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GMC Forum _ Collaborations _ Ivan's Instructor Week Collaboration!

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Apr 18 2009, 08:31 PM

This is the upload thread for your takes for the blues collaboration. We can discuss the takes here as they arrive as well smile.gif

For details for the collab and backings check out this main thread:
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?showtopic=26736&view=findpost&p=369924

Posted by: sted Apr 19 2009, 09:28 PM

I have based my takes on the playing of Gary Moore, for me Gary has two main stays of music he always falls back on, rip snorting fast blues bordering on rock with an upbeat feeling and slow ballad like tunes, my takes fall into the second category.

The Takes

I have used Ivan's Bm slow backing, this is the ideal material for emulating Garys work as it has that really slow almost depressing quality! Gary relies heavily on minor blues pentatonics (Dont we all!) and natural minor scales which are the two scales I have used in these takes, his style also incorporates a lot of power bends again which I have tried to pick up on, (there is a tone and a half bend in there somewhere, ow!) he also has a habit of mixing slow quarter notes with instant fast sixteenth hits to build a sense of crescendo to the solo, always a good thing to do!

The Tone

Gary is famous for using Les Pauls and Marshall amps which complements his power playing style very well, nuances arent really part of Garys playing! I have used my LP and Marshall JCM emulation with no other effects, I used both pickups which I beleive Gary does a lot too.

Thats my short analysis, dont know if thats what you were after Ivan but someone had to be first!!

 blues_collab_GM2.mp3 ( 727.75K ) : 432

 blues_collab_GM3.mp3 ( 720.41K ) : 281

 blues_collab_GM1.mp3 ( 721.22K ) : 261

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Apr 19 2009, 10:35 PM

OK here are some first impressions: smile.gif

Version1 : good start with the root, and then developing the melody to the third, and going up the scale, small bend, and then another cool sequence. After that a cool long bend, couple of more notes and going back to start root note.
This version is good, and has a logical progression: start-peak-end, or down-up-down. The feel to it was a bit flat, but it was very balanced, and had some good accenting on the chord changes. Well done!

Version 2: great starting lick, and overall great lick quality and feel throughout the solo. This version sound the best to me in terms of licks used, and the energy build up is great too, starting strong, but pushing it even stronger till the end. Excellent. Some minor rhythmic issues are the only thing that I think needs a bit more work on on this take, but the feel was awesome IMO.

Version 3: Great start with the bend, and great developing using strong notes, and also rhythmically excellent. This take has the best rhythmic structure, and also melodic part is very good as well. There are couple of notes in the middle that are off the key, so they spoil the overall impression, but I think this version is also the best one after the 2nd one.

Posted by: sted Apr 20 2009, 08:07 PM

Thanks Ivan! all the takes were improvised in one take hence the mistakes but i feel more comfortable just playing by instinct rather than actually writing a sequence, as your thread said its good to be able to just call on a particular style and thats what I always aim for, warts and all! thanks for taking the time to comment on this mate, much appreciated as always!

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Apr 20 2009, 10:08 PM

QUOTE (sted @ Apr 20 2009, 09:07 PM) *
Thanks Ivan! all the takes were improvised in one take hence the mistakes but i feel more comfortable just playing by instinct rather than actually writing a sequence, as your thread said its good to be able to just call on a particular style and thats what I always aim for, warts and all! thanks for taking the time to comment on this mate, much appreciated as always!

You're definitely right! smile.gif Playing by instinct is a great way to practice improvising, and I think you did a great job in making a style of Gary Moore. I will comment your take after the collab is finished once again to accent all the strong points. Cheers mate smile.gif

Posted by: berko Apr 21 2009, 09:52 PM

Hi Ivan!

I have also chosen the Bm slow BT, but for me it seemed suitable for a Gilmour-style solo. He uses minor pentatonics a lot combined with the dorian mode. He is also notable for landing on strong chord tones so I tried to emulate that a little. He sometimes applies intense and dynamic strong bends + multiple bending (2-3 bends to the same not in a series). These characteristics are especially notable on his latest solo album "On An Island".

Now, for the tone: he generally uses stratocasters, mainly his iconic Black Strat from the seventies, which had been modified a lot. I could only use my 7string schecter (it's body made out of BASSWOOD making a hard job for higher frequencies), so even with a coil tapped neck pup it was hard to get a decent sound. In gearbox I used the vox class A 30 amp simulation with reverb, tiny delay, compression and some drive.

I hope it's not that bad... smile.gif

 blues_collab_berko_w_BT.mp3 ( 788.9K ) : 247

 blues_collab_berko_noBT.mp3 ( 788.9K ) : 183


berko

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Apr 22 2009, 09:50 PM

That was awesome take, thanks! smile.gif

First impressions: great clean sound, you really tried hard to achieve the right kind of tone, and it shows from your in depth analysis as well. Good bends, good licks, and in overall I think you captured Gilmour's vibe very nicely. There is one single out of key note in the somewhere around the beginning, after the first couple of bends, but it is nothing serious. I'll save some detailed comments for later, but all in all, I like this take, very interesting job! smile.gif

Posted by: Bluenote Apr 28 2009, 03:42 PM

This my first time posting one of these here so I hope it's done right and works. I didn't select any special artist as am trying hard to develope my own style. I feel out of place in some of these forums as I'm 62 years young and playing now for 20 months. I used the 2nd track Blues in G.

 GMC_Blues_Backing_By_Bluenote.MP3 ( 1.32MB ) : 274
 

Posted by: Tolek Apr 28 2009, 04:13 PM

Here it is. Fully improvised. smile.gif My idol: Larry Carlton.

 blues_collabWOB.mp3 ( 893.05K ) : 207
 blues_collab.mp3 ( 895.9K ) : 226
 

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Apr 29 2009, 11:23 AM

Great two new tracks, thanks a lot guys! smile.gif

Here are some first impressions:

@ Bluenote
Great tone, great feel, great control! smile.gif Some very interesting licks in there, and quite interesting style. One thing that I imediatelly heard is that backing is perhaps little louder than you guitar, but this is just a minor issue. The main thing is that I can hear your guitar clearly, and I can hear all the notes. Note choice is very good, and it's nice that you have chosen to do your own style as well, nothing wrong with that. You have a cool & smooth style

@Tolek
Great intro turnaround lick, shows you know a thing or two about the blues! wink.gif All the licks are blended nicely, and you are chasing the strong notes during the whole take in a very fluid kind of way. Tone is great, volume is great, and your control over the tone is excellent. One thing that stroke me is that some bends are a bit shaky, but it is just a minor issues. Bends are used well and in proper situations, so it's all good. By playing on this blues track, you show just how diverse player you are. Well done! smile.gif


Posted by: Tolek Apr 29 2009, 04:01 PM

QUOTE (Ivan Milenkovic @ Apr 29 2009, 12:23 PM) *
@Tolek
Great intro turnaround lick, shows you know a thing or two about the blues! wink.gif All the licks are blended nicely, and you are chasing the strong notes during the whole take in a very fluid kind of way. Tone is great, volume is great, and your control over the tone is excellent. One thing that stroke me is that some bends are a bit shaky, but it is just a minor issues. Bends are used well and in proper situations, so it's all good. By playing on this blues track, you show just how diverse player you are. Well done! smile.gif

biggrin.gif Cool, thanks for the pre-finalmix&comments comment. laugh.gif

Posted by: Bluenote Apr 29 2009, 05:11 PM

QUOTE
@ Bluenote
Great tone, great feel, great control! Some very interesting licks in there, and quite interesting style. One thing that I imediatelly heard is that backing is perhaps little louder than you guitar, but this is just a minor issue. The main thing is that I can hear your guitar clearly, and I can hear all the notes. Note choice is very good, and it's nice that you have chosen to do your own style as well, nothing wrong with that. You have a cool & smooth style


Ivan,

Thank you for your coments and suggestions. I was glad to hear you liked my style. It's a bit different then your standard blues licks.

Posted by: Sensible Jones Apr 29 2009, 06:21 PM

This is supposed to be a bit 'Peter Green' over the Bm BT!!!
[attachment=15381:GMC_Ivans_Bm_Blues.mp3]
biggrin.gif biggrin.gif

Posted by: sted Apr 29 2009, 07:22 PM

QUOTE (Sensible Jones @ Apr 29 2009, 06:21 PM) *
This is supposed to be a bit 'Peter Green' over the Bm BT!!!
[attachment=15381:GMC_Ivans_Bm_Blues.mp3]
biggrin.gif biggrin.gif


Nice one Jonesy! Very Peter Green imo!

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Apr 29 2009, 10:26 PM

Sounds great man, very like Peter Green, more reverb would be also great, but this sounds very good, and control over the tone is excellent. Nice going with two guitars crossed together, sounds interesting! smile.gif

Posted by: Sensible Jones Apr 30 2009, 11:38 AM

QUOTE (sted @ Apr 29 2009, 07:22 PM) *
Nice one Jonesy! Very Peter Green imo!

Thanks!!! I appreciate that!!!
biggrin.gif biggrin.gif

QUOTE (Ivan Milenkovic @ Apr 29 2009, 10:26 PM) *
Sounds great man, very like Peter Green, more reverb would be also great, but this sounds very good, and control over the tone is excellent. Nice going with two guitars crossed together, sounds interesting! smile.gif

Thanks Ivan!!! I agree you about the Reverb! I didn't change any of my Zoom settings yet as it's all still set up for my Live rig!!
I'm recording in the most basic way possible!!
Guitar---->Zoom 9000----->Peavey Solo/PC Mic Line---->Audacity!!!
I do need to adjust some of the settings though, so maybe I'll use one of the other 9000's and set it specifically for this set-up so that I can get some more things recorded at least!!!
biggrin.gif biggrin.gif

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Apr 30 2009, 12:22 PM

That would be awesome man! smile.gif

Posted by: JVM May 1 2009, 12:26 AM

Hey Ivan, I haven't had much time to get things done recently due to finals being next week, things are in high gear. I could do some improv over a backing, but is skirting the purpose of this collaboration, so I suppose I'll just get in on the next one smile.gif

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic May 1 2009, 11:42 AM

Ok mate, no problem smile.gif

Posted by: andarr May 2 2009, 02:23 AM

Hey guys,

Here's my take. I couldn't decide between John Frusciante or Carlos Santana, so I based my improve on the playing styles of both. I made an extremely simple 12 bar blues shuffle backing track biggrin.gif Hope you guys like it!

 frusciantana.mp3 ( 509.8K ) : 190
 

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic May 2 2009, 08:46 PM

That's a very interesting fusion of two different styles man, great job! smile.gif

Posted by: JamesT May 4 2009, 07:01 AM

Hello Ivan,
If it's not too late, I'd like to participate in this collab. smile.gif

Below is my take.
With this, I sort of set out to achieve a Jimmy Page like quality. Zep did a lot of blues based rock tunes, as I'm sure you all know. In this take, there is one lick kind of like Jimmy does when he cuts loose during a mellow song. If you remember "Since I've been Loving You" , or even in the live version of "No Quarter".

The first few notes might be remotely like Stevie Ray Vaughn with vibrato that you can hear scratching on the frets as it rings. (you can hear this better in the guitar-only track). Nothing else in this tune is SRV though.

The rest is just simple melody. Maybe Santana would put something like this into a solo.


Anyway, I hope you like it.
Tell me if you can point out the riff that sounds like Page? mellow.gif

 20090503_Bm_Blues.mp3 ( 734.13K ) : 137

 20090503_Bm_Blues_nobt.mp3 ( 734.13K ) : 122



Ivan, I have a question: If you had to name just one artist or one album that inspired you to play the blues, what would it be? I want to start getting new influences into my playing and I think that one of the best ways to do it would be to listen to other great players. Thanks,
Jim.

Posted by: sted May 5 2009, 08:13 AM

QUOTE (JamesT @ May 4 2009, 07:01 AM) *
Ivan, I have a question: If you had to name just one artist or one album that inspired you to play the blues, what would it be? I want to start getting new influences into my playing and I think that one of the best ways to do it would be to listen to other great players. Thanks,
Jim.


Mmmmmm....

nice question mate, I like it!! Intrigued to hear Ivans answer, my betting would be Albert King!

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic May 5 2009, 11:08 PM

QUOTE (JamesT @ May 4 2009, 08:01 AM) *
Hello Ivan,
If it's not too late, I'd like to participate in this collab. smile.gif

Below is my take.
With this, I sort of set out to achieve a Jimmy Page like quality. Zep did a lot of blues based rock tunes, as I'm sure you all know. In this take, there is one lick kind of like Jimmy does when he cuts loose during a mellow song. If you remember "Since I've been Loving You" , or even in the live version of "No Quarter".

The first few notes might be remotely like Stevie Ray Vaughn with vibrato that you can hear scratching on the frets as it rings. (you can hear this better in the guitar-only track). Nothing else in this tune is SRV though.

The rest is just simple melody. Maybe Santana would put something like this into a solo.


Anyway, I hope you like it.
Tell me if you can point out the riff that sounds like Page? mellow.gif

 20090503_Bm_Blues.mp3 ( 734.13K ) : 137

 20090503_Bm_Blues_nobt.mp3 ( 734.13K ) : 122



Ivan, I have a question: If you had to name just one artist or one album that inspired you to play the blues, what would it be? I want to start getting new influences into my playing and I think that one of the best ways to do it would be to listen to other great players. Thanks,
Jim.


Great stuff man! Really cool control with the tone, and awesome vibrato as well! You really nailed the sound nicely. The melodic development in the first section is very good, and the fast legato part was something that reminded me on Page the most! smile.gif Great analysis and execution indeed, these are just first impression will put some more comments on this one! smile.gif


Answer: I'm afraid I cannot name just one artist mate, cause I really feel that I had lots of influences, and I don't think there is an album that I've listened first and I said:"This inspires me to play blues". Possibly this worked for some people, but it didn't worked out that way for me I guess. All I can say is that several great artists like BB King, SRV, Santana, Clapton are among the first people that I've had contact with that played blues or had blues influences, so this is how I started and then discovered other artists along the way. Every one of them made a strong impression on me, but my love for the blues was just something very natural to me, I was never thinking that I liked to play that music, it was something that just felt right from the beginning and stayed like that you know..

Posted by: JamesT May 6 2009, 01:31 AM

Thanks Ivan. I was thinking that the fast part was very Page-like too. smile.gif I've got to say, he was a big influence and inspiration to me, especially in the beginning.

Man, BB King performed here in Reno last year. My wife and I had planned to go see him. I had to travel on business that week so, we didn't get a chance to go. If he plays here again, I'm going to go even if I have to quit my job! biggrin.gif biggrin.gif . So if I were to go out and buy a BB King album, what are the essential BB King tunes or albums?

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic May 6 2009, 05:32 PM

QUOTE (JamesT @ May 6 2009, 02:31 AM) *
Thanks Ivan. I was thinking that the fast part was very Page-like too. smile.gif I've got to say, he was a big influence and inspiration to me, especially in the beginning.

Man, BB King performed here in Reno last year. My wife and I had planned to go see him. I had to travel on business that week so, we didn't get a chance to go. If he plays here again, I'm going to go even if I have to quit my job! biggrin.gif biggrin.gif . So if I were to go out and buy a BB King album, what are the essential BB King tunes or albums?


Glad you like Page man, he is sure one awesome guitar legend! smile.gif

BB King had lots of hits, I think good album to start with it "King of the Blues". It's a box of 4CDs and contains BB Kings greatest songs, it is truly a must have in every bluesman collection. Other albums are great as well, and I think some sort of a compilation is a good way to start if you wanna check him out. Later on you can see if you like it, then you can get earlier albums etc.
Another great album is a relatively recent one "Riding with the King" that he did with Eric Clapton, really a nice blues treat with lots of cool songs, some of then are acoustic. They did some new stuff there, and of course some blues standards. Needless to say that Clapton's and BB Kings guitar work on this one is really awesome and inspiring. cool.gif

Let me know if you need any more recommendations mate! And stay tuned for the comments wink.gif


Cheers smile.gif





Posted by: JamesT May 8 2009, 06:57 PM

Ok.
I've ordered both "Riding with the King" and "King of the Blues". cool.gif


Posted by: Tolek May 8 2009, 07:00 PM

Hey Ivan! I wonder when the comments and final mix are going to be published. huh.gif

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic May 9 2009, 04:37 PM

QUOTE (JamesT @ May 8 2009, 07:57 PM) *
Ok.
I've ordered both "Riding with the King" and "King of the Blues". cool.gif

Great! biggrin.gif

QUOTE (Tolek @ May 8 2009, 08:00 PM) *
Hey Ivan! I wonder when the comments and final mix are going to be published. huh.gif

I wanted to see if some more members will upload their takes, but as now we are over the deadline, I'll put comments in a day or so mate.

Posted by: Tolek May 9 2009, 05:15 PM

QUOTE (Ivan Milenkovic @ May 9 2009, 05:37 PM) *
I wanted to see if some more members will upload their takes, but as now we are over the deadline, I'll put comments in a day or so mate.

Ok, great, thanks! smile.gif

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