Topic: Falling Back Down

[Norfolk Slim]

Something I've been working on.  Still polishing, but was keen to give it an airing and see what people thought....

[dabluz]

i'm wondering if it would be more effective to "sing against the guitar" with this song, rory block talks about this technique. either sing the verse and respond with the guitar phrase or vis versa. the voice doesn't have to compete with the guitar, she talks about the value of the two not competing. invariably no matter how good the playing or how good the singing they work more effectively off each other rather than together.

[a2tom]

I really like this tune. ?I have a question and two comments. ?

The question is, what guitar are you playing there? ?

The comments are first that one thing I really like in your playing (here and elsewhere) is the great feel and control you have over the bass/thumb work. ?Very funky. ?It keeps this piece moving along in a very compelling way. ?Actually a question here too - how "planned" are your various feels in the bass? ?Like, when you have the hard hits, etc. ?Guessing, it sounds like you just let this happen as it feels right? ?Never comes out the same way twice?

Second comment is that I think you are getting to a very convincing job on the vocals. ?Keep it up. ?One thing I think I'd like to hear is a bit less stacatto in the vocals, especially at the ends of lines. ?I think too often you aren't make good use of the ends of vocal phrases, words kind of peter out or are cut off. ?Sometimes that is a desired effect of course, but try singing this some intentionaly trying to make more musically out of the end of words and phrases, see if you like what happens. ?Maybe you won't! ?

tom

[Slack]

Very nice job Slim!

Is this your composition?

[Norfolk Slim]

A2om-

Its just my Martin D-1, coloured by the unfortunate effects of reduced bit rate mp3 to get it under the 800k.

In theory the double bass hit (3rd fret 6th string twice followed by open sixth) is a regular part of the verse section.  It may drift slightly as a result of the difficulty I have in singing and playing at the same time and not letting one affect the other!

I hear what you are saying about the vocal- Again I think its partly due to the singing / playing thing.  I find it easier to match the vocal to the rhythm of the piece- hence the slightly staccato effect.  As I get more comfortable and practiced with it, I hope to be able to change that.

Slack- Yep- its my own effort.  Influenced / inspired by a Charley Patton riff and some Chris Smither songs for the verse and chorus respectively

[jed]

Hey Slim,

It sounds good. I really like the vocal arrangement, the guitar parts in general and the verse closings in particular.  For integration, you might try recording the guitar and singing full out to it, and vice versa (oh, that'll be fun!).  How about capoing up 3-4 frets and singing it higher?  I think you may have some untapped vocal meat up there.

Cheers,
Jed

PS - That's s a really nice second verse, too!

[uncle bud]

Hi Slim - nice job. I agree with Tom, the vocal phrasing, especially at the start of each line, is a little staccato and mechanical sounding, which seems to conflict with the nice free/vamping guitar part. Let 'er rip, I say.

Cheers,
Andrew

[Norfolk Slim]

I was reading back over the comments on this and decided to record a new take... Hopefully I'm singing 'off' the guitar more here as I've become more comfortable with the song.  I've also  taken on Jed's suggestion of capoing up further and singing it higher- and I think perhaps it works.....

I'm not sure I should say this about my own song- but it has grown on me and I rather like it now 

(I should say that this is a truncated version so as best to fit the 800k limit without losing the essence of the recording.)

[Duke]

Definitely like the new take, it sounds more in your natural range.  I think some of the lines might really take on added drama if you did a little falsetto now and then, to bring out certain words or phrases - for example shift up to a high falsetto on the word "whiskey" in the line "I don't like..."  If your falsetto is rough and reedy, all the better!

[a2tom]

yup, you go Slim.  I make point when I'm editing manuscripts and such never to go back to a previous version (clouds the opinion of the new version), so I haven't compared side to side.  But this one is getting that freedom in the vocals.  I totally know what you mean about having the song get comfortable enough to branch it out - I sometimes feel like re-recording some of my posts, maybe I should try it.

tom