SSG10-Week40 Angelina

Hi MrEWorm,

Thanks for the feedback. It's a good reminder to let the song speak for itself instead of just slapping on bells and whistles automatically. :wink:

James

Experiment: Here is a hybrid version

http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=11825298

Feedback?
(It's ok if it's a fail....just experimenting)

For whatever it's worth, I liked the original band version better than the acoustic. And I also think the new "hybrid" version is the best of the three in terms of ideas, but it still needs work in terms of fine-tuning.

Part of the reason concerns musicianship. James, your playing has more confidence when you feel good about the beat and the tempo. When you play on solo you sometimes speed up the tempo (most people do) but when you're playing to a drum track you actually sound a lot more free and easy with your rhythms instead of sounding like you're concerned with keeping the beat. And you stay on the beat better. In the hybrid, I'd recommend laying down the drum track throughout the whole song in order to not have the speeding up and slowing down that occurs. You can always take the drums totally out of the mix for the "non-band" sections and that way you don't have to worry about the rhythm flitting about on you.

But another part of the reason for liking the band (a big part really) is that taking other instrumentation into account often improves songwriting a great deal. Many people write a lot of songs and wonder why they all sound the same when the obvious answer is that they are always writing for a single guitar (or piano or ukulele or whatever) and a voice. Then any arrangements that may happen are worked out after the basics are laid down. But approaching the writing of a song by starting out with a different instrument, say a bass line or a drum track or a mandolin riff, automatically sets the songwriter on a different path than he or she would usually take. Granted, not every song is going to be a success but a lot of ideas are going to spring up from this method of writing.

I love the SSG because, for the most part, I have no clue as to what's going to show up from week to week. And your songwriting, James, is almost a prototype of that. One week will be a singer / songwriter approach and the next will make most experimental music seem a bit tame. That's what I think Nick and Ryan were hoping for when they started this bit of the Guitar Noise community.

Okay, silly rambling over. On to this week's song. Looking forward to it.

Peace

Hi David,

Thanks for taking the time to give feedback like this. :D
James, your playing has more confidence when you feel good about the beat and the tempo. When you play on solo you sometimes speed up the tempo (most people do) but when you're playing to a drum track you actually sound a lot more free and easy with your rhythms instead of sounding like you're concerned with keeping the beat. And you stay on the beat better.
I found your observations interesting here because I hadn't noticed but I can see your point. I think one thing that is also contributing to the difference is with the voice and gtr only, I am trying to do the whole song in one recording. When I multi-track, I can focus on each part separate....I tend to record the gist in one take but then go back and punch-in the overdubs to redo the glaring errors....In one sense, I don't really care if it's "cheating" because I'm focusing on the songwriting not my playing or singing abilities.
the reason for liking the band (a big part really) is that taking other instrumentation into account often improves songwriting a great deal.
I agree. I know I push myself into new areas when I experiment with different vst instruments and effects.
And your songwriting, James, is almost a prototype of that. One week will be a singer / songwriter approach and the next will make most experimental music seem a bit tame. That's what I think Nick and Ryan were hoping for when they started this bit of the Guitar Noise community.

I've said it before, but the weekly assignments just really hit me where I need to stretch, experiment and grow. I realized over the summer that if I didn't have a pseudo-dead line, I would always want to read and read and read until I felt "good enough" to write, but that time would never come, so the weekly assignments make me stop and say, "Ok, whatever level I am at right now, just do it" It's also important to reevaluate, listen to other songs and read what other songwriters have to say.....I think there is growth in the doing.....simply doing.....

Thanks again for the dialog. :wink:

James