Since the first time I heard this song at the youtube channel of Buddha (Chris Michalek), I loved it. I've been woodshedding on it for a little while now and have recorded my effort.
I copied Chris's playing until after the second bridge. Then It's my own playing. (I found the bridges quite hard to play)
I don't know anybody who lives near me that can play the diatonic harmonica, so I am very interested in everyone's feedback.
This is it:
The original song from Chris can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAvxKVdaE_Y
I've been playing for about 1.5 year now. After my first year I posted a more standard blues recording of my playing. Please feel free to comment on that one as well:
Please don't hold in on your critiques. I can learn alot from them!
Hey man good playing. I've been playing for like 8 months, might post my own stuff soon(i play quite a bit though). The second song could have been attacked slightly more off the beat at the start of it (could just be because i've been listening to lots of jazz sax but yeh) in my opinion, but good value overall!
The "Essence of Night" thing sounds marvelous to me. I believe a few numbers like that in a performance are refreshing to the audience's ears. The blues shuffle is very good too. I would suggest a little more expansion of vocabulary...which means sitting there with the CD player and memorizing a few well known tunes note for note and then sliding them into your own stuff here and there. Here are a few that I suggest: Little Walter's "Thunderbird". Little Walter's "Backtrack". Piazza'a "Bounce" and "Harpburn". (for some real pain, lol, start on "Roller Coaster"..taking it a little at a time) You got a good tone. Add a little more throat vibrato on that 2 hole draw...you don't need much, just a drop or two. Seek out Rod Piazza'a instrumental "Bounce" on his album "Alphabet Blues"....you already are into some of the licks. Many will dismiss it and say "oh I can play that"...BUT they haven't dug into the tune and learned it note for note. Its harder than it appears to be. I heard you do a lick from Little Walter's "You're so Fine" in there...GOOD! You also know when to shut that thing down and let the other instruments compliment you. You sound like you're well on your way to being a real player. I wouldn't hesitate to get you up there with me anytime. (and I would waive the "$50 in the tip jar" requirement for sit-ins) Regards, stay happy, and all that stuff.
Micha, do you have a skype account? I would be happy to work with you a little bit if you'd like.
I listened to both vids a couple of times each. I can hear you thinking about what you're going to do next. Try not to do that, just play in the moment and do not be afraid to make a mistake. Since, you're playing with backing tracks, you can't "drive" the tune but you can be comfortable with knowing that nothing is going to change on you so play with confidence. There are only a few choices you can make in a given moment so there is no real worry about being right or wrong but the next moment allows you to "fix" anything that may need it.
Also try to connect your breathing more. Play as many notes as you can with one breath, I try my best to have a continuous stream of air going all the time and I just move the harp - that's where the smoothness of my playing comes from. For example, if I'm playing a little run and then suddenly jump to the top of the harp to play blow 9, I will be blowing air out of my mouth before I even get to blow nine. You'll find that method, allows you to "pre-sound" the notes and you'll have more control over it.
Other things to keep in mind are the entry and exit points of each notes, are you going to swell in? Hit it's dead on with a hard attack, cut the note off sharply at the end? let it fade? or slur into another note? To me, every note has a beginning middle and the end. Think about that a little bit and see how you can make it apply to you.
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"Musicians are the architects of heaven"
Last Edited by on Jun 12, 2010 7:42 AM
@joeleebush: Thank you for your words and advice for some songs. I got the album of Piazza this afternoon and I listened to it a bit while studying and I like it a lot! Definitely some songs on there that I will dig in to. I find it nice to copy instrumental songs, as it shows how a good musician finds a way to stay interesting throughout the whole song. Thanks for pointing me in that direction.
@Buddha: I'm really glad you like it! :-) This will stay one of my favourite harp songs ever... I love the funky edge you put in there.
It would be awesome to get some pointers from you on Skype! I don't have an account currently, but I will make one in a week or two. I'm a bit too busy with my exams at the moment.
Thanks for the tips you already gave in your post, I'm going to keep those in mind.
My next woodshedding song is going to be with Mr. Magic from Grover Washington. I will try to get some of his version and yours at Rockin the Rockies. Would you happen to know where I could find a nice backing track for that song?
P.S.: Chris, I'm the same guy that's waiting for the jazz harp in A from you :-) (email = mcalcoen@hotmail.com) How is it coming together?
Last Edited by on Jun 12, 2010 1:14 PM
