Beginner's safe space

Thanks @sairfingers too. Will try that :+1:

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Whoops - of course. Silly me. Can I blame early morning wooly head?

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Didnā€™t read the whole thread and immediately edited Richardā€™s to replace ā€˜privateā€™ with ā€˜unlistedā€™ :grin:

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Ok letā€™s give this a bash. I suppose a bit of background would be in order. I have been playing for approx 18 months having bought my first guitar in 2016. I was on and off the learning bus until starting the Justin Guitar course. Iā€™m towards the end of beginner grade 2 where Justin is encouraging us to record ourselves. Iā€™m feeling like I am doing ok but kind of would like some feedback/encouragement/constructive criticism. I think it would be good to get more involved in this community and will try to find time (e.g. when travelling when I canā€™t play). Iā€™ve watched the earlier videoā€™s here from @swashata and @prbushe and felt they both did great and itā€™s given me encouragement.

This is my take on ā€˜Resolveā€™ by the Foo Fighters. I would highly recommend it to other learners as itā€™s just A, Em, D and G and the tempo is not too fast. As well as playing advice Iā€™d welcome technical advice about the sound set-up. I have a Blue-Yeti USB mic and just used the laptop camera, trying to keep things simple. I think I may have to experiment with Mic placement as the voice is a bit quiet. Or do I just need another Mic? Would an Audio interface be a good route to go down? Some of the technical stuff is confusing to be honest. I would spend a bit of money for the right equipment but donā€™t want to go down a huge rabbit hole. Ok going to try and uploadā€¦

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Hey Bob, that was good! Song sounded great, I know the song. Makes me think I should learn it.

Playing looked great, strumming great, etc!

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Hi Bob, great job posting your first recording. It is a big step, but will be really rewarding. I thought it sounded good for where you are in your journey, so encourage you to keep posting, and keep growing.

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:clap: :clap: :clap:
Bravo, Bob. Well done on making and sharing your first recording.

Your playing is looking solid, right on track for where you are in Gr2. So that is about smooth, rhythmic strumming, clean chords, making the changes. And you did well on all that, looked relaxed.

Camera angles can be deceptive, but looks to me on the D and G chords you could get some of the fingers up a little closer to the fret. That helps with requiring less pressure to make the note ring cleanly. Might need some slight adjustments to your hand position, perhaps getting the palm to be closer to parallel with the neck. Not a major thing, just perhaps take a look and experiment if the observation is accurate.

Your singing sounded full of promise from the little I could hear. Getting good balance between voice and guitar with a single mic is challenging. As you said, try playing with mic position. Also over time sing out with more gusto, which comes with practice and confidence in the playing.

Eventually you may want to explore interfaces and two mics, assuming your guitar is a straight acoustic without built-in electronics. But for now Iā€™d say keep doing what you are doing. Lift the mic up to the level of your mouth, sing as loud as you can, and take it from there.

Look forward to your next.

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Hey Bob, that was a fantastic first AVoYP post. Nice steady strumming, clean chords, playing without looking and to top it all off singing as well. You can be proud of yourself for that first entry into your AVoYP catalogue. @DavidP made a good observation regarding positive finger placement (he picked me up on it too :wink:) which is definitely worth checking out when you review the recording to analyse your own performance.

Well done on taking your first steps in recording and posting your performances. I look forward to hearing more from you. You done very well mate. Keep up the good work.

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Congratulations on over coming your own hurdle @BobW72 and recording / sharing your first ever upload.
Bravo.
I would recommend a few steps now:
Introduce yourself: Introduce yourself ... - JustinGuitar Community

Start a Learning Log: Learning Logs - JustinGuitar Community

Browse the recording section (maybe start a topic if you donā€™t find what you want): šŸ’» Hardware, Software & Recording - JustinGuitar Community

As to the playing - all seems good, steady and even. Nicely done.
:slight_smile:

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Well done Bob. Vibes from me for posting your first AVoYP.
In addition to what the others have said, Iā€™d say try adding a bit more dynamic into your strumming, at the moment itā€™s a bit ā€˜sameyā€™. By that I mean perhaps change the strum pattern for the chorus or bridge. Perhaps strum a bit harder for the final verse. That sort of thing.
As for the vocal/guitar/video frame position balance itā€™s a matter of experimentation to find the right mic position. You also just need to throw yourself into the vocal and sing louder. :smiley:

Well done. I look forward to more in the future.

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I am kind of taken back by these comments. Thank you so much everyone, loving the positivity and will have a look at the finger positioning as advised. Iā€™m going to try the mic placement too, Iā€™m a bit limited with space and items I can fix the boom arm to, but I think there are options.

Basically though just wanted to get something out there and see the reaction. Itā€™s kind of hard to gauge yourself at times when youā€™re learning in this way.

I would encourage other learners to go for it. I am not a hugely confident person but have managed to cross the bridge. I will post more when I get time. Many thanks for the encouragement.

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Good on you Bob, playing and singing is a big leap as is getting your post up, thank you for sharing. Not much for me to comment on that hasnā€™t been said already other than I also look forward to more from you, congratulations! :slight_smile:

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Hi Bob that was superb, well done on your first recording you did super good! I know the song very well and you definitely did it justice, clean changes (even though surprisingly as David pointed out your fingers on some chords are bit far from frets), good rhythm, vocals were clean as well as a bonus even if a bit quiet.

As for recording kit - you should be able to improve your sound by just playing around with mic location. Check Gordonā€™s aka @sairfingers recordings he is just using his Iphone mic and it sounds very good, with your USB mic it should possibly be slightly better quality wise.

And if you want to start investing in recording kit I recommend Scarlett 2i2 interface assuming your guitar can be plugged in as well or if you want to use 2 microphones - one closer to guitar and the other to your mouth. All the best!

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Followed the early discussion Bob and was pleased to see you posted.

Well apart from the vox gtr balance, it was instantly recognisable and like @jkahn said one to learn. Thought you played it well and some good vocals despite the levels. As others have said for a simple set up play around with positioning to bring the vocals up and youā€™ll be good to go but an impressive first post. Well done.

Cheers

Toby
:sunglasses:

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Thank You. I did check out @sairfingers doing Norwegian Wood and that was really well played and very good sound too. I had a quick look at the Scarlett 212 and that doesnā€™t look like an unreasonable amount of money. Going to move the Yeti mic around first, and see how that goes. Thanks for the advice @adi_mrok

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Thanks Toby, the singing part is like learning another instrument at the same time. Again itā€™s practice isnā€™t it? Iā€™m never quite sure how to pitch my voice (lots of variables around song choice too) but I enjoy it and it helps me bookmark my progress through a song.

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Hi Bob. That was great. I noticed your 3rd finger lagged behind the others on the D chord just like mine did. All of a sudden and quite unexpectedly that finger just learns itā€™s position and keeps up with the others. Well done!

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Well done Bob and congratulations on your first public recording. Youā€™ve achieved a lot of good things here.

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Congratulations Bob on your first video post. You did very well mate. A proud milestone.
Particularly liked your steady rhythm. Crucial skill.
Regarding the guitar/vocal balance, as a starting point, try putting that Yeti (using the cardioid pattern) at around the 12th fret, and (vertically) about halfway between the fretboard and your chin. Maybe 8 inches away. Experiment from there.

Again, well done mate.

Cheers, Shane.

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That was great Bob and what a great tune to cover. Playing was very good and your singing also sounded good.

Some great advice there form David.

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