: Personally I would prefer the performances without the auto-tune. It's not obnoxious by any means, I'm guessing Daryl made you do it?

[PoxyMusic]

Wow, first viewing of the show and it really made me happy! THIS is why I became an engineer...I'm not a very good musician but this way I still get to take part in it…it was like sitting in on the session.

I loved watching everyone's faces when they played. They were just enjoying themselves, the way it's supposed to be.

Thanks so much!

[jrakarl]

Fully impressive work, especially with the drum sound. I guess it helps to have a very talented drummer too!

I was surprised and impressed by the Bacon Brothers. All great acts.. and love seeing Todd and Daryl perform together.

Thanks for the tip on the D4.. I'll give it a try.

Keep up the great work.

[jrakarl]

Originally Posted by PMoshay

Hey Kyle,
Actually, i was gonna address all those technical things in the next LFDH show...

Which episode did this appear in? Keep up the great work!!

[kurtiscat]

Peter ,
Don't change a thing. I have been a fan from the beginning. What really appealed to me was the informal camaraderie. I have a home studio I built at my home similar to this space,and have a weekly session with friends that I grew up with. As well as guests. We cook and drink and play and record music. This show just hit me right between the eyes. I love it. I have posted a few times on the site and asked how y'all get this great sound in a live room and to please show us some of the behind the scenes guy's and techniques that help produce it. I just happened up on this thread. Thanks so much for posting !!!! This is a treasure for sure.

[Mad Dawgg]

Originally Posted by PMoshay

Hey Kyle,
Actually, i was gonna address all those technical things in the next LFDH show, we figured that lots of the people watching were musicians themselves, so it would be interesting to put in some of the technical stuff like how it is being done in the video.

Hey Pete I was wondering if you ever addressed those technical things? I am new to the show and am now catching up on the previous episodes.

I would love to know what cameras you use now especially what cameras were used in Show 40 (the T. Rundgren Show in Hawaii) The camera you used for the sweeping overhead shots (like on "Didn't I" starting at about the 40 second mark) is especially interesting. It almost seems like a shot that would be made by using a chapman crane.

Anyway if you have addressed the techie stuff I will find it eventually. if anyone knows where it is on the LFDH site (what episode) I would much appreciate a point in the right direction.

Mad Dawgg

[PMoshay]

Originally Posted by Mad Dawgg

Hey Pete I was wondering if you ever addressed those technical things? I am new to the show and am now catching up on the previous episodes.

I would love to know what cameras you use now especially what cameras were used in Show 40 (the T. Rundgren Show in Hawaii) The camera you used for the sweeping overhead shots (like on "Didn't I" starting at about the 40 second mark) is especially interesting. It almost seems like a shot that would be made by using a chapman crane.

Anyway if you have addressed the techie stuff I will find it eventually. if anyone knows where it is on the LFDH site (what episode) I would much appreciate a point in the right direction.

Mad Dawgg

for the Hawaii show we had a very large jib, at Daryls house we have a about 15' jib that we have been using since i think the Train episode

[Dan Steinberg]

Hi there Pete, first let me say thanks for such an amazing series, the concept, musical talent, and not least of all, the quality of the recordings, are all wonderful.

I have a question about the series as it relates to being able to watch it on a normal TV set as opposed to on the computer. I actually discovered this series a while back through my Tivo HD, which has the nice ability to browse a list of different podcasts, by genre, and "subscribe" to them just like you would add a season pass for a normal TV show. As far as I know, the organizers of the podcast submit them to Tivo to be part of their focused list of a couple hundred various podcasts they loosely maintain.

The beauty of the Tivo podcast system is that as new shows are added to the feed, they show up in your list of TV shows to watch, right alongside your normal over the air/cable TV shows.

However, the Tivo feeds stopped adding new episodes with #24 for some reason, and I was wondering if you knew why by any chance? Also, the one other issue is that for some reason when watched through the Tivo the aspect ratio is not quite right. Whereas other 16x9 podcasts I subscribe to on the Tivo come out as expected to on a hi-def set, the LFDH podcast comes out vertically stretched (everyone is tall and skinny, and some graphics on the bottom are cut off).

Thanks in advance for any help you may give. I am happy to watch them on the computer but it was really great in the past to have new episodes pop up on the Tivo, on the big screen with the nice living room sound system, etc.

Barring that, is there any national cable station that the show is set to start playing on, preferably one that is available in hi-def? Maybe one of the music oriented stations like Ovation or Palladia? Your format seems perfect for those 2 stations, if the network interference could be handled like you mentioned was a concern in an earlier post.

Thanks!

[Mad Dawgg]

Originally Posted by PMoshay

for the Hawaii show we had a very large jib, at Daryls house we have a about 15' jib that we have been using since i think the Train episode

Ahh Ok, that makes sense! Is that a manually opperated jib or do they make a remote controlled one. The reason I ask is The pan/truck action was nice and smooth and very dramatic. gave a nice feel to the song.

Another question (if you don't mind) are the cameras fed into a central unit to record or do you use the onboard memory of each camera and then sync it up in post production?

Thanks in advance.

BTW I love the show it's really nice to see real musicians play real music live instead of the plastic banana crap that passes for "live" entertainment (lip syncing) on TV.

I am sharing the site with every musician I know and they all love it!

[Pikman]

Pete,
I have been watching this show for some time now, and am very impressed with the live sound you get. I have done many live recordings in wooden rooms and find them to be a fine room to record in. Most of the music I have recorded has been acoustic, so the room volume is far less that what you are doing. How do you control the room saturation that must occur? It seems that when the room reaches that point you would get a resonance that would be almost over whelming. Are you isolating the monitors and mic stands from the floor?

I have always preferred live recordings over heavily produced studio work. Your work is outstanding. We look forward to the new show each month........

[PMoshay]

Originally Posted by Mad Dawgg

Ahh Ok, that makes sense! Is that a manually opperated jib or do they make a remote controlled one. The reason I ask is The pan/truck action was nice and smooth and very dramatic. gave a nice feel to the song.

Another question (if you don't mind) are the cameras fed into a central unit to record or do you use the onboard memory of each camera and then sync it up in post production?

Thanks in advance.

BTW I love the show it's really nice to see real musicians play real music live instead of the plastic banana crap that passes for "live" entertainment (lip syncing) on TV.

I am sharing the site with every musician I know and they all love it!

Our Jib is manually swung and the pan/tilt is RC....... the guy who does it is fantastic.

Cameras record it all on cards, we dont have a real central switching room, just a table with some monitors to view and call camera shots.

Glad you are liking the show!
We are now filming 5 episodes which are all KILLER! The talent just keeps coming and when i think it can't get better, it does!

Next month's show blew my needle off the charts....... i was blown away, don't miss it:
Grace Potter & the Nocturnals ....... (well only Grace & her drummer for 1 song)
I know i've said it before, but this may be one of the best ones yet......

[PMoshay]

Originally Posted by Pikman

Pete,
I have been watching this show for some time now, and am very impressed with the live sound you get. I have done many live recordings in wooden rooms and find them to be a fine room to record in. Most of the music I have recorded has been acoustic, so the room volume is far less that what you are doing. How do you control the room saturation that must occur? It seems that when the room reaches that point you would get a resonance that would be almost over whelming. Are you isolating the monitors and mic stands from the floor?

I have always preferred live recordings over heavily produced studio work. Your work is outstanding. We look forward to the new show each month........

Thanks!
If you saw some of the EQ curves i'm doing in the room on the wedges as well as on the mix, you'd probably not believe it.
It's all good till you hit about 102db, then its a sonic free-for-all.
oh, by the way - drums start at about 102db on most songs, especially in a untreated room like ours. Our Floor resonance adds an extra dimension of problem too since its basically hollow below.
When we have those mellow tunes, the room is a DREAM! but as soon as you get over a med level song, it's tough.

The real serious problem for me is this:
3 hot vocal mics in the front about spaced less than 10ft apart with 5 wedges pointing straight at the mics. And did i mention that everyone needs to have their vocals very loud just to get over the drums?
my dream is to have a dedicated monitor person so i can concentrate on recording, but we just dont have the space, so i do it while i try to get it recorded.
It's like juggling live porcupines.

The one major thing i have learned here is: Do something 50x and it will either make you give up, or make you better.
We are gonna tape our 50th show on tues, i'll let you know if i'm gonna give up after that one......

Thanks for all the support - its a labor of love for us all.
You'll start to see it on CableTV starting in Sept., but it will always be on the Net & free just as always..... the 15th of every month

[Pikman]

I can imagine the fine edge you have to walk with the physical layout of the room. The proximity of the monitors, mics and general room acoustics is quite a challenge to deal with in a live situation. You can only fit so many standing waves in a room. I consider your work part of the performance and as masterful as the musicians.

The rooms I work in seem to have a natural resonance around 400hz. They are also more open giving a very smooth sound with natural reverberation that can be used. When i do the live shows there, the wedges are also a problem, but I don't have to overcome electric instruments and a set of drums. That would be a whole new ball of yarn to untangle. By the way, I am sure part of the great drum sound you record has to do with the fact that he is not a timid drummer. 102db means he is using them. I just bet the drums sound good to start with.
As difficult a job as it is, great musicians always make it easier, and it looks like everyone is having a great time. You folks make a great team, the whole production crew is superb. I look forward to the 50th show. I only have a couple of more weeks to wait!

[PMoshay]

Here's a new addition ive added.
I needed more ways to have eq for all the monitors, so i'm using the Waves Multirack program with a M-Audio 2626 for inserts on each monitor mix.

i found a very useful trick for our situation.

When the room gets loud, the sound becomes a wall and undefined, so most musicians will start to play/sing even louder.
I am a huge fan of the Waves C6 multiband dynamics plugin and use it everyday when mixing in the studio & mixing the concerts live.
So i've put it on the monitors like this C10 EQ -> C6 Dyn > C8 EQ
Why you ask?

I can do my most surgical eq cuts to eliminate feedback first, then i set the C6 Dyn as a freq selective EXPANDER and have it give a +8db push when Daryl,etc starts to really dig in. I push at 240hz on a tight/med bell and 3k on a med bell - both with fast attack(2ms) and fast release (15ms).
I'll take a screenshot and show the settings i've found that works, but i spent much time trying to figure out how to "NOT" make the monitors get "Squeezed" sounding when people start digging in in a room like ours.
This really works and it solves many problems..... i.e. people cant hear themselves when it gets loud.
The frequencies ive chosen here work for many singers, but i'd adjust to the situation...... and our monitors are mostly just for vocals and 20% instruments.
This may not work for everyone, but Daryls likes it too, and he's one of the toughest guys to please when it comes to monitors.
The last C8 in the chain is just for doing some final sweetening of the overall monitor mix.

The best way to describe the way it sounds & works is:
"When you push hard, it pushes with you"

[rmx16]

Originally Posted by PMoshay

Our Jib is manually swung and the pan/tilt is RC....... the guy who does it is fantastic.

Cameras record it all on cards, we dont have a real central switching room, just a table with some monitors to view and call camera shots.

Glad you are liking the show!
We are now filming 5 episodes which are all KILLER! The talent just keeps coming and when i think it can't get better, it does!

Next month's show blew my needle off the charts....... i was blown away, don't miss it:
Grace Potter & the Nocturnals ....... (well only Grace & her drummer for 1 song)
I know i've said it before, but this may be one of the best ones yet......

I did her on the the Dave Matthew's Caravan tour in AC Can't wait

Peter, great job once again

Peace
Rob

[Pikman]

What a fine idea. The combination of expanders and boosting the selected frequencies is an excellent part of the solution. The 3k will make the sound clear and the 240 give it just enough bottom end to trick the ear into filling in the blanks so to speak. I have messed with waves plugins a bit, but not too much. They are very powerful tools.

The venues I work have their own gear in place often, making a more generic approach necessary. I usually try to find a part of the spectrum that the group isn't using to stick the monitors in. I start with a notch in the mids, nothing above about 5k and a slope from about 400hz down and work from there. Some places have parametric EQs and some only have graphic units. I have yet to find a place with separate monitor controls.

Running monitors is really a job for a second engineer, but often he ends up the most disliked guy in a crew. Charged with the responsibility of "fixing" what is wrong in the monitors instantly, and the delay makes the band unhappy which makes everyone else unhappy. I think that would be a very difficult job because he would be the guy that hears all the complaints...

[PMoshay]

Originally Posted by Pikman

What a fine idea. The combination of expanders and boosting the selected frequencies is an excellent part of the solution. The 3k will make the sound clear and the 240 give it just enough bottom end to trick the ear into filling in the blanks so to speak. I have messed with waves plugins a bit, but not too much. They are very powerful tools.

The real parameter that makes this process work is the Threshold of the bands.
I set those 2 bands to only expand when Daryl is pushing above the norm. That way it really has no effect until he is really starting to dig in.
Daryl (and many other singers) common complaint is that monitors sound "Squeezed" when things start to get dynamic, so this follows him pushing, but quickly turns down when he is below the threshold.

[PMoshay]

Here's a list of songs, 1 per show that i thought were exceptional! (if i only had to choose one)

Episode#.............Song / Guest
1. Cab Driver (Daryl Hall)
2. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear (Hall & Oates)
3. What's Gonna Happen To Us (Daryl Hall)
4. Queen & I (Travis McCoy)
5. Cherry Tree (KT Tunstall)
6. Somebody Like You (Mutlu)
7. See What It Brings / Soul Sister (Mutlu / Chuck Prophet)
8. Holiday (Nick Lowe)
9. Thats The Way I Feel About you (Monte Montgomery)
10. No Can Do (Chromeo)
11. Paralyzer (Finger Eleven)
12. You Don't Have To Believe Me (Eric Hutchinson)
13. Backstabbers (John Oates)
14. I Song (Kevin Rudolf)
15. Past The Sleep (Company Of Thieves)
16. Bunch of Words (Bacon Brothers)
17. Come On Get Higher (Matt Nathanson)
18. People Are Strange (The Doors)
19. Neither One Of Us (Daryl Hall)
20. Under Control (Parachute)
21. Is She Really Going Out With Him (Plain White T's)
22. Ohh Baby Baby - (Smokey Robinson)
23. Want Of A Nail (Todd Rundgren)
24. Fire Escape (Diane Birch)
25. Sugar (Patrick Stump)
26. Do You Believe Me Know (Jimmy Wayne)
27. Take My Love With You (Eli "Paperboy" Reed)
28. Time Tough (Toots Hibbert)
29. Love Train (Billy Ocean & Maxi Priest)
30. Caravan Of Love (T-Bone Tribute Show)
31. Kiss On My List (Rob Thomas)
32. I Miss You (Retrospective Show)
33. Hey Soul Sister / Wait for me (Train)
34. I Gotta Thing On My Mind (Sharon Jones)
35. Money Grabber (Fitz & The Tantrums)
36. Farther Down (Neon Trees)
37. Fire & Rain (Jose Feliciano)
38. Satellite (Guster)
39. Breaking The Chains (NYE Special-Fitz & The Tantrums)
40. Beanie G and The Rose Tattoo (Todd Rundgren)
41. Missionary Man (Dave Stewart)
42. Iris (John Rzeznik)
43. No Strings (Mayor Hawthorne)
44. Never Found a Girl (Booker T. Jones)

[Pikman]

Originally Posted by PMoshay

The real parameter that makes this process work is the Threshold of the bands.
I set those 2 bands to only expand when Daryl is pushing above the norm. That way it really has no effect until he is really starting to dig in.

I am curious as to how linear the response is. Does it follow his level or is it an on or off switch? I know the rate is adjustable. I guess I am asking if the rate can be voltage controlled above the threshold.

Looking at your list of songs, I am not sure I could pick a favorite from each show. There is so much good music in each one....

[PMoshay]

Originally Posted by Pikman

I am curious as to how linear the response is. Does it follow his level or is it an on or off switch? I know the rate is adjustable. I guess I am asking if the rate can be voltage controlled above the threshold.

Looking at your list of songs, I am not sure I could pick a favorite from each show. There is so much good music in each one....

I'm gonna take a video with my iPhone of it working tomorrow, when you see it working in action, it makes more sense..... it was a lot of trial & error to find the right sound for this room. One thing i can say for sure is, the Waves C4 & C6 has been a indispensable plugin for me. I still have my BSS DPR901-II that was always in use, but not so much anymore with the C6 in my toolbelt.

It was hard to pick just one song, but those ones stood out when i went down the list. It's real interesting to me listening to go back and listen...... one thing always puzzled T-Bone & I in the beginning........ Daryl didn't want Bone (or himself) to use electric guitars?.....he was always adamant about using acoustic's only for a long time. Quite often i would say "its just not the right tool for the song", but we made it work i guess. T-Bone would get frustrated because it was sometimes hard for the acoustics to cut thru when it got rockin in the room.... the drums always win in that room.

The other great thing for all of us is, we all get to discover new music just like you all..... remember, we don't meet the guests till you see them walk in in the room every show (except people we already know like Todd Rundgren, etc). It's kinda a blind musical date....... and great stuff always happens.

[Pikman]

Originally Posted by PMoshay

I'm gonna take a video with my iPhone of it working tomorrow, when you see it working in action, it makes more sense..... it was a lot of trial & error to find the right sound for this room. One thing i can say for sure is, the Waves C4 & C6 has been a indispensable plugin for me. I still have my BSS DPR901-II that was always in use, but not so much anymore with the C6 in my toolbelt.

I look forward to seeing it in action. I am sure it will make sense, as the dialog already does. I will have to look more into the waves plugins. They do seem like a great addition to any setup.

All musicians hear songs differently. Instrument selection is part of that "mind's ear". Having said that, some song should be electric, some should be acoustic, and some should have both. To be honest, I have heard many songs differently in my head than the way they were published.
For example, the Sonny Curtis song, "I Fought the Law" would work very well as a reggae tune. I am probably the only guy who hears it that way though..

It must be great fun to meet and hear the new musicians in the show. It will never be boring, and the music is always good. Have fun Tuesday......

[PMoshay]

Here's the C6 settings for Daryls Wedges:

[Pikman]

Thanks for the picture. It looks like a pretty nice curve without anything drastic going on. I have C4, but have not used it too much. I think I will have to play with it some. It might be time to update the plugins I have.

Hope you had a good time yesterday. We are looking forward to the show....

[PMoshay]

Hey All,
Just a heads up that tonight is the release of the show with "Grace Potter"......
If you don't know about her yet, i urge you to check her out. I think she is one of the greatest female singers (and songwriters) of our time.
I know that her performance on our show has made me a devout fan.
Not only was her singing & her songs so inspiring, but Grace & Matt (her drummer/boyfriend) are so funny & just cool people to be around.

One of my favorites from the day was "Things i never needed"

Once again, Thank you for all your support! We could not do it without the support & feedback from you. And Thanks to our longtime sponsor U-Line who has been dedicated since the beginning of the show.

[Pikman]

Great show. She is a fine singer, and has also been added to my list. Things I Never Needed is a powerful song. Yep, thats the one for this show...
Thanks for all the hard work and sharing your tips and knowledge..

[Richard King]

Been a fan of Grace for ages. Now I have to watch the show.