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Tell Me How Much I Suck


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The only thing I think that sucks is your first post! Sheesh, the only thing as bad as a egotistical jerk (assuming they actually have talent and are not just an insane narcissist) is someone who is so unconfident because it NEVER STOPS with them, with the constant reinforcing, constant attending to their security. I think the only thing preventing you from gigs may be that attitude, cuz I sure like what I'm hearing!

 

Wow, pretty harsh words (with some nice things dashed in). I guess from my perspective it's more about being humble and open to criticism, but I can see your point. Developing a more confident persona can and will be hard for me but yes, I will give it a shot.

 

You've clearly worked hard - your chops and tone are really good. I really like all that I'm hearing. You should be confident that you can handle most any music situation they throw at you - this is not arrogance. I always say: "competence creates confidence" and you are competent as hell so drop the 'pity-me' act, which I'm sure is just an act.

 

I truly didn't expect this kind of positive reception from anyone. Thank you. :)

 

Well, I'm not very good so I don't have much to offer, sadly, as I'm just a poor boy and I have rags for clothes and I stuff newspapers in my shoes. Ha ha.

 

I've heard people make sick recordings with just about everything... don't let being "poor" come into the equation. Don't limit yourself in that way.

 

Lots of good stuff, lots of interesting ideas, liked all the solos I heard, I think if you keep working you'll have a fine future in music. My main criticism was that I didn't identify a real strong sense of groove, but most of what I'm hearing is pretty jazzy and not just one chord vamps, so maybe you can groove all night for all I know. But to really groove you have to sometimes just grab all the shit and take control and say "I AM THE MOTHERFUCKING BASS PLAYER AND YOU MOTHERFUCKERS ARE ALL FOLLOWING ME SO RECOGNIZE OR GET OUT THE WAY!!!" So, you know, don't be afraid to do that by thinking, 'oh I'm not good.'

 

I like all the guys you are playing with too. Nothing but good stuff coming thru my earphones. Mucho skills on the Summer Groove solo right now. Keep it up!

 

I'm really glad you've enjoyed what you've heard, but I am a bit confused about your groove criticism. For me, the word groove is like the word color. There are thousands of colors and thousands of ways to groove. And if a song is played and it sounds right, it's grooving. That's my definition. What's yours? Do you mean I need to bring in a more aggressive control over the pocket? Those recordings are spaced apart by months and years and I had a different philosophy about playing before going into each of the three sessions displayed there. By the time I did the last session, the acoustic pop stuff, I had decided it was best to play as simply as I could for the sake of the songs. On the other hand during the Hat Trick session, etc., I had this mindset that I wanted to keep my playing quite busy all of the time if possible. So this all comes back to groove being derived from how you choose to "enforce" the pocket and I've had a different paradigm of it each time I've gone into the studio. But if I'm not "grooving enough", I guess I'm not sure what that means? Would love to hear more though.

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Well, I didn't mean to be too harsh! Just that you are competent - thus you have earned the right to some necessary confidence. As Issac Hayes said we all have to keep our egos from getting too punctured or else we'll drown. Of course, this shouldn't shut you off to the ideas of others -that would be really foolish.

 

I don't know what I can offer about the groove, and it wasn't that you didn't groove, it's just that in a bunch of good songs with a bunch of very good playing none really grabbed me as a great rock, solid groove. I heard good soloing, good melodic incorporation, good technique, good expressiveness - just not a powerful, perhaps even boring, groove. Doesn't mean you can't do it - I just didn't hear it on those particular tracks.

 

To me a groove is something that makes you tap your foot - hard! I guess a more aggressive hold over the pocket is necessary for that. Hope that helps!

 

Don't change what you're doing too much - I think you're moving in the right direction and will get to where you want to go.

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I don't know what I can offer about the groove, and it wasn't that you didn't groove, it's just that in a bunch of good songs with a bunch of very good playing none really grabbed me as a great rock, solid groove. I heard good soloing, good melodic incorporation, good technique, good expressiveness - just not a powerful, perhaps even boring, groove. Doesn't mean you can't do it - I just didn't hear it on those particular tracks.

 

This is helpful and I will definitely think about it. I don't want to be known for sleep-inducing songs.

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I don't know what I can offer about the groove, and it wasn't that you didn't groove, it's just that in a bunch of good songs with a bunch of very good playing none really grabbed me as a great rock, solid groove. I heard good soloing, good melodic incorporation, good technique, good expressiveness - just not a powerful, perhaps even boring, groove. Doesn't mean you can't do it - I just didn't hear it on those particular tracks.

 

This is helpful and I will definitely think about it. I don't want to be known for sleep-inducing songs.

 

Well that's certainly overstating it - I dug what I heard. I didn't bang my head thru the wall either, but it was still darn good.

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From what's posted, yes.

 

Thank you for the honesty!! This is exactly why I made this thread. :) Thanks also to ZZ for bringing this up... and I'm glad that for the most part people seem to dig the material, in spite of some apparent sleep induction. That's on my list to fix.

 

So let me get this straight for certain though--even Hat Trick and We Who See The Deep--things I hear and think of as aggressive--are sleep inducing too, or are they exceptions?

 

This is some really valuable feedback.

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I wouldn't say sleep-inducing. Just not as driving as I'm sure you're capable of. I'll just say that you probably wouldn't get hired to sub or record for a metal band (for example) if all they had to go on were those tracks.
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