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Clint's Mandolin


This song is a tribute to my (Bud's) step father. Clint was born in 1907, his father died young, and he had to get his first crop loan from the bank when he was only 14.  He lived his entire life on the family farm. During the late 1920's and 30's he, a brother (Sanford) and a friend played in a string band on Saturday nights - the traditional recreation time for farmers who worked 6-7 days a week. 

The prelude was created from an old tape that I recorded over 40 years ago of Clint, Sanford and me pickin' in the living room.

The arrangement and mix attempts to present the sound of a string band playing live into, at most, a couple of mics. The pickers had to "work" the mics moving in and out for fills and solos. It took some choreography! The bluegrass band Janice and I were in for many years used this setup.

Keeping with his style of music the song is a basic three chord write with no chorus or bridge. Many songs of their repertoire were of this style. Since I used to pick guitar or bass with Clint and Sanford I played and recorded my upright bass for the first time in a decade for this tribute.

This is, as Bill Monroe called them, a “true life song.”

The Soundcloud photo is a group of photos I took many years ago of Clint, Sanford, the mandolin he played 80 years ago and his favorite chair and cushion

While this is a personal song we do hope that you enjoy it and as always we welcome your thoughts.

J&B

Vocal: Janice - Rhodes NT1 mic, Scarlett 212 USB interface and Logic Pro X
Bass (1953 upright Kay): Bud - MXL mic, Scarlett 212 USB interface and Logic Pro X
Guitar rhythm: RT 598 - I comped in the Lester Flatt G run throughout the song keeping with the style.
Mandolin rhythm: RT 599
Mandolin solo : RT 820 - fills and solos were comped from multiple generations
Banjo rhythm: RT 590
Banjo solo: RT 591 - fills and solos were comped from multiple generations

Logic Pro X/Nectar 2/Alloy2/Ozone 7 and various effects from Logic.
Thanks to PG Music, floyd jane and Tom Adams


Clint’s Mandolin

clint and his brother worked the fields every day
times were hard but they held their farm together
on saturday nights they played in a string band
pickin’ at barn dances when a crowd could gather

years passed till they could no longer work the farm
i’d find him sitting out back on a feed sack cushion
playing mandolin, his brother on the five string
i’d join on guitar and listen to the tales they spun

time came when family and friends were all gone
he’d hold his mandolin staring into the past
i could feel the memories drifting all around him
some were fleeting but some will always last

today he rests a few miles from the old farm
his name and a mandolin are carved in the stone
a wise man who never left the land he loved
when i think of him i hear the ancient tones

above our mantle hangs clint’s mandolin
lord, i wish i could hear him play it again
i’d love to hear clint play his mandolin again

Janice and Bud Merritt
© 2016 / All rights reserved

This is way super cool, and does have an incredibly great production quality that sounds like the real deal.

LOVE the scratchy intro.

And I love the way Janice goes all Loretta on "in the fields every daaaaaaaaaaaay."



I can tell A LOT of work went into this one and it paid off. Superb, genuine, rootsy sound and great vocals. Great lyrics, too, by the way.

I do have a question:

In trying to emulate the sound of pickers "moving around a mic" are you referring to the way you worked the faders in the mix or some other technique you used to get that sound since you were using some real tracks?

Hi Janice & Bud! Excellent work yet again on this its been a while!, Really fond of the vocals they're quite soothing. Well done!

Hey David. We greatly appreciate ALL of your comments. Glad the intro worked for you and, hahahaha, I was kidding Janice about "day." You oughta hear her say "bright night!" We are both lifetime residents of Georgia but her accent puts mine to shame

What I tried to do with the fills was based on playing bass looking at the backside of a bluegrass band for years. As a player worked his way closer to the mic for a fill or solo it sounded like they were being faded in and when the pulled away the opposite. I removed the respective rhythm when time for a fill and after the last rhythm note I volume shaped the fill in and then out and bring the rhythm back in after the fill note fades out. I hear bluegrass mixes sometimes when, for example, a rhythm mandolin is playing through a mandolin solo...but that destroys the live feel. Also I brought up the volume of the comped in G runs since the guitar player typically moves his/her guitar closer to a mic for that signature run.

Thanks again for the wonderful comments.

J&B

Bud & Janice,

David got in good an early with "Superb, genuine, rootsy sound and great vocals".

A lovely tribute and a great story - told in a way that sounds like second nature to (y'all?).
You're experience in this genre shines through - the instrumentals were excellent and the production and write is great, and sounds like everyone was in the room. It's a great piece of storytelling.

The bass player really knows his stuff!!(nicely recorded).

Janice of course, is as ever lovely to listen to.

Brilliant.

Peter

Great work. Everything is all right but I mostly like the bass line.

Always great songs by you.

Sergio

Janice and Bud

Hey, just how good is this, eh?

Every part has been masterfully put together, delivering absolutely a great hospitality country feel.

Take a bow y'all. What a great story, what a great tribute. May Clint's Mandolin play for a long time yet.

Hey Janice and Bud I hope you're not surprised to learn I love this track. Really nice song and mix and I'm deeply jealous of having Janice to do the vocal.

Your technique with the faders is the same as I've been doing with my bluegrassy tracks. There's nothing quite like the vibe of acoustic musicians stepping up to and from a single, sweet condensor mic, is there? It's good to see this kind of performance making a comeback.

Janice & Bud,

This may be my favorite from you two - loved everything about it...

Bob

Great song! Talk about a perfect feel. I love it!

I am tempted to run a few eq filters on it and add some vinyl clicks and pops to make it sound like the time I see in my head it's from. It wouldn't sound as great as you've done, but would make it feel authentic to me. If that makes ANY sense at all?

GREAT JOB!

Thanks Joe. Yes it has been a while since our last bluegrass production...about three years. We've been off in blues and bluesy rock/country thanks to Biab!

Appreciate you checking in and commenting.

J&B

J&B, Old school greatness here!! You have done an incredibly good job of capturing the sound you were going for. And yes, you are right on about the subtle ways that a mix can be enhanced by remembering to mute the rhythm of an instrument when a lead is playing. This made me think of my grandparents who were lifelong farmers. Thanks, Torrey

J&B,


This is delightful! A great tribute to the real origin of Bluegrass. And now, Clint's Mandolin is famous!

Merry Christmas!



Regards,

Bob

This is the one of the best mixes I've heard on here. It's sparkling and smooth as butter. You deftly captured the fluid authentic flow of the arrangement in the mix. Bud playing that great sounding bass! Janice's beautiful voice. An outstanding production and heartfelt tribute to your stepfather.

J&B,
I really enjoyed your tribute.The intro is like like a few seconds of time travel...left me wanting more of that old recording.
The song is beautifully recorded and has that " real" feel that I only hear in the most authentic country artists today ( Iris Dement comes to mind).

Well done!

Robert

Hi Janice and Bud,

They don't come much better than this. One of your finest! I love it that everything about this is real. From the back story, the 40+ year old recording in the opening bars, Bud on upright bass, the mix recreating the "working of the mics" to the photo on SoundCloud. Even the song structure is how it used to be. You sure have put a lot of work into this, but it has paid off big time!

Times must have been tough for Clint and Sanford. I can just imagine how much pleasure they got from their Saturday night sessions. Imagine what they would say now if they could hear your song?

It's also a great production and I love Janice's vocal. It reminds me a lot of Linda Ronstadt.

Brilliant work,
Jez

Very cool.

Also if you write a song called Bright Bright Night where Janice keeps saying "it happened on a Briiiiiiiight Briiiiiiiiight Niiiiiiiight over and over in the chorus I will not only put it on my playlist I will shell out cash money to buy it.

Very cool tune. Loved the intro. Mandolin was very cool. Awesome vocal and lyric.

Wonderful tribute!! I love the early recording at the opening. Really nice live vibe, and Janice's vocals are KILLER!! With the music, the story, and the cool pictures, it is a multimedia, multi-dimensional experience. Great stuff!! Take care. Greg

Well, what can I say that hasn't been said already - everyone is loving this song!

It's today's HOT FORUM TOPIC!

Thanks for sharing!

Hi there J&B.

Loved the story, loved the song.

Perfect in every respect.

Yes, just perfect.

That's about it, really.

ROG.

Hi, Bud & Janice !!!:))


This is so good you´ll get
tears in your eyes listening
to it ! What a superb piece
so wonderfully sung and mixed !

May you both have a most Merry Christmas
and a most Happy New Musical Year 2017 !


Cheers
Dani

EXCELLENT! Absolutely wonderful, J&B.

Hi Janice & Bud, beautiful tribute to your stepfather! Excellent voicing and guitar yet again. Well done!

Thanks Peter. We really do appreciate your comments. I'm excited that the concept worked for you. Regarding my bass - you are way too kind. I could barely tune those old nylon wrapped gut strings and the room filled with noise every time I hit an open string. It's a long ways from when I used to play walking bass on steel strings! Now it can stand in the room corner for another decade.

Janice & Bud...

It is no surprise how good this is. Everything you do is done to perfection - and nothing more so than when you return to your roots.

The production, arrangement and mix are impeccable.
No one does details better than "Bud Merritt - Producer/Arranger/Mix Engineer".

It has gotten to the point that Janice's pitch-perfect vocals are taken for granted... and yet, must be applauded with each new performance.

An excellent write. The attention to detail worming it's way into that aspect as well...

Great bass!!! What a cool thing to be able to add...

Standing O. An achievement.

fj

Well, reading the song description was as enjoyable as listening to the song!

Fun hearing the live bass on there

Nice of to say that Sergio. The strings were dead and I hadn't played in years but it was a very simple track.

Thanks!

J&B



Thank you for the very kind comments! I'm looking at it as I type and I can hear the ancient tones.

J&B

What a super job you guys did here!
This really sounds like a real band playing!
The banjo is arranged perfectly with a nice spacious sound.
Terrific vocals and terrific mix all over, as always ;-)

Rob & Anne-Marie

Thanks! We had hoped you would like it. Del McCoury has used this mic technique for years and they sound amazing on stage. We were on a festival bill that they headlined and the sound man, as he should, just got the mics as hot as possible and left them alone. I used to dread a sound man who tried to mix us. Just leave it alone and we'll do the mixing! Pardon the rant and thanks again for the nice comments.

J&B

Thanks Bob. We both love your material and are inspired by your writing!

J&B

Hello, Janice & Bud

Beautiful tribute to your stepfather!
As Greg said, I also love the early recording at the opening.
I feel I learn the roots of your music a little.
The photo on SoundCloud is very nice.
Flat Mandolins are rare in Japan. Very interesting.
Janice's heartfelt vocal reached my mind deeply.
Very enjoyable listen.

Best Regards.

Shigeki Adachi

Thank you!

I thought about using the effects I used on the prelude throughout the song but decided to go with the contrast. Since it's all set up in the DAW I may see what it sounds like throughout the track by going from a 30's vinyl sound to a 60's maybe. BTW, the scratches and dust noise were from Izotope's Vinyl plugin and the end of the record clicks were a loop I found on the net.

Thanks for listening and commenting. We appreciate it.

J&B

Bringing thoughts of your grandparents is what this is all about. We appreciate you saying that. We are also excited that you felt the mix worked toward our goal. Thank you very much!

J&B

This is a super song and flows so well. I enjoyed this track immensely and it is still going in my head.

Top quality.

Cheers.
Mike.

Thanks Bob. A lot of good pre-bluegrass music was made in the 1930's, particularly with some brothers duets, before Bill Monroe hired a certain banjo player and took it all to a new and great place in 1946.

Wow! Thanks for saying that. It's been a while since we've done any bluegrass/acoustic roots productions and it's great that it worked for you.

We appreciate it!

J&B

Janice and Bud, like in many occasions, I almost missed this one. Very heart felt song not to mention the great production as usual. Thanks for the offering.

Mike B.

Janice and Bud,
What can I say?
A great tribute and what a wonderful way to start this masterpiece.

That bass player knows his stuff, nicely recorded.
Vocals, as usual, are above excellent from Janice.

Great stuff, really enjoyed

Hope you both have a good Christmas

Alyn

Saying it has the real feel means we accomplished our goal...thank you!

J&B

This is great, love the vocals and arrangement. Love the story.

Kenny

So much to like here! The backstory is a great read unto itself. Janice's usual stellar vocal, Bud's great mix and fabulous bass playing. More of that please. The thing I like the most is the pre Bluegrass song form- no chorus. This is like a song that was brought to Appalachia from the people who settled there. An educational and an effective updated period piece. You two continue to amaze us all. Merry Christmas, Tom

Thank you so much for the wonderful review! And thanks for taking the time to listen and comment on so many different aspects of the production. Yes, we do wish they could hear it.

Janice said she was thrilled just to be mentioned in the same sentence with Linda!

We deeply appreciate it all.

J&B

Stunning song and great background story. Enjoyed your concept.

I've had an old tape of my Mom and her sisters playing 'Cotton eyed Joe' back in 1957 at the old homeplace in the mountains where they all were raised. I've given thought since I've been using BIAB to trying to do something with it the same as you've done here but no inspirational lyrics have ever escaped the maze of my muddled mind.

Being able to relate to the authenticity of your song made my listening that much more enjoyable.

Impressive write and production.


Charlie

Bud and Janice,

I always love your songs... but I think I like the write-ups about what led you to write the songs every bit as much!

Once again, This proves your amazing ability to whip automated tracks into a form that flows the way a live band would likely play the song. I hate that I missed the era when you and Janice were playing live on stage... but I'm glad that I haven't missed what you're doing here on the user showcase. Kudos to both of you for your separate and combined talents.

Hahaha...now that's a challenge!

J&B



Thanks Scott!

J&B



We appreciate it Greg. Glad it all worked for you!

J&B




Thanks Callie for the hot topic!,

J&B

Hi Janice and Bud,

I wholeheartedly agree with Josie. She describes it so well. The mix is astounding.... crystal clear. I don't know what you've done but it's really something.

I enjoyed listening and was with the song every step of the way. Janice's vocals are perfect and the writing and arranging showcase the story beautifully. It's just great how music can capture a period in time and store memories for generations to remember. You've both done such an all-round great job.

All the best of Christmas to you both,
Noel

Wow Rog. That was very kind.
It's always great to hear from you.
Thank you!

J&B






Thank Dani! We really appreciate your support and comments. And happy Holidays to you and yours.

J&B

Thanks Andy,

J&B



Thanks for stopping by Joe. We enjoy hearing from the folks and are glad you liked it!

J&B

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Glad you enjoyed the backstory and the bass!

J&B



Thanks for everything above. And, one thing we don't take for granted is how important your friendship and support has been to us on this four year musical journey. There is nothing about this production that doesn't reflect your counsel over the years. Your comment about the vocal means a lot to Janice and referencing the attention to detail in the production makes Bud think the ole dog may have learned a trick or two

J&B

Hi J&B. Best for Christmas and beyond to you.
Magnificent song. Really hits the spot. Cheers.

Thanks! Really enjoyed your latest.

J&B



Thank you for listening and writing such nice comments!

J&B




Thanks Mike!

J&B



Thank you so much. Glad you found it!

J&B



Thanks Alyn! We very much appreciate your long support of our efforts. We had hoped you would run across this one.

Have a fun Christmas!

J&B

Thanks Kenny!

J&B



Tom, thank you very much and you are too kind regarding the bass! Thanks for noting the song structure. I heard them do a lot like that. We greatly appreciate your support and comments.

J&B

Charlie, do it. I put this off for a long time because of the same reason. We even created a completely different version of it years ago that I never liked. Finally, I said it's gonna happen. Your tape is priceless. We need to hear it sometime! Thanks for the kind remarks. It means a lot.

J&B



Pat, it is GREAT to hear from you. We thought about you and your love of Merlefest while we were working on the song. Thank you very much for the taking the time to both listen and comment. I'm particularly excited that you feel we captured the live band feel. We know you have listened to a lot of live music. Thanks again!

J&B

Thanks and cool to see you back around!!

J&B





We very much appreciate that Noel. We are huge fans of your writing and production skills so it is special to us that you liked the song. And one of our fondest memories of the year is the song you wrote for Janice to sing. It was, is and will remain very meaningful to us. Have a good Christmas and a wonderful new year!

J&B

What a treat! We just love these personally inspired songs ... they're from the heart and almost always full of passion and love. The stand-up sounded good! Almost everything we were gonna say has been said. Simply a great song and excellent production. Loved everything about it!

Merry Christmas and wishes for a terrific 2017!

Alan & Di

Thanks you two! We hope you had a great Christmas and wish you a happy new year.

J&B

Enjoyed listening to the song. As always, great arrangement, singing and production.