January 2012 - SOTW Update

So the first month of this song-of-the-week personal challenge has been quite the journey.

I started out this journey feeling afraid and inadequate. Perhaps 'terrified' would be a better descriptor.  I was feeling pretty insecure, I’d never submitted recordings up for public review on a regular basis, and I was feeling like my skillset was pretty limited.  I was also very aware that there are also a good number of folks in my audience that are remarkably talented musicians.  I had visions of being laughed off the forum (even though they are remarkably friendly and supportive guys and gals over there at the AcousticGuitarForum.. 

The technology has indeed been very much a challenge.  I was surprised at how nerve-wracking it was to pony on up to the camera, and press record - 'red light fever'.  I started out with very simple songs, so I felt pretty confident about the music - until I started playing back the video clips.  There were lots of things I had to go back and work on - like voice projection, cleaning up my fretting hand, strumming control and many other little details. 

I've been recording with an older Dynex webcam.  The audio has been passable but the video resolution has been very poor.  I think a new webcam is on the horizon.  A very serious issue has been that the voice-guitar mix is not good.  Using the webcam results in a very guitar-heavy mix, leaving the vocals straining to be heard.  I spent some Christmas money on buying a Samson Zoom H4N.  It is advertised as being capable for use as an audio interface as well as a recorder.  I'm happy with it as a recorder, but I can't get it to work with Windows 7 after weeks of trying everything.

I got a lot of suggestions and feedback from my friends at the AcousticGuitarForum.com http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/forums/index.php  in the 'Show and Tell' sub forum.  It was all very helpful, and is helping me 'tighten up' the performance.  It was fun experimenting with the Esus capo on a couple of songs. By the fourth week, I was starting to become a bit more relaxed about the recording and a little less 'red light fever'.  I think it will really begin to turn around when I can get a better mix consistently.

Here are the songs for January:

Week #1: The Old Log Train, Hank Williams Sr, 1952

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRjtysZbJWk

Week #2: Ain't No Grave, Claude Ely, 1934

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOTdPGcbVXE

Week #3: Blessed Assurance, Fanny Crosby, Phoebe Knapp, 1873

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuEWpaNkfas

Week #4: Hallelujah, I'm A Bum, Harry McClintok, 1928

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8N3GHRvAWA

I think I've met a couple of my stated goals with these songs.  Although they are all kind of in the Country (or gospel) genre, there is quite a bit of variety here.  They are also songs that are not exactly common place.

I have found the weekly deadline to be challenging.  I have often felt rushed to get the song worked up, practiced, and recorded in time to meet the weekly deadline.  Oh, and for a little extra drama - immediately after posting song #2, on January 14th, the computer completely dies.  It was a panic for a while, but we were able to replace the pc quickly, get all the necessary software re-installed, all in time to record week #3 - barely in time!

I do hope this time deadline part gets better, because other than this, it has been LOTS of fun, and I've been learning lots and growing in guitar skills, vocal skills, and performance skills.

Come on February!

Song Of The Week - New Year's Resolution

I'm most probably going crazy, but I've been following a virtual friend of mine, Kyle Scobie, on the Acoustic Guitar Forum.  He faithfully posted a new song each and every week for a year.  It's been an interesting ride as I've followed Kyle's musical adventure.

So I'm thinking that I will make the same resolution.  Researching and developing a new song every week and recording it to YouTube will be a great way to grow my repertoire for busking quickly.  Working through the technical aspects of recording and working up something that is worthy of presentation to the public will help me 'step it up a notch' in my playing.  I'm hoping that my fellow musicians will be able to offer up suggestions, tips, and feedback that will help me grow as a musician.and increase the speed with which I am improving.

As I post each week, I will be aiming to provide a variety of different types of music from a variety of decades and genres - I'd like to have some folk, some country, some classic rock n roll, some modern pop, some old-tyme gospel, and some modern praise and worship selections.

My over-arching goal is to improve my presentation skills - you know - getting good vocal projection, achieving a good variety of techniques and dynamics, getting a good vocal/ guitar mix, making good eye contact and positive connection with the viewing 'crowd'.  My second goal is to make a better connection with my music and to be able to better communicate that feeling, or soul, to the viewer.  My friend Kyle talks about it as 'guitar face' - you probably know what I mean - but it's really about putting lots of feeling into the playing.  My third goal is to introduce new songs to folks, like others had done for me, and to provide them with some back story with each song.  Another thing I had found frustrating in some YT posts was the lack of lyrics/ chords, so I was hoping to add this material, as well.  And I hope I can have fun with this along the way.

So wish me well, and I'd like it if you came along for the ride with me - post  some feedback and let's walk a little bit of this road together.

Crazy ride, here we come!