I recorded this performance of “Comin’ Home Baby” live, using Lee Oskar natural minor harps in G and F, an Audix Fireball mic, a Digitech RP500 running my patch set, a Digitech JamMan Stereo looper, a Peavey KB2 keyboard amp, and a Zoom H4 to capture the sounds on the night of March 7 2015.

I obviously like this tune a lot–I think this is the third time I’ve posted a live version of it to my site, and I recorded it live in the studio for my first CD, “The Act of Being Free in One Act.” I’m posting another version because I really think the sounds on this one are new and different, and very beautiful. The piece is a good example of how a multiFX device and a looper can produce some striking layers of sound. I wouldn’t mind if I’d played it a little tighter on the groove, but the feeling is strong. The harp sounds include a double octave down, a chorused sound with prominent delay, and a tenor sax sound that’s remarkably accurate in the lower register of the harp.

One technique is worth calling out. On the first 12 bars, I alternate between a bass note and chords. I use two natural minor harps, in G and F, to give me the right bass notes and chords (nice fat minor 7th and 9th voicings). I have the Digitech RP500 set up to shift the pitch between two octaves down and an octave down, and I rock the pedal from toe down to toe up to shift from one to the other, playing the bass notes two octaves down and the chords one octave down. That’s an example of how you can use the RP’s expression pedal to change the sound dramatically. (The RP500 offers lots of ways to change the sound instantly and dramatically. I’ve started programming all the FX for all my patches because I can turn them off and on so easily.) Of course, I could do the same thing by setting up an octave down patch and a double octave down patch side by side on the RP500, and in fact I’ve used that approach on occasion–it’s how I configured the bass layers for my performance of “Early to Bed.” But I think the sound of the pitch sliding by is pretty cool for this song.

It’s fun to compare this version of the piece with the duet I recorded live with Wim Dijkgraaf in a performance in Sao Paolo, Brazil in October 2014. The duet is more about lines, and the looped version is more about textures. Both versions make their respective emotional points.

Enjoy.

“Comin’ Home baby” recorded live by Richard Hunter 7 March 2015