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Constructive criticism on my rhythm playing

KBKB Toronto, CanadaNew
edited August 2009 in Gypsy Rhythm Posts: 26
Recording is bad...done via my laptop mic...

This is the rhythm to Danube/anniversary song

appreciate any feedback

Thanks.
«134

Comments

  • MichaelHorowitzMichaelHorowitz SeattleAdministrator
    Posts: 6,151
    good try for just starting out....

    You're generally suffering from many of the same problems most beginners have:

    1) Upstroke is too slow...ends up sounding very gallop like.

    2) your accent on 2 and 4 is a bit weak.

    3) generally you're weaving in and out of the time and your chord changes are a little rough sometimes. Also, the chord voicings don't sound ideal to me.

    This takes TONS of practice so keep at it and listen, listen, listen...

    'm
  • dennisdennis Montreal, QuebecModerator
    Posts: 2,159
    good try for just starting out....

    You're generally suffering from many of the same problems most beginners have:

    1) Upstroke is too slow...ends up sounding very gallop like.

    2) your accent on 2 and 4 is a bit weak.

    3) generally you're weaving in and out of the time and your chord changes are a little rough sometimes. Also, the chord voicings don't sound ideal to me.

    This takes TONS of practice so keep at it and listen, listen, listen...

    'm


    hmmm I dunno, regarding michael's points:

    1) The recording quality is really really bad indeed but the up seemed fine to me (but again I stress it's especially hard for me to tell with my cheap laptop speakers)

    2) His 2 and 4 seems spot on to me and possibly even a bit too loud but again the recording quality isn't helping...

    3) It seemed fairly consistent to me! he doesn't fluctuate too much at all and if you compare the beginning and the end it's roughly the same tempo...

    wow I hate to disagree with Michael, but it actually sounded not bad... But it really is extremely difficult to give constructive criticism because of the recording quality...

    you should also record rhythm over a bossa, a fast tempo tune, a medium tempo tune, and a ballad
  • JackJack western Massachusetts✭✭✭✭
    Posts: 1,752
    Just a note about the upstroke thing...I think a lot of people (especially when new to the style) tend to think of it as something like this, where the upstroke is the AND:

    1 2AND 3 4AND....etc.

    When it should be more like:

    and1 2 and3 4...etc.

    That might not be totally clear, but I hope it helps.

    best,
    Jack.
    Buco
  • MichaelHorowitzMichaelHorowitz SeattleAdministrator
    Posts: 6,151
    Hi Denis...thanks for your thoughts,
    dennis wrote:

    1) The recording quality is really really bad indeed but the up seemed fine to me (but again I stress it's especially hard for me to tell with my cheap laptop speakers)

    It definitely on the slow side, but if you're going for a pre-war Django type of sound it can work. I'd still say it's a bit slow and overstated even for that style, but by no means terrible or anything. But more modern players would do that upstroke faster and lighter.


    2) His 2 and 4 seems spot on to me and possibly even a bit too loud but again the recording quality isn't helping...

    I prefer a heavier back beat....but again these are idiosyncratic things.
    3) It seemed fairly consistent to me! he doesn't fluctuate too much at all and if you compare the beginning and the end it's roughly the same tempo...

    I didn't mean he was speeding up...it's more subtle then that. Some of the chord changes weren't quite as smooth as they could be and there was some fluctuation at times.

    But all in all pretty good...but more of a retro, pre war type of rhythm.


    'm
  • Teddy DupontTeddy Dupont Deity
    Posts: 1,257

    It definitely on the slow side, but if you're going for a pre-war Django type of sound it can work.
    I've never understood your negativity about Django and the HCQ's pre-war rhythm sound.
  • MichaelHorowitzMichaelHorowitz SeattleAdministrator
    Posts: 6,151
    I've never understood your negativity about Django and the HCQ's pre-war rhythm sound.

    What negativity? It's just different, that's all. I use that style on lots of tunes...really like it on the more medium tempos they favored in that era.

    But it's rarely used by any pros today....most use a fast upstroke or no upstroke at all. Fapy is the one guy that comes to mind...he always favored the pre-war approach. But other then him it's hard to find many playing the pre-war style.
  • KBKB Toronto, CanadaNew
    Posts: 26
    Hey guys...thanks for all the replies/feedback....I wasn't really thinking of how fast or slow my upstroke was. It's definitely slower relative to how i play some other tunes

    I really like that tune so i just wanted it to sound nice and bouncy w/ a swing feel going w/ a more delayed upstroke kinda feel but still swinging

    Maybe you can shed some light into this but whenever i try to play la pompe i try to make sure it swings and make sure i'm following the stroke patterns correctly. I never really concentrate how fast/slow the upstroke is and focus more on the swinging feel. Is this wrong??? i know i'm never consistent on the speed of the upstroke - changes with different songs i play.

    Any advice is greatly appreciated.

    regards,

    KB
  • MichaelHorowitzMichaelHorowitz SeattleAdministrator
    Posts: 6,151
    KB wrote:
    I never really concentrate how fast/slow the upstroke is and focus more on the swinging feel. Is this wrong??? i know i'm never consistent on the speed of the upstroke - changes with different songs i play.

    It's probably best to pick a rhythm player you like and just emulate that for a while. It's too confusing when you're starting out to try and mimic the subtleties of many different players. How the upstroke is done is one of the big factors that makes rhythm players sound different so pay attention to that. Also, how things are muted and were the accents are can make huge differences in the sound. I broke all this down in the styles section of the rhythm book...for more info check out that section.

    But of course, paying attention to the overall swing is the most important thing. If you don't have that then it's all for not.

    'm
  • The LosThe Los San DiegoNew
    Posts: 71
    Hey man, your rhythm sounds like it's on the right track to me. Like Michael and Dennis said, there's only a couple minor things holding you back that will be ironed out in time. I would agree you're off to a solid start; at least you 'get' the concepts.

    It's funny you guys bring up the pre-war style. I play this way almost exclusively and I think it is becoming, sadly, a lost art. Whenever I go to a jam people will come up to me and say, "wow man, what were you doing? That sounded cool!" It's like they've never listened to the old Django recordings. Those are the songs that brought me into this music so that must be why I like the sound so much.

    I wish more of the modern players would use this approach but I'm just old-fashioned I guess.
  • constantineconstantine New York✭✭✭✭ Geronimo Mateos
    Posts: 485
    Hey KB

    You can get these great USB mics these days for about $50 and they are really convenient. No need for a breakout box (like a firewire digital audio interface) totally portable and very good sound.

    http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... K:MEWNX:IT


    cheers
    C
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