Bass Attack from the Sifu of Bass

Cliff and I got a lesson from the bass master (not the fishing kind) Victor ("Victa") Wooten at the Handlebar last night. That guy has some skills on the instrument and brings some super talented brothers (literally) with him. Two of his older brothers were in the band last night, with Futureman noticeably absent since the last time I saw Victa. Lots of flurries on the bass, keyboards, guitar (courtesy of brother Reggie who is a little more off center than the rest of us) and drums. The only downer was the vocal spotlight from the singer. A little too much slow soul for me and the rest of the crowd which thinned and headed for the bathrooms and the bar during her vocal number. Not bad but not what I came to hear. We got there just as the band was coming out on stage. So, I had to try and setup in the dark. As I started working on the mic setup, I decided to just go with the internal mics on the Sony PCM-D50. I made sure to activate the limiter and bass roll-off. I sat the recorder in front of the soundboard and let it go. I am very impressed with how it turned out. So much easier on the setup too. The Handlebar doesn't have the best sound in the land but the recording is very enjoyable and has decent levels and punch. I will have to put my gorillapod in the backpack in case I need it, like last night. It was my first real run with the internal mics, not bad at all. In fact, it's pretty darn good to my ears considering the room and the crowd. Kudos Sony!

Well, I gotta listen to some more Victa and get back to work.

See ya!