Improvisation on "What's New" by Richard Metzger

The song was composed in 1938 by bassist Bob Haggart under the title "I'm Free," but the song's publisher enlisted Johnny Burke in 1939 to write new lyrics. The guitar is the 1946 Epiphone Triumph of an earlier video, but now back from luthier Frank Finicchio with a neck reset, some regluing of ribs, and a floating pick-up.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Epiphone Triumph
• jazz gutiar
• Richard Metzger

[guitar17johnny]

smooth improvisation!

How do you make the backing tracks? I'm just curious.

greetz,

Johnny

[rmetzgerguitar]

@guitar17johnny Hi Johnny. I checked your site--nice stuff. This will likely be in two parts since characters are limited. I record the bass first using Audacity (freeware). I don't run directly into the computer for any track because it changes the sound of the instruments. I do have the sound going out from the computer rigged to run through an amp, and I place the mic almost against the front screen. This eliminates the sound of the neighbors lawnmower, etc.

[rmetzgerguitar]

@guitar17johnny Part II. I record the rhythm guitar next. Here I make an mp3 of the bass track and run it through the same amp that is used for the rhythm guitar. Despite the implication, Audacity will not permit overdubbing--the second track gets out of sync. Maybe there is a way to sync the tracks, but I haven't found it. I then make an mp3 of the bass/rhythm track. The mp3 actually sounds far better than the video, and here the quality loss comes from the video recording software.

[rmetzgerguitar]

@guitar17johnny Part III. I see that the quality of sound on my videos is not that great, but at present I have the built-in webcam and its software and that is all I have. At some point I will invest in better equipment, but it is what it is for now. I would imagine by hearing your rhythm tracks that you are far and away ahead of me. Hope this helps. Best!

[SIRONEDRAGON]

nice ideas : )

[rmetzgerguitar]

@SIRONEDRAGON Thanks. The tricky part of the song comes in second half the stanza, where it keeps flipping rapidly back and forth between major and minor. While one could plow through on minor pentatonic, it is better to try to catch the couple beats of major each of the several times time they occur. This means really having to stay on it and fewer chances to let loose. The bridge, which is just the same music transposed, does not have this key flip-flop and so is easier to ride.

[9uita7]

Cool tone and vibe! :)