[Stratrat]

OK....up at the top it says "don't be shy, beginners are welcome too", so I still feel safe posting this. Over in the "Home Studio" forum, I posted that I finally bought a mixer yesterday and started playing with multi-track PC recording in Audacity, so this song was the result. I did the drum track in Leaf Drums (finally figured it out!), and the rest of the guitar and vox is me. Strat through a Roland MicroCube (mostly for the fx) into the mixer. All you fellow Plane Talkers, please excuse the purely scalar (minor pent) solos!

As always, constructive criticism and advice is welcomed and greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[tomg123]

I couldn't put something like together, after my 2 and a half years playing so i'll leave the tips for others. I did like it, and it sounded like a genuine blues tune

[allthumbs]

You have your blues mojo working. Congrats

[eddiez152]

Stratrat,
Nice job done. Cingrats on your efforts.

[Jomi]

Great song Stratrat, I think your voice works well with blues.
While your recording is nice and clear, it sounds like you're singing from behind the drums, I don't know if others wil agree but I think you should pan your voice forward a little. Sounds rich coming from me, I can't get the hang of multitracking at all!
Well done Stratrat very nice tune, thank you.

[Stratrat]

Thanks for the input, everybody - I appreciate it. Jomi - if anything, I considered pushing the vocals even further back in the mix! I thought they were the weakest part of the song by far - I literally wrote the lyrics in about 10 minutes, and by the time I got to laying the vocal track I had spent most of the day on the drums and all the guitar tracks - I treated the vox almost as an afterthought. I really should have re-done them (and I will at some point), but I got in a hurry to finish the song. I wouldn't go quite so far as to say they were a "scratch track", but it's not too far from the truth.

[Clancy]

Very cool!

Note to self... avoid at ALL costs getting on the wrong side of Stratrat.

Clancy

[smort]

Stratrat, that a good recording. One of the problems with mixers and sound guys in general is that they know the words. I mean how many times have you gone to a concert and not heard the vocals, tht because the sound guy knows the words and he wants to hear the instruments. Forget that.. try to mix as if you've never heard it before. You've got a good voice..bring it up, turn the rhythm guitar down and keep the drums right where they are. You'll be fine!

[Stratrat]

Thanks for the tips, Smort. I'm going to redo the vox so I feel a little better about bringing them up in the mix.

Clancy - I kinda borrowed the idea for those lines from Jimi Hendrix' "Hey Joe". He shot his ol' lady down too.

[Clancy]

Originally Posted by Stratrat

Clancy - I kinda borrowed the idea for those lines from Jimi Hendrix' "Hey Joe". He shot his ol' lady down too.

Whew... that's a relief... you had me worried there for a sec.

[737blues]

Well done Stratrat. That was very cool. I agree with Smort, don't push your vocals back.

[krissovo]

Great stuff, enjoyed it very much

[Stratrat]

Originally Posted by Clancy

Whew... that's a relief... you had me worried there for a sec.

LOL...had my wife worried when she listened to the song too. She asked why I was writing/singing songs about stuff like that. I said "Hey, this is the BLUES - you don't write blues songs about happy marriages, fat bank accounts and new cars!".

[fly135]

Stratrat, that was fantastic! The solos have great phrasing and the whole song sounded solid and tight. Ya gotta sing ya woman a song like this just to keep em in line.

[knight46]

Very nice Stratrat, loved it.