VIDEO: Larry Stephenson Band - Pike County Breakdown

[wamubluegrass]

Here's the first video of two featuring the Larry Stephenson Band that we produced for the WAMU's Bluegrass Country YouTube channel.

[mandobassman]

Fantastic!!! Looking forward to more of that.

[Mike Romkey]

Nice energy.

[Ray Neuman]

Excellent!!!!!! GOOD JOB!

[Ivan Kelsall]

That was terrific !. Apart from the ending,Kenny played it as close to Earl Scruggs' recording as could be,
Ivan

[fredfrank]

Too bad the mandolin mic wasn't on.

[Timmando]

It would be nice if the banjo player would stop playing over the top of everyone elses break...otherwise a good banjo song. Tony Trishka pretty much becomes silent when someone else is taking their break and it really does add to the overall sound. He lets the other instruments really be heard out front, like he is heard when it is his turn to do the lead break. Alot of banjo players think they always must be heard. (Time to duck!)

[tkdboyd]

Great playing, great video quality. Nice to see and hear!

It would be nice if the banjo player would stop playing over the top of everyone elses break...otherwise a good banjo song... Alot of banjo players think they always must be heard. (Time to duck!)

Wondered about that for years...seems like a banjo players (generally) are like R&R lead vocalists, if they aren't being heard that have to be seen. Vanity...

Disclaimer: Vanity is so secure in the heart of man that everyone wants to be admired: even I who write this, and you who read this. ~Blaise Pascal

If I could play like Burns, Grisman, Bush, Marshall, etc...I would do all that I could to be heard from the time that I wake to the time I would go to bed!

[Jesse Weitzenfeld]

I thought he did a fine job backing off, actually. You could hear the guitar solo loud and clear, and there isn't a guitar that's ever been built that can compete with a banjo at full throttle. Something was obviously wrong with the mandolin mic.

This is historical. The first time I've ever stood up for a banjo player!

[mandobassman]

I actually like it when a good banjo player continues a strong roll throughout the entire tune. It really helps solidify the rhythm. I have always found it much easier to play either mandolin or bass when the banjo rolls throughout. Problem is, one, you have to be a really solid banjo player to pull it off properly, which Kenny Ingram is and two, it has to be mixed properly, which it doesn't appear to have been done very well. Probably a whole different sound when you hear them live on stage.

[Ivan Kelsall]

If you listen carefully to Earl Scruggs' recording of PCB,you can still hear his 'back up' playing behind the fiddle when it's soloing.That way it still 'drives' the whole sound. For me Earl Scruggs' true genius was his back up playing.Most banjo players who are any good can play great instrumentals,but i hear more than a few who's back up playing could do with a touch of Earl in it.One of my favourite tunes of Flatt & Scuggs is 'Doin' My Time',& no other banjo player i've heard to date can carry that back up like Earl Scruggs. I've attended 4 workshops by Tony Trishka & he tells folks to go back & listen to Earl Scruggs' playing - he's still the finest !,
Ivan

[Willie Poole]

"Mandolin mic not loud enough?"....H as using the same mic as everyone else...Thats the problem with a "one mic" system, all pickers have to learn how to move in and out so as not to take away from the instrument that is taking a break....I know Larry and he has a fine mandolin so it is not for the lack of a quality instrument...Maybe adjusting the EQ would help the sound....

Just my 2 cents worth....

[Jesse Weitzenfeld]

"Mandolin mic not loud enough?"....H as using the same mic as everyone else...Thats the problem with a "one mic" system, all pickers have to learn how to move in and out so as not to take away from the instrument that is taking a break....I know Larry and he has a fine mandolin so it is not for the lack of a quality instrument...Maybe adjusting the EQ would help the sound....

Just my 2 cents worth....

Freeze it at 2:12 and you can see that there are two mics. Larry is using the one closest to the camera, and he was right on top of it, yet you could barely hear him. The guitar player was using the other one and you could hear him fine during his break. The banjo player looked like he was kind of in between the two and I thought his volume was just right considering it was a banjo tune.

I don't know Larry but I have to assume someone of his caliber wouldn't be playing a mandolin that could be that easily overpowered by a guitar. That leaves the mic...

Edit: My guess is they had the guitar mic cranked up and the mandolin mic down to try to even them out, but they overcompensated.

[Willie Poole]

Thanks Jesse, I guess I wasn`t paying much attention to the other mic, I thought they were all playing in the same mic...Sorry about that, what you suggest makes sense to me though....

Just shows that I am getting old, or maybe I was half asleep....

Willie

[Jesse Weitzenfeld]

Hey Willie, I had to watch it a couple times to make sure. That second mic is hard to see until the camera zooms out at 2:12. The camera angle doesn't help either.

[robert.najlis]

Is Larry Stephenson still playing a Buddy Davis mandolin?

[drbluegrass]

As a bluegrass player (guitar and mandolin), the 2 most common live mixing errors I see are: 1. You can't hear the mandolin, and 2. The guitar ALWAYS has too much bass and sounds muddy. I see and hear this over and over and over again.


Tom