I'm On Fire. Feedback would be truly appreciated!

[theflink]

Hey guys!

Just recorded a little acoustic version of Bruce Springsteen's I'm on Fire.

Thought you might like it, or at least give me some feedback.

Just did this one recording so the playing is a bit flakey since I just started playing it yesterday, but it might add some charm hehe !



Thanks in advance..

Recorded on a Zoom H2n btw

Regards,

Marc

[Nymuso]

Not a Springsteen fan myself, but I see this as a credible performance of the tune like I might expect to hear someone play on a solo acoustic gig.

The positives are that it is a recognizable song and the vocals capture the flavor of the original; the timbre of the vocal conveys angst and mystery about the vocalist that makes me want to hear what else this guy does. At this point I would sit down and order a beer. The negatives are that there are elements missing, some of which cannot be replicated by a solo artist: the slower tempo, the absence of the percussion track and some fill in the turn-arounds, and of course, the yodeling - all conspire to make the song more static than dynamic. Having said that, at a minimum I would suggest the addition of some sort of up the neck fills between the verses and in the outro.

[theflink]

Originally Posted by Nymuso

Not a Springsteen fan myself, but I see this as a credible performance of the tune like I might expect to hear someone play on a solo acoustic gig.

The positives are that it is a recognizable song and the vocals capture the flavor of the original; the timbre of the vocal conveys angst and mystery about the vocalist that makes me want to hear what else this guy does. At this point I would sit down and order a beer. The negatives are that there are elements missing, some of which cannot be replicated by a solo artist: the slower tempo, the absence of the percussion track and some fill in the turn-arounds, and of course, the yodeling - all conspire to make the song more static than dynamic. Having said that, at a minimum I would suggest the addition of some sort of up the neck fills between the verses and in the outro.

Thanks for that! Really good critique that I can use. I'm working on some fills and experimenting with the yodeling part, but don't know about that yet since my falsetto is rubbish so it's a matter of working around it somehow..

But really, thank you man!

[reeve21]

Nice job, Marc. I like the arrangement, works well for solo guitar.
You made the tune your own. My only nit is I would like to hear the vocal a little more, it got buried a bit at times.

well done 😀

[superbitterdave]

Hey Marc,

I’m also not a huge Bruce fan, but this is a great rendition of one of the songs of his I truly enjoy. And I like the stripped sound. I’m a total recording amateur, so take this for what it’s worth. I think to help with the levels between the guitar and vocal a little compression on each would help you find a level that works through the entire recording. At times the guitar is louder, at times the vocal. If you smooth each a little bit, the natural dynamics will still show, but it may help make it feel more even while retaining the ebbs and flows of each. My 2 cents. But it still moved me as is.

Cheers

Dave

[theflink]

Originally Posted by reeve21

Nice job, Marc. I like the arrangement, works well for solo guitar.
You made the tune your own. My only nit is I would like to hear the vocal a little more, it got buried a bit at times.

well done 😀

Thank you very much Bob :-) ! Still working out the best way to record with the Zoom! So hopefully that gets better over time as I get to play with it more.

Really gglad you liked it!

/Marc

[theflink]

Originally Posted by superbitterdave

Hey Marc,

I’m also not a huge Bruce fan, but this is a great rendition of one of the songs of his I truly enjoy. And I like the stripped sound. I’m a total recording amateur, so take this for what it’s worth. I think to help with the levels between the guitar and vocal a little compression on each would help you find a level that works through the entire recording. At times the guitar is louder, at times the vocal. If you smooth each a little bit, the natural dynamics will still show, but it may help make it feel more even while retaining the ebbs and flows of each. My 2 cents. But it still moved me as is.

Cheers

Dave

Wow, thanks for that, Dave! That makes me really happy!

I agree. Still figuring out my new recorder. Donno if I can compress it properly since both voice and guitar is in the same recording, but I just kinda threw the WAV file on soundcloud without doing anything to it.

Will keep that in mind though, since I'm gonna want to start recording songs properly before to long, so thanks a lot for the advice! I'll make sure to remember it!

/Marc

[reeve21]

Originally Posted by theflink

Thank you very much Bob :-) ! Still working out the best way to record with the Zoom! So hopefully that gets better over time as I get to play with it more.

Really gglad you liked it!

/Marc

Hi Marc,

I'm also new to zoom in the past few months. Before that I just used my phone. Big difference!

I transfer the raw files to Audacity without altering them on the zoom. I also am at the beginner point of doing everything in one take, no overdubbing or splicing.

After playing around for a while I have had best results by adding compression, a little bit of reverb and some EQ to bring out the trebles (my voice and my main guitar are both bass heavy). Most of my recordings are instrumentals, but for recording with vocals I also found that getting the zoom up to head level and a few feet away really helped. I've got the input set around 80 per cent and that seems to keep the recording levels in check.

It is amazing what you can figure out by trial and error

Again, great job on that tune.

[theflink]

Originally Posted by reeve21

Hi Marc,

I'm also new to zoom in the past few months. Before that I just used my phone. Big difference!

I transfer the raw files to Audacity without altering them on the zoom. I also am at the beginner point of doing everything in one take, no overdubbing or splicing.

After playing around for a while I have had best results by adding compression, a little bit of reverb and some EQ to bring out the trebles (my voice and my main guitar are both bass heavy). Most of my recordings are instrumentals, but for recording with vocals I also found that getting the zoom up to head level and a few feet away really helped. I've got the input set around 80 per cent and that seems to keep the recording levels in check.

It is amazing what you can figure out by trial and error

Again, great job on that tune.

I've been trying to get a look at Cubase (which came with my Zoom) but it's just very confusing so I'm taking my time with it so I don't rush anything. And yes! It really makes a huge difference from the crappy phone recordings i've been doing for years! Well worth the investment. I'll keep the advice in mind next time I play around with it.

And again, thank you

[reeve21]

Originally Posted by theflink

I've been trying to get a look at Cubase (which came with my Zoom) but it's just very confusing so I'm taking my time with it so I don't rush anything. And yes! It really makes a huge difference from the crappy phone recordings i've been doing for years! Well worth the investment. I'll keep the advice in mind next time I play around with it.

And again, thank you

You are welcome, Marc. I never even tried the Cubase, so no help there. Audacity is free and pretty easy for a newbie like me.

[valleyguy]

Nice version of that song, enjoyed it. What tuning are you using?

[theflink]

Originally Posted by valleyguy

Nice version of that song, enjoyed it. What tuning are you using?

Sorry for the very late answer, it's just Drop D tuning!

[Glennwillow]

Hi Marc,

Actually, your approach to the song reminds me very much of Springsteen. I enjoyed your performance.

- Glenn