More 'slow' august.

[offthewall]

 
My 40 bpm offering was inspired by an early morning stroll along my local beach in God’s Own Country, north-east England.

Here we have all ‘real’ instruments.

Jedson acoustic guitar
Aria AMB50 electro’acoustic bass
Ozark bouzouki
Generation D ‘Shush tweaked’ penny-whistle.

A smattering of BackStageEQone and GlaceVerb, all recorded through Behringer mic and mastered in Reaper V3.5

 
James

[elwoodblues1969]

James,

Superb depth & presence of instruments,giving this tune a warm & hearty atmosphere. 8)The whole arrangement could be a bit tighter timing-wise,but I know that being a one-man-band & doing it all live is a massive undertaking.
Since this is for a contest,have you ever considered using the Celemony Melodyne software to straighten out the notes?
I know that if I was in your situation & I had to do everything live,this particular software would be a must have,in my book.

-Thom

[offthewall]

Thanks for the comments, Thom.
As for using software ($199  ) to straighten out the notes .... no thanks, my friend.  If I can't play them straight there's no way I'm gonna cheat and pretend that I can.  And as for it being a contest ... I'm not in it to win, rather to use the theme as a challenge in the learning process same as we do over here at K-M.
There are a whole bunch of musicians over there who can 'only' work with software. Some of those can't play an instrument other than a keyboard.  I don't make any pretence. I don't play any instrument exceptionally well ... and some very poorly, but at least I like to try.
And I have fun with it. 


 
James

[elwoodblues1969]

I completely understand where you're coming from James & I feel the same way as far as live venues go,but in terms of recording,I can't live without computer timing corrections,being that my arrangements are large in scope & they're comprised of various different program patches.

Yeah...what I do is a bit fraudulent,as I am not playing any real instruments & my timing is not my own,but I've always been enamored by the concept of creating an entire song from top to bottom without the neccessity for any band mates & I'm fascinated by the technology that provides me with a world of emulated instruments....allowing me to lay down my heart & soul(even though it's not all that organic).

I'm just not interested in spending the bulk of my time learning a myriad of different instruments & playing until my fingers bleed before I have the timing down,as I'd rather spend the time creating as many songs as possible....just can't stand the idea of any thoughts or ideas going to waste,so I have to lay down everything in my head,while it's still hot.

-Thom

[MarioD]

This one took me away to a far and distant land and what a pleasant journey it was

This is top shelf all the way

I found nothing really wrong with your timing.  Not being absolutely dead nuts on every downbeat gives this the “organic” feel that it needs. 

PS – I find it very interesting that some people quantize every note to the nth then press the humanize button     

PSS - Now some songs and genres demand super tight timing and I’ve done that on some of my songs.  This is NOT a knock on how we use our systems for timing.

[folderol]

While I enjoyed this very much. I do think you were having a struggle with it, and that comes out in a bit of 'stiffness' in the playing.

For what it's worth. I've noticed that in all the entries there so far, and I'm having a bit of a fight with my own piece. I think it's down to the slowness creating a sort of 'dead space' in your mind.

Scoops has subtly picked a surprisingly difficult theme.

[offthewall]

 
Thanks for more comments.

@Thom ..... I wasn't getting at you, my friend. My little rant was at certain others 'over there' who seem to be fiercely critical of anything that isn't synthetic.
I know your particular situation and am an ardent fan of the way you can develop beautiful music. As with most things, a lot of what you do is not to my taste .... but then ... if we were all the same it would be a boring existence?   Yes?   

@Mario .... thanks for the compliment. I'm glad you enjoyed the ride. 

@Folderol .... very perceptive, Will.   
Without sounding like a moaner, I am having great difficulties with the arthritis in my fingers at the moment.  I hadn't realised it had come across in my playing.  You should go into healthcare diagnostics instead of electronics, mate. 

 
James

[folderol]

Without sounding like a moaner, I am having great difficulties with the arthritis in my fingers at the moment.

Ah! The dreaded 'A' word. I've been noticing it more myself this last 6 months or so. Fingers hurting if I grip things tightly or carry bags with thin straps

Fortunately it hasn't had a lot of effect on my playing yet, but then keyboards don't require the pressure and finesse that guitars, whistles etc. do.

Not that it's worth a lot, but you have my sympathy friend.

[t_riddy]

I really enjoyed this. A nice blend of instruments and I like the "organic," free-flowing feel. Even more impressive is it sounds like each instrument was done as a single, continuous take. And because of this I learned what a bouzouki is 

[offthewall]

it sounds like each instrument was done as a single, continuous take

Yet another very perceptive comment.
You're quite right, my man.  Almost all parts were, in fact, a single take.  The only extra was a couple of really bad 'bum notes' which had to be over-dubbed.
Thanks for the comments. 

 
James

[Oren]

James,

What stood out for me is the acoustic guitar recording. You managed to capture the nuances of the instrument, and use a bit of room ambience too.

[offthewall]

Thanks, Oren.
That 'room ambience' is actually the wonderful "BackStageEQone".
Because of physical restrictions and background noise I always use a close-mic setting and then add a little processing. This is always the Classic Compressor, on acoustic guitar preset, and usually this wonderful BackStage. I have been using it on most of my acoustic instruments lately.

 
James

[folderol]

@t_riddy
You'll get used to our James. He almost always plays tracks right through - shows the rest of us up

Don't tell him I said so, but he's rather good at it

[MarioD]

@t_riddy
You'll get used to our James. He almost always plays tracks right through - shows the rest of us up

Don't tell him I said so, but he's rather good at it

Will, you got that right