Interview: Mitch Towne, SRT Band / Terrace Martin / Aloe Blacc

[nursers]

So great to catch up with @Mitch Towne , who provided some brilliant tips and thoughts - thanks Mitch it was a buzz!

 

 

 

Audio link

[Mitch Towne]

I had a blast! You and Paul have such a fantastic podcast. I’m honored to have been a guest!

[Joe Muscara]

I don't know who the guest was, but I got a mention near the end of the episode!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a great episode. The hosts hardly had to say anything and off Mitch went on great stories.

 

@Mitch Towne I have a question for you. When you have a studio gig, how are you sure of the Hammond? Like when you went to LA for the SRT session, how did you know the Hammond was going to be to your liking? Or was it? One hopes the studio has good Hammonds and pianos, but sometimes they might not be so great. If the studio is local you can always check it out, but going to LA, you're hoping it's a good one, and it should be, but I wonder if you did any reconnaissance first. Also, when does the SRT album come out? All I found were previews, which sound great, BTW.

[Mitch Towne]

3 hours ago, Joe Muscara said:

 

 

It was a great episode. The hosts hardly had to say anything and off Mitch went on great stories.

 

@Mitch Towne I have a question for you. When you have a studio gig, how are you sure of the Hammond? Like when you went to LA for the SRT session, how did you know the Hammond was going to be to your liking? Or was it? One hopes the studio has good Hammonds and pianos, but sometimes they might not be so great. If the studio is local you can always check it out, but going to LA, you're hoping it's a good one, and it should be, but I wonder if you did any reconnaissance first. Also, when does the SRT album come out? All I found were previews, which sound great, BTW.

Joe - that’s the thing. You really don’t know for sure unless you play it yourself. You can talk to people who have played it and get their opinion, but unless you’re getting an organ you know is good from previous experience, you’re rolling the dice. 
 

Perfect example - the organ I rented for the SRT session was recommended by a couple people. It was in amazing condition and sounded like a million dollars…but I think the action had been adjusted so it played very, very fast. It was very hard to control it. Even though a Hammond does not have a weighted action, there still needs to be SOME resistance with which to dig in. So, I basically felt like I was trying to run on a sheet of ice the whole session. It was hard to feel comfortable and find my footing. But, I made do. 

[Joe Muscara]

Thanks, Mitch. I wondered if there was any option to have a backup if needed.

 

Have you ever had a gig where the organ was so bad you used your clone instead?

[Mitch Towne]

3 hours ago, Joe Muscara said:

Thanks, Mitch. I wondered if there was any option to have a backup if needed.

 

Have you ever had a gig where the organ was so bad you used your clone instead?

Yep. I was at a festival where the C3 was the absolute weakest sounding thing I had ever played. I don’t know what was wrong with it, but it was terrible. I got the Mojo out instead.