Ivan Milenkovic Instructor Week Competition! :), Make a Blues Song! :) Options

[Ivan Milenkovic]

Hey hey guys, welcome to my competition, featured in my first instructor week here on GMC. As you know this week I am doing a blues theme, and this competition is no exception!

Here's the deal:

- Deadline is 28th or April (I will stretch it if needed of course) smile.gif
- No official sign ups (as soon as you post your finished blues song it will count as a sign up)
- Download the backing track that I've made and make a blues song out of it!

A word about the backing:

- Standard 12 bar blues progression from E, 100bpm tempo
- Only drum and bass tracks are in the track
- Drum track is simple shuffled rhythm
- Bass track is simple shuffled rhythm using only roots.
- The 12 bar blues is repeated 3x during this small song


You are free to add anything you like to this in order to finish this short tune, the more you add the better can be (example: guitar rhythm, guitar lead, vocals, organ, piano, brass, harp, whatever!)
Since it has only 3 repeated 12 bar frames, you have a limited time to express everything you want, so use all your knowledge about blues and other music styles to make it as interesting as possible!


And of course the prizes for the best blues composers are appropriate!


FIRST PRIZE:

BOSS BLUES DRIVER BD2
The Boss BD-2 Blues Driver guitar effects pedal delivers that creamy-yet-crunchy sound you've heard countless great blues guitar players call up - and at a great value! The BD-2 Blues Driver simulates the sound of a vintage tube amplifier, giving you instant access to timeless tones. It also responds to your playing dynamics, so you can pull out a range of tones to give each note the perfect flavor and feel. All in all, you'll love the warm overdrive and emotive distortion the Boss BD-2 Blues Driver adds to your rig. Over 10,000,000 sold!

SECOND PRIZE:

3 SETS OF DEAN MARKLEY "BLUE STEEL" ELECTRIC GUITAR STRINGS

Blue Steel™ are the world's first and finest Cryogenic- processed strings. That's right, this is the one everyone's been talking about. Blue Steel™ strings are a total breakthrough in string technology. Starting with the very finest quality materials, Blue Steel™ strings are frozen to minus 320 degrees Fahrenheit, held there for an exact period of time and then slowly and carefully brought back to their original temperature. This unique Cryogenic treatment realigns the molecular structure of the string, giving Blue Steel more highs and lows, a longer life and greater ability to stay in tune. It's simply amazing what a little -320º liquid nitrogen can do to a guitar string. Put on a set and see what all the noise is about. Twice the tone and twice the life.



THIRD PRIZE:

FUNK/ROCK ALBUM "IN THE MOOD" OF MY BAND "ANGRY PAPRIKAS" (FEATURING ME AND INSTRUCTOR BOGDAN!)

This album contains author material on our native language (Serbian), and although you may not understand the lyrics, I hope you enjoy our music!

Attached File(s)

 Blues_Backing_For_Competition_100bpm_Key_of_E.mp3 ( 1.47MB ) Number of downloads: 246
 Blues_Backing_For_Competition_100bpm_Key_of_E_Raise_Volume_On_Bass_Track.mp3 ( 1.47MB ) Number of downloads: 220
 Backing_for_Blues_Competition___MIDI_DRUM___BASS.mid ( 8.86K ) Number of downloads: 98

 

[Tolek]

Wohoo, cool prizes. I´ll give my best to submit a finished song.

Is it possible to make the bass louder? I can´t hear it.

[Ivan Milenkovic]

You want me to turn it down? (it is a little loud)

[Tolek]

You want me to turn it down? (it is a little loud)

No, up.

[Ivan Milenkovic]

OK, I added one more track, let me know if you need me to raise lower (I get a lot of bass on my speakers so I can't be sure if it's right)

[berko]

The bass is quite loud originally! But it's fine for me... Great stuff, I'll dive into this one

[Ivan Milenkovic]

Yeah, I think it's a bit loud as well, I compressed it a bit to accent the roots. If you want I can make a third non-loud bass track version

[Tolek]

Yes, that´s much better! Thanks very much.

[Ivan Milenkovic]

OK mate, no problem

[Bogdan Radovic]

Cool competition!! Looking forward to hearing the entries!! Prizes are great!

[sigma7]

when is the deadline Ivan?

[Ivan Milenkovic]

Deadline is 28th or April (I will stretch it if needed of course)

[superize]

Not really a blues player but i will see if i can come up with something

[Ivan Milenkovic]

That would be great man, try it, there is no wrong way!

[audiopaal]

Nice prizes and backing
I'll make an attempt at my first bluessong for this competition..

Is there such a thing as happyblues?

[Ivan Milenkovic]

Nice prizes and backing
I'll make an attempt at my first bluessong for this competition..

Is there such a thing as happyblues?

Well of course, blues in general is a very happy music believe it or not You can use any kind of chords to accent a certain mood, it all depends what you want to do. If we stick to regular triads there are 4 options:

major - "happy" feel
minor - "sad" feel
diminished - "unknown, secret" feel
augmented - "misty, enchanted" feel

also you can use regular dominant chords to accent the minor 7th note that is characteristic for the blues. It is very common to mix major and dominant chords within 12 bar blues, specially in traditional styles.

[skennington]

Hey Ivan, any chance in getting the BT in midi format?

[Ivan Milenkovic]

Hey Ivan, any chance in getting the BT in midi format?

Sure mate, good idea! Added in the first post!

The quality of drums and bass itself won't affect the final outcome tho, so everybody has a fair chance!

This post has been edited by Ivan Milenkovic: Apr 20 2009, 01:14 PM

[skennington]

Sure mate, good idea! Added in the first post!

The quality of drums and bass itself won't affect the final outcome tho, so everybody has a fair chance!

Awesome Ivan, thanks!

[Deleted]

So is not required to upload a video.