"The Walking Fly" - original fingerstyle piece

[philjs]

Hi all,

A funny thing happened on the way to the studio this past week. Well, not for me, but one of my trio bandmates was unavoidably detained. Since I was already there we took the time to record one of my recent compositions that my bandmates like (and will add flute and violin to at our next session).

I'd appreciate any comments on the tune, and on the recording of it (note: this is the raw track, no effects, not even EQ'd yet, just a great room, an excellent engineer and great equipment all around).



For those who care about such things (yes, I do), the tune is in Dm, played on my Lowden O23c with an Esus4 partial capo in "A" position at the 3rd fret in DADGAD tuning. I notate this partial capo tuning as DA(DGA)³D and it gives an open-string "effective" tuning of DAFBbCD.

Thanks,

Phil

[Kerbie]

I like it! Very well done.

[Toby Walker]

Truly well played and beautiful. Brings to mind moonlight, the beach.. all of that.

[cefobe]

Originally Posted by philjs

Hi all,

A funny thing happened on the way to the studio this past week. Well, not for me, but one of my trio bandmates was unavoidably detained. Since I was already there we took the time to record one of my recent compositions that my bandmates like (and will add flute and violin to at our next session).

I'd appreciate any comments on the tune, and on the recording of it (note: this is the raw track, no effects, not even EQ'd yet, just a great room, an excellent engineer and great equipment all around).



For those who care about such things (yes, I do), the tune is in Dm, played on my Lowden O23c with an Esus4 partial capo in "A" position at the 3rd fret in DADGAD tuning. I notate this partial capo tuning as DA(DGA)³D and it gives an open-string "effective" tuning of DAFBbCD.

Thanks,

Phil

Well Done!!

[rick-slo]

Nice playing and tune though I would like more variety in it.

The natural room reverb characteristics sounds good at first. However it does result in loss of clarity and makes
for a somewhat distant sound. One can't totally "fix" that post recording should one want to. For a dry recording
I would go for less reverb and a more intimate sound. That would also would give more tweak "play room" post
recording.

[philjs]

Originally Posted by Toby Walker

Truly well played and beautiful. Brings to mind moonlight, the beach.. all of that.

Interesting, Toby (and thank you for the kind words). When I wrote it I was thinking lazy thoughts and thought of calling it "Lazy Bones" but then I saw this fly walking ahead of me along a trail (note that I'm a botanist/entomologist and nature photographer that specializes in macro photography of insects in an alternate life). There was nothing apparently wrong with the fly but no matter how much I "bugged it" I couldn't make it take flight...I thought this was the epitome of "lazy," thus the tune's name.

Phil

[philjs]

Originally Posted by rick-slo

Nice playing and tune though I would like more variety in it.

Thanks, Derek. FYI, I was keeping it simple to leave room for the flute and violin parts...

Originally Posted by rick-slo

The natural room reverb characteristics sounds good at first. However it does result in loss of clarity and makes for a somewhat distant sound. One can't totally "fix" that post recording should one want to. For a dry recording I would go for less reverb and a more intimate sound. That would also would give more tweak "play room" post recording.

An easy fix, Derek, since the level of the room mics can easily be lowered to suit. Keep in mind, too, that this is a raw recording...haven't even played with volume levels yet...so what might sound "distant" may be me over-playing (under-playing?) with the dynamics of the piece.

Thanks for your thoughts. I appreciate everyone's comments!

Phil

[rick-slo]

Originally Posted by philjs

Thanks, Derek. FYI, I was keeping it simple to leave room for the flute and violin parts...



An easy fix, Derek, since the level of the room mics can easily be lowered to suit. Keep in mind, too, that this is a raw recording...haven't even played with volume levels yet...so what might sound "distant" may be me over-playing (under-playing?) with the dynamics of the piece.

Thanks for your thoughts. I appreciate everyone's comments!

Phil

Your welcome. For what it's worth, I did open the recording in my DAW and played around with it (equalization, reverbs, etc.). No go on removing the distant sound or improving intimacy of the sound. However if the recording was done with close mikes and distant mikes and you can eliminate, or at least lessen, the volume of the distant mikes then great. Actually I would like to hear that sometime.

Great Phil!

[andre.g]

Beautiful playing, beautiful music!

[Glennwillow]

That sounded wonderful, Phil! Very nice composition and very well played! Also, very well recorded! Just the right amount of reverb, too, even if it's all natural. Then again, maybe the natural reverb is one of the myriad reasons why it sounds so good!

I really love this! Well done!

- Glenn

[reeve21]

A very nice composition, performed beautifully!!

[Nailpicker]

Originally Posted by philjs

... (and will add flute and violin to at our next session).

I can really hear that in my head. I'd love to hear it with flute and violin. I don't know what you're imaging, but I'm hearing a jazzy flute and a soulful violin.

[philjs]

Thank you, all, for your comments and kind words. I do appreciate it.

FYI, I wanted to get my thanks in today 'cause I'll be spending the next week at the Boxwood Festival in Lunenburg, NS. Boxwood was primarily a teaching and networking festival for flute, started by Chris Norman, but also includes a pretty wide variety of acoustic instruments including violin, cello, nyckelharpa, harp, guitar and other 'things with strings'. This year, for the first time, they have three guitarists on staff: Tony McManus, Tomas Lindberg from Sweden and Eamon O'Leary from Ireland. Tomas also plays Swedish bouzouki and cittern and Eamon includes bouzouki, tenor banjo and Irish song. Should be a great week!

Phil

[Organic Sounds Select Guitars]

Phil, this is really well done. I like it a lot, and would love to hear it again after the violin and flute are added. But it stands up on its own with just the solo guitar.