Halcyon Sound Clips: The mediocre, the bad and the ugly

[psychojohn]

WARNING: THE OP DENIES ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR BLEEDING EARS, EMOTIONAL TRUAMA, OR CANCELLED HALCYON ORDERS AS A RESULT OF LISTENING TO THESE CLIPS. Guys, no finger picking or pick picking here. Just plain old strumming.

Sound clips of my Halcyon 12 fret 000 Primavera/Lutz/Zebrawood

IN ADDITION TO THE OLD ADAGE THAT A GUITAR IS ONLY AS GOOD AS THE HANDS HOLDING IT, I'VE DISCOVERED THAT IT'S ONLY AS GOOD AS RECORDING TECNIQUES USED, AS WELL. THIS WAS RECORDED ON A YETTI/BLUE MIC WITH GAIN SET A 12:00. BASED ON HOW MONOCHORMATIC IT SOUNDS, I MAY NEED TO EXPERIEMENT WITH MORE SENSITIVITY WHEN RECORDINg.

First up is me playing through some chords (not scales as suggested by the title). Most are clean, but I tighten up/screw up at the end.

https://soundcloud.com/psychojohn-1/halcyonscales

Next is my rendition of Three Little Birds. More than a few turds in this one but clearer/less distorted tone can be heard in the chorus. I took a stab at a lighter touch/hand near the end with only minimal success. Throughout, I intentionally let some notes linger longer to give you a sense of sustain (and to have plausible deniability for mistakes).


https://soundcloud.com/psychojohn-1/threelittlinternet2

Peace

John

[reholli]

Originally Posted by psychojohn

WARNING: THE OP DENIES ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR BLEEDING EARS, EMOTIONAL TRUAMA, OR CANCELLED HALCYON ORDERS AS A RESULT OF LISTENING TO THESE CLIPS. Guys, no finger picking or pick picking here. Just plain old strumming.

Sound clips of my Halcyon 12 fret 000 Primavera/Lutz/Zebrawood

IN ADDITION TO THE OLD ADAGE THAT A GUITAR IS ONLY AS GOOD AS THE HANDS HOLDING IT, I'VE DISCOVERED THAT IT'S ONLY AS GOOD AS RECORDING TECNIQUES USED, AS WELL. THIS WAS RECORDED ON A YETTI/BLUES MIC WITH GAIN SET A 12:00. BASED ON HOW MONOCHORMATIC IT SOUNDS, I MAY NEED TO EXPERIEMENT WITH MORE SENSITIVITY WHEN RECORDINg.

First up is me playing through some chords (not scales as suggested by the title). Most are clean, but I tighten up/screw up at the end.

https://soundcloud.com/psychojohn-1/halcyonscales

Next is my rendition of Three Little Birds. More than a few turds in this one but clearer/less distorted tone can be heard in the chorus. I took a stab at a lighter touch/hand near the end with only minimal success. Throughout, I intentionally let some notes linger longer to give you a sense of sustain.


https://soundcloud.com/psychojohn-1/threelittlinternet2

Peace

John

Well, old adages sometimes don't quite ring true. In this case, because the chords are fully and cleanly fretted and strummed, it's easy to tell that they're being played on a fine guitar.

Some interesting harmonics sounding at times at some of the pauses...perhaps less sensitivity?

In any event, keep playin' John!

Nice, clear sound on that guitar.

Just curious...why all the looooong sections of silence on the recordings?

[psychojohn]

Originally Posted by GraceGuitars

Nice, clear sound on that guitar.

Just curious...why all the looooong sections of silence on the recordings?

although silent on the recordings, in person it is still sustaining and I was hoping to capture that, but it didn't which is why I thought it might need increased sensitivity in future recordings, but also hear the harmonic's leading reholli to suggest lower sensitivity. This is all new stuff to me.

John

Originally Posted by psychojohn

although silent on the recordings, in person it is still sustaining and I was hoping to capture that, but it didn't which is why I thought it might need increased sensitivity in future recordings, but also hear the harmonic's leading reholli to suggest lower sensitivity. This is all new stuff to me.

John

Got it ......

[Long Jon]

That's a terrific sounding guitar John. Really rich.

Kudos for sharing your efforts. Might I suggest going for a song that doesn't have a reggae beat ?
You are setting yourself a tricky challenge with that stuff.

In spite of my Martin ownership, I'm a total cowboy chord hack myself, so please take my patronage with a pinch of salt.

[Coffeeaddict]

Sounds nice John. Glad you are enjoying this guitar so much.

[psychojohn]

Originally Posted by Long Jon

That's a terrific sounding guitar John. Really rich.

Kudos for sharing your efforts. Might I suggest going for a song that doesn't have a reggae beat ?
You are setting yourself a tricky challenge with that stuff.

In spite of my Martin ownership, I'm a total cowboy chord hack myself, so please take my patronage with a pinch of salt.

Thanks ! "Rich" is a good descriptor.

Non reggae cowboy chord songs playable after my first year of lessons include: Wild Thing, You Don't know how it feels, Hey Hey, My My, Crossroads Blues (rhythm only) but sadly, Three little birds is probably the best of the lot. Having fun none-the less.

Originally Posted by psychojohn

Having fun none-the less.

That's what counts, no matter what skill level you're at.

[philo426]

Why are you pausing so long between chords?

Originally Posted by philo426

Why are you pausing so long between chords?

I already asked this and got an answer:

Originally Posted by GraceGuitars

Nice, clear sound on that guitar.

Just curious...why all the looooong sections of silence on the recordings?

Originally Posted by psychojohn

although silent on the recordings, in person it is still sustaining and I was hoping to capture that, but it didn't which is why I thought it might need increased sensitivity in future recordings, but also hear the harmonic's leading reholli to suggest lower sensitivity. This is all new stuff to me.

John

[pjroberts]

Originally Posted by philo426

Why are you pausing so long between chords?

Read the thread, man!

John, congrats on posting this:-) I will go listen intently now as you can imagine my excitement is starting to simmer.

[pjroberts]

Awesome, John. You have a sweet instrument, and Bob Marley is always a winning start. I was just having this email chat with Ed about balance and note articulation, and the chord samples really exhibit that quality. Each note really stands out.

Thanks so much for sharing; I will someday return the favor;-)

[psychojohn]

Thanks to all for being gentle and understanding regarding my playing. I think I might be one of the few strummers here compared to all the finger, flat and hybrid picking I've heard and seen done here. Hard not to realize I am on a much more primitive level than many, if not most players here. My goal however, was to show case the guitar, not my playing, and I was hoping that some simple chords might do the trick as they did for pjroberts.

One of the many things these clips don't do is give you a sense of the power of this guitar compared to larger bodied types. Said it before, but my OM and dreads sound anemic compared to my Halcyon. As my attempt to play soft showed, I am playing the notes at my natural strum pressure; I am not working to make the guitar sound loud and I quickly return toward that natural force when trying to play soft. What a great sounding and playing guitar. I love my Halcyon and am having to work hard to remember to play my other beauties for their own unique al be it weaker voices.

Hoping to continue to improve and eventually finger pick, but am a long way off. for now I'll continue to get better with the cowboy chords and do more simple, but recognizable songs for me to enjoy playing.

Thanks to all for your support !

John

[psychojohn]

Originally Posted by philo426

Why are you pausing so long between chords?

Don't sweat it. I too fail to read closely and/or often skip reading posts. Given the guitar didn't pick up the sustain, you won't bee seeing or hearing those gaps in any future posts, FWIW.

Peace

John