OK high level for those CBA folks not interested in the diary.
Southern Rock BT, another hand full of licks ala 30 Beginners Licks. Reaper into OBS.
John Lee Hooker pre-set on Mustang III with customary “devil” tweaks. Waves CLA Unplugged FX on dual line outs from Mustang. Master track gifted with Waves Abbey Road Chamber FX. Bit of panning and balancing. Tested through cans and PC speaker. Balance seemed ok. Render upload post. Oh used the SG in case you wondered.
Nice little recording there Toby, I think it could be perhaps a bit more courageous from time to time but note wise sounded great. Really enjoyed it and hope to hear more soon
Really good Toby, you covered a lot of the fretboard there. I recognised some of the licks too. The tones and vibe remind me of something but I can’t remember what. Perhaps a 60/70’s instrumental by someone or other?
A bit harder picking from time to time so it’s sort of louder and aggressive, it was a mellow jam which is fine but with this particular BT I think I would prefer some more aggressive moments that’s all
Also when Toby left some notes ringing out I would apply a bit more vibrato on some of them.
@CT Thanks Clint, yeah despite the heavy BT I wanted it to breath.
@adi_mrok Glad you enjoyed it. Possibly a bit too subtle here and there but I was experimenting with feel and trying a softer touch. I think you are right, there were a couple of parts that was too soft but all part of the learning process. Thanks for the listen.
@DavidP David Hardest thing will be remembering all 30 plus the 15 or so from Justin but they do bed in with practice. So despite moving on, I will be looping around these but also playing them in different positions and Keys, so its a never ending process. You can add the 2 and b3 to that phrase and dance around either side of the root, or drop in from above. All good fun. The next quest is 10 pieces in a mix of styles and length, 25 bars and upwards !
On the mix, the lead dominated the PC speakers and was equal on the headphones. So I bumped the BT a couple of db to even it out, thinking most folk will use speakers. One day I’ll satisfy everyone
@sairfingers Gordon appreciate that and its great (and a relief) you are recognizing the licks. As to the vibe, certainly something of that era, which is what drew me to the JLH preset.
@ChasetheDream Thank you Robert ! The licks were pre-ordained and then culled to go with the BT, so some subconscious influence certainly possible in that part of the process. I’ll happily go with UH or 10YA.
Thanks for that explanation @adi_mrok! Good chat. Looking forward to hearing you stitch together some riffs (for a minute or two) and play some improvisational lead guitar. I feel that it is courageous in its own right. That’s the beauty of us all bravely sharing our tracks as we can assess and apply our own style and preferences to this craft. Improv is a different beast than doing covers.
One last note: Humbucker guitars have a tendency to naturally compress what we play (and sometimes sound a little muddy to MY ears). This means you may not always get that extra “growl” by digging in with the pick, or the dynamic range as is normally the case with single coils. Playing lead with the bridge pickup can give you a better crack at adding dynamics.
EDIT: Lower output humbuckers lowered from the strings can sometimes give cleans and dynamics approximating single coils. YMMV
At the end of the day, David its all subjective, even to the experts amongst us and out in the real world. One man’s meat and all that. Certainly no issues with your comments, as its a frequent merry-go-round on these pages. Pulled YT up on the mobile, in the smallest room in the house and got another completely different feel ! Go figure ?
Beyond my play grade to give any meaningful feedback. So I will go with Justin’s mantra of ‘if it sounds good, it’s good’ and it sounded good to me. You are making some mighty fine progress Toby.
P.S. with that title I thought you were going to be doing some improv to the Jackson Five. Enjoyed the diary entry.
Now the JF and “that” song reminds me a true story. A girlfriend got us tickets, unbeknown to me, to see the Jackson 5 very early 70s and they had Junior Walker and the All Stars as a support act. Came out after the show and she asks “Well what did you think of that” all giddy beaming and glowing. I said Junior Walker was ;kin brilliant so much energy great songs, Jacksons were a bit naff! For some reason I was dumped the next day but heck seeing JW&TAS was worth it.
