What are YOU working on??

[rjgoos]

Perhaps summertime is a bad time to ask...

What are you working on...tap-wise?

I've started a 12-week project to produce a new solo CD, to give primarily as gifts for Christmas time (one size fits all and ships cheap). One song per week, practice the song all week, record it a 5-10 times on the weekend, pick the best one. Well, that's the plan, anyway.

I was simply going to take the whole month of September off (it took me two years to save the leave time) and do it, but my @@#$%^& boss gave me a retired guy's job to do, too. I still hope to take at least 2-3 days per week off in September to work on this.

So, enough about me...more importantly, what are YOUR musical goals from now through the end of the year?


R. Jay Goos

[Luther]

Nothing so grand for me. I'm just saving up for my first tap instrument and playing around on an old 6 string, and looking longingly at the pictures of the instruments on line. hehe

Good luck with your project. Sucks to have to do someone else's work, I've had things like that dumped on me before, hazards of production IT support.

I'm hoping to go back to school full-time in 5-7 years, kind of an early semi-retirement, we'll see how it goes. I may be busking on street corners sooner than that tho, corporate america is getting old fast.


:D

[Godsmonkey]

The idea of an album of recorded music is great! I think I may steal the idea.

As for my plans, I have joined a band and we are performing in Sept.

[MatthewL329]

touchstyle-wise, I'm working on adapting songs that I like for touchstyle on a 6-string electric guitar. So far, I've learned Take 5, Autumn Leaves, What a Wonderful World, Think About Your Troubles by Harry Nilsson, and a few others. I've also written some touchstyle parts for my singer / songwriter / guitarist songs. I'm working on Longview by Green Day a little bit, so I can learn to walk bass lines.

[SkinnyDevil]

Well, my teaching and commercial recording and live performance schedule has kept me away from my personal recording, so I've stopped performing live for probanly the remainder of the year.

I have secured about 20% of the drum trax (with the rest due in about 2 weeks) for my electric project ("Hunger"), so I'll be working on that (bass, synths, vox, guitars) by the end of the month. In the meantime, I'm tying some ends on commercial recordings so that I can jump in and complete our acoustic project ("An Alien Blue").

With luck, I'll have them completed by the holidays and released by February.

[rjgoos]

Well, my high hopes of making a CD this year have faded. There is a simple problem...after only a year of playing, I am just not good enough to make a CD. The standards (at least my standards) for recording are higher than for public performance. If you make a small error, like tapping one note a little too hard, it just goes by in a life performance, but it stands out like a sore thumb in a recording.

Oh well, maybe next year.

Jay

[Uberbass]

Jay - let it go. record it anyway. i'm a firm believer in that you should pile up your work like cordwood. and then when you're all finished and done (near death, or whatever) you'll have a large body of work that shows what you've done, where you've been, and ultimately who you are. it would be a huge shame to not record anything, hold everything back because of reasons like, it's not clean enough, or "tapping one note a little too hard."

anyone listening with honorable intentions isn't going to dismiss your work because of a clam, or 'tapping one note a little too hard.' and if they do, that says more about them than it does you.

your work will inspire others.

of course this my opinion, and it's your stuff, so you need to do what's comfortable for you, but i for one would like to hear it.

<<Well, my high hopes of making a CD this year have faded. There is a simple problem...after only a year of playing, I am just not good enough to make a CD. The standards (at least my standards) for recording are higher than for public performance. If you make a small error, like tapping one note a little too hard, it just goes by in a life performance, but it stands out like a sore thumb in a recording.

Oh well, maybe next year.

Jay>>

[traktor]

I'd agree with Uberbass.

The first time I tried to make a recording (the very one you heard), I had to record each song over and over and over again. Then, when you've recorded it a number of times, you just pick the one that sucks the least. At least, that's my method.

For what it's worth, this is my theory of story-writing as well. You just write any old thing, and then take out the crappy parts. Obviously, whatever is left isn't crappy, and therefore you've written a good story.

[I love logic. Don't you?]

And besides, anybody who can, at the drop of a hat, record "Caravan, Take One" on the Double Contrapasoondolin is plenty skillful and nervy, and it would be a shame to miss out on that guy's stuff. You're probably overly critical of your sef.

As you get older, you'll care less and less about what other people think, and you'll think more and more highly of yourself, no matter how you look or sound. At least, that's what happened to me.

Go Ye Forth, and there Upon the Studio Premises, Let Thee Record Unto Posterity with a Joyful Sounde.

[SkinnyDevil]

I'm in complete agreement. RECORD IT!

Ultimately, you don;t have to release it (not even just a handful of CDs for the family) if you don't want to. But record it anyway so you have a document of where you are as a musician right now. It will also be a great way to see what sort of improvements you've made by this time next year.

[sobear2003]

RJ,

I'll step up with my opinion as well.

I just recorded a CD (wee plug - www.tommcmahon.ca) and I spent more than a little time fretting over details.

In the end I left the warts in. Trying to fix them would have depleated the disc of 'feel'. In the end it is about the how the performance feels not the odd imperfection (real or perceived).

Do it man.

Tom McMahon

[toadstool]

Are you recording with a computer?
Surely you can just cut and paste? :)

[chippendale]

Originally posted by rjgoos
I am just not good enough to make a CD. The standards (at least my standards) for recording are higher than for public performance. If you make a small error,
Jay

Hi there Jay,

As other have posted I believe you should take a 'leap of faith' and get your stuff down on tape/disk. I've made quite a few recordings using the Stick and now Warr guitar and I'm never happy with my performance. In fact if you question anyone here
or any musician/artist are they ever truly happy with their composition or performance?

I've found that working with someone like a producer or helpful engineer adds balance to my critical nature. To be truthful I have a very basic almost neanderthal technique when it comes to 'touchstyle' playing despite being some 14 years in the 'tapping game'. Thing is a third party that is not 'emotionally' connected to your recording will truly tell you if your part sucks, or just works, or is a truly inspiring performance. If it works, hey let it go.

I've walked away from many a session thinking that I've failed myself and sure that the engineer would erase my parts only some time later to hear the piece and think "well it could be a lot better but at least it works!"

Remember also that the odd note that jumps out volume wise may well be corrected using compression or with a wee bit of editing in a suitable Pro Tools rig or similar.

Go for it, press record. :)

Regards

Colin

[Roy K.]

Originally posted by rjgoos
Well, my high hopes of making a CD this year have faded. There is a simple problem...after only a year of playing, I am just not good enough to make a CD. The standards (at least my standards) for recording are higher than for public performance. If you make a small error, like tapping one note a little too hard, it just goes by in a life performance, but it stands out like a sore thumb in a recording.

Oh well, maybe next year.

Jay

As other posters said, just record it!

I've recorded some stuff a small year ago, and when I listen to it I hear a lot of things that could be done better. However, other people who hear it say it is impressive. For myself, I know I'm better allready and as someone else said, it is good to see how much I improved since these 9? months.
For you it's anyway good to record something (for the reasons above) and you 'd be sorry over (a few/ a lot of) years if you never record something because it ain't perfect...

[rjgoos]

Well, the odds of my making a CD just improved markedly, and got a lot easier. Yesterday, my wife just got a new electric/classical guitar (her first new guitar since 1973), and boy does it sound sweet when mixed and processed with any of my instruments (either my Stick, my home-made tapping instrument, or my dreadnaught guitar).

Just a dumb example. If I play "Sloop John B" on the Stick, it sounds OK, but nothing that I'd put on a CD (and certainly nothing anyone would put on their favorite playlist). As a duet with my wife, trading off with her on who is playing melody and harmony parts, it is way cool, several orders of magnitude better.

The problem that many touch/tap musicians have, is that they are "lone wolves". I know that I fall into that trap, listening to Bob Culbertson, and wanting to do it all, like he does.


Jay

[GaryOpenhill]

Im just waiting for my chance to order one from US. Its a money thing.
But a guitar shop gave me suprisingly an insanly good deal on a really wide one-pole bass pickup today (i think its about the same thats in the SB8 ), and threw in about 12 strings (ranging from .125 to .008), so im thinking.....maybe it's a sign from God or Elvis.... couldnt i just slap these one something straigth, and have me at least a 8 string tapper, maybe more? I have an aluminum neck that would fit perfectly. Hmmmm......dont know if it will work, but i could at least try...its better than doing NOTHING at all!

[jamsire]

In response to "what are you working on?" question, I for one am on a strict Megatar diet for the summer. That's huge for a guy with many - many - many custom instruments always at the ready.

AND.......................

With the "PRIME" secret weapon approaching - you know it's about to get funky!!

I mean REALLY!

Groove on y'all and keep it posted here.

Jamsire:) :) :)

[motormind]

Right now I am working on a demo for my band. On half of the tracks I play Chapman Stick, mostly for the bass lines with some added harmonic stuff. It's nothing too fancy.. I just like how it sounds :cool: