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GMC Forum _ PRACTICE ROOM _ Hufschmid 18th Anniversary Competition
Posted by: Darius Wave Jul 15 2014, 10:56 AM
Hello fellows 
Me and Patrick have just launched a new competition. You can win a pair of handmade, Kent Armstrong pickups ( those really made in U.S.A by Kent himself - not the ones made by his son in England and not the Korean ones). All details in the video and it's description 
Pickups showcase here
So....who is entering ?
Posted by: Mith Jul 15 2014, 11:18 AM
nice sounding pups. I might have a crack at it if I get the chance but I'm sure there are many that will out do me .... Tho I could always do something whacky
this the same as the guys that make those picks out of all those crazy materials. Really gotta get around to trying those one day. Just seem strangely thick and over sized from the pictures but i'm sure they are different in real life
Posted by: Darius Wave Jul 15 2014, 11:38 AM
Yes that's the same guy Go for it man! I mean it You never know what kind of musical taste will the judges have
Here's the competition backing track by the way
http://soundcloud.com/dariuswave/hufschmid-18th-anniversary-competition-backingtrack
Posted by: Monica Gheorghevici Jul 15 2014, 12:05 PM
I'm not sure if I can manage something nice for the backing. If I not hear nothing in my head in the first 5 minutes it means that it's not an easy task 
Last year was much easy because the participants chose the backing and I made my take in few days 
But listening carefully the backing I asked myself how do You think on this. Then a little light appeared in my mind I will give You a tiny clue: structure- SD: SSL-52- Poulin - (I guess You get the idea )
I will try something
Posted by: Mertay Jul 15 2014, 02:48 PM
Tasty challenging progressive backing track
Posted by: Darius Wave Jul 15 2014, 03:54 PM
Monica - this time I cannot help You
Mertay - Can I treat this as a participation promise ?
Posted by: Mertay Jul 15 2014, 06:39 PM
ehhe let's just say I'm tempted for now
Definitely not a backing track one can pull-off in a day or 2 to the point he/she is happy with the result (besides the competition factor).
I'll give it an easy day and just listen to see what plays in my head, but I think what makes it hard (and fun!) are the sections and how one can combine them with just melody.
By the way pickups look AWESOME! the cosmetic detail and engineering thought put in to them are stunning. You look pretty relaxed while playing them
Posted by: Monica Gheorghevici Jul 16 2014, 06:46 AM
I know that
Anyway I will stay away from contest. All day yesterday all I had in my head was: contest, contest, contest, contest
I lost all the night, thinking for an approach and finding the main idea (I found it) Actually for first bars I have the most crazy and great idea that I ever had. But this distract my focus from our lesson and I can't let this to happen.Posted by: Darius Wave Jul 16 2014, 08:45 AM
Anyway I will stay away from contest. All day yesterday all I had in my head was: contest, contest, contest, contest
I lost all the night, thinking for an approach and finding the main idea (I found it) Actually for first bars I have the most crazy and great idea that I ever had. But this distract my focus from our lesson and I can't let this to happen.Ha ha ha ! Monica! better get used to it! don't want to know how many opened projects I have at the same time. Distraction is something naturall in this business
That's because You can't predict how long the composing process will take Music is not making a pie You cannot move things aside because of the lesson
You will learn all Your life so let's make some breaks for using some skills You got thanks to those lessons
Posted by: Monica Gheorghevici Jul 16 2014, 11:32 AM
That's because You can't predict how long the composing process will take Music is not making a pie You cannot move things aside because of the lesson
You will learn all Your life so let's make some breaks for using some skills You got thanks to those lessons Hahaha...You kidding... no acceptable breaks, not yet
Remember You didn't wanted breaks when I wanted to make improv
I will try to get used with more things in the same time. I already work at many things and I have almost 2 improv done with all details from our work because I can't stop myself to improvise daily and I want to be sure that I can use all those details from lessons in my stuff (you know me) and our lesson "squeeze" me for any additional power
I will think again and I will try to manage the time without any breaks from our work but it's not a promise. I will not fail a take just to done something
Anyway, next year will be another Hufschmid contest Posted by: Darius Wave Jul 16 2014, 01:28 PM
No no....that's not exactly what I said about improv Anyway....You should participate to get some new friends and share Your playing
Posted by: Patrik Berg Aug 7 2014, 03:17 AM
Hey Darius and fellow guitarists,
Here is a link to my entry
I'm a big boy and I can handle any criticism or compliments
Pat
Posted by: Monica Gheorghevici Aug 7 2014, 06:54 AM
Pat
Awesome entry Patrick!!! I like all from your take: idea, tone, playing, everything sounds really great!!!
Best of luck!!!The funny thing is that I'm almost ready with my take for the contest and our takes have something in common. Mostly at the beginning were I start in force and with the same "noise"
Also your descending run it's in the same place with my ascending run
Overall my idea has the same scheme but with others notes and of course with a bad playing Posted by: bleez Aug 7 2014, 08:19 AM
Here is a link to my entry
I'm a big boy and I can handle any criticism or compliments
Pat
a tasty solo from the P-Dawg
very cool indeed matey. good luck with the comp.
Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Aug 7 2014, 06:02 PM
Here is a link to my entry
I'm a big boy and I can handle any criticism or compliments
Pat
Hey Pat
I already sent you a PM on this one - but I will also say it here - nice lines and solid playing, although the vibrato and bending need a bit more focus as you are still using your fingers more than your wrist Slowly but surely, you can overpass this issue and bring your articulation techniques up to the level of the others you are using. Let me know what your thoughts are after reading the PM
Posted by: Patrik Berg Aug 7 2014, 11:50 PM
Best of luck!!!The funny thing is that I'm almost ready with my take for the contest and our takes have something in common. Mostly at the beginning were I start in force and with the same "noise"
Also your descending run it's in the same place with my ascending run
Overall my idea has the same scheme but with others notes and of course with a bad playing Thanks Monica, I look forward to hearing your solo. I don't think there will be any bad playing from you.
very cool indeed matey. good luck with the comp.Hey Bleez, thanks man. Rock on
I already sent you a PM on this one - but I will also say it here - nice lines and solid playing, although the vibrato and bending need a bit more focus as you are still using your fingers more than your wrist Slowly but surely, you can overpass this issue and bring your articulation techniques up to the level of the others you are using. Let me know what your thoughts are after reading the PM Hey Cosmin,
Thank you for taking the time to analyse and respond with the PM. I've been trying to change my technique but I'm struggling a bit with trying to use the wrist. I really wish that I would have had a teacher all those years ago rather than just teaching myself. I will continue to work with the video links that you sent me.
Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Aug 8 2014, 07:17 AM
Thank you for taking the time to analyse and respond with the PM. I've been trying to change my technique but I'm struggling a bit with trying to use the wrist. I really wish that I would have had a teacher all those years ago rather than just teaching myself. I will continue to work with the video links that you sent me.
Howdy Pat!
Please keep me updated on your progress as I would like to help out, if it's ok with you as well and please send me a PM if you have questions about the recommendations I have sent!
Posted by: enlo22 Aug 15 2014, 07:18 AM
Darius you should make a lesson on the backing track or something. some chords in there sound really cool! i kinda want to get more into this type of metal sounds really nice
Posted by: Darius Wave Aug 15 2014, 12:03 PM
Nice to see sucha cool acitivity here Competition is still opened As for the backing track - it's more rock than metal That's what comes when You listen a lot to Disturbed, Korn, Deftones, P.O.D etc... some of those where called nu-metal...but for me it always been...a kind of hard rock This form of backing track is like...."Sit and play the most abused stuff ever to make the track nice and friendly for players at very wide range of skills" That's how I see it. No matter how much we can complicate our compositions,,,for most poeple it will still be the best to keep things simple...and use something that has been used many times
Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Aug 16 2014, 06:42 AM
Competition is still opened As for the backing track - it's more rock than metal That's what comes when You listen a lot to Disturbed, Korn, Deftones, P.O.D etc... some of those where called nu-metal...but for me it always been...a kind of hard rock This form of backing track is like...."Sit and play the most abused stuff ever to make the track nice and friendly for players at very wide range of skills" That's how I see it. No matter how much we can complicate our compositions,,,for most poeple it will still be the best to keep things simple...and use something that has been used many times I'm with Darius on this one
Why not simply go for what the ears tell you? Usually, getting lost into all the styles and denominations, will make take your mind away from the most important things:- building a structured solo
- making it musical and catchy
- making it personal
I would start with these things in mind and see what's what from that point on
Posted by: enlo22 Aug 18 2014, 04:09 PM
ok guys , here's my take on it! hope you enjoy I put some time into this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVaX8G_99a0&feature=youtu.be
Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Aug 19 2014, 07:42 AM
Howdy Marco!
Very nice take man! I will only say that you need to pay a bit of attention to the bend around 0:31 - that one is pretty much the only thing that could be improved technically wise. Otherwise, your tone and phrasing are nice and I think you have good chances with this one!
Posted by: Caelumamittendum Aug 20 2014, 01:03 PM
I'm working on a take for the competition, but I've seen some of the other entries, and maaan, there are some good ones, so I need to work extra on my take to even think about competing.
Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Aug 21 2014, 07:23 AM
Good going mate! Looks like you are back with a vengeance! I am also looking forward to seeing your take for the Blues Rock Collab
Please do share your take for the competition so that we may help out with some suggestions if needed!
Posted by: enlo22 Aug 21 2014, 09:48 PM
Looking forward to it !
Posted by: Monica Gheorghevici Aug 24 2014, 06:49 PM
Hey guys, finally I finished my take for the contest Because Darek it's the organizer for this competition, we couldn't work together this time. But.........because I'm not at that level to believe in my skills Cosmin was too kind and accepted to work with me for this take So, thank you very much Cosmin for all your support
Posted by: enlo22 Aug 25 2014, 06:36 AM
Because Darek it's the organizer for this competition, we couldn't work together this time. But.........because I'm not at that level to believe in my skills Cosmin was too kind and accepted to work with me for this take So, thank you very much Cosmin for all your support loved the intro Monica
Posted by: PosterBoy Aug 25 2014, 06:53 AM
Great take Monica, loved your phrasing and approach to notes, your love of Andy Timmons is paying off
Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Aug 25 2014, 11:18 AM
Because Darek it's the organizer for this competition, we couldn't work together this time. But.........because I'm not at that level to believe in my skills Cosmin was too kind and accepted to work with me for this take So, thank you very much Cosmin for all your support It was a pleasure and I love the result! That chord at 0:21 is totally EPIC! I must tell you guys that Monica's rhythmic abilities have grown and also, you must know that when she began working on this take, she had absolutely NO clue on using the whammy bar as she never tried it and look at that amazing vibrato now! I am very proud and happy to have contributed to this, but all the hard work and effort belongs to Monica! Congratulations once again!
Posted by: Monica Gheorghevici Aug 25 2014, 12:21 PM
Thank you Marco, I'm glad you like it
I had too many ideas for intro part but at the end this variant was the chosen one Haha....yes I can't hide my love for Andy
Thank you so much Matt for your kind words Cosmin, thank you again for everything and sorry for midnight, morning and afternoon tones of messages
but....the result it worth Yes guys, Cosmin has right I didn't had any idea how to use the whammy bar
Because my improvisation asked for a more visible vibrato, this was a good opportunity for me to learn. Cosmin was great and he show me and explained me how to keep my hand on the bar After that I worked alot of time to be able to do this. With 24 hours before video I said myself that I'm ready to control the bar and I start to modified and add things in improv. In this way appear that chord at 0:21, making experiments and finding on guitar the sound from my mind Posted by: bleez Aug 25 2014, 12:55 PM
Because Darek it's the organizer for this competition, we couldn't work together this time. But.........because I'm not at that level to believe in my skills Cosmin was too kind and accepted to work with me for this take So, thank you very much Cosmin for all your support excellent stuff Monica. Very nice melodies. As well as your cool playing, I also appreciate all the black that you surround yourself with
Posted by: Monica Gheorghevici Aug 25 2014, 05:48 PM
Thank you Bleez, you are too kind
We have the same taste about black I must confess that I'm very obsessed to have everything black and of course also my taste for clothes it's the same. If you open my wardrobe you will probably ask yourself if I go to a funeral every day
Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Aug 26 2014, 08:04 AM
I had too many ideas for intro part but at the end this variant was the chosen one Haha....yes I can't hide my love for Andy
Thank you so much Matt for your kind words Cosmin, thank you again for everything and sorry for midnight, morning and afternoon tones of messages
but....the result it worth Yes guys, Cosmin has right I didn't had any idea how to use the whammy bar
Because my improvisation asked for a more visible vibrato, this was a good opportunity for me to learn. Cosmin was great and he show me and explained me how to keep my hand on the bar After that I worked alot of time to be able to do this. With 24 hours before video I said myself that I'm ready to control the bar and I start to modified and add things in improv. In this way appear that chord at 0:21, making experiments and finding on guitar the sound from my mind Nothing to it!
I am glad it came out this good and you did such a great job! Let's see how the competition will evolve then. If there's one thing I think you need to work on a little more in the future - that would be your vibrato with the left hand - see minutes 0:18 and 0:34. The vibrato could be wider and more expressive, but otherwise, it's clear that you have progressed a lot! Keep it up!
Posted by: klasaine Aug 26 2014, 02:12 PM
Great playing Monica!
You employ a lot of cool 'guitar' techniques in a very musical way.
Posted by: Jim S. Aug 26 2014, 10:34 PM
Because Darek it's the organizer for this competition, we couldn't work together this time. But.........because I'm not at that level to believe in my skills Cosmin was too kind and accepted to work with me for this take So, thank you very much Cosmin for all your support Very nice job Monica! I'll tell you what I enjoy is the use of the diads with the expression bar, lovely tension. I also liked how you built up your solo and one point you stayed around 1 tone and moved up gradually. I like the ending too. Even though Darius wasn't there he still has a presence in your playing. Good playing!
Posted by: Monica Gheorghevici Aug 27 2014, 07:09 AM
I am glad it came out this good and you did such a great job! Let's see how the competition will evolve then. If there's one thing I think you need to work on a little more in the future - that would be your vibrato with the left hand - see minutes 0:18 and 0:34. The vibrato could be wider and more expressive, but otherwise, it's clear that you have progressed a lot! Keep it up!Definitely I will fix very soon this vibrato problem because it's already a must
You employ a lot of cool 'guitar' techniques in a very musical way.
Thank you so much Klasaine
I'm really happy that you paid attention at techniques things. I tried to put as many juicy details as possible Thank you Jim, I'm happy that you liked
What you said about that Darek still is present in my playing it's the best compliment for me You made my day!! I must say that I'm an incurable Darekhoolic and for me he is a complete musician Is my main model and the musician that I want to become.My first goal for this take and first thing that I told to Cosmin, when I ask him to work with me for this take, it was: "I don't want to disappoint Darek". You know, Darek believe in what I do and he spend many hours working with me. My goal wasn't the contest itself. I tried to do my best and I tried to use all what Darek teached me, from the tiny details at composition construction and steal new things from Cosmin
I chosed to use dyads because I like that sound very much and I wanted to create tension in a very easy way (my actual level can't let me do spectacular things
). I remembered that I was very impressed how Darek create tension in one of his demo with simple things. So, I tried to create the same feel as his demo created for me Here is the demo that I'm talking about:
Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Aug 27 2014, 07:15 AM
Out of what I know, there are three more days till the deadline for this one, correct? I am very curious about the outcome
Posted by: Monica Gheorghevici Aug 28 2014, 05:10 AM
Yes Cosmin, the deadline is on 31.08.2014 and people can post the take until 11.59 PM London Time. I'm also curious about the results There are couple of entries wich are very good.
Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Aug 28 2014, 07:17 AM
There are couple of entries wich are very good.Well, Sunday we'll most probably find out more! I wish the best of luck to all three of you - Monica, Marco and Pat!
Posted by: Caelumamittendum Aug 28 2014, 10:05 AM
I'm gonna enter as well, probably right around deadline. Not completely happy with what I've got so I might work a bit more on it.
Posted by: Caelumamittendum Aug 28 2014, 11:56 AM
Not a final take, just work in progress:
Posted by: Todd Simpson Aug 28 2014, 05:59 PM
I got a few HUFSCHMID picks a bit back and gave them a try They are very unique and each has a very high degree of craftsmanship as one would expect They are worth a try and make a great addition to any pick collection. Here is a picture of two of them with two dunlop picks for size comparison. They run a bit large in some units and some folks with smaller hands might need to get smaller huf picks which are also available. These run around $25 each so they aren't cheap but each so well made you might want to frame it 
Posted by: bleez Aug 28 2014, 06:40 PM
That sounds promising
the new guitar is sounding nice. you put some inlays on it, was it a bit weird to play without them?
I'd like to be able to play an 8 string
maybe next year I'll try one.
Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Aug 29 2014, 07:19 AM
Hey mate
As our friend bleez said, this sounds promising but I'd work a bit on the strong tones of the take, as the direction dictated by all the 'out notes' is a bit blurry. What do I mean? I'd work a bit on implementing more consonant melodies based on notes belonging to the scale on which the track is based and sprinkling the out sounding notes here and there, just to spice things up At this moment, it's a bit TOO spicy That's my opinion tho
Posted by: Caelumamittendum Aug 29 2014, 07:22 AM
Thanks for the comments, Cosmin. Taking them with me to my girlfriend's place along with my guitar and I'll see what I can come up with in these last minutes.
Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Aug 29 2014, 07:48 AM
Best of luck matey! Share a new recording with me, if you need any other suggestions or thoughts - I'm glad to help out
Posted by: Mertay Aug 31 2014, 07:41 PM
Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Sep 1 2014, 11:05 AM
Hey mate, I just listened to your take and I must say that your alternate picking skills look menacing! As a general observation, I would focus on tying things up a bit and also on direction. What do I mean?
- it sounds like the long note lines are somehow not fluidly going into the shreddy parts and viceversa
- there are spots in which it seems like the improvisation is not sure about where the melody will go, it's a bit static
If you manage to work on developing these aspects, your playing will surely be at a higher level - you have the techniques out of what I see and hear, but now it's time to put them to work at a different level
I'd be happy to help out with expanding your phrasing abilities and musical vocabulary if you wish, so please let me know and we can start right away
Posted by: Mertay Sep 1 2014, 11:48 AM
Thanks!
Yeah I did have problems with the middle part, wanted to keep things cool there and create sort of an explosion on the last part but seems kept things too weak. Should have abandoned the harmonics idea instead of forcing it to make it fit...
And thanks a lot for the help offer, will definitely keep in mind! will move to a new house in a month or so thats why I can't commit to a new program but after that, I'm very motivated to make more recorded jams (with video or not).
Oh and this was my first competition entry ever! don't know why I didn't start before (besides the ones with online voting, I hate that voting system), its really helped finally getting over the summer mood
Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Sep 2 2014, 10:09 AM
Hey mate
Take your time and when you are ready, let me know and we ca begin - you have great technical skills which need to be put to work, so I think we can work together nicely and about competitions - get into as many of them as possible The idea is to get creative and meet people - winning, well, the more you do it, the more you raise your chances That's how I look at it anyway.
Darius - how does the competition entries look like so far - have you guys already had an overview on the takes?
Posted by: Darius Wave Sep 29 2014, 01:06 PM
Guys and Girls! I wanna thank You all for a great activity in the competition and bringing so many different colors to it. It was very hard to choose the winners and there were maaaany entries that coudl easily be on those 3 places but that's the bad thing about competitions...the choice that is never truly objective and based mostly on a taste of judges. Simon, Rizal and Rizky won but all Your takes where worth something more than just a huge Thank You!
Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Sep 29 2014, 03:44 PM
Hey D-man! I've witnessed a lot of great entries on this one and I think that these contests are really a great opportunity. People should regard them not as a competition with others, but as a competition with themselves in coming up with something as amazing as possible
Posted by: Darius Wave Oct 1 2014, 09:54 AM
Pretty good point Cosmin Yeah....competition with yourself is the target. Trying too pull of the best You can out of Your playing I've always threated competition like an opportunity to meet some new players and show myslef to the world. You know....people are never searching for new players by typing "player I do know and i would like to listen to" in YT search bar but participants usually take a lot of time on listening to other contestans and that's how we create some cool, new, virtual friendships
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