SotM April 2024 - The Fool On The Hill

[mrblackbat]

Ok, here is a work in progress, I'll try to get another, cleaner version if I find the time

Fool on the Hill-1.mp3

Shared with Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

Edit: I tried to put it on Soundcloud but they nuked it because of copyright issues ?????

Thanks for the share! Some great ideas in the solo, loved the ascending motif! Just watch making sure you spell the change to the minor key clearly; as the root of the toanal centre doesn’t change it needs those key descriptive notes to land.

I’ll look forward to hearing where you get to with it!

 

[LostCircuits]

Thanks for the share! Some great ideas in the solo, loved the ascending motif! Just watch making sure you spell the change to the minor key clearly; as the root of the toanal centre doesn’t change it needs those key descriptive notes to land.

I’ll look forward to hearing where you get to with it!

Matt, thanks for the feedback. I tried to keep it as simple as possible, kinda Larry McKenna style. That last change is "ok" but it's the part that I am not really happy with. Aside from that, zoom calls and rearranging the mic and bias has been my bane for this recording, every time I thought I had it, another meeting, rinse and repeat. Soprano/saxello is just so unforgiving when it comes to recording but I have a few light days ahead so I'll try to capture it a bit better.

 

[atwl77]

I thought I might try to participate by playing the song mostly straight as I don't know how to improvise yet... but listening to the two pieces of work so far, I am intimidated! Still thinking if I want to give this a go, or sit out for this month... 😰

@LostCircuits, that's some really smooth playing... is that from slurring or legato tonguing, or a combination of both?

 

[LostCircuits]

I thought I might try to participate by playing the song mostly straight as I don't know how to improvise yet... but listening to the two pieces of work so far, I am intimidated! Still thinking if I want to give this a go, or sit out for this month... 😰

@LostCircuits, that's some really smooth playing... is that from slurring or legato tonguing, or a combination of both?

You are correct, it is a combination of both. And thank you so much for the compliment. But please don't let any contributions discourage you, rather let them inspire you. And please post your own version, regardless of how good or bad you think it is, you are always your own worst critic but others will probably enjoy it.

That said, the main purpose of SotM is not to criticize in a bad way but providing guidance as to what are the good parts or the spots where you can improve and how.

I just spent the last 4 hours with an aspiring girl vocalist who had never recorded and within some 30+ takes the tune morphed from a timid interpretation of Etta James At Last to something that may not be grammy material but a song I would listen to in my car. The point is, there is a wealth of knowledge here but we cannot advise blindly to spend an hour on longtones when you are way past that and just need some pointers how to phrase things.

I very much look forward to your version, give it a shot and don't be shy!

 

[mrblackbat]

I thought I might try to participate by playing the song mostly straight as I don't know how to improvise yet... but listening to the two pieces of work so far, I am intimidated! Still thinking if I want to give this a go, or sit out for this month... 😰

@LostCircuits, that's some really smooth playing... is that from slurring or legato tonguing, or a combination of both?

Please do contribute! It’s not a competition, every single recording has merits and flaws. There will be loads in yours if you do choose to participate that will be good stuff and so you can take that as things to continue to practise etc. 😀

 

[mrblackbat]

Matt, thanks for the feedback. I tried to keep it as simple as possible, kinda Larry McKenna style. That last change is "ok" but it's the part that I am not really happy with. Aside from that, zoom calls and rearranging the mic and bias has been my bane for this recording, every time I thought I had it, another meeting, rinse and repeat. Soprano/saxello is just so unforgiving when it comes to recording but I have a few light days ahead so I'll try to capture it a bit better.

Yeah miking a soprano is a pita. Alto and tenor you can throw up a mic and point it at the left hand table and it’ll be fine, but not with a straight sop!

 

[LostCircuits]

Done a little woodshedding

View: https://youtu.be/8hxqIOjNMpw


"The Backing Tracks" allow their materials to be used on YouTube but apparently that's not the case on other media, hence the issue with Soundcloud mentioned earlier.

@mrblackbat, the change in the second go to the minor key is deliberately a minor third up, I wasn't really sure about it first but the more I listen to it, the better I like it.

I spent the better part of 2 days on trying to get a decent recording and it sounded nothing short of awful until I realized that through some glitch Cubase had disabled the RE20 and duplicated the Sterling ST51 input over both channels. Another facepalm moment LOL but I think this came out ok now.

 

[mrblackbat]

Very nice; you can tell that you're a lot more comfortable with this one now! There are a couple of notes that I'll need to listen to it a few times to appreciate I think, with the bluesy sound - I hear this as quite a pretty tune, so going to need some reprogramming in my brain to get the dirtier sound they provide to sit right!

DAWs. I do stuff like that all the time. Usually it's forgetting to change the input to a microphone that's actually on, or forgetting to arm a track to record. You can be certain they're always the best takes too.....

 

[LostCircuits]

Very nice; you can tell that you're a lot more comfortable with this one now! There are a couple of notes that I'll need to listen to it a few times to appreciate I think, with the bluesy sound - I hear this as quite a pretty tune, so going to need some reprogramming in my brain to get the dirtier sound they provide to sit right!

DAWs. I do stuff like that all the time. Usually it's forgetting to change the input to a microphone that's actually on, or forgetting to arm a track to record. You can be certain they're always the best takes too.....

I went "pretty" in the third part and when I listen to it I am like: "yes it's pretty but ..." It all depends on your association with the song and this particular song has a somewhat dark connotation for me. Flashbacks to another life long ago and far away.
But that's the beauty of music, it changes its meaning based on the context and circumstances of the first encounter with a piece.

100% true! There is a story about Clarence Clemons where he played a solo for a Springsteen tune in the studio and the recording sucked. And then it allegedly took him 7 months to get the same groove on tape in a high quality recording.

Anyway, muchas gracias for the feedback!

 

[rhysonsax]

I found a nice arrangement and backing track in the Hal Leonard Playalong series so recorded that on soprano with the improvised section in the middle.

The Fool On The Hill - Rhys Sop V1.mp3 | Powered by Box

Mark Taylor and Jim Roberts did the arrangement, complete with sections in 3/4 and 5/4.

Rhys

 

[LostCircuits]

Sounds good, Rhys!

 

[mrblackbat]

I found a nice arrangement and backing track in the Hal Leonard Playalong series so recorded that on soprano with the improvised section in the middle.

The Fool On The Hill - Rhys Sop V1.mp3 | Powered by Box

Mark Taylor and Jim Roberts did the arrangement, complete with sections in 3/4 and 5/4.

Rhys

Sounds good Rhys! Just watch the intonation up top on those held notes in the melody!

The backing seems very inspired by the Sergio Mendes version - they even play the same motif in the vamp between verses. Very nice vibe!

And here it is in case anyone wants to play to it:-

View: https://youtu.be/KTEumcnpoXY?si=g4wYlmEPWpmIjycI

 

[rhysonsax]

Sounds good Rhys! Just watch the intonation up top on those held notes in the melody!

The backing seems very inspired by the Sergio Mendes version - they even play the same motif in the vamp between verses. Very nice vibe!

And here it is in case anyone wants to play to it:-

View: https://youtu.be/KTEumcnpoXY?si=g4wYlmEPWpmIjycI

You had a lucky escape - I was thinking of recording this on sopranino.

BTW the linked backing track on YouTube is actually the very same recording and is therefore covered by copyright owned by Hal Leonard. This should not be on YouTube and forum members shouldn't use it.

Rhys

 

[LostCircuits]

You had a lucky escape - I was thinking of recording this on sopranino.

BTW the linked backing track on YouTube is actually the very same recording and is therefore covered by copyright owned by Hal Leonard. This should not be on YouTube and forum members shouldn't use it.

Rhys

Mhhh. interesting. But I had the same situation with the backing track used on the version I recorded. Soundcloud rejected it because of copyright issues but Youtube allowed it because the authors/creators of the track granted permission to use it to Youtube. That was the message that I received from Youtube. Something like "Copyrighted material detected but permitted to use on Youtube by Copyright holder.

I don't know what the situation is in this case but the track seems to be posted by Thomann, so maybe they have a deal with Hal Leonard?

One possibility would be to record something and upload it and wait for the copyright checker to respond. It's a bit of an effort but it might shed some light on the situation.

 

[rhysonsax]

Mhhh. interesting. But I had the same situation with the backing track used on the version I recorded. Soundcloud rejected it because of copyright issues but Youtube allowed it because the authors/creators of the track granted permission to use it to Youtube. That was the message that I received from Youtube. Something like "Copyrighted material detected but permitted to use on Youtube by Copyright holder.

I don't know what the situation is in this case but the track seems to be posted by Thomann, so maybe they have a deal with Hal Leonard?

One possibility would be to record something and upload it and wait for the copyright checker to respond. It's a bit of an effort but it might shed some light on the situation.

This was not posted by Thomann but by a user with the name Sergey Brazhnik who claims to be the arranger and isn't. The same poster is doing this a lot and all they seem to do is to provide written music that they have notated themselves and scrolls to stay in time with the music. Maybe if they used the Hal Leonard music sheets too then the copyright transgression would be more obvious, but they are not a creator.

The link to Thomann is spurious and misleading. But maybe it is a way that the poster can monetise their "work".

The way to keep the right side of copyright in this case is to buy the Hal Leonard book and CD.

Rhys

 

[LostCircuits]

Sergey Brazhnik ... again... He had a whole library of tracks under his name a few years ago and they mysteriously disappeared very suddenly. I don't remember the story behind it but there were tracks for "Just the two of us" and many others and somewhere, might have been SOTW there was a thread about him.

I obviously fell for the Thomann link, I was curious why it got me to the Spanish language version of a German website. But anyway, thanks for clarifying this.

 

[atwl77]

Here's my attempt... I tried to make things a little different by playing at different octaves, but ugh... gotta spend more time practicing my high notes. Also, even though I can play this song fine during practice, but the moment I put the mic in front of me, I make all sorts of silly mistakes and had to re-record several times.

https://soundcloud.com/adrian-learns-to-sax%2Fthe-fool-on-the-hill-the-beatles

View: https://soundcloud.com/adrian-learns-to-sax/the-fool-on-the-hill-the-beatles

 

[mrblackbat]

Here's my attempt... I tried to make things a little different by playing at different octaves, but ugh... gotta spend more time practicing my high notes. Also, even though I can play this song fine during practice, but the moment I put the mic in front of me, I make all sorts of silly mistakes and had to re-record several times.

https://soundcloud.com/adrian-learns-to-sax%2Fthe-fool-on-the-hill-the-beatles

View: https://soundcloud.com/adrian-learns-to-sax/the-fool-on-the-hill-the-beatles

Really glad you got something up to share! And to comfort you, everyone always makes more mistakes when the microphone is in front of you - you're internally aware that the situation is different than when you're practising, and so as it's a different situation, it feels different and you tighten up. It happens with performing live too!

You have a strong sound here, which is good; and your ears are working - as you say you get the high notes, but it's clearly not as comfortable and you can hear the squeezing. That will come with time and practise.

The other thing that I'd suggest thinking about is the time and making sure that everything is very deliberate with your time; try to get into the feel of the song and really groove with it. At this tempo, which is quite slow, you can really relax and I think that will help you loads.

Great job!

 

[LostCircuits]

Here's my attempt... I tried to make things a little different by playing at different octaves, but ugh... gotta spend more time practicing my high notes. Also, even though I can play this song fine during practice, but the moment I put the mic in front of me, I make all sorts of silly mistakes and had to re-record several times.

https://soundcloud.com/adrian-learns-to-sax%2Fthe-fool-on-the-hill-the-beatles

View: https://soundcloud.com/adrian-learns-to-sax/the-fool-on-the-hill-the-beatles

Well, I have heard a lot worse, Good job! I liked the opening note at your improv at ~ 2:00 but then you followed up at 2:04 with something like a marching band Ooompa Ooompa, which threw me off. If you play something like this, try not to repeat the same notes. like Eb-C Eb-C but try playing Eb-C-F-C -G-Eb (just as example), that way you add color and you still end up on the same root. It's a simple arpeggiation and once you have ingrained it into your playing it becomes a powerful phrase of your vocabulary.

Intonation was pretty ok, sure there were a few glitches but you got the basic idea and it is just a matter of continued practice. Timing, you are "waiting" for the notes that you want to play instead of anticipating/leading. I know, it's hard to tell a backing track what to do but that's the attitude you need to develop.

Aside from those "pointers", you are definitely on the right track!

 

[mrblackbat]

but then you followed up at 2:04 with something like a marching band Ooompa Ooompa, which threw me off. If you play something like this, try not to repeat the same notes.

Actually, I heard this as more of a reference to the brass band that kicks in in the original behind the flute solo, and thought it worked really well! 😃