[DannyDep]

Hi Jim,
Not a guitar freak but a B3 one.
I don't suppose you have one of those in your studio, do you?

All it needs is a video. and maybe a touch more reverb
just on that lead guitar to make it sound a bit more mysterious, tumblin’ out there in those tumbleweeds.
A nice relaxing tune.
Thanks for posting.

[Desertrose]

Awesome playing and sound and very nicely put together Jim.
Enjoyed the listen.

[Greg Ball]

Hmmm, this is one of those times I wish I had something to mark on. Very cool sound, permission to challenge you to try a couple of things? I'd be interested to see what it might sound like if you modulated at least once to a different key - actually what I was thinking was, I've heard a simple country song of all things, that modulated through a couple of keys, moving by fifths I think until it returned to the original key: Something like C - G - E - C.

I also heard something recently where the bass alone firmly outlined a chord progression underneath the guitar that changed - so the guitar stayed the same as you do in the first two parts, but the harmonic framework morphed some underneath. Either technique might emphasis the idea of moving and arriving some place different. Or of being blown in one direction only to return. The shape of the song at the moment feels a little to me as if that tumbleweed got stuck against the side of a building. Just another angle, keep or sweep. I liked what you are doing very much.

[Greg Ball]

Gravity Jim, on 21 February 2012 - 08:05 AM, said:

Danny, if I ever remix this, I'll probably use more 'verb. It sounded like a ton on my old Yamaha 02R console, but since I installed the Tascam DM3200 everything is so much cleaner and detailed in the midrange that I'm finding a lot of small errors like that.

Desertrose, I like your work, so your comments are always appreciated.

Greg, I'm not sure what you're driving at. I think that the third chorus could use a slight lift, but I didn't want to make the guitar part busier and wreck the feel... maybe a high string part or something. But this piece is just capturing a mood; I'm not trying to tell a story about movement or resolution. Also, I tend to avoid modulations unless I've got a real good reason to do it. BTW, that chord progression isn't the "circle of fifths." The circle of fifths, in C, goes C-G-D-A-E-etc.

Thanks to you all for taking the time to listen...

Sorry, my fault for making a bad post. I wasn't talking about the circle of fifths. I mean to describe modulating from the "5" chord of the key. Mr. Dylan (whom I was thinking of) has this chorus that ends with a standard cadence, going from the 5 chord back to the root. So if he were playing in the key of C, he's playing G at the end of the chorus and then goes back to C just before he starts the next verse.

Except... at the end of one chorus he shifts from the key of C to the key of A. He does it from the G7, so its only a single step which some people say is a rule when you're going to do something dissonant or different, as its a safe interval for the singer to find. The way he does it in this one case is to slide DOWN rather than shift up abruptly. From the G he goes down to E. At that point your brain might think he's gonna play that root chord since E would be the middle note, but he adds the A/sharps the C and suddenly you realize you're not quite in kansas anymore. (Giving the C-G-E-A note progression I mentioned, sorry for being really unclear.) Here's some notation of it, with the chords in "" and the notes standing by themselves:

X:1
T: Modulation Fragment
M:4/4
L:1/4
K:C
"C" C4 |"G" G3 E | "A" ^C2 |

Whether you like that idea or not, I do agree with you about not making it any busier or changing the feel. That's why I though of modulation - as you'd be playing the same thing but by changing the key you get that lift you mentioned, keep it fresh and interesting. It was just something I thought about trying. I was thinking the same thing with the bass part as another option. Again, not changing the guitar part but changing the context within which the guitar is playing. I've tended to treat the bass as something boring (sorry, I know its a character flaw) but I've heard some people recently make some interesting shifts with just the bass.

Just another angle, experiment or ignore. Regards,
Greg

[Ian Ferrin]

Awesome guitar playing. I think you've captured a mood really well. Can't find anything to critique. The mix could go different ways, but this is pretty nice. Thanks for sharing.

Peace,

Ian

[jonie]

If I could play guitar like this, I wouldn't leave the house.

Try as I may, I couldn't quite get a Border Town feel. It had me sitting at a bar in the Keys under a thatched cabana. Oh well. I really enjoyed the listen in any event.

[ScenesFromPalacio]

Really nice Jim..Great playing and some really cool chords..Sweet late night listening -Enjoyed it..