I’m much too lazy to ever post on here but once in a blue moon, but I do post… so I’m not just popping here to shamelessly advertise anything.
I’ve just finished recording some simple demo tracks, which I’ve been meaning to do for a long time now, and I’d like some general critique from my fellow whistlers and fluters over here.
I’ve got another track or two, but one got mangled up by accident, and the other needs to be worked on some more…
But I’m mostly pleased with these.
The idea here was to make something just pretty simple that could be done in a few days, so they’re far from being perfect by any means. There’s a million timing, tuning, and overall mistakes and problems throughout.
Anyhow, I’d greatly appreciate if anybody might give them a listen and tell me what they think. I’ll take any constructive criticism about my playing, tune choices, recording quality and ways to make it better, etc.
I have virtually no knowledge of recording equipment or software of any sort, so this was quite a stretch for me. I’m amazed I didn’t just give up entirely.
Thanks all!
-J
p.s. If that high bit the second time through Spootiskerry sounds like utter shite to you, I hate that part too…
Dude! I’d buy a CD of your stuff! I really like your playing - fast where it should be and not when it shouldn’t, great ornaments, nice tone, etc, etc… Very nice playing! I’m sure others will criticize, but not me.
I’m too new to the whistle to really offer constructive criticism so I’ll just say I listened to all the songs and I really liked them and your playing. I’m curious if that’s you playing guitar? I really liked the guitar part and felt that really added a lot to the tunes.
You smoked on the reels. I liked them. You sound bright and happy. The air was full of emotion too. The other two tracks were good too but I think you’re a reel/air player at heart.
I liked my little downwards triplet run, at least… lol.
@MTGuru, if you pm me an e-mail, I can send them to you. Granted, it’ll be a couple of days, cause I’m fixing to head out to a festival for the weekend.
@Mutepointe: Aw, but I likes all the slow tunes… I think I’m really a 7/8 person at heart, though I do like my reels, though.
Thanks everybody for the good words, it means a lot!
Nice playing! Mostly I can just echo what others have said. One thing about Spootiskerry though: That part you hate isn’t really in the tune! I suspect you’re copying something you’ve heard in a recording. I know what I’d do about it: I’d leave it out. You’re certainly right about how it sounds!
Yeah, the staccato bit was neat. I actually
like the sudden change of holding the high
notes, I just think it could’ve used another
run in the middle to break up the long notes.
Also, I think they made your mic clip a little;
you might need to back off the mic some
when hitting the highest 3 notes that hard.
Hmmm… well, you and I hear tune variance a bit differently I guess. The tune, at least the A and B sections I know, goes nowhere near the notes played in the section he’s bothered by, and while there’s nothing wrong with that alone it is quite jarring in the little section where it happens because no such thing happens anywhere else. If you want to transcribe it we can compare it with the “usual” tune. But, I’m not going to. I’m perfectly happy to just agree to disagree.
I haven’t got to Spootiskerry yet. I’m listening to the rest, and it’s great. Really nice stuff. I also really appreciate that the sound is plain, no reverb, so you can actually hear what’s going on. And what’s going on is very nice indeed. I’ll look out for the Spootiskerry stuff … coming up … any minute …
Ah right, right. Spootiskerry. I see what you’re trying to do there. I wouldn’t despair with it. You’re trying to do a sort of Brian Finnegan thing, there, I guess, and I think it’s nearly there. Nearly, but not quite. I reckon the way to fix that is to have fewer long notes. The first, high, long note could almost be longer, but I think where there’s movement it should then be on faster notes, even if they then lead, for a brief period of time, to another long note. I reckon you’ve got to aim for no more than two long notes. As I say, I think they could even be longer than the ones you’ve got there, but maybe separated by quick notes. Just a thought … Don’t throw that variation out though, 'cos it’s definitely got something in there to work on.
Overall, I really liked what you did with everything, including Spootiskerry. And I did like the triplet runs down. Very nice. Cheeky.
Beautiful. I listened to the air all the way through and it was lovely without any schmaltz or overbent notes, wonderful timing and phrasing. The reels are a bit faster and crisper than I can play, so I’m kvelling with pride and a wee bit of jealousy. Really nice.
It’s one of those things where I try and play off the chords I’m playing. It definitely could’ve been better, but at the point I did that track, I was thoroughly tired of doing take after take and screwing it up royally, and didn’t have time to redo that one.
I play a Chieftain whistle though, which is a really overbearing whistle (louder than my susato), and those high notes are ridiculous… I forgot the part about backing away at that point, though…
I do think I achieved what I wanted out of this recording project though, that being something really quick and rough around the edges, though it might have turned out a bit too rough in places…
I liked the air and the waltz a lot. Well done. Airs are my preferred mode, and if I could play like that I would be a very happy man. (Except then I would probably set my sights higher again )
I refrain from commenting on the reels and hornpipes only because I am not so fond of those formats.
And thank you for introducing me to SoundCloud. I had never heard of it, and may move there from YouTube.
I’m perfectly happy to just agree to disagree.