Rumbunctious

Posted Thu, 07/05/2012 - 08:26 by karl

Audio:

Howdy folks! I don't have a lot of equipment so I used the on board mic on my laptop to record the acoustic harmonica. The backing track is from 3rd position study #1, Rollin' Rumba. I used Audacity to mix the two tracks. I used a Hohner Golden Melody A diatonic, playing cross harp in the key of E.

V-IV-I Intro - Let the band establish the Rumba.

1st chorus - Head. ABAC chorus form.

2nd chorus - Double with the bass line

3rd chorus - ABAC chorus form.

4th chorus - AAB chorus form.

5th chorus - ABC chorus form.

6th chorus - AAB chorus form.

7th chorus - Back to the Head.

Comments

Judging

by David Barrett - 07/30/2012 - 10:14

CH1 - Great rhythmic feel and use of Chorus Forms. Change to a model of harmonica other than the temperment of the Golden Melody (like a Special 20 or Marine Band)

CH2 - Nice melodic development from head. Good bending skills

CH3 - Nice use of sequencing here... the 1 draw quack in bar 12 can be avoided by playing softer

CH4 - Nice triplet pattern and chorus form usage here

CH5 - The triplet lick is a bit overused for my taste here... innovative though

CH6 - The triplet idea has gone on too long for me. Cool Whammer Jammer lick there

CH7 - Head returns

Some very good ideas here and great use of Chorus Forms... well done. The next step is to analyze your song for the use of textures (Improvising Study 2) and turnaround usage (Improvising Study 5). Keep up the great work!

Lee's Comments

by Lee Sankey - 07/27/2012 - 15:57

Hi there,

Lot's of energy and spirit on this take. I like the way you play changes on the head, simple but effective. Still lovin' the switching licks you do e.g. 1:12. Nice idea to peak the last one the blow 10, sets up the outro.

My other comments on tone and timing apply here as well.

Lee

Nice work!

by jodanchudan - 07/27/2012 - 02:50

I like the rhythmic head and flutters. Switching to the baseline in the second chorus is a cool idea too, as is the use of those swooping bends. Nice work!

Steve's comments

by Steve Baker - 07/24/2012 - 08:47

The idea for the head is simple and effective. Unfortunately the timing is not on the beat and the chords sound rather harsh due to the tempered tuning of the GM. The impro is clearly structured and the tongue switching is both adventurous and accomplished, but for me it doesn't sit very naturally in this context. Simpler lines with more relation to the groove would work better in my opinion. You may want to consider an instrument with a tuning closer to JI such as a Marine Band, I think it would work better here. Good try, but it needs to be delivered with better timing.