@Rontana: Thanks! Glad you liked it. And also glad that the advice was helpful... It's clear that you open and receptive to various strangers commenting about your playing, and, honestly, that's really the only kind of attitude you can have if you want to keep getting better. So, good on you, and keep it up! Will look forward to hearing your playing evolve as we all move forward...
@1847: Ah, I see... yeah, the tech can be so frustrating at times! If you figure it all out in future, I'd personally love to hear a full cut of you doing this tune! ----------
i have a zoom recorder, so i should be able get that on tape and drop it in movie maker or soundcloud. but there is something to be said for using video. you can learn a lot by watching and listening, for example, i am using a lot of intensity, especially on the upper octave, you can see it in my face, then as i come back to the lower register i am all relaxed.
so what this tells me is i need to dial things back a notch,I can tell the tone suffers a little.
some times its little things that matter the most.
incidentally, the number 9 blow reed was sacrificed in the making of this recording.
Last Edited by 1847 on Sep 11, 2015 1:55 PM
Isaac - nice stuff! Solid tone even if the first vid had some audio problems. It would be nice with some vocals, man. Else It's hard to keep it from getting noodly in the long run. Thanks for your commenting on my video. I have a trouble with over-emulation :) it needn't have to be with the Mississippi Rs :/
Rontana- I think the advice Isaac have you is spot on. Intonation on both the bent and un-bent notes. It's a very good thing to have yourself recorded and listening back to it to see where you need to polish it up. I don't know this song but I u deist and its a kind of American standard? Songs like that is great to carry with you and return to and perfect... I strongly advice you to practice intonation with a keyboard (or other well tuned instrument) as a reference. It'll help your ears as well. Or, even better a keyboard AND a tuner to now and then check that your in the right track.
1847 - nice singing, man! I don't think I have heard you singing before. Too bad it was so short. Nice harp, too! ---------- Pistolkatt - Pistolkatts youtube
Thanks Pistolcat! I do actually write lyrics from time to time, and even envision vocals in some of my tracks. But I'm not the one to add them. Although I'm sure my vocal abilities could be improved somewhat with hard work, I don't have any sort of natural base to build from, and, honestly, singing isn't really something I want to work on that much. I'd rather try to find a partner who could bring all that to the table. But yeah, it's hard to make instrumentals that keep the attention without getting noodely. That's the reason I can't really get behind a lot of Jazz stuff. Way too noodley. In terms of instrumentals, my ear tends to head towards a lot of electronic music, which stays more focused (because it's largely pre-produced). You might hear some of that influence in my more electric tracks. ----------
@Isaac. Thanks. I hadn't thought about O Brother but the aim was kind of in that general direction when I think about it. You're right about the distortion. I think it does sound better just acoustic, to be honest.
Your first one was quite atmospheric. Don't care that it wasn't blues. Kind of a wistful sunset feeling. The bass harp and drum rhythm was solid. The second one was a bit more Sonny Terry-esque and would garner attention and tips on the street in my opinion.
@Rontana. You're coming along well so keep doing what you are doing.
@1847. Nicely done. I would like to hear more too. Look forward to it. I have been using my webcam on my PC to record practice the past couple of days. I don't like starting at myself but it does highlight the little things I am doing wrong. I can hear the big things I am doing wrong without any help from the video. ----------
"Be not afraid of going slowly; be only afraid of standing still." Rontana, Thanks for those words of wisdom. I started playing when I was 54! You're doing well in my opinion. I need to get my stuff together and post a video soon.
First, thanks to all you guys for keeping this thread alive. I feel like I need to get back on the horse now and record some more, and that really was the intention of the thread --- to motivate myself to pull some repertoire together. With a little help.
@BronzeWailer, your acoustic version of Every Sinner is killer. @ Isaac, I really like your stuff; always interesting directions. And I envy your ability to use (and make) the technology. That first one is very catchy. @1847, Wow, please post some more, in every sense of the word. @Pistolcat, Everything is coming along, man. I enjoyed Long Distance Call. It's cool to hear it arranged for solo harp. And your singing is improving nicely. I do it too, but at times the pauses between singing and playing seemed out of place. Out of the rhythm of the song, is what I mean, I guess. @Rontana, You are putting it all together. Well done. Playing a melody in second position is a great way to work on intonation and build that repertoire. I've done the same over the past few years. I work on a song for a while then put it aside for a spell. Then I pick it up again and see what new I can add to it. Having a history of recordings is a great way to boost your confidence too, by "proving" your progress, both singing and playing. I'm no great singer, but I can remember the first time I listened to a recording I made and saying to myself, "I don't suck. This is acceptable". That motivated me to keep trying to improve. @eetechTom, We're holding you to that pledge. ----------
Last Edited by mr_so&so on Nov 04, 2015 8:10 PM
Thanks mr so&so. I think it works better as a pure acoustic song. This thread is a good reason/excuse to get a song happening rather than noodling around and I do like to see/hear what others are up to ... Cheers! BronzeWailer's YouTube
Hi Guys, good to see and hear a lot of you again. I don't get many opportunities to play but I just had to do something to join in with this thread. Good idea mr_so&so, just like the old days when we were all new to playing the harp and were looking for an audience.
Anyway here's my contribution to the Virtual Front Porch. It's a slow blues played to a ShoBlues backing track which I switched from E to F, shortened and played along to.
As I said, good to see you all, I enjoyed hearing your playing again.
Nice one there Tookatooka. You've come a long way over the years, as have all of us "old timers" on this site who started off naively trying to absorb what the master was giving away. I was hoping you might step onto the porch. I was missing the "challenges" you used to host for us.
I've been trying to record some new stuff, but I'm having a heck of a time doing solo stuff that I don't screw up at some point or that I just plain like the sound of. Maybe I'll try some backing tracks too and see where that takes me. I'm starting to realize the limits of the harp/voice/foot frame. I've got two loopers too -- so I should give those more of a go.
But then again, the front porch is not about perfection, it's about sharing something. ----------
Last Edited by mr_so&so on Nov 09, 2015 2:16 PM
Well put, mr so&so. I always "screw up" or don't like the sound of something after I've laid it down in some respect or other. When I reach point where it's not going to get any better (for now) I stop recording and release it into the wild. Then six months later I may cringe at what I did but reflect that I have made progress in the mean time.
I think Tony Glover said in one of his books (it was the 70s) "If you want perfection, listen to Minnie Ripperton," or something along those lines...
@BronzeWailer, agreed. @Tookatooka, Man, your artwork is great too. I'm a fan of colour.
I'm starting to think that there are precious few songs that work really well as a harp/voice solo piece, because I've tried a lot of them, and mainly because you can't sing and play at the same time. I think I'll try to bank a few that do work and find a guitarist (or start learning myself) to make more headway with repertoire. ----------
This may be more suitable for the back porch but here it is. I'm capable of playing the bends a little better and hope to add my own tweaks to it as I go along. Need to make the next one amplified. I'm in the middle of building a tube amp right now. This was recorded on my kids old Rock Band USB mic lol!
Here's just a bit of improv to a rhythm track. This was more satisfying than beating my head against the wall trying to get a handle on the song I've been working on. Also freed me up to get back on the horse and try some new things with the song.
@BronzeWailer, I like that one. I'm working on some gospel tunes too. I'll post one next. @1847, Keep working on the recording tech. I'd still like to hear more. @eetechTom, Well done. Bends are coming. Keep hammering on it to smooth it out. ----------
Last Edited by mr_so&so on Nov 11, 2015 8:21 PM
@1847, thanks. The mic is a Turner Challenger shell with a Shure 99A86 element. I like it a lot. Since we are talking tech, the amp is my Vox DA5 digital modelling amp, running at only 0.5W to keep the volume down. I think it sounds nice too. ----------
Last Edited by mr_so&so on Nov 12, 2015 11:16 AM
@BronzeWailer, thanks. Gospel coming at you. I like this one because of its cross-over blusey ethos. I learned it from Paul Oscher. Like many gospel songs, it's major pentatonic, I think, and lays out nicely in second position.
----------
Last Edited by mr_so&so on Nov 12, 2015 11:17 AM
@RyanMortos, thanks, I look forward to you stepping onto the porch. I saw Paul Oscher live a few years ago and have been a big fan since. As for recording tools, my OP suggested keeping it simple. Use anything you've got. Smartphones seem to be plenty capable these days. A few years ago now I purchased a simple video camera (Kodak Zi8) that has an external mic input and I use that along with my Zoom H2 digital mic. Those types of cameras have been pushed out by smartphones now, and can probably be had really cheap. A good digital recorder is a really good investment too.
@eetechTom, Many of us, me included, have been where you are now. Check my profile for my cheat sheet on music theory for harp players -- stuff I learned along the way. Keep at it and keep sharing. For me that's motivation to up my game.
@1847, I don't see how posting the embed code from a YT video engages the captcha monster any more than usual. My tip for successful posting is to do it from a computer where you can copy your post to the clipboard before you tackle the captcha. Then if it craps out on you, you can just paste your post back in and try again. ----------
Last Edited by mr_so&so on Nov 13, 2015 4:08 PM
well oviously, not all of them, however if if you have never had that problem, and it happens quite regularly with me, then there is an issue. i am not on facebook, is that something that happens there on a daily basis?
@1847, oddly, your last post didn't register on the forum front page as the most recent in this thread. Edit: While mine just did. I wonder if your numerical handle gives you extra spam points. You might appeal to the moderators for a changed ID, or a test ID to see if that is the problem. ----------
Last Edited by mr_so&so on Nov 15, 2015 7:05 AM
Back to the task at hand, and at risk of hogging the porch, I submit the song that was causing me grief earlier. I was trying to cut it down to a reasonable length. Better now. Here it is, another gospel-blues, Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning, arranged for harp from the Blind Willie Johnson version.
BTW, I'm sitting on an exercise ball. It helps me sit up straight and lets me move more while seated. I find it easier to tap my foot when sitting... and sitting is suited to the porch, isn't it? ----------
Last Edited by mr_so&so on Nov 15, 2015 10:01 AM
Nice one mr so&so. Definitely porch-worthy. Exercise ball seems to work well. You can tap your foot and bop up and down at the same time. It is kind of annoying trying to tap foot while standing. Liked your tone too!
1847, I'm not sure why you get hit so often. Short posts, particularly with links get hit often. Maybe it's because you are persistent about reposting? It could be that the spam filter thinks that's a sign of a spammer, but that's just a guess. I check the folder once a day and make sure it's cleared. I really don't know what metrics it uses, whether it sees how long you are on the page or if it just uses the text or if it remembers users from post to post (if it does, it doesn't do it in a smart way, since your posts all get restored. In fact, when you see someone have a bunch of identical or nearly identical posts suddenly appear it's not because I don't want to take the time to sort them out and just leave one it's because I'm worried that if I delete any of the extras the spam filter will think it was right on them and expand its filter.)
A song I wrote about the disappointment that often results in picking something up at the veggie shop only to find it doesn't live up to its promise once you get it home.
Sounds to me like you've been dong a lot of singing of late; as your vocals keep getting better and stronger. Really nice tone and modulation with your voice. I enjoyed all of this
I am trying to get to were I can improvise a coherent song and kind of tell a story. So far I think I have some reasonable but disjointed ideas. It kind of reminds me of adolescent boys starting a story with "wouldn't it be cool if ...". Hopefully, with practice and perhaps some feedback, I can get to the point that I can create and entertaining musical story on the fly. This is also an attempt to use the mike cupped rather than in the stand.
Last Edited by STME58 on Jan 26, 2016 12:18 AM
Hi STME58, thanks for keeping the thread going. I have a few suggestions, if you are open to them. On the technical side, I found the sound pretty harsh, and could hear clipping in a few places. I don't know what your sound and recording set up is, but it could use some tweaking. As for the tune, I could hear some repetition and variation going on, but I'm not sure I could hear a story being developed, or any call and response. I think you recognized this comment from your song title, but maybe some more space would help in the story telling by letting your phrases breathe. I found it difficult to follow. I also couldn't tell if you were following a chord progression; it sounded like a one-chorder to me. Nothing wrong with that, but it's maybe harder to tell a story with such a charging rhythm and little chordal variation. Your story also ended rather abruptly. A story has an arc to it, and maybe a conversation. However, I really like this idea of story telling. Keep at it and keep sharing. ----------
Mr_so&so, Thanks for the feedback. I do appreciate it. Lack of structure, even in an improv is something I have been thinking about, You bring it up also so it probably is something to pay attention to.
This was recorded using an bulletized SM58 into an M-Track plus using Reaper. It was my first time using Reaper and my first time making a recording with the mike hand heals rather than in a stand. I have a lot to learn.
@ Rontana - having only started playing the harp about 3 months ago, and not being ready yet to torture anyone with my attempts, I'd love to see how far on you are after your 9 or 10 months. Unfortunately when I click on any of the vids you posted, I get a "this video is private" message. Same happens when I try to watch it on youtube. Seems like everyone else can watch it though, so I'm wondering if it's because I'm in Germany - although I don't see how that would affect the youtube settings.
Any of you computer-savvy guys have an idea what's going on?
Thanks for sharing STME58. I'd echo some of mr_so&so's comments. I liked the individual sounds you were making, but also found it hard to keep up, ears wise. would like to hear it slowed down, maybe played over a backing track, and maybe throw away some of the notes and drag some out a bit longer. Cheers!
