The Sound of Silence

[Huskyman]

Very very nice. Thank you.

[acousticland]

A very personal version, the idea to repeat the instrumental theme after the vocal parts. Sounds good.

[Ryler]

Exquisite.

[Aspiring]

Nicely done. That is a song I'm working on learning myself at the moment

[Picking Moose]

Very nicely done.
Thank you for posting it.

[ceciltguitar]

Thank you. Very nice. Sincere, heartfelt. Reminds me of my Dad singing this song. Sounds of silence was the first song that I learned to play (from my Dad) on the guitar, and I used to accompany him as he sang and played this song - and hundreds of other songs. So this YouTube went straight to my heart, especially since I haven’t heard this song for a long time. I still easily remembered every word of the lyrics.

[SteveA]

That was Bad A--

[Glennwillow]

Hi Michael,

That was very well done! I really like your voice! Awesome job on this!

- Glenn

[TJN]

Michael,
Whenever I log onto the forum I go to the Show and Tell section to listen to music from forum members. I'm so glad I decided to click on your video. Sounded great.

[Captain Jim]

I don't look in on "Show & Tell" often... your version of this haunting song will make me turn over a new leaf on that. Simply magnificent playing and singing; it left a big ol' lump in my throat. Thank you for sharing that.

[CaptJack]

That was special. Thank you very much for sharing.

[pmichael]

Thanks to everyone who has listened and especially to those who have made such touching comments. It really means a lot to me.

[pmichael]

Since many of us have recording experiences (obviously), I thought I'd share mine as regards this recording of The Sound of Silence.

The studio is a rather rough loft above a garage, in the hills outside town. I've done some recording there before. Maybe not CD quality sound-wise, but for a reasonable price the sound is great, and the video recording and blending a plus. Definitely YouTube material and I'm still new enough at playing out that I am shy on demo material.

One camera to my left, on a stand; the other on my right, hand-held, moving around a bit as I played, or aiming at different parts of me and the guitar.

On this night, I played The Sound of Silence through early in the session, and was gravely disappointed. It was so lackluster, that I was embarrassed to even think that I should attempt this song. So I tried a different song, which was worse; I wasn't prepared, really, and I had come to record the Simon and Garfunkel classic.

So I said, "Well, let's just give it another try, and then I'll go, and quit wasting your time." So he moved the static camera on the left to a different angle; he was thinking ahead. And I did it again, not really expecting much but with more abandon, letting the feeling through and not worrying about getting it right so much. Sort of with the idea, it doesn't matter, it ain't gonna work, just play it, feel it, let it go. And I knew I sort of succeeded in at least getting some feeling into it, but yet didn't expect it to be something that was keeper material.

He played it back flat and again I wasn't impressed; but it wasn't so bad. I thought it could be rescued. I said I'd go home and work on another guitar part that could go over this, and maybe some harmony, and maybe with all that, it might be salvaged. Before I left, I did a couple of guitar passages which he would punch in to replace a couple flubs.

One thing I should note is that I didn't realize until we were into this that the young man who was recording me had a special fondness for this song. More than fondness. He knew lots of back story on the original recordings and loved the song. So he put some personal soul into his own efforts which I know is what salvaged it!

A week or so later, he sent me a rough audio mix. He said he didn't think I had to add any parts. I still didn't believe him but when I heard it I thought well, maybe. Then, a few days later, I got the video with more fully mixed audio. Fortunately, I had played at the same tempo exactly as the first boring take, so now he had four camera angles he could use in the final mix. And I think he did just a great job with both the video and the sound.

There are a few other recordings of myself that I can stand listening to. But this has become probably the only thing I've recorded that I actually enjoy listening to. There remain a few weak spots that I hear each time I play it, vocally and instrumentally. But I don't cringe. I just notice. Overall, this was a gift to me. Yes, I know it's my version, my playing, my singing. But it's more than I expected, and I'm so pleased to be able to have something that I can actually respect, that honors this song which has spoken to us all for so many years.

I would be surprised if many of us didn't have similar experiences. It would be fun to hear them.

Thanks again for all the kind words.

[Acousticado]

Thanks for the backstory. In short, the end result worked, and works very well. You’re proud of it, as you should be. You’re very good!

[Stairway]

Thanks for this track. It comes across soulful and personal. As others have said it's not just the playing which is exquisite, but also the voice, the inflection, the respect for the material, all of it really. The backstory raises specters of the same sort of self-criticism that often paralyzes me when it comes to my own playing. Glad that you found the state of mind to move past the anxiety of nailing the perfect take to put together this beautiful song. Awesome work!