Making Mistakes

I have a confession... You know those songs I have been posting on here for the 2013 challenge I set myself?​  Well, I cheated.  Sort of.

You see, one thing I really struggle with is the ability to play a song through from start to finish note perfect, without missing a beat or playing the wrong note.  I don't think I have EVER played a whole song through without at least one small mistake in it.​

If you listen ever so carefully to those clips I posted, you can hear every now and then a subtle click or pop where I spliced together different takes.  On a good one, there will only be one or two splices, but on some, there up to six or seven splices.  Don't even ask me how make takes I went through to even get to that point.​

There is something about hitting that 'Record' button that puts that extra pressure on me to get things note perfect.  Of course, I then tense up and make even MORE mistakes.​

However, this is something I have been working on diligently this year.  I want to be able to play songs without making as many mistakes as in the past.​  I know asking for total perfection is a bit unrealistic, but I would at least like to be able to put in a performance level effort every time I pick up the guitar.

In analysing my playing, I found that my mind tends to drift to a myriad of other subject while I am playing, instead of focusing on the music.  I will catch myself thinking about inane things to do around the house or work problems that I am having.  Obviously, I will have to quell this noise a lot more if I am to improve my playing.​

In essence, I have to find a meditative state whilst playing.  I need to focus myself on each and every note and nuance, as well as the tempo and maintain a relaxed state of body so that I can adapt to the music a lot better.  This is my goal for the next few months.​

I am hoping that when it comes time to do the 'professional' takes for my songs later in the year, that I can walk into the studio and play them with as few retakes as possible.  It makes sense from an economical viewpoint as well, as I will be paying for studio time by the hour and thus quicker takes will cost me less.​

Recording On The iPad

As you might know, I LOVE recording stuff on my MacBook in Garageband.  When I got an iPad, I was excited by the promise of doing some recording on such a portable platform.  I dreamed of recording whilst kicking back on my deck etc., but alas, the early experiences were not so good.

I mean, there are some GREAT music apps on the iPad, but getting them to talk to each other has always been a pain.  Well, it hasn't been possible at all, actually.  Apart from AudioCopy, there really hasn't been any other way to get audio from one app to another, so I used to resort to hooking up the audio output from my iPad to my MacBook and recording everything in Garageband on there.​

Here is a sample of how I recorded a short track using this method:​

That was the only way to record and mix different sounds on different tracks in your DAW.

Until now.​

Now, we have the incredible Audiobus app, which enable real time transfer for audio from one app to another (as long as the app supports the Audiobus SDK).  Every day, more and more apps are Audiobus ready.  iPad recording has finally come of age.​

​You can even control other apps from within different apps, using the Audiobus sidebar that pops up when running.  Now I can be in Animoog, and I can start/stop recording and playback in MultiTrack DAW without leaving Animoog and interrupting my workflow.

​Here is a sample of a track I recorded ENTIRELY on the iPad, using Audiobus to redirect audio into MultiTrack DAW:

Getting Used To Thumbpicks

I mentioned in my previous post that I had to start using a Thumbpick when playing Dobson's song "Time 2". Never having used one before, I went down to my local music store and bought three of them in different sizes.

When I first put one on my thumb, it felt really awkward, but after about an hour or so of persevering, it started to feel more natural, if a little bit too long.  I ended up taking a pair of nailclippers to one to make it shorter and rounder, then filed it off with a nail file.  Perfect!

​Standard pick on left, modified pick on right

I still cannot play with the thumbpick on for more than two songs or so, otherwise my thumb feels like it is being strangled and the circulation is cut off.  There is a way to make them fit better, which is explained in the video below.  I still haven't tried this yet, but may do so with one of the spare picks and see if I can make it more comfortable.

2013 Challenge - February

​Canadian guitarist/composer Ewan Dobson

Ok, maybe most of your haven't seen the videos of the amazing guitarist playing all these rhythmic songs on guitar whilst wearing all sorts of silly headgear?  Then again, some of you may have already seen Canadian guitarist Ewan Dobson on Youtube in the past few years.

​This song 'Time 2' was one of the most watched guitar videos on Youtube, and I am not sure whether it is because of the 'Raiden' hat he was wearing whilst playing it.

​This song was actually a massive challenge.  Mainly because it is played through a delay pedal, with 1/8th dotted note repeats, so timing is absolutely crucial here.  Half a beat off and it all sounds a right mess.  Did I mention in my last post that timing and tempo was one of my weaknesses? :)

The basic song itself was not that difficult to pick up.  There are a lot of wide stretches with the left hand that were challenging, but overall, the absolute biggest challenge with this one was maintaining a steady, and FAST pace, throughout.​

I ended up using a click track when recording this, just to keep with time.  In fact, when playing it anytime at the moment, I still have to use a little earpiece with a metronome beat to keep me on track.​

This recording was done at 120BPM too, whereas the original is done at 140BPM.  I need to work on the control and speed so I can get it up to Ewan's pace.  This is another song that I want to re-record later in the year when my skills (hopefully) get better.​

Oh, and this was the first time I had used a thumb pick.  You HAVE to use a thumb pick with most of Ewan's songs, otherwise your thumbnail will be just a worn out sliver in very short order.​