Waltzing Matilda (or my sorry attempt at being Larry Pattis!)

[mmmaak]

Originally Posted by Larry Pattis

I enjoyed myself.

That's a very big compliment to me, Larry. Thanks

[Guit Hacker]

Originally Posted by Larry Pattis

Mak,

......but it's all about what you can communicate to the listener.

That's all that counts.

I completely agree.

I'm far from the technique that you or Larry have, but there are many people who enjoy my playing. Several of my biggest fans are other musicians that I look up to and admire. Sometimes they can see something in our playing that we can't. Look at Bob Dylan... polished?, refined?, how's his technique?. I guess we all know the answers, but he certainly "communicates".

[3rd_harmonic]

mmmaak,
wow. Good job. One of my favorite songs. I know there's no official set of lyrics but can I add this one from wiki?

Once a jolly swagman camped by a billabong
Under the shade of a coolibah tree,
And he sang as he watched and waited 'til his billy boiled
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me"

Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me"
And he sang as he watched and waited 'til his billy boiled,
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me".

Down came a jumbuck to drink at that billabong,
Up jumped the swagman and grabbed him with glee,
And he sang as he shoved that jumbuck in his tucker bag,
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me".

Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me"
And he sang as he shoved that jumbuck in his tucker bag,
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me".

Up rode the squatter, mounted on his thoroughbred,
Down came the troopers, one, two, three,
"Where's that jolly jumbuck you've got in your tucker bag?"
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me".

Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me"
"Where's that jolly jumbuck you've got in your tucker bag?",
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me".

Up jumped the swagman and sprang into the billabong,
"You'll never catch me alive", said he,
And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong,
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me".

Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me"
And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong,
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me."
"Oh, You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me."

[shawlie]

That was really pretty - nice playing of a very nice arrangement.

[rlouie]

very nice Mak..............you have a very clean sound!!!!!

[Ryler]

Wonderful. Really emotive. I've always enjoyed your playing, Maak.

[Billy Boy]

Very, very nicely done...thank you!

[Bob1131]

Wow, Mmmaak, you really played this one with sensitivity and emotion. Very nicely done!

[mmmaak]

Thanks to everyone for listening, and for all the kind words of encouragement. I hope that my rendition will help entice you into (rather than turn you off from ) buying Larry's album

Originally Posted by Guit Hacker

I completely agree.

I'm far from the technique that you or Larry have, but there are many people who enjoy my playing. Several of my biggest fans are other musicians that I look up to and admire. Sometimes they can see something in our playing that we can't. Look at Bob Dylan... polished?, refined?, how's his technique?. I guess we all know the answers, but he certainly "communicates".

Hi Nathan,

You and Larry make some very good points. I think that sometimes as guitarists still on the path to discovering new methods/styles, we (or maybe it's just me!) tend to focus so much on improving technique we tend to forget that, at the end of the day, achieving an emotional connection to the music is really what it's all about. It's good to be reminded of that every now and then by kind people who appreciate our music

Originally Posted by 3rd_harmonic

mmmaak,
wow. Good job. One of my favorite songs. I know there's no official set of lyrics but can I add this one from wiki?

Sure you can, thanks! I think many actually don't realize how spooky and depressing the song really is till they reflect on the lyrics and the story behind it!

[paul84]

Just bought the album (highly recommended btw), now I'm working on the song myself. This might take a while

Paul

[mmmaak]

EQ'd version uploaded (see first post)

How's the practice coming along, Paul?

[Livingston]

Wow, nice rendition! Sounds wonderful. Thanks for posting the link.

Darryl

[Brent Hutto]

Honestly, the difference seems pretty subtle to me listening through my Senn HD-595 and computer sound card. There is just a touch more "air" and presence to the new EQ'd cut but it's the kind of thing you have to listen to closely. Most people would probably find they sound the same.

[mmmaak]

Originally Posted by Brent Hutto

Honestly, the difference seems pretty subtle to me listening through my Senn HD-595 and computer sound card. There is just a touch more "air" and presence to the new EQ'd cut but it's the kind of thing you have to listen to closely. Most people would probably find they sound the same.

Hi Brent, thanks for listening. The difference is quite clear to me, but maybe because I'm comparing them "side by side" in Audacity . Just curious, what did you think of the tone of the old recording? I've always thought it was muddy, but maybe that's due to my cheap notebook audio card? I much prefer the EQ'd version, though I'm sure others may disagree, depending on their setup.

[Brent Hutto]

To be honest, my own headphone listening setup has limitation. Primarily the built-in sound card function of my cheap computer but also my HD-595 tends to have a bit of a response hump right where fingerstyle solo guitars tend to be a bit muddy.

So I went and listened to both versions on the stereo (external DAC, decent amp, great speakers) and the difference was more apparent. I surmise you re-normalized after applying the EQ because not only is a bit of that mid-bass missing but the apparent level of the background noise, finger noise and so forth is noticeably greater. So it is a more revealing, detailed recording but I suspect that's mostly because the level is boosted a couple dB or so.

On that listening setup if forced to choose I might go with the warmer original track. I can hear more details in the second one but it's a little sterile or clinical sounding (in Hi-Fi geek speak) and absent any muddiness or bass emphasis in the playback chain that extra bits of OM-body-thump are not objectionable to me. Jim Tozier told me once that Al Petteway totally avoids any EQ at all even to remove that proximity effect that is common in guitar recording...but I'm pretty sure Al P. knows how to arrange his microphones not to get as much of that as you or I do with our little portable recorders.