Another new tune

[AnneS]

With the ususal rough spots, etc. I hear more "atmosphere" for this than I can seem to manage here... but I think the song holds together okay.

 

Seems to be a reminder about perspective...

 

If you care to listen, it's with the others: Breathing Room

 

Thanks...

Anne

[Lee M]

With the ususal rough spots, etc. I hear more "atmosphere" for this than I can seem to manage here... but I think the song holds together okay.

 

 

 

Very nice, both playing and singing.

[MissouriPicker]

I like this one too, Annie. The lyrics, as usual, are pretty strong. I like your approach and take on life. "in the miles you go between your first step and your last"-------that very first line made me want to hear the rest. I wouldn't worry much about the atmosphere. I think the whole feel of the song is right for the message. Your songs (in my view) stand very strongly with a simple accompanyment. You don't need something that even approaches being slick or over-produced. For me, the atmosphere is there in the lyrics and the lone guitar.

[AnneS]

I like this one too, Annie. The lyrics, as usual, are pretty strong. I like your approach and take on life. "in the miles you go between your first step and your last"-------that very first line made me want to hear the rest. I wouldn't worry much about the atmosphere. I think the whole feel of the song is right for the message. Your songs (in my view) stand very strongly with a simple accompanyment. You don't need something that even approaches being slick or over-produced. For me, the atmosphere is there in the lyrics and the lone guitar.

 

'preciate the feedback, MP, as always. Thank ye...

 

When I heard that first line, I liked it too, and had to go on and 'hear' the rest. It's how they arrive, generally--something interesting shows up and I try to behave and follow it on out.

 

Fun times--

[wootpow]

Very nice, both playing and singing.

X2

[Scratch47]

Anne,

I sincerely enjoyed your tune. You're gifted; I look forward to listening to others in your library...

[retrorod]

Bravo, Anne! I think my favorite of the many good songs that you have put forth on the forum. Me thinks the mountain air is good for your creativity and I felt and heard a special mellow-tone from your J100.

[onewilyfool]

Anne another wonderful song....can you tell us what set-up you used for recording??

[BluesKing777]

Very nice, thanks Anne.

 

 

Very clear recording too. I like the vibrato in your voice - I think it is reminding me of Chissy Hyndes?

 

 

BluesKing777.

[Guth]

Nicely done Anne. You have a really nice voice. My only other (hopefully seen as constructive) comment is that I would prefer to hear you with less reverb, more of a dry or natural sound on your vocals if you will. That's more of a testament to your voice than anything overly critical. Just the same, I'm very envious of anyone who can sing, let alone sing and play at the same time. Thanks for sharing!

[gotomsdos]

Thank you for sharing !

Very clear tone!

btw, I guess you hear Joan Baez ?

[EuroAussie]

Loved it Anne ! Really enjoy your original compositions, you have such a knack for writing them. The lead fills sounded great and really added warm shades to the overall song.

 

Well done !

[AnneS]

You guys are awesome--thanks so much for listening and for the feedback and encouragement. Songwriting seems to involve all kinds of circuitry and feedback loops, and you all are more helpful than you might know.

 

OWF- I record directly into my pc via a usb condenser mic (Samson CO3U), using Audacity. The room is large-ish and tiled (with a coupla area rugs)--not too bouncy but not too dead, either. Positioning the mic is key (as is waiting for my dog to finish slurping his water in the adjoining kitchen!), which will depend on the song, my voice that day, etc.. I'm getting better at guessing, so my trial-and-error time has been cut down considerably over the last year.

 

I record gtr and vocal at the same time. (I've done the one-at-a-time thing on occasion, but that's another beast altogether, imo.) When I get a track to work with, I add some light compression, then duplicate it twice, adding diff levels of (slight) echo to each of those. Then I mix the 3 tracks, for balance and volume, and bake at 350 degrees... Sometimes I normalize the whole thing, where I can bring the volume up if there are too many extended spikes.

 

Guth--good word on the reverb thing; thanks! I generally like to use the echo so it's there...but not not dominant. Could well have overshot by one or two notches. I mix on the fly, so to speak, so next time I'll remember to check the 'dryness' factor.

 

Anyway--perhaps more info than anyone wanted. There's a lot to be said for keeping it simple, esp as my goal is for storing, sharing and saving more than it is for producing. But man oh man, have I got a soft place in my heart for anyone with the gift of producing!

 

Thank you, all...

A

[rustystrings]

I enjoyed this one a great deal - and to my ears, you NAILED the balance of reverb and mic proximity on Dying Day ... I look forward to hearing more of your stuff!

[Jerry K]

I liked the song. Lyrics are again very strong. However, here's where I think you could improve. Dynamics. It's important to have different levels of volume and saturation in your piece. The song should tell a story and reach a climax and the sound levels should be different at different parts of the trajectory, not the same all the way through. For example, occasionally let the guitar stop or become subdued while the voice soars. Note lengths should not all be quarter or eighths. Melodic variation makes for interest. Play around with jumping bigger intervals than the next note or two on the scale. Have some part of the song where the guitar is more to the front and doing more. I love your lyrics but by the end of your songs I am beginning to lose interest because of the lack of dynamics. Patterns are good, but it is important to break the pattern, otherwise it gets boring.

 

Edit: listened again. Much better on this one in terms of having different note lengths and holding some notes.

[Tman]

I thought it was wonderful on every level. I'm assuming it was a capo on about the 7th playing an A G and D (DCG shape)?

I thought the mood of the song went well with the words, very pensive, and the bridge transition was perfect.

I'm looking forward to hearing others!

[AnneS]

I liked the song. Lyrics are again very strong. However, here's where I think you could improve. Dynamics. It's important to have different levels of volume and saturation in your piece. The song should tell a story and reach a climax and the sound levels should be different at different parts of the trajectory, not the same all the way through. For example, occasionally let the guitar stop or become subdued while the voice soars. Note lengths should not all be quarter or eighths. Melodic variation makes for interest. Play around with jumping bigger intervals than the next note or two on the scale. Have some part of the song where the guitar is more to the front and doing more. I love your lyrics but by the end of your songs I am beginning to lose interest because of the lack of dynamics. Patterns are good, but it is important to break the pattern, otherwise it gets boring.

 

Edit: listened again. Much better on this one in terms of having different note lengths and holding some notes.

Thanks, Jerry. You make a good performance and arrangement observations here-- and they are much appreciated. Although I am, as you might gather, a student in the "one's style is a function of one's limitations" school, especially where performance is concerned, I am not above improving where I can. I am lucky to have a regular spot at a weekly open mic, too, where I can continuously work the songs--and my peformances--and all in all, it's a good ride.

 

Again, thanks for your very helpful tips!

[Jerry K]

I think you have great natural talent in songwriting, lyrics, and singing. One observation I have about your guitar style is you often have fairly heavily saturated accompaniment. In other words there are few empty spaces in your guitar work. Whether through finger or flat-picking or strumming you have a fairly thick background of notes going on behind your voice. Sometimes you could benefit from taking a thinning shears to it. Both those last two songs could be improved I think if you played them much the same way but also came up with a different way of accompanying the verse, for example, and maybe for only one verse used a whole different way of picking, spare where before it was florid, strum where you picked, go soft if it was hard before and so on. This is very like the dramatic effect a speaker gets when they suddenly drop their voice low and everyone strains to hear; they are drawn in by the contrast of the quiet intensity.