School Stage Band

[gusty]

Few tracks...keep in mind we could only do one take of each tune. I'll probly upload more recordings soon.

Come Fly With Me (http://media.putfile.com/Come-Fly-With-Me-61)
Jumpin' East of Java (http://media.putfile.com/Jumpin-East-of-Java)
Dance To The Music (http://media.putfile.com/Dance-to-the-Music)
Superstition (http://media.putfile.com/Superstition-12)
EDIT-Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars (http://media.putfile.com/Quiet-Nights-of-Quiet-Stars)

[aydee]

Hey Gusty, pretty darn good, ( I just heard the 1st one, am at work.....the rest later... ).

Good swing on fly with me.

Some of your fills were very big- band, which I thought really swung the tune well. some parts were a little tentative, where you seemed to be pushing yourself into the background.

Taking nothing away from the playing, tho... good job, bud..

[gusty]

Thanks a lot man, when you get home (if you wouldn't mind) could you point out exactly where i wasn't really 'leading' the band?

[aydee]

Ok Gusty, here goes... ( I've sneaked the headphones back on )

I think your playing builds up really nicely with the little accentuations on the horns ( : 27, :45, 1: 10, 1: 18 ) and swings up to the big fill at around 1: 45, and then starts to really swing NICE...
and then suddenly trails off for the remainder of the tune. It also feels like you've dropped the tempo a tad... I could be wrong.

You just sound to me that you're holding back a bit more than you need to.. just a feeling.

[gusty]

Ok Gusty, here goes... ( I've sneaked the headphones back on )

I think your playing builds up really nicely with the little accentuations on the horns ( : 27, :45, 1: 10, 1: 18 ) and swings up to the big fill at around 1: 45, and then starts to really swing NICE...
and then suddenly trails off for the remainder of the tune. It also feels like you've dropped the tempo a tad... I could be wrong.

You just sound to me that you're holding back a bit more than you need to.. just a feeling.

Great analysis, this is the sort of stuff I don't really notice until someone points it out. Firstly- I'm a little disappointed how my comping turned out...it's correct, but not in sync with the band and probly flamming between the ride. Something I need to work on.
I think maybe the reason for the 'trailing off' is I'm playing a little too much under the trumpet solo compared to the rest of the band, and then I don't really pick it up again. And yes, the tempo did drop a bit towards the end.

Thanks for the comments man.

[aydee]

East of Java- that was a lot more confident..I missed the accents on 2 & 4 in the swing ( maybe they were there on the hats, low in the mix- I did'nt hear em if they were there), but that cooked good, despite the little flub by the singer : )!

[aydee]

Gusty, Dance to the Music and Superstition rocked! You grooved really nicely on these tunes, and really nailed that killer break before the sax solo on Superstition....

However, my critique continues ; ).... If I was to say to myself what I could do to improve on what I recorded, I'd try and put a little more feeling into the the whole r&b thing. There is so much back beat funky syncopation of rhythms and melodies, the drums need more attitude, I feel.

It helps sometimes,to feel the groove in longer measures ( 8, instead of 4 etc ) so you kind of push that feeling along a little better, and play a phrase instead of mechanical repeating the groove every 4 measures . Adding dynamics to the groove, variations on the hi hat, ghosting some snare/ hat notes, would help this kind of playing tremendously too, I think.

None of this is criticism, btw. In summary, at your age if I could play like you, I'd be doing back flips : )

[Drummer Karl]

Gusty, great work on the tunes! That was swinging!

Come Fly With Me sounded very cool! Nice accenting along with the brass. Your swing was consistent...yet lively and most of the time quite driving. Just when the trumpet solo began I felt like you were leaving the driver`s seat a bit...but returned when the singer (beautiful voice by the way) began with the B part.

Jumpin` East to Java...that was absoloutly cool! :-)
It kept my feet tapping...and me smiling.
But why not variating with the sound? How about playing the first A part (sorry, it is played with Quicktime so I havn`t got a small window with the minutes and seconds) on the hi-hat like you did it in the intro? Then switching to the ride cymbal and when the A part gets played again you switch to hi-hat again...hope you understand what I wanna express. lol

Dance to the music and Superstition:
I`d take out the heavy hi-hat. Did you play its edge? Maybe it`s just me but I`d rather play it with the tip, lighter...maybe adding a heavier hat sound when the guitar is soloing...yeah, overall I really like those!!

Good work and good band in general.
How did you record that?

Karl

[Maytridy]

Cool stuff. What school is this?

[gusty]

Thanks everyone for the comments!

Gusty, Dance to the Music and Superstition rocked! You grooved really nicely on these tunes, and really nailed that killer break before the sax solo on Superstition....

However, my critique continues ; ).... If I was to say to myself what I could do to improve on what I recorded, I'd try and put a little more feeling into the the whole r&b thing. There is so much back beat funky syncopation of rhythms and melodies, the drums need more attitude, I feel.

It helps sometimes,to feel the groove in longer measures ( 8, instead of 4 etc ) so you kind of push that feeling along a little better, and play a phrase instead of mechanical repeating the groove every 4 measures . Adding dynamics to the groove, variations on the hi hat, ghosting some snare/ hat notes, would help this kind of playing tremendously too, I think.

None of this is criticism, btw. In summary, at your age if I could play like you, I'd be doing back flips : )

More feeling- more dancing on the throne? One thing I always do when swinging or grooving is bounce around on the throne a bit. Maybe if I put a little more emphisis on the beat it would help? More energy with the attitude overall?

I'll definately remember that (about the 8 bar phrases), I get what you mean.

:) thanks buddy



Gusty, great work on the tunes! That was swinging!

Come Fly With Me sounded very cool! Nice accenting along with the brass. Your swing was consistent...yet lively and most of the time quite driving. Just when the trumpet solo began I felt like you were leaving the driver`s seat a bit...but returned when the singer (beautiful voice by the way) began with the B part.

Jumpin` East to Java...that was absoloutly cool! :-)
It kept my feet tapping...and me smiling.
But why not variating with the sound? How about playing the first A part (sorry, it is played with Quicktime so I havn`t got a small window with the minutes and seconds) on the hi-hat like you did it in the intro? Then switching to the ride cymbal and when the A part gets played again you switch to hi-hat again...hope you understand what I wanna express. lol

Dance to the music and Superstition:
I`d take out the heavy hi-hat. Did you play its edge? Maybe it`s just me but I`d rather play it with the tip, lighter...maybe adding a heavier hat sound when the guitar is soloing...yeah, overall I really like those!!

Good work and good band in general.
How did you record that?

Karl

I know exactly what you mean about doing A on the hats then switching to the ride, if only we had another chance to record....oh well, I'll keep in mind for next year. How was the drum solo/long fill?

I think I was playing accenting the pulse on the edge and the other 16th notes with the tips....I think.

Recorded on a Zoom Multitrack (16 track I think).



Cool stuff. What school is this?


Thanks man, this is Sunshine Beach State High School. According to the most recent competition, we are the best highschool band on the Sunshine Coast (Queensland, Australia). We're quite proud we finally beat all of the private schools in the area =]

[Maytridy]

You should be proud, you guys sound great.