Diggs, I completely dig your playing on that track. Sweet and very Butterfieldish with that vibrato. Nice work. Here's another one on Born in Chicago, a few years old: ---------- Ted Burke __________________ ted-burke.com tburke4@san.rr.com
Ted that was top notch playing.....your speed and movement around the harp always amazes me. If you dont mind me asking,whats your set up when making these videos?I only ask because I feel the sound quality could be better.Regardless of this ,I always enjoy your videos. Diggs.....quality playing !
I just use a battered Flip camera for the videos. The amp is behind my chair, usually, and the settings are generally at the half way point on treble, revery, gain. Yes , the sound could be better. Investing in a better camera couldn't hurt.Thanks for the good words. ---------- Ted Burke __________________ ted-burke.com tburke4@san.rr.com
Diggs, JInx, has been asked one small thing, to stay clear of Ted's threads, since he can't seem to be civil. This is his protest. To the extent that he's protesting 'censorship' it doesn't upset me, but the fact that he is having a little passive aggressive moment at Ted's expense, well, now I've got to put my admin hat on.
JInx, you've run out of slack in your line. Reel yourself in our I'll be forced to take you out of the tank for a bit.
Ted - I think you want honest feedback and constructive criticism. So here it comes. I thought the first verse was quite good and I was pleased to hear it from you. Then it sort of lost its way. A lotta notes, but not necessarily the "right" ones, with thin tone and loss of timing/groove. I ended up getting bored and clicking away from it half way through. I think you would do very well to hold a note once in a while. And take a breath. Add some structure to each verse. Otherwise it just sounds like wanking. Your tone is thin because a) you aren't opening your throat and b) you're not getting the harp cupped very effectively.
I usually don't reply to your vids - because you post an awful lot of them. Always of you playing alone. Do you ever play with a band? At a jam perhaps? I think you should try that. If you think you're good enough to perform for us, then you ought to be good enough for any jam audience (who are less harp-critical.) And put some videos of THAT up. I think it will be very instructional for you as it will give you a more "even" way of comparing your progress and skill level to others.
You should assume that, because people are much more comfortable posting positive comments than negative ones, that the low response rate to many of your videos suggest you might not be as good as you think you are. (Most of us aren't. ) Instead of posting so many videos of you playing for yourself, spend some time learning in new ways to round out your skills. To me that means listening to a lot of others, and certainly playing with live musicians.
Good criticism, Gregg, and I appreciate the time you took to write this. It's helpful indeed.I try to be teachable and learn a new trick or two, but my style is settled , although my goal these days is learning different ways of making it more musical.
---------- Ted Burke __________________ ted-burke.com tburke4@san.rr.com
Last Edited by ted burke on Mar 23, 2015 7:19 AM
Ted - you have skills and you are committed to your style, thats great for you, As a listener its not something I would care to hear more than once at a gig. Once you get cranking there is little regard for rhythm and to my ear it becomes the harmonica version of guitar shredding or a Keith Moon runaway train drum solo,
Because you play alone- there is no band member to urge you back into the fold ala John Entwhistle
Just my 2 cents- your gonna do what makes you happy so keep on keepin on. BB King gets more emotion out of one note than others get out of 20 and for me the power of the blues is emotive.
As Les Paul said just because you know all the notes you dont have to play them all every time
The first half was flowy and melodic but I couldn't listen more because of the audio quality, which is a shame. I saw you mentioned buying a new camera, but camera mics are crap you know, won't make much difference. Any cheap audio interface or usb condenser mic on ebay will be miles and miles better. You can still use the camera you have for the video, nothing wrong with that, just record sound from external mic. It's super easy and will make a world of difference.
No one can fault your dedication. Extra bonus point for being a Detroiter.
However, many times it sounds to me like you've developed one pretty good solo and play it all the time with different backing tracks. No variety to your ideas.
Many have given you valuable suggestions in how to move beyond this, but it seems that you are pretty set in your ways. ---------- The Iceman
kinda hesitate to post here but personally, I'd like to hear the Butterfield solos note for note or at least heavily quoted if you're gonna do this tune. Then you can take off from there..
There are lots of his themes and stylings you could be throwing in to honor the master.
---------- 4' 4+ 3' 2~~~ -Mike Ziemba Harmonica is Life!
Here's an example by that talented young whippersnapper Nic Clark.
Listen to his acoustic tone. Listen to his various attacks. Listen to what he plays over the I, IV and V to accentuate the chords. Listen to the different textures. And feel the groove. All while leaving space and playing fewer notes.