MovieChat Forums > The Dub Room Special! Discussion > Where was Vai?

Where was Vai?

posted 17 years ago by starmarker
2 replies | jump to latest

First, let me say I really enjoyed the Dub Room Special.
There are a few nits you could pick, but the only one that I'd like to focus on is the treatment of Steve Vai.
I couldn't hear him worth *beep*
Even in Stevie's Spanking, once Vai's main solo is over, it's back to "All Frank All the Time".
It's a pity too, because you can see from his fingers that Vai is continuing to solo when Frank comes back in. A duel solo between Frank and Stevie would have been cool.
I assume this is a conscious decision by Frank (to take Steve out of the mix) because Frank was an expert at getting great live sound. Boss's prerogative?
Anybody else feel the same way?

[–] ebc1973 17 years ago

I could hear his lead solo pretty well, but his rythm parts were barely audible, I do agree. Take for instance the part where Steve throws off his towel. I could hear Ray White's guitar just fine, but when Steve joined in at that point, I could hear no difference. By the way, what is the musician's name who is playing the piano and singing Stevie's Spanking? I would like to hear more of his other work.

Run to the bedroom, in the suitcase on the left, you'll find my favorite axe.

[–] abxer3p 16 years ago

The keyboardist/vocalist and occasional saxophonist is Robert Martin. He toured with Zappa from the beginning of the 80s on and has appeared on several of FZ's albums. I'm not sure about any solo work but there is some information here:

http://www.united-mutations.com/m/robert_martin.htm

I have to agree with the original post concerning Vai's sound levels He is definitely hard to hear in most cases.

(I'm posting this over a year later so I hope you have found some info since then or found this reply.)