Collaboration - Combine Licks Into A Modern Rock Solo, Final Mix And Comments Options

[Emir Hot]

Hi guys. Thanks for your playing in this collab. Here is the mix and the comments.

Cheers


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jafomatic – 00:00 – 00:43
Great phrasing in this one. Very tasteful rock licks with enough breaks in between. The sound is also very nice plus the addition with staccato playing that gave it very rocky feel. There were some small timing issues in your licks but overall I like this take a lot. Make sure you play them as tight as possible. Just to remind you about exporting the track. We've already had a conversation about it in the chat room. Always import the track back in your DAW or open in some sound editing software to make sure that the track is mono, enough bitrate (256 is good for this) and the signal which should be around -6db. You muted one channel completely so if your sound had a bit of a definition on the other one (L or R) then we lost that bit. Recording and exporting in mono will always work but do check it after you export. Good work with this take.

JamesT – 00:43 – 01:22
Good concept James. It's a pretty decent take but most of the runs weren't precise. You opened with an interesting lick but then you unexpectedly stopped for like 2-3 seconds. That bit didn't really fit at all. Sounded like you didn't know what to play Your legato technique needs a bit more work. Pull offs should be stronger. This affects your timing which wasn't very precise throughout the whole take. The last long lick was sloppy. That's a very common rock lick and it only works if it's played tight. Also the last bend was out of tune. You were close to a great take with your ideas but only if everything was executed properly. I've seen many of your takes on GMC forum and you're a very talented guitarist. To be honest I did expect a bit more from you in this one but we'll leave it for the next time. Thanks for collaborating

Maharzan - 01:23 – 02:01
This is a nice modal approach when improvising with licks. I was happy to hear that you were following all those advices from MTP or at least sounds like that. There were some timing issues but nothing that dangerous. I really liked the entering to D minor chord. Even before that you started with some great phrasing and really opened the new kind of atmosphere from D minor until the end. Those are very interesting ideas with small bends and short breaks. Just the last scale shouldn’t really last that long. I thought you would stop on my last Am chord. You went all the way and cut the last note like with scissors I said before that we shouldn’t interfere with the next take. That’s why I left that last chord longer so you have time to land on your last note nicely. You sent me the clean guitar to mix I said no effects but that doesn’t apply to the distortion. I meant delays/reverbs... You have to find a good distortion so I can mix it. I used your distorted sound which had effects on it as the clean guitar doesn’t help me. Anyway, lot of nice phrases in this one. Well done.

Marek Rojewski - 02:02 – 02:41
This take has many interesting rock techniques but played very dirty. The first part (berofe D minor chord) sounded much better than the second one. Some parts reminded me of Ritchie Blackmore which of course I like In the second part you had many out of tune notes with a very nervous vibrato. You should really work on the vibrato. You need it especially in the strong rock phrasing. The next thing that you can improve is your sound. This sounds like from some kind of tight tunnel and also has some strange chorus effect or it might be just my impression. It’s just somehow too aggressive. A couple of the last long notes were way out of tune and dirty played. Those really didn’t fit in your solo structure. Some squeaky sound which was really a shock The very last lick should be played with hammer on and pull off. You picked it all but very dirty. I think I know what you wanted to play but picking is not the way to go for that one. I liked your tapping sections and some other ideas but you really need to clean up most of it. Thanks for the take.

NoSkill - 02:41 – 03:20
This take introduces some very common rock pentatonic licks. I said in my introduction post that you can feel free to use A minor pentatonic. That always works if you’re struggling with modes. There were some very common licks with bends but unfortunately hardly any of the bends was in tune. The very last note was really dirty. You should have cleaned that one up The sound was too much in some middle frequencies. I applied 2 EQs to try to warm it up a bit. The very beginning (opening pentatonic staccato phrase) strangely clipped into peak with a huge bass frequency. You can even tell by looking in the graphical view of the take. I had to draw the volume line there in the mix to kill that part like for 10db down. Warmer and more defined sound would sound better with your licks but overall this was still acceptable. To be honest I would have been pleased to hear at least 1 or 2 licks that were not pure A minor pentatonic but never mind, you can go for more spicy stuff next time. Thanks for finding time to collaborate

Rlejr - 03:20 – 03:59
This take differs from the others because of the clean sound. I said we need a nice overdriven sound but I'll forgive you here because your solo sounded great. Full of nice lines and rock licks. The opening line was really great and also some other ones. Now let me tell you about the recording technique. Not sure if you read my introduction post completely but I said that you shouldn’t use effects or if you have to then do not overdo it as I want to have some room for mixing. In this case I couldn’t touch anything as you have 10 tons of reverb and delay in your sound. There is no way for me to remove it and find a nice place for your take in the mix. This way it sounds like it floats over the backing and most of your notes lose definition because of too much effects applied. You can mix one take yourself with effects so I can hear what you want to achieve then send the solo take dry so I can try to recreate it. Remember this tip next time, that’s how everyone records and make the engineer’s life easier Thanks for the take I really liked the playing in this one.

ruben_mcn - 04:00 – 04:38
This take has some nice lines but played too sloppy. I am sure you can hear all those so I hope you know what you have to work on. These are some that I noticed. The very opening phrase with long notes had a very inconsistent or no vibrato at all. So that’s one thing that you really need to improve in order to sound much stronger. Every rock guitarist has to have a strong vibrato. That gives about 30% or more of your playing impression. The other thing is your bends which are not really in tune. The sound is over distorted so when you go for faster runs I can’t really hear all of it. This is especially case when you play on the 4th, 5th and the 6th string. There is also too much bass in the sound. I am not sure what you’re using but if it’s a POD or some kind of amp modelling software then find some warmer distortion which has a better definition. When you hit the whole barre chord over all 6 strings you should still be able to recognise all of the notes individually. When you find an overdriven sound like that then you should be ok. The take itself wasn’t bad. Some cool rock licks and lines in there. Just try to polish all these things and you’ll sound much better.

Sensible Jones - 04:39 – 05:18
Another clean sound but this time pure David Gilmour I even heard a part of the solo from "Another Brick in the Wall" That was a surprise but it did fit great into this backing. Maybe just a bit of overdrive would be nice. Even Gilmour plays that solo with overdrive nowadays. You have really good sense for making a solo which is not overplayed. Short breaks between phrases make it sound professional and nicely structured. That was a very positive thing to notice. I’ve always liked those licks in 6ths intervals like the very last one. They always sound great. Your vibrato is also very nice in all the licks. Just enough amount of it. Actually I didn’t find anything that serious to negatively criticise. Nice solo, full of tasteful licks and great structure. The only thing that you didn’t do was the mono track which I always repeat but never mind. Great work.

Staffay - 05:18 – end
Nice take Staffy. We all know that you’re experienced player and I’ve always enjoyed your uploads and youtube videos. We can call you rock/blues father at GMC Your take had some very cool pentatonic licks. I like when you stop and make a short rest between phrases. I have to say that some phrases were not clean but nearly there. The lick on 5:28 was dirty. That lick is a very common pentatonic lick and it shouldn’t be a problem for you to play it tight. Another one was at 5:41. You started really strong and powerful but you nearly lost it towards the end. I guess you just need a bit more strength when playing faster runs. The ending arpeggios were also very dirty but I know that the shred is not really your safe territory even though I liked the idea Overall very nicely structured take played with a nice rock sound. Thanks

You are at GuitarMasterClass.net

Don't miss today's free lick. Plus all our lessons are packed with free content!

Don't miss today's free blues, jazz & country licks. Plus all our lessons are packed with free content!