One for Abraxas

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Ray J

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I know some people have a bad taste in their mouth since the supernatural thing but, I wrote this in '99 and was a Santana fan when I was younger. I originally named the tune Santana Jct. but the powers that be at mp3.com politely asked me to change the name. It's the only instrumental that I do. As with most of my stuff, there are some recording issues that I am aware of but please feel free to critique anyway.

Thanks
"One for Abraxas"
http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/158/r_johnson.html
 
Like a lot of the playing. The percussion seems to be off in it's own world though. Like the Gary Moore transition at 3: something. The song would sound much better with some real percussion. Outside that, cool!
 
Very nice playing most of the way through, but like Emeric said.. that break is what really sounds good. Very much like Gary Moore. I think the guitar tone on other parts is lost in the mix a little too much, it just sounds distant to me when i turn up the volume. Bring that thing out, cause you can certainly play. There's one melody that you play in there a couple of times that reminds me a lot of an old sitcom theme song, but I can't place it exactly. Da-da da-daaaa dum or something like that. It's killing me trying to think of what it reminds me of, so if anyone else hears the same thing post what it is. Like maybe a superhero theme or detective show or something...
 
I would rather witness an autopsy than stream music low-fi...but I did.....the break ruled....and, like Emeric sorta said, the percussion sound was sorta contrived in its excess.....less would have been more, and more real sounding too....I really liked the repeated melody, and although it had a semi-familiar ring to it, I'm sure it wasn't something I had heard before, because the timing on it was pretty cool......gibs

[Edited by gibs on 01-14-2001 at 18:39]
 
First of all, I hate Santana :)

However, this worked for me. I like the percussion, though the drum set that sounds canned to me and doesn't fit as well as it could. The extra percussion gave this bit a very outdoors feel which I liked. Summertime.

The break at 2:42 was absolutely killer. It really makes the entire song. There's a very SRV moment at 3:20. Wonderful!

I didn't care much for the guitar tone overall...a little too processed. I bet you would be more effective with a sound that's a bit more raw...since I seriously doubt you're hiding anything behind those effects. But that's all a matter of taste. Also there was a little too much lower/midrange which kind of killed it in the rest of the mix at times.

Good job!

Slackmaster 2000
 
Emeric - Thanks for listening, percussions are certainly my weakness on all my stuff. A lot of people are mentioning Gary Moore when hearing my last 2 songs. I've only heard one of his songs in my life, but I'll take it as a compliment.

Jon X - I'll bet the sitcom is "Get Smart". I knew it sounded like something too but was thinking either James Bond or Mission Impossible or something, but when you said sitcom, that made me think of Get Smart. ANyway, it's a similar little thing. You're right about the guitar getting too low or in the back, at times in the song.

Gibs - I had all sorts of hell with the percussions in this song. I have eight tracks and needed many more. Most of the percussions are on split tracks with something else and I couldn't individualize the effects and eq for each. I rode the faders some but there's no way I could keep up with everything.

Slackmaster - Thanks for listening and the compliments. I tracked this a while back and have since been able to get a little better sound from my guitar. I may redo the guitar in the future. I'm gonna have another listen to see what you're talking about with the lower mid range, it might help me in the future, I'll also listen at 3:20 to see what you're calling an SRV moment. Thanks again for listening, the song is doing well thus far on the jazz fusion charts.

Thanks
Ray J
 
Hey Slackmaster,

I went back and listened watching the clock. I know what you're calling the "SRV moment" now. The grunt, yeah, I think HE got that from me. I also remembered what you said about the lower/midrange and listened. It might be because I play almost everything with my 'neck' pickup. If that's not doing it then, it may have been because I overcompensated for a bright, harsh sound I kept getting on the guitar.

Thanks again
Ray J
 
My girlfriend likes your voice and that change is killer man killer! So, stay away from my girlfriend but keep that guit playing coming. I did not like the part before the change and guitar part though, but that is only due to my own music taste, I guess I need something that grips me throughout the song, not just one or two parts in a song.
 
Well I love Santana.....

....and I certainly don't blame him for putting together a hit record. So the mp3 guys wouldn't let you use "Santana" but they would let you use "Abraxas"? Funny.

Incredible guitar playing as always, Ray. And I don't think it's so easy to get that Santana-like sustained sound. Really engaging and interesting and fun to listen to.


I think you should keep working with the dueling percussion. I think that people are hearing the uneven volume levels and rough transitions, but that if you tackle these things you'll end up with a truly innovative fusion.
 
Holy percussification Ray!.....Great guitar work and good mix. Can really hear the Santana influence and then....some nice blues. Excellent recording!
 
Helmut - Stay away from your girlfriend and keep playing the guitar...got it. About the jazzy part, it takes some getting use to if you're not use to hearing it. My wife hated this song the first time she heard it and now it's her favorite. Thanks for checking out the tune.

LI Slim - I know what you mean about the changing volume on the percussion. I had eight tracks and about 11 instuments so what I did was put the kick on the same track as one of the cowbells. Put the wood piece on the same track as the congos, ect. I could do this because they weren't being played at the same time for example when the kick was bein played the cowbell wasn't. What happened in transition is I couldn't get to all of the faders in time, and adjust the effect etc for each split track. It was a mess to mix. Bouncing was my other alternative and that has it's own inherent trouble. Thanks for listening. Glad you liked the guitar work, that's always the easy part.

Mac 2 - Thanks for listening to the tune. Some have said the percussions are a little much but it was a fun song to play along with after I got the rythmn section laid down.
 
I noticed two things on this one: killer guitar playing, and a discrepancy in presence between the solo guitar and the rest. The 'rhythm' guitar and percussion is right up front, and the solo guitar's way back, and yet it's the featured instrument. You REALLY play a good guitar, but the mix highlights the backup.
 
Yeah- that worked although I think the Santana tribute went a bit far at times (2:16, 3:53). The file got offset a few seconds when I digitally ripped the stream to .wav format so your numbers may vary. That jazzy section was very much like what the Dead did on Blues for Allah. Great tone on that rhythm guitar. Some tasteful backup. Great lead work.
Very minor gripe since I thought the percussion job was formidable. Doesn't sound "Latin" enough for me. Almost my whole life I've lived in neighborhoods where Español was either the predominant language or a close second. Have a listen to Beny Moré. His rhythms will infect your work.
At the very end it sounded like a jam between the early Allman Bros. and Carlos due to that nice pentatonic chord thing going on in the background starting at ~4:12.

The TV soundtrack sound was very Get Smartish. Nice one.
As to the recording, it came up a little (~3.4 dB) short on your max level. I didn't hear any artifacts from just normalizing the 16 bit .wav file- it just got louder.
 
dobro - you're 100% correct about the solo. I found the first solo needs to come up and the lead guitar work on the blues interlude could come down just a tad. I recorded the guitar work in a few different sessions and the volume must have changed without me noticing until later. I've also managed to get a little better sound out of my guitar since I cut this, so hopefully my next CD will sound a little better that this one. BTW, I heard your stuff when you posted it here and left some comments. I think the thread sort of got burried right after I posted though, I liked it, I don't remember all the details but I remember liking it. It was my first visit to garage band, man, those reviewers can be rough!

Thanks for listening, I have one more from this batch of mixes that I may or not put up, and then it's on with some new stuff. I can't wait to get back in the studio to work on some new tunes.

drstawl - One part does have a "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed"(Allman Bros) ring to it. As far as for the percussions not being latin enough, I can understand that, although I like that latin vibe and think I can understand what you mean about it getting in to you, I really struggle with percussions and am by no means a percussionist. The percussion work that I originally cut on 4 trak is probably a little more authentic sounding. It was busy, but not as crowded as this and had longer pauses and more umph to it. I had a hard time recreating it, so I went with something a little different. Thanks for listening.
 
Here's what I can offer

Wow. Nice chops.
Percussion is hard to pull off w/ a drum machine or samples. It's hard to make it sound great when every single hit sounds exactly like every other hit. If you plan on doing a lot of this type of thing you should spend a couple bucks and just go get some cheap latin perc stuff. (Those little funky egg shakers sound great on tape!) It will make a huge...wait...a HUGE difference.
As far as the level of the lead guitar, I think backing off some of the reverb would make quite a bit of difference. It wasn't so much a level problem as a "placement" problem to my ears.
A nice tribute, and just for the record I loved Supernatural (except for that one TERRIBLE track with Lauren Hill. Ick!}
Aaron Cheney
http://www.aaroncheney.com
 
pissed in my pants at 2:44

Wow cat that was some of the most killer chops I ever heard...flawless too! I dont know if mr. Santana could hang with that. At 2:44 or so you were totally screaming on that ax, I liked this a lot and the mix worked for me also. Great work on this diddy!
 
Yep, it rocked. Very fluid playing, well intonated, great dynamics. Polished playing, and that's a nice tune. I'm limited to the little pc speaker at work, at low volume, but I'll crank it on the phones later....
reserving any critique on the mix until I can give it a listen at volume.
 
Aaron - Thanks for the advise, I know there's truth in what you're saying.

David and Roland - Thanks, although the critique I get here will help me in the future, it's nice to get some positive feedback on the music itself. Gives me reason to continue to write and record. I appreciate you guys listening. The song has been well received thus far.

Ray J
 
Rippin' to wrenchin' and everywhere in between, nice arrangement and chord structures. Found percussion at times a bit overbearing - contrived. Great work !
 
bbjones - I don't know what contrived means (I hope it's not contageous) but I've been hearing it a lot lately so you must be right. Glad you liked the tune. Like I said before, this was a fun song to cut (except the percussions).

Thanks\
Ray J
 
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