Little Sunflower

Show off original scores and recordings made with Linux!

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Michael Willis
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Little Sunflower

Post by Michael Willis »

This year I've been learning how to play percussion, and last week my friend let me borrow an electric bass, so I started learning how to play it too. I decided to find a jazz standard with a very simple bass line to try recording both. I also recorded piano, clarinet, and glockenspiel tracks. I was kind of in a hurry, but I think it turned out alright for something thrown together in a week with a bunch of instruments that I barely know how to play :lol:

I tried to mix it lo-fi, which is a new thing for me. As usual, any feedback on the recording or mixing is welcome.

https://soundcloud.com/user-201997735/little-sunflower
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Re: Little Sunflower

Post by Rainmak3r »

If that's what you end up with when you're in a hurry, I wonder what will happen when you have time to sit down :lol:
It's a great track, and very atmospheric, and I think the lo-fi really works (it does give the impression of something recorded in a club in the 40s). The bass line seemed a bit "hidden" though: not sure if it was because of lo-fi cutting some frequencies it needed, or because I was listening on my laptop speakers, I'll listen to it again with some headphones later. I really liked the clarinet and glockenspiel parts too: there could be maybe a tiny bit of additional reverb on the clarinet, as to my ears it sometimes felt like the coda of a note ended too abruptly, but that's probably the virtual orchestrator in me that has never seen a real clarinet in their life, and so think players can just smoothly fade out as with an Ardour fader :mrgreen:
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Re: Little Sunflower

Post by Rainmak3r »

Listening with headphones the bass line is indeed more audible, even though maybe still a bit too on the quiet side (but I guess it's not really meant to prevaricate too much anyway, so feel free to ignore all this!).
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Re: Little Sunflower

Post by OccinticLady »

Ooooo, smooth vibes! I like that!
Niceeeee!!! :D
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Re: Little Sunflower

Post by finotti »

Nice! You are one with many talents! :-)

Is the piano acoustic? And the drums?

And what did you use for reverb? ;-)
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Re: Little Sunflower

Post by Michael Willis »

Thanks for listening @Rainmak3r, @OccinticLady, and @finotti.
Rainmak3r wrote: Fri Nov 12, 2021 7:42 amThe bass line seemed a bit "hidden" ... there could be maybe a tiny bit of additional reverb on the clarinet.
I tried bringing up the bass a few decibels, and added a bit more reverb to the clarinet. I actually reduced both of those things before initially publishing it! After hearing the bass going "DUMM DA DA, DUMM DA DA" all week long I thought it was too much, and I have been known to overdo reverb in the past, so I try to dial it down a little lower than I think it needs to go. I'm probably over-correcting though.

I just replaced the original on SoundCloud, and since I'm not a paying member it removed all of the comments and such, but whatever.
Rainmak3r wrote: Fri Nov 12, 2021 7:42 amand so think players can just smoothly fade out as with an Ardour fader :mrgreen:
Ha! I was having intonation problems with the clarinet, and it was more pronounced when I tried to soften up the notes, so I did another take and intentionally ended the notes more abruptly. Some of the notes still sound too flat to me, but I just had to tell myself that some flavors of jazz celebrate intonation issues and call it a "blue note".
finotti wrote: Fri Nov 12, 2021 12:37 pm Is the piano acoustic? And the drums?

And what did you use for reverb? ;-)
The reverb is Dragonfly Room, with a slightly modified "Large Clear Room" preset. I played digital percussion and routed the signal to Drum Gizmo with the Tchackpoum kit (Thanks @JamesPeters! With some processing, it turns out to be a fine choice for jazz). I played a digital piano with a modified Salamander Piano SFZ. I'm trying to do more live recording and less entering midi notes with the mouse. I didn't quantize the midi at all, and I only did minimal editing.
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Re: Little Sunflower

Post by GMaq »

Haha,

Deep end learning for you huh? Lol, no 'Smoke on the Water' just dive into a jazz standard! :lol:

Very nice, good feel on the bassline and I love the blend of the main melodic instruments, It would be nice to hear a bit more drums but this is already so uber ambitious I hate to even mention that.. :)
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Re: Little Sunflower

Post by LAM »

@Michael Willis my jaw dropped on the floor. Awesome!

in mix, nobody can hear your screen

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Re: Little Sunflower

Post by Tenaba »

Very chill track, I love it.

For feedback, I'd look into intonation regarding the bass. I might just be hearing things, but some notes sound sharp to me, particularly the fifth intervals like at 2:40 with the Bb's. Compression/Automation may also help smooth out inconsistencies in attack (e.g. going from too quiet to loud at 3:38-3:44). A great performance, especially considering you are learning a few of the instruments!

The clarinet is very well done, as is the piano. I think the mix is very even, with no instrument eating up too much space. Overall a great track!

I make music as Tenaba! Bandcamp

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Re: Little Sunflower

Post by Michael Willis »

Tenaba wrote: Fri Nov 12, 2021 8:04 pmI might just be hearing things, but some notes sound sharp to me, particularly the fifth intervals like at 2:40 with the Bb's.
Oh, interesting! That part was driving me crazy because I thought the clarinet was too flat, but maybe it is actually that the bass was a little bit sharp. I think I'll run those tracks through a tuner and find out what is actually going on.
GMaq wrote: Fri Nov 12, 2021 6:38 pm Deep end learning for you huh? Lol, no 'Smoke on the Water' just dive into a jazz standard! :lol:
Oh come on! I only had to learn four notes on the bass! :mrgreen:
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Re: Little Sunflower

Post by jeanette_c »

Ha, when you said lo-fi I was thinking of the modern lofi beats. I am very glad it's not. :) This does sound very alive and it has a sweet patina. I'm not a big jazz connaisseuse. Given that I think the only sound the slightly damages the old sound is the electric bass. Though the electric bass must have been around when you still found that sound. This would only be important though, if you were going for an authentic 50s/60s jazz impression.
It really helps if you can - and do - play "real" instruments! Thanks for sharing!
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Re: Little Sunflower

Post by Basslint »

It sounds good and I think that the fact that you just picked up those instruments shows great talent but if I were you, I would re-purpose it as jazz-hop. I think making a beat based on what you did would work better than a standalone track, mostly because sequencing jazz drums gives a different vibe.
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Re: Little Sunflower

Post by Michael Willis »

jeanette_c wrote: Sun Nov 14, 2021 8:53 amI was thinking of the modern lofi beats. I am very glad it's not. :)
Basslint wrote: Mon Nov 15, 2021 11:20 amif I were you, I would re-purpose it as jazz-hop.
These two comments made me laugh, because they seem diametrically opposed, unless I'm misunderstanding what "lofi beats" or "jazz-hop" mean.

My eventual goal is to make some kind of jazz fusion, but I need a better understanding of jazz fundamentals, and I need to decide what kind of sound I want. This project was a way to explore both.
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Re: Little Sunflower

Post by oscillator »

The sounds/instruments work together very well, I enjoyed this a lot. Almost started listening for the crackling vinyl sounds! :)

The slightly oriental vibe i en latter part were especially good, I think (or rather - more to my taste :) )

Thank you for sharing!

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Re: Little Sunflower

Post by glowrak guy »

@ Michael Willis: I wouldn't be too concerned with labeling. Better to know what you're really good at,
prioritize that, and devote your life to who and what you love. Others will be happy
to label the results, and with wildly varying accuracy and motivations. :wink:
Cheers
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