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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
Another Day Blues
Another Day Blues
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tf10music
203 posts
Jul 02, 2014
9:36 PM
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Hello all,
I wrote an out and out blues song for the first time in almost two years. I had been listening to a lot of R.L. Burnside, but also to Nuru Kane, Etran Finatawa, and Tinariwen. This song is the result. I'd love some feedback -- the harmonica, the guitar, the vocals, the songwriting, etc.
Another Day Blues
Best,
Ben
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Check out my music at http://bmeyerson11.bandcamp.com/
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isaacullah
2842 posts
Jul 03, 2014
6:39 AM
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Hey Ben! I had a quick listen to your track, just with my crappy laptop speakers, so I won't comment on the mix (which I couldn't hear well enough to make any helpful comments about), but rather the music. First off, I defintely heard the blending of the Tuareg/Tamshek "desert blues" sound with that RL Burnside one-chord drone sound. IMO, there is a natural connection between those two sounds, and that's been one of the musical avenues I've been exploring for the last couple of years or so (that's all by way of saying I'm very familiar with those two sources of inspiration). I have to say that I think your guitar part nailed the connection spot on. You go from the trill-laden hammer-on/pull-off Tuareg style, straight to the walking blues groove very seamlessly, and I liked it a lot. You were also clearly working to get some Tuareg tonality to your vocals, which I really appreciated. Honestly, the only weak spot for me was the harp part. You played well, it just that I think the scale you were using doesn't really fit the backing guitar well. Were you playing with just the normal second position Blues scale? (it sounded that way to me)? The issue with this north and west African music is that they don't stick to the two pentatonic modes that we are used to here in the west (major and minor). They commonly use the modes of the pentatonic scale that start on the second and third scale degrees of the major pentatonic (http://docs.solfege.org/3.22/C/scales/pen.html). I find that 2nd, 5th and 6th position offer easy access to these scales. In 5th, the main scale I use is +2 -2, -3bb, +4, -4, +5 (and is a mode of the first position major pentatonic) . In 6th, the scale is -3 -4 +5 +6 -6 -7 (and is a mode of the second position major pentatonic). In 2nd, the scale I use a lot is -2 -3bb +4 -4 -5 +6 (you can see how that's related ot the Blues scale, but not the same).
In each of these positions, there are lots of easy to get scale notes in the octaves above and below the tab I've written here. They also lay out the key scale notes in such a way that you can easily trill between notes similarly to how you are doing it on the guitar. Each position gives a slightly different feel due to the way the notes are laid out (which scale degrees are blow vs. draw, etc.) Anyway, that's my 2 cents, and I want to make it clear that I love this direction from you, and I really liked the song! Would love to hear what you can do with some of these other scales on the harmonica, though!
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Last Edited by isaacullah on Jul 03, 2014 8:00 AM
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Rgsccr
264 posts
Jul 03, 2014
8:35 AM
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Wow! That is a great song - haunting and bluesy, and fresh and new! Love the guitar, harp and vocals - and the lyrics!
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tf10music
204 posts
Jul 03, 2014
1:23 PM
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Thanks for the feedback, guys!
Rgsccr, I'm really glad you liked it.
Isaac, that's an awesome comment. I'm glad you heard what I was doing -- I definitely practiced putting the two styles together on guitar for a while before I recorded the track, but the harmonica was a little bit less labored. I had a lick in mind, and I built off that lick. I take your point about the blues scale, though. I was playing the harmonica over some of the more hill country-ish guitar, so i thought it might fit, but maybe the contrast with the guitar that comes right before each harp entry is a bit too strong. I'll definitely experiment with the scales that you mentioned.
I'm particularly gratified that you heard what I was doing with my vocals. I tried to keep it subtle and remain 'me,' but I definitely inflected them in a very specific manner. Especially lines like 'I asked the storms to wash you 'way,' 'I might have healed; you sent me 'way,' etc.
Thanks for the close listen. I didn't put too much work in the mix, because I figured the song itself might need more work, and I'd like to maybe send it off to someone who is better at mastering than I am to do all that stuff. Off the top of my head, the guitar is a bit too boomy on the low end, which means I'd need to emphasize the mids more, filter out some of the lows, etc. Harmonica maybe needs some of the high end dulled. I'm useless for vocal production, which is a shame, because I feel like a good master on my vocals would be really welcome for nearly all of the things that I record.
Best,
Ben
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Check out my music at http://bmeyerson11.bandcamp.com/
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isaacullah
2843 posts
Jul 04, 2014
7:09 AM
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Ben, I just had another listen, read your response, re-read my initial comments, and realized I should clarify a bit. I don't think you should fully abandon the Blues scale in the harp part; in fact, *most* of the harp part sounds great! But there are a couple of spots where the specific Blues scale notes, or perhaps more the way the notes are sequenced, sound "out of place". I think it's THOSE places where you might try to use some of these alternate scales to bring in some of that North African tonality. As it stands, the harp sounds like 100% Mississippi, which is really what I think my real critique is: it'd be great if could get the same kinda blend between Mississippi and Mali on the harp that you do on the guitar...
All that being said, playing this style of music on the harp is HARD!! :) it's something that I've been working on myself, and I find the hardest thing is to structure the roofs the way they lay out on a. The layout of the harp makes it difficult to get some of the ornamentation that is key to nailing that North African sound...
But again, I want to reiterate that I LOVE this song! Well done!
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tf10music
206 posts
Jul 05, 2014
12:27 AM
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Isaac, thanks for the followup. I think what you might be responding to is my use of the seven draw at the top of the blues scale. I'd have to think of another lick to resolve that, I think. Maybe I could use my A powerbender, and then pitch adjust the lick into F, where it belongs. That could yield interesting results -- have you tried playing any of that stuff on a powerbender?
And I really appreciate that you were able to engage with this in such depth -- one of the main goals when we make art (and I believe I speak for everyone) is to inspire enthusiasm in an audience. So thanks for that. Really.
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Check out my music at http://bmeyerson11.bandcamp.com/
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