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Posted by: Darius Wave Dec 19 2014, 07:15 PM

Welcome to...

To celebrate those Christmas together, we've prapared an audio collaboration for all of You The face of the collab is THE MAN himself - Kris Dahl! He was kind enough to prepare this "chocolate box cover type" of photo (I think You could easily sell it to the biggest candy trademarks) - thanx Kris!







1. It's an audio collaboration open for any GMC member, who is able to record a solo over delivered backing track
2. Backing track  kris_must_charm_collab_backing.mp3 ( 1.1MB ) : 894
is simple (key of D-major) and will allow everyone (no matter which skills level ) to join us
3. Deadline to deliver Your solo is 03.01.2015
4. Post Your take in this topic (upload to soundcloud or similar)
5. Post Your files in this topic (mp3 with at least 128 kbps quality,16 bit wav files are warm welcome). We need two files - 1. Your solo without the backing track 2. Your solo mixed with the backing track for reference
6. If You want to join us so much, but You're not able to record guitar separately from the backing track, just give us what You have and We'll try to do our best, to fit it to the final collab mix
7. Tempo of the track is 140. You will save us a bit of time if Your'e able ti mixdown within exact bar markers in Your DAW (easier to sync in the final mix)
8. You can always count for additional help in this particular topic. Just ask - You'll get help from both - students and instructors

..:: TIPS ::...

1. If You feel You're not familiar with major scale, You can use B-aeolina minor scale (it covers exactly the same notes as D-major). Even more simple - You can use just a B-minor pentatonic.

2. Need inspirations? Go to a search box above and review some of the lessons by typing "D-major". You can see some of the cool licks and phrasing tips right from the lessons available at GMC.

------

EDIT - RESULTS:



First of all I would like to thank every single one of Your for all the effort to make this happen. I think again we brought something great by doing it together and showing it's not the skills level and not the playing genre but the kind of people we are that makes us able to enjoy doing such a collabs together...and "Nothing else matters" Huge hugs to all of You!

Order of Appearance:

1. Jim S. - solo and backing electric guitar
2. Darius Wave - acoustic guitars
3. Rhida and Superize - jam
4. Beat Zbinden
5. HiimAlex
6. Nick6373
7. Huargo
8. Sensible Jones
9. Procyon
10. Renan & Phil66 - jam
11. Bleez + Chris S. - jam
12. DeGroot
13. Monica Gheorghevici
14. Cosmin Lupu
15. Guitarrero
16. Kristofer Dahl - vocal and guitar solo

http://soundcloud.com/dariuswave/kris-must-charm-gmc-students-and-instructors-collaboration.

Posted by: Kristofer Dahl Dec 19 2014, 07:33 PM

I'm in!!!

Posted by: Monica Gheorghevici Dec 19 2014, 08:28 PM

Hahaha.....I know who made the backing Belongs to a recently posted lesson
Awesome!!!!!!!! I'm definitely IN

Posted by: HiimAlex Dec 19 2014, 09:35 PM

Well this will be my first collaboration ever but I will definitely give it a try I'm in!

Posted by: Kristofer Dahl Dec 19 2014, 09:42 PM

Excellent - you have got a absolutely nothing to loose. In a worse case scenario, you will improve

Posted by: HiimAlex Dec 19 2014, 10:19 PM

And that is exactly what made my join this collab, I have completely nothing to lose. But if the worst case scenario is that I will improve, what is the best case scenario then?

Posted by: Kristofer Dahl Dec 19 2014, 10:23 PM

That you will improve even more. And maybe Santa will visit you.

Posted by: Rhida Dec 19 2014, 10:39 PM

I'm in too!

Posted by: Chris S. Dec 19 2014, 11:21 PM

Count me in!

Posted by: Bas Cuthach Dec 20 2014, 03:01 AM

is that march 1st or January 3rd?

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Dec 20 2014, 08:51 AM

Me too

Posted by: bleez Dec 20 2014, 09:38 AM

Im in

Posted by: Darius Wave Dec 20 2014, 01:26 PM

Nice to see so much of You already! I'm excited about this one

Monica - yes, I knew You will recognizde immiediately

The deadline is 3rd January Any very first idea about the solo over this track ?

Posted by: superize Dec 20 2014, 05:51 PM

I am in on this collab

This is what i have come up with

Posted by: Kristofer Dahl Dec 20 2014, 11:05 PM

Very cool Ize,

@ Darius - I think we can adjust our routines a little bit and comment as the takes come in. I think this will be more valuable for the other participants.

@ Ize - over all this is a very good take with emphasis on melody and musicality. There are still things you can do to reach the wow factor, but the good news is I don't think you are very far from it (maturity- and technique wise).

It is striking that your lead is way louder than the backin. And there are various things you can do to make it "sit" better. I do realize this might not have been your priority since someone else will be mixing it, but I am still mentioning this as I think it can be valuable to others. Try adding low cut EQ, some delay/reverb and then adjust the levels so that the backing can be heard.

From a musical perspective - you don't give the listener any chance to hear the backing, and you start playing immediately. This is something to avoid in general, unless the arrangement really calls for it. In this case you have a pro sounding backing to work with, so by allowing breathing room - the listener will actually give you credit for the cool sounding backing (in a way) if you just give them some time to hear it. I hope this make sense.

You do add great breathing room later on though (00:10 and 00:15 for example).

The beginning motive (00:03) which you later on repeat an octave higher (very neat trick btw!) - feature several consecutive notes played with the same attack, note value and feel (no bending, muting etc applied to them). This makes them sound a bit stiff and not very guitar sounding (they give me 'midi' vibes). I think you should think of some way to spice this one up. Maybe start with a rake, skip one of the notes so you get a chance to hang on the preceding note and give it some bending/vibrato etc. Or keep it like it is, but still try to add some "feeling" (can be anything: noise, ritardando, harmonics, slide etc) to it.

Melody wise I think you have done a very good job (and this might be the most difficult aspect to nail). You add dynamics and unpredictability at 00:20, and there is a theme/thread in your melody work (which is very important not to confuse the listener) while you still take it to a 'new place' (from 00:20 and onwards).

One thing which could really add a pro dimension to you playing - was if you turned the gain down a little bit and try to work on a more dynamic sound. Technique wise you are ready for it - ie you have enough control over your picking - and this would raise your playing to a whole new level. As an example, you could simply solve the "midi sound" problem mentioned above by having variations in your dynamics. As it is now, the distortion adds a lot of compression (that's what distortion does, it evens out the notes) which makes all your notes sound the same, dynamics wise. Check out some of Darius licks and his written instructions throughout his latest lesson.

Let me know what you think about all of this. I think you are much closer to sounding like a pro than you realize. The music is definitely there (this is the difficult part!), and you have already come a long way control- and technique wise. You just need to be smart and put the elements together, and you will be able to reach a much higher level pretty fast. I think you should start working more on your sound and the subtle details in your playing.

Posted by: huargo Dec 21 2014, 10:08 AM

Hi!
of course i'm in too... i'm in the comp processing... i think my take is very close to be final.
I'm thinking in Andy timmons and Erick Johnson style to write this but jejeje it's impossible to play like that beasts jejeje.
This is the gp5 file i'm working in. Actually i'm playing slowly the final part because it's a tricky one for me.




 Kris_collab.gp5 ( 2.78K ) : 454

Posted by: Gitarrero Dec 21 2014, 03:58 PM

One of my resolutions for next year is to start recording stuff again.
So why not start early?

https://soundcloud.com/gitarrero/kris-must-charm-gmc-collab

Posted by: Darius Wave Dec 21 2014, 04:18 PM

Thanx for the files man! Like Kris said - we hear that Your musicality is very nice. You did it very fast. That's of course Your choice but...

What I usually do is first record the sketch / stellar of the idea and leave it for few days to let it flow in my head. I do not know how about oithers but in my case most of best (at least that's how I feel) ideas come when I do not have an instrument in my hands Liostening to a pre-made stellar gives You some more ideas. You can add even more details, more dynamics, articulation. You can try to experiment. For my personal taste a bit to much notes here is play with stacatto techniqe. I think that for this particular track mood it's nice to glue most of the notes with legato or bends. Do You think You can try to boost Your take with more ideas? For me the melody is fine - You cool even make a vocal line out of it. It would only search for more colors in there

Gitarrero - come on man We all know You can do much more Maybe try to take a chellnge considering yourself as a "tension builder" that will appear somwhere after middle of the song. How do You think what would You play if You imagine someone else is building the tension before You ?

Huargo - great to have You gain in another collab! Damn....that guitar pro preview sounds promising I really wonder How it will come up on the real instrument

Posted by: Beat Zbinden Dec 21 2014, 04:59 PM

I'm in

Here is my first idea for this collab
Not the finish version

Posted by: Gitarrero Dec 21 2014, 05:27 PM

Hey Darius, thanks for the quick feedback!
I gotta admit that I don't really know what you mean though.
Could you be more specific as to how you'd like me to alter my take?

Posted by: Darius Wave Dec 21 2014, 05:58 PM

he he Ok. I only mena I know You have much more skills hidden to show in the collab take So I just though it would be great if You could deliver more dense pplaying for later part of the final mix. Just liek You would be playing somewher around 2 minute of the song where some players (I have a few on my mind) will deliver great smooth introduction and then a group of players who will give some fire to have effective fisnish

Posted by: Procyon Dec 21 2014, 06:06 PM

Oh my - this background track is soooo very beautiful!! I could listen to it endlessly... In my opinion its quite hard to play a solo that doesn't destroy the magical smoothness of this track. So I tried to play something very minimalistic to make the background track shine thru.

Posted by: Darius Wave Dec 21 2014, 06:47 PM

All Your solos by far are really melodic and I enjoy listening to them Thanx for such a quick and cool responses

Beat - awesome solo man. IT does tell a strory and it's very important

Procyon - excellent touch! You made exactly what You said - minimalistic but tasty and well incorporated with the backing. Thank You

Posted by: Monica Gheorghevici Dec 21 2014, 07:16 PM

Here it's my take
Darek - thank you so much for the support

 Kris_collab_backing___guitar.wav ( 8.55MB ) : 280

 Kris_collab_guitar.wav ( 8.55MB ) : 192

Posted by: Rhida Dec 21 2014, 08:02 PM

Right on!
A lot of GMCers already there! Very cool!

My takes now

Posted by: Kristofer Dahl Dec 21 2014, 08:57 PM

Great resolution, and even better strategy (starting early!).

I agree with Darius in the sense that this take was a bit tame. It sounds pretty good and there is nothing wrong with it, but it's more like 'elevator' music rather than a killer Gitarrero take that blows us away. It simply does not really match your character and persona - which I perceive as very colorful! Having a 'colorful persona' is one of the greatest assets you can have as an artist - use it!

I suspect you wrote this take directly on the guitar, try following Darius advice to write the lead in your head before picking up the guitar. Even if you don't end up playing what you heard in your head, this method will give you a much more creative starting point.

Some brainstorming: Your take is all about long sustained notes. Inevitably it will be weaker from rhythmic perspective. Maybe experiment with palm muted and staccato notes.

Although your tone is pretty cool here, you could try dialing in a less distorted tone, as the lack sustain of would force you to play different ideas. See what you come up with the new sound , then switch back to your old sound and see what happens.

Also - your take would benefit from more breathing room, pauses/silences and "sacrificing of darlings". This is actually the case for many of the participants so far.

Posted by: Darius Wave Dec 21 2014, 09:14 PM

Thanx for the support Kris! I hope Guitarrero now will get what I meant...maybe just wrong words ))

Damn...what an impressive list of participant considering the collaboration was just published short time ago

Posted by: Kristofer Dahl Dec 21 2014, 09:34 PM

Very nice! Tone/sound is great, so is melodic thread & development. Assuming you didn't come here to be just 'great', here are some ideas to give your take even more edge which could turn your take into 'amazingly awesome':

1) I cannot help but get the impression you have squeezed in as many cool ideas you could during this short backing. Kill your darlings! Give us some breathing room. This will force you to exclude the stuff that is just "great" and go for what is truly awesome instead.

2) To make your take truly memorable, it would be cool if you could surprise us somewhere. And from a structural perspective, a take that is 100% strong will sound even stronger if there is some contrast in it - basically you want to give the listener something to compare with (think "tension and release"). Now if you follow my advice in 1) you will have prepared the ground for this.

So how about a short pause somewhere in there, and then play:

- a few outside notes that lead into good sounding notes. This is easy to overdo in the beginning, but just attempting to do this will likely be very stimulating.

- a few notes that are off rhythmically, try to play behind the beat and then catch up with it. Again not always easy to pull off, but very powerful when you master it.

- do both of the above for an even stronger effect

- maybe add a faster run somewhere if you are comfortable with it

3) You could gradually build up harmonies and dubs, so that your take evolves towards a climax. This is how a lot of strong music is written. This would work well over your original take as well.




Yeah this awesome! Hope there will be even more!




Super tasty!

Just by the silence you leave in the beginning, you immediately give a much more 'pro' impression. It's so easy but yet so rare..!

With your clean sound and sparse phrasing you are actually building upon Darius' backing - and this makes your take a bit unique in the sense that I could actually hear room for another lead instrument playing around these types of lines. Picture Mark Knopfler singing there - or maybe Slash playing a fat and distorted lead.

So it's hard to give you anything but highest score here (if there is such a thing in music) - since you have done what would be expected from a musician playing in a band: you have helped lay a killer foundation for a song! Well done.

On a side note - I would personally be a little bit careful with this type stereo delay. It emphasizes the attack of your notes, and it feels a little confusing to have a slap back type of delay in such a soft tak. Maybe Darius can fill in here.

Posted by: Kristofer Dahl Dec 21 2014, 10:01 PM

Beautiful, your dynamic sound is gorgeous and it really serves your phrases well.

Your take also shows a super musical approach with effective use of pauses, and call & response technique.

You are doing an excellent job keeping 'within your range' (= you do not attempt to play stuff you don't master yet), this is very smart and as mentioned below I think this take is close to 'pro' sounding.

We also get a bit of a surprise element / edge stuff with the high/tapped note at 00:25.

Since this take is approaching pro sounding (whatever that means) I am going to point out some small details which could be dealt with to polish your take. Please take this with a pinch of salt though, since a perfect take can't be perfect - if it is to be truly perfect. Also your type of sound, although awesome, is not very forgiving (heh guess why I like to drown my tone in way too much distortion?! )

- 00:09 timing of bend and release feels just sliiightly off to me.

- 00:14 hands not synced for one note before the bend. This is audible since you nail all the other notes up to this point.

- 00:20 vibrato is Kirk Hamm:ish

- 00:27 target note not played convincingly

Posted by: Kristofer Dahl Dec 21 2014, 10:38 PM

Great Rhida, your progress is impressive and you are definitely heading in the right direction.

We can hear a clear melodic movement using effective call and response technique, and there is some breathing room throughout the take.

The main problem lies in your technique and more specifically syncing your pick strikes with your left hand fingers.

This is only really a problem during the faster passages - so this is a clear indication you are pushing speed too much.

As a negative side effect of this, all the faster passages are played slightly ahead of the beat. This is very common, and happens when we try to play over our ability.

So the short term solution - if you want to polish this take, is to skip the faster passages and rely only on the sustained notes - which you did a good job with.

The longer term solution is to work on your hand synchronization, this is done by playing below your comfort speed. When practicing you must have the time to think about relaxing your arms and entire body, and also have the time to reflect on your performance (how does your playing actually sound?)

It will be very exciting to keep following your quick progress pace! =)



Some cool ideas in there - and worthy inspiration =). Writing solos like this is an interesting approach and can probably help you land in original territory, especially if the ideas originate from your head rather than your fingers.

However I find it hard to picture how these ideas will sound without the backing track. So if you are comfortable editing midi in a DAW, I would advise you to open up a project, set the bpm 140, import Darius' backing and then compose your solo using a midi triggered instrument over the actual backing track.

Posted by: Monica Gheorghevici Dec 22 2014, 08:22 AM

Hey Kris, thanks a lot for your kind words First of all I'm happy you like my approach. Now, before anything, please any tiny detail you hear tell me and I will fix it. I want a pro sounding (like you said “whatever that means” ) and I guess you already understand that I'm not kidding when it's about my playing. So, any advice is welcome

Yes, you have right and my type of sound is not very forgiving, but that's why I chose it, to make the mistakes visible
Now about the new take. I tried to fix all the things that you told me and also I will explain you exactly what I done. I guess is the good way to be sure that I understand exactly your request. I let the guitar a little bit up in the mix because I wanted you to hear the new changes

00:09 – Done and also I thought to make the next two down bends more contoured for more precision in sound

00:14 - I didn't understand very well what you want to make here but I put an accent on that note because in the first take I had a decrescendo there. Also I made that note and previous note with the same value.

00:20 - no Kirk vibrato anymore

00:27 - The idea in the first take was to make a bend and after I release the bend, to go directly in the left side with a slide, after that to touch very softly with the pick that note and go in right side with another slide without to use the pick for the final note. My purpose was a decrescendo in that part. Now, in the new take I pushed with more force the last slide and I pointed a little the vibrato for that particular note.

BTW if you hear added other new details (some slides at the final of phrases like 00:12 or some longer vibrato) it's because when become easy to play this, my hands play more details unconscious
So, what you think about the new take?

 Kris_Collab___new_demo.wav ( 8.61MB ) : 293

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Dec 22 2014, 12:47 PM

Cheers Krise!

Welcome back man - i think you have a nice lyrical soft spot and the lines fit nicely over the track. Maybe a bit more dynamics - note length changes and maybe, just maybe, a little faster passage could make this shine even brighter



Hey mate

As in Guitarrero's case, a little bit more dynamics would make give the recording justice What do I really mean with that? Different note lengths and more variation from the rhythmic perspective, could be an idea.

If you haven't yet experimented with this approach, try singing a line in your head and then transpose it on the guitar until it sounds as close as possible to what you are hearing in your head. It will bring up unexpected surprises which you will enjoy for certain. Also, please take care with the bend around 0:16 as it is a bit under pitch



hey Monica! Always nice to hear you on the collabs!

Now, listening to your take, I would like to emphasize on two important aspects:

- articulation - the bending could use a little bit more intention behind it - it sounds like you aren't really sure if you want to make the bends there and the vibrato could be wider and rounder. Don't rush it and let the notes breathe - you have plenty of space to do it Right?
- direction - your phrases could use a bit more direction - maybe it's just me, but at some points, it feels like you don't know where to go next and you just sit in one place tryng to decide - see 0:10 for instance. Also, some of the notes that you land on, aren't as strong as they should be in relationship with the chord they are played up against.

These are fine tuning details and I am sure that you can make things work with a bit more focus on these aspects



Hey mate - nice dynamics and tone! The phrasing and touch are very fitting to the track, so I can only congratulate you and wish you a warm welcome in the collab



Hey Beat! Nice one man! I like the phrasing and the tone and your melodic touch that is so present in all the recordings you have come up with so far. I would just focus a bit on the articulation side of things - see, for instance, just before the half of the take there are some bends which are slightly under pitched. Play them with more conviction and attention to pitch and you will have a great take!

Posted by: Monica Gheorghevici Dec 22 2014, 01:12 PM

Thank you Cosmin and I'm glad you like it I understand your pointed things

Now, I want to tell something for all the instructors.
You know guys that I'm always honest and I will tell my opinion. All of you as instructors have totally different opinions and You guys want to hear different things from me. No offence but until now I have 3 opinion: Darek, Kris and Cosmin and some of you have different concepts over interpretation and building structure. I made again my take because obviously was some mistakes pointed by Kris. In this moment I can't hear nothing wrong.
Please no offence for all of you but after my instructor (Darek) said that it's ok (because our taste and approach are similar), I'm the only one which decide over take. Even if I wish to satisfy with my approach every person, I can't.
It's just my opinion because with different requests from you, it's hard to think what I want to hear.
I hope you guys will understand exactly what I meant

Posted by: Kristofer Dahl Dec 22 2014, 02:45 PM

Good point Monica, as eager as we (instructors) are in providing feedback - we should also be careful so that we don't overdo it. In this case I had provided pretty detailed feedback already, so Cosmin why don't you hold back until someone requests personal assistance here. You could then help out via a new thread, private message or the video chat (students reading this feel free to contact Cosmin directly as well).

I do agree with Cosmin's comments though, but they are more of long terms goals (it's the kind of stuff we all work on). @Cosmin in general I think this type of advice should be coupled with more specific instructions which the student can apply immediately - otherwise we run a risk that people reading this won't know what exactly what to do in order to follow your advice.

@ Monica - great improvements. I think all of the specifics I pointed out are improved, except maybe 00:27. But I don't blame you since I didn't really tell you how to fix it. I am still not sure why I think this note deserves more attention, but the first thing I would try would be a ritardando on that whole phrase (00:26-00:27) so that the last note of the phrase is played slightly after the beat.

As you can hear we are discussing details here, which is a very good sign! Just to make sure there are no misunderstandings - your take is powerful and there is no real need to re-record anything, unless you want to do it for the 'sport' of it. As you know I am into tweaking subtle details in my own playing as well, so I will be here to comment whenever you need it!

Posted by: Procyon Dec 22 2014, 04:41 PM

Thank you very much for your feedback, Darius, Kris and Cosmin - I appreciate it very much!

@ Kris: I completely agree - this type of echo is not very appropriate for this kind of soft track. Unfortunately I noticed it only after having recorded my take. So I tried to improve and recorded a second version. What do you think?

And yes - it would be more than awesome if Knopfler could sing or Slash would shred...

Posted by: Rhida Dec 22 2014, 06:03 PM

I love how everyone is so involved with this one.
So inspiring!
Thanks GMCers! Keep'em coming!

Here's my new take, more right to the point and with more expression I hope.

Posted by: Monica Gheorghevici Dec 22 2014, 06:30 PM

@Kris: Thank you that you understand what I meant. I thought a lot how to write my request for instructors

Probably here was the misunderstanding. Cosmin talk about general things and I talk about my new demo with details that you told me to fix.

I’m not agree about bending if we talk about this take. It's an improvisation with lots of bends. If all the bends will be played with "intention" the sound for all of them will be similar. I forced myself to play some of them very "soft" ( it's not easy for me to do this), without to pick the note. But this was my purpose. That's why I always explain what I do when we talk about polish some details.
From my point of view, a detailed feedback as you did (because I'm used with this style of working from my mentoring thread) it's easy to improve over night. You told me about details yesterday and last night I worked for them.
I try to manage very fast any requests of instructors but this time you guys made me to have lots of questions in my mind and thrown me into the point where I didn’t know what to do next in my take

Now I understand what you want me to do at 00:26-00:27

Posted by: Darius Wave Dec 22 2014, 06:33 PM

Well Kris take a good care about You all...seems like his name in the collab makes him feel responsible for it in 100% ))

Monica - I really like those new details Tasty little tap in the final part You know my opinion from thye messages - now consider what Kris and Cosmin said and make Your own mind

Rhida - how do You record Your guitars? How do You think - is there any chance to tweak the tone? Let me know what is Your current set-up. Maybe we could try to help a bit If it's any amp simulation or multi fx processor maybe it's worth to search for a warmer tone - less treble, more juicy mids ? Since there is a lot of time to deliver final takes, I would invite You to keep tweaking this one until the deadline comes

I suppose (considering fast posting time) You did it very naturally, spontaniously. Maybe it's worth to learn that sointanious take and rerecord it with improved tone and a bit more precise in case of timing.

Often I use to improvise to search for natural "from the heart" ideas but later I try to miprove them by learning and trying to record as precise as I can I gives mne double satisfaction - 1. Because of doing something my soul feel is right 2. Being able to deliver best possible performance

It is also a great workshop to learn about yourself and Your style of playing

That's the wa musical life is We get a lot of opinions from different people who not necessary agree on everything between each other We have to choose which advices are constructive fdor our developement and which of those simply miss our target

Posted by: Phil66 Dec 22 2014, 10:07 PM

Ok folks, here's my little attempt. I'm not expecting to get in the finished article but it's all about joining in and getting feedback eh?
I've kept it simple rather than go beyond my skill level.
[attachment=40276:Crimbo_c...g_take_1.wav]

Cheers

Phil

Posted by: huargo Dec 22 2014, 10:13 PM

Uff high level here!
This is my take... or first shot
I change the final part of the gp5 file because it was imposible to play right with my actually skills... but the new final sounds cool too... but it's not very well played yet ummm...

hope you liked!


https://soundcloud.com/david-vico-2/the-kris-must-charm-collab-huargo-mix


 thekris_huargo_guitar_only.wav ( 9.09MB ) : 183

Posted by: Kristofer Dahl Dec 22 2014, 11:36 PM

Still sounds lovely. The delay time and level is still set so that I can clearly hear the snap / attack part of the your sound at least twice, but after all sound is a matter of personal preference and since you seem to gravitate towards this type of sound I can't really recommend you should change it!



Hi Rhida, this take still involves faster passages and as mentioned this is when I can hear syncing problems between your right/left hand as well as some timing issues (that are most likely a result of you pushing speed). These are not things you can quickly address. If you want to fix this as fast as possible, then you should practice at least one hour per day with any kind of picking exercise - and play super relaxed far below your comfort speed. Give it a month or two and you will start to notice results that will show in collabs as well.

If you would like to improve your take for this collab - your best bet is to work on a simplified solo that has no fast sections at all.

I would suggest that with the help of Cosmin - you set one mentor thread up with the specific task to polish and simplify your take, working against the deadline.

When you are done with that, you could start a new thread where you set up monthly goals that involve improving your general technique and more specifically hand synchronization.

Please let me know if you would like to give this a shot?



Hi Phil, thanks so much for submitting your take. Everyone will make it to the final product.

This is a very nice, static/dreamy kind of solo. You do everything by the book with the way you build this solo, without forgetting the ever so important breathing rooms. This immediately helps elevate your take, musically.

The beginning phrases are pretty much by the book as I said, so the next step is to start thinking about those subtle details which can turn - apparently simple - phrases into heart melting music. This is not a fast thing to do, I worked for 9 months to become more aware of those subtle details in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Kg0VgkmPHE solo. Yet I am not sure the recording turned out 'heart melting'

And the idea was quite simple: play it over and over and try to analyse how a micro bend here, a ritardando there, softer picking etc - affects the whole thing. Once you become aware of those tiny details, you can start using them as tools - just the same way as you would use a picking vs hammer-ons etc.

If you want to try and boost your take before the deadline, I would suggest you try to get a warmer sound. This can be done with a pedal or software, or by simply adding some light overdrive/distortion on your amp and maybe turn down the treble.

Play the solo every day until the deadline - most effective will be if you can split your sessions up into 3x30 minutes per day. And spread those sessions out during the day. The idea is to practice this with full concentration, if you start thinking about other things while playing - you should stop and rest your brain (do something else).

I think you have potential to deliver something very interesting with such a strong start!



Ouch this one put a smile on my face, and you make me look silly because you showed that it's perfectly possible to pull of some intense stuff from the beginning without making any musical compromises.

I can't really recommend you to change anything, sound is beautiful to me - and you built the melody up perfectly with melodic/harmony dubs, and you save your horse power and high notes until the end which is the safest way to do it, and it works! You also introduced jazzy double (etc) stops which almsot feel like a must over this backing (figuratively speaking) now that we've heard your take.

Man this was beautiful, I would have been very proud if this was my take!

Posted by: Monica Gheorghevici Dec 23 2014, 08:58 AM

Learned lesson But I thought is obvious what road of playing I chose and why I work only with you as instructor. My takes are always worked and approved by you before I post them.
The detailed feedback made by Kris improved my take, not change our direction and style of playing that we like. That's why I followed his advices immediately and I liked the result.
But when it's about applying things that can change dynamics, structure and interpretation that we like, I have something to say

Posted by: Darius Wave Dec 23 2014, 11:05 AM

Of course Monica! I had no bad intention writting this We do understand correctly - other point of view is always inspiring unless it's a regular internet troll

Huargo - it really went nice and You've achived that Timmons mood in it I think You should really give it some more time. You have just made Your backup version. Let's now tweak some details and give it some more time to be perfect Some vibrated notes are not consistent in case of pitch. I would suggest to play that solo until You'll feel You don't have to spent any single milisecond on thinking where to place the finger. That state of mind will make it possible to focus 100% on the tone and dynamics performance. I don't know how about You but i think I would go a bit more for Timmons type of tone - just a little bit more distortion and brightness to add a bite to the notes You play harder. I think it would be perfect then What do You think ?

Posted by: huargo Dec 23 2014, 12:37 PM

Jaja you really got me. There's somethings has to be fixed like the vibrato at 00:09 it's not in pitch and the vibrato in 00:22 is weak... the final lick still weak and the last note has to be a diferent vibrato more wider...
Totally agree with you with the tone... ireally need new strings to add more brightness and a little bit more of overdrive it will be fantastic but is very difficult deal with this kind of overdriven sound with my gear..
I try to do another take but i'm not totally shure if i can publish... the holidays start now and i don't know if i have time...

Kris thanks for your kind words
merry christmas gmc'rs

Posted by: Rhida Dec 23 2014, 05:58 PM

So Darius

I still figure how to use reaper with the free plug-ins from Lepou and Line 6 that I put in there.

Kris I'm not sure I understand what you mean.

Anyway I made a new one today with simpler melody and new sound.

So there it is.

Posted by: Monica Gheorghevici Dec 23 2014, 09:21 PM

@Kris: Back again with a new change over 00:26-00:27. Sorry, but I can't sleep until I will not fix everything in my take
First idea was to make that ritardando for the whole phrase, but I succeed to manage only a "stupidando" This happened because in that part I didn't heard nothing wrong and when I tried to apply the ritardando, I was out off the beat. But I come out with another solution...I changed that phrase and I think it’s more tasty in this way.

Also I know you didn’t pointed, but at 00:13- 00:14 I was a little in front of beat and I played in this way for many times. To be sure that I will not make again this mistake, I changed the accent over notes and I think was a good move because sound definitely much better and gives a more staccato feel.
What you think about how it sound now?

 Kris_Collab_Backing_Guitar.wav ( 8.7MB ) : 468

 Kris_Collab_Guitar.wav ( 9.34MB ) : 176

Posted by: Phil66 Dec 23 2014, 09:45 PM

Hello everyone,

Back again, very similar, timing changed slightly on some parts, different guitar, same settings but with a touch more reverb.

[attachment=40285:Crimbo_c...g_take_2.wav]

[attachment=40286:Crimbo_c...g_take_2.wav]

Cheers

Phil

Posted by: Kristofer Dahl Dec 23 2014, 10:19 PM

Cool Rhida, I think this simpler structure is more adapted to your current technical level and therefore sounds better. However to me, a take with long sustained notes works well with a distorted sound. But this is obviously a matter of personal preference.

It's really cool to see how devoted you are, as well as all other participants who have started working with this track from day 1!

I have also started jamming a little on this track. I have also worked on tweaking a sound matching Darius/Monica's as I have always wanted to try that, and I have got decently close with an AC30 profile, some compression and touch sensitive EQ.

I have also revived my Parker guitar that had some setup problems, as it's the only guitar I have with an alnico 5 single coil in neck position (cant be sure though, it's an unspecified custom dimarzio pickup). Feels amazing to play that guitar again




I think it sounds great! At this point we have started messing quite a bit with your original idea - and although it's a for a good cause we don't want to do it too much as it will kill the original feeling and spontaneity.

However what matters here is the progress we're making and (correct me if I am wrong) but you have got some new input to digest for your coming practicing.

As a longer term goal, what you could try to do is to choose one or two phrases that involve bending, and then play as many different variations on the bends (or rather variations of the phrasing of the bends). This will make sure that when you bend, you don't just think about doing a bend - but you will think about playing a specific type of bend phrasing which you have practiced. People listening will hear (either consciously or sub consciously) you meant to play that bend exactly the way you played it.

Try to phrase those bends around the beat, so that you're in complete control of the timing of them. In slower type of songs, phrasing behind the beat is just unbeatable (no pun intended).

Btw I have played stupidando a whole bunch of time as well today



Thanks Phil,

The third note at 00:05 is off, I think you play it to soon. And there is an out of tune note at 00:10.

But from 00:15 I think it sounds really good. If you are inspired to keep practicing this, I would like to hear you more consciously play behind the beat as well - a bit more "relaxed". If it feels tricky, then you might want to practice some more playing on the beat - so that both your hands know exactly when they should be playing. When you have reached that point, you can try to relax things a little bit, and try to attack the notes a bit slower, try to play some passages just a tad behind the beat. I don't know if this makes sense? I personally think that these kind of details is what turns a great performance into amazing.

Posted by: Phil66 Dec 23 2014, 10:29 PM

Thanks Kristopher,

The note at 10:00 could be out due to too much finger pressure. I swapped from an Ibanez RG1570 to an Epiphone Les Paul and the neck felt a little slippery so I was fretting too hard. Did it sound slightly sharp to you? I do struggle to listen to the backing track closely when playing, ask Cosmin about it, we have struggled for about 100 years
How was the tone for you? I prefer it to the last take.
I'll have another go tomorrow.

Cheers buddy.

Phil

Posted by: Kristofer Dahl Dec 23 2014, 10:42 PM

Yes, that is most likely the reason!



Sorry forgot to say, the tone is waay better. So much warmer, what did you do?

Posted by: Jim S. Dec 23 2014, 11:17 PM

Darius has definitely told me the same thing too. I understand how you put time in something and hearing that it's not your best. At times I felt the same way and did not understand. I felt like that was pretty darn good for not being a pro.....

Interested to hear your take there are a few points Id like to talk about. Please take no offense as I'm just a passing through. Starting out your solo sounds promising. Tone is clear and you can tell your putting some energy behind the notes your playing but just at 11 sec there I loose interest. Same notes kind of drag on.

Intro= 16th note based arpeggio which sounds great but then stops.

At 23 sec there is a nice phrase which is unique. It also leads into a different phrase which I like. I'd try and work on taking you favorite leads from this solo and think about what your trying to say and what your actually saying. Experiment with changing the rhythmic pattern so the predictability is lessened.

I'm working on the same things too so please I'm not saying I can do it better. Keep rocking man!

Posted by: Darius Wave Dec 23 2014, 11:29 PM

Huargo - It's great to know You can spot the issues by yourself Best challenge is to get the tone we want, from the gear we have It takes some time but I cought myself many times bying new things (being sure I need them) and then I've realized I could do what I wanted without them. New strings will add a little brightness but mostly...they'll bring back a perfect intonation and sustain. The truth about new strings is....guitar speakers usually do cut all the treble so the actual difference bwteen new and old strings is being partly cut off by the nature of guitar speaker frequency response. Of course - it does affect the dynamics because amp do respond to how many treble it get on the input. I think


Tip - when You use neck position You have to be aware of over-filtering the tone. Usually the treble cut we use for bridge pickup is totaly different than for neck pickup. To be honest - most often I would go for natural tone of the amp and I would not do any low pass (or similar) if I play on neck position). Somehow the treble end that seems to be nasty in solo mode, makes a great job in the mix.

Jim S. - thanx for Your support. Additional point of view is very useful. Ys- it is sometimes hard oto translate Your thoughts into word, hoping You'll be understood properly I didn point any bad things in Guitarrero take. I've only suggested he could pull out much more for this collab since I've seen what he is able to play on many other Guitarrero productions Making things simply I| was just asking

"Man I've seen what You can do with Your instrument and I wan to have more of You in Your take" ))

Try to post your exact signal chaing (everything that happens starting from Your guitar. I'm asking because I've detected some issues with Line 6 while using it in bypass mode for other VST plug-ins. The tone was not right comparing to a true line in signal. I'm not suggesting Your tone is wrong. I just want to know to have a better imagine of Your setup and be able to help better Tone is definitely warmer so It is an improvement

Posted by: Phil66 Dec 23 2014, 11:50 PM

Lol, I did say in my post. I swapped Ibz RG1570 for Epiphone Les Paul without stock pups and put a bit more reverb into the sound.
cheers
Phil

Posted by: Kristofer Dahl Dec 24 2014, 12:07 AM

Ok if that's all you did, those pickups must be vastly different from the Ibanez. Hotter and warmer I would guess (sounds just like the vacation I need btw )

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Dec 24 2014, 12:09 PM

Who else is in on this one? I see you guys are working hard and making a lot of progress There's still plenty of time until the deadline will be upon us, so keep'em coming

Posted by: Beat Zbinden Dec 24 2014, 01:42 PM

[quote name='Kristofer Dahl' date='Dec 21 2014, 09:34 PM' post='702883']
Very nice! Tone/sound is great, so is melodic thread & development. Assuming you didn't come here to be just 'great', here are some ideas to give your take even more edge which could turn your take into 'amazingly awesome':

1) I cannot help but get the impression you have squeezed in as many cool ideas you could during this short backing. Kill your darlings! Give us some breathing room. This will force you to exclude the stuff that is just "great" and go for what is truly awesome instead.

2) To make your take truly memorable, it would be cool if you could surprise us somewhere. And from a structural perspective, a take that is 100% strong will sound even stronger if there is some contrast in it - basically you want to give the listener something to compare with (think "tension and release"). Now if you follow my advice in 1) you will have prepared the ground for this.

So how about a short pause somewhere in there, and then play:

- a few outside notes that lead into good sounding notes. This is easy to overdo in the beginning, but just attempting to do this will likely be very stimulating.

- a few notes that are off rhythmically, try to play behind the beat and then catch up with it. Again not always easy to pull off, but very powerful when you master it.

- do both of the above for an even stronger effect

- maybe add a faster run somewhere if you are comfortable with it

3) You could gradually build up harmonies and dubs, so that your take evolves towards a climax. This is how a lot of strong music is written. This would work well over your original take as well.



I tried the tips of Kris implement something
What is doable with my level ..; -)
I think this version is slightly more dynamic and there are more options to think about.
Thanks for the support from all of you !!!!

Posted by: Monica Gheorghevici Dec 24 2014, 02:03 PM

@Kris: I'm happy that we have ready the take and I like the final result Thank you so much for your detailed feedback and fast responses. I love when we can fix things as quickly as possible and I guess it's a good thing for both of us.

I will apply what you told me in my practice routine. I liked the idea with "phrase those bends around the beat". This will be something new because I always try to be on the beat. Hope that people will understand when I make a bend around beat, it's because this was my purpose and I have control over bends. Or I will put you to answer at my future received messages on YT (just kidding ) Thanks again for everything

Posted by: Rhida Dec 24 2014, 03:37 PM

All right!
Guitar right to my computer via my Tascam US-144MKII

Using Reaper with (in that order)
ReaEQ (Cockos)
Pod Farm Delays
Pod Farm Reverbs
HyBrit (LePou plugins)

Waiting for your suggestions mate!

Posted by: Sensible Jones Dec 24 2014, 06:35 PM

I'm a bit late coming to this one but count me in!!!

Posted by: Phil66 Dec 24 2014, 09:39 PM

Ok take 3.

I changed the double stops in the ending to single notes. What do you think?
For the record, I was trying to aim for the solitude of Christmas for some people in the first half and the frustration that can bring on in the second half. I was thinking that it could be built by other people into a more joyous track or maybe something like this at the end as a reminder that there are lonely people out there. Thinking along the lines of Circles by Joe Satriani.

[attachment=40290:Crimbo_c...g_take_3.wav]
[attachment=40291:Crimbo_c...g_take_3.wav]

Cheers everyone.

Phil

Posted by: Jim S. Dec 25 2014, 02:17 AM

Merry Xmas you guitar slinging, yellow snow eating, misle toe kissing , eggnog drinking fools..... This isn't my final product but felt inspired to play to this track.

My battery in my guitar keep are going out during this performance and it screwed with me a bit. Here's the video.

Posted by: Chris S. Dec 25 2014, 09:07 AM

Hey guys - great work so far, super excited to be apart of this!

Here is my rough outline:

https://soundcloud.com/stortzmusic/xmas-collab-rough-outline

I was wondering what your ideas were on it?

Thanks

EDIT:

Already added to it a little

https://soundcloud.com/stortzmusic/xmas-collab-rough-outline-2

Time for bed - Merry Christmas everyone!

Posted by: Darius Wave Dec 25 2014, 03:15 PM

Would like to know what kind of cabinet simulation You use? Sorry for stupid question - I hope You use some cabinet impulse loader + cabinet impulse (like Catharsis 1on_pres5) instead of just trying to eq Raw tone from hybrit (or...one of HyBrit version (I think it was the red stack) had cabinet impulse built-in.

Order of effects in signal chain is crutial. In 90% IT IS TRULY BEST to not place any effects (maybe a booster is exception) in front of the amp UNLESS You're really advanced user and know exactly what You're doing.

God point to start messing with Your tone setting is

1. Plug Your guitar directly into Tascam line in/guitar slot
2. launch HyBrit
3. Launch impulse loader and load cabinet impulse (catharsis 1on-pres5 is one of the most "Ready to play" )
If You use Kefir impulse loader, make sure You set the mix knob to 100%. Otherwise You'll hear partly the raw line out signal from the amp (bzzzzzz a lot of treble) and a signal mixed through a cab. We don't want this as far as You never hear amps sounding like this in real

4. Say "No not yet" at least 5 times when You think You should turn on any EQ on the guitar track and go back to the HyBrit knobs. Try to get best You can with it's own eq knobs

5. (with exception if You're expert) never place eq, compression or fx nor in front of the hybrit or cabinet impulse loader (kefir, leCab etc). Place them at the end of the chain


6. If You find EQ is necessary - try to start from very effective and simple tool like LPF (Low PAss Filter) Practically all the DaW like Repaer have this option in Eq section of each track. Turn the LPF on and find the sweet spot by moving frequency point

For some of You those might be "the obvious things" but I found a lot of basic mistakes within people who are not already familiar enough with some essentials of settings guitar tone in DAW






Hey Phil - great to know Your that much engaged to make it best as possible. I think we still have much spacer for adding even more goods in the take Let's think about the atriculation. L:istening carefuly I find alot of hidden, important details. You have a very beautiful beggining with gentle vibrato, prebend and right picking dynamics - it's been playd with pasion for sure

What I would think to replace is the lick around 0:23. It does not feet the all other part of the solo. It sound a bit too raw, to "practicing sort of", to square for what You have presented in the previous part I would suggest to find a bit less "pentatonic" feel in that particular moment, to fit the beautiful things You did in the first part of Your take

Posted by: Darius Wave Dec 25 2014, 03:45 PM

Well...You're in that's fantastic Now forgive us to the our regular job and destroy Your concept a bit

Take is something new comparing to other participants and that's good But some notes of the scale might sound a bit off even if They do belond to a song key. It is nothign bad to use the major 7 note (C#) in the key of D yet id does create a werid mood on the G major chord (where You play it - 0:06) I think You could search for a different phrase at this moment of the track. Tritone (G-C#) could sound good if we had a bit differend mood of the track but I think fot this particular "ease to absorb" christmas mood it somehow adds a weird distraction




Jim....ha ha ha ha !!!!! You made my day! You are a true master to be able to finish the solo at all while You kid as been acting like a cat You now...being everywhere You don't want it to be when You're doing something important Impressive solo for such a situation You have to upload it somewhere on YT or elsewhere Unfortunately it's only and audio collab but...Your video would make a fortune

Posted by: Phil66 Dec 25 2014, 05:01 PM

Thanks Darius,
I'll try a bit later today. I hope you understood what I was trying to do though. Don't forget, I'm a beginner so some of these things are difficult for me I'll get rid of the "frustration" part and think about something else.

Thanks for everyone's help.

Cheers

Phil

Posted by: Chris S. Dec 25 2014, 05:16 PM

Thanks for the honest feedback Darius!

I know what the tritone is, but I didn't even realize that I was utilizing it

I'm still learning how to analyze and understand music theory better with the much appreciated help of Cosmin!

Posted by: DeGroot Dec 25 2014, 06:03 PM

Merry Christmas all,

Here is a draft I just came up with. I think the way I had my chorus pedal set might have choked the notes a bit. Look forward to any suggestions you have.

https://soundcloud.com/degroot-2/kris-mas

Posted by: Kristofer Dahl Dec 25 2014, 06:54 PM

Thanks Beat, I like both of your versions. They are slightly different but both very musical.

I think a lot of times it is hard to stray from the original idea we get over a backing track. At least that's the case for me, when I have done work for others and they would like me to change direction.

A lot of the suggestions/improvements mentioned in this thread are things you will hopefully work on for the coming time (not just for this collab).



Cool Phil, you got some good feedback form Darius. I just want to add that each time you record this one I can feel your playing matures over the backing track. This is a clear sign you should keep doing it (if you are inspired). It's a super musical way of practicing, and the fact that you are working on a collab is a bit like rehearsing for a gig: Because you have a deadline you practice in a more focused way and you improve faster.

This is why everyone should have a go at this collab! It's a very different thing compared to just playing/practicing alone in your room.



Very cool that you connect the music to real feelings in real life - keep doing this and you will reach/touch people in a way that's impossible, if your focus is just to display your licks and arpeggios!



That's me, I eat yellow snow!!

Hehe very cool Jim with nice warm sound, also video always adds another dimension for viewers/listeners.

Structure wise, I think this was pretty cool in spite of 'dense' playing from the very beginning. Also I somehow got a more live/jam impression from your take (maybe because you had video) - this also tends to add another dimension to the listener. After all a strong live take will always beat a strong studio/punch-in take. Looking forward to your final take!



Fresh input Chris! Darius' comments are definitely relevant.

I also want to add that if you do want try to get away with a different/weird note choice, it is much harder when your guitar is mixed loud. The weird stuff tends to blend in a bit better if it's not much louder than the backing, so for your next take you could try to turn guitar volume down a bit.



I think this is beautiful.

The beginning of this take has chordal ornaments - you could separate the second half tone wise. I guess the typical way would be to play the first part with your guitar volume a bit turned down, and then turn in it up for the lead to get a bit more drive / boost / warmth.

It is a matter of taste though, and I think it sounds good the way it is as well.

Posted by: Kristofer Dahl Dec 26 2014, 12:13 AM

Haha you know I'll defend you until death

But if you feel people will be in doubt - it probably means you are not ready to use those bends in your music yet. It might be that you need to stick to the "on the beat bends" for some more time. The old saying "to break the rules you need to know them" is probably valid for this scenario as well: Before you can feel how to stray from standard bends you need to make sure you fully master them.

Posted by: Jim S. Dec 26 2014, 01:12 AM

Bravo Degroot! I appreciate the pretty chords and the lead melody following. Great Job!

Posted by: Chris S. Dec 26 2014, 07:15 AM

So I tried to knock out the tritone hanging on the G chord... but I feel like now that I'm starting to polish the outline that it is starting to sound like it won't go well with everyone else's

https://soundcloud.com/stortzmusic/xmas-collab-3

Posted by: Kristofer Dahl Dec 26 2014, 10:30 AM

Hi Chris, don't worry too much about others takes - there is some cool stuff in your take, and what really matters are the insights you reach during the collab.

Once again I want to say the since your guitar is very loud compared to the backing track, you get much less of the 'magic juice' coming from Darius' backing - compared to everyone else. This is an unnecessary handicap!

So the first step is for you mix your guitar lower, just by turning down the guitar track in your DAW. If you want you can use other people's take as reference (listen to another take then listen to yours and adjust volume).

Posted by: Renan Dec 26 2014, 11:43 AM

Hey , I have 2 takes !

https://soundcloud.com/rteuman-1/kris-mas-collab-1

only guitar :  x_mas_collab_gui_.mp3 ( 493.06K ) : 132



https://soundcloud.com/rteuman-1/x-mas-collab-gui-plus-back-2

only guitar :  x_mas_collab_gui_2.mp3 ( 516.73K ) : 117


the 2nd one was just for fun

Posted by: Darius Wave Dec 26 2014, 02:00 PM

Yes Phil - I understand and I know You're a beginner and what we are trying to do is just to squeeze best of You We do not expect You to become Petrucci in a few weeks...but when it comes to learn how to play it's wort to engage all the time amount that has left for the deadline to make things shine I know it's possible and Yu really have some potential to make it happen. We do belive in You that's why we want to help as much as possible




That's great! I know Cosmin will help You a lot. Theory is useful but not a crutial. No matter what is Your level it's wort to trust Your heart when it comes to playing My heart told me that this note in this particular place was maybe not the best choice...but it is always a subjective suggestion Triton is a cool interval but at some places it can bring a bit too much "outside" of the mood You've created in the whole solo





"Heeeeey Joe"..like Hendrix sings

Good to see You after some time I was missing

Sorry for being rude (but honest) but I think we know for quite some time and You know the it's now my intention to be rough I heard a lot of awesome solos from You and a lot of extrordinary rec takes. This one is definitely not one of Your best You were right that the chorus made a feeling of a little pitch mismatch and I know You can really deliver someting breath taking Please make us this honor again and show as the "DeGroot" we know Maybe just a clean tone and delay would make a job?




Thanx for quick response. I think You should consider very important tip from Kris - Your guitar volume is too loud comparing to the backing track. This migh cause some timming problems (while recording with same settings) and also lower volumne of guitar in the mix will create a feel that it simply sits better with other instruments. The more distance we create between backign track and lead instrument, the more we "unglue" those two and make listener feel like listening to 2 separated songs. I would start from that point. Listenb to You own solo a few times and try to ask Yourself what is the basic difference between this and the way song You like sound It usually helps




Hey Renan! Very glad to see You join us How's going?

I hear some great ideas in Your take but before going into phrasing details the is a thing You could to to add +50% of pro to Your take - it's the tuning. Guitar is a really nasty instrument in case of tuning. Each fret is usually +/-3 cents of the pitch. In practice it's impossivble to tune the guitar like a keybord. This is why sometimes we need to check fretted notes as well to make sure we get close to a tolerance amount on every fret Please try to recheck a few crutial positions on Your tuner before redoing the take.

I rally like some of Tommons phrasing inspirations there. I think Your take needs some more sustaining notes rather than rhythm breaks in the second half. It will get more flow. at the moment I would keep the notes You choose but simply let those between phrases to "let ring" It would really be awesome

Posted by: Rhida Dec 26 2014, 09:44 PM

Hi!

Not a new take.
Just messing with the sound following Darius's advices and adding distortion.

Posted by: Jim S. Dec 26 2014, 10:02 PM

Thanks Darius And Kris! Here are my files, Full track, rhythm guitar, rhythm and lead, Lead. I put some new batteries in my guitar and it seemed to clean it up a little bit. Let me know if this is acceptable...

Posted by: DeGroot Dec 26 2014, 11:14 PM

Thanks for all the feedback.

@Darius- Heeeeey, no problem. I'd be glad to try something new over the track. I agree that Im not entirely satisfied with what I came up with so far.

Posted by: Kristofer Dahl Dec 27 2014, 12:04 AM

Hi Renan, Great to see you in here I agree with Darius comment about tuning/pitch - and I also think there are some interesting phrases here.

I also want to add that just as with Chris, your guitar is way too loud (see my comment to him) in this mix. Basically this will have all sorts of negative side effects for both you and the listener. So having a somewhat balanced mix is also a quick way of giving a more pro impression.

When I listen to student takes the primary thing I first want to get a feel for is how musical is the take is (that's much more important than wrong notes, out of tune bends etc). And if the levels are wrong (guitar way too loud) then I find it hard to feel the music (although it obviously is there).



Great Jim, I think this is pretty cool. You also have some chops going on there which is always nice for us guitar nerds

I do get a quite "busy" impression when listening to "xmas_collab_full.mp3 " - meaning there might be a little too much going on at the same time with both the rhythm and the solo guitar. The parts by themselves are cool, but when added together I am not sure "the sum is equal to the whole of its parts".

And let's face it - by adding a rhythm guitar you are trying to accomplish something tricky: improve Darius killer backing! It's a cool initiative though, and with some tweaks in the mix it might fit. Let's see what Darius says.

Playing wise, one thing strikes me and that is missed notes at 00:23. It is usually tricky to get away with a fast passage containing missed notes, especially if you're playing an evenly repeating pattern such as this one.

It is really cool you have these chops, with some further polishing they will very impressive and useful. But when a guitar audience is listening, they are very likely to focus on the things you don't master - unless you can completely mesmerize people with amazing melodies / music. Some examples of guitarist that can get away with sloppy fast passages and still sound good are Joe Satriani and Steve Morse.

Having said this, we are here to practice and improve - and I think it's great you threw in a bit of those chops so we can discuss and you can get some feedback.

I also want to add that from a structure perspective, I think you did well and built your solo towards a climax by saving the faster and higher notes until the end.

Posted by: SirJamsalot Dec 27 2014, 01:07 AM

Your tone is amazing. I love the sound and how you use it.

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Dec 27 2014, 10:24 AM

Hey Rhida!

Great to see you working on this one I have followed your conversation with Kris and he is very right when he says that your new approach is much better in respect to your current technical level.

I have to say that the lines are musical and easy to remember - that's great, because that's the impact that music should have on the listener I think that in order to make this take sound even better, there are a couple of spots which could use a bit more work:

- around 0:14 - 0:17, the concluding phrase could have a better timing - I think that can be arranged if you play the note on 0:14 a bit shorter
- the little phrase at 0:22 could sund cleaner in terms of execution - it's a bit faster and I think that maybe you should practice it a bit outside the context and slower, to make sure you can play it at the speed dictated by the track
- the bend at 0:24 could be more precise in terms of reaching the intended pitch

As you see, these are details which can make a great difference - I think there's still plenty of time for you to polish these, so what do you say - let's get back to work and see how the next take sounds? Deal?

Posted by: Rhida Dec 27 2014, 11:57 AM

Thanks Cosmin!

I will do my best

Posted by: bleez Dec 27 2014, 06:03 PM

... with a little trepidation, here's what Ive been working on for the collab

https://soundcloud.com/bleez666/krismust-collab

Posted by: Darius Wave Dec 27 2014, 07:18 PM

Sustain sound better now I would try to get rid of some nasty treble around 5 kHz. Maybe less treble on the amp setting or simply place the Low Pass Filter a little lower ? BTW...I would recommend to avoid laying over bells melody. I think those bells should sort of "live their own life" if You know what I mean Or...You can make a dialouge with those backing bells and try to repeat their melody right after them Sort of echo effect




See? I knew it Waiting for some kilelr take then! Thanx for the forbearance

Posted by: Darius Wave Dec 27 2014, 07:55 PM

Jim, Kris - I think ?I have an idea how make a cool use ot Jim's idea Really like the backing guitar as well I think that If I could ask for anything I would really like to ask Jim to simply learn his take and fix that little issue in his lead guitar (at the end of the solo). I like that idea for the solo - good phrasing, good tension built and those licks at the only...It needs only a bit more precision and it would be awesome






Bleez...hey man! Always warm wellcome! Who agree he's one of those guys who You can simply recognize by his tone and style ? I know major stuff is not really Your thing but I see You handle it pretty well and the concept for this solo is a good one. What I would like to ask is to rethink the second part. I would like to You to copy-paste the track and play like You would go into antoher part of solo while the backing is in the half. This is the easiest way to make it. Of course we need only as much as You already played but I'm just thinking about next solo of another player. It's sort of "end Your solo the way it does not sound like the end of the song" It's hard to describe but I'\m sure You know what I mean Imagine somebody plays after You and You do not want to make Your solo sounde like nothin more is happening after it Try to introduce another player by creating tension increasement in the end of Yours

Posted by: bleez Dec 27 2014, 08:29 PM

I see what you mean dude. I'll give your suggestion a try. I just assumed that the listener would be hitting the stop button after my solo
I like your idea of copy and pasting the backing to get a less 'final' sounding take, it makes sense. Thanks mate

Posted by: Phil66 Dec 27 2014, 09:18 PM

Hello everyone.

Another take, I'm struggling with ideas now I tried to get the notes at the end to fit with the drum but I can't come up with a lick the right length so there is a big gap from halfway in bar 9 to halfway into bar 11. Coming back in halfway through bar 11 adds a lot of tension I think but I don't think it works. I was thinking of an elderly person on their own at Christmas and in my mind, during the gap I could see the old person looking out of the bedroom window, reflecting on their situation and then getting into bed during the last lick. Any tips?
Sorry to put a mournful spin on this track, it's just what came into my head.

Thank you all.

[attachment=40306:Crimbo_c...g_take_4.wav]

[attachment=40307:Crimbo_c...g_take_4.wav]

Posted by: Kristofer Dahl Dec 27 2014, 11:28 PM

Yes I agree!

I also agree that the second half is not as cool, however I see a problem mainly at 00:17 where the listener sort of expects something to happen. Here you deliver the same kind of scratchy idea as in the beginning but in a higher octave. The scratchy stuff is cool but at this point we need something more creative, the current version somehow conveys you ran out of ideas at 00:17. Which I refuse to believe

One simple way out could be to throw in a cool harmony dub at 00:17, the goal is to try and somehow increase intensity so that the listener constantly feels your take is evolving. It must never become boring.



Well I think your takes are getting more and more enjoyable, well done. And what's even cooler is that I can connect your playing to the tale of the elderly person! We're getting way beyond playing music to impress girls!

This is pretty solid to me, but just as with Bleez I feel that at one point it gets a little predictable - 00:24. Here I would suggest

* maybe play the melody an octave higher up (if possible). Add some more vibrato to it (this is the grand finale!)

* and/or: Add a harmony dub. Typically playing a third up or down while harmonizing the scale (this simply means you may not stray from the D-major scale). Let us know if you need more in depth explanations to understand the concept of harmonizing.

* come up with a completely different idea.

Posted by: DeGroot Dec 28 2014, 01:01 AM

Here is a completely new version. Just ordered some new power tubes for my amp (they are 3 years old!) If I get them in time I might record it again with any suggestions. My amp has been on the fritz lately and hopefully that is the cure!



https://soundcloud.com/degroot-2/kris-mas-version-2

Also, I agree with Darius that the "Bleez" tone is awesome and recognizable.

Posted by: Phil66 Dec 28 2014, 10:39 AM

Hello Kristopher,
Thank you for your comments, it means a lot to me because I know you don't give false praise on here which is how it should be Even though my take is technically simple I am happy with myself that someone of your calibre has given the positive comments that you have.
OK, I did think about playing an octave higher but it seemed a bit of a cliché, I'm probably wrong on that though
I don't understand harmonizing at all. My theory knowledge is very very limited, I've read a lot about it but maybe too much information with too little application stops it being embedded in your head.
I did have the courage to break out of the pentatonic scale for one note
I guess one of my problems is that I don't have a big enough library of licks in my fingers yet.
Thanks in advance for any further guidance you can give. I'm enjoying this, my first collab, more then I ever imagined and your positive comments and critique are pushing me on. Thanks for all your help everyone and a special thanks to my mentor, Mr Cosmin Lupu, he works hard with me in particular on my mindset.
Big thanks to the GMC family
Phil

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Dec 28 2014, 12:54 PM

Hey mate

I like both tone and phrasing - you have a very refined sense of melody, dynamics and feel. I especially like the pre-bend at 0:14 and the way it all slows down around 0:16, then the faster run which has the quirky vibrato, which makes it very lively and musical and then the beautiful double stops. It's a little journey in 34 seconds! I like it very much!



Hey Phil! Thank you for the kind thoughts, mate You are doing a great job and I am thrilled to notice how much you enjoy creating. Your take is clearly improved with the aid of Darius' and Kristofer's suggestions and insights, so it can only go forward from here

You have only began learning about theory and yes indeed, the key here is to see it applied in as many contexts as possible, as well as building up a sturdy vocabulary by learning licks and phrases and the way that they can be tweaked when used against a certain chord or chord progression. This collab is only the beginning

Posted by: Kristofer Dahl Dec 28 2014, 01:09 PM

Yes you might be right about this. Let's try a simple application: to harmonize the part we spoke about, try to just start the pentatonic scale from any other note. So to clarify: just play the same melody, in the same pentatonic scale, but starting from a different note. Naturally the whole melody will sound a bit different, as you will have moved it up or down - so to speak. Does it make sense?




Yes if you only do that, you run a risk of sounding cliché. However if you also add more aggressive vibrato and possibly experiment with other variations, then it can work very well.

Posted by: DeGroot Dec 28 2014, 05:52 PM

Thanks Cosmin It took me some time to get this down and get the dynamics/feel close to the way I intended. It something I need to keep practicing for sure.

Also I was experiencing latency after every couple of takes. So basically had to reset the mic settings after almost every take I ordered a audio interface that should resolve the problem at least (I have been using a usb mic cable adapter straight into the computer).
I appreciate the feedback!

Posted by: Darius Wave Dec 28 2014, 08:12 PM

Ufff...thanx for that Bleez! I was afraid I couldn't handle to descrive things the clear way Now I see You know exactly what I'm about. Great!



Interesting point of view Thanx for a quick response. I think it's very good You can spot some problems on Your own Yes You feel it somehow doesn't work but that take give as an idea that You have good path to apply creative changes Simply try to apply changes to the part Your heart tells You need a fix




That's much closer to the "Joe we know"!. Thanx for taking time to deliver another take PErfect tension built through all the record. I have just a little feeling that those breaks between fast parts could be shorter or filled with something different maybe...but I'm not that confident about it...it might be just me Great work man!

Posted by: Kristofer Dahl Dec 28 2014, 08:59 PM

I missed this one!

I think your first take was completely superior from a musicality/originality perspective, though this was certainly not bad. From a guitarist perspective the run at 0:19 and the following licks were cool in this one.

I think this situation is very interesting. Darius and I are of clearly different opinions, though I can see where his is coming from. Now this is a very 'good' problem, since both your versions are good (it's just that I think one of them is excellent).

It would be very interesting to hear what others think. Which one do you prefer?

DEGROOT TAKE 1:
https://soundcloud.com/degroot-2/kris-mas

DEGROOT TAKE 2:
https://soundcloud.com/degroot-2/kris-mas-version-2

In the end what matters is what you (Degroot) think, so I think you should have the final word. Heck you can even subit a thrid version if you want!

Posted by: Phil66 Dec 28 2014, 09:31 PM

Ok everyone,

Another try. The very last lick feels like a big sigh of despair as the lonely old person closes their eyes. Bloody hell this has brought some darkness out in me

[attachment=40339:Crimbo_c...g_take_5.wav]

[attachment=40340:Crimbo_c...g_take_5.wav]
I don't know if it's classed as cheating but I only recorded the last 5 bars at the end. I can play it all the way through but I think the first part is ok so to save time I just did the last 5 bars.
Playing it back I think the bend at :29 is off, shame I didn't hear it when playing as I have run out of time now. Back tomorrow.

IMPORTANT NOTE BELOW

If anyone downloaded the files above before 20:30 GMT there was an error. Please download again. Sorry folks, I'm still learning how to record properly.

Cheers all.

Phil

Posted by: Monica Gheorghevici Dec 28 2014, 10:05 PM

I like both ideas. The second it's played with more feeling and the first part it fits with my taste. This make me to vote for the second take But in the first take 0:18-0:20 has a very tasty bend. So, if you want to hear my opinion I will make a mix from both I wanted to do an experiment and mix both takes but Joe did not put download option on Soundcloud.
My combination should be 0:00- 0:18 second take / 0:18-0:24 first take/ 0:24-end second take

Posted by: DeGroot Dec 29 2014, 01:23 AM

Decisions, Decisions. Well, it shows how subjective music can be. I respect both of your opinions very much (Monica too!) I also like her idea of maybe blending the two if that would somehow work? Both takes have a very different feel to them, I think.

I'm not totally partial to either. I'm proud of the chordal arrangement in the first take and I liked the bending idea. It is probably more suitable/nice for a casual listen? I also thought it might blend in nicely with the other takes I've heard.

The second take has more tension and build up. Its kind of like the concept in the "Climax in a Solo" lesson. Kind of builds up slowly into an explosion. It might be something that a guitar player appreciates more?

Most importantly it will come down to whichever works best with the whole musical flow of the collab. I don't think I'll have another take in me for this one. Of course, I'd be curious if others here had a preference towards one or the other. Or maybe neither. Thanks again. all this constructive feedback with everyone's takes should make for a very cool final collab.

Posted by: Jim S. Dec 29 2014, 01:50 AM

Yes certainly. In fact I'm working the tapping and ending licks again. I'm looking at two angles. The first is how I'm attacking with picking hand. 2 problems, 1 I loose control of my tapping foot when I begin those solos. 2, when I switch positions my timing goes out of sync because I'm not familiar enough with that change.

I'm also finding that adding a rhythmic element to those runs helps keep the line in time. That's kinda hard to explain.

Darius I know the chord progression is D, Bmin? Or Db/Bmin? To G then A?

I'm having a hard time with the chord in between D and Bmin. Any chance you could give me some hints? Soon as I record again I'll post it here!

Posted by: Jim S. Dec 29 2014, 04:48 AM

I enjoyed both takes but for me the second one was a little mysterious. Can you talk about that tasty run near the end? That's the kind of lick I really enjoy.
Nice job man

Posted by: DeGroot Dec 29 2014, 05:54 AM

Thanks Jim! I have been intrigued by some of the intricate licks you have come up with. They sound really promising and inventive!

You'll have to excuse me for not being able to explain this well in theory terms. But basically it starts with a somewhat typical ascending scale run (except for first two notes) starting on G. At first I was going to play this legato but with the low amount of gain I was able to get some dynamics by alt. picking it soft to hard to give it some articulation. I tried to time it just right to give it more of 'rolling' effect over the backing track (I didn't totally nail that). After that I use the tremelo arm to try and give it a slippery kind of Howe vibrato (again not totally nailed). Then it follows into a 4 note descending chromatic 'passing note' pull-off which goes directly into that 'broken' sweep run section. It descends three notes and then ascends back into a quick two note trill (F#,G). Finishing with five string sweep… a sort of typical 3-note minor sounding arpeggio with another tremelo arm vibrato at the end to give a musical twist. Not sure if that was the kind of answer you were looking for. It is the part I screwed up the most

Posted by: Nick6373 Dec 29 2014, 09:01 AM

Hey guys! First post ever just got membership!
Here's my attempts (I couldn't decide which one I liked more so I'm post both of them):

#1 https://soundcloud.com/nick-peacock-7/attempt-one-w-backing

#1 No Backing Track: https://soundcloud.com/nick-peacock-7/attempt-one-no-backing


#2 https://soundcloud.com/nick-peacock-7/attempt-2-w-backing

#2 No Backing Track: https://soundcloud.com/nick-peacock-7/attempt-two-no-backing

Posted by: Darius Wave Dec 29 2014, 12:36 PM

EXACTLY!

Fortunately we are not scientists who argue about the earth to be square or round

Let's be clear. DeGroot is at the skills level where he doesn't need that much straight technical care from us and at this level our help becomes more and more subjective. We start to talk more about our personal feelings on his takes than a obvious mistkes in playing Really cool idea to let him and students decide

I'm glad we have that situation here because it simnply prooves something very important You know what I mean Monica?




No worries Recording a few crutial bars is acceptable when You don't want to loose Your creativity for repating something You consider to be done. I hope You'll forgie us trying to squeeze You to the limits but I think we all agree every single take You make is getting better and better





Hey Jim. Chrod progression is actually nothing fancy. It's a bcking track from my latest lesson - You can review it for any tips You need It's just a D, G, Em, A all over




hey and wellcome in the family Very nice intruduction though For my taste Your first take would be a nice sketch to workout. I believe it is more a spontanious improvisation than arranged solo. What I would suggest to do is to learn Your own solo just like You would do while learning Guns'n'roses solo etc The idea is to make things as perfect as possible. There are some timming and tuning issues to fix.

Fisrt of all I would recommend to recheck the tuning in positions while tuning Your guitar. When the takes is 100% in tune it doesn't have to be mindblowing but still sound pro. Correct pitch in the solos brings that "pro" feeling while listening even if the solo seems to be simple. Antoher extra points we get for the good timming. You can achieve that by simply learning Your solo and practicing before recording final version

Posted by: Monica Gheorghevici Dec 29 2014, 02:13 PM

Haha......definitely For me this kind of situation helped me to clarify some things (again) You have right, when it doesn't exist technical mistakes it remain just a matter of taste
That's why I truly believe (even if I said my opinion about how I would like to mix Joe's takes) after instructors opinion, the best decision is what the player feel. It's his music, his interpretation and his work. I will enjoy any of his choice because both takes has Joe's style and I always liked his playing

Posted by: Sensible Jones Dec 29 2014, 02:17 PM

Here's mine:-
https://soundcloud.com/neilwaller/krismas-full

https://soundcloud.com/neilwaller/krismas-nbt
I hope you like it.

Posted by: Phil66 Dec 29 2014, 02:29 PM

Hello all,

I'll be having another go later today, it will be my last try until Friday as I'm going away for new year celebrations
Any tips on my take I posted yesterday?

Cheers

Phil

Posted by: Kristofer Dahl Dec 29 2014, 03:03 PM

Cool Phil, I think this sounds good!

To me the only thing lacking is a more powerful ending. However your phrase at 00:28 is pretty suitable. So again I think the easiest way out would be to have one or more dubs (additional guitar track) here. You don't need to play a harmony, you could just play the exact same thing - and it will fatten up the sound and give the push needed for the 'grand finale'.

Another option is to re-record the phrase playing it a bit more aggressively, hitting it harder and applying aggressive vibrato. This can be tricky to do though, if you don't have the required control yet.

Yet an option is to not do anything, and maybe Darius won't be able to refrain himself from playing a harmony over that part in the final mix.






Welcome to GMC Nick!

I agree with all Darius said. If you can get rid of the tuning/intonation problem it will immediately raise your takes to a new level - as that is the #1 problem. Take 2 had less tuning problems. As Darius said there are cool ideas in there, that can lead to a strong solo - and as soon as tuning problem is fixed you can start doing the polishing.

If you are unsure how to deal with the tuning problem please let us know.






Very cool Jones, the double stops, interesting rhythmical ideas, and the über neat sound makes this a very fresh take. With some mixing, this will sound really good.

Here are some places that caught my attention, which you could deal with now or have in mind for future recordings:

* 0:21 sustain dies immediately. This is not super bad, but I still get the impression this was not what you intended (given how cool the sustained note at 00:17 sounds). By thinking about having super relaxed hands/arms you might be able to fix this. To tell you exactly what technical mistake is causing this, we probably need a video of you playing this.

* 00:23 this vibrato is a bit too Kirk Hamm:ish for my taste. I would recommend a wider vibrato, try using more of your whole arm - or use a more circular type of vibrato motion. Alternatively just think "slow bend" instead of "vibrato".

* 00:28. This note sounds out of pitch, not sure what could be causing it.

If you can fix these and keep the rest of your playing intact, you have a 'winner' take!



'tis flat, i'm tellin' ya!!

Posted by: Sensible Jones Dec 29 2014, 03:56 PM

I'll go work on it now Kris!!

I changed the second part very slightly.
https://soundcloud.com/neilwaller/krismas-pt-2-nbt

Posted by: Darius Wave Dec 29 2014, 07:04 PM

What a nice Timmons/Mayer tone! Cool phrasing Neil. Unfortunately (I know I know...it's alwasy something... ) There is sort of "wrong direction" in tension build. I think I would leave the first half (truly love it) under one condition - it simply begs for delay in the background if those breaks have to stay there I would think about the second part because it does not inscrease the tension. It like a negative - You get more relax while the solo goes on and it's an opposite direction to what we need to make, to create proper tension build through the track.

Posted by: Sensible Jones Dec 29 2014, 09:50 PM

Thanks for the input Darius!
Here's it with the 2nd part re-done a bit.
https://soundcloud.com/neilwaller/krismas-final
https://soundcloud.com/neilwaller/krismas-final-nbt
I didn't want to put too much delay/reverb on it as I thought this gave you guys problems in the final mix?

Posted by: Nick6373 Dec 29 2014, 10:01 PM

Thanks for the advice guys!
I'll work on getting some more concrete ideas into my solo. The one problem I don't really know how to deal with is my intonation issue. Any advice?

Thanks!

Posted by: Phil66 Dec 29 2014, 10:10 PM

Ok take 6. I've changed the bit before the ending then I've over layered the ending. Hope this is what you meant.

[attachment=40354:Crimbo_c...g_take_6.wav]

[attachment=40355:Crimbo_c...g_take_6.wav]

Cheers

Take it to a tech mate. If you're not confident don't mess. If it's a fixed bridge it's not too hard but a floating trem can take a long time. There are many pages about intonation adjustment on the internet, I do my own fixed bridges but don't have the patience for a floating trem.

Again, if you aren't confident don't try it. Get a full setup from a tech.

Phil

Posted by: Nick6373 Dec 29 2014, 10:30 PM

Thanks Phil, I'll do that. I like your solo by the way.

Posted by: Jim S. Dec 30 2014, 02:13 AM

I've taken a fresh look at my lick that gave me trouble and I found that hybrid picking with a little string skipping made it come to life a little bit. I'm taking just this idea and keep playing it until my fingers get used to crossing. My hands were burning after just 10 min.

When I rec. my final take I'd like it to be live in front of a giant amplifier.




Darius I'm not sure why I thought those were the chords. I feel pretty silly...

Degroot thanks for breaking that down for me I like all those details.

Posted by: Phil66 Dec 30 2014, 11:16 AM

Thanks Nick, I like yours too, have to agree with Darius though, it does sound a little unstructured but hey, who am I to say, I'm merely a beginner that's had guitars for years. I can't comment on the intonation as my ear isn't that good yet but as you know I have commented on how to go about it.

Get a mentor mate, I'm with Cosmin, all the guys on here are good.

Phil

Posted by: Darius Wave Dec 30 2014, 02:25 PM

Sure man! I understand! - yes You can make a delay on Your take preview and make the opposite in the files You send me. You completely right - I will add You a delay in the final mix and it would be matched to the track and the mix You can give it here to simply make us more pleasure while listening to a preview

Around 0:22 there is a gap that somehow feels like You might find a better solution but decide on your own




Thanx for response Before going into details simply check some basics:

1. Old strings do not keep proper intonation. If Yours are older than 3-4 weeks it might be the reason of issue
2. Play a few notes on the fretboard and check on the tuner - maybe Your open strings are a bit off comparing to fretted notes

Posted by: Darius Wave Dec 30 2014, 08:38 PM

Now let me simply ask You how do You feel about Your take comparing to the very first version? Last few times You asked us about our feedback, now it's time to ask same questions to Yourself nad aprove the solo or make any absolutely tiny details. I think Your solo has got a chill out mood and it leads somewhere - to next solo fox example. If You're satisfied with it, we can leave it this way




Don't worry Jim - it happens Now You're sure about the harmony and have some time to recheck everything As for the lick in the video I would really like to hear how it sits with the backing now. Sometimes our precision problems comes from us not being 100% confident about the rhtythm in the lick and how it should fit to the backing track. You can post just an audio example




No matter what is Your playing skills level - everyone here is wellcome to share his thoughts I'm glad You did it. It helps to confirm or deny some conclusions that might be subjective

Posted by: Kristofer Dahl Dec 30 2014, 10:12 PM

Cool, I think you have worked your way around all the things I commented on. When looking at your take as a whole, I preferred your first one as it had a lot of cool details. For example 0:11 in your first take - don't know what you did there but it sounds amazing!

However that one had some very obvious mistakes and this one doesn't. Also you guitar is a bit too loud and this drags down the impression of your take, so we can expect a better sounding take in Darius' final mix.

I think it's completely up to you how you want to proceed. I work just the same, my first takes are usually the best - after that it goes downhill. So I would probably try to save your first take by throwing in some dubs (extra guitar takes) to try and mask the mistakes.

Posted by: Kristofer Dahl Dec 30 2014, 11:29 PM

Cool, the extra layer definitely gave that push in th ending we were looking for! I think we can settle for this one, very well done!

Posted by: Chris S. Dec 31 2014, 05:54 AM

Hey guys!

So I think this is going to be my final take:

https://soundcloud.com/stortzmusic/xmas-collab-final

If it seems legit - I'll work on the video.

I changed a few things and tried adding some new concepts - a trill and a bit of a swing feel at the end.

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Dec 31 2014, 08:34 AM

Hey Chris

I followd your conversation with Kris and Darius and I have to mention that in my opinion, you could still reduce the volume of the guitar in the mix. Now, for the actual take, I like the way it begins - a steady flow of 16th notes building a melody. Around 0:12, that bend is a bit too weak and the note one which you conclude at 0:16 leaves the take in the air somehow, not giving it a sense of direction - you need to select a note that creates movement - a note that links this phrase with the next, or a note that ends the phrase clearly.

0:20 - great one! This phrase sounds very tasty and nicely interpreted, but the note at 0:24 sounds a bit off tune while at 0:27 the vibrato could be wider and more in pitch and timing could be better for that particular note.

I tried to stick to technical aspects, in order to allow your concept to shape up as you intended, but making it shine brighter

Posted by: Kristofer Dahl Dec 31 2014, 09:47 AM

Thanks Jim, it's very good you are analysing and breaking down your technique like this. Based just on this video, the following strikes me:

* you might want to experiment with your left hand thumb position, and have it completely behind the neck.

* I saw you had some problems "restarting" the lick at 00:12 - this is a clear indication you are pushing speed too much. With these kinds of fast runs it is extremely important you can pretty much play them in your sleep - otherwise you are not ready to use them in your performances yet. (however in collabs like this one you should of course experiment with them, how could we otherwise discuss these kind of stuff! )

* I would advise you play this super slow over a steady pulse, with both clean and distorted sound. In both cases all notes should be evenly heard and without noise.

Keep woking on it, I like where this is going!






You have got some good advice already. The first thing to do is change your strings (if they are more than 3 weeks old), and when you have done that you can tune your guitar not only by checking the open strings - but a bit further up on the neck - to try and get a compromise.

If changing strings don't solve the issue - you might want to take the guitar to a luthier (most guitar stores can provide this kind of service). Also note that excessive finger pressure (if you fret the notes to hard with your left hand) also can give intonation problems, as this will cause pitch to go sharp.

Let us know if this makes any sense? This is a common problem so it's great we discuss it.



Nice - I don't think this one has any obvious problems (although we could of course polish forever - that's the beauty of it).

Let's compare with your first take:

https://soundcloud.com/stortzmusic/xmas-collab-rough-outline

I think with correct mixing (guitar is too loud) this one will sound great in the final mix. Well done!

I think you have made added a huge amount of musicality to your take, I hope you can take the thought processes we have discussed here with you, in future recordings as well!

Posted by: Kristofer Dahl Dec 31 2014, 12:03 PM

Here is my take:



I was a little bit nervous about this one since I felt the need to deliver something 'perfect', having spotted mistakes in everyone else's takes Since there is no such thing as perfect, this was not a very good starting point in the creative process.

So instead I went for something different and experimented more with the 'singing + guitar lead' concept. I called it "pray" since I accidentally [somewhat] sang that word towards the end.

@ Darius - I did a longer take because I wanted it to provide some value to the viewers of my youtube channel as well. Let me know if you think you can fit it in, in the final mix?

Posted by: Rhida Dec 31 2014, 03:20 PM

Hey Kris,

love your guitar work but don't know what to think about the lyrics actually .
Never know what to expect from you pal!

So here's my new take experimenting with sound and phrasing..

Posted by: Monica Gheorghevici Dec 31 2014, 03:21 PM

Hahaha....I think it's a big pressure to make a solo after you spotted mistakes in our takes I can say that your solo guitar fits damn great with my taste. Has all the tasty things that I like and your tone it's really awesome!!! It's always a pleasure to watch at your videos. Anyway, after I heard you playing blues in Vchat you are one of my favorite guitarists

Now it's our time to be "instructors"
One little/tiny/invisible thing I would change in your take. I don't say it's a mistake it's just an humble opinion and a matter of taste. I didn't looked after mistakes (please keep this in mind).
At 1:09-1:10 your voice it sound like you lost your breath and apparently your focus is for a second at guitar solo part. You played 1:08 with distors in voice and there sounds awesome. Would have been nice (for my taste) to have used the same distors in voice over 1:10.

Posted by: Jim S. Dec 31 2014, 03:40 PM

Hey Kris your spot on, the speed is well over my limits. I want to keep pushing because I know that I can do it.Darius wanted a recording over the backing, In this example audio I play the same lick but at 16th notes which is very slow compared to the tempo. My hands were completely burned out and could barely play at the time. I did just punch in so.... this is just an example.

I figure what I was trying to play was twice this speed which is too fast. Splitting the difference may do the trick, say 6 notes per beat instead of 8.

Also I have been playing on 11's and even though I am used to them by now, they are quite the workout. I may switch back to my 9's just for comparison.

Posted by: Sensible Jones Dec 31 2014, 05:03 PM

I'll see if I can overdub the first one and get it to what I had in mind!


https://soundcloud.com/neilwaller/krismas-pleaser-ft
https://soundcloud.com/neilwaller/krismas-pleaser-nbt

Posted by: Chris S. Dec 31 2014, 06:28 PM

Wow! Super take Kris

I like how when you get nervous you still pump out a super clean take - when I get nervous I play like I'm getting shock treatment

Posted by: Jim S. Jan 1 2015, 02:37 AM

I got to sit at my amp today and jam a bit during work. Used a ditto looper to rec. the progression from the backing and played over top. Very slowly the ideas that I'm learning here sink in a bit. I still have some time left so I'll give my fingers a tiny break and get back at it before the deadline.

Halfway through I play that lick I'm working on and one lick that you may hear too is a raked d Maj arp then sliding to b5. That is cool and I really like that chord sound. Can I move that shape around to get other chords to ring like that or is it specific to dMaj. Can you flatten any fifth?

Any suggestions on why an amplifier sounds a bit tight/compressed aka not creamy..... Let me know if you know what I'm talking about. The reverb on this amp is real tingy. There is an rca cable going in and coming out of the spring reverb. Do you think I could send that signal through an external reverb unit?

Posted by: Kristofer Dahl Jan 1 2015, 11:24 AM

Thanks Monica. You are right about ~01:10 - there are also several places where guitar playing is much weaker than it could have been if I wasn't concentrating on singing as well, for example vibrato during the whole ending, and the whole fast run at 00:53 which has lots of missed notes and weird ending ( I tried to make up for it by adding some tremolo picking). At this point I was very focused on starting the singing in time.

However for each recording I do I feel slight progress, that's why these collabs are golden!

Posted by: Kristofer Dahl Jan 1 2015, 02:48 PM

Nice! I really like the vibe of this and I don't see any problem with your sound, it did sound pretty creamy and compressed to me. If you weren't already, you might want to try playing on the neck pickup instead, for even more of that effect.

At 00:17 I noted a typical maj7 shape, is that what you were referring to? You can play that exact same shape over the other chords for a cool substitution effect (it won't sound the same as over a major chord but not bad either). Alternatively you can play similar sweep shapes with other arpeggios, you would get more of stretch though - the maj7 shape is relatively easy to play.

b5 over a major chord is the lydian note and it's usually very pleasant. You can also play the b5 over a minor chord and you will get the blues note (or tritone), depending on what other notes are being played this can sound as locrian or blues.

Generally, I recommend not caring about the scale names - but instead just go for whatever sounds nice to you. Typically if you're playing of a progression that doesn't modulate (like this one) then one cool shape will sound decent over all chords - it can sound completely wrong as well - it all depends on how you use it, which note you end on etc. As far as I can tell from your playing you have a great ear, use it and don't worry about what is considered ok and what isn't!

Keep going!



Thanks Chris! I wasn't very nervous when recording this one, because I had decided to play something "different" rather than something "perfect" which met all the demands I had on you guys.

I am still experimenting with these kinds of "jam" takes where I turn on the camera without having decided exactly what to play. Typically I will rehearse the planned take for a few days and then record. Because the record button triggers something within us, it is impossible to play exactly the way I planned. Now recently I have started to (try to) use this to my advantage, and have more of a jammy vibe.

Previously I would get really pissed off because I couldn't get get it to sound exactly like I wanted, and I would practice until I got it "right". But this has the disadvantage you cant be very productive and you spend a lot of time working on a single take (several months in my case). This also destroys spontaneity!



Hi Rhida, my previous comments are still valid. When you slow down it sounds good, and one can hear you have a sense for melody. But as soon as you try to play a few faster notes in a row one can hear you need to practice your technique, hand sync and timing is off.




Hehe thanks, yes my singing might be on the provocative side here. But I liked the contrasts between the different types of voices used. I am experimenting though, and for each new thing I try - I feel I take a step closer to nailing my own style.

Posted by: Rhida Jan 1 2015, 02:57 PM

All right then!
I will go with my previous solo improving the phrasing.
But I know what to work on this year!
Is the new sound Ok?

Thanks Kris for your feedback!

Posted by: Jim S. Jan 1 2015, 03:54 PM

Hey Kris happy new year buddy. I want you to know that I know that you know that I know your a nut. Your videos are wacky and I like them. I think your holding back a bit though. One belt missing from a full straight jacket.... I could see your ideas in full production with a stage crew and one bright light shining magic into your soul.

Thanks for the remarks about the vid. It's very very different tone from headphones to amp. Still getting used to it I guess.

I have a wacky idea for this backing but I'm not sure how to write it. Kinda of a 50's carnival tone. I'll have to rec. it because that's all I can say to describe it. It might be the way I connect the other licks on my way through.

Posted by: Kristofer Dahl Jan 1 2015, 04:32 PM

Cool, to me this is the best one so far.

I can agree with Darius comment, that this one is a built a bit backwards in terms of tension and dynamics. It starts out pretty aggressive and it's soft at the end. But your take feels fresh to me as a contrast to the other takes.



Thanks for this one Jim. In the [relatively "slow"] run starting at 0:18 one can hear slight problems in hand sync and cleanliness. This will be further amplified when you play faster - although when playing faster it is harder to determine exactly what the problem is. More importantly - it is only possible to fix this stuff at slow speeds.

This is problem something you will hear among a good 95% of guitar students who are trying to learn technical runs. And it is also the reason why very few end up sounding like Yngwie, Gilbert (etc) once they do get up to speed. I have done the exact same mistake and I am working on fixing it up to this very day.

So in short: never ever push speed. If you want to practice playing as fast as you can, feel free to do it at the end of your sessions. But I think at least 75% of your practice time should be spent playing below your comfort speed, as this will allow you actually improve how you sound. And after all music is about how we sound, nothing else.




Hehe thanks! You should know I knew you knew I know how to. Know what I mean??



I do think your sound is better compared to your first take, and more suitable for long sustainy notes.

Bare in mind though that by skipping the faster stuff (but keep work intensively on technique of course), you will easily 'up' the level of you take by 200%. If we want to make something shine, the first priority is to remove what's not good - then we can polish what remains to make it really good.

Posted by: Darius Wave Jan 1 2015, 07:41 PM

You know it's already pretty cool. I would go for a video You could make and post it on Your YouTube channel

Also I would kie to remind about some cool sentense I found (do not remember who exactly said it) so i'll just spot the punchline.

Usually while doing composition or mix of the song we do not finish, we abondon - break the work at some point where we have enough of it

This topic is endless. We could improve our solos or songs constantly. Even if You think You've finished, a few days later You'll have another idea and think that You could do something better.

Same is with the collaboration - do not expect from us to say "Your solo is perfect". We can not say that about our own solos as well )) The whole idea is we make the deadline and keep workiing to make as much improvements as possible before the deadline Of course You are the one to decide about "Ok, I have enough of this so I'll abandon this solo at the point I am now" It's actually nothing unusual and it just the way music is so Of course we can give You some tips as long as the collab is online, but You can decide if You want to continue tweaking the solo or to leave it this way

All the work You made so far brought pretty nice result and for sure is much more polished comparing to the prototype take Congratulations




Ha ha ha ha! You know what most people would say seeing such a performance live on stage? IT would sound like "Somebody please take away the microphone from this guy " I've got to speak with Your wife Kris - You spend too much time focusing on vocals instead of guitar and Your vocal ideas start to cross the line of what is proper for a listener

Posted by: Chris S. Jan 1 2015, 07:42 PM

Happy New Year everyone!

Again, you guys are all very talented and I'm super pumped to be apart of this with you all!



http://youtu.be/z13GIY1s9RU

With Backing:  XmasFinal.wav ( 6.23MB ) : 101


Without Backing: [attachment=40372:XmasFinal2.wav]

Video: [attachment=40373:XmasCollab.mp4]

Posted by: Darius Wave Jan 1 2015, 08:11 PM

Due to the time left to the deadline I would leave that concept and no try to fix single spots - most of those are timming issues. Phrasing has been improved and You have the concept for a solo. Now let's use the time that's left to polish that particular version - smiply learn it and rerecord




Ha ha ha ha! 1:0 for Monica! She couldn't resist to use the occasion for revenge




Jim - skip from 9s to 11s is a big to much at once. Maybe a good old 10s would be perfect? somewhere in between and approved by many players. For some reason it's the most regular gauge of the strings. Simply try to play on 10s for some time and make Your won decision

As for the lick it sound pretty tasty for me. Lets find a compromise. What I would do is to leave it like it is until 0:23 where it simply begs for a tension increasemnt. I would execute it by speed up to the 8th triplets (BTW You do not play 16th notes - You play 8th notes according to the bpm value of this backing track). You might try to modify Your lick to make a speed up at 0:23 till the end. I think it would be a perfect tebsion built and a really descent solo of Yours




Could I as for a favor ? Could You please upload You vids to YouTube and set as "not public" to make them embbed in You posts? For some reason Your vid does not want to launch on my home PC. It's a codec issue for sure but I do not want to install anything since it took my some time to make a stable configuration of my PC for audio-video editting....I would really liek to help but I'm afraid to risk the failure.

Your vid being in the post would make things much more easy for us also it helps to keep the updates on their places to compare progress




Happy New Year Chris! We do enjoy working with You as well Have a great time developing Your guitar skills

Posted by: Jim S. Jan 2 2015, 12:01 AM

Darius I knew something wasn't right about that. No wonder, tempo at 140 is at my threshold for 16th notes... I was counting 1 for every 2 beats. 16th notes is what I was trying to play. I'll give those triplets a feel, it's tricky because I'm forcing control of that hammer on. I just picked up some 10's and I'll send my files asap. Any leniency on the deadline?

Don't live in fear Darius, it won't bite you.... Just kidding. Making you tube videos is a good idea...

Posted by: Sensible Jones Jan 2 2015, 12:19 AM

Excellent! We'll leave it at that!
I, too, get what Darius said although if he can fatten the 2nd part up with some delay I think it won't sound so 'thin'!

Posted by: Rhida Jan 2 2015, 08:31 AM

Some time to work on my solo this morning.

I tried to sum up all the comments I got on this one (Kris, Darius and Cosmin).
I also played with my treble pick-up and I like the sound better. hopefully you will like it too.

Thanks for all your help and patience guys!

Posted by: Monica Gheorghevici Jan 2 2015, 09:32 AM

You have right, collabs are golden! I really like when I must to do something and I have a deadline. Makes me focus much more, I have more ideas than usual and I learn new things.
Also, I love the fact that this time, wasn't only a collab was a real workshop For me the benefit was double because I already added new stuff in my daily practice

Posted by: Darius Wave Jan 2 2015, 03:28 PM

he he I'm not aware - wasn't considering You could bite I'm glad we could clear things up about the tempo and counting method I think You could handle those 8th notes triplets. Give it a try - I think that slight delay from the deadline would be forgiven by other GMC'ers as long as You deliver Your files during final mix process I also enjoy to see how well You work on this! Seems like You fight for some extra time to play guitar. That's excellent



Decision is up to You Neil I will add the delay for sure. I can dig the idea that Kris pointed - Your akward take can put something different to the collaboration



Being present through all the process of tweaking Your take I can proudly say You made it man Choice of the pickup position is up to You- though I find it being pretty ok Thanx for the patience and all the work Your brought to deliver what we hear today



Yeah You But his guilty of posting the take - He knew this could happen ))

Posted by: Rhida Jan 2 2015, 05:13 PM

Excellent! Thanks for your kind words darius!

Posted by: Phil66 Jan 2 2015, 09:21 PM

Well Darius, I'm never satisfied but at the moment my ideas outweigh my ability. I could keep on fiddling for days but I am scared of going away from the essence of what I originally felt from my heart. That may sound pretentious but it's not meant to. If I think of anything between now and the deadline I'll put it up here.



Thanks, I often feel intimidated as a beginner to put my thoughts forward for fear of being told "What do you know?". I know you aren't like that on here but it's part of a mind set. Hope you understand




Different but I like it, the guitar playing is awesome. The singing is almost like the Tibetan monks and I mean that with respect.

Phil




Thanks Kristofer,

Even though it's very simple, I am happy with it for my level of beginnerness I am even more happy at how much I enjoyed the process of creating. It's infinitely more enjoyable than lessons but i fully understand why lessons are required to get techniques into your fingers.

Eeeeeek

I've just thought, do I need to do a video of the take??? I may have to "mime" over the take I've got recorded Time is short and a few days away have made a little rust appear in my knuckles

Cheers

Phil

Posted by: Sensible Jones Jan 2 2015, 11:04 PM

Cool, it'll be interesting to hear it in context with everybody elses takes now!!

Posted by: DeGroot Jan 3 2015, 12:27 AM

Here are my file for the collab. From the 2nd version. Thanks!


https://soundcloud.com/degroot-2/kris-mas-version-2

https://soundcloud.com/degroot-2/kris-mas-version-2-nb

Posted by: Jim S. Jan 3 2015, 04:28 AM

Here are Ye Files! I had to write an entirely new piece but kept the ideas and suggestions given here. What do you think?

Posted by: Darius Wave Jan 3 2015, 02:34 PM

You're welcome - Well deserved



You cought us Yes it's very hard to be an instructor who's trying to help, point the issues and at the same time not being just a rude smartass I think we understand each other very well and that's what really matters when it comes to development of Your playing. I do like the way You enjoyed the game called "collaboration" I hope it was just a start and You'll improve during next collaborations!




You know Neil...If I would be insane a bit....I would simply reverse Your take a make a "horror movie solo"




Got it! Excellent




Ok...now You'll bite me for real Jim To be honest I liked Your previous version better...was more natural and had "that flow". Only thing that was missing was just a little more smashing final but I really loved it.
This one is ok but not compareable to prvious Sorry for being honest. Let's wait for other guys to say what they think. I might be wrong

Jim - Ok, have give the honour back...Was listening to Your newest take a couple more times and i8t is nicaley constructed solo Only the finish is a bit broken - You somehow break it. Does not sound like the end of conversation nor the introduction of next "speaker" If You know what I mean.

It's a common problem for a lot of players - it's a thing worth working same as any other technique

THE ABILITY TO LEAD THE SOLO so it has a proper tension built and clear ending (2 options to choose - end of all "sentense" with release of the tension to prepare the listener for the end...or...constant tension insceasement to preapre background for next song part like even stroneg bridge or just a chorus with vocals)

Posted by: Sensible Jones Jan 3 2015, 04:13 PM

Now there's a thought!!!

Posted by: Kristofer Dahl Jan 3 2015, 09:22 PM

Agreed, it was very cool to try something new this time! Looking forward to hear the result of your new practice elements!



Thanks Phil, I have always wanted to get that monk choir sound, watch this space! =)



No panic, this is an audio collab. I recorded a video just to give something to my youtube followers.



Cool, well by the sound of it, it seems several people would want to see more of these kinds of collabs. Great!



Nice, this sounds great, and it also has some clever guitarist stuff which should please our kind! =)

I don't really agree that the solo is broken towards the end - it feels clever throughout to me.



Well done in this collab, it is obvious you are serious about your playing Rhida. Keep going like this and remember to play super super super slow when practicing technique.

Posted by: HiimAlex Jan 3 2015, 10:50 PM

Hey!

My take will be a couple days late since I need to polish the composition a bit.
Hope this is ok with you

Posted by: Phil66 Jan 4 2015, 08:45 PM

Ok, I don't know whether you need it or not but here's my video. There are some slight out of sync parts, I was playing along with my sounds that you already have and I put the original sounds over this video. Time is very limited today so if you need another I need to know ASAP.

Cheers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8XIG723MRQ&feature=youtu.be



Phil

Posted by: Darius Wave Jan 4 2015, 09:47 PM

It's fine ofr me since it always takes some time to make to final mix but You have to ask other students aince they had to made it to the deadline




This particular collaboration is an audio collaboration but of course it is a great idea to show us how did You play Your take. And of course...cool way to promote yourself on YouTube and similar. This way You can get beck to this video someday and compare Your progress...let's say few years later

Posted by: Darius Wave Jan 6 2015, 03:00 PM

Please take a look at the list and see if You're on it Now it's time to review all the files before doing the final mix. Text files are for those who did not post all necessary files. Titles says it all

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jan 6 2015, 03:49 PM

I'm not on the list, but you will have my take today

Posted by: HiimAlex Jan 6 2015, 03:59 PM

Hey!
Thanks for letting me post my take even if I am late
My timing is a bit off, but I felt I shouldn't take more time from you

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jan 7 2015, 03:04 PM

Hey Darius, hope I ain't too late Here be my files! Thank you!

Posted by: bleez Jan 7 2015, 10:54 PM

hey Darius, here's my original take -
[attachment=40441:bleez_1_full.mp3]
[attachment=40442:bleez_1_guitar.wav]

After talking to you earlier about how I couldn't alter the second half to anything I thought was remotely interesting (or good) and going around in circles with it I thought Id be as well uploading my attempt which I hated the least just incase it worked better for the overall mix.
[attachment=40443:bleez_2_full.mp3]
[attachment=40444:bleez_2_guitar.wav]

thanks dude

Posted by: Kristofer Dahl Jan 8 2015, 10:33 AM

Thanks Alex - some feedback for you (no real need to re-record since this collab is closed):

Well done thinking about breathing room in the beginning. My advice to you will be similar to Rhida, you have included a lot of faster passages in there - and I can hear you are struggling to perform them. So I think this is distracting you from playing on time - and this brings your take down.

I would suggest practicing by just playing quarter notes (so no fast notes at all), see video part 1 & 2 here:
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Beat-Basics/

When that feels comfortable, see if you can play some 8th notes as well (see video part 3). I would also advise to study the whole 'beat basics' lesson carefully.

Finally I want to say it is really smart of you to participate in collabs like these, it will give such an advantage over people struggling at home who do not dare post anything "until they get better". By the the time they "get better" - you will be a pro

Posted by: HiimAlex Jan 8 2015, 11:32 AM

Thanks Kristofer for your feedback
I will definitely check out that lesson and practice it

And actually before posting my take I considered if I should post it or not since I am not 100% proud of it, but as you say it will pay off. I will trust you

Posted by: Darius Wave Jan 8 2015, 02:13 PM

Ha ha! Sure Cosm! I'll add You. I thought You were very busy and You didn't find time to post a take even though I've seen You said You're in




Thank You soo much man! I think You underrate Your work Even if You feel there is not much of technical stuff, Your solos are still good and have Your characteristic style and tone It's not only me who enjoy them I'm happy You got convinced to post the files




Thanx for the files mate! As Kris said -collab is closed so we are not abel to give You full feedbakc but of course You're in!

Posted by: HiimAlex Jan 8 2015, 07:21 PM

Thanks Darius No Worries mate about the feedback, I have worked together with Cosmin with this take so he has helped me and given me some ideas

Posted by: Darius Wave Jan 8 2015, 09:26 PM

Work in progress Each track needs at least a slight tone match, sync and a proper place in whole composition. It takes some times but we're up to make some music here right?

Posted by: Darius Wave Jan 14 2015, 07:05 PM

First of all I would like to thank every single one of Your for all the effort to make this happen. I think again we brought something great by doing it together and showing it's not the skills level and not the playing genre but the kind of people we are that makes us able to enjoy doing such a collabs together...and "Nothing else matters" Huge hugs to all of You!

Order of Appearance:

1. Jim S. - solo and backing electric guitar
2. Darius Wave - acoustic guitars
3. Rhida and Superize - jam
4. Beat Zbinden
5. HiimAlex
6. Nick6373
7. Huargo
8. Sensible Jones
9. Procyon
10. Renan & Phil66 - jam
11. Bleez + Chris S. - jam
12. DeGroot
13. Monica Gheorghevici
14. Cosmin Lupu
15. Guitarrero
16. Kristofer Dahl - vocal and guitar solo

http://soundcloud.com/dariuswave/kris-must-charm-gmc-students-and-instructors-collaboration

 kris_must_charm_collab_final_mix_02.mp3 ( 5.88MB ) : 358

Posted by: HiimAlex Jan 14 2015, 07:46 PM

Thank you Darius!
It was actually really fun to participate, I will definitely join more of those collaborations
I also think one turned out great

Posted by: Monica Gheorghevici Jan 14 2015, 07:51 PM

Awesome collab result!!! I really enjoyed to hear all the takes together. Each take has something special. Congrats for all the team

Darek....what can I say You genius of mixing.....BIG congrats!!!!! Your mix sounds amazing!!!!! Yeap....You did it again

Posted by: Phil66 Jan 14 2015, 09:18 PM

Thank you thank you thank you Darius,

This put a smile on my face and a tear in my eye when I heard my little piece in there. This is my first colab but it won't be my last, it has inspired me more than anything I have heard before. I know my piece is pretty basic but I have to say it does hammer home Kristofers video about not being as bad as you think you are, once you're put into a decent mix it sounds pretty sweet.

Thank you to all at GMC for the opportunity to do this

Phil

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jan 14 2015, 09:32 PM

Congratulations to everyone! This is EPIC!! Darius, you are a wizard, bro!

Posted by: Darius Wave Jan 14 2015, 09:36 PM

It was a great time to see all of You working on Your takes Thank You for all those kind words

Posted by: Kristofer Dahl Jan 14 2015, 11:44 PM

To me this might be the coolest collab ever at GMC, I was totally blown away by your commitment and the quality of your takes. Hats off to you guys!

Can't wait to see what the next one brings!

Posted by: Rhida Jan 15 2015, 11:00 AM

Great collab!

Thanks Darius and Kris for your patience, your dedication and above all your help!
The mixing is top-notch!

And congrats to all my fellow GMCers!

Posted by: Sensible Jones Jan 15 2015, 02:23 PM

Awesome job everyone!!! Great to hear all the takes together like this!
Well done Darius, you've done it again mate!!

Posted by: Darius Wave Jan 15 2015, 04:04 PM

I've would have done nothing without Your help

Posted by: Darius Wave Jan 15 2015, 04:40 PM

Thank You Rhida. I hope to see You in the future collabs!

Posted by: Chris S. Jan 15 2015, 04:57 PM

Wow Darius - you're a mixing magician!

It turned out great everyone! Looking forward to working with you all on the next one

Posted by: Darius Wave Jan 15 2015, 08:26 PM

Thank You Chris! I tried my best. Now I truly enjoy to see You all like it

Posted by: Phil66 Jan 15 2015, 08:42 PM

Can you post an MP3 download link please or is there a way to do it from Soundcloud? I want it on my iPod

Thanks again and well done everyone

Phil

Posted by: huargo Jan 15 2015, 09:32 PM

Posted by: DeGroot Jan 16 2015, 12:27 AM

Sounds great! Fun to be a part of it. Thanks to Darius for putting this collab together.

Posted by: Rhida Jan 16 2015, 06:18 AM

Here it is bro!
Enjoy!

Posted by: Darius Wave Jan 16 2015, 09:49 AM

Post updated! You can download the mp3 file

So aside from Your own...which take is Your favourite ?

Posted by: Procyon Jan 17 2015, 11:38 AM

This turned out really amazing! Really great take from everyone!! Thanks a lot for all your awesome work!

Posted by: Darius Wave Jan 20 2015, 02:47 PM

All pleasure on my side!