JGBE Virtual Jam (Round 3) - So What/Impressions

[John A.]

You think pineapple pizza is bad... when I was in Israel we had pizza.. but you could not mix meat and cheese... so imagine, you have pizza and you can have meat, or cheese, but not both. Plain old cheese pizza had to be it.

I never thought of this as a solution to the dairy/meat problem (and I don't keep kosher in the first place so it's a non-issue for me), but pizza with tuna, onions, and capers is really good (fish and dairy together is kosher). It sounds like it would be kind of nasty, but the combination is surprisingly rich and non-fishy. Pretty sure you can get tuna and capers in the Levant ... And remember, you can tune a guitar, but you can't tuna fish, even though it has scales.

John

[John A.]

Ah, yes...



Oh, I think it's a lot worse than that!

(Fact is, I'm just bored with two chords, John, I prefer a tune I can feel)

So I'm guessing your next album is not "Ragman Plays the Later Works of John Coltrane" ...

John

[TOMMO]

pizza with tuna, onions, and capers is really good
John

A man after my heart!

[christianm77]

You think pineapple pizza is bad... when I was in Israel we had pizza.. but you could not mix meat and cheese... so imagine, you have pizza and you can have meat, or cheese, but not both. Plain old cheese pizza had to be it.

Thats messed up

But in Lhasa, Tibet I was served glacé cherries on a pizza

Beat that

[ragman1]

Tasty, airy, and mystical--yet still earthy and grounded in the soil

You're a perceptive person, and I'm not being vain

[ragman1]

So I'm guessing your next album is not "Ragman Plays the Later Works of John Coltrane" ...

You wouldn't be far wrong :-)

(Click the Soundcloud thing again, I've replaced it with something else, probably better)

[ragman1]

Thats messed up

But in Lhasa, Tibet I was served glacé cherries on a pizza

Beat that

Not stewed goat or something, then. You were lucky

[John A.]

You wouldn't be far wrong :-)

(Click the Soundcloud thing again, I've replaced it with something else, probably better)

The single-line stuff is more interesting now. But I can't hear the bass enough to tell what's going on with the time/form. It seems like you halved the form (or doubled the tempo, though the comping and soloing don't feel that way).

John

[ragman1]

The single-line stuff is more interesting now. But I can't hear the bass enough to tell what's going on with the time/form. It seems like you halved the form (or doubled the tempo, though the comping and soloing don't feel that way).

John

Jeff said he was having trouble hearing the bass on the other version (on his phone) so he was going to use headphones. I use them and it's all quite clear so probably that's the answer.

[John A.]

Jeff said he was having trouble hearing the bass on the other version (on his phone) so he was going to use headphones. I use them and it's all quite clear so probably that's the answer.

I was listening on headphones that have a decent amount of bass response and the bass line was barely perceptible. Maybe your headphones hype the bass leading you to attenuate it in your mixes? So did you cut the form in half?

John

[John A.]

Thats messed up

But in Lhasa, Tibet I was served glacé cherries on a pizza

Beat that

It's a matter of perspective, I guess. I come from what was an Italian neighborhood when I was growing up, with great pizza joints on practically every block, at a time when good pizza had yet to spread outside a few enclaves in the US. My first encounters with Shakey's and Pizza Hut were pretty shocking. That Tibetan variant might be different enough from the original and weird enough to be acceptable. But something the right shape and color with the ostensibly correct components that tastes like plastic on soggy toast is a cruel joke. Sort of like a Brit experiencing the American idea of a scone, or Arthur Dent's struggles to get a decent cup of tea on a spaceship.

John

[bil]

http://<a href="https://vimeo.com/50...e on Vimeo</a>

same video, but it's on Vimeo. I pulled the one from youTube, and won't go into the why and what for

comments welcome, if you feel so moved. I'm spending more time at this site these days. Also spending more time with guitar, after a hiatus.

hasta lasagna. (don't get any on ya)

edit: WTF? new video won't attach...

[rpjazzguitar]

I don't know if this is a weird question or not.

When you listen to your own playing on these recordings, do you sound the way you want to?

Or, stated another way, are you producing the sounds in your mind?

Speaking only for myself, my answer is "partially". The tone isn't exactly what I want to hear. I imagine more varied harmonic content than I know how to produce. I struggle to be as rhythmically varied as I'd like. On the positive side, I can often feel the emotion I'm trying to express. The good part: it helps me focus on what I need to work on.

[mr. beaumont]

I don't know if this is a weird question or not.

When you listen to your own playing on these recordings, do you sound the way you want to?

Or, stated another way, are you producing the sounds in your mind?

Speaking only for myself, my answer is "partially". The tone isn't exactly what I want to hear. I imagine more varied harmonic content than I know how to produce. I struggle to be as rhythmically varied as I'd like. On the positive side, I can often feel the emotion I'm trying to express. The good part: it helps me focus on what I need to work on.

I'm almost always happy with my sound.

The notes, usually a mix of "that wasn't so bad" and "shit I want those back."

[John A.]

I don't know if this is a weird question or not.

When you listen to your own playing on these recordings, do you sound the way you want to?

Or, stated another way, are you producing the sounds in your mind?

Speaking only for myself, my answer is "partially". The tone isn't exactly what I want to hear. I imagine more varied harmonic content than I know how to produce. I struggle to be as rhythmically varied as I'd like. On the positive side, I can often feel the emotion I'm trying to express. The good part: it helps me focus on what I need to work on.

I would say "partially" also (at best), and hear the same shortcomings in my recordings you list. Beyond that, all kinds of things need tightening up and/or development, and only small percent of what I've recorded sounds acceptable to me from a chops/musicianship standpoint. But recordings make a good diagnostic tool, so I continue. Sound is a more complicated subject. I am generally pretty happy with the tones I get live out of my guitars and amps, but I have not succeeded in recording them well. When I record direct with plug-ins, it's usually better, but it feels different to play that way. Honestly, I have some great sounding stuff that I know how to coax tones out of in a band setting, but it doesn't translate to a home recording environment.

John

[PickingMyEars]

RP,

Not a weird question at all. Sometimes I don't put my portable recorder in the right spot. The guitar sounds either gummy or distorts too much. I actually like a little bit of distortion, but I am talking about to the point that I can't even hear the guitar.

A bass player friend of mine gifted me his old boost pedal--only pedal I ever use and I love it! Before, my guitar sounded like mud. No definition. Now I my sound is more balanced, but it's a work in progress.

In terms of other stuff...

1. Time feel, time feel, time feel. A couple of years ago I switched from tapping on 2 and 4 to stomping on 1 and 3. Not to keep time, but to straighten out my groove. My mentor told me to do 1 and 3 because that's what the "jazz elders of yore" told him. I listen to my mentor because he's played with people I could only dream of. Graham Dechter is definitely worth a listen

2. Fullness of each note. I noticed that some of my notes in the upper register of the guitar were "clicky" on my last couple of posts. I want control over my fullness. Percussive is totally fair game, but I want to control when and where. That's a "me" thing, not a guitar setup thing.

3. Note length. Being intentional with how I attack and start a note. Being even more intentional with how and when I end a note.

4. Phrasing, phrasing, phrasing.

5. Motivic development. I want my improvised solo to sound like a complete solo--sometimes it does and more often... it doesn't.

6. Time feel, time feel, time feel. Groove. Notes gotta dance. If not, my notes don't mean a thing.

RP, you asked--I told. That's the last long post from me--more play play and less speaky speak. That said, as an educator, I think it's crucial to give yourself specific constructive criticism everytime you record yourself. The worst you could say is "I suck!" Why? Be specific and it will help frame your goals.

There I go again. Okay, this jam is fun. What's next, Mr. B?

[mr. beaumont]

There I go again. Okay, this jam is fun. What's next, Mr. B?

I think our next one is going to be an older one, but a jam session classic.

[Peter C]

Only other feedback for the moment.....

Gabor Szabo Mr B? You know'em all! Great idea to do these jams.

John A., the "fast bursts" were not premeditated, just the way I felt it. Maybe to avoid falling asleep

Ref. do you sound the way you want to? No, because I only hear the bum/badly fretted notes (lots in my contribution). Doesn't stop me from trying to find the time to play something, however.

[ragman1]

I was listening on headphones that have a decent amount of bass response and the bass line was barely perceptible. Maybe your headphones hype the bass leading you to attenuate it in your mixes? So did you cut the form in half?

John

Sorry to sound ignorant but they're just computer headphones. All online and offline vids and audio sound perfectly right to me, nothing too high or low, soft or loud, and I haven't touched the default computer sound settings. That's about all I can say.

I also don't know what you mean by cutting the form in half. If you mean playing 8 bars instead of 16, or 4 instead of 8, I think I did, yes, though it would have been accidental. Does it matter?

[John A.]

Sorry to sound ignorant but they're just computer headphones. All online and offline vids and audio sound perfectly right to me, nothing too high or low, soft or loud, and I haven't touched the default computer sound settings. That's about all I can say.

I also don't know what you mean by cutting the form in half. If you mean playing 8 bars instead of 16, or 4 instead of 8, I think I did, yes, though it would have been accidental. Does it matter?

What I meant is that maybe your headphones overemphasize bass (some of mine do), so when you adjust things to sound good to you, you lower bass frequencies. Other people listening on more neutral phones or phones that have less bass response don't hear the bass in your tracks.

And yes, I meant you did 8/4/4 instead of 16/8/8. It matters if you meant to play So What.

John

[Ronstuff]

Here's my take! Recorded with a real bass player and a not so real drummer(Drum Genius app).

Lots of great versions on this thread! Starting with the groovy Grant Greeny 1st post by Mr. Beaumont!

Ok Pizza time...

Fun!

[ragman1]

Good stuff there, Ron! I do like a guy who just sits there and bangs it out. Great energy. Do some more!

[kris]

Here's my take! Recorded with a real bass player and a not so real drummer(Drum Genius app).

Lots of great versions on this thread! Starting with the groovy Grant Greeny 1st post by Mr. Beaumont!

Ok Pizza time...

Fun!

Nice playing.Great sound.
Do you use volume pedal effect?
Jazzingly
Kris

[Ronstuff]

Nice playing.Great sound.
Do you use volume pedal effect?
Jazzingly
Kris

Thanks Kris! Yes that was a new pedal I got yesterday! TC Electronics Crescendo.
I liked your version, cool effect on the telecaster and nice phrases!

Ron

[TOMMO]

Here's my contribution, warts and all:

All comments welcome - thanks!