I liked your version, GH. I thought it was one of the ones that showed genuine feeling. The only criticism I'd make would be that it's a bit "busy" at times, especially towards the end. Is that supposed to be a cadenza?
Others might say your tone is weak and breathy, but I like that. It reminds me of DeFord Bailey and maybe some others. I wish I could get that soft breathy sound. Which make of harp did you play on that recording?
Hey GH, don't sweat it. I think you did a real good job. The song was not an easy one to play and you stayed true to the style of the song, using impressive technique in the process. I look forward to hearing more of your playing.
Last Edited by on Sep 04, 2009 3:14 PM
No, not supposed to be busy. But I'm kinda filling the void of the guitar. So it's a 2min solo... and again not, cause I wonna stick to the tune. But this HPC helped a lot and I'm pretty sure the next one (a nice and steady chucking groove) will too. Never heard of Cadenza?
Bluesband, Baby! I love the sond. It's so mellow and soft. I'm kinda checking out MB's at the moment and the sound cuts the air like a knife (the one in C plays awesome though). I love the Bluesbands for practicing, however they are too silent to play outside.
And,.. least I forget, if they play they play exceptionally well. You can get a box of 7 Bluesbands here in Germany (ebay.de). The lower keys (below C) are mostly very good, the higher keys are carp and F is unplayable. So its three good harps for the price of 13€ which is actually pretty nice. Since two years all the 30€ harps I bought were crap... I ended up playing 5$ harps...
...and to come back to it: I fell in love with the sweet mellow sound. ;)
---------- germanharpist on YT.
Last Edited by on Sep 04, 2009 3:29 PM
I probably shouldn't comment because I'm a complete noobstore.
That being said I liked your version :) . I hear a moment or two where it sounds perhaps your confidence in what you were or were about to do may have faltered but I'm sure that would have cleared up with more practice time.
One suggestion might be to try and see what it sounds like to let the last note before a silence linger a tad more, see what that does?
Great job you get two Mooo!(s) up :D
---------- ~Ryan Pennsylvania - H.A.R.P. (Harmonica Association 'Round Philly)
I'll take you up on your invite to add my video for a critique GH. As I said in a previous thread I struggled. I couldn't handle it in second position and reverted to third for ease of playing. I think I kept time reasonably well but it sounds too (I don't know) folky/kiddy-music? Being a Blues forum I think it should have had a more bluesy/rough edge but I haven't mastered that yet. I'm hoping that will come in time along with improved second position playing. Give it your best shot fellas, I can take it and appreciate your honesty.
I agree with Andrew completely, I really like your tone, and also thought the piece was a little busy at times. Some drawn out notes and a little simplicity in parts would have improved it in my opinion.
German Harpist said: "All true but this was supposed to be a "rip my take to tears" kind of thread. ;)"
I didn't really find it all that busy myself. It's not the busy, a.k.a. amount of notes, there just seems to be a lack of continuity in it. There was a considerable timing problem. When playing solo, it's OK to be creative with timing, but this does a bit of jumping. Some kind of consistent rhythm is the biggest thing that's lacking. When I play the melody in my head it goes one TWO three FOUR, one TWO three FOUR, all the way to the end... but I didn't really hear any consistent pattern like that.
Last Edited by on Sep 04, 2009 7:47 PM
@GH; I think you have the makings of a really cool version of a great classic--you just need to work on it more.
Take Buddha's advice in another thread called "Creative Harp Artistry." You have a bucket of great little riffs and musical ideas in this video--just go sit under a tree--relax to the point of being nearly asleep--slow the tempo a bit--and let it rip as though it were one consistent piece of music--not a bucket of parts.
Maybe exaggerate to the legato a bit--smoothe it out--let it flow from an inner secret place--one you didn't know existed.
One technical point to work on during your regular woodshedding--get your bends in tune. (IMHO).
@Tooka; I voted for you because of the short counter-melody on the upper end--that was cool. You have a nice feel for staying with the music pretty closely--I lack that myself and I get a little uncontrolled at times. Overall, the performance sounds a little thin to me--as if maybe you don't play a lot of 3rd or something--you can't really bend into the notes in the same way in third--but you can inflect them--or kind of scoop into them slightly, and it could sound a lot more musical.
You might want to experiment with tightening up your cup and using more throat or mouth vibrato instead of the constant hand vibrato--just to improve your tone. I think the hand vibrato is more of a habit anyway, and most of your vibrato probably is already from the throat.
It seems weird for me to be telling you this stuff--I'm sure not qualified to teach anybody--just my impressions--but you both had the balls to ask for it! ;-)
@oldwailer, many thanks just what I need. You're right, the cupping is a problem for me, I got into the habbit early on of holding with my right hand and no matter how I try I haven't been able to change yet, although I am still working on it. Hopefully when I crack that, I'll have a tighter cup and stop that bloody hand vibrato. That's something else that crept in early on and I'm trying to correct. I can do a bit of throat vibrato but only when I conciously remember to do it. Once the tune gets going, so does my memory and I'm back to hand waving. Doh! Thanks so much for your input, you are reinforcing doubts I had that should be addressed. It would be good for me to look back on this video in say a years time to see what progress I have made. ----------
I don't think it's as bad as you seem to think it is. I'll save my comments, though, for the hideously arduous task of contributing to the voting thread. ---------- 'If it sounds GOOD to you, it's bitchen; if it sounds BAD to YOU, it's shitty' - Frank Zappa
I think there was a little misunderstanding, maybe evoked by the title. I have no problem with my take. I know it has many faults (it's short, too crowded, it doesn't stay true to the course,.. etc. etc.) and I want the forum to help me find the stuff I didn't see (and remind me of how bad the things are that I did see). This is a personal challenge and I learned quite a lot while practicing (that damned song...) for one and a half months, so I actually feel pretty good about it. Based on the comments of y'all I'll tackle that mofo "summertime" one more time trying to incorporate your suggestion, tips,...
So, GO CRAZY!
@Harpist: thanks for that. @dave: thanks for that. Some good tips there, I will try to work on that. @Ryan: " I probably shouldn't comment because I'm a complete noobstore. " - Bullshit: there will always be someone who knows it better, and there will always be someone who just needed to hear that comment - just like me right now. Thanks for the comments. @Dave and oldwailer: some very good points...
The bluesband may sound nice to you, but we can hear you working hard with tonguing and pushing the Obs hard. You are too big for your harp and you need something that will let you express what you are trying to do. A MB, while it can cut the air like a knife, can also give you some great mellow tones with great resonance. I would really like to hear you do it again with a better harp.
Yeah, true - the bluesband is very leaky and and the overblows are pretty hard (although not impossible, like some other harps) plus it's out of tune now. I thought about what I said about it being sounding "mellow". It's probably simply that the harp is not that loud. Which wasn't that bad for practicing however you're right about the expressiveness of better harps. I'll try to get all out of my MB in C for my next "summertime" take.
I don't think what you did was bad, on the contrary, it got my vote.
I'm still trying to finish writing my voting post before I put it up. It's bloody hard work, though. ---------- 'If it sounds GOOD to you, it's bitchen; if it sounds BAD to YOU, it's shitty' - Frank Zappa
"It's bloody hard work, though." Once you start really to analyze the takes, it gets very time consuming. I was lazy this time and just wrote down impressions. ;)
