Smooth Latino Collaboration, FINAL MIX & COMMENTS Options

[Ivan Milenkovic]

Here's the thread with summed up comments for this collab, and final mix. Enjoy!


Marek Rojewski

Rhythm: Good 16th note groupings in the first part of the solo. The second part had a similar structure but with less use of the 16th notes. In general, I think the phrase-by-phrase approach here turned out pretty good. The thing that I would possibly like to hear here is the opposite rhythm phrase using. What I mean is that you could insert 16th note sequences in the second part towards the end, so the solo has a better rhythmical build up. Related to that - the slower note passages that were used in the second part would fit pretty nicely in the first part as the development of the solo.
Phrasing: In the first part you used 2 pairs of call & answer phrases, and another 2 pairs after that. These phrases were pretty good, and although at the end of this part I get a feeling of slight repetition, I also remembered all the phrases as well, which is a good sign that they are catchy. Nice work with those. The second part needed to have some sort of a climax form, and the ending should carry on that climax to the very end. I think the second part didn't quite match up with the first one melodically. Although the similar phrase structure was used in the very end, the suggestion that I have for this part is to at least use higher notes to distinguish the climax and ending from the intro.
Technique: Good played in general, and little string noise. What I think you would benefit in this solo is better bending and vibrato control. Bendings and vibratos need to be precisely in pitch, and their speed also needs to be controlled even more.
Sound: Good tone, slightly buzzy and flat tho. Dynamics is probably narrowed down with the amount of overdrive used. The preset is cutting nicely tho. There are some occasional clicks and pops here and there, not sure what that is.



skennyngton

Rhythm: Good start with the 2 pairs of structured theme phrases. After that a section with longer notes, and the whole structure repeats once more time with slight alterations of rhythm. In general, I consider this idea for the rhythm phrases a very good one, it give a good contrast to different solo sections, and gives a whole solo a round, complete shape. Memorable structure it is. The thing that I didn't like that much is the ending, I think it can be handled a bit better, specially the last note. It is too short.
Phrasing: The phrases used in this solo are pretty interesting, and the transition between the pal muting bit and longer note bits are flowing nicely as well. You managed to connect them in a nice natural way. In general I don't see anything wrong with the note choice you made at all. All the notes are exactly where needed. What I can suggest for making this solo even better is possibly developing the second palm muting section so it plays a variation of the first section. The last section can also be played in different octave, or just transposed, so you have a higher pitched passage that resembles to the first one, but now it is a bit more developed.
Technique: The longer passages were pretty cool, nice sustain and tone control. The palm muting sections could use a bit more tone control and better playing. VIbrato could also use more work, but I think it is on a good level.
Sound: Smooth tone, but buzzy to some extent. The amount of space effect added is pretty cool.


sted:

Rhythm: there is definitely a strong blues influence in the way you do your rhythm in the licks. They tend to carry the swing feel a lot. This is positive thing to me, as the solo really got a nice dimension from it. The thing I can suggest tho, is to insert some more longer notes here and there, and sustain them to allow more expressiveness and "vocal" vibe. Positive thing is that you used pauses in a very good way, so the uniformity of swing(y) rhythmic phrases was neutralized a bit.
Phrases: Great melodic build up from the beginning to the end. The phrases were blended so nicely, and the notes are flowing from low to high during the solo, with a good climax towards the end. I think the only part that can benefit here a bit is the last couple of notes and the last note. It just doesn't seem like a really effective ending for me, compared to the rest of the solo which was professional sounding. So, better ending would do justice to this solo.
Technique: Everything was executed nicely with a nice dynamic sense. I love how you adjusted the picking so some phrases are accented and some aren't. However, not all the notes came out well, and vibrato could use better control. My advice here is more picking exercises to really go through various combinations of picking patterns when changing strings.
Sound: Twangy clean with vintage dark reverb - excellent biggrin.gif The thing that could be a bit better is cutting down the tail of a reverb so it doesn't act as a lo-mid padding. This isn't too important tho, but it can be when the sound range of the reverb is clashin with some other instrument (even gutiar), and it messes up the range. By EQing the reverb and adjusting the tale a bit (rarely the big tale is ever needed and audible in the mix anyway) it will turn out awesome.

NoSkill:

Rhythm: Good rhythmical structure, with longer phrases in the beginning and shorter towards the end. The solo finishes off nicely in terms of rhythm as well. The thing that I didn't quite felt right about, is the way you played longer passages. They were undefined on moments, and the notes didn't fall into their places within bars. The reason for this could be partially because of the heavy usage of delay and reverb effects, which blur the real notes in such a way that there was a probability for confusion when playing. Next time, I suggest you do the dry take first, examine the notes and see if they fall into place, then add space effects.
Phrasing: Excellent way to start the solo, with that nice theme, and than developing it as the take progresses. I think you generally did a great job in capturing a mellow vibe and using it throughout the solo. The thing that you could work more are those passages in the middle. They don't really have that strong function, specially because the notes are scattered in a strange way. Positive thing about them is that they do land on proper root notes tho.
Technique: Volume swells/fade ins were used nicely in this solo to give it a more of a vocal vibe, which is good. What I think you could use is better note separation and more equal dynamics in picking on those faster passages.
Sound: The thing that you tried to do with the sound is a very positive one, and I can feel what that was, but I believe you didn't quite managed to make it a reality. Overuse of space effect made a negative impression with me, because I think the overall playing was muddy and undefined. The purpose of delay and space isn't to make the guitar sound like keyboards, it is there to add space (make guitar less or more further away from the other instruments in the mix). If you wanted to make your guitar sound like some pad/vocals, I suggest you try to experiment with various filters, and lower down the attack value, which will cause the fade in effect. Then you can add space to make it blend with the general space placement of the "band" in the backing track.

Sollesness:


Rhythm: Interesting flamenco-like rhythm playing that really blends with the backing well. I think you managed to play some very cool rhythmic figures here and the faster passages were also a very cool touch. Regarding the structure, it is a bit confusing to me as a listener, because the way you go from slow to fast and back is a bit rushed and not precise. The slower passages were OK, with a bit too much rhythmic "freedom", that caused some parts to be a bit disbalanced with the backing drums. The faster ones were great, but again, there is tendency in your playing not to know where they will end. You are doing the runs properly, but when the time comes to stop, you are not really sure what note is that. Try to understand the proper note placement within bars when playing the run, and anticipate where it ends.
Phrasing: As I said, you used cool flamenco motives when building the solo melodies. I liek the way you played them, and I think everything was pretty good. One thing that I noticed is that you are having problems to finish off faster passages. I suggest you practice the same run with various landing points - this will enable you to use that run in various situations with no problems.
Technique: Very good picking technique is displayed in the take, but I think dynamics of the picking could be wider. It was mostly with one degree of pressure, and I think there are few places in the solo where you could apply less or more pick pressure. Another thing was muting - there were some places where the strings ringing is clearly audible, so make sure you have your hand on those bass strings while playing.
Sound: Sound was very good, nicely blended with the backing track, with just the right amount of reverb added. Three small things I noticed: 1. There were some audible overdub signs. There is nothing wrong with overdubbing, but when doing it, try to make it seamless. 2. There were some places where clipping occured. 3. one string was sliightly detuned.




Sensible Jones:


Rhythm: Great way to follow the backing, and really cool rhythmical phrases from beginning to an end. I like the way you follow the drum in a syncopated manner. The thing that I believe you could work more on is structuring the phrases in a more interesting way. There was some degree of uniformity while I listened this take, and the first part of the solo and second part of the solo each have their own same phrases that are repeated a bit, with too little alterations. I believe you can develop these phrases just a bit more, and insert some faster passage here and there, or a longer pause, to make it more interesting.
Phrasing: Awesome first intro lick. The way you developed phrases was really great, and I can spot some very nice emotion going on there. The phrases have a very soulful vibe and are catchy. Occaional use of harmonic minor was a cool touch here too. Thing that I believe would made it even better is less use of root notes, and more use of other strong notes when finishing those phrases. Try to concentrate on other strong notes in the future when practicing to acquire this skill.
Technique: Great hybrid picking technique made the solo stand out, because the tone created was unique. Strong snapped notes came out very good and added a degree of expression that is un-obrainable with the pick. What I think you can work more on here is the proper use of fingers to add just the right amount of popping, somewhere less, somewhere more, depending on the function.
Sound: The color of your guitar tone was very cool, smooth and jazzy sounding. Very nice. The thing that is the problem is the clipping. Make sure pop and strum the strings hard next time when checking the meters - sometimes these techniques create a much bigger amplitude. Another (smaller) problem is the use of long reverb tail. There isn't any real need for this. Better make is shorter so you don't clash some frequencies with it. It was quiet tho..

Daniel Realpe:

Rhythm: great start and continuing right away with faster rhythmical phrases that build up great towards the end. The phrases were played spot on, with a lot attention to details, and the way you play is a bit strange, but full of control and expression. I specially like the finishing lick where you landed dead on the end. This demonstrates in my opinion just how much control there is there.
Phrasing: Phrases were structurized in a very unusual but very systematic way. You connected the different licks in a great way, from beginning to an end. You know exactly where the notes are, and where you will land, and have immense skills to make it work. The thing that I think it was a bit strange is the way how melody and rhythm were connected together. To me it sounds like the melodies were slightly "detached" from the rhythm in a way that the phrases were constantly rushing/slowing down with no way for listener to predict the changes in any way.
Technique: Impressive display of array of techniques. You are no doubt great musician and player with lots of practice under the belt. Your technique is your strongest side no doubt, specially whammy use, which extensively used in the solo.
Sound: Great tone, cuts through the mix nicely and sounds very precise. The important part of the tone is in your fingers no doubt, and with this kind of a direct sound with low amounts of reverb and mid-focused tone, it is very hard to cover mistakes. You played every note properly and maintained control throughout, and it definitely enhanced already focused tone.



Animal:

Rhythm: nice flowing kind of rhythm work, with pauses and syncopation being the key element for maintaining the interest with the listener. The rhythm was a bit uniform, but different different way of how you used the pauses and note duration values from beginning to the end, created just the right degree of solution to the uniformity problem. The minimalistic approach blended in nicely, and all these components worked hand in hand to created a nice balanced take.
Phrasing: Very good sense for melody, with excellent call & response phrases throughout the solo. I specially liked the first part of the solo, and the phrases were developed really naturally there. Rhythm was well connected to the way you build melodies as well. I think the ending can be seen as something that could make the solo a bit better if changed. The way the solo ended was a bit sudden. The problem is in the last couple of bars in fact - there should be a proper build-up that is leading the the end in a bit more natural way.
Technique: In general, your picking is very good, and even. Better dynamics is what I would hope to hear in the future tho. Some phrases need less and some more pressure with the pick. This will create a more expressive playing. Another thing to work on is the vibrato - try to make it slow and wide (playing from the wrist).
Sound: Good tone, rounded and shiny, with just the right amount of lo mids so it gets jazzy. The thing that I didn't feel it was a good addition to this was bright long-tailed reverb. Try to make it a lot shorter, cause the big tail can in general only cause problems in the mix.


whitesnake:

Rhythm: Very nice rhythmical phrase to start your solo with, I think the main phrase you chose is a very good one, and accents the rhythm of the backing quite nicely. However, in terms of rhythm, there were hardly any development at all. All the rhythmical phrases that you used were almost the same, and besides one 16 note sequence phrase towards the end, all the phrases were pretty uniform in terms of note duration content. This can be a problem sometimes, because even in the melody is different, when the listener hears something repeated with the same rhythm several times, that same listener will tend to percieve it as the same thing.
Phrasing: your main theme here was excellent, and you did a call & responce approach, with several pairs of them lasting 2 bars or even 4 bars in the second part. The way you built your melodies was quite good, but I would say it was again a bit uniform, because of the frequent root landings in the end of the "response" phrases. Remember that landing note is very important, and even if you have different melodies all together, listener will tend to remember the last note most, so if you play lots of phrases differently, and land them on the same note, they will all tend to sound similar.
Technique: Good playing in general. Judging from what I heard here, I think you can possibly work more on your bending technique to make it more precise, and to get a good tone while bending. Also, some more work with the picking hand is needed, so you can play those 16th note sequences on the same comfort level as the rest of the take, which is very important because of the tone.
Sound: Sound was pretty good, nice smooth round tone, but with more spacial effects than needed. Try to lower down the reverb level, and cut the tail down short, because it is really not needed. Reverb shouldn't even be audible that much in the mix.

Toroso


Rhythm: Good slow-paced rhythmical phrases, mostly constructed out of quarter/eight note combinations. I like the way the rhyhtmical phrases are scattered, but I can suggest the use of some other note durations as well to escape uniformity. Learning only one 16th note passage, and using pauses can really help here, cause there are many ways to combine these simple elements to form even more interesting rhythmical structure. My advice is - focus on at least one 16 note passage.
Phrasing: Very good phrases, nicely played, and nicely developed. Your scale knowledge has improved. The areas where I think there could be more improvement are horizontal movements on the neck (bridgin positions together), and also, arpeggios. Arpeggios playing will help greatly to understand how to properly finish the phrases (on what notes to land)
Technique: Very nicely played take, with slight problems regarding bending technique. Bending should be more stronger and in pitch, so I advise more work on that.
Sound: The sound was very good and round, and I liked it. What I think could be better is the reverb. It is too long and it is making the sound a bit muddy. Reverb should be very light and very discrete.

Kaznie

Rhythm: Great rhythmical figures throughout the solo. I think your solo can be divided rhythmically in 3 main sections. In the first one, there were lots of 16th notes, in the second section, you slowed down a bit, and inserted longer pauses, although 16th note sequencing is present here in short bursts. The last ending section has longer notes. In general I think this kind of a structure is very good, but I would try a bit more reversed approach so that the shorter note durations are positioned more towards the end of the solo, and in the beginning there is a nice slow leading into the story.
Phrasing: Great main theme that is nicely developed all the way to the end of the take. I think you utilized the minor scale excellent here, and really nailed the ending properly on the root. What I think could be better are some landing notes in some phrases, that didn't quite had the proper function. In some places you bended the note and that bended note was not the strong note so it gave an impression of unfinished thought. What I suggest is to try to learn the bended notes as well as fretting notes, so you can use them better.
Technique: Great use of legato techniques, and picking is good as well. There are some problems with string noise, and some of the bends could be more precise. The last bend could be better controlled.
Sound: You had a good idea for the sound, but too much overdrive made it a bit buzzy and undefined. For a lot smoother preset, try to lower down the gain a lot, and EQ the signal a bit so you remove the harsh top end sizzle. Space effects could be lowered down a bit as well.


Staffy:


Rhythm: Very good rhythmical phrases with notes that are nicely defined and on proper places. There is some sense of repetition with pairs of 16th notes that have pauses between them, but I think everything is fitted nicely. One thing that I noticed is that although passages have a good flow to them, there are some places where timing is a bit loose. I think a bit more precise picking would be very good. The first part of the solo was good in timing, but the second one a bit more loosier..
Phrasing: Great accurate phrasing techniques are displayed in this solo. I like the way you accented important notes and the way you used intervals and arpeggios to build your improvisation. Great sounding. The thing that I noticed as a listener is that some phrases were a bit glued into one another, specially the last arpeggios, although the faster legato line in the second part was a great pinnacle of the solo. So structurally, I can recommend a bit more fluidity in the way you form phrases, to make them a bit more natural in a way.
Technique: Great fluid playing, everything was on the spot, and I think the only thing I can recommend really, is to be careful when picking, so that the notes come tight in a bar where needed. This is specially important in the last part.
Sound: Great smooth tone that accents the dynamics quite nicely, and very well blended with the backing. Excellent work. Minor suggestion on the small amount of hum noise present in the beginning.

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[Daniel Realpe]

Thank you very much for the comments!

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[NoSkill]

Thanks for the time and effort in the comments and making the final mix!

Tom

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[Sensible Jones]

Thanks again Ivan for the comments and also all your time!!!

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[JVM]

Just thought I'd pipe in and say I thought this collab was great! I thought everyone had a great take, there were some really cool ideas in this one.

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[Ivan Milenkovic]

Thank you all for participating, it was a very nice collab, and I must say all the takes were great. It comes the time when I have to do very little mixing and leveling of the takes. Everybody knew exactly how to setup a tone, which I think is a cool improvement.

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[whitesnake]

Thank you all for participating, it was a very nice collab, and I must say all the takes were great. It comes the time when I have to do very little mixing and leveling of the takes. Everybody knew exactly how to setup a tone, which I think is a cool improvement.

Thank you Ivan,i think you have made a good mix of everything,it was very funny.

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