I’ve taken all the great suggestions to heart and rerecorded.
This is with a backing track. I found that practicing with the backing track I listen more attentively to the drums/bass/keyboard whereas if I’m trying to follow the guitar I"m listening for the guitar.
Lowered gain on amp slightly, and used the Mesa Boogie pedal to switch to the “solo” mode for more volume along with my volume on guitar. Seems to have improved the tone a bit and made the transition to rhythm section a better. Still needs work.
MesaBoogie Mk5-35 with PRS Custom 24 on the neck pick up.
Haven’t figured out recording levels between the music and my guitar yet. It’s a steep learning curve!
Thanks to all for the feedback. It has been really helpful and uplifting.
I’m going to throw in with @DavidP and not offer an actual critique. I dig Santana’s chops a lot. I think your playing is pretty close to Santana’s on a Santana track. It’s interesting to have that as a goal and I think you have done a good job with that.
What would really move the needle (in my mind) would be to take a Latin track and apply the Dorian scale in the way that Santana is known to do. Maybe that can be a reach goal for you. Take some of those chops and apply them in a new and interesting way. Note that you may not get a bunch of kudos for it, but it will feel pretty darn good.
Way beyond my level of ability, so no critique i’m afraid, but sounded really good and your guitar tones suited the style of music really well. Keep on doing what you’re doing
You’ve got a really nice tone. Some of the bends are maybe out of tune very slightly to my ears but then later in the track it sounds like you’re hitting them right on and they sound awesome. do you think you’re struggling to play some parts of the solo? Just keep practicing really slowly.
But otherwise this sounds very good. It’s a lot better than the first recording with less gain and you’ve got rid of the original guitar so it’s not clashing. you’ll be great at this rate.
Hi,
Sounds much better on this end. Very fluid is your play and I suspect this is very difficult to pull off. From the get go your chords are in tune and the bends seem to hit the spot. On getting to know recording gear and guitar gear, there is no substitute to doing more of it! Ask lots of questions, use Google to find info on recording and more… Keep recording and posting. Then go back a year prior and compare current to the old, you will see and hear a difference!
Thats sounding nice! It’s such a good tune! Thanks for sharing and looking forward to hearing more!
I like that I can hear the separation from your guitar and the backing track so to be able to listen specifically to your playing then those levels work for me. Agree its tricky if you want to sound like you’re in the mix and on stage with the band!
There are a few passages where I feel like I’m rushing a bit…Santana is very fluid, never sounding like he’s playing fast even if he is. So I shall try working on those with a metronome till they feel more legato. (Any other practices for that issue are welcome).
Thanks CT. That’s a good track you’ve made…You managed to create some catchy phrases which I found myself humming. Which I think is the secret, especially with an instrumental. I’ll take up your challenge!
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