[Jim]

This is "Birds", written by Neil Young in the 70's.

This was not how I planned to spend this evening , but after my car accident today I really needed to do this, and do something different as well. That would be my trying to play finger picking style for the first time in almost 30 years! I used to do it back in the 70's, but I haven't done it (that I can remember) since, so there's a track of guitar strumming in this, and also a track of finger picking. It's far from perfect - there are bloopers and areas where I get off a bit, but I've got a lot of unrusting to do in this area - so take it for what it's worth... Also, my voice is very hoarse today from talking to insurance people and police (giving recorded statements) but that's part of the state I'm in today, and I wanted this piece to reflect that. This is also a piece for me to remember this day by.

I played this for my wife and she felt the music was too loud compared to the voice, but I'm not sure I agree - but we all know my track record here with getting the levels of the parts right! She may be referring the the lead, which I know I played over the vocals in a lot of areas, but in this case I felt it fit (and it was my own vocals I was playing over...). But I know you'll let me know if adjustment in the level of anything needs to be done. I hope you'll like it the way it is, but I'm not above giving it another go, or whatever it takes to make this sound good.

Oh - I almost forgot! If anyone wants to try to tell me what kind of acoustic guitar it sounds like I'm using, I'm trying something new there also, so... let me know!


Jim

[allthumbs]

Glad your finding playing good therapy Jim. Your finger picking sounds pretty good to me. Nice job.

[Jim]

Thanks Marty!

It really is the best therapy for me!

Jim

[scotty_b]

well done Jim

[nocat]

I like the raspy voice... It adds to the texture of the song...!!!

Very nice playing... The recording sounds a little on the tinny side, seems like you lost
some of the low frequency content, making it sound like I'm listening on an AM radio...
This happens to me when I record all the tracks trough a mic that has been placed a
little too far away from the source...
Boosting the mid-low and low EQ may help, but, unfortunately this will probably also
boost noise and hum, which will make it sound muddy... Give it a try, and see what happens...!!!

The secret to recording, is to always get the cleanest sound possible on every track...
This will give you room to play when you get into the mixing portion of the song. A noisy
track will be a nightmare to mix, because, no matter what you do, the noise will nearly
always be amplified along with the signal...

In a studio environment, noise suppression is the foremost concern, and they are designed
with this purpose in mind. Unfortunately, sound proofing the room you record in can
be unsightly and often a pain in the butt...

However, with the ability to record directly into your PC/Laptop, this concern can be
minimized, if not eliminated all together...

This is all well and good if your instrument has a pickup... With acoustic guitars this
can be difficult... In this case, mic placement is of paramount importance...!!!
Given that your room is not sound proofed, and a Cone of Silence is not in the budget,
a uni-directional mic placed close enough to the source to overpower ambient noise,
should do the trick... Experimentation, will help to provide the 'sweet spot'...!!!

Again, I enjoyed the song Jim...!!!

Cheers
Ben

[Jim]

Thanks Scotty and Ben!

Ben - the reason I added that question about what kind of acoustic guitar I was using, is that I wasn't using an acoustic guitar! It was my EC Strat - but using the "Acoustic Layla" model on the Crossroads pedal, which makes your electric supposedly sound like the acoustic Clapton played when he did the Unplugged version of Layla.. I was curious as to whether it would sound like an acoustic to most people - and I think it did. I had the TBX control (top tone knob) turned up pretty high, so there was a lot of treble introduced because of that -- it seemed to lose some of it's acoustic modeling when the tone was more bassy, but I'll see what I can do about getting more bass into it.

But your advice about recording is priceless, and I'm going to print it out and save it for when I do record my real acoustic with a mic. THANKS!!!

It is nice to be able to get an acoustic sound out of an electric, because it's so much easier to play. I'll play with the sound more to see if this combo really can be used as a realistic acoustic sound.

Thanks guys!
Jim

[si16]

Nicely done, Jim. You really poured your emotions into that one. Bet it made you feel better.

[Jim]

Thanks si16!

Recording this was an emotional purge for me, that I really needed yesterday. I probably would have taken more time with it otherwise, waiting until my voice rested and just fine-tuning the playing, but I felt the real need to both perform/record this and to share it as well yesterday, warts and all.

But, it did re-open the door for me to finger picking again, and hopefully I'll practice that again now to at least get back to where I used to be with it. And learning to record optimally is sure turning out to be a fine art of it's own! I had no idea of all the finessing that was required to get a good recording done - it's a separate learning discipline more complicated than I ever realized. But I'm really grateful for the chance to have you people here to be my tutors! My recording equipment is still crude and not up to what many of you have, but little by little that will improve as well.

Jim

[scotty_b]

Originally Posted by Jim

And learning to record optimally is sure turning out to be a fine art of it's own! Jim

Is it ever!!!!

[Hilch]

wow I am very impressed

Gee you guys are talented

[Jim]

From what last heard from you Hilch, the talent is yours! All that is needed is practice and a little time, and I think the rest is in place.

Thank you for your kindness.

Jim

[Kirk Lorange]

Hi, Jim. Thanks for posting, that's a pretty good effort. I've always loved that tune.

A couple of comments: I personally think the vocal is a little loud in the mix. It seems a bit too separated from the instruments to me, like it's not part of the track. I always like to hear vocals 'sticking' to the instruments, getting a little tangled up with them, so all the elements blend into 'the song'.

Also, I don't really hear the finger picking you mention. I hear a strummed guitar and another playing little lead lines (be careful not to play blues licks in tunes that ain't the blues!) ... is it mixed too far back for me hear it?

Good work, though, you put a lot into it ... it ain't easy getting a whole song down, I know. Keep on experimenting, recording and posting! It's the doing of it that's the fun bit, and of course the more you do, the better you get.

[Jim]

Hi Kirk! And thanks for your critique.

It's so strange... As I said in my first post, I played this for my wife before posting it and she said the voice should be louder! I also thought the opposite, but after her comment I was afraid to lower it any. One of these days I'll get the levels right! But you're right about it sounding separate, and that may partly be because I'm using a terribly cheap microphone that I have to hold practically up to my mouth and sing at full volume to get a decent level on, so it never really sounds natural. I'm hoping for an SM57 - which I think can be used for both instruments and voice.

The finger picking is at the same volume and using the same acoustic patch from the Crossroads pedal as the strumming, so that may be making it melt into the overall sound of the strumming and lead. I guess I hear it because I know what I played so I know what to listen for, but that's not fair to expect others to hear that. To be honest, until I get my finger picking back to a decent level, it may be just as well that it's not that distinguishable! I am glad to be doing it again though - it's something I want to get back into my repetoire.

In a few days I'll see if I can remix this to sound better - using your comments and Ben's and what I've heard since I posted it. Thanks for taking the time to listen and comment! I really appreciate it!

Jim

[scotty_b]

Hey Jim
You can use a 57, but there may be better options. It really comes down to budget. The Shure mics are very well made, but I don't believe they have the best sound around. Having said that, there are so many factors in the signal chain you can still receive good results with them, and I use a 58 for vocals at gigs and a 57 on my guitar amp at times for gigs as well.
Do a search on home recording on the net and see what other people are using.
There is also a good book called 'Sound Advice on Recording and Mixing Guitars' bu Bill Gibson that may be worth a look.
Looking forward to hearing your next song

[CanuckTodd]

Sounds good Jim. Good therapy after a shock for sure! Nice to hear some more Neil Young stuff from the classic vault. I hope you weren't thinking "it's over" when you and that other car were mashing metal.