Topic: Charley Patton Day Tue. 4/28/09

[Mike Brosnan]

well, as an almost exclusively youtube back porch poster....  just wanted to 'splain where i'm at...
i hear ya, wax... but a digital camera is my only recording device. 
i certainly don't consider my stuff polished, but i guess we're all our own worst critics.  i've disabled the ratings function on all my videos.  i never rate anything less than five stars.  i hate contests and have no interest in cutting anyone but myself. 
i'd post sloppier vids if youtube wasn't filled with legions of snarky anonymous adolescents...
so where is the line drawn between practice and performance?  i've listened to dozens of amazing quick and dirty performances on the back porch and am still intimidated by many of them.  like the ones wax an' UB just posted... i suck at getting close to the sound of the original recordings.  y'all sound great...
just some thoughts....  gotta go to work...

[waxwing]

And I certainly wasn't referring to you personally, Mike. In fact, you exemplify what I think the BP should be about, just tossin' up what you are working on. And yeah, YT makes it easy to do, perhaps easier than our BP limits, but at the same time it adds a whole other element (not just those snarky adolescents) that can be very intimidating to many.

Heck, in 1920, if you were the best player in Lula, you were about the best player anyone you knew had ever heard. Now, anyone who plays out at all starts to feel like they are being compared to the best in the world.

And hey, it's not about trying to prove anything, whether getting close to the originals or composing your own arrangement (or even entire piece), different strokes, all good. That's what I mean about getting away from a "contest".

It's just that, long ago, the BP was a place for friends, of widely varying skill levels, to post what they were working on, get some feedback and direction from peers and mentors. Then it was discovered by some hot players who maybe saw it as a chance to get more hits on their Soundclick page or whatever. Then YT happened and we got swamped. Please, no one should take this personally, I'm just speaking of trends here. But many embed their latest YT posts and rarely ever contribute to another thread. What are we to think from that?

Look, it's great that we have all these folks posting their great YT performances at Weenie and we created the Performance Corner for those who just want to post their YT or SC offerings and limit the response to a few kudos. But the BP has never really recovered from the transition. I guess I see that as a loss to the overall membership.

It's not like it isn't happening to some extent. Richard is certainly doing his part, revealing his learning process intimately, and I love seeing your postings here, Mike. Others, too, have posted less than polished work. I'm just trying to encourage those who may not have experienced what it used to be, and to make it clear that the PC is for the hot players and the BP is a place for sharing, getting some constructive feedback, and learning.

Geez, shit changes so fast on the internet we talk about things from three or four years ago like it was ancient history.-G- I just hate to see some of the good things get left behind because of the technology. YT vids are fine for posting to the BP, but folks should feel free to use the old ways, too.

Wax

[uncle bud]

It's all good, IMO. Pros, talented amateurs, students, beginners, polished stuff, works in progress, late night recording sessions, whatever audio/video tools you got.

YouTube is what it is, it's a paradigm shifter. We get to see talented players, headless amateurs, pros filmed surreptitiously, people getting hit in the nuts with stuff. I really like seeing a lot of it. I do like audio though. Cast me as one of the intimidated. 

It is worth noting both that there are people still posting works in progress to the back porch (blueshome, Norfolk Slim, Blue in VT, and Richard come to mind) and that others are encouraged to do so as well. Whether it's sharing your playing, getting constructive (we hope) criticism, looking for help with a tune you're working on, or whatever.

I can't say I've noticed much of a cutting element to stuff posted on Weenie. There's certainly been a lot of impressive material from all sorts of folks though.

[Norfolk Slim]

I think thats about right Bud.  Perhaps there is some scope to be a little more heavy handed in terms of what goes in performance corner- albeit I suspect that some of the folk who have posted very polished stuff on Back Porch don't consider their stuff to be "professional" enough to go in the pros performance corner, even though it may sound it to many of us- thats the insecurity that many people have as an amateur musician!

Personally i do sometimes try to polish stuff up to a fair extent before posting here- because its my main (often only) outlet for trying things out and seeing whether people who know what they are talking about actually think its any good (the cats aren't too good at reviewing music, and the Mrs tells me it all sounds horrible). 

The initial post made me realise I had a patton shaped hole in my repertoire which I should try to fix.  So I set about Dirt Road Blues last weekend.  Unfortunately it wasnt ready in time given i was starting from scratch, but maybe ill post it in this thread when  I have something that vaguely hangs together.

I think that repeating Patton day with other players is a great idea - could really get the porch buzzing. 

Dare I point out that  a certain Mr Johnson's birthday is coming up?

[uncle bud]

Dare I point out that  a certain Mr Johnson's birthday is coming up?

You covering the lawyer's bills?

[waxwing]

Dare I point out that  a certain Mr Johnson's birthday is coming up?

You covering the lawyer's bills?

Oh, man, UB, you almost got me to use a dreaded smilie.-G-

Wax

[Slack]

Nice lap playing UB - you know it really does not sound minimalist(to me anyway), more along the line of every note counts!

[Parlor Picker]

Just catching up with this thread and I must say how much I like Brosna's contributions.  The playing and singing are nicely understated and have a sensitivity that makes them quite beautiful.  Nice one, Mike.

[Norfolk Slim]

Dare I point out that  a certain Mr Johnson's birthday is coming up?

You covering the lawyer's bills?

Lawyer's Bills?  I'll take the case myself.  Its high time the highly dubious mechanism by which large businesses retrospectively changed US law on copyright to benefit themselves was challenged properly 

But I guess that's a whole 'nother thread.

The idea of little events like Patton day remains a great one though- an incentive for people to brush up / learn songs by an artist, or to have some fun posting what they already know.  We should pick some relevant dates a little in advance and get the ball rolling.

[RaggedandDirty]

Lindy

Can I just thank you for an informative and very moving piece, you write very well.  What a crying shame no one has looked after Charley's grave.

Mark

[uncle bud]

Just catching up with this thread and I must say how much I like Brosna's contributions.  The playing and singing are nicely understated and have a sensitivity that makes them quite beautiful.  Nice one, Mike.

Hear, hear. Great feel as always. Mike is too modest...

Ditto on Lindy's piece. Really enjoyed reading that, Lindy. Give up that academic stuff and do some travel writing. 

[Richard]

UB very nice, please do some more. I've found that a wooden boby in open something and a few finger picky type things go long way in lap. As much as I love playing the old tricone, somehow it seems a different world to a wooden body in both technique and tune selection.

I agree with Wax and the general sentiment that this should be the place to post progress. I have bravely ventured onto the dreaded YT but that was done to push me to be conistent for a whole number, Iwasn't craving audience adulation... promise! If  this site had the vid capacity of YT then I certainly wouldn't be on YT. But for now the real qustion is, do I show me face 

Anyway, since this is the back porch I'll get in the spirit of it (as it's 5pm here!) and try to post tomorrow as far as I have got on Jimmie Tarlton's My Blue Heaven - now that's very much a work in progress!

[blueshome]

Don't understand where all this nonsense about competitiveness has come from. I can't say I've noticed it.

I have two reasons for posting on the Back Porch (as mp3 or vid via youtube); 1st, to try and get some constructive criticism and, secondly, to try to give a little pleasure from the performance if I can. Doesn't always work out either way, sometimes you don't get any feedback and sometimes you p*** people off.

Brosna,  "i suck at getting close to the sound of the original recordings"

So what? It's already been done that way already, so why not just concentrate on giving us something new by doing it your way?

I know that some folks around here spend a lot of time and effort to try to replicate the originals, and good luck to them, it can be fun and gives you something to aim at, but I can't bring myself to make that my main objective in playing a piece (sometimes I don't have any choice because its beyond my abilities anyhow).

[Johnm]

Hi all,
I agree, Phil, that I haven't discerned competitiveness in the postings, unless simply wanting to do a good job is considered being competitive.  If that is the case, we and the music are all in a lot of trouble.
I think the idea of the Back Porch being a posting area for works in progress is a good idea, and it is how it was envisioned early on.  That having been said, people all have different personalities, comfort levels and standards with regards to what constitutes a "work in progress".  Some such postings will obviously be in the early stages, somewhat rough, and thanks to the folks who are comfortable putting them up for all to hear.  Other renditions may seem completely worked out and "finished" to everyone except the person performing the music.  I think we need to have a flexible enough sense of the board to accomodate different people's standards and comfort levels, particularly if the goal is participation, and not participation in a very narrowly defined way.
All best,
Johnm   

[Mike Brosnan]

I haven't had time to reply until now, but I sincerely appreciate the kind words PP and UB!  Andrew: the modesty is really just the hyper-insecurity that plagues every aspect of my daily life...  But I guess this is what pushes some of us to excel in certain areas...
blueshome: Yeah, I get a little too down on myself for substituting my own simplified arrangements for the masterpieces that we all know and love.  It's not about me wanting to sound like anyone else... It's just about acquiring more of the skills that the old timers had.  But whatever... Just more insecurity stuff...
An' I hear where you're comin' from, Wax.  I've never heard a BP offering that I didn't appreciate.  It takes a lot o' guts to post stuff with warts an' all.  I think we all do a great job of supporting each other here.  I've listened to tons of old stuff and I generally check all the new stuff that pops up.  It's all great!  Props to everyone! I don't have a lot of time to comment on other folkses' stuff, but I do appreciate everything that we are sharing here. 
Speaking of guts and warts...  I just got back from my first busking experience! (Which was also the closest thing to "playing out" that I've done so far...")  A street vendor festival type thing called Last Thursday on Alberta street here in Portland, OR.   Loads of fun!  Made $15 in an hour!!  Just enough for a pint for each of us!  I made all kinds of mistakes all over the place, but nobody cared or noticed.  My voice was barely audible (there was a loud capoeira group about fifty feet away), but I was okay with that!  I'm hooked!  End of tangent...