Misc recording first band

[saxn00b445]

got a few dudes from a jam session who were willing to form a band and its the first band ive been in since highschool aside from going to various jam sessions. something new and exciting for me
got a few recordings of us playing, one over body and soul, and one over cantaloupe island

View: https://youtu.be/IVQCa3TlzmI

View: https://youtu.be/tbcH9GWA2Ck

 

[JayeNM]

Great you dove in and gathered up players ! The personnel seem solid enough, nobody strikes me as really dragging things down. That in and of itself can be hard to find, sometimes.

Is the tempo on Cantaloupe really as you played it ? Or did recording slow it down ?

If the former, did you purposely do it to keep everyone from falling apart ?

(not at all being a wiseguy...just curious).

My suggestion, next time take it up a good 8 ticks if you folks can hang with that.

Nice start, all in all....

 

[saxn00b445]

Great you dove in and gathered up players ! The personnel seem solid enough, nobody strikes me as really dragging things down. That in and of itself can be hard to find, sometimes.

Is the tempo on Cantaloupe really as you played it ? Or did recording slow it down ?

If the former, did you purposely do it to keep everyone from falling apart ?

(not at all being a wiseguy...just curious).

My suggestion, next time take it up a good 8 ticks if you folks can hang with that.

Nice start, all in all....

i think we just slowed down by accident, we do that sometimes. sometimes accidentally rush too xd

 

[saxn00b445]

i think we just slowed down by accident, we do that sometimes. sometimes accidentally rush too xd

our time is kinda.. sub-optimal...

 

[Pete Thomas]

FYI Missing posts from Tuesday restored to this thread

 

[JayeNM]

our time is kinda.. sub-optimal...

You can ask drummer if it is ok to put a click track (metronome) either in his earbud or just on a phone or laptop speaker....

It wasn't the slowing down I was referring to...the tune tempo began too slow.

Next time count it off faster, vicinity of maybe 100-102bpm.

You folks were at about 90

 

[saxn00b445]

You can ask drummer if it is ok to put a click track (metronome) either in his earbud or just on a phone or laptop speaker....

It wasn't the slowing down I was referring to...the tune tempo began too slow.

Next time count it off faster, vicinity of maybe 100-102bpm.

You folks were at about 90

oh right, yeah no we just did it at that tempo maybe it was a bit slow

 

[skeller047]

Having listened to your band, if you keep at it, I think you might need to change your name to saxpl4y4h445 pretty soon…

 

[MikeMorrell]

Sounds great, @saxn00b445! Well done for getting these players together to form a band! As @JayeNM says, all individual members sound pretty 'solid'. Both in supporting soloists and in playing solos. To my amateur ears - they all come together really well as a band.

I've never played at local jam sessions so I have no basis for comparison with 'being in a band'. But I can imagine (from playing in bands) that the experience is very different. For example in being able to rehearse and figure out (together) what works well and what might be improved. And to gradually improve as a band (rather than as an individual contributor at jam sessions).

There have been a couple of comments on the 'the tempo' of Cantaloupe Island. Personally, I have no problem with your tempo. Firstly because the 'tempo' (of all tunes/songs) is IMHO always optional: there are 'slower' or more 'upbeat' versions of many tunes/songs. Often to suit the style and expression of specific vocalists (or soloists). And sometimes just to give a different 'interpretation' of a well-known tune or song. In my Big Band, we often play songs slower than indicated. Just to give our vocalist an soloists more time snd 'space' to express themselves.

What I notice is your (relatively slower) version of Cantaloupe Island gives soloists more time and 'space' to play improvised solos than an 'up-beat' version. FWIW, we played this piece at a 'final concert' of a (very amateur) series of 'jazz improvisation workshops' a couple of years ago. At a slightly higher tempo but with the same intention.

FWIW my quick 'Internet/YouTube research' indicates that;
- Herbie Hancock played his original recording at 116 bpm
- The current tempo of 'YouTube backing tracks' varies from 100 - 130 bpm.

My (amateur) 'tap and get tempo' mobile phone app indicaticated that your band started out at ca. 90 bpm and gradually sped up to ca 100 bpm.

So my (amatuer) advice is simply to ignore all comments on 'tempo' and just gradually) choose the the best tempo that works best for you and the band!