The River Flows

[offthewall]

Here is a new tune.
It started out as a drum part and a chord sequence with the plan of writing a song to it. However, as usual, as the instrumentation was added the thing took on a life of it's own and ended off as another instrumental.
This one is experimentally a little 'outside of my box' as I'm trying to investigate other styles. It is meant to be guitar/bass led so the whistle is intentionally being used as a filler with a wide spread and lots of reverb.

Let's see what you make of it.
The River Flows.
 
James

[folderol]

... and about time too

A very surprising start. As usual your guitar work slots together nicely and I like the way you use the whistle as a background. This is unusual.

I found that you managed to get the percussion so that it's meshed in with the tune, but not sticking out and saying 'listen to MEEEE'.

Took me rather by surprise (again?) with the distorted guitar towards the end

[offthewall]

Thanks for the comments, Will.
......Surprises are good....that means the experiment is working! And your description of the drum part is good (for me) as I'm not really into drums so I made that track first and worked the rest around it.
 
James

[Wyatt]

James..

..I really like this..yeah a little different, but oh, so tasteful.

I like the way all the elements work together..it is
really cohesive, and even some of the more surprising elements are
nestled into the arrangement like they were woven into a tapestry.

..nice job fella. 

Wyatt

[offthewall]

 
Thanks, Wyatt.

You give a very poetic review there.....you should make it into a song!

 
James

[folderol]

Well there you go.

Reviews, poetry and songs all for the asking

Of course if it was made into a song then it would require..

Reviews, poetry and songs

[Northern_Fist]

Hey, nice!  At first, I was a little discombobulated with the recorder-flute deal, but it managed to grow into the song like another stream in the current.

The rythm simply bounces with the water.  The electric guitar part, however, caught my off guard, and I really am not sure if I liked it that much or how the tune ended.  I should be honest about that much, but overall, I find this to be a good example of musicianship with enough creativity to place plenty to shame.

[offthewall]

Thanks, NF.

Interesting comments.
They are all as I hoped they would be. The whole experiment was intended to be a set of surprises, from the initial fact of straying away from my 'normal' style of instrumentation to the using of the whistle as backing instead of lead and the introduction of the distorted EG to take the river into the ocean.

Glad you like it. Thanks. 
 
James

[FourthMansions]

Nice one James. The acoustic guitar playing is very nice and it's a lovely tune. The percussion is good and the whistle in the background works very well - an extra whistle playing harmony might add to the interest. The electric guitar is well played and enters as a nice surprise to boost the energy of the song - I might have brought it a bit further forward in the mix and added some echo, but that's just me - it's very good as it is. Thanks for sharing.

[offthewall]

Thanks FM,
It's worthwhile 'pushing the boat out' into new territory when you get comments like these.

Cheers,
 
James

[Laguna Rising]

It's worthwhile 'pushing the boat out' into new territory when you get comments like these.

This is not totally new, because you used similar instruments for most of the track, but I must admit I like the new space you built for the whistle, more spread out. Very good use of bass/drums into your style.
Excellent structure, good melodies and neat mix
I'm glad you achieved a good result in experimentation, so we look forward to the next one 

Cheers

[blipp]

This is a nice track. The acoustic guitars sound great and the electronic beats add another texture that's unexpected, but it works well. This conjured up a slow boat ride on a river, peacefull and relaxing. The lead guitar part comes in at the irght time and complements the acoustic guitars well. Nice work. 

[Oren]

James,

This is a promising direction for you. I'm fascinated by the possibilities that emerge when electric and synthetic instruments are employed in folk music.

It will be interesting to see where you go with this...

Oren.

[kara]

I realy like the groove of this song, very fluid 
And together with the wistle it tells a nice story.

Azell is sick at the moment, has the flue, so I was listening to this on headphones.
I had the impression that the mix is a bit out of balance and is stronger on the right side then on the left ?

k