"Irresolution Blues"

Steinberg Lounge
1

[Irresolution Blues is another candidate for my all-new-bright-and-shiny CD. Please click a box in the poll on my website to help decide whether to include it on the record or kick it over the fence as you play the song.]

The following is written with something approaching a sense of humor masquerading as indignity. :wink:

A minor blues (of all things) from me. A blues? I had to write one to dispel a myth. Recently Iā€™ve been told Iā€™m a ā€œCeltā€ and play ā€œCelticā€ music. There is no such living entity. Itā€™s close to racial abuse to call me such. The more my music is called ā€œCelticā€ the more I rail against it and insist that no-one has any idea what (if any) music the Celts played! They certainly didnā€™t play twangy acoustic guitars tuned to DADGAD insofar as Iā€™m aware. I am not a ā€œCeltā€ and have no ā€œCeltic Connectionsā€.

(ā€œHave a sense of proportion, Dave. Lighten up!ā€ ā€œā– ā– ā– ā–  off!ā€)

(That notwithstanding, I do advertise some Celtic tunes on my website. But thatā€™s just SEO trickery. Not to be taken seriously. Thereā€™s even a disclaimer at the bottom of the page. And itā€™s got certainly nothing to do with my songwriting.)

(ā€œDonā€™t take it so seriously, old pal.ā€ ā€œIā€™ve told you to ā– ā– ā– ā–  off once already, so ā– ā– ā– ā–  offā€)

So ā€“ to underline the fact ā€“ I make up a blues.

Itā€™s got some irresponsible guitar excursions between the verses outside of which itā€™s straight up and downā€¦

Play:ā€œIrresolution Bluesā€

The lyrics are indecisive:

Irresolution Blues

Like a bandit coming out of the sun
She said cā€™mon baby letā€™s have some fun
I know a way I can make you smile ā€“ I said
I donā€™t know, honey, itā€™s been a while
She said, tell me ā€“ what you wanna do?

She said, if youā€™re unsure what to do
Iā€™ll do a Google search for you
Half a second later, cā€™mon, give me a break ā€“ I got
Half a million more decisions to make
She said, tell me ā€“ what you wanna do?

  • irresponsible guitar excursion -

I am determined, yes I am my own man
I am resolved, yes I am
I can choose, I can select
Without getting caught up in the cause and effect
She said, tell me ā€“ what you wanna do?

We went shopping but we didnā€™t buy squat
Weā€™d only take it back whatever we got
Weā€™d watch a movie but we couldnā€™t agree
Whoā€™s gonna choose the DVD
She said, tell me ā€“ what you wanna do?

  • irresponsible guitar excursion -

Cā€™mon baby itā€™s time to go
Cā€™mon baby: yes or no?
I said I would tell you all of one voice
But yet again youā€™re giving me multiple choice
She said, tell me ā€“ what you wanna do?

  • irresponsible guitar excursion -

Thanks!

(ā€œDave, why the existential angst?ā€ ā€œWhit? Go click a poll!ā€)

2

Liked it and I voted.

Interesting thoughts re the imagining v. the recording. Oh well, 'tis done now.
Best not quibble too much. :laughing:

The guitar excursions are first rate, donā€™t remove them, irresponsible as they are.
A face is not complete without some cheek. :wink:

My only comment about the mix (so far) is that at times I thought the vocal
was sounding a bit masked against the bottom strings of the guitar and within
the relatively strong reverb.

3

Great playing Dave.
I agree with Jet on the vocal. It sounds a little ā€œin the backgroundā€ to me.
Perhaps adding a TINY bit more high end to it and removing a little reverb from it to bring it up front a little more?
Fun lyrics too.
Sincerely,
J.L.

4

Yep, that verb ainā€™t working for me either Dave, sorry :frowning:
The song is an absolute winner though, brilliant, witty, and very musical.
Excellent :sunglasses:
Phil

5

Irresolution Blues is a song about indecision. Iā€™m quite certain of that. It was a blues that was crying out to be kept simple but I screwed up by messing around on the guitar between the sung bits and so denied it that. Maybe because of this misdemeanor it erā€¦ umā€¦ well, it has some uncertainty about itsā€¦ ahā€¦ erā€¦ wellā€¦

:mrgreen: Iā€™m tellinā€™ ya, Dave, yer a bloody treasure around here.

All that mischeivous guitar playing may be outta line, but were you to remove it Iā€™d have to pay you a visit. :laughing:

Good show! I say sheā€™s a keeper.

I agree the vocal is masked a bit much.

Lenny

6

Loved it. I especially liked the guitar interludes, they led down some unexpected paths with some nice changes. I found it reminiscent of Bert Jansch - and not just because of the Scottish accent.
Steve

7

I like it a lot, thatā€™s some stellar playing!
I agree with what others said about the vocals, they donā€™t really sound right to me. I thought the track could maybe use some brushes coming in somewhere halfway through to make it a bit more groovy and interesting. Wouldnā€™t want it to take anything away from the guitar though :wink:

8

Yes, keep it, and especially keep the guitar excursions. Theyā€™re the best part! Too much reverb on the voice though. I like it.

9

Once again Iā€™m completely mesmerised. Those wee excursions were absolutely are stunning! :astonished:
:sunglasses:

PS: Iā€™m not gonna get on the reverb bandwagon :wink:

10

Hi friends ā€“ thanks so much for listening so closely and for your insightful comments. Thatā€™s whatā€™s astounding about this place. I can take into account your ideas and go back to the song with confidence that I can get it right. Itā€™s also reassuring that your criticisms match my own doubts about the mix ā€“ but honestly I couldnā€™t make up my mind :confused: . Soā€¦











Great stuff. Common thread there so itā€™s pretty obvious what I need to do! :sunglasses:

Iā€™m glad you like it. I confess the guitar breaks take me to the limits of ability to repeatedly play with aplomb and accuracy which I need to do if Iā€™m going to gig it which I most certainly will. Hours of practice have gone into it so I donā€™t have to think any more where the fingers are supposed to go. I hate having to think about fingering when Iā€™m supposed to be performing!!! :confused:

Thanks for the votes to those who made it so far. So far the score is 3-0. :slight_smile:

Cheers!
Dave

11

trying to play the track dave but explorer 8 crashes when I get to the song page. :angry: I can play the tracks on the right of your page but canā€™t get the song page to stay up. prolly something here so Iā€™ll keep trying, now I need some wine toā€¦

12

Sorry about that, Bob! Iā€™ve just tried with IE 8 and works ok here. :confused: Computers, eh?

No matter, Iā€™ve uploaded to Soundclick:

http://www.soundclick.com/player/single_player.cfm?songid=11017337&q=hi&newref=1

Thereā€™s no escape!! :smiley:

(Speaking wine- what ya sippin? Iā€™ve just popped a Chianti - a certain la Fortezza 2007 (Riserva, of course :smiley: ). Hic!

13

yes I know Fortezza quite well, Iā€™m usually a plain ol merlot but today Iā€™m trying the french version of their pinot noir since it passed my alcohol/volume stipulation, lol.
I did listen to your other songs, and I must say you are an amazing player with a cool mix of wit and fun in the tracks.
as for irresolution blues, Iā€™m diggin it. great finger orchestration and style. lovin those riffs and that special progression down. there is a certain celtic style inherent in your vocal, very nice.
loved it, Iā€™ll never be able to play like that so my wine intake today will be more than usual after listeningā€¦the ending made me chuckle, good one, nother sip!!!

14

Funny about that. At the time of my review I was savouring a 2003 Montelpuciano dā€™Abruzzo. :wink:

15

Hiya folks! comments incorporated and new version uploaded.

Summary:

  • reverb shaved from the vox and now the same as guitar
  • a little hi-shelf added to the vox
  • vox brought forward just a little
  • Iā€™ve also reduced the stereo width a bit


    Improved? I think so! It sounds to me more like a coherent performance now.

Cheers!

16

Dave,
I really like this song! The playing is great. I was wondering if you play and sing at the same time?
The lyrics are really fun. I think the mix is pretty good (at least good enough for my amateur ears!).
Sincerely,
J.L.

17

Really good song, and brilliant finger work as always, Dave.
Not had a chance to hear the newer version yet, will do at the weekend! :wink:
Just had a long weekend up in Motherwellā€¦(is that not too far from you??)
Got the parents stayin this week so not getting much time for music :frowning:
But will listen again AND vote! :smiley:

:sunglasses:
Sav

18

Thanks, JL! When I gig I play and sing at the same time! :smiley: But to answer your question: the guitar and vox are tracked separately. It gives me more control during editing. I comp the vox from about three different takes. I can also edit out any outrageous fluffs on the guitar. Also at the mixing stage it makes life easier. The reason I donā€™t record a guitar+vox performance is Iā€™m playing, recording and engineering at the same time in a ā€œhomeā€ studio, albeit with reasonable acoustic treatment. If I were in a commercial studio I would lay down a few straight ahead performances (as I was used to doing years ago) and select the best one and do any edits using the rest.


Thanks Sav. And make sure you vote. The numbers are pretty slim at the moment but the score is 9-0 in the songā€™s favor! Woo-hoo! :smiley:

Nope, Motherwell is not too far away although itā€™s on the Glasgow side (me being close to Edinburgh). An old steel town, Motherwell. Hard as nails the folks there. Glad you got away OK. You got friends / relatives / a woman thereabouts?

Cheers!
Dave

19

Losing the reverb really helped. :wink:

I still think the vocal track needs fiddling with. A bit of bottom
reduced and a bit more glimmer around 5K. A bit, not a lot, but a bit.

20

I think it sounds better with less reverb.
Early