A Trifle Hopeful

[amra]

Nice!
I could feel the emotion you were putting in it. Especially from around :55 to 1:20 or so, which along with the very end was my favorite part. Great guitar work as always.

 

[XLR]

[I like the spatial...sounds like the rythm is a bit left and the lead a bit right...almost how you might see this being played live.

Thanks David… I tinkered with more creative panning but tend towards the “two guitars just there in the room” approach since my stuff uses pretty simple arranging

[A few strange transitional notes, but that's the great thing about improv.

Haha… caught me… mistakes that one tries to make work by spinning into something else that maybe does make sense.

[Is the lead using fingers too?

Usually I do, but this time I was using a flatpick… was having trouble playing gently enough with my fingers on the light strings to get the tone I wanted.

Ed said:

[how did you mic this? ie...what kind, how many, pre...etc... I am trying to mic my wife playing her acoustic, and so far, the results aren't that great. She plays pretty quietly. How close to the mic)s) are you?

I used one mic a couple feet away from the 12th fret. I used foam covered gobos standing up on either side of me and the mic, and the room has a high ceiling so it reduces HF problems from above.

Here’s what I’d suggest: have her sit in the middle of the biggest room with the highest ceiling in your house. Put a condenser mic with the flattest frequency response you’ve got a couple feet out from the neck/body joint. Set up high backed chairs or mic stands with horizontal booms a couple feet away on either side of her and behind the mic, with blankets, coats, etc. draped over them. That’ll cut down the zing of the room. If it's a hard floor, cover it with a throw rug between her and the mic. Turn off the furnace and unplug the fridge because with a sensitive mic it’s going to pick up EVERYTHING. Press record and I bet you’ll get pretty much exactly what the guitar sounds like. If you don’t like the tone at the neck/body joint, have her play while you plug one ear and put the other ear a couple feet from the guitar in different spots until you hear a sound you like. Put the mic there and that’s what it’ll hear. Good luck with it. Maybe post something when you get it tracked?

brookman and amra, thanks so much for listening and commenting. Glad you liked it.

Tim

 

[tourettes5139]

Incredible. Just incredible. Playing and recording. That part at 0:55 to 1:00 just kills me. Magnificent. I especially love the tone on the lead guitar, as well as those ascending runs you put in there. What guitar did you use?

 

[bigbubba]

No comment on the recording. I'm still learning.

Tune/Melody - Very nice. It's rather an expression not so much of a tune. It's an expression that seemlessly continues on. Its seem to be moving (meaning it's not repetitive sitting on the same idea over and over). And yet while moving, it doesn't break the mood.
Playing - Very nice. Of course.
Sound - Very nice. I like it. Does feel like cool breeze and meadows. No "mooing" allowed, though. That would break the "silence".

I really like the "breaking away" around 1:56 to play a little 4 sec. lead.

 

[cmhansen]

Hey Tim.

Listened to this the other night and then again tonight. Not sure you'd want to fatten this up anymore, or even if you could. As always great playing. It's always a pleasure to listen to your music and playing.

 

[ido1957]

Excellent!

Tim, My only complaint is that it was too short. ....This sounded fantastic even coming out of my PC speakers - crystal clear, rich and full (those are nines?). And as always the playing is inspiring....
Gerry

 

[XLR]

Thanks a bunch tourettes5139, it was a Takamine F312S “New Yorker” style small-body acoustic on both parts.

[Its seem to be moving (meaning it's not repetitive sitting on the same idea over and over)

I appreciate the comments, bigbubba. Your description is right on... just wandering, thinking in melodic and rhythmic shapes and tone colors but not following a plan.

Chris, thanks for the listen and the “fatness reassurance”, heh-heh.

Ido1957, glad you liked it. Thanks for the feedback on its desktop speaker sound.

Tim

 

[bigbubba]

Thanks a bunch tourettes5139, it was a Takamine F312S “New Yorker” style small-body acoustic on both parts.

I appreciate the comments, bigbubba. Your description is right on... just wandering, thinking in melodic and rhythmic shapes and tone colors but not following a plan.

Chris, thanks for the listen and the “fatness reassurance”, heh-heh.

Ido1957, glad you liked it. Thanks for the feedback on its desktop speaker sound.

Tim

Takamine, Gretsch, Les Paul (Gibson), PRS, etc.... Some of the guitars I'd really like to own. But they're expensive! The PRS had me almost bring it home but $2500 tag was too much. I played with it for a while at the Guitar Center in one of the testing rooms fitted with big amps.

One of the things that I like about a Takamine is exactly the not so "fat" sound as compared to a Yamaha or something. I realize the wood type and other elements make a difference in a guitars sound but still different makes and models have different sound reputations. I don't care so much for the Yamaha over rich sound. I much prefer the slightly rich but more bright Takamine sound. Summary of babble: I'd like it as is.

 

[XLR]

I don't care so much for the Yamaha over rich sound. I much prefer the slightly rich but more bright Takamine sound. Summary of babble: I'd like it as is.

Thanks bigbubba. I dunno, maybe in this case it's just the small body gtr's more balanced recorded sound compared to a larger dreadnought's heavier low end.

Tim

 

[7string]

Sheesh, Tim. INCREDIBLE just doesn't seem to do it for me. If it makes sense - this rocks! Sounds pretty fat to me. I wouldn't worry about that. Absolutely stunning playing!

By the way...

 

[XLR]

Well thanks 7, but the Puff the Magic Dragon type picking pattern here is nowhere near as cool as the "parental advisory" porn stuff you've been tracking.

Tim

 

[7string]

Well thanks 7, but the Puff the Magic Dragon type picking pattern here is nowhere near as cool as the "parental advisory" porn stuff you've been tracking.

Tim

Hey! Only TWO!!!!!

 

[XLR]

SnakeDog suggested:

either widen the sound in the stereo field and raise the volume some or double track in the stereo field. To me that makes it sound like one bigger fatter sounding acoustic.

Snake, based on your suggestions and those from a couple other folks elsewhere - including Llarion in another thread, I remixed it.

Hopeful - spatially

Here's what I did...
- Brought the lead gtr to center
- copied the backing gtr to a 2nd track and delayed it a little, the tracks hard panned
- EQ'd the backing tracks, rolling off a little of the low end because it was building up excessively with the doubling, with slightly different EQ on each.
- added a touch of verb to the backing gtrs, which had been dry previously
- changed the multiband comp that was on the mix to catch just a little more of the 300-600 Hz dynamics, which were occasionally excessive.

Not sure if I've got it yet, but it was fun to try it out. Thanks for the idea.

Tim

 

[David Katauskas]

Tim, I'm listening thu my cans and the new mix sounds great.

 

[SnakeDog5050]

Wow Tim, this sounds amazing. I just love the feel of the spatial qualities you added. Sounds like I'm just surrounded in acoustic relaxation. Geez, I didn't think the original could sound any better, but you pulled it off.
I listened on both my speaker system and headphones, both big thumbs up. Very nice work

Keep up the good work And I'll keep trying to find something to suggest, maybe I will one day.

It's ironic that right before I started making suggestions I said this in the same post. Just comes from typing as I'm listening I guess. Glad I could help

 

[bigbubba]

Love it more.

 

[XLR]

David, Snake and Bubba, thanks for the second listens and kind comments.

I'm still wrestling with the occasional booming low notes that start some of the ascending runs. I overplayed them in the tracking... should have taken the time to track it in my larger room that doesn't have a woof problem but wasn't thinking I'd save it. I've compressed the lower mid peaks with the multiband about as much as my ear can take so I'm figuring my next option is to try some volume automation to minimize the woofy low notes in the mix. If that doesn't work, maybe some spot EQ on the offending track. Any suggestions on other ways to hide the woofs are appreciated.

Tim