First attempt at recording - OM40 content

[Sandstorm]

Well, been new to recording this year and put together a song I've had simmering forever...I did the guitar work and added some bass...although sounds like a guitar player playing bass...used a drum track in garage band and my intent is to replace it with a real drummer but here's some OM40 action.  I think I'd also add some vocals, but I'm not much of a singer so I guess the song needs some work to be totally complete.

Did one track playing a strum track and a second complimenting it with some finger style and blending them.  Used Rode NT-5 pair for each track.  Didn't do any post production or EQing

West of the Nile - Sandstorm

[ronmac]

I listen to a lot of recordings on guitar forums and rarely make it past the first 30 seconds.

You had me hooked at 30 seconds and I listened to the entire track, mainly because of the tension I was hearing in the different elements and wondering how it would resolve.

Well done! If you are going to develop it further the only advice I can offer is to find a way to keep that tension building, subtly, as you have done with the percussion elements.

The guitar sounds great and is well suited to your style.

More, please!

[fantex]

Very cool. 90% of the music I listen to has lyrics, instrumentals don't usually do it for me but this was cool.

I record quite a bit in GarageBand. It's interesting to hear someone else's style and songs from GarageBand.

[B0WIE]

Nice! Thanks for sharing.

[Sandstorm]

I listen to a lot of recordings on guitar forums and rarely make it past the first 30 seconds.

You had me hooked at 30 seconds and I listened to the entire track, mainly because of the tension I was hearing in the different elements and wondering how it would resolve.

Well done! If you are going to develop it further the only advice I can offer is to find a way to keep that tension building, subtly, as you have done with the percussion elements.

The guitar sounds great and is well suited to your style.

More, please!

Thanks for listening fellas and the positive feedback.

I tried to make subtle changes anytime a part repeated and wanted to keep it interesting by adding new parts and tastefully organizing the whole thing.  Thanks for noticing.

I find it's a lot easier to sound dynamic on steel string, (especially Larrivee) than my years of playing electric.

Got some more ancient riffs and slithery licks coming your way!  Haha

[Queequeg]

Good one, Sandstorm. 

Very cool. 90% of the music I listen to has lyrics, instrumentals don't usually do it for me but this was cool.

Many years ago, doing some guitar soul-searching I had to admit that I wasn't that great a singer, and in fact not a super star on the guitar, either. I decided to try to do at least one thing with some modicum of proficiency.
So I quit singing entirely and concentrated on the guitar.
Gradually, over time I found myself playing more with my fingers and less & less with a flat pick until I put that down altogether. Occasionally I'll use a thumb pick now.
The other thing that happened was I began discovering what some call "the dusty end of the neck" (you know, above the 5th fret). Now, it may have been Chet Atkins who called frets 1-5 the "cash register because there's no money beyond that", meaning the typical audience isn't interested in all the fancy noodling a guitar player might be doing up there.
Still, I pressed on, unconcerned with what a less musically educated audience might think and I continued focusing on what interested and intrigued me as a student of the instrument.
To that extent, my plan was largely successful. Of course, I never became a great player, but my love affair with the guitar and what I am able do with it, far exceeds where I was when I was singing and accompanying myself strumming a few chords back in the old days.

I still listen to some singers if they've got the gift with really great pipes, but I find there aren't all that many of them out there. And too many have some message they want to impart. I guess I'm a bit of a purest in that regard.
I like my music unadulterated. Straight; no chaser. 

But listening to instrumentalists who have mastered their craft, whether it's guitar, mandolin, violin or piano- and all the troubles and the worries of the world out there just melt away.