Now That Summer Has Gone

[Blackhorse]

A new song just finished, this is the first one with my new gear (condenser mic and usb interface). I think it has made a big difference to my recording quality, as I hoped it would. The problem is, the better the recording quality, the more it highlights your mistakes, poor technique and imperfections Oh well, maybe that will help me improve as a guitarist and singer.

This is a pretty clean recording, Martin 000X1 acoustic and Fender Mex strat through a Blues Jr for electric, multiple layers, lead guitar has a little bit of dirt. I used the condenser mic for everything except drums (Fruity Loops) and bass ( direct using a v-amp as a preamp).

I think after listening to this back, the next bit of gearI have to upgrade is my bass.

Oh, and yes, I know it's the wrong time of year to write a song about summer being gone!


download/file.php?id=1804

[VikingBlues]

Agreed about the improved recording quality - particularly noticeable at the bass end of the spectrum.

The song has the trademark Blackhorse touches - the chord progressions, the vocal style (obviously) and the catchy melodic touches being three of these. The tones are very well judged - thre's something in the mix that is quite Gilmourish (though I'm not sure quite what), particularly on the choruses. Though oddly there's at the same time something more Knopfler-like about the clean lead playing - beautiful sounds there. The Martin gives a well judged and very musical sounding foundation that everything is built on.

I've always been amazed at how good you've made bass lines from the bass you use! Though a good condenser microphone used on the other parts may tned to make a direct recorded part sound lacking however good teh instrument.

Strong on mood / atmosphere - just the right touch of wistfulness given the subject matter, I really enjoyed looping the song as I've been writing this - I think I'll have the melody looping in my head for a while now.

Oh, and yes, I know it's the wrong time of year to write a song about summer being gone!

Not sure about that - the last few days have been very summer like .. (not that we've really had any spring yet) .. so I'm expecting it to be autumnal any day now!

[MichaelRobinson]

I agree with VB. It's Pink Floyd-ish. Well done everything from firs to last tone. You is very talented.

[Strummer07]

Nice One Blackhorse

Has a Lovely wistful (or is it melancholy ??, perhaps you've got both in there !! ) quality to it ... and the acoustic backing is spot on.

Bass sounds fine to me .. Not sure what a better or top notch Bass would do for you , its such a hard sound to define. Could use a Bass emulator with the Fender ??

Well done !! & thanks for sharing

[Blackhorse]

Thanks guys, your comments are much appreciated.

I agree that the bass sound will not dramatically improve with a better instrument unless I get a very good bass and an amp - and that's not going to happen! What should improve though is how easy (or not) it is for me to record a usable bass part. The intonation on the Encore is so bad that I have to adjust the tuning for each recording depending on which frets I'll be using - and try to stay within a range of 4/5 frets. So if I'm going to be playing a lot around the C/G notes on the 3rd fret the open strings will be a little out of tune, and higher up the neck will be out too. But frets 2/3/4/5 will be more or less in tune. So in short you might not notice a difference in the final mix, but I'll notice a big difference when I'm recording it! Thanks for the emulator suggestion Strummer, hadn't thought of that, but it doesn't really appeal to me


One thing that's strange about this song is that it seems to me to be mostly in C major - but not quite. There is an additional F# bass note, and a D major chord (rather than minor) that shouldn't work in C. I tried using a D minor and replacing the F# bass note with an F, but it didn't sound right. I'm confused.

The lead parts are (I think) in C major, chords used in the song are C, F, G, Am, D, Em. I put it together mostly by ear, and I don't know why it works. Any ideas? I'm (obviously) not big on theory! It's some form of C or G, but doesn't fit with either.

[tytlblues]

Wow.....great job on this! Yes immediately kind of a
Pink Floyd ish mood came to my mind! Ditto to
All the other comments, nothing to add. I believe you are a very
Talentend songwriter and performer!

[tytlblues]

Ps. All the chords you described are in the key of G major, or it's relatives minor, E.
The F sharp fits and does belong. Not near a guitar right now, but generally if you are starting and ending on the G chord you are playing it as a major sound. If you are starting, ending, or constantly resolving the song to the E min chord, u are playing it in E min. Any way, same chords. Just implying a happy or a melancholy sound. Playing the lead as if you felt you are in C major would be quite natural, as it would simply be suggesting the mixolydian mode of G, the key of the song. Quite
Common in a chord progression as this.

Again, I am very impressed with your song writing ability..,,,very well done!



Tytl

[Pena]

Aaaah very, very good.
You sure have the tallent to write and perform music.
The beginnning of the song got Pink Floyds Wish You Were Here to my mind.
Nothing wrong with your song, some just remind of some other tune.
Glad all the 12 bar blues song are so different from one another
Pena
ps Nice that tytlblues gives some theory as spice

[2WheelsOfBlues]

Great job Blackhorse

Like it a lot and the quality is great

[Blackhorse]

Thanks again guys, especially Tytl for the explanation. That makes a lot of sense, it resolves naturally to a C major chord, so I guess the song is in G mixolydian? Cool.

[VikingBlues]

The intonation on the Encore is so bad that I have to adjust the tuning for each recording depending on which frets I'll be using

I remember having an Encore Bass for a while. Bid for under the influence of alcohol on e-bay. It was an unwise purchase - how you can get one of them to sound as good as you do is testament to your skills!

I put it together mostly by ear, and I don't know why it works.

That's the most important thing. If it sounds right and works then that's what matters.

I did look at the "logic" to scales etc of this - it was way beyond me. The sections with chords C F G F G C, and C Em C Em - OK - can cope wth that. When it came to the Am D F Em AM D F part - I lost it big time. A D Em - I would think sort of A Dorian / C Lydian. But Am F Em I'd be thinking A Aeolian / C Ionian. But with all those chords in there it's a chord sequence that has the notes E, F, F#, and G in it. So it all unravels for me. I played along with it for a wee while tonight (and enjoyed that a lot - not something I do very often at all), and to be honest i couldn't really get the F# note to work very well anywhere much, even on the D chord, I had to keep reverting to C Ionian for it to sound at all OK with me trying to play.

What you do have though, with your instinct leading you in the right ways, is a very impressive song that is very catchy and that works and holds together very well - and it's a song that stays in the head after only a few listens.

[Blackhorse]

I did look at the "logic" to scales etc of this - it was way beyond me.

I had to laugh at this - it's way beyond me too! This is why I was never big on theory

The sections with chords C F G F G C, and C Em C Em - OK - can cope wth that. When it came to the Am D F Em AM D F part - I lost it big time. A D Em - I would think sort of A Dorian / C Lydian. But Am F Em I'd be thinking A Aeolian / C Ionian. But with all those chords in there it's a chord sequence that has the notes E, F, F#, and G in it. So it all unravels for me. I played along with it for a wee while tonight (and enjoyed that a lot - not something I do very often at all), and to be honest i couldn't really get the F# note to work very well anywhere much, even on the D chord, I had to keep reverting to C Ionian for it to sound at all OK with me trying to play.

That's exactly how it was for me. My instinct was to use the F# in playing a melody, but it sounded terrible and is obviously just wrong. Your knowledge of theory is a bit ahead of mine, but it was the E, F, F#, G that confused me too. Experimentation led me to C major (Ionian), which it seems is the same notes as G Mixolydian (thanks again Tytl!) I basically followed the vocal melody, and when it comes to vocal scales I'm completely lost. At least with a guitar I can see what I'm playing, with singing I'm fumbling blindly for any sequence of notes that sound vaguely ok! Thanks for taking the time to look into this and play around with it, it's been a big help.

On a side note, I've changed my mind again about my next music purchase. I'm going to try to get hold of a second-hand copy of Cubase or Pro Tools, it's time to take the plunge and get some better software.