February 2009 - Posts
We came up with the idea of pre-recorded introductions sometime in the Fall of ’08, I think we originally wanted to start using them when the Mantis tour began. Jake wrote and recorded the 1st and 2nd ones that you heard, played them for us, and we were all intrigued with the possibilities of this new concept (the final two intros of the weekend were collaborative efforts that we recorded at soundcheck the day of the show). After spending the majority of the 1st month of touring in ‘09 sharpening up the music of Mantis, we finally had some time to play with this idea over the 4 night run through Atlanta, Asheville and Charlotte.
For those of you unfamiliar with the concept, here’s what we did to start our shows recently: we recorded a track of the band (or as in the case of the 1st two nights, just Jake at his home studio) playing a progression that evolves from a simple and often sparse setting into a momentous build toward the first song of the night. This isn’t necessarily what will always happen, but this is how the idea manifested itself this past weekend. The track starts as the house lights go down before we take the stage. As the music begins to crescendo, we walk out and slowly add more layers to what has already been pre-recorded. We noticed that this also helped build the anticipation out in the crowd, and really enjoyed being able to start shows like this. From the stage it feels a bit like a harkening back to the days of opening shows with jazz odysseys and jimmy stewarts. But we certainly didn’t have the technical capability to play along to our own track years ago.
We’ve discovered that the intros can take shape in various ways. Occasionally, the pre-recorded track will play all the way out to the top of the 1st song we have. This past weekend, we experimented with gradually fading the original track out once the band starts contributing to the music. I’m sure there are other options we can explore as far as how the transition is executed, and I’m looking forward to seeing what happens.
The introductions have been an exciting new way to kick things off for you each night. Perhaps you’ll hear more of them in the future?
"Pay the Snucka" - Neighborhood Theater, Charlotte, NC 2.22.09
Umphrey's McGee's 1st bassman Ryan Stasik captures Jake Cinninger displaying a little handy work during "Pay The Snucka" at Charlotte's Neighborhood Theater (2/22/09)]
Improvisation is obviously a paramount component to our music. As many of you frequent show goers know, we have developed an elaborate set of hand signals and body language cues to ensure that the improvised sections maintain a sense of direction and purpose. (naturally, it doesn't always work but such is life). These cues allow us great flexibility in changing keys, tempos, and arrangements but sometimes there is just no substitution for using actual words. This is one of the reasons that we have a handful of microphones sprinkled around the stage for direct band to band and band to crew communication. We imagine there is a certain amount of curiosity about just what goes on through those microphones as there is a mysterious element to them. The banter runs the gamut from the mundane ("more kick drum") to the comical ("did someone just drop ass?") to the practical ("time's up, let's cut "Ninja", again"). But much of the conversation revolves around the myriad of musical ideas that spring to mind in the moment. ("Let's try a surf-esque feel here based on Ryan's bass line...1,2,3,4") And such is how we arrive at the following few audio clips.
I have one CD burner in my rack that I can route any specific microphones to which I use for gathering various audio tidbits through out the night... check on a new tone, monitor a mic placement, test an EQ or reference after the fact for study. And occasionally I'll record those talk back microphones to gather & archive more pieces of the puzzle. Last night in Charlotte I took that opportunity and ended up with a gem. Despite Kris trying to knock over every cymbal on his riser, things were firing on all cylinders from the opening notes. Deep into set two as the improv in "Hurt Bird Bath" began to take form Jake stepped to the mic and threw out a great idea to sing the Wings classic "Let 'Em In" over the groove.
So I bring you the audio in 2 parts. The first clip is a peak into the shrouded world of our talk back mics while the 2nd is the actual unveiling of that idea as the audience heard it.
If you are looking to pick up a recent UM show for your listening pleasure we would highly suggest this one. We unanimously agreed that this one was a winner as we reflected on our bus ride back to Chicago. In addition to 4 tunes off the new record, this show also featured the first cover of Floyd's "Comfortably Numb". Shameless Plug
And finally a few pictures of the evening for some visual accompaniment...
Set One
Jazz Odyssey* > Red Tape, Got Your Milk (Right Here) > Anchor Drops, Partyin' Peeps, Comfortably Numb$, In the Kitchen > Prophecy Now > In the Kitchen
Set Two
Pay the Snucka > Alex's House > Pay the Snucka, 2nd Self, Get In the Van > Mulche's Odyssey, Mantis, Hurt Bird Bath$$
Encore
Tribute to the Spinal Shaft > Turn & Run
Notes
* Umphrey's took the stage and began playing along with a new original intro recorded during sound check playing over the PA
$ first time played, Pink Floyd
$$ with Let 'Em In (Wings) jam
Passing around the Mantis glasses tonight before the show
Did you know?
Mantis can swivel their heads 180 degrees which allows their vision to cover 300 degrees
The eyes faceted nature always presents the appearance of a black pupil pointed directly at you, despite your location
The entire surface of the eyes change color according to the amount of ambient light, they are light green or tan in sunlight and chocolate brown at twilight or in low light conditions
Mantids don't fool around - they rip, shred, tear and eat so watch out for this one!
The set one closer from this evening in Atlanta....Enjoy!
Mantis
Lights at the end of Mantis while standing in the balcony during sound check
Lights at the end of Mantis while standing on my sound board during the show
Umphrey's McGee and iClips Network are excited to announce a five-concert pay-per-view broadcast series beginning Wednesday March 25th. Please visit the Press Release for more information. In the time being, please enjoy the teaser clip below.
"Wish You Were Here" from Sunday's Acoustic Set
Ryan lives his life in 3 dimensions
As does this wookie
The right foot
Saturday's snare & set list
The view from above
4 are better than 2
Remember to always consume responsibly or this could be you on the Sabbath
A few pics from our in studio radio performance today at WMMM in Madison. In The Kitchen, Uncommon, & Made to Measure were the songs du jour, alongside the usual absurd midwest banter.
Kris channels Michael Jordan
Farag bangs the gong, the mini gong
Ryan tries an audience seat on for size
Rawk!
1 down, 3 to go in Madison. We wanted to share some great pictures that Brett Saul took from the balcony last night. There was enough haze in here to kill a small yak but boy did it look thick. Additionally, we we were all pleasantly surprised when our good friend Jeff Coffin stopped by unannounced to join us on Made to Measure & It's About That Time. As most of you probably know, Jeff played all the clarinet parts on the studio version as well as all the horns on Red Tape and this was the first time we performed any of Mantis with him.
A few other points of note, this week we're debuting out new mobile messaging service with Mozes, UM Mobile. Details of the program just went out in our latest umphdate and can be found on our website but this weekend fans here in Madison (and I suppose everywhere) can choose a cover song that the we'll play on Sunday evening. See below for instructions on how to vote and look for many more creative UM Mobile initiatives in the future.
And finally, we have just decided that the first set of Sunday nights show will be acoustic. As if you needed any more reasons to come celebrate President's Day with us.
Off and running...
Performing new material from Mantis has been a blast. As you know, we waited until this year to perform almost everything from the album, which was something new for us. I think the two most difficult challenges have been recreating the vocals live and figuring out what sounds we could recreate live.
With the vocals, we first started by going through each song and discussing what each of us were playing on our instruments during vocal sections. There were a few instances where things just didn't quite sync up for one person or another, so we made adjustments with the parts.
For me personally, the most challenging spots are the 4-part harmony at the end of Made to Measure and the chorus of Spires. As some of you might know, both Jake and I played piano on the studio cut of Made to Measure. I decided to try to play as much of both parts as possible, and I ended up with a rather challenging LH/RH figure to perform (individually, the parts are not too difficult, but when you try to play them with both hands, there's a lot going on). After I worked out the kinks, I then focused on singing a part over the top. The harmonies I sing are during the verses, and then at the end of the final chorus with the word "try." Doing three different things at once took awhile to get down! And I apologize to anyone who had to sit there while I worked on that over and over and over.
(At the Vic Theater before trying Made to Measure for the second time ever. Sometimes it's easier said than done.)
With Spires, I recorded the LH and RH parts of the piano lines you hear at the top of song separately. I wanted to preserve the sustain of the low octaves that double the bass parts while keeping the higher "response" lines nice and clean. Live, of course, this isn't an option as I can't sustain one end of the piano while pedaling the other end, so the low octaves get the short end of the stick for the sake of cleanliness. The challenge comes with singing harmonies on both "If I fall, I'll end up...." And "We've been retreating, press rewind..." in their somewhat contrapuntal relationships with the music underneath. Again, the only real solution is endless repetition so that it becomes as close to second nature as possible. Try it at home and you'll see what I mean!
One option we are utilizing with this music that we haven't explored before is taking samples from the album and applying them to the live setting. Andy has the ability to cue these sounds with his MPC back in perc world. We've done this with the Preamble, Jeff Coffin's clarinet lines and the pizzicato strings in Made to Measure and the opening dark guitar swells from 1348, to mention a few. We felt that these elements were best served as they are on the album, and were crucial enough to the songs themselves that they deserved inclusion. A lot of the string parts on the album have been left untouched, as that element is a bit tougher to recreate live. Hopefully we can do that at some point and have a live string section accompany us with those parts.
Hope you enjoyed a little insight into the process of transforming Mantis from a studio creation to the live element. See you in Madison this weekend!
Then guess who my snoring roommate was last weekend in Minneapolis. This is what happens when you fall asleep on your back with headphones on.
The fan base continues to grow in all shapes and sizes, as shown by the adorable Melinda Elizabeth Bain
Many thanks to all of you who came out for the 3 nights in Minneapolis. We love setting up camp for multiple night runs as it lets us settle in and stretch out a bit. The third night got off to a great start with a pre show Super Bowl party at the venue. The game was truly a roller coaster ride, just ask Stasik. But the Steelers prevailed, Ryan altered the set list to his championship liking (Wizard opener), and off we went.
This version of Tribute was a highlight so we'll leave you with this to wrap up the 3 night run. Pull up a chair and get comfy as it clocks in at just under 19 minutes. See you in Madison!
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