Ultrasound | my Steal Your Space book

Jam – 2011-04-14 – UltraSound

16 Apr 2011 1 Comment

by deadstein in Jams Tags: Jam, Kevin, Larry, Rich, Scott, Ultrasound

Deadstein got a jam in this week when it looked like we were going to have to miss a week. Since Carnegie Hall had Carroll’s reserved for the week and unavailable for us we had to find another place to play. Additionally, it was difficult coordinating our schedules to find a day that was good for everyone and as such, Alan fell victim this week and was the odd man out. This week would be Core-4 at Ultrasound on 30th Street between 9-12, only three hours. Everything as a bid different this week and we made the best of it.

Early plans for this week were to play on Tuesday the 12th. This would have been the 28th anniversary of the 4-12-1983 Binghamton show, a great show and Kevin’s first and my fifth. Since we ended up switching the jam to Thursday, which was the 14 and the 29th anniversary of the 4-14-82 Glenns Falls show, it over-ruled the Binghamton show and we had to play the Glenn’s Falls show. This was my second show and arguable a better show than Binghamton even though the Binghamton show has a bigger and better setlist. This worked well for us since we were restricted to only 3 hours in the study, and 3 tight, strict hours, not a minute more. In some respects this switch was too bad because I had practiced the Binghamton during the wek especially trying to get the Help on the Way and Slipknot down from a Jerry perspective. I spent a lot of time approaching getting the Slipknot under my belt and didn’t spend anytime on Lazy Lightning from 4-14 which needed some attention. Not to fret, the Help on the Way work will pay dividends in te future and the Lazy Lighning we did had some ggood moments and felt better than it could have.

Being in UltraSound sound a lot of different things for us. It meant a 9:00 start time and no time to hang out before hand. I met Scott and Rich at Mustang Harry’s on 7th for dinner at 7:30 but we still finished early and hung out in the street with the other musician trash waiting for our time to come. When we finally checked into Ultrasound, we had to wait for the band occupying our Studio 11 to finish, they were nerdier than we were, and we were forced to wait in the stairwell for a few minutes. That wasn’t the worst thing as it gave us time to unwind because once we got going it felt like we were on a harried pace in an attempt to finish the entire 4-14-82 show in the 3-hour time slot. When came within 1 minutes but got cut-off in the end.

The Studio itself was pretty nice. The PA was strong and clean. My amp was a Marshall and had a nice clean channel with a nice reverb that came pretty close to the Fender Twin Reverb I typically use. I thought Kevin’s amp sounded good and Rich was using an electronic keyboard playing organ and electric piano sounds. These were all nice changes. The room was intimate, sterile yet facilitated our jam nicely. One good point is it cost one-half of what Carroll’s costs us. I even found a spot right in front.

To hear what we did in distorted MP3 format, go to the links below:

http://www.deadstein.com/audio/04-14-11/

Jam – 2010-03-18 – Ultrasound

19 Mar 2010 2 Comments

by deadstein in Jams Tags: Jam, Kevin, Larry, Rich, Scott, Ultrasound, Wikler

Lang is in for the Allmans and Deadstein

We were ousted from our comfortable home at Carroll’s this week as acts from Carnegie Hall needed additional practice at Carroll’s in hopes of one day getting the opportunity to play at Carnegie Hall. Their gain was our loss as we were on the road this week, playing at Ultrasound on 30th Street. We have played there before and it is usually a dry and unfulfilling experience. Fortunately this week proved different.

It’s tougher to park around Ultrasound, 30th Street between 7th and 8th, than Carroll’s, 55th Street and West Side Highway, and the diminutive size of my Honda Fit really helped me out as I snugged into a tight little spot on 7th Ave. As I approached the building I noticed the neighborhood was filled with guitar toting freaks. Kevin met me in the lobby and we went up to the 5th floor, studio 7 of Ultrasound. There we walked into the studio to find Lang, from St. Louis. The Allmans were in town so Lang packed up the stage coached and headed east to see them and us. He ended up playing a casual conga through the night as well as relieving Scott on drums for 3 or 4 songs.

In the end we started 30 minutes late but played pretty solidly through the night and went through lots of songs. We had a big trio of the Estimated –> Eyes –> Come Together. That may have been the highlight of the night. We did both the Promised Land and the Brothers and Sisters. We did the Brothers and Sisters for all the wrong reasons as Lang was referencing it in a story but he was really meaning Midnight Moonlight. The Brothers and Sisters ended up being pretty good. The Shakedown opener of the night got us going and felt pretty good. I was lucky that I selected the Mesa Boogie amp they had in there and it sounded great and was a pleasure to operate. I enjoyed using it for the night. Alan wasn’t that lucky as the first amp he tried expressed a squealing noise that made him switch to a Marshall he didn’t seem to happy about. Rich also seemed to battle his electronic instrument. I thought it all sounded pretty good though. The dryness and intimacy of the room really helped.

Early on in the night we were tight and comfortable. The CC Rider that followed the Shakedown gave us a foundation of comfort from which to work. This early part of the night was highlighted by a long and winding Birdsong. We challenged ourselves later on with the Cats Down Under the Stars and ended the night with a One More Saturday Night.

Next week we are back in our home a Carroll’s but the week off at Ultrasound proved to be lots of fun. To listen to this week’s MP3s, go to the links below:

http://www.deadstein.com/audio/03-18-10/

Jam 2009-04-16 Ultrasound

17 Apr 2009 Leave a comment

by lgindoff in Jams Tags: Jam, Kevin, Larry, Rich, Scott, Ultrasound

It’s always a bit depressing when we have an away game, or jam, and this week was such a week. Carroll’s was either booked or wanted us far away this week so we found Studio 6E of Ultrasound and it’s stairwell as our home for the evening. For the record in case any of us has look up where this place is, it is on 30th street between 7th and 8th. It think it was #251. Lots of music stores in this vicinity. Rich was directionally challenged for the night and had trouble finding the place and I was unsure when walking down the street.

I met Scott in the hallway outside the elevator waiting, there is nothing fun about that. They attendant eventually let us into Studio E and it turned out to be pretty nice. It was roomy and the equipment was pretty good, but amps being bolted to the wall definitly put an damper on the whole thing but every worked out in the end. The PA was flat and solid. There weren’t enough music stands so Rich had to do without and and I had to do with out a boom-stand for my mic. No big deal. I started off playing a Matchless amp, switched to the Bogner for the second set which I liked much better, but it eventually started crackling and I had to abandon it. Too bad, because it sounded pretty good.

We had a rough start of the night with a G jam into Bertha. We needed a song to get comfortable in the environment and I probably will appreciate the fact that Rich didn’t get his recorder setup until after the Bertha opener. Rich would occassionally hit a key on his keyboard and a whole drum and bass section would begin playing through the PA. That was freaky when it happened.

Being in a 4-man configuration led us to play lots of Garband which is fun. We did I’ll Take a Melody, Mississippi Moon, Rhapsody, Sitting Here in Limbo, One Kind Favor, Waiting for a Miracle, Gomorrah and probably a few more. The music was quiet and relaxed and not as much of a scary experience and being away from Carroll’s in a cheap renal studio usually is. We did some fun country-esque type of stuff like the Rosalie McFall and the Race Is On. The Come Together was OK.

Well it is off to Albany to see the Dead and hopefully get out of my house in time to do a little Podiating before the the show on this brilliant day in April. Till next Monday night.