Topic: First Porch Post!

[Blue in VT]

Howdy all!

Well...I just received  a microphone for my minidisc player the other day and have been playing around with recording myself for the first time...What a nerve wracking experience...you think you sound pretty good until you listen to a recording....ouch.  Very Humbling.  Anyway...just remember I'm a fairly new player less than 2 years fingerpickin') and this is my first real recording (yes I know I'm playing at about 1/2 speed....I'm workin on it... )

Song: Freight Train
Guitar: Larrivee OM-05MT
Strings: Elixir Nanoweb Custom Light PBs.
Recorder: Sony MZ N707 minidisc
Microphone: Sony ECM-OS70P...about 15 inches from guitar
Software: Audacity
Clumsy fingers:  ALL MINE!!!   

Oh Yeah....no singing...sorry...believe me its for the best!

Cheers,
Blue in VT

[a2tom]

hey, hey, way to go!  Sounds great.  Enjoyed listening very much.

You've got a great steady beat going, which is the key.   But don't play faster.  Ever.  Play slower.  Tattoo it on your hands (you know, on your knuckles, like "LOVE HATE" except "PLAY SLOW").

Thanks for taking the plunge!  You must have some Mississippi John Hurt ready to post too... 

tom

[Slack]

Very nice version of Freight Train Chris -- where did you get that arrangement?

[eagle rockin daddy]

Great Job Chris,  I think the speed is just right, and your melody is really independent of the bass, in other words, I don't hear a lot of 'patterns', which is the way many people learn alternating bass.  Some never get past that.  You've made a lot of progress.  Don't forget to practice singing though, and don't worry about how your voice sounds.  A very nice and very musical piece.

Mike

[SteveMcBill]

Great job Chris - I really enjoyed listening to your rendition.

You have got a good solid bass line going and the melody floats nicely over the top with just a hint of inner melody/harmony complexities going on - very nice.

Personally I would go with just a tad faster - but this is all personal opinion and feeling - each to their own. However, you have that tune nailed and with the obvious precision you have you must have other tunes ready to go - please do post some more.

Have you seen my own copy of Freight Train over on my tab site ? It is at:

www.stevemcwilliam.co.uk/guitar/tab.htm

Cheers and keep on pluckin'.

Steve 

[Norfolk Slim]

I agree with all that is said above.  Yes its at a very steady pace- but the beat and the bass is absolutely rock solid, which is a great foundation, and the melody isnt tied into it.

Sounds like you are more than ready to get some John Hurt stuff together and posted on the porch!

[Richard]

you think you sound pretty good until you listen to a recording....ouch.  Very Humbling. 

You are so right, I've thought in the past I'd be brave and post something and then on playback..OMG 

However, I'm working to trying something else so who knows, meantime maybe I'll just stick to recording for the juke!

As for your recording good and solid and I like the tempo as a tempo anyway!

[Pan]

Hi

As everyone else, I too think your doing a good job here. Even with the tempo on the slow side, you manage to keep the beat steady, which is a very good thing. I myself always try to practice things slow enough, but keep rushing the tempo.

Yours

Pan

[a2tom]

You are so right, I've thought in the past I'd be brave and post something and then on playback..OMG 

that's never stopped me...  I always figured you say you play blues guitar, then you play blues guitar and gives 'em what you gots.     I also always figured I'm a ready excuse for everyone, as in "hell, if he can post that, I can post this!"

Re: tempo - I suppose everyone is different, but while playing fast takes an obvious quickness and dexterity, I think it is much harder to come by feel than it is to come by quickness.  If you substitute tempo for feel, you become very boring very fast.   And, playing fast is not a good route to feel, or, paradoxically, to quickness.  Said a different way, what I'd rather strive for if I were you is not to get faster, but to get more "variation" in the sound and feel at this tempo.  Eventually variation in speed becomes part of feel and expression, of course, but a comparatively minor part.  Like I say, everyone is different, but I got my tattoos because I have really had/have to learn to PLAY SLOW.

tom

[Prof Scratchy]

I've listened to this three times now and I like it a lot. The pace, on the first listening, seemed slow and not what what I was exepecting or used to. But the feel is dead solid and it almost makes this otherside familiar tune into something absolutely new. Well done. And keep 'em coming.

[onewent]

..nice job, Blue .. enjoyed listening to your version of Freight Train, which was the first fingerpicked song I learned to play

[Blue in VT]

Weenie's

Thanks for the kind comments...I will try to post more in the near future.  I should have mentioned that this version was based on John Millers arrangement from his fantastic video of Cotten tunes from guitar workshop.  The next one I post will probably be "Momma your Pappa Loves You" from the same tape.  I think that Cotten is a great place for relative newcomers like myself to start...While I have avoided the alternate tuning songs on this collection so far those in standard have been great stepping stones for me...and John's teaching is slow and thorough.

On the topic of speed.  I have certainly played this tune faster...and even recorded it played faster but this is the tempo at which I can hit 90% of the notes I mean too with minimal finger noise.  I am trying to slowly increase my tempo and maintain my accuracy.

I do have a few MJH tunes that I'm starting to feel comfortable enough with to post and those may be coming a long in the near future.

Cheers,

Blue in VT

[Stuart]

Well done, Chris!

Re: tempo/speed--IMHO the focus should be on "control," something that comes with time and practice. It allows you to "control" (in a deliberate and conscious manner) one aspect that contributes to the expressiveness of the music you play. There's a whole range that you want to be able to cover. Speed will come along with a sense of when to use it. Again, nice job on "Freight Train."

Stu

[Roscoe]

OK! Nice recording. I  have the same mini disk and mic. I clip it on my left shirt pocket and it gets the guitar and vocals pretty good.
Keep Pickin
Roscoe

[Blue in VT]

Roscoe...

intersting technique with the mic you have.  At the momemnt I have mine attached to ,y music stand...works great for the guitar...I haven't really tried the to record singing yet...I'll have to give your technique a try.

BTW I am truely impressed with the quality of the recordings I am able to achieve with this set up.  I may not be obvious with the dumbed down version posted but the quality of the original is excellent.

Blue