Looking for some sound feedback ... once again

[Jim Soloway]

I've been trying for more years than I care to admit to get to the point where I'm happy enough with my recorded sound to release another album for more years than I care to admit. I feel like I'm closer than I've been but I'm way to involved right now to be objective so I'd really appreciate some input.

This is my Soloway Gosling strung with 12s and tuned down to C. The tune's been around for a long time so you may well have heard it before.

[StefanoGhirardo]

I'll try to give you some hot impressions, but keep in mind that I'm not an expert at all!
It seems like an excellent recording to me.
The only thing I would change, but here we are in personal taste, would be to lower the bass a bit, which seems to take too much center stage, sometimes distracting from the beautiful harmonies of higher frequencies.

[FourOnSix]

I'll try to give you some hot impressions, but keep in mind that I'm not an expert at all!
It seems like an excellent recording to me.
The only thing I would change, but here we are in personal taste, would be to lower the bass a bit, which seems to take too much center stage, sometimes distracting from the beautiful harmonies of higher frequencies.

Personally, I like the tone and think the EQ is well balanced. And I would be the first to chime in - well, maybe second in this case - if I thought the bass was too dominant.

[mr. beaumont]

Just listening through my phone it sounds great. Very clear, and very balanced.

I imagine better speakers may accentuate the bass more.

[Ukena]

On my system, with powered near-field monitors specifically set up for (amateur) monitoring, I can see where some might find the bass a little pronounced, but it may be down to personal taste. Since the Gosling is tuned to C, there is more bass than usual in a solo guitar track, but on my pretty clean listening setup

The sound in general is very rich and creamy, yet very clear. I would vote that you've found a very good sound for your recording.

[Boss Man Zwiebelsohn]

Jim your playing is really nice. Why don't you just record your album? Later you can go to a sound or mastering engineer of your choice who can do the final finishing and polishing.

For some years I concentrated more on sound engineering than on playing and songwriting. And I never really managed to finish anything of my own stuff. I fiddled around with thousands of plugins over and over again, but I almost never really got to the end. Then I formed a singer songwriter trio with two friends. I bought a dreadnought therefore and suddenly it was really easy. You take the thing in your hand and make a sound. And that's it.

I hope you can take that, it's meant very cordially and comes from my personal experience: In my opinion, there's a fear behind all the trial and error, the not-getting-ready -- namely the fear of presenting a finished result to others. But there is absolutely no reason for you to be ashamed of your playing in any way. And if your playing is good it will reach people's hearts. Even if the sound should not be 150 % perfect. There is an old saying: The better is the enemy of the good. So just go for your album.

[Jim Soloway]

Jim your playing is really nice. Why don't you just record your album? Later you can go to a sound or mastering engineer of your choice who can do the final finishing and polishing.

For some years I concentrated more on sound engineering than on playing and songwriting. And I never really managed to finish anything of my own stuff. I fiddled around with thousands of plugins over and over again, but I almost never really got to the end. Then I formed a singer songwriter trio with two friends. I bought a dreadnought therefore and suddenly it was really easy. You take the thing in your hand and make a sound. And that's it.

I hope you can take that, it's meant very cordially and comes from my personal experience: In my opinion, there's a fear behind all the trial and error, the not-getting-ready -- namely the fear of presenting a finished result to others. But there is absolutely no reason for you to be ashamed of your playing in any way. And if your playing is good it will reach people's hearts. Even if the sound should not be 150 % perfect. There is an old saying: The better is the enemy of the good. So just go for your album.

Thanks. I agree completely and I think I'm actually there. You've used the exact same saying that I used the other day to describe what I've been doing for years: "making the perfect the enemy of the good". I think I'm not going to get much better that I have on this recording and I've just finished laying down the basic take for the next song. I have a full album worth of original material that I believe in and the plan is to have the whole thing done by Christmas (or sooner).

[frabarmus]

Nice! And I really like the low register. Resonates more with a piano than a guitar (which can lean towards "squeaky" high registers).

[Cunamara]

I have to agree that you have maybe been letting the perfect be the enemy of the good (tone) for a long time. Great insight.

For my taste, this is the best sounding sample recording you have posted here. Sometimes your tone is too bright*. This is warm while retaining clarity, I like it a lot.

Perfection is impossible, anyway. Go record.


*(again for my predilections, but my favorite jazz guitar sounds are Jim Hall Live and Live Vols 2-4, and most all of Ed Bickert, so that gives you my yardstick)