Well what I say in the video is true. I didn’t manage to really focus on three songs to improve. It feels like I’m coming forward with a lot of excuses this week, but I guess it’s good to review why I think things turned out the way they did. This might actually be a good opportunity to examine the elements of this endeavor and refine my approach. So, I’m going to break this down into five key sections:
Song Choice
Previously I was writing about the reasons for my song choice to give me ideas about what to talk about when introducing the songs, and this week I decided to try actually start talking in between songs and play more of a “entertainer” role than just presenting my music progress in isolation (thanks UU podcast for the idea). Figure that’s another thing to start working on sooner than later. So, that’s why some of the things I’ll write here will mirror what I say in the video. And I still think it’s a useful exercise to examine why I chose the songs I did.
Instrumentation
This mostly refers to the ukulele playing, the strumming and instrumental breaks. This should give me an opportunity to examine any challenges with playing and talk about how I overcame them (or didn’t). Sadly being true to the one string experiment has made it difficult to really work on instrumentation for the past few weeks, but I do feel like it will pay off and make me a better player in the long run, so. Sorry.
Vocals
I’ve had two voice lessons so far, and it has become exceedingly clear that the voice is its own instrument that needs appropriate dedication to get good with. For now I’m mostly just trying to implement the many things I’ve learned and keep up with the new warm up exercises and techniques the teacher has suggested. I do plan to make a whole video about it eventually, particularly once I can play the warm up exercises on ukulele, so I can share that with everyone.
Recording
It doesn’t really matter how good you play if your recording setup is bad. And my setup is bad. Part of it is that I don’t really know what I’m doing, and another part is that I can’t really put as much time into it as I would like since some of the things involved require being upright to work with my mixer and move things around in the rig. I lost the reverb on my vocals again this week, and I’m not exactly sure why. My gain staging sucks and I’m not sure how to fix it. It’s going to take a whole half-day of my time upright to troubleshoot these issues, which means I’ll probably need to find a meal I can eat in bed or just don’t take a shower until after midnight. But the problem ain’t gonna fix itself. Fun.
Presentation
Well, I’m looking at the television and seeing myself staring right back at me. And I’m not sure I like what I see (or hear). That’s another reason why I started talking this week. I knew from the start that the music would not be good enough to deserve your attention for a while… so maybe my cheerful disposition can carry some weight. This is like the “overall” score for the video, or at least my overall impression after self review.
Unless there’s something specific in the song, I’ll probably do the recording and presentation reviews as an evaluation of the final product at the end.
Let’s see how this goes.
I’ve really been so engrossed in practicing my fundamentals that I just never found the time to drill down and work on specific things. Between the voice lessons and the one-string experiment, glaring flaws in my basic techniques have come so far forward that I feel like the best use of my time is to just work on those things. Also the half hour of vocal warm ups eats into the time that I was previously spending working on songs.
This weeks songs were:
Just My Imagination – The Temptations
Song Choice
A majority of my pre-90’s songs are things I picked up while playing drums with Uncle Wilmont at Castaway Cafe way back before COVID, and this is no exception. It’s true that I’d like to play Girl From Ipanema instead, but the bossa nova is currently a little bit beyond me. I also like how it seems and sounds like a happy song, but it’s just kidding! Mmm delicious irony. This was one where the vocals needed more work than the instrumentation, so it got picked for this week.
Instrumentation
There’s actually a couple of different ways I play this depending on how I’m feeling. Today I did light strumming, with pedaling between C (0003) and C5 (0033) during the verse to taste. Sometimes I like the sort of travis pick the G and C strings, and if I had more time to practice properly I kind of would have preferred to make this the default way. I’m struggling between deciding to use a pick or not because it affects the balance when I’m recording if I switch styles in the middle of a take. But I like some songs better with pick and others without. Originally I was doing the first half with pick and the second half without, so I might stick to that and just make adjustments halfway.
Vocals
There’s a lot of songs where I feel I don’t really get into the groove until halfway through. I think that just means I need to practice more, which was part of the point of focusing on three songs to improve per week. Since I didn’t do that, I just had to rely on implementing the things learned from voice lessons to this one. A particular challenge for this song is enunciation – I have a tendency to say “just my ‘magination” instead of “just my imagination” if I’m not careful. This one also has a lot of notes held for a long time, which gives me the chance to try to hear if I’m on pitch and work on ending my words with better enunciation.
Brown Eye’d Girl – Van Morrison
Song Choice
The Ka’au Crater Boys were a big influence on me growing up, and most of the first ukulele songs I learned to play were by them. The first version of this song I heard was by them, and the version of the House on Pooh Corner I’m playing is technically a chart of their version as well. It’s hard to deny the talent and impact of Troy Fernandez when talking about ukulele, and I’m well counted among his many admirers. And this song is another “sounds happy but actually…” that seems to be my flavor of the moment. I figure it’s a classic song that people will recognize and would fit a wide range of appropriate situations.
Instrumentation
The intro run is in thirds which is something I have been practicing a lot on my two strings, but it’s on the two strings I haven’t earned back yet, so… that’s my excuse. I have a feeling I could do it smoother by doing the run on the C and E strings because I think starting on the open A is a source of issue, but since I’m not allowed to use the E string, I haven’t figured out how to do it. This is also one I typically play pick-style too, so it was a little awkward for me to approach it without one. I think at least the core is there, I just need to refine things. Really could have properly focused on this one for the week…
Vocals
You can hear I lose it when I need to do some instrumentation. It needs much work to get automatic. Removing almost all the ornamentations to focus on just hitting the notes seems like it was a good choice. Again there’s a good amount of notes held for a long period of time that give me time to think if I’m nailing the note or not. With the vocals alone I’m about 70% pleased with it, so I’ll have to put a good amount more effort into it before I can really consider it “performance ready.” It’s close, but no cigar.
Luv Sic pt. 2 – Nujabes
Song Choice
Another song that I didn’t really need to work on the instrumental parts for, and had the lyrics mostly memorized. And actually, before I knew how to warm up properly, I usually used a busy hip hop track like this to get the voice moving at the start of a singing session. I’d actually like to do the whole Luv Sic Hexology, but it would behoove me to jazz (and chill-hop) things up a bit to better reflect the vibe of the originals. I actually can do half of them already, but only two are memorized. This is another one of those “if you like Nujabes, I like you” songs because the music is great, and the interests that would lead you to discovering the music seem well aligned with mine. I really like the message of this song in particular, so I had to include it. Truth be told I’m not a big hip hop head, but when I hear stuff I like, it’s always a treat.
Instrumentation
The main thing here was trying to find a rhythm that captures the hip hop vibe and keeping it consistent. The chords are pretty straightforward and don’t change up so much. The vocals are the big challenge for this. Maybe someday I’ll add some more colorful chords to spice things up eventually. Once the vocals are fully automatic, of course.
Vocals
So many words lol. One of the big things pointed out to me in the lessons was that I don’t have a refined enough sense of exhaling excess air, or the control to properly take breaths in the right places. This song really demands specific breathing places, and part of the challenge of learning it was balancing what I can do with the cadence of the original. I don’t hit it perfectly, but I am pretty pleased with how this sounds. If only my reverb didn’t mysteriously vanish on me.
Recording
Well, I’m really sad about the lack of reverb thing, but I guess not sad enough to go back and try recording again. I really don’t know what changed. This is going to take some investigation. I’m on an entirely dawless setup because using a computer is pretty hard, so post-processing is not a thing. And I think its a good proxy for the one chance you get in a live performance. So like a live performance, if you suck there’s no point denying it. But in the wise words of Jake the Dog: “dude, sucking is the first step to becoming sort of good at something.” Let’s immortalize my awfulness by giving the video to youtube. /cheer
I mentioned gain staging earlier, and that’s been a constant issue I thought I had come to terms with. Apparently I thought wrong. If you listen you can hear the background static that happens when I go from silence to talking. If things are properly balanced, that doesn’t happen. It’s not as big of a deal while I’m playing busy things, but it’s pretty noticeable on quieter passages. I’m gonna have to do some research and try to solve this thing once and for all. Hopefully before next week?
Presentation
I think talking is a little better than just going straight into the music, and I’m hoping I’ll get more comfortable with it the more I do it. It still feels pretty awkward, but this is like the first time I’m doing it so I suppose that’s only natural. I wanted to talk more about the songs but… well, I didn’t lol. I also didn’t write up my summaries till afterwards, unlike in previous weeks so, maybe next time I will prepare a little more in advance.
I also just got a bunch of these white shirts which I think are going to be my uniform while practicing for now. I’ll put on something nicer whenever I’m doing a “performance” but for now I think it’s good enough. It’s also kind of a signal that these videos are supposed to be works in progress. And I don’t like having to worry about what to wear. Before these videos I rarely left my room and it was never a problem. So, solutions!
Idk. If I could do better I would do better. All in all it seems mostly watchable. If you read down this far, got any feedback or suggestions?