Hello good people. I haven't been active in this forum, but now you know why: I've been using most of my spare time working on my album. I started this project four years ago. I spent most of the early days learning how to play the guitar. I then learnt how music is put together in general. Lastly I learnt music production. The compositions have been ongoing during that process and I have been recording myself along the way, while setting up a recording studio - a home one and a mobile one since I'm constantly on the move. I have managed to finish producing my first album of ten songs. I've experienced considerable difficulty mainly with time, personnel and funds. I've been helped largely by technological advancement even though I worked hard to retain authenticity, and that is something I will strive to achieve even more in future albums.

By no means am I an established musician yet (by my approximation I need ten more years to get there). I still consider myself a beginner in music in general. In any case I do music as a hobby, but, since I do it with so much passion, it is leading me towards professionalism and one day I might just decide to switch careers and do music full-time.

In the past I have been a critic of songs and albums and I wrote extensive reviews in our former forum Vibes d'Afrique, praising excellence and denouncing mediocrity. I now put myself on the firing line. I want to be judged by you, music lovers out there. Chances are you don't know me so, to quote the Soundcloud community guidelines: "Criticize, but do it constructively. Criticism can be really valuable, but only when it’s done constructively. So, please share your opinions, but before posting anything, ask yourself 'Would I appreciate receiving the same comment?'."

There are ten songs in total, many of which are in a style that might be appreciated by members of this forum. I'm going to upload them through Soundcloud and link them here one at time. Since this is not the very final product and I am in a position to make any changes in recording, mixing or mastering, please let me know your opinions and if there are any changes I should make to improve the songs. Special thanks to DJ Sly who gave me invaluable comments when this project was in its infancy. Thanks to all of you in advance. So here is the first upload:

[soundcloud]https://soundcloud.com/felix-asuma/mwokozi-wangu[/soundcloud]

Felo my bro,long time. Am glad to learn that you've finally finished the album, let me listen then give feedback as usual.

Admins: how can I embed Soundcloud music directly onto this forum like we do for Youtube videos? Their embedding link doesn't work.

Here is another song:

[soundcloud]https://soundcloud.com/felix-asuma/hekima[/soundcloud]

I skimmed through the album. Overall especially for a first try, I think its pretty good. I dont speak the language but Im going off of the music and the overall sound of the words. I like the jazzy approach you took with Etaro. Play around with guitar effects to get alternate sounds between songs too.  The sebene at the end of Mwokozi Wangu reminds me of Bana Ok, sounds great.

Do you play the drums yourself or is it done through software alone?

Admins: how can I embed Soundcloud music directly onto this forum like we do for Youtube videos? Their embedding link doesn't work.

I have added Soundcloud icons to the post BBCode set, the buttons can be found by the Youtube button, one of the buttons stands for single track embedding, the other is for trackset embedding. You have to paste your link between the tags that the button adds.

Felo,

Take your time and listen to these too :

http://www.hulkshare.com/digitalvibes/uliniumiza-1

http://www.hulkshare.com/digitalvibes/ningemuona

There are among what came from my studio under my supervision. (I AM NOT SAYING THEY ARE PERFECT OR YOUR ARE BAD)

My Focus :

1. I listen to all good songs without caring who produced it.

2. I listen to their mixing, how many guitars are played at a time, how they pan them, what has to be heard with the first ear (those who no nothing about music) what has to be heard by the third ears (music experts).

3. I always try my best to get a very good intro.
 - Proof, listen to all Congo music albums even if the album has 1 Millions songs, they will make sure they impress you in each intro.

4. Perfect bridges - at our level good ones are enough.

5. Change the style you plan your music.
 - Say most of artist in my country don't do music the way i do.
 - They do (Verse Chorus Verse Chorus End or the opposite) - Why don't you and me change that?

Other comments some other time when if find time.

Mwokonzi Wangu is powerful im repeating that one again 

Thanks a lot Bencuri for adding the Soundcloud embedding function. Here are the rest of the songs, in no particular order.

[soundcloud]https://soundcloud.com/felix-asuma/etaro[/soundcloud]

[soundcloud]https://soundcloud.com/felix-asuma/roche[/soundcloud]

[soundcloud]https://soundcloud.com/felix-asuma/amri[/soundcloud]

[soundcloud]https://soundcloud.com/felix-asuma/tenda-mema[/soundcloud]

[soundcloud]https://soundcloud.com/felix-asuma/nisamehe[/soundcloud]

[soundcloud]https://soundcloud.com/felix-asuma/usiende[/soundcloud]

[soundcloud]https://soundcloud.com/felix-asuma/dk-1[/soundcloud]

[soundcloud]https://soundcloud.com/felix-asuma/seven-minutes[/soundcloud]

I skimmed through the album. Overall especially for a first try, I think its pretty good. I dont speak the language but Im going off of the music and the overall sound of the words. I like the jazzy approach you took with Etaro. Play around with guitar effects to get alternate sounds between songs too.  The sebene at the end of Mwokozi Wangu reminds me of Bana Ok, sounds great.

Do you play the drums yourself or is it done through software alone?

Thanks a lot for your kind comments. The language is Swahili with one song, Roche, in my traditional Kisii language. I must admit that jazz is a tough genre to crack; it has really helped me develop my musicianship. I was initially not sure whether I should alter the tone of my Ibanez Artcore Jazz guitar, but now that you mention it I'll go through my effects and amps to try and get different sounds between songs; it could easily get tiring listening to the same tone. Thanks for that observation. Am humbled that you compare sections of my songs to greats like Bana OK.

Now with the drums, you are making me reveal a secret. I don't play drums. I play the percussions though. It has taken me four frustrating years of struggling to create authentic drum sounds. I even bought an electronic drum set but I've struggled to find a reliable and willing drummer to help me out. I finally found a way around it: I spend hours on end adjusting and readjusting pre-recorded samples from some of the world's finest drummers who have used technology to avail this skills to studio engineers. None of them is African and that is why it takes me even more time to get the African beat I so much crave. For now technology has got me out of a tough spot. In future I hope to build my own band.

Mwokonzi Wangu is powerful im repeating that one again 

Am glad you like it. It does help me know what style to put more effort in going forward.

Prince Sab, those songs are very nice and the production is excellent. Do you play any part in the music by any chance? We could collaborate some time. I know what you mean by varying the style. You may notice how much effort I put into ensuring that all my songs sound different from each other without losing my basic style and identity. It is perhaps the hardest thing to do when producing an album.

I'm looking forward to your other comments. Please let me know in what ways I can improve this project or individual songs before publishing.

Following Zaiko's advice, I've changed the sounds of the guitars on all songs and I must admit they now sound a lot better than before. Am now making final adjustments. Any further suggestions will be greatly welcomed.