Melvin Sparks Band
April 7th, 2005
Dakota Jazz Club
Minneapolis, MN

Source:  Audio Technica AT-853's -- iRiver iHp-120 -- Adobe Audion 1.5
	 Show Recorded in .wav at 44.1 Khz

Recorded By:  Luke Turnbull and Mike "Fruity" Fruncillo
Transfered, Tracked, and EQued by:  Luke Turnbull with Adobe Audition 1.5

01.  The Governor
02.  Charlie Brown
03.  Miss Riverside
04.  Hot Dog
05.  Thank You
06.  Pick Up The Pieces
07.  Alligator Boogaloo / My Girl
08.  Bamboo
09.  Clinton Park
10.  Matter of Time
11.  Texas Twister
12.  Hot Barbecue
13.  Give Me The Night
Personnel:

Melvin Sparks ---- Guitar
Jerry Z ---------- Organ
Justin Tomsovich --Drums


Notes:

As I was not able to adjust my recording levels on the fly, and was a half-foot from the stage, I went line in to the iHP-120.  This records at a relatively low gain.  I then used Audition to Normalize and to crispen the sound a bit.

The sound is UNBELIEVABLE!  I would definately rate it an A.  Mic placment is up-close and very intement, (if you listen close, you can even hear a little of the natural sound coming from Melvin's guitar). As you can hear Melvin is front and center on this recording.  Since the mics were left-center of the stage they pick up more of melvin and unfortunately less of Jerry Z and his organ work.  But it still sounds great (i think).

Production Notes:

Normalized all tracks ranging form 118% -- 140% to give a recording a somewhat consistent volume.  Equalized all tracks bringing up the lows very, very slightly and the highs very slightly.
There is a fade in on Pick Up the Pieces.  I had to save my old file and start a new one (around 1 hour five minutes into show).  Doing this takes about 30 seconds so I missed the very begenning of the song.  There are a few pops in the recording that I didn't take out for fear of losing sound quality.  These pops are an unfortunate trait of the ihp-120.

Thanks to Mike for bringing his AT-853's.
Thanks to the Dakota for booking Melvin on what seems like it will be a regular basis.
And Special Thanks to the Melvin Sparks Band for puttin on a hell of a show!


