Oh boy, its been a long time between the proverbial drinks.
But after sweating of the audio setup to get a guitar and vocal sound I liked, well balanced, Zoom was back at its old tricks and the video-audio sync was way off SIGH. As such for the event I resorted to simply taking audio from the AI and video from the webcam. I must try and figure out what the issue is, or maybe not bother.
In my gold old playing days, I’d often record a dry run, and sometimes share those here. Never got to that in the pre-event setup, so decided to record the two songs the day after. Mainly because I wanted to share the sounds as I wanted people to hear it. Secondly, I was hoping I’d be more relaxed and maybe produce an improved performance.
I ought to have known better. Confidence and ease comes from regular consistent doing. It is not as they say ‘like riding a bike’ ie being almost immediately comfortable after long time of not riding.
I expect you will notice and sense the tension in my body, and tension is the enemy. It will take some time to regain that confidence and ease that was eroded over the last couple of years when I was unable to play.
Maybe I’ll say more in my Learning Log, but for now, enough waffle . . .
What a beautifully played and absolutely wonderful singing it’s really nice to listen to your voice and with those wonderful finger patterns I come into rest mode without exaggeration … and that would be difficult if I saw the tension in your body, and I don’t … I also watched a piece with the sound off … and no, still fun to watch, no tension but super chill, but perhaps biased because I had heard the first song in its entirety and so me was chill
and I am not exaggerating anything, my wife next to me came to lean over to see who sang so quietly/calm and beautifully (and she is not the easiest to please with singing )
Oh, I love that Rolling Stones song (quite unlike the Rolling Stones, right? ).
Great performance, David, very pleasant to listen to, thanks for sharing.
You are always so generous Rogier. Much appreciated. And you can thank your wife on my behalf. Until I took the Chris Liepe Discover Your Voice course in the Covid years, my singing was . . . hmmm . . . let’s say I was willing but not so able. Much better now, and do enjoy singing, simply for the fun of it.
Thanks Paul, I’m glad
Appreciate that, Tomasz.
I am also a Stones fan, specifically the early blues/rock n roll covers and those 4 exceptional albums on the tro in the late 60s/early 70s . . . Beggars Banquet to Exile on Main Street. And for sure ATGB is not your typical Stones song. Very much reflects that it was, so they say, the first song ever written by Jagger & Richards. And has the benefit of being simple enough for me to play and sing, unlike many others I wish I could play and sing, such as Wild Horses.
I can manage a simple version of Dead Flowers, and before my break, stumble through Ruby Tuesday . . . would love to get back to the level where I can again play and sing that.
Lovely David, both good. Particularly liked As Tears Go By which, written by the Stones was released by Marianne Faithful before them. Hers made a big impression on me at the time (me a teenager, her a convent girl with long blonde hair) so I think it must have been played a lot.
What a treat to my ears David…so much to like! I watched the video because you pointed out the tension in your body and I thought you might have liked some feedback on that aspect too; I saw some tension with my eyes, but my ears didn’t sense it, not really even now when I’m re-listening while writing. The quality of sound is amazing, and both the guitar and the vocals are great! Thanks for recording and posting on avoyp too.
Dead Flowers was the first song I learned to play - I mean stumble through.
Now I have Sweet Virginia and Waiting on a Friend down pretty well. And for a real, months-long challenge, I’m learning to pick Love in Vain, one bar at a time. I love the Stones! I’m reading Keith Richard’s autobiography “Life.” KEEF!
Don’t watch this video if your don’t like cursing.
Thanks so much John. And of course Marianne made a big impression on Mick (and maybe Keith as well )
Thanks very much,Silvia. I appreciate you acknowledging the tension. I think the effect is more in the clean chords and smooth accuracy of the picking. I know I have it in me to be more fluent and relaxed, but glad it wasn’t so apparent in the sound. But it is fine, I’m glad I gave it a go.
Also appreciate the comment about the sound. I am really happy with the sound through the PlayAcoustic pedal and then duplicating the guitar in OBS (recording app)
Thanks Michael, hilarious. Life! is a great read. Once upon a time I collaborated with @Richard_close2u on Love In Vain . . . obviously he did an awesome job on the guitar and I did the best I could on the vocal.
I just watched the video twice, scouring it for signs of tension - I was struggling very hard to see/hear anything, and the word “tension” wouldn’t have entered my mind if you hadn’t mentioned it in the post. I think this was a lovely peformance with super fingerstyle chord changes and vocal.
I admit that, after a few bars, I started to roughly read through the thread while listening, but whenever I looked I couldn’t notice the tension in your body that you mentioned.
This was so very nicely played and the vocals were a treat, David!
Great performance! (and I loved the song choice too)
Like you said in your intro text, it needs some kind of regularity, so keep on posting videos of you playing often!
Two great performances David. Super tone from your guitar and your vocal was great too. That singing course you did has really helped you.
As for tension, well you should learn from what you’ve told many others in the past…… don’t point out your perceived errors/faults. I didn’t sense tension, just perhaps a bit of concentration especially on ATGB.
I saw Bob Dylan in concert two or three weeks ago in Glasgow and of course he is the master of vocal phrasing. I think you could improve on Blowin’ if you phrased ‘off the beat’ a bit. Just a thought.
I thoroughly enjoyed both songs and like @WiIlsie also have teenage memories (fantasies?) of Marianne.
Thank you David, two classic acoustic songs, sensitively played and sung.
If you are a certain age who can forget Marianne Faithfull, a very sad loss in 2025.
Really enjoyed both of these David. Your voice is sounding great, and nice fingerpicking. I liked the guitar between the verses in Blowin in the wind.
Well done
Richard
Lovely renditions. Honestly, my friend.
You have lost nothing in your playing and singing David.
Smooth and melodic, with a calm soothing vocal tone is what I remember; and its what you delivered here again.
Thank you for sharing it.
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