OK Review this..IF MP can do it so can we ( I )

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 19 Oct 2002 3:42 am

Just listen and comment.

don't hold anything back..except the foul language telling me to leave the planet !

I guess if Marty P. can do it, and he did, maybe some more of us should as well..after all we are all family here, aren't we ? maybe? possibly?

A little up front info , as most of you know I returned to Steel about 12 months ago from a 12 year lay-off . My good friend Joe Smith hooked me up with a local band where I do get to gig maybe once a month. I play on a Carter D10 and I have recently acquired a Boss BR8 digital workstation whcih is what was used for this track about 2 or 3 weeks ago.

I won't say anymore but I will comment if necessary..I can take it..I'm a big boy..but it's possible I will cry and behave poorly with the critique.

Lets see if my critique is the same as yours..

Its an MP3 about 3meg in size

It's one of my all time favorite tunes to listen to and play

ps this is the remix version..

Long Black Limousine

tp<[This message was edited by Tony Prior on 04 November 2002 at 12:08 PM.]

Mike Perlowin · Post by **Mike Perlowin** » 19 Oct 2002 4:07 am

Just remember there are TWO different MPs around here.

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My gear: A piece of wood with some wires attached

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 19 Oct 2002 4:09 am

YES..Mike..maybe even more than two..

I will restate

If Marty P. can do it ....

sorry for the confusion..

tp

mtulbert · Post by **mtulbert** » 19 Oct 2002 4:37 am

Great work Tony!!!.

Two suggestions.

1. Pull back the drums if you are able to do that. They cover up the steel on some of your more subtle moves.

2. Less reverb overall but particularly on the drums as well.

Love the song and what you did.

regards,

Mark T.

Rainer Hackstaette · Post by **Rainer Hackstaette** » 19 Oct 2002 4:44 am

Okay, I´ll jump in and make you cry and behave poorly.

I really like it! I love the warm and full tone of your Carter. And I can hear that you put a lot of heart and soul into the song. Beautiful. Do you have the TAB and could you post it on the Forum? I´d like to try the song myself.
The guitar solo is great. What guitar were you using?

The drums are a little too wet and a bit too far in the front of the mix for my taste. Maybe a little less reverb and echo would make the snare drum sound less "bombastic".

The steel, on the other hand, could be mixed a little bit louder. Some of the nuances get lost, especially the subtle "in-chord-changes", if you know what I mean.

On some instances it sounds as if you´re backing off on the volume pedal right after you plucked the strings, especially after you used the volume pedal to keep the sustain going. Try to back the pedal off BEFORE the new note - it gives the execution more "conviction". (I often do the same thing, it´s hard to control and - at least for me - takes an extra effort to do so.)

I wish I had the guts to put my playing on the block like you did! I really enjoyed listening to it and I´d like to hear more!

Rainer

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Remington D 10 8+7, Sierra Crown D 10 gearless 8+8, Sierra Session S 14 gearless 8+5, Peavey Session 400 LTD

Frank Parish · Post by **Frank Parish** » 19 Oct 2002 5:46 am

One of my favorite tunes to play, good job!

Graham · Post by **Graham** » 19 Oct 2002 5:54 am

Tony:
I like it but as others have said, the steel is too far back in the mix as far as the drums go. Would also like to see you put tab up for this one if you have it.

Good job!

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Rebel™
ICQ 614585

http://users.interlinks.net/rebel/steel/steel.html

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 19 Oct 2002 6:41 am

Well ..thanks so far but NO TAB available. I just played it I suppose.

The guitar is a 1989 52RI Tele' and the Bass is a 1996 62RI Stack Knob J Bass

I appreciate the comments

I will say that I am aware of the mix..I have been fooling with some new mix parameters and this is one of them..but the mix comments are real important as well.

many thanks

tp[This message was edited by Tony Prior on 19 October 2002 at 08:05 AM.]

CrowBear Schmitt · Post by **CrowBear Schmitt** » 19 Oct 2002 8:08 am

Tony, i like it

Clean + Soothing
Keep it up Bro'

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Steel what?

Rex Thomas · Post by **Rex Thomas** » 19 Oct 2002 8:55 am

Nice, Tony. Very enjoyable. The emotion comes thru great on your Carter. I understand the 'returning after a leave of absence' thing very well. So I enjoyed hearing you get into it.
Critique: Not much really, nothing that some normal shed time won't fix. It's a little much on the vol. ped. swells for my taste. All in all, nice performance.
Sorry, but I have to go here: Not as much the drums, but the ele. gtr. is too DANG loud. It's walking on some subtle statements as Mark T. said, but to my ears more than just drs., & I hear some serious head butting going on when steel & gtr. get around the same frequencies. Thought I should call it like I heard it.
Thanx, Tony. Enjoyed it. Good song selection, too!

Chip Fossa · Post by **Chip Fossa** » 19 Oct 2002 8:56 am

Tony,
I really like 'Long Black Limousine'. I
listen to Live365 InternetRadio when I'm at the PC.
I've been hearing quite a bit of LBL on
365's "Steel Guitar Heroes" - is that you
playing on 365? Sure sounds just like it.

I would say to myself, "what's the name of that song? - there it is again." Never new, till now.

Great job and tone. The drums may be out
front a little, but I like the overall sound[This message was edited by CHIP FOSSA on 19 October 2002 at 09:57 AM.]

Stephen Gambrell · Post by **Stephen Gambrell** » 19 Oct 2002 9:31 am

Tony,
Sounds good, man! Like everybody else has said, a bit much reverb, and the Tele clashes(but only a little!)with the steel on the last verse. I just kinda figured you could play, after talking to you. So come on down to Saluda, let's meet in person, jam some, and I'll show you my new ES-175!

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 19 Oct 2002 9:33 am

Ok great so far..many thanks

here's a little more info..

I am performing the #1 NO NO of all time. I am mixing/mastering in the headphones, as I don't have a pair of quality near fields yet.. I am having a little bit of difficulty removing the Tele edge but I'm glad to hear that I am not the only one who thinks it should be toned down. You should have heard it a month ago !

yes it is my track on Live365.com

more to come..hopefully

thanks all
tp

Mark Decker · Post by **Mark Decker** » 19 Oct 2002 9:54 am

Tony,

Beautiful Tele, bass, and pedal steel playing. I would like to hear more.

Thanks for the gift.

md

John P. Phillips · Post by **John P. Phillips** » 19 Oct 2002 9:54 am

Hey Tony, Great job. LBL has been one of my favorites since I heard Chalker's version. I may be going out on a limb here but yours is the second best to Chalkers that I've heard yet.The only place he's really got you beat IMHO is the special chord progression toward the end. But we all know that chords were Curlys trademark anyway. Puts you in some pretty selective company don't you think? BTW drums WERE a little loud. I'd like to hear even more of your stuff. GREAT PICKIN !!!

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"Let's go STEEL something"
If it feels good, do it. If it feels COUNTRY, do it twice
jpp

[This message was edited by John P.Phillips on 19 October 2002 at 10:56 AM.][This message was edited by John P.Phillips on 19 October 2002 at 10:57 AM.]

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 19 Oct 2002 10:21 am

Now John those are great words but I would have to ask ? Did you take double of your normal drug dosage today ? Ha ha !

Although I really like Curly and Doug's version, I have a live version by Buddy from the 70's which is beyond definition and that is the one I am listening to which is really inspiring me.

thanks
tp

Bill Moore · Post by **Bill Moore** » 19 Oct 2002 3:57 pm

Sounds great to me, Tony. I would like to hear the steel louder. I don't know much about recording, how did you do the drums? Is it a drum machine of some kind? Was everything recorded direct into the digital recorder? If you could, I'd like to know the details about how you recorded it. Thanks.

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Bill Moore...
my steel guitar web page

Bobby Lee · Post by **Bobby Lee** » 19 Oct 2002 6:11 pm

Great playing, Tony! That was a Carter? While I was listening to it, I sort of assumed it was an Emmons. Great recorded steel sound. Nice guitar solo, too.

The MP3 compression really made the drums sound bad, though. Brutal in headphones!

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<img align=right src="http://b0b.com/b0b.gif" width="64" height="64">Bobby Lee - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs
Sierra Session 12 (E9), Williams 400X (Emaj9, D6), Sierra Olympic 12 (F Diatonic), Sierra Laptop 8 (D13), Fender Stringmaster (E13, A6), Roland Handsonic

Bobby Lee · Post by **Bobby Lee** » 19 Oct 2002 6:13 pm

Tony, I edited your post so that the link pops open a new window. We don't want people losing their place on the Forum.

Terry Farmer · Post by **Terry Farmer** » 19 Oct 2002 6:49 pm

I think you did a great job on this track! Played with heart and finess and shared. It don't get much better than that.

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 19 Oct 2002 8:45 pm

Thanks all for the replys. b0b, are you trying to start trouble here ? My Carter sounding like an Emmons ? geesh..there are some in our community that would cut your fingers off for saying that !

Anyway everything is direct to the Boss BR8. I wrote separate input effects patches for the Steel, Tele' and the Bass. The BR8 allows for using any of the written effects patches or you can write you own. The drums come off my laptop from the general midi module using BIAB as the base drum source and a Yamaha keyboard for extra fills. Serious help is on the way here. Mixing down is a challnge as I still don't have a pair of near fields yet ( soon ) and it's not all that easy to get an accurate mix so I mix and listen in the car for now and make notes, but heck, I'm not designing a spaceship here just recording a few tunes. Some of my other tunes have probably more acceptable mixes, drums more to the rear, Steel more to the front and way less reverb.This is more of a trial mix with exaggerated settings and I'm still practicing the tune, hopefully it will improve over time as well.

Thanks all for the replys' they are very much appreciated and worthy
tp [This message was edited by Tony Prior on 20 October 2002 at 04:09 AM.]

Fred Truitt · Post by **Fred Truitt** » 20 Oct 2002 12:40 pm

Tony

Thanks for the opportunity of hearing you do a great classic. It gives me great inspiration to get back at it, which I did. Please do more. I know enough about TAB to be dangerous but if I hear more of your stuff I just may try to tab a bit. All The other forumerites have added their comments which are known to you, so I will not add. BTW The only MP you should concern yourself with is MP3. Forget the other feller'
Regards.....Fred

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 20 Oct 2002 1:32 pm

Okay Tony, you've had some "strokes from the folks", so here's my honest (you said that's what you wanted!) critique. Remember, this is to help you...

I'm not getting into the recording quality issues, as you probably want to be a steelman---not an engineer. As far as your playing goes, you show good command of the instrument. Your note and chord choices, as well as your imagination with the pedals, show a lot of maturity. You know what you should be doing, and you're doing most of it.

My first area of concern is your being a little "pitchy" (intonation problem). To my ears, it sounds more like a tuning problem than a bar placement issue for you. I don't know how you tune your axe, but you just need to listen to hear that some of your A and B pedal sounds aren't "right on" as they should be. (Remember, tuners only get you in the ballpark.) Recording yourself playing along with some CD's, and then listening really close to what you've done will help in this area. Don't feel bad...intonation issues affected most all steelers at one time or another, and even some popular steelers could use some work in this department! It takes a lot of years to develop that "preciseness" that most of the pro's have.

In regards to the volume pedal issue, you are sometimes starting with the pedal too low ("sneaking" into the notes), and then bringing it up right after you pick. Try starting with the pedal down a little more, and then "squeezing" down as the note begins to decay. This will make your volume more consistent through all your passages.

All in all, its a very good effort, and just a little polishing up (on your tuning and volume pedal work) would make it perfect!

[This message was edited by Donny Hinson on 20 October 2002 at 02:34 PM.]

Buck Grantham · Post by **Buck Grantham** » 23 Oct 2002 9:30 am

I liked it a lot. You play with a lot of feeling.

Steve Benzian · Post by **Steve Benzian** » 23 Oct 2002 5:09 pm

Real Nice! I wish there was more sound on the Forum.