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Post subject: Honest opinions on my music
Posted: Thu Mar 21, 2013 2:22 am
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Aspiring Musician
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I need honest opinions on my acoustic music, from guitar players. Obviously alot of you are gonna cringe at it, but tell me. I'm aware of all of it's flaws, just need to see if it affects your opinion that much. Tell me everything, what you think of the melodys, the tone, the timing, everything. I need to know.
Be aware, the recording enviroment wasn't the best, and no microphone, lol.

http://soundcloud.com/unwantedneeds

So here's a link. The songs that I mainly would like you to focus on are 'ocean bed', 'pest' and my new one, 'draining books'.

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Post subject: Re: Honest opinions on my music
Posted: Thu Mar 21, 2013 4:22 am
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Aspiring Musician
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I couldn't get any of them to play.


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Post subject: Re: Honest opinions on my music
Posted: Thu Mar 21, 2013 5:48 am
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Roadie
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ok ididnt listen to every one but most of them. the stuff that sounds electrified was too distorted for me. but that is not a criticism. everyone lieks different stuff.

the rest well some of them seemed to be too repedative inother words no break inthe song. again this is just personal preference ok.

the last thing is most of them seem to be a version of the one and they all have a dark flavor to them if you know what i mean.

i dont find anything wrong with them if this is what yu are trying to accomplish.

what i would sy and again its based on what i like . you need to work out a break or two ineach song and try different styles..

i have some old recordings of myself fron late 80s when i first started to try writing and the sme thing happened to me . you tend to get caught uo in one style . not everyone likes the same thing so if you want to be more appealing you again have to mix it up a bit. not to sy you need to play country and blues and rock in the sme set but something of a different beat or it becomes a drone . .. anyhow keep on working at it. it will come with time..


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Post subject: Re: Honest opinions on my music
Posted: Thu Mar 21, 2013 6:05 am
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Okay, you asked for it, here goes:

Draining books: guitar not perfect in tune (or played with cramping hands?), timing incorrect (uneven speed), incomplete song writing (you can't just pla the same chords throughout the song, it bores to death). Songs should have an intro, verses, chorus, outro (not necessarily but it's awefully difficult to keep the audience's attention if you don't).

Acoustic Jam: see above!

Other songs: distortion was unbearable! Way too much. This is beyond a matter of taste, it's just aweful noise.

I didn't botherto listen to more.

Anyhow, keep practicing and it'll get better fast!

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Post subject: Re: Honest opinions on my music
Posted: Thu Mar 21, 2013 8:44 am
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Smokin' Frets wrote:
Okay, you asked for it, here goes:

Draining books: guitar not perfect in tune (or played with cramping hands?), timing incorrect (uneven speed), incomplete song writing (you can't just pla the same chords throughout the song, it bores to death). Songs should have an intro, verses, chorus, outro (not necessarily but it's awefully difficult to keep the audience's attention if you don't).

Acoustic Jam: see above!

Other songs: distortion was unbearable! Way too much. This is beyond a matter of taste, it's just aweful noise.

I didn't botherto listen to more.

Anyhow, keep practicing and it'll get better fast!

+1
All of it.

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Post subject: Re: Honest opinions on my music
Posted: Thu Mar 21, 2013 8:47 am
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Aspiring Musician
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I like your voice. What bothers me most is your timing. Are you using a metronome? If not: start using one. Look into chord progressions, you can't just use three chords if you aren't AC/DC. Even Kurt used more.

Cheers

David

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Post subject: Re: Honest opinions on my music
Posted: Thu Mar 21, 2013 8:48 am
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Aspiring Musician
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What you should do is take all the above comments to heart and practice till your fingers bleed. Then later on you can be a little more picky about who, or what kind of music you support.


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Post subject: Re: Honest opinions on my music
Posted: Thu Mar 21, 2013 9:59 am
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I really liked that ''draining books '' ! In my book it 's got the needed breaks and variations . It flows OK , the timing is not too bad . Rather Cobainish :D
And you're right - it IS difficult to hear the words. Why hide your voice ? The voice sounds great !
Get a mike.
I did NOT like the distorted tunes. Annoying , dull and noisy. They make no challenge to the listeners.
Keep up the good work - drop the dull ones :D
Hope your arm is better , after your stroke. Wish you the best !

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Post subject: Re: Honest opinions on my music
Posted: Thu Mar 21, 2013 11:59 am
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Aspiring Musician
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rileymcc wrote:
I need honest opinions on my acoustic music, from guitar players. Obviously alot of you are gonna cringe at it, but tell me. I'm aware of all of it's flaws, just need to see if it affects your opinion that much. Tell me everything, what you think of the melodys, the tone, the timing, everything. I need to know.
Be aware, the recording enviroment wasn't the best, and no microphone, lol.

http://soundcloud.com/unwantedneeds

So here's a link. The songs that I mainly would like you to focus on are 'ocean bed', 'pest' and my new one, 'draining books'.


As you asked, I focussed on the 3 songs and overall I liked them. As Asgeirman said, the vocals are a bit buried in the mix, but what I could hear of your voice was good. The timing was funky at times, but you could call it syncopation!
Thanks for posting and just keep practicing, then practice some more...it's the only way 8)
As to 3 chords...well, a lot of songs use but three chords....the blues comes to mind, and some songs have used but a single chord (lime in the coconut). I'm not saying that you shouldn't use more chords, rather that it's not always necessary.
Follow your muse, Riley.
cheers

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Post subject: Re: Honest opinions on my music
Posted: Thu Mar 21, 2013 1:28 pm
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This is about your acoustic tracks. Your voice sounds like a tenor/baritone mix. You have a very mid-ranged guitar sound going (when recorded). That means every time you sing and play and there is the slightest mistake, that mistake is multiplied. Weather your guitar's g string goes out a little or your voice is not exactly on pitch when that happens it becomes very noticeable. You should eq your guitar for high and low and let your voice sit in the middle. Unless you want to sing really high or low to avoid the mid tones clashing :D .

Also, play with a metronome, even if you have to slow down. And the guitar sounded slightly out of tune sometimes. This could be a matter of tuning or playing technique, if you pull or push the neck or press to hard it can drift out of tune for that chord.

All this being said: I make many of the same mistakes and your voice is better than mine. I applaud you for having the guts and drive to put yourself out there like this.

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Post subject: Re: Honest opinions on my music
Posted: Thu Mar 21, 2013 2:21 pm
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Aspiring Musician
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Great, great, great and thank you all. Most of you pointed out the flaws that I already knew were there, but that's great. My electric tracks were out of it, I actually don't know why I recorded them, LOL.
But yeah, I knew alot of you would absolutley hate them. It's not excatly 'correct' music. An I know there are some people on this forum who just can't stand a slightly flat string, or out of time playing.

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Post subject: Re: Honest opinions on my music
Posted: Thu Mar 21, 2013 2:57 pm
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rileymcc wrote:
some people on this forum who just can't stand a slightly flat string, or out of time playing.


Woah, not just on this forum. Even Joe Public can hear when a guitar's out of tune. You might just get away with it playing live but on a recording there's just no excuse for not being in tune.

As for the timing, it's not an issue if you're recording solo acoustic guitar but as soon as you start recording and playing along with other musicians you're going to need to play in time and right on the beat. Once you know where the beat is you can start taking liberties but you need to learn the rules before you start breaking them.

Perhaps a bit more constructively ... I don't necessarily agree that songs have to have more than three chords but what they do need is some variation to hold the listener's interest or it just turns into a drone. Sure, changing the chord pattern can do this but you can also experiment with dynamics - play the verses quieter than the chorus or alternate a picked pattern and a strummed section. Or change the strumming rhythm, go double speed, damp the chords quickly to leave a funky gap, even combine all those ideas in one song.

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Post subject: Re: Honest opinions on my music
Posted: Thu Mar 21, 2013 4:10 pm
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i didn't listen to it all due to a slow computer and lack of patience. i like the acoustic stuff and you sing well. i think the chord changes could be a little bit crisper.
the heavy stuff sounds good also but the feedback gets a little hard on my ears. i know you like it and thats all that matters but for me its a bit over the top. i too like feedback as long as its completely controlled. my amp produces over the top gain without a pedal. the louder i crank the amp, the less gain i use. its heavy, tight and the feedback is at my fingertips if i want it. yes, i realize our taste in music is night and day (maybe) but the feedback between every chord change is a bit over the top for me.
i'm just happy ur playin' and recordin' riley. it takes alot of testicular fortitude to put ur stuff on a forum like this and welcome criticism.
you've inspired me to get off my lazy $@! and play a bit. thanx!


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Post subject: Re: Honest opinions on my music
Posted: Thu Mar 21, 2013 5:01 pm
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jeebus wrote:
it takes alot of testicular fortitude to put ur stuff on a forum like this and welcome criticism


I've said it before, I'll say it again, musicians should welcome constructive criticism. You don't improve your playing by believing that everything you play is good and you don't help anyone by telling them that.

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Post subject: Re: Honest opinions on my music
Posted: Thu Mar 21, 2013 5:19 pm
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Some great advice in this thread, especially this sig worthy rant which I need to have printed on a poster in my jam space:

GilgaFrank wrote:
experiment with dynamics - play the verses quieter than the chorus or alternate a picked pattern and a strummed section. Or change the strumming rhythm, go double speed, damp the chords quickly to leave a funky gap, even combine all those ideas in one song.

My main take aways on the acoustic tracks-
1. You have a very cool sounding voice.
2. Being out of tune really hurt some quality ideas. It doesn't need to be perfect but it was bad enough to become distracting on these recordings.
3. The piano piece was killer, I kept wanting you to start singing

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