Completed Gmc Collaborations |
|
|
|
|
Apr 4 2009, 02:16 AM
|
|
YNGWIE MALMSTEEN COLLABORATION - 13 PARTICIPANTS
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hi guys. First of all I want to thank all of you for taking part in this collaboration. There are some great ideas to hear in each take and it was fun mixing it and listening. It took me 2 days to mix all this because some takes didn’t have a good sound definition. This always takes so much time to fix the frequencies and fit it in the mix. I am sorry that many didn't submit their take but I think there is really no need to worry if some of you are not comfortable with the style. The point is to show what you can do and that way I can give you some tips how to strengthen your weak points and lead you towards the right track. Some of you are not good with picking, some with pull offs, some with the sound and some need more creativity. I have been through all these stages before and it just needs some time and practicing. It is also important to listen to music that you can learn from. I got so much inspiration by listening to great technical players and never lost my hope that I would eventually be able to play like them. Today I can pretty much play most of the things I can imagine but I am very aware that I also need to learn a lot. If you think that I am a great player then read some of Pedja's comments on instructor's collab and you will see that people can find many things I should also work on. To be honest, I learned some great things from your takes on this collab. There were some very inspirational lines and licks that I just loved listening. Therefore I suggest that you guys don't have a reason not to take part in these collabs as we are all learning, having fun and helping each other. I would also like to apologize for the text comments. I started recording video comments and after just a couple of them my camera battery charger died so I need to wait about 7 days to get the new one. It would be better if I can take my guitar and demonstrate you some licks but this time it is not possible. I will post each comment as I am finishing so let’s start with Superize  superize (0:00 - 0:39) Hi. You had some great ideas for the solo. I could hear that you pretty much made your structure in a logical way. Started with a nice opening line and later involved busier playing. This solo sounds like a mixture of well defined lines and licks connected together. The opening lick was very nice and after that you changed your guitar sound (from 0:10). Why? There was really no need for that. Your initial sound was much better and had a better definition. After that you had so much of a dirty distortion and I had to apply 2 different EQs to soften it. Your licks up to the E section were all good. I liked the way you played the 16th notes but you need to work on your picking a bit more. It wasn’t 100% precise and also your sound was limiting your cleanness. From (0:19 – 0:22) you played a nice lick 3 times in a row but you played E Phrygian instead of Phrygian Dominant. There you had a minor 3rd which is a wrong note. You only need to replace that one with the major 3rd and it would be perfect. That way you’ll end up with Phrygian Dominant. The line after that (0:22 – 0:25) was out of the scale. You finished the line on the C# note which is (major 6th from your E root). That note is not in the Phrygian Dominant formula and it sounded really dissonant. Again, after that you had some arpeggios that didn’t really fit in the scale and they sounded like you randomly chose which frets to press. The last (diminished section) was good. All dim 7 notes were correct and I wonder why you didn’t play the correct notes before this. You obviously know when something just doesn’t fit the chord progression and you could have learned a couple of patterns using the right scale over the E section. That way this solo would have sounded great as it has a really good structure. Remember, E Phrygian Dominant is the same as A Harmonic Minor you just have a different root (E) and your emphasis is not on the A note anymore when the backing enters the E chord. Apart from your scales, I would suggest practicing your picking. Take some of my Yngwie patterns on this thread, open the GP file, turn your metronome on and practice slowly but make sure it’s is precisely picked. I think you’re on a very good way to improve your technique and together with your creativity you can soon sound like a pro. Thanks for joining the collab Berko (0:39 - 1:16) This is a very cool take. It started great in a typical expressive Yngwie way of soloing. I like your guitar sound. Maybe less middle frequencies would just make a bit more of a bottom stand out but in general it had a nice definition which allows all the notes to be heard properly. Your picking is not bad at all. Still a bit dirty on some places but I am sure you can clean it up with some practicing. I can just see my self back in 1992 when I discovered this style of playing. After 1 year I used to play exactly like you It took me 2-3 years and I could have played pretty much as today. You did some A minor arpeggios a couple of times in a row but they would need to be a bit more defined in order to sound acceptable. Your sweeps were too fast, almost like you’re hitting the first and the last note of the arpeggio while all in between is not really defined. But again I used to play like that when I started You need to concentrate and do your best to execute all the notes from that arpeggio. You entered the E section with the A note. It is in the scale but it is not the strong note anymore because we are in a different section now. You should have played an E note in order to announce that we’re now in a different world called Phrygian Dominant. This way that you announced it we can’t have that impression. But from that point on you did play E Phrygian Dominant which is great. The diminished section was pretty close to be 100%. There were a couple of missed notes but sounds like you slipped by accident. I was happy to hear that you were aware of scales and you got them all like 95%. Your ideas are very good but your picking needs improvement which I am sure you can improve in a year or so. Great job Berko Caelumamittendum (1:16 - 1:53) This take has some very nice chops. The first thing I had problems with was the guitar sound. You need less middle and more treble. I did my best with a special EQ only for your track. All of you guys should take example from Sergio Dorado. His sound was the best in this collab. I almost didn’t need to touch it. Your opening line was a great idea for playing fast minor scale with hammer on and pull offs and later extending it to some tapping (if I could hear properly). All the notes were correct but your pull offs are still weak. You need to pull off much stronger to make ir sound almost like picking. That way your cleanness will be a lot better and overall impression much higher. Another great thing is the ascending scale just before the E section. This scale was just in the right time towards the high E note on which you finished and waited for the E riff to start. This is how pro guys would do it and well done for this one. All E section was nearly perfect. Picking was very good. Still a bit more precision needed but very close. The important thing is that all the notes were in the Phrygian Dominant scale and together with your cool lines it produced something very listenable The diminished section wasn’t really creative. After all that fast stuff I was expecting some more cool runs over the last B dim 7 chord but you only did a couple of long slide notes and maybe ruined a bit of the overall solo quality. It really sounded like you didn’t have more ideas how to finish. The very last A note was out of tune (it was a higher pitch) but Coffeeman overlapped with his starting line so your weird A note wasn’t that noticeable Overall I am very happy with what you delivered here. Learn some diminished shapes and keep practicing picking a bit more. You’re very close to have it perfect. Also make sure that your guitar sound has a good definition. Thanks for this nice take coffeeman (1:53 - 2:30) I think I know exactly what you wanted to do and what you had in mind. Your structure is very clever but playing needs improvement in order to transform your ideas into a great solo. I was happy to hear that you played all correct notes. Your overall control is not really strong and therefore the connection between different lines sounds nearly broken. You played some typical Yngwie licks which I liked (2:10 – 2:12). You had some nicely bended notes after that lick with a very nice vibrato. Your vibrato sounds really cool. The main thing I need to point out is that many of the lines sound a bit sloppy. You got all those notes but they are not softly connected and the rhythmical placement should be much more precise. When you start your run, you need to visualise exactly how you are going to finish that phrase so that the whole thing makes some logical sense. You always start good but the ending of the phrase is always unpredictable. Your picking is in a good developing level but needs more work. Take some simple 4 or 6 note patterns and repeat until you sound like a machine. Practice slowly and speed up as you make sure that you’re confident with the current tempo. You are not bad player at all. I think you have a very nice and solid foundation to progress fast. Just listen to music as much as you can and practice techniques in an organised way. I liked all your ideas and now you just need some time to turn them into a nice and clean solo. Thanks for playing with us Dexxter (2:30 - 3:07) Great job Dexter Very nice and creative take. Your intro was awesome with some cool hard rock licks. (2:37 – 2:40) was a simple rock lick on one string but fits great in your solo atmosphere. Your solo should be a great example that from simpler things you can still sound nice and melodic if you are creative enough. I was pretty much happy with your vibrato as well but I would make it even more aggressive so it really sounds like Yngwie. The whammy scream at the start of E section was a really cool announcement that something new is coming up. Just after that you had a nice line but it sounded more in A minor than E Phrygian Dominant because you finished that line on the A note. However the next one was the right one and well done for that. The diminished part was awesome. Very precise playing and cool patterns. I like that you managed to get out from the speed and slow down towards the end without losing any strength in that whole diminished line. This is sometimes very difficult to achieve but you showed that you really knew what you were doing. I find this take very inspirational and I was really enjoying listening to this one. Thanks for playing with us and I hope you’ll come back again and show more of your great work enforcer (3:07 - 3:44) Before I start I want to say that you have progressed 1000% since you entered my first collaboration. That makes me really happy and I am amazed with what I am hearing after your sloppy picking that you posted long ago Even at that time I knew you can do it but I predicted 7-8 months of hard work. Now you broke the record and really well done. The opening line was very nice. Just after you finished that line it sounded like you continued recording from there but your split point wasn’t connected properly. I could even see that in the graphical view of your take. That point had much thicker peak. Record from before and connect the take on some less noticeable point. Try more places until you find it. Don’t forget to use 5ms cross fade when you split the take. The Yngwie lick (3:14 – 3:17) was picked spot on Arpeggios on (3:20 – 3:21) need more work. Sweeping has to be much more defined. Use 3 string arpeggios for that and make sure you don’t go faster than needed. Count the notes and their rhythmical placement so that your arpeggios sound as good as the rest. E section started very nice with some longer notes. Your vibrato on the longer notes needs to be more consistent. I told you before when you vibrating or bending you bend too much and it almost sounds slightly out of tune. Be more careful there. Tremolo picking on one string was awesome. I really liked that and you kept great rhythmical consistency in that line. The diminished part had some great patterns (typical Yngwie) and you picked them all almost perfect. Great stuff Gilmore (3:44 - 4:21) This is a very nice take. Very good melody flow and pretty good control. I would advise a tiny bit more distortion (drive) on your sound. Your sound was good enough but 15% more distortion will allow you to sound more in style. Your vibrato need more work. It’s too fast and sound nervous. It has to be vibrated in the 8th notes movement and much wider. Also be careful when vibrating to go back to the initial point so your note doesn’t sound out of tune. I told the same to Enforcer. All your notes were pretty much in right scales. There was one place in the E section where you hit a minor 3rd (4:07) which sounded like a little shock as that note is not in Phrygian Dominant. You should have gone for a major 3rd. After that you had a very nice run with fast tremolo picking. This stuff always works when used in the right moment. Also in this one you had one G note (minor 3rd) but not that noticeable as the previous one as this is the part of a strong unit (the whole fast run). Just be careful about these little things and the rest was all good. The diminished section was simple but very nicely structured. Great job Gilmore Kjutte (4:21 - 4:58) This take has a very nice structure and some cool notes used. You showed with the opening line that you were really trying to play in Yngwie style. All those licks are typical neoclassical licks and I am happy to hear that you were serious about staying in the right style. Your A minor section was really good but in the E section you had more sloppy runs. Everything is put well together but needs a cleaner playing. Practice your picking. You need to pick as many notes as you press. If you pick more than you press then it sounds a bit dirty. Practicing simple patterns in a slow tempo will help you for this. I spent months practicing this but later it was all well worth. You just need to be more accurate and with your nice ideas it should all sound great. The diminished part had a very cool chromatic approach. I really liked when I heard some passing notes in between the diminished shapes. They added a bit more strength and aggression which works very well in this last part. You are a very talented player and I can only suggest that you organise your practice sessions everyday for this kind of stuff. The rest will come along. Well done lcsdds (4:58 - 5:34) Great take Monte Very well controlled from beginning until the end. It is very nice to hear how well you developed this solo knowing that you weren’t really into neoclassical style of playing before. All your patterns are structured almost to perfection. It would be nice to hear at least one picked run instead of tapped but I remember you said before you will be working on that more and more. I really hope that soon I will have a chance to hear some AP chops from you. I am sure that you’re a well ogranised player when it comes to practicing so no need to explain what you should work on and what the right way of getting there is. Of course if you have any questions feel free to ask and I am here to help at anytime. I won’t comment much about your playing as it was all great. There are just a tiny rhythm placement issues but nothing to worry about that much. I am sure you are aware of that. The very last note could have been a bit longer, sounds like you really cut it. Now I want to tell you about the recording. Your take was stereo but only one channel had audio on it, either R or L. Import it back in your DAW and you’ll see it. I fixed that easily with just one plugin but be careful how you are recording. Another thing you did (and Kjutte did the same thing but I forgot to tell him) is that you posted your youtube video take and left only your solo track for me. I really need your mix with the backing so I can match the take according to my backing. I need to hear the initial click and that’s my guide for alignment in the project. After I align that then I can move your take forward on the right place and get rid of your take with the backing leaving just a solo part. This way I had to record the sound from youtube on a separate track and match your solo according to that and then both of those match with my backing Sometimes I can miss 20 or more milliseconds by doing that and it might sound right to me but you may hear that that’s not what you played. Apart from this, you’re an awesome player and keep up the good work. It will be honor to have you again in the next collab. Well done Sense (5:35 - 6:11) For this take I need to think where to start from I guess from the beginning. This take sounds like you have serious difficulties to alternate pick when playing fast. You tried to play through the whole take as fast as possible but you hardly had any of the runs well defined. Your picking needs some serious cleaning up starting with beginner AP exercises. You have the speed but not the cleanness. You need to make sure that you pick as many notes as you press. Picking faster than that produces a bunch of mess and your whole melodic line loses the definition. I really suggest starting with some simple 6 note patterns on 2 strings but very slowly. Don’t run away from metronome. This is really important. Start from 60bpm and play 8th notes until you are 1000% sure that your 8th notes don’t need more work. After that set your tempo to 70bpm and speed up gradually. If you want, I can send you some AP exercises in Guitar Pro file and monitor your progress over time. I am very happy to help in any way. Enforcer is a great example that something like this is very achievable. When he submitted his first take for my first collab, it really sounded very dirty. Read my comments on his take now and see what I told him. In just 3-4 months he is picking million times cleaner and he seems to be very happy about it. You can probably play some good stuff in some different style of music but here you sounded like you were really struggling. If you knew that you wouldn’t feel comfortable with fast stuff, you could have played something as twice as slow (something in 8th notes) and I would be very happy with that. There were many interesting examples in this collaboration showing that you can sound very melodic and neoclassical even when you’re not shredding. That would have been much easier solution for producing a better take. Now about the scales. Because your playing wasn’t clean enough, I am not sure I could precisely hear what scales you were playing. I could hear some notes here and there and I think that most of the time you were not staying in the right scale. In the first part I said there should be A Harmonic Minor. You were somewhere around that scale but not really keeping your note choice within the scale all the time. In the E section there should have been E Phrygian Dominant (the same scale as A Harmonic Minor just the root changes to E) and I could hardly recognize that your emphasis was on the E root from that point on. There were also some arpeggio attempts but again not clean enough and the whole solo was like one long messy run without a logical definition. I am really not trying to be strict or anything, just want to help and give you some good advices. I would like to know for how long you have been playing guitar. Maybe that will give me better picture how to look at your playing. Contact me via PM if you need these exercises and we can start slowly with an organised program for maybe a couple of months. I give you my word that you will be surprised about what can be done in just a short period of time and from there you will probably be able to continue yourself. After that I will make sure that I produce a backing for one of my next collaborations where you can demonstrate everything you learned. I am sure my comments will then be 100% positive but only if you are serious and have at least an hour a day to practice without losing continuity. Anyway thanks for joining the collab and I hope you will get some of my advices friendly. The decision is 100% yours Sergio Dorado (6:12 - 6:48) Awesome take Sergio First of all let me say that your guitar sound was the best here. I almost didn’t need to do anything to it. There was a general EQ applied to all takes but most of them had one more only for their part. Your one didn’t need that at all. Great distortion type and amount of drive. Great definition and color. Your playing is close to perfect. You could be just 10% more precise with rhythm placement when doing very fast scales but this can easily be fixed in a very short period of time. Your picking was nearly perfect. Maybe on a couple of places wasn’t 100% precise but very close. The best part was in the E section (6:34 – 6:40). There were some beautiful patterns played so confident and powerful. You even added a pinched harmonic at one place and this whole part sounded just awesome. Everything else was just as great. You are a true talent and I always enjoy listening to your creativity. It is also good to have you here because I often use your take as an example for some cool things that the others can learn from Really no need to comment much, just well done and you know that you are always welcome to participate Chris Evans (6:49 - 7:25) Not bad at all Chris Actually very very good. This take is one of great examples that slow notes can produce some great melodic lines and still sound neoclassical. The first part was very good. All your ideas were in the right scale but the connection between lines could have been just a bit more creative. You play a couple of notes and you stop on some long note in an unexpected way. That’s just a stylistic and individual thing but I would just develop these lines a bit more spicy and connect them smoother. E section = great. Long notes with whammy bar licks were just like coming from space Really great way of making your solo not to sound repetitive. This part you controlled so well and it really sounded very powerful. The last diminished part was just as great but the very last (closing) lick was a bit sloppy. You can spend some more time working on your alternate picking and you can quickly clean those little parts. Other than this I really don’t have much to say. Always nice to have you with us, so keep them coming and well done for this one Tolek (7:26 - 8:06) Good job Tolek but very dirty We spoke about this before and I know that you’re still not very comfortable with AP. It sounds like you’re on a good way to get it right soon. I have seen many of your other takes on lessons and still remember you from previous collab. I know you’re a very talented player but still in a strong developing phase. You can always ask for any advice if you need some AP exercises. I said the same to Sense. There are many lessons that can help you clean your picking but doing exercises first will even speed up the process. Of course you shouldn’t stop playing songs and lessons at the same time. I was happy to hear that all your notes were in all right scales. The one string lick (7:30 – 7:35) wasn’t really rhythmically placed tight. Make sure you follow the tempo like a programmed machine E section was much better and there were some nice lines. What happened on (7:54)? There was a long break for a whole second. Sounds like you started recording from there but this was very noticeable and totally unexpected in a bunch of fast lines just to stop like that. I am sure that was some recording issue but I’ll forgive you this time The last diminished part was really good all the way until the end. All your ideas are nice and you just need to get your technique to the point to be able to transform your ideas into some great playing. I liked what you delivered here and it was nice to hear this amount of creativity. Great work
This post has been edited by Emir Hot: Apr 4 2009, 02:19 AM -------------------- Check out my <a href="https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/instructor/Emir-Hot" target="_blank">Instructor profile</a>
www.emirhot.com www.myspace.com/emirhotguitar www.myspace.com/sevdahmetal |
 |
 
|
|
|
|
|
|
May 2 2009, 10:16 AM
|
|
EXOTIC SCALES
5 participants 
Exotic_Collab__Dexxter__Ztevie__Lian__Outlaw__Berko.mp3 ( 17.22MB )
Number of downloads: 243First I'd like to thank all of you for participating in my first collab and to take this chanllenge that is those new sounds of the exotic scales. The comments are divided in three parts, each for one part of the backing. I've tried to remark not only the things that I think you have to improve technically but also the compositional/improvisational skills, the note choice and some more things that came into my mind when I listened to your solos. The order of the participants is not relevant, I added the takes in any order but in the name of the MP3 is the list and here obiously I commented in that order. I recommend to everyone to read all the comments. I've sent you a PM to notify that this post is online smile.gif Thank you for being pacient since this is the first time I made such a work. Dexxxter Part 1 The only comment about this part is that the first lick is a little un-accurate but the rest is great. I like how you prepare the entrance of the second part and those tapped harmonics to get the octave of some notes. You also took advantage on the "oriental" sounding of the scale and give it some phrasing like some players do to the harmonic minor, that's something original because is what I've been looking to teach with this scales, some new sounding but aplied to these new scales. Part 2 Nice entrance melody and you've got an idea: movement in the backing = no too much movement into the lead line. I like that, is always a great strategy. The final line where you go up to the limit of the guitar register is a really cool way to end that part. Part 3 Now you're back to the lower register, nice contrast with the previous part, also a nice idea. Also you've included in this part a typical pedal tone and considering this is the harmonic major is the perfect place to do that kind of thing, and again I'm glad you took the advice of following your old elements into this new sounding. General comments Great playing, great ideas the only thing to remark is that sometimes you have little flaws like you missed some accurate rhythmic placing or some slides that are not precise, but considering the overall those are little things. Ztevie Part 1 You've created a good motiv that helps you to the syntax of your solo. You start with this motiv with G, C and Db and then you answer it then come back and make a variation on it, then you go for other places and then when the part repeats you come back to the same motiv. That's a good idea, take phrase that will place your ideas in order. Part 2 In this part you use the same concept, start the part with a little melodic development. Also like Dexxxter you don't abuse of the movement of the guitar line and let the backing do the major motion. Is a nice touch the harmonics slide. Part 3 I think this is the weaker part of your solo. Here the ideas are more like floating around although there are some good out there to work on. In the 2:42 min. you have a bending that reaches to A and the scale has Ab, that's something that you could avoid, it doesn't sound nice to the part. General comments It is a great take but I think you could improve some points: -vibrato: you could practice to give a more natural feel to that technique. -bendings: be aware of the notes that you're arriving when you improvize or make a solo. Keep the good work! Lian Part 1 First of all, nice idea of using harmonized lines and take advantage of the weird sounding of them. Like Dexxxter you went for some "oriental" sounding in this first part using the augmented 2nds of the scale, nice resource. I think the obligation of using harmonized lines gave you a really accurate enviroment where you have to really nail the rhythms. Part 2 Nice idea the triad work in that register. You've decided to move the things a little bit but the rhythm is always fitting some pattern so it doesn't bother to have that movement in the lead. Part 3 My favourite part of your solo is this one. I like the harmonizations of the first notes are really cool give to the line other feel, maybe you could keep that idea running a little longer not all the time but a re-use of that part into the solo is a nice option. Then the tapping licks are really wild, the ideas are not bad but I'm sure you've noticed that using this scale is really different to fit the regular tapping licks that we are used to. The last part of the solo is really really funny, and I love that thing of your playing. You make a melody and then you take out a lot of the gain and becomes like a whispering hahaha, really really nice idea, is like saying good-bye in a really low voice. General Comments Well mate I don't see any problems in your playing the solo is great. Maybe the only comment could be that the harmonizations don't have to be abused (but that's just for me, I don't like lots of harmonizations in a solo). Although you managed really well and there are a few that I just loved like the starting one in the third part. Outlaw Part 1 Well mate, you start with some rhythmic idea and that is ok, you reapeat that idea through the whole part. I don't have a major problem with that but the rhythm is not precise, you have to work on that. The syncopation of the motive sometimes is ahead and sometimes behind. Work in that rhythm until is really in the right place everytime. Part 2 One part of the difficulties of this collab was the selection of the notes. In this part you start with a tapping lick that sounds a little harsh because you picked first on a augmented triad and second on a note that isn't into the scale that is supposed to be played on that part, the A is not part of the scale if you re-arrange the tapping in order to play the Ab (the note of the scale) the sound is no more an augmented triad and it sounds more pleasent to the ear. You come back again to the same triad and then go to another augmented triad. So the triad-tapping idea is great but the note choice is not, is a really harsh sounding because the harmony is implied in the keys and the voices, if there was just the guitar on the backing could pass maybe but you have to notice the harmony in the back that is asking for something else. Part 3 This part I think is the one that is more improvised. The rhythm in many parts is very un-accurate. The tapping idea just before the end is nice but it doesn't lead to anything. General Comments I think that would be great if you work on some points: -rhythm: practice always your ideas with a metronome and jam with some backing like a drum machine. Also would be great if you could write your ideas because that will give you a really precise placing of the rhythm and organice your mind. -harmony: try to be aware of the harmony that is played on the bottom all the time so you won't have "wrong" notes. -improvisation: work on the connection of your ideas, try to record and listen your improvisations and be aware of the connections of them. The ideas are something that everybody has but the main problem in composition and improvisation is the connection between them. Keep the good work! Berko Part 1 The first idea is a little un-accurate rhythm placing. The problem that I find in this first part is that you've managed to include lots of techniques: tapping, tapping with slide, tremolo. slides, alternate picking, legato but is like the ideas come from the technique and not from where they have to come. I know this is a new sound and that's why you have to pay attention to the rhythm and the note choice insted of the technique. Don't missunderstand me, you have some nice ideas in that first part but I know you can make it better. Part 2 As many participants you've chosen not to make lot of movement in this part and that's ok. No major problems here. Part 3 I think you have two cool things in this part: the open string lick and the tapping lick. Those ideas are the main thing to develop here, but instead you took them like something that pass through. The open string idea is something that nobody came up and all the open strings (except the fifth) could fit into this scale. General Comments I think your playing is fine, the problem is not technical but something that it has to do with the time that you spent playing the scale. Just give it some time to feel like it's the most normal thing in the world to play those notes and get used to the augmented intervals. Keep the good work! https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_fo...l=exotic+scales
Exotic_Collab__Dexxter__Ztevie__Lian__Outlaw__Berko.mp3 ( 17.22MB )
Number of downloads: 243This post has been edited by Ramiro Delforte: May 2 2009, 10:17 AM -------------------- |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
May 3 2009, 02:40 PM
|
|
TIME FEEL COLLABORATION
21 Participants FINAL MIX Hello GMC ! Welcome to Time feel soloing collaboration final mix and comments. I am very excited to publish this mix and make it available for you guys. It is unbelievable how many different melodic rhythmic and harmonic ideas there were over simple A minor I IV V chord progression. There were some exceptional things, there were some passing and bellow passing ideas. The point is you all learned something in this collaboration. For some of you it may be new way of spicing up your practice routine, composing and improvising in general, while some added another cool tool in their arsenal of tricks. I also hope that you learned importance of rhythm and time feel in music smile.gif Most of you already know what you need to work on (half regular or double time feel) but I will talk about it more in your comments. To sum everything up, I am very happy how this collaboration went and am already excited about this months collaboration smile.gif I did different approach with mixing today (took me whole day to do it + sound card troubles), so I do appreciate if you let me know how you like your take compared to the whole mix (levels and placement). I will now leave you to listen and enjoy final mix. Thanks guys it was a pleasure doing this one with you all ! Number of participants : 21 Comments berko (0:00 - 0:34) Berko you passed the class altough if I was more grading phrasing and rhythm placement strictly here I would have to give you a lower grade. You definitely displayed control of different values. It is evident in your whole solo that you used both slow and fast rhythms. The way phrases blended with each other rhythmically is basically everything I was looking for in this class type collaboration. Because of this, you pass this class smile.gif However, I feel that your rhythm playing or phrasing if you will should be much tighter. In order words, even when you play "broken" rhythms (16th notes combined with triplets, eights, ties etc), you should be able to always know where down beats and up beats are. This is something that you can practice and improve more with metronome, drum machine and specific drills where you just isolate rhythms that are causing you trouble to execute well. In my opinion you need to do that with faster rhythms (and this goes not only for you but for most guys here!). Other then everything mentioned above, this take has nice techniques (tapping sounded unexpected which I liked) but your bending sounded a bit flat (so I would work on that as well). All in all you have passed the class but you have assignment to practice and tighten up your phrasing ! Thank you for your take Berko ! coffeeman (0:34 - 1:05) Andru couple of things about your take. You followed guidelines perfectly and did everything I asked for. I especially like how your solo was developing. Slower to faster rhythms (half to regular to double time feel). I feel that you have showed very mature playing and approach here, almost as if you were composing the solo. Your half regular and double time feel sounded good ! I have couple things to add for your practice schedule : - Watch out when you play syncopated rhythms ! They can be very tricky and pull you in and out of tempo. That weakens the phrasing and messes up a solo a bit. You can hear it in your take on couple of spots, especially towards the end ! This is something you can work around by practicing soloing just with one specific rhythm. Take syncopated phrase, write down rhythm , clap it , sing it, then start making melodies of it ! Play it with metronome, drum machine, one chord vamp, whole backing track. If you do this, your phrasing will become even stronger and there will be nothing that can throw you of balance ! This is really the only thing I have as suggestion for you. Sound could have been brighter a bit, or just different amp settings would have worked- but I am not grading you on that but rather giving you that as side note. You have successfully passed the class Andru, but please work on the things mentioned for future ! Thank you for your take Andru ! Dexxter (1:05 - 1:37) Dexxter this was very melodic and well approached solo. Structure was great as you divided slow and fast rhythms into two different sections. Towards the end you had combination of both which was also great. It doesn't hurt to mention that your melodic structure along with rhythmic was very strong. You landed your phrases on strong chord tones, and longer rhythms were used also for chord tones. For faster rhythms you choose scale and legato runs. Nice work ! I really have nothing much to add except my apologies since your take is not in sync perfectly with backing here, and your original take is tight 100% ! Overall very well done solo, I like a lot of things about it. Keep up the good work man, you passed this class ! Thank you for your take Dexxter ! enforcer (1:37 - 2:09) Can you definitely passed this class smile.gif First 8 bars you had half time to regular time feel soloing with strong emphasis on melody. I like how you took one long melodic section (4 bars) and then did different ending over the same thing in following 4 bars. That showed that you can develop things well which I really appreciate. Speaking of time feel, you nailed everything here. On top of everything solo sounded very melodic, almost as if it was composed! I will not comment melodic approaches as emphasis of this collaboration is on time feel, but you definitely had some great melodic and harmonic choices in your double time soloing. All in all, this was solid take Can. Keep up the good work man ! Thank you for your take Can ! Farmer Joe (2:09 - 2:41) Joe you have passed this class ! Your approach to whole solo was very minimalistic in a way. I am not sure of your current level of playing but regardless of that, there were things in your solo that everybody can learn and benefit from. You took ONE POSITION and did your whole solo in there (E shape). Your rhythm choice was strong and you displayed variety in time feel soloing. Couple of things that you need to work on are Vibrato and Technique. I would like to hear more "in tune" vibrato. Practice doing vibrato where your pitch doesn't go much up or down but rather stays stable. No matter how fast or slow you move your hand/wrist/finger, note should be in tune always. Thats something you should work on. Also I would like in future to perhaps hear you use some faster rhythms when it comes to double time feel soloing. 8th note triplets, 16th notes, 16th note triplets, broken rhythms like 16th notes with eight notes combined etc. This is something that you should work on in your practice schedule when you practice scales, modes, pentatonics, arpeggios etc. This was good example of how it doesn't have to be difficult to make it work. Thank you for your take Farmer Joe ! GrannyKiller (2:41 - 3:13) Dado you have definitely passed this class! Your take had everything I asked for plus it was very musical. I must emphasize that you also used things we covered in previous collaborations (sequence and repetition in different things), and you pulled it all off pretty well. Your double time soloing was mostly sequence based but that was fine as it perfectly fit the mood of your solo. The only problem with your solo is your tuning, or as we determined later your guitar intonation problem. It sounded at times like your bends on B and E string were out of pitch when in fact it was your intonation that was off. I hope that you will get this fixed soon so you can continue with good work. Keep up the good work man ! Thank you for your take Dado ! JamesT (3:13 - 3:45) Jim this was great take and you have definitely passed this class ! You have displayed time feel soloing very well in your solo and on top of that it was structured really well. What I liked about your take was development in both rhythm and melody. Repetition was there, especially in double time when you started doing sequences in diatonic thirds - that was just perfect ! I have two things to mention that you can work on here. Sound wise, I think distortion could go down just slightly as its covering low frequencies a lot. Second thing is your bending. I think it doesn't sound always 100% in pitch. Check out your intonation and tuning on your guitar before checking your take again. Get back to me about that, I am really curious whether its bending technique or something else. Thank you for your take Jim ! Jesse (3:46 - 4:17) Jesse this take was great and you passed this class without any trouble. Couple of things worth mentioning here. Your sound and playing style were just awesome ! Double stops, delay, bluesy bends, acoustic like sound... Perfect man, you did well man! If I had to pick weakest part of your solo that would definitely have to be the ending. I feel you could have done different rhythm or just melody wise do something stronger sounding. Also pay attention when you do double time soloing and keep time of down and up beats. Don't rush your phrases, take your time and things will fall into right places. Development in this solo was very well approached I just feel your melodic high point or peak was never reached as ending was week. Work on things mentioned Jesse, you are doing good man. Thank you for your take Jesse ! jonathan (4:17 - 4:50) Jonathan you have passed this class ! I appreciate you entering collaboration for the first time. I must say this was not the easiest one to tackle ( we had some easier ones like chord tone soloing and sequence). Taken that into consideration I think you did pretty well for first time. There are however both strong and weak points in your solo that I will point out to you now. Your sound was great ! Notes were coming out clear and you had touch of bluesy distortion that worked great with backing track. Awesome work there. Your whole structure of the solo was great as well. I like your development and ideas. I don't think you lack anything in creative but rather technical side. Your bending needs work. Listen to your bends on top E string ? They sound flat, you should bend with support of index and middle finger to make them stronger and in tune. Also I recommend you start practicing more with metronome some technical exercises to get the feel for 8th note triplets, regular 16th notes and faster rhythms in general. This is essential as your brain needs to understand them like your ear needs to hear them and finally you can execute all of it with your hand coordination. I hope that makes sense. Thank you for your take Jonathan, I hope to see you in next collaboration as well ! kaznie_NL (4:50 - 5:22) Kaz you have definitely passed this class ! If somebody surprised me with their take in this class, it was no doubt you man. Seriously you did really well, above my expectations for sure. Development was perfect, solo was very melodic and you covered all time feel requirements. There were couple minor technical difficulties with double stops and ending was weak , but other than that solo was great man. You should be really proud of your take man. You had straight and syncopated rhythm, quarter notes, eight notes, eight note triplets and even 16th note triplet at the end ! I just have to say keep up the great work and good things will come with time more and more. Thank you for your take Kaz! kjutte (5:22 - 5:54) Kjutte welcome back first of all. It is nice to have you in collaboration. I was expecting your 2nd take as we said this one was missing some things. I will give you comments for this one but will assume you were working on another one in the meanwhile (or are still working). This take had excellent clean sound. I like how half way trough the solo you changed sound and had more raw type soloing effect. That was really cool. It is also good to see that you are using sequences in your solo and moving melodies around creating motives. Excellent work. I am more then thrilled that your ending sounded stronger then ever before in my collaborations. This is definite plus and improvement ! Whats missing in this take ? Like I said when you posted it, you need more double time soloing here. I am not hearing half vs double time or even regular vs double time feel. Whole take is blended that way so that you can't say this section is this this section is that. That is why I said you should do another one as the whole solo has same kind of rhythm balance to it - which was not purpose of this collaboration. I just figured you should get comments like everybody else even tough you didn't hit the topic from first take. By the way, you were one of the very few who tackled E7#9 and did something out of the ordinary. I am very happy to hear that man. Keep experimenting and leave your mind open, ideas will keep developing more and more in future. I hope to get a new take from you when you get a chance as I know you can do double time playing well (its your style of music after all), so I will say at the end that you pass the class based on your prior knowledge but not on this take as it doesn't have double time feel in it ! Thank you for your take Kjutte ! Marek Rojewski (5:54 - 6:25) Marek this was excellent take!!! You passed the class without any trouble man. Excellent intro and development. Natural harmonics, half time feel (whole notes). Perfect. Then you went onto melodic approach with small type riffing melodies. Worked perfectly over second 4 bar section. Now your double time feel was awesome ! Why ? Because when you went into it your phrasing and rhythm choice was so strong and well executed that it was immediately sticking out. Really well done man, I don't have much to add except keep up the great work ! If you want extra assignment, transcribe your solo in Guitar Pro and send it to me to double check everything. Thank you for your take Marek ! Outlaw2112 (6:26 - 6:57) John you have passed this class! This take had both strong and weak parts. I felt sorry to hear about your speaker problem as I know you are very determined and want to make things right. You showed me that in last collaboration when you recorded 4 takes before submitting a final version. This solo is your 2nd take and is much stronger then your 1st take. It just shows you that the more time you spend with material you become one with it. I am very happy with development of your solo and rhythm choice. You definitely covered everything I asked for. Half , regular and double time feel was there no doubt from beginning to the very end. Things that need work here are : - Sound - Its too distorted and notes dont really have much sound to them as gain is pushed almost all the way. Lower the gain, change EQ settings and it will be much better. - Phrasing - There are parts where you go of once you start doing syncopated (up beat phrasing). This just shows that you need to practice more your takes with a CLICK (metronome) before recording them with backing track. You see John backing track can be deceiving. It gives you that extra security like everything is working out. Best way to check your take is with metronome click against it, or totally dry. If you can tap foot to your take and feel your take is 100% in time, you have done unbelievable job. This is something most guys here need to work with, not just yourself. Overall everything I asked for was there just work on the sound and tighter phrasing. Thank you for your take John ! Sergio Dorado (6:58 - 7:30) Sergio this was excellent take and you clearly passed this collaboration smile.gif Solo was very melodic and it had all the time feel elements required. Wonderful harmonic and rhythm approach made it stick out from the rest of the solos. I must point out that pickup switch made huge difference in the last section of double time. Perfect execution, spot on Sergio. For extra assignment, transcribe the solo in Guitar Pro ! I really have nothing to add about your solo just hope to see you in future collaborations again ! Thank you for your take Sergio ! Siqqum (7:30 - 8:02) Siqqum this solo was excellent ! You definitely passed this class without any doubt smile.gif Your guitar sound was spot on as was your playing. Development was perfect, melodies were just flowing one after another and most importantly - you did everything I asked and on top made great solo. You should be proud of this take man really. Broken 16th note soloing with chicken picking type of feel - excellent work man. Double stops also worked perfect in the in the intro. Extra assignment for you would be to transcribe that solo in Guitar Pro! Nothing more to add for you except keep up great work man. Thank you for your take Siqqum ! sted (8:02 - 8:34) Sted congratulations you have passed this class! Lets talk about your take a bit now. Your sound was very bluesy and fit backing track perfectly. You executed half and regular time feel in first 8 bars, and then did some double time soloing in last 8 bars. Rhythms you picked were combination of straight and syncopated rhythms (down and up beat rhythms). I feel however that you need to work on phrasing just a little bit more so that whole take could sound even better. Your melodic choices were great, I really liked feel of your solo. The only thing lacking was execution in some parts (sounded like you were above or below in tempo). I believe if you recorded this same take couple of times, you would get it perfect. All in all, it was very simple but melodic take with wonderful feel. Work on double time more into your solos and you are all set ! Thank you for your take Sted ! superize (8:34 - 9:05) Superize you have definitely passed this class ! Your take was very well constructed and executed. Sound with delay was just perfect man. You managed to create violin like effect on guitar with double time soloing. You did everything I asked and required and on top of that you were the first one to submit your take. Very impressive ! Development and melodic approach in your solo was just perfect man. I have couple of questions for you : - Was your low on volume playing intentional or not every time you had double time phrasing ? Your volume goes down and guitar sounds like violin with volume effect smile.gif - Did you compose or improvise your solo ? You had everything in your take from arpeggios, sequence and scale runs to motive development and repetition. So you basically did things that we have worked on in previous collaborations into this one. Well done man! Small thing to work on is that bending (on top E string) - you will hear it, its not in tune 100%. Your phrasing was mostly strong, listen to your original take and see what happens there. I recommend for extra assignment that you transcribe your solo in Guitar Pro ! Thank you for your take Superize ! Tolek (9:06 - 9:38) Tolek you have failed this class ! tongue.gif No man, you did very good and you passed of course smile.gif Your take had wonderful sound and structure to it. I think you did really good with half time and regular time feel but double time needs work. In last 8 bars you were trying to do triplet type soloing but it came off weaker or sloppy as placement of rhythms was not spot on. I believe if you recorded this same take couple of more times it would be 100% with no regrets! Let me give you some suggestions regarding your development... When doing repetition and different endings, you should really try to put couple of extra notes second time trough or even take out some notes ! It also helps is you don't keep the same rhythm always but change it up slightly. What I am trying to teach you here is to disguise your repetitions and make them less obvious ! Thats the only negative thing along with phrasing over double time feel. Everything else was very melodic and well approached. Well done Tolek and thank you for your take ! Velvet Roger (9:38 - 10:10) Roger you have successfully passed this class ! Lets talk about your take now... Melodic approach was very strong, I really liked what you were doing especially with interval soloing. You were one of the very few people that did skips in melodies and it worked. Well done man. Your sound in this take needs to be brighter a bit I think. It sounds like you are playing trough some sort of glass. I normalized your take and added more volume to it in final mix, but it still sounded a bit in the background compared to backing track. So I think different EQ settings would have made a difference here, maybe even different pre amp settings. Besides sound and melodic approach, rhythm choice was very strong as well. You divided half and regular time feel in first 8 bars, then you went into double time feel in last 8 bars. Good work. Things that need work in this take regardless of my misplacement in final mix is your Phrasing. I listened to take you submitted with backing many times now and it still sounds like phrasing needs work. Sometime you are ahead sometime behind the beat. It might have to do with anxiety of recording. A lot of people get very nervous when recording button is pressed so all the knowledge in the world doesn't help them, they just need to relax and focus. I don't know if this is the case with you smile.gif Another thing might just be the fact that you need to play more with metronome and make your playing tighter. I hear a lot of syncopated phrasing in your playing. I am almost 100% sure that this is where your phrasing problems are hidden. We will do in future straight vs syncopated collaboration, so you will have chance to work and correct this very soon ! In the meanwhile work more on straight type (down beat) phrasing and occasionally start putting some syncopated things in (gradually is the right word here). I am sure it will make your phrasing even stronger. All in all, this was a solid take and I think you are improving something in each collaboration. Great assignment for you would be to transcribe your solo in Guitar Pro. It will show you how some rhythms were placed not so great and will get you thinking where things went wrong. Let me know if you need any help with that ! Thank you for your take Roger ! wrk (10:10 - 10:42) Andy you have definitely passed this class smile.gif I must say I was expecting more double time feel from you. That is the only reason why I asked you to do another take. I felt you could have done some 16th note triplets or something that is outside of your comfort zone. This solo is very melodic, has great development and rhythm choice is perfect. You divided half and regular time feel in first 8 bars versus double time feel in second 8 bars. There were some beautiful interval skips in your first 8 bars, and that showed you don't need to play scales up and down to make it sound melodic. Your double time soloing was good but I felt you could have done some sequence in there to make it even stronger. You had mostly descending scale runs which is OK, but for somebody of your level I expected a bit more there. Of course this take is great and has a everything I asked for, I am just talking about what you can work on in future. There will be more double time oriented collaborations so you will get another shoot to really impress me there smile.gif Overall excellent take and keep up the great work Andy. Thank you for your take Andy ! Pedja Simovic (10:42 - 11:15) I was told by GMC team that I need to write comments for myself as well , so here I go smile.gif I approached this take with idea to show you guys wide range of rhythms that one can use in solo. I started off with whole notes to show how you don't need to play fast to make music. I used exact same rhythm and transposition in first 4 bars to determine half time feel and lead you into the solo. Second 4 bars were actually one big melody moved down trough the scale and with different development (ending and rhythm). You will be able to clearly see it if you download the Guitar Pro and analyze the lesson when its published ! In this part I used faster rhythms to determine regular time feel (quarters and eight notes). Notice how on purpose I didn't use 6th of A minor. That lead your ear not to know whether I was in Harmonic or Melodic minor (I had G# note which is major 7th and belongs to both scales). This is very nice trick for your future solos, to leave on purpose some notes in the scale ! Now we get to double time feel section. I did straight 16th notes with idea of responding to it with interval skips. I think this worked great, but I will leave you guys to judge that smile.gif I created one rhythmic motive and concept in first 2 bars, and then just kept the same idea but apply different notes and melodies in second 2 bars (over E7#9 and A min). Last 4 bars of the solo are combination of everything. I start with long bend to switch back to half time feel, but then start increasing rhythm to half note triplets (release bend with harmonics part), and then switch immediately to double time feel but this time with 16th note triplets. This lick fit perfectly over backing track as it was totally unexpected and did great job setting climax in the ending. If you look around forum, you will find this lick and many other tapping things in Guitar Pro files I submitted for practice schedules ! The very last thing that happens is regular time feel with octave leap to root of the chord (A) and slide out. The purpose of this solo was to help you understand how regardless of time frame you have for your solo, you can still be able to execute wide variety of rhythms and present strong time feel control. I am not saying you should do every solo like this ! No, this is just another great tool and technique that you can use to help you improvise, compose, arrange and even do rhythm guitar parts. So if there was something I was hoping you would get out of this collaboration, it was that smile.gif Thank you all guys for participating in this collaboration. It was really great having you all in here, massive response from all of you really. I hope you will be back this month as I plan to continue with another in class type collaboration. Backing track should be posted around 10th so look out for it in the forums. For those of you who would like to auto sign up you can do that now here, send me a PM or do it anytime before or during collaboration. Hope this was useful, fun and learning collaboration for you all. See you in next one, until then practice ! smile.gif Pedja |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
May 4 2009, 01:47 PM
|
|
Hi guys
I am very happy with what you guys played here. This one almost has no wrong notes It is very nice to hear such progress and every time you're doing better and better. I enjoyed mixing and listening to this one. Again many of you had stereo takes with effects included. Some of that was ok but for some I couldn't do much about the sound because the amount of effects included was huge. You should really avoid sending that stuff for mixing as mixing has no point with such recordings.There were 14 participants and these are the comments: ------------------------------------------------------------------- Artemus (0:00 - 0:39) You are a very skilled and talented player. This take is full of useful Satriani style licks. Your tone was really good and well defined. Sounds like there is a bit of wah included in your preset but I couldn't be 100% sure. I could hear that you have a pretty good control and your playing sounds very confident. The first part is really good and nicely balanced, not overplayed. The scale and note choice is also in Satriani style with no single wrong note. That's very good to hear. The whammy scream on 0:23 should have lasted longer to overlap the next part and then you can mix them together. I always say that the take doesn't need to be recorded all at once. You can use step recording, everyone does it, even Satriani The artificial harmonic lick 0:32 - 0:34 was a bit sloppy. You need to hamer on and pull off much faster in order to get it right. The tapping after that was very good and effective. You needed just 10-15% more concentration overall and this solo could have been top notch. I liked your vibrato, very powerful and well controled. I enjoyed listening to this one. Very well done and I hope you'll be back again to play some more stuff with us.Dexxter (0:40 - 1:17) This take has some great ideas for the solo. Very good way of building tension with a great solo structure overall. The first part was awesome with the opening pentatonic scale. After that you used whamy bar quite a lot but always with a careful approach and a very good control. The middle part was well defined and your note choice made it stand out a bit announcing the next section. I have always told everybody when something new is coming you need to play something different and make the border between different sections. You did a great job with this task. The closing scale was also very good with the last very powerful note - straight into your face I like those surprises, sounds really rock. The only thing I would suggest is that your tone could be just a bit brighter and less middle frequencies so it would stand out sharper and be more in Satriani style. However there is an amount of wah present and it made it sound really interesting. Well done Dexxter.Chris Evans (1:17 - 1:54) Very nice opening line Chris. Great theme altered with some variations in between. Typican Satriani approach and always works great. I like your scales and fast runs. Very confident and expressive playing. I like how you made a whole song out of these 35 sec. Theme, then theme with variations, then solo , theme again and nice ending. That's nearly a structure of a full song and you managed to made it all in just 35 sec. That's a very good thinking. There were some great spicey rock licks useful for everyone to borrow like this one (1:33 - 1:38). After that you played some great arpeggios and went back to theme. Everything about this solo is really great. I enjoyed listening. I was trying to find the weak points and there was almost none. Nothing that bad worth mentioning. Your sound had a great and defined color for an instrumental track. Well done Chris and come back have some more fun with us next time Enforcer (1:54 - 2:31) What happened man? After a great take last time now you hardly controled one line from begining until the end. You told me you weren't feeling well so I promissed I will be careful with the comment There were some great ideas but they would make sense if you only played them properly. Every of your tremolo lick didn't have a good control and you were vibrating to hard which produced many out of tune notes. You didn't have enough sustain to make all your long notes last long enough, especially natural harmonics. (1:55-1:56) one was really weak. Sounds like every lick you start great and with a nice emotions but you never finish properly. That little tapping started great but something weird happened towards the end. Wrong note plus undefined finish. I am sure you can play million times better than this. All your ideas are good but the playing this time didn't impress me. Please make me happy next time and spend some more time recording until you get it right. I have heard before that you can do it and I am looking forward to it. Thanks for joining anyway.Gilmore (2:32 - 3:08) Gilmore, you are a very talented player. You have a very good control and a stong expressive playing. The opening lick sounded a bit rockabilly style but that made it very interesting as I wasn't expecting those licks in Satriani style track. You went for both A minor and E minor scales. It would have been better if you went for E mixolydian but that's my personal preference. Even for the minor scale I would prefer Dorian instead of Aeolian. Your rock licks sounded vey powerful and also your vibrato is pretty well defined and consistent in this take. I heard some tremolo bar touches with natural harmonics. That's a well known Satriani type of playing where you never expect it. I liked the moments where you chose to go for it. Overall this is a very nice take and I think it could have been even better if you went for more interesting scale choices but this still sounds pretty acceptable and nicely structured. Well done. JamesT (3:09 - 3:46) Very nice take James. Clever developed melodies and tight execution. The intro was a great idea to start with a longer notes but I wasn't 100% happy with the vibrato. It was a bit shaky and nearly a couple out of tune notes, just on the edge. You also used both A and E natural minors most of the time instead of going for Dorian or just pure pentatonics. The same I told to Gilmore. This way it still works but it would be more in Satriani style if you went for some dorian and E mixolydian notes. Everything else was really nice. The middle section was good. After that you had some fast legato runs that were not 100% defined but nearly there. I liked the way you structured all this together. Nice balance between different parts and not overplayed. You have it all in your mind but it needs just 20% more practicing to work it all out perfectly and then press recording. I hope some of these tips will be of help. Well done for this take and of course you're always welcome to collaborate. lcsdds (3:46 - 4:23) What to say Monte Always great takes from you. I have seen the video you posted and it all looks and sounds awesome. You went for great scale choices and really sounds Satriani. Long notes at (3:52-3:56) were not controled 100% so it nearly went out of tune sometimes. If you are vibrating with tremolo bar you need to be careful as that thing is very sensitive. The kind of main theme you made sounded really cool. That's how pro guys do it. Develop something memorable and make variations arround it. Your taping was great all the way as always. You suggested this backing so I wasn't expecting anything else than great. You really sounded comfortable playing over this progression and rhythm. Always nice to have you in these collabs as your takes really make all the collabs higer level overall. Well done.kaznie_NL (4:24 - 5:00) This take was really good but sadly your tone wasn't good enough. I can tell you that you progressed a lot since I first heard your playing last year. I told you today in chat about the tone. You left a huge amount of reverb and I wasn't able to do anything with your sound. If I added anything on top of that I would have made it even worse. That's why I always request dry signal (distortion can be included) so I can find nice place in the mix for each take. I didn't make your volume too loud so that your reverb doesn't stand out that much. Please switch off all external effects from your pedals or anything else. If you want to hear some effect while recording you can put it on "insert" in you DAW and switch off when exporting the track. Apart from that I liked what you played. There were some intervalic jumps and a couple of nice rock licks. Scales were all good and your feel was kind of bluesy which I liked. You are getting better and better. Every time I can hear that you have a better control and you are obviously becoming stonger and more confident player. This is a great thing to notice and I see a bright future in front of you as a guitarist. Well done Kaznie and keep on practicing. Berko (5:01 - 5:38) Nice opening Berko. Very good floyd rose control in the first part. I would just advise a bit more work on licks development. They all have name but surname is never fully written I hope you can understand my way of telling phrases The middle part was a great idea but your picking needs to be cleaner. Work more on alternate picking and make the pattern with some more logic. It sounded a bit too repetitive and not very defined. I liked the idea though. After that everything was great. Well balanced licks and note choice for the last part with a nice finish. Overall very interesting take. Not very "expensive" but does the job. Your tone was really good and that made it a bit more "expensive" Good work Berko.matt23 (5:38 - 6:15) This is a very well developed and well structured take. Almost like a whole song in just 35 seconds. The same I told to Chris Evans. Nice theme with some variations then solo and theme again. All your notes were carefuly chosen and I like all of your ideas what you did with those notes. The middle part started great but that tapping needs to be a bit stronger. Some notes were not coming out. I am not sure if you tapped with the pick or the finger. Tapping with pick is more Satriani way of doing it and I think it is a bit easier for that fast tapped run. The last part was also very good. Still needs 20% to be perfect. A couple of sloppy notes here and there (the very last lick) but it has a passing mark The tone could be just a tiny bit brighter (more treble) and it would sound better. I'll copy the sentence from Artemus's comment which is exactly what I would say to you - "You needed just 10-15% more concentration overall and this solo could have been top notch". Well done Matt.Superize (6:15 - 6:52) Great opening theme Superize. Sounds much like Surfing With the Alien The whole first part was developed in an awesome way. I have to be honest and say that I was expecting something more complex in ihe middle part than just 2 repetitive lines in 8th notes. Even those 8th notes were not played very tight. Sounds like an exercise in a warm up speed. The middle part should be explosion of the licks in your solo but you'll get there as your compositional skills get stronger. I am not saying it sounded bad but the first part gave impression of some great playing so I was expecting even more than that in the middle part. The last part wasn't anything special but all the notes were correct so you passed this one as well I have to say that you did a good job because you really did but I am sure if you listen carefuly you would notice all these things and do even a better job. Anyway, well done.Sergio Dorado (6:53 - 7:30) Sergio this is another amazing take. Every time you play in my collabs I am always more and more impressed. This take is awesome. I have a couple of things to say but we'll get there. I'll start from your tone. This is again the best tone in the collab. You had the best tone in the previous collab as well. Frequencies, amount of drive and sustain are all perfect. This can be a great example for everybody strugling with tone how to make a good preset. It would be really useful if you tell us what you use. Now about the take. The opening line is something which would make even Satriani wonder how you came up with such beautiful lines. There were some prebended notes and all of them with a great and precise control. Your fast runs were not 100% tight especialy the one at (7:09 - 7:14). That's the only thing I noticed as the weakest point but it needs just 10% more control and it would sound perfect. The last part was also awesome. I recognised Surfing With the Alien lick at (7:25 - 7:26) and it made me smile. Great spot for that lick. I have nothing else to say but everything great about your playing. Well done and always pleasure to hear your playing. Tolek (7:30 - 8:08) Awesome ideas Tolek. Tone is great with a touch of wah. Your control is also on a pro level. The opening part had so many useful licks to borrow. Lick with octaves was really nice. Modes were all correct and everything was great about the note choice. Some faster licks could have been a bit tighter but you managed to escape any dangerous situation The middle part sounded just like Satriani played it. Well done for that great piece of music. The last part started great but towards the end sounds like you didn't know how to finish so I heard something randomly played. Sounds like you couldn't wait for the finish and ended a bit undefined or unfinished. You need to keep good control all the way and when you tell the story and give the conclusion you need to say "THE END", no more stories I hope you understand my point but anyway I am more that happy with what you delivered in this take. You're an awesome and very talented player. Well done.UncleSkillet (8:08 - 8:45) Great playing uncle. That scale that you always use to start the phrase was a great idea. That scale could have been executed tighter every time. Sometimes it sounds stronger and sometimes weaker. All other notes were great. The middle part was awesome. Something very refreshing, escaping from the theme A and announcing something different. The last part was nicely structured but the playing was a bit sloppy. If you could just get this one tighter this solo would have been awesome. Even like this it sounds really good but I always want more because I know what kind of player you are and I am sure you can do that. I am just talking about your control. You always need to know where your lick is going to end before you start playing it. If you start getting lost half way in the lick then your ending is never going to sound tight. I had this problem long ago and still sometimes have when improvise but way better than 6-7 years ago. I know you will get there but keep this in mind, it might help you realise what you should be aware of. You're an awesome musician and I have always liked your playing. Thanks for joining the collab and come back again
-------------------- Check out my <a href="https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/instructor/Emir-Hot" target="_blank">Instructor profile</a>
www.emirhot.com www.myspace.com/emirhotguitar www.myspace.com/sevdahmetal |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
May 11 2009, 09:29 PM
|
|
Joe Kataldo - Drop Rock Collab
Drop_Rock_Collab_Updated.mp3 ( 3.08MB )
Number of downloads: 223https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_fo...showtopic=27380 Participants: 10 1 kaznie_NL 2 leedbreak 3 Outlaw2112 4 kjutte 5 Marek Rojewski 6 USAMAN 7 Alex Lewis 8 LPR9 9 DaniHel 10 JVM Comments: As usual I'll write a positive critic and a study direction to improve 1 kaznie_NL wink.gif Listening to this collab, I can say for sure that you made big improvement over a short period of time (comparing to previously collab) both timing and guitar sound, ideas are more concise and the solo is structured. mad.gif I feel the guitar sound a little bit to much effected, I know that is a matter of taste, but sometime can hide mistake, specially when practicing use a dry as possible sound 2 leedbreak wink.gif Great idea to create a complementary riff that works in time with the one in the backing, a clever use of repetition to create interest and a nice anding a fast scale run, everything played with a dark sound as I like. mad.gif Really not too much to complain here, try to work more with a metronome, it's never enough biggrin.gif 3 Outlaw2112 wink.gif Clean playing with no mistake in the execution, and a crazy chorused distortion, very unusual and unique mad.gif try to add more rhythm variations as you have done in the final part, mixing different rhythm figures, sequences are cool but overdo can produce a boring effect biggrin.gif 4 kjutte wink.gif Great vibrato man! nice sweep picking and good strong ideas mad.gif as usual is a matter of taste, but I'll work more on guitar sound, you reached a good level of playing, you need something more professional for your recording 5 Marek Rojewski wink.gif Nice solo, well structured with good ideas, nice picking and timing mad.gif work more on your guitar sound, too much bright to my ears and no mids. Low mids are the body of the guitar, never cut them on solo sounds 6 USAMAN wink.gif Nice Zakk Wyldesque blues riffing and pentatonic picking, I like the sound and the vibrato. mad.gif Bending are not always in tune, nearly there, but you can improve it working with a tuner and some bending licks 7 Alex Lewis ohmy.gif Great solo, sound, timing. You used different techniques with mastery and doubled the ending riff...good Job! mad.gif This is really a personal improvement: I really prefer wide and slow vibrato, to short & fast, the one you use most in your solo, listen to yourself carefully and experiment with it, at least you have to be able to play both kinds 8 LPR9 wink.gif Great "Alex Lifeson/Rush" sound, dist+Phaser makes the guitar sound "moves" I really enjoyed the double stop riffs you put in there and the solo in general mad.gif the alternate picking part is not well "quantize" work slowly with a metronome on repetitive patter and your speed will increase sooner as you might expect 9 DaniHel wink.gif Nice "liquid" sound and melodic soloing, great sweep technique, legato and phrasing in general...good job man! mad.gif there is really not to much to be angry here biggrin.gif as you can hear your sound was higher on the left channel, maybe you can invest some time improving recording quality, you have good technique and melodic ideas, you deserve it 10 JVM wink.gif fantastic "crying" opening and initial riffing with great melodic ideas, good timing too mad.gif last part of the doublestop bending is out of tune and ruins the initial effect, also spend same time on guitar sound, try to add more "body" I'm sure you didn't had much time on this one, with a bit of practice could became a great solo Thanks everybody to join my collab -------------------- ________________________________________________________________________________ |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
May 20 2009, 10:12 PM
|
|
Hey guys, welcome to the Final Mix & Comments Thread for the Blues Week Collaboration. As you remember, participants had the assignment to create a solo that resembles the style of their favorite bluesman. We had also some original takes, and this is great as well! smile.gif
The details that participants provided along side with the backings are absolutely awesome, and I really like how you guys are approaching when analyzing great guitar players. Tone wise, all takes were a real pleasure to hear! smile.gif Collab summary: Type of Collab: Audio Topic: Choose one favorite blues or blues influenced guitar player and play like him Participants: 7 Final Mix Length: 4m46s sted 0.00 Great take, and great introduction lick. You really nailed Gary on this one, and I think you have chosen proper licks to accommodate his style. The good thing that you did is mixing slow and fast licks. Like Gary, you used fast pentatonic licks, combined with smooth melodic passages. Your tone and sustain are very good, and bending is spot on. One thing that needs more work are vibratos, and try to do them from the wrist to achieve a nice, even and smooth vibrated tone. Muting in this piece is great as well, and all the notes come out nice and clear. Rhythmically, your take was very good and balanced. Be aware that when you play the solo you have to exactly know how many notes you will use and where are your limits. This will prevent you from going out of tempo, and playing sloppy. Good sense for rhythm is one of the main aspects of a good playing, and since you have a good sense for rhythm, try using it the best way you can - by staying within the limits of your playing ability, and choosing the licks you are sure you can play in tempo with give note durations. Regarding sound, your take was good, but improvements can be made. If you wanted Moore type of a sound, you have it, but it seems to me that there is little too much compression going on there. This is usually created by too much distortion in the preset. I know you may wonder how to achieve a good tone with lesson distortion, and I know this is tough to achieve, but try to use less overdriven presets, and possibly later compress them a bit. Much better this way than to loose dynamics within guitar software modeler/processor. All in all, great take, lots of feeling in this one, and great sense for melody. Some minor rhythmic problems, but nothing that cannot be fixed with simple focusing on the duration of the notes. Great job man. berko 0.43 Great first lick, very Gilmour-like! I love the bends, and the sound. Although the sound is a bit darker, and lacks that twang, I think you made a good preset to adapt your instrument to the take, so really good job there. First things first, regarding your technique, bending and vibrato are good, and vibrato could use a bit more work/use. I would like to hear it more often, and on more notes. Where ever you stay a bit longer, and whenever you do a long bend, vibrate the note a little, it will surely add another dimension to your solo. The last note in the solo was nicely vibrated, so this kind of thing is what I'm talking about. One thing that I like with your take is that you have dynamics in your fingers, and this is excellent. You know when to play softer, and when you play louder, and I appreciate the guitar player who can play this way. Gilmoure was definitely a guy who mastered the dynamics, and you are very well on the way to master it too, as far as I can see. If you keep applying the kind of dynamics you had in this take in your future exercises, jams, and playing, you will certainly become great at it. You sound was very good, nice clean, little darker and fatter then needed, but I think you made great preset that makes up for this, and it really sounds cool and Gilmour like. My compliments on the tone, cause you made possible for the dynamics of your playing to come out which is very important. Overall impression - very very good. Everything is nicely balanced, rhythm, melody, sound, dynamics. really nice job. Bluenote 1.25 Starting right away with some awesome hammered on ghost notes, and continuing to develop the solo in the similar manner, inserting lots of great legato licks. Well, listening your take certainly shows that you know what blues is all about. Great call and response licks, great thematic approach, and very nicely executed. Your control over the tone is smooth and balanced. One thing that could be a bit better is mixing dorian and major/minor scales in a more subtle way, as opposed to lick by lick structure that I sometimes get impression hearing. Rhythmically - the solo is awesome. Everything is heavily syncopated, with a great sense where to play the licks/notes in order to accent the main beat. Really nice style of playing. Regarding sound, it is great as well, but I think the delay is too intense, your guitar tracks seems in the background of the track, instead of being in the front. If you wanted to add some space to your guitar sound, I think choosing a less intense delay would get a good effect and bring up the guitar a bit more in the front as well, again, not volume, but space wise. All in all, awesome solo, great playing, phrasing is very good as well, has a cool structure (with ocassional less subtle lick transfers), and in general sounds very specific and cool. I like this kind of a sound, and I think it would definitely be something that is excellent, only if the delay was a bit less loud, so your tone could really be in the front. Regardless of that, great solo, feel, tone and blues! smile.gif Tolek 2.10 Nice muted turnaround lick to start with, and then a somewhat agressive style of playing with notes that pop out crystal clear. Very cool licks, and very cool theme development, specially in the first par of the solo. In the second part of the solo, the licks could use some more connecting and structure, specially the ending lick, but overall impression is very positive. I think you know what phrasing and phrasing effects are all about, you have a proper technique for the blues, and the feel is there. Just need that little bit of playing time with the blues to really feel it all the way, and really keep the whole solo together as one story. Another thing that could be a bit better (again in the second part) are vibratos, that could be a bit more stronger and defined. Rhythmically wise, soloing is very very good, great accenting on the main parts of the backing, and very cool use of pauses as well. Regarding the sound, everything turned out very nicely, and balanced, tone, EQ settings, space. Everything blends in very good, and your control over your sound also enables every note to come out clear as a bell. Very defined and very precise. Overall impression of your take is clear, precise, good sense for the notes that you play, and great overall guitar tone quality. Just some fine tuning here and there, specially with the vibrato could be useful, but other than that it is very well done. Sensible Jones 2.57 Very cool starting lick with the raked bend, and cool vibrato. Your idea aobut two guitars sounds great, and it is very nicely executed as well. It gives the impression that two players are playing and "talking" with each other. Very cool indeed. It made me wanna more of your soloing. Very solid bending and vibrato technique, vibrato could be used more often, but it is good when used. Bending is very good, and you have a good sense for when to bend and to use bended notes within a melody, not just using bending as effect, which is very positive thing. Rhythmically speaking, your take was very good, and one thing that I could possibly recommend is to keep your notes tight and precise, even when they are slow. This is by no means a big suggestion, just a minor detail, hard to notice, but your take seemed a bit slower. I'm not talking about using slow passages, that part is excellent, and with couple of notes you made excellent choices, but just need to tighten up everything a bit so that it is really really spot on the backing. This is mostly related to a second part of the solo, and the finishing lick. I really got the Clapton feeling from this take, he uses similar licks, and had similar guitar tone back in the early days. It is very similar to Peter Green as well, just needs that extra bit of reverb that Green likes to utilize. Sound wise, take is very good, slightly overdrive, but solid and with dynamics. Very nice, reminds me of early Clapton as I said, and that kind of vintage sound is sure a nice thing to hear. In overall, your take was great, you have a very nice idea for making two guitars instead of using just one, and creativity gets high grades on this one. Sound is cool, your playing is cool, licks are cool, you know what blues is all about. andarr 3.35 Excellent first lick, I really got a special vibe from this one. I like the idea of first part that is slower, and later on you insert some nice pentatonic legato sequences, while in the end you insert some cool bending licks. Whole your take can be divided into these three sections, and everyone has the a cool structure where you mostly make variations of the same notes. Sounds very good, and development is very satisfactory. The last part is great, and reminds me of Frusciante the most, while first second one is more Santana like, and first one is somewhere in between. Very nice. Your technique is nice and balanced. I think more work could be done on all aspects of the solo, and specially muting, bending and vibrato. These three things would make your tone shine even more, cause you have a really nice sustain on single notes, and just need that bit of extra precision on faster bits to let every note clear and precise. Sound is spot on - somewhere between Santana and Frusciante, and it is very very good. A bit loud for my taste, could be a bit lower in volume, but really really good, and with a nice breakup as well. My general impression was that you are a good player with a nice tone, and know how to use rhythm within your solo to create a very interesting improvisation that will be always intertaining for the listener. My only advice would be to tighten up the techniques a bit, specially those fast legato passages, and make your vibrato even more pronounced. It will be awesome. JamesT 4.04 Great starting lick, and after that one, the tone becomes louder and you go into melody development. Very cool improvisation, sounds very similar to Jimmy Page, but also Gary Moore, and Santana could be found in here as well, specially in the beginning, and in the end. That legato lick is what reminds me the most of Page, and it sounds very good, great feel on that one, and inserted in just the right moment. I could give one suggestion here, and that is to use more pronounced vibrato perhaps. Your vibrato is there, it is pretty good, but could be more pronounced. The one in the beginning is almost perfect, and this is the kind of vibrato I like to hear, wide, audible, and in sync with the tempo. Your bending control is great, the next step is more refined vibrato control. Rhythmically, the whole take is very good, and although the notes are little out in that legato part, it is cool, cause this part functions as a "feeling" part, so it is very much allowed (and welcomed!). Sound is great, nice and clean, but with added overdrive that sounds piercing but smooth and fool. Nice rounded sound, could be a bit more quieter, but no big deal, I like to hear it clear so it is OK. Overall impression - great soloing, and very good feeling for this minor blues track, I like how you accentuated the strong notes, really cool, and the bending in the end is really inspiring. Well done. Again my compliments to you guys on job well done and great sense for creativity, and see you on the next collab soon I hope! smile.gif Cheers Ivan FINAL MIX -------------------- - Ivan's Video Chat Lesson Notes HERE
- Check out my GMC Profile and Lessons - (Please subscribe to my) YouTube Official Channel - Let's be connected through ! Facebook! :) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Jun 13 2009, 07:52 PM
|
|
BLACK STONE CHERRY COLLAB - 15 Participants
BSC_Collab_FINAL_MIX.mp3 ( 23.43MB )
Number of downloads: 221First I want to be grateful every GMCers that has participated in my collab. The truth is that I am impressed by the overall level of the solo that you recorded. The overall level is superior to the one that I have had in previous collaborations and it indicates that you have been practising very much and that Guitarmasterclass is giving great results! This makes me feel very satisfied! So I would like to congratulate everyone for the performances! Well, here we go with the comments. I am going to try to describe and mark every detail that I find important in order that you could improve and continue growing as guitarists. Berko: (00:02 – 00:53) I like the EQ of your sound, probably you could get more clarity in the fastest licks if you set you amp with a bit less of distortion, but it also depends on the taste on each one. Technically the take is very well. I find some tempo problems in some licks, principally in more bluesy ones. You use many very interesting licks and this demonstrates that your vocabulary in the guitar is wide enough. Nevertheless I feel that the composition of this solo seems to be a succession of licks and does not end up by going towards any concrete side. Probably your excellent playing will be more illuminated if you work a bit more in the structure of your solo. Do you understand what I mean? Chris Evans: (00:54 – 01:41) Very good take Chris! I like the beginning in the style of Mattias Eklundh played with the tremolo. Then the solo combines different techniques in a very fluid and natural way. Sincerely I really enjoy listening to your playing. With some small adjustments in the timing and in fastest alternate picking parts I think that this would be a perfect take. Dexxter: (01:42 – 02:33) Excellent take! I'm not sure why but your solo reminds me a lot to Iron Maiden! Technically the solo is played very well. However I noted that your bends don't reach the correct pitch in several parts. It is something that you should correct with some exercises dedicated exclusively to this technique. It is very important to know if you listen to this problem, because in case you it do not listen to it, the problem is not technical but auditory and that what you'll have to exercise. The tome in your take is very good and I like how your solo evolves. Fretburn: (02:38 – 3:22) There are some technical details to work in your take but I believe that the main thing to work is the composition. It seems to me that solo has too many long notes and it doesn't make the solo dynamic. It makes me feel that you are playing scale notes and not a melody. My method to avoid these solos is to try to create a melody singing or imagining it in my mind. When I find a melody that I like I transpose it to the guitar adding arrangements and some licks to make it more entertaining. Regarding the sound I would like to help you a bit since it seems to me that the quality is not very good but before that I would need to know what set up you used to record it. Gus: (3:23 – 04:11) I like very much how your solo begins. I think that all the first part is very good. When you get into the half of the solo you repeat a phrase too many times and it makes the solo a bit least entertaining. I believe that if you had continued with the dynamics and fluency of the first part you would get a brilliant solo! I like the ending part which for some reason reminds me to The Mars Volta's guitar player. Technically, everything is played perfect and the sound is very well. I would set the sound with a bit less of reverb and more bass but anyhow the sound is ok!. Kaznie: (04:12 – 05:00) Very good Solo! I note that you interpreted very well the style of the backing track. In your take you used many elements in the style of BSC and Zakk Wylde. Excepting some details in the beginning, this solo very well played. It seems to me that the only thing that you should work is in trying to make the connection between the licks more fluid to make your playing sound more fluently. But the overall is very well and I want to emphasize the fantastic harmonized melody that you recorded in the last part! It's really good man! Kjutte 32: (05:01 – 05:51) I am impressed!! Your solo and your guitar skills are fantastic! Congratulations for your guitar level. You sweep picking are excellent, your vibrato very expressive your alternate picking is very precise. I also like your tone very much. So in this case simply I have to say congratulations for your solo and keep on rocking!! LPR9: (05:52 - 06:39) Your solo is very interesting and it is entertaining to hear. It has three very marked moments and it gives it a fluid development and evolution. There are some mistakes in the first part which is the rocker part. If these mistakes would not be there, the level of your take would increase a lot. The second part which is the fastest is very well played and I like it very much. The end returns to rocker/bluesy style and works very well as resolution for the solo. In general lines the take is very well like that and it only needs some little adjustments in the playing. Good work! Marek: (06:40 – 07:33) The beginning of your solo is fantastic. Every part that appears is better than the previous one until you come to the half of the solo when the ideas already are not so interesting. I believe that if you had continued exploring the ideas of the first part you had achieved a very entertaining solo! In general the take is very well played and the sound of your guitar is also this very well. Therefore it is only necessary to fit a bit the composition and you'll have it! Outlaw: (07:37 – 08:19) Excellent take man! Sincerely It is very entertaining to listen to your solo and I find several very interesting parts. Everything is very well technically played and all the notes are in scale. I really like the repetitive rocker licks that you used and also the legato in style of Dave Murray! Very good work Outlaw! Skenington: (08:20 – 09:10) There is a lot of melody along the solo and this is very positive! Probably is lacks a bit of rocker licks in order that it becomes a bit more interesting and to avoid it of being so lineal. Regarding the technique I notice that this quite very well played and I only believe that you should fit a bit your bend's pitch. TylerT: (09:11 – 10:00) Your solo is VERY interesting! I like the composition because your solo never stops entertaining me. Your technique is very good, principally the alternate picking that sounds as if Paul Gilbert were playing it! It's very clear and very precise! There are some details to fix at the end of the solo but in general lines I can only give you my congratulations! ZakkWylde: (10:01 – 10:49) I delight the wah wah arrangement that you added to the first riff! I would definitely add it to my lesson! The overall of your solo is very rocker and it really honours your nickname. All the bends and licks that come from blues and rock more classic make this solo fit perfect with the style of this backing track. The only two details that I wanted to mark it is that you used too many long bending notes along the take and that almost the whole solo is developed in the same section of the fret board. These two details make the solo sound a bit linear. Does it make sense? Keep on rocking! Toroso: (10:50 – 11:38) I really like the structure and evolution of your solo. When I hear your take I feel that it has a concrete direction. It really tells a story (As Sinisa says) and that is really good!. There are some timing details to fix in some licks and it would be really good if you incorporate a bit more of vibrato. You have to continue working more on the technical side but you have the most important thing that is the creativity. Tolek: (11:39 – 12:32) Finishing the collaboration we have another guitarist with an excellent level! You do not imagine how much I enjoy listening to the part in which the backing goes from the "chorus" to the "bridge" or "Part C". The drums go down to the half of tempo and you continue playing fast legatos… it sounds incredible! Yeah!! Your guitar skills are very good and this solo is a very interesting composition. There are some timing details in some licks but in general lines it is an excellently solo. Congratulations! Final mix & comments thread This post has been edited by Gabriel Leopardi: Jun 13 2009, 07:54 PM -------------------- My lessons
Do you need a Guitar Plan? Join Gab's Army Check my band:Cirse Check my soundcloud:Soundcloud Please subscribe to my:Youtube Channel |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Jun 15 2009, 09:43 PM
|
|
Straight Vs Syncopated Soloing, FINAL MIX WITH COMMENTS!
Hello GMC ! Welcome to final mix and comments for class type collaboration #4. This time we focused on Rhythm and Phrasing and main idea was to use Straight and Syncopated rhythm while soloing. More about this collaboration you can find HERE. To generalize everything in one sentence, you were supposed to use down beat type phrasing (Straight) and up beat type phrasing (Syncopated). Most of you did really well and I am satisfied with your takes. For most of you this was definitely new and unknown territory which made it even more challenge to do something in this collab. I hope chord progression was not difficult so that you could also express your ideas melodically. Again, the main intention of this collaboration was rhythm and phrasing so comments will be directed towards this as primary aspect. I sorted takes and comments in alphabetical order as usual so go ahead and read them now; in the meanwhile enjoy the final mix ! Number of participants : 13 First up is Berko (0:00 - 0:29) Very good sound first of all. It is always important to have a good sound in order to get your ideas across. Your clean sound with added effects (delay and phaser I believe) was excellent. Your rhythmic ideas were really good. I like how your melodic lines also fitted in context of question and answer phrasing with rhythms you choose. There were both straight and syncopated rhythms with nice usage of triplets and of beat phrasing. I enjoyed listening to this take even with couple of flaws that it had. Like we spoke earlier on forums, some of the rhythm figures sounded a bit sloppier then others. The reason for this was not your understanding of rhythm, on contrary it was because of your technique! I noticed when you tried to play hammer ons and pull offs, you tend to rush or displace rhythm. I would advise working more on that technique to get it more across in future solos. I am commenting on this technique for this collaboration solo and I must say I haven't noticed this before in your solos. Definitely work on it. Another thing I would like to mention is couple of melodic choices in your solo. I advise you to transcribe your solo (as I will advise everybody who recorded for this collaboration!) in order to analyze your own rhythm figures and melodic choices. When you do that, get back at me and let me know what you liked 100% and what sounded not so great. Overall very nice take Berko, good job man, thank you for participating ! Caelumamittendum (0:29 - 0:56) Ben your sound was very interesting and unexpected to say the least. I enjoyed it a lot and it added a whole other element to final mix in my opinion. Well done man! When it comes to your rhythm, you were mostly using syncopated phrasing. I would have liked to hear more balanced take or at least couple of more straight rhythm phrases. I recommend you transcribe your take and analyze it in Guitar pro. I know how much you love to write music so this is your chance to put your ear to the test and analyze your own take. Let me know when you finish it, shoot me a pm or via msn and I will analyze it back with you. Very interesting melodic approach, bluesy oriented soloing with blues scale. I like how it all came out with your sound it was good. The very last section sounds like you had trouble placing rhythms on right spots. It will be difficult to transcribe that but I look forward to see how you would actually correct that and play it. Overall excellent sound and melodic approach. Syncopated soloing is there but take needs more straight rhythm. Thanks for participating Ben ! Dexxter (0:56- 1:23) Dexxter I have heard this distortion in your previous takes and it became your trademark sound by now in my ears. I like it and it sounds great. I would maybe add some delay to it but that's just my personal preference. Your solo was great balance of both straight and syncopated rhythms. I especially like how you developed your solo in the very beginning with question and answer type phrasing in both rhythm and melody. Well done man. As solo progressed your rhythm started to drop a bit (it was still in time!) but ideas didn't respond as well as in the beginning. I would like to mention one thing here when it comes to soloing on guitar and that is RANGE ! When you solo in very low register with this type of distortion and eq settings, notes are unclear and don't sound as pleasant as in the middle and high range. This is perhaps the only critique that I have about this solo. I would definitely avoid playing lower range with this type of sound. Listen to your last section of the solo and you will hear what I mean. As with everybody, try to transcribe your solo in Guitar pro and contact me so we can analyze it further. Excellent take Dexxter and thank you for joining this collaboration ! JamesT (1:24 - 1:51) Jim congratulations, this was one of the best takes in this collaboration. Excellent choice of rhythms, a lot of variety on starting and ending phrases really made this very interesting to listen and enjoy. I know you like to prepare your solos and compose, so this adds even more to your composing skills. Having said this I would like you to do Guitar pro file of your solo and send it to me. Feel free to let me know which parts do you prefer, what you don't prefer etc. I would basically like you to do your own analysis of your take and your intentions with it ! In my opinion this was very well structured and had combination of both straight and syncopated rhythms in whole solo. Sometimes it seemed like there was more syncopated soloing but you did provide straight rhythm soloing as well. Among all this, your take was very melodic which really makes it musical with all the devices you applied here. Well done and thank you for participating in this collab Jim ! Jdriver (1:51 - 2:18) Jeff this was very nice take. Your sound was clean and very pleasing for the ear in my opinion. Your melodic approach was very strong as all the phrases were connected with each other. In other words you weren't jumping around the guitar neck between your phrases but rather they were within octave range and made melodic sense with rhythm you applied. Speaking of rhythm, this backing track has a Latin feel to it, so automatically it has a tendency to make you play syncopated (off beat) type rhythms. This is what you did and I think many guys who didn't submitt their take would have done the same ! Actually wrk and couple of others submitted extra takes before they got it right in the end which just shows that this wasn't such an easy task as it seemed at the beginning. I like your syncopated phrasing here but as I mentioned above, I was looking for balance or combination of both straight and syncopated rhythms. I suggest you listen to final mix and try to determine by ear where everybody is playing straight and where syncopated phrasing occur. Compare all the takes to your take and notice how your take is very syncopated with up beat type rhythm and phrasing even with notes carrying over up beats. Ideally I would like you to transcribe your take in Guitar pro (like I suggest to everybody who submitted take for this collaboration) so that we can together analyze it and point good and things that need improvement. I will send you also via PM Guitar pro file with different straight rhythms in it so you can hear what I am talking about here. Overall very melodic and syncopated take which I like but needs much more straight rhythm in it (for this collaboration). Thank you for participating Jeff always pleasure to have you in my collabs ! Kaznie_NL (2:18 - 2:45) Kaznie I enjoyed listening to your take. I think your playing has matured a lot over past couple of months. I have been keeping track of your takes like with everybody in my collabs and it is safe to say that you have really improved a lot. Your phrasing was much weaker, rhythm was displaced out of beat and time, but now your melodic ideas sound much stronger and phrasing is spot on. Well done man I am really happy with your progress please keep up the good work and don't fly too high now !!! Regarding rhythm in your take, it was very well balanced between straight and syncopated rhythm. I think you did great except when you were doing slides ! That technique obviously made rhythm and phrasing weaker so I suggest you work on it. Like with everybody, I suggest you transcribe your take in Guitar pro and let me know when you finish it, then we can analyze it together and take it further. Very melodic and bluesy solo, well done Kaz, thank you for participating ! Kjutte (2:46 - 3:13) Kjutte this was one of the best takes in this collaboration from melodic and harmonic approach. I am very happy how you approached whole take and the way melodies had question and answer in them all the time. Really impressive and well done man. On the other hand, we spoke about this when you submitted your take, it is very syncopated and just syncopated I was expecting combination of straight and syncopated rhythms but here backing track took you for a ride and you ended up doing gipsy jazz soloing with trills and off beat placement. Don't get me wrong, I love this take, but focus of this specific collaboration was on rhythm (straight and syncopated) so my main intention was to get you guys to play that. The same thing happened to Jeff and Andy in the beginning. I am glad that Andy corrected it but I would have liked to hear another take from you and Jeff with straight rhythm in it as well. My advice is to transcribe this solo and send me Guitar pro so that we can both analyze it and point out strong and weak parts. You already know what I think of melodic and harmonic approach, it is matter of rhythm choice that needs to change here. Regardless of everything this was very beautifull take and it definitely sounded different from all other takes, added extra element to the final mix. Thank you for participating Kjutte and well done ! Outlaw2112 (3:13 - 3:40) John your take was mostly syncopated but it had straight rhythm soloing in it as well. I know you submitted this very late and thats why I appreciate the effort. I am sure if you did couple of more takes like in previous collaboration, you would have had awesome take. In this take phrasing is weak so that makes it hard to determine what your intention was - on or of beat phrasing. Like with other takes, I suggest you do Guitar pro for this one and send it to me so we can analyze it further. If you have some extra time now it would be nice if you sent me another take over this backing track. This is basically to see how much you can improve over single backing track. It proved to be effective in last collaboration, I am sure it will be great in this one as well. Again I appreciate very much you submitting your take, compared to some other guys that didn't submit theirs at all! I am just trying to point you in the right direction as to what needs to happen in future. I would like to here more straight rhythm here, not too much but just couple more phrases (2 or 3 tops!). Melodic approach was nice I enjoyed listening to it but phrasing needs most work here. Thank you for your take John I hope to hear soon from you regarding new take and Guitar pro file (if you get a chance) ! Oxac (3:40 - 4:08) This was one of the best takes in this collaboration. The reason why I liked this take was a) you managed to do both straight and syncopated rhythms and  your phrasing was very laid back and different from everybody. Really excellent take with great phrasing that hooks the listener immediately. Melodic choice was almost perfect in my opinion. To further analyze this solo I would like you to transcribe it in Guitar pro and send it to me. We can then discuss what were the things that you could have done differently in certain spots and comment on good things of your solo. Overall I am very pleased with what happened in this solo. Excellent take Oxac and thank you for recording multiple takes and participating ! sted (4:08 - 4:35) Sted this was very melodic take. I like how you did question and answer phrasing here. In this take you had almost every phrase as syncopated so I have to say you needed to balance it out more with straight rhythm. Melodic and harmonic approach was great but rhythm had some trouble as I mentioned. I think you along Jeff, Kjutte and Andy were pulled by this backing track to play more syncopated phrases. Your solos were very melodic but as I mentioned earlier main goal here was to learn phrasing and to solo with straight and syncopated rhythm. In conclusion I would like you to transcribe your solo in Guitar pro and send it to me so we can analyze it further. We will discuss how some phrases could have been played differently (how to turn syncopated into straight phrase). Overall nice work Sted and I hope to hear soon from you regarding Guitar pro file ! Thank you for submitting your take and participating ! Velvet Roger (4:35 - 5:02) Roger very nice take man. I enjoyed question and answer type phrasing and your melodic approach was excellent. There were couple of spots where your phrasing dropped but overall it was very good. If you have time, transcribe your take and send it to me. There is couple of trills that need adjusting and some minor things but overall it was very good take. You definitely did both straight and syncopated rhythm which I like so well done man ! Nothing to add or take except to thank you for joining this collaboration Roger. Since you are on auto sign up I will see you in next one as well Thanks Roger ! wrk (5:03 - 5:30) Andy after couple of takes you got it right with this one Excellent development from intro all the way to the ending of your solo. Melodic choice was great, and on top of that you showed control over straight and syncopated rhythms. I have nothing to add or take from your solo man. One of the best solos in this collaboration no doubt. Like with other guys, I would like you to transcribe your solo and send it to me so we can analyze it further. Thank you for your take(s) Andy and well done man! Pedja Simovic (5:30 - 5:59) I was told to write comments even for my take for all collaborations so here I go. In my opinion this take demonstrates various rhythm and phrasing ideas. From very intro and opening to ending you can hear short and long rhythm values. The reason I choose this approach is to teach you how to develop solo with different devices (as in previous collaboration). Very beginning of solo shows you how you can use straight and syncopated rhythms with only couple of notes. In other words, you don't have to be very technical player to execute straight and syncopated soloing. As solo goes along you can hear numerous repetitions and sequences with variations. The reason why we use repetitions and sequence is to guide the listener into what we play and hook him/her onto it. The reason why variations are used is to avoid predictability and "too much of" something. You can also see how I used both quarter and 8th note triplets in different contexts, where one sounded like syncopated while 8th note triplets sounded like straight soloing more like. For ending I choose A melodic minor or even E whole tone scale if you will, followed by F melodic minor line in 3 octaves almost. For further analysis of this solo you can check sign up thread HERE or download Guitar pro file of my solo HERE and do some analyzing on your own ! Thank you everybody for submitting your takes. This was not easy collaboration and after hearing all your takes I am positive that in the future we can use some more straight and syncopated soloing into other aspects of our playing. For those of you who didn't submit your take, I hope you will be able to do so in my next collaboration ! Feel free to ask any questions here and I hope you enjoyed reading your comments and hopefully learned something from them and final mix. Pedja FINAL MIX |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Jul 1 2009, 01:39 PM
|
|
Metal Arpeggiator Collaboration
Marek Rojewski Marek's collab take sted sted's take Jakub Luptovec Jakub's take kjutte kjutte's take eat-sleep-andJam eat-sleep-andJam's take matt23 matt's take VictorUK Vic's take Deadevil Deadevil's take arctic1234 arctic1234's take Toroso Toroso's take Paiva Paiva's take kaznie_NL Kaz's take gibsonmatte gibsonmatte's take Outlaw2112 Outlaw2112's take Sollesnes Sollesnes's take -------------------- - Ivan's Video Chat Lesson Notes HERE
- Check out my GMC Profile and Lessons - (Please subscribe to my) YouTube Official Channel - Let's be connected through ! Facebook! :) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Jul 1 2009, 07:14 PM
|
|
Funky Fusion Collaboration: FINAL MIX & COMMENTS
participants: 6 sted: Very very good rhythmic structure, you used note durations as a mean of improvising which is excellent. I like the sound of the guitar as well! You used mostly bluesy and dorian style licks which get along great with this kind of a track. I think only a more steady vibrato could be applied here. If you want to do another take it would surely be welcomed, but this one is good if you ask me. You have lots of pull off licks, and I like the way you made a small melody and used similar fretting patterns but in different positions to create a cool vibe and call&response effect. Very nice. What I would like to insert here is some kind of a simple repetative lick that is a bit faster to break out of the usual rhythmic components. Possibly some bluesy looped lick that you know very well and just circle it around a little in some part, I'm sure it will get along well! smile.gif jafomatic: Again great sound, and very interesting sound, I like it veeeery much! biggrin.gif Great theme development from the beginning. The guitar tone has some sort of a filter on it, so in some times it is audible and some times it isn't that much because of the cuttof, but I got a great impression from it! This is a fine example how a simple thing can sound awesome! I understand what you tried to do here, it sounds very nice, but I could possibly suggest couple of more details just for experimenting sake. Maybe one or two bends to really get them repeated with those delays I thing they would sound very effective, specially on ends of those small phrases. I like your rhythmic structure where phrases are not on the first beat, but on second, more weaker beat within a bar. This gives a great contrast to the backing, very nicely executed as well, hardly no mistakes. Perhaps tighting up all the notes even more, and inserting some unusual effects like big slides, sharp bends, scratches or something would definitely pop out in this futuristic sounding solo! Well done! smile.gif Toroso: Very good take man! smile.gif You used E and A extensively in this take which is a good thing, you kinda nailed that interval and circled around it as your main theme in this solo. E is picked 4 times and A only once every time which is somewhat interesting from rhythmic point of view as well. What I would really love to hear more in this take is more of those nice bluesy or any kind of pentatonic licks that you started doing a bit in the second part of the solo. They sounded very cool and get along with this track nicely. Other useful things that I can suggest is to use more slides to make it sound more flowing, and using more neighbour notes. If you have A minor pentatonic that you can use, why not using other notes around the boxes as well? Take a box that you are familiar with (for example box 1 on the 5th fret), and just use other notes using some slower note durations just to get the feel of it. You will see that using all the notes from bellow: CODE E----A--A#-B--C-- B----E-----F#-G-- G----C--C#-D--D#- D----G--G#-A---- A----D--D#-E---- E----A--A#-B--C-- Try using all those notes slowly and you will see that you can get some pretty interesting results. Just make sure you always land on strong notes of the scale (in this case those would not be all those notes outside the scale, notes with sharps). As far as the sound goes I like it a lot, nice clean sound with some added effects that sounds like envelope filter, very cool. The sound itself is a bit thin, but recording it a bit louder could be the key, or perhaps just finding a good dynamic preset. This is not an easy task with software modelers and it takes a lot of experimenting so I guess this is my suggestion here - experiment as much as you can with lot of different clean sounds and settings until you find the sweet spot. Most of the time it is just a matter of luck. All in all great take, nice cool licks, and cool theme, little bit too repetative if you ask me, but if you went with it, liked it, and just got into the groove with it, then I really see no bad thing in that. Rhythmically the whole take was very stable, you haven't lost a note and I find it quite effective. Cheers mate, very well done! smile.gif Marc_Maiden: Very good take Marc! smile.gif The first thing I notice is the lack of a good structure. You got some nice fast chops, but there isn't a real musical quality to it, mostly runs up & down and what it sound like random lick playing. This however is not bad IMO, good technique is always a good technique. What you do with that technique is a lot more important. I advise that you slow down your playing a bit, clean it up, and really put all the notes in their corresponding places. If you have a 16th triplet note run, make sure you keep it 16th note triplet from beginning to the end, and that you are aware where the beginning and where the end is. Rhtyhmically there are several different note durations within the take but they should be in a better relationship with each other, so you create a nice steady flow of notes that will involve the listener. You sound is very good, a bit harsh, but cuts through the mix well. Perhaps lower down the presense a bit to get a more softer tone would be nice thing to consider. If you find the time another shot at this would be great! smile.gif TheKeplerConjecture: Very nice note placement, and I like the rhythmic placement as well. It's a little too filled with those pauses if you know what I mean, I understand that rhythmically the pauses should be a part of the structure, but try not to keep it too repetitive, specially towards the end of the solo. As far as the melodic content if your solo, you kept it within one certain range of notes, and although I liked the call and responses I could hear in your solo, I think it was a bit to repetative because if the narrow note range. I would advise inserting some simple runs and possibly having more bends or vibrato accented notes in your solo. One good trick to do is to play everything 12 frets higher. This will sound the same as it is one octave higher, but it will get a completely different feel cause the notes are different. Same note range or note choice could be used of course. The cleanness of your playing is good and on a decent level, i would suggest increasing note sustain a bit, and tightening up your tone in general. In overall, good solo, balanced playing, and interesting call&response melodic structure. The sound itself is pretty cool it sounds like you stepped on a wah and played, which is note a bad thing. There were lots of mids so the guitar was cutting through the mix no problem. Thanks for this take, very nice, and hope to see you on the next collab as well. Cheers smile.gif Staffy: This is a very interesting take, I love the jazzy licks you did! The one thing that could be better with your solo as a whole is structuring the licks in a more fluid way and just keeping the logical melodic flow available for the listener to hear. Putting several jazzy licks is good (specially if they are nice as you played them! smile.gif ), but I get the impression that you could insert some kind of thematic and melodic approach as well. Even for this kind of track where we have only one dominant chord available, you can still experiment with various melodies, themes, call&response sequences, and all this adds to the quality of the solo. In the end of the solo you inserted some very nice bluesy licks as well and they were a very nice touch, so I think you made a good fusion here. The only thing I'm missing to hear here is some kind of main theme that connects all these parts together as a whole. Your tone is good, notes come out clean and precise, perhaps not all of them are equally strong, some notes are bit weak here and there, but all in all very solid take with good tone definition. I didn't liked that much the amount of space added here, it's a bit dark and too strong, so perhaps cutting down the volume of delay, and EQing the reverb to be a bit lighter would sound even better over this kind of track. All in all, great take, good jazzy feel, and great licks. Thank you very much for joining in the collab and I hope to see you on the next one as well. Cheers smile.gif -------------------- - Ivan's Video Chat Lesson Notes HERE
- Check out my GMC Profile and Lessons - (Please subscribe to my) YouTube Official Channel - Let's be connected through ! Facebook! :) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Jul 11 2009, 12:01 AM
|
|
Hard rock collaboration
Number of participants 12
Hard_rock_collab_final_mix.mp3 ( 13.37MB )
Number of downloads: 255Hey guys, this is the final mix and comments of the hard rock collaboration, if you have any doubt about the comments you can ask me whatever you want. Thanks for your participation. Dead Evil (0:00 -0:52) : Excelent Solo!!. Very on the Van Halen style. The only thing that I noted in your take is that you have to correct a little the beat duration that you´re playing, and the cleanness of your play in some other moments, because sometimes you tend to go a little forward and some notes misses, but I loved how you developed the idea of the solo. Congratulations!! Jafomatic(0:52 - 1:40 : Sincerly, I loved how you developed the solo because it’s a combination of excelent good taste with some technique passages, what makes a very interesting melody. The only thing that you should work is the cleanness on your tapping lines (Try muting the strings you’re not using with your right hand as you do on the alternate picking technique). Excelent solo!! Arctic1234 (1:40 – 2:28): A solo with more classic rock style. I liked the idea but you should work on some concepts that sometimes are underrated on the anxiety to get speed but are fundamental to get a nice tone like the vibrato and bendings. You must work the vibrato a lot to mechanise it and get a continous and clear sound (You can check out some slow-tempo songs by Joe Satriani or Vaughan things, to figure out how they still on the notes to get the vibrato) and for the bendings, I highly recommend always practice them knowing what note you want to reach and play it several times from one step or a half step before until reach the perfect tune of the note. In that way, you will correct those problems on the notes tune when bending. Tyler T (2:28-3:16) : Excelent the syncopated idea of the two guitar. I was gratefully surprised. And the melodic idea you applied to the solo is great too. What you should work is the duration of the beats in some lines, specially of the alternate picking where you have some irregularities and some missed bendings tune. But these are thing that working with patience and metronome you will conquer. If you keep this way, I think that a great guitar future is awaiting for you Toroso (3:16-4:04) : In this case, it makes me feel like the solo never explodes. I mean, it begins and ends in a very similar way and it missed some melodic variations . Try to imagine a melody and then, execute it on the guitar. It’s an excelent way when composing solos. On the other hand, you should work a little harder on your vibrato and on the bendings tune. (Check what I said to Artic1234). The positive of this is that you’re very close and it’s simply a matter of hard work and practice. Try to analize these things that are very important to sound properly and practice them. Let’s Work!! Edguy (4:04-4:52)): Very nice beginning with the octaves idea and very nice melody. You should work more on the bendings tune, and try to pay more atenttion and work some of the lines that sound quite dirty. It makes that some notes seems to be missed. I highly recommend to take the lines out of the solo context and work them outside the song with the metronome, so you can develop more precition. You’re very Close!! LeedBreak (4:52-5:40) : I liked a lot the melody, specially on the second part. I noted that the first part is more improvised than the second, but it have some very nice ideas. I’d like to hear you on a more structured solo. But in general concepts, working a little more some very small precition concept, It is very very good. Congratulations!! Coloneldrew (5:40-6:28) : Knowing that your solo is improvised, there’s some great ideas. You have a very melodic and feeled style. As I said to Leedbreak, I’d like to hear you in a more structured solo to apreciate more what you can give. But, talking about this take, you should pay more attention to some imperfections that can be heard. But in general context, it’s really great. Congratulations and keep in that way!! Audiopaal (6:28-7:!6) : Excelent melody!!. There’s not to much to critic. A great melodic work. The only I could mark is that, because of your melodic style, you have to work more on the vibrato. As I said before, listen to some Steve Ray Vaughan songs or the slow-tempo songs of Joe Satriani. You will see on them some different ways to apply the vibrato. This will help a lot to increase your tune!! Sondre (7:16-8:04) : A very “Rocker” beginning that gaves a very good air to the solo. When the 2-guitars armonization begins is very well, but you have some mistakes in the final notes. You have to check out how you are armonizing. Remember that you must follow the scale that you’re using always and hold on the distance of the steps on both guitars. The bendings tune are good, but you have to work a lot on the alternate picking, at least in the frase that you’re playing in this take, because the line displaced a lot off the rhythm. But it sound pretty clear and that is great. Work on these things. I want to see how they sound on the next collab Dexxter (8:04-8:52) : Excelent!!. You caught perfectly the idea of the backing and the style. You made a very melodic and nice executed solo. Very nice bendings and great final. Congratulations, keep working on that way!!. Marc_Maiden (8:52-9:42) : Very nice ideas and great execution. The only thing that I noted is that overuse the tremolo vibrato and, at playing it so many times, is like it lost the surprise. Maybe you should leave some spaces until use it again. On the technique side, it’s very nice played and the solo idea is great too. Maybe you should take some risks in some moment with a more speedy part to raise the solo, but that’s a matter of tastes. Congratulations for your work. Hard rock collaboration link -------------------- Check out my lessons!
My Band: Thabu Myspace New Thabu Official Site!! My Websites: http://www.santiagodiazgarces.com.ar Myspace |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Jul 22 2009, 04:50 PM
|
|
Low Down - B Dorian Collab - 5 Participants
Low_Down_Collab___5_part.mp3 ( 4.12MB )
Number of downloads: 273Comments Note: as usual I'll give two comments, a positive one, and a study direction too improve Marek Rojewski  great repetitive opening riff, that culminate into a double stop, followed by a series of octave slides and fast alternate picking. The solo is well structured, something the the listener enjoy, because he can follow it like a story, I like the sound, even if I found it a little too compressed you need to work more on bending intonations, they can really ruin your solos, I suggest you my lesson on bending and also practice them with a tunerhttps://www.guitarmasterclass.net/solo-guit...kout-full-half/ Sollesnes The melodic ideas you state with intervals are really great, when I use this kind of idea I like add more vibrato, but it's a matter of taste. The solo has "direction" that gives the listener the idea you know what are you doing, good job. You really have to fix audio problem, the track you send me was low in volume and clipping (too much gain in the input stage) your ideas are strong ad so your playing, learn more about Hard disk recording will be worth, also I think you used too much ambient FxOutlaw2112 Nice rhythmic staccato intro on the low register, with a blues flavor in the phrasing that add a kind of laid back feel to the track. Nice solo with good bendings and vibrato Ok I said good, not perfect :-D this mean that there is still room to improve both vibrato and bendings. About tone, even if is a matter of taste, as a general guide line, too bright settings can makes your solo sound thin, many people set the bass referencing with the low strings, forgetting that low setting can make the first and second strings sound thin. kjutte If this was a competition Kjutte would have been the winner! I really liked the fat dark sound, the rhythmic displacement used in your phrasing, the use of space (rests) that many players fears, and the grade of "outness", with the use of non common scale/arpeggio choices, that you resolved back inside with confidence...GOOD JOB! really nothing to say here, apart the you could have used a little bit more of ambient fx, maybe a short in sync delay, to better "fuse" with the backing track.Wabba Good ideas and solo structure, maybe you over used a little bit the 3-notes per string patter, but of great effect specially in the intro, I also enjoyed the "out" effect you created here and there. as other gmcer, here we have another example of a good solo, not supported by a great sound, I perfectly understand that is a matter of taste, but a thin sound is a thin sound  , I don't think is a problem of "the sound is in your fingers man"  , you have enough confidence on your instrument to get a good sound, I simply suggest to experiment more with the EQ section of your amp here some tone suggestion for all:
Thanks For Join This post has been edited by Joe Kataldo: Jul 22 2009, 04:54 PM -------------------- ________________________________________________________________________________ |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Jul 27 2009, 04:25 PM
|
|
Dream Theater Collaboration
Nº of participants 5
Dream_theater_collaboration_Final_mix.mp3 ( 6.24MB )
Number of downloads: 163Here are the final mix and the comments of the Dream Theater Collaboration. I hope you like it. Congratulations to all of the participants. You've done a great job. I'm quite surprised!. And to those of you who couldn't, I'll wait to you in the next one Attached File Dream_theater_collaboration_Final_mix.mp3 ( 6.24MB ) Number of downloads: 40 Blazerok (0:00 - 0:43): Very nice technique!. You should pay more attention on the duration of the notes you’re playing. They are minimun mistakes, but it blackened a little your excelent work. You should work too on the cleannes on your playing in some fast licks. Work on these details and I’m sure that we’ll be in front of a really good player in a near future wink.gif Tjchep (0:43 - 1:22): There was something that called my atenttion on this take. You left the firsts bars of the backing without solo. It’s not bad at all, just called my attention. The solo idea in general is fine but you must pay attention to some rhythmic problems that I noted at the end of the solo, but the rest is very very cool. Congrats! Dexxter (1:22 - 2:02): Very nice melody in the beggining and in the slow part!. And very nice the contrast with the final. I noted some tempo problems in the first part. You should pay more attention , but again, you’ve done a great job. TheKeplerConjecture (2:02 - 2:42): Very nice beggining, doubling the riff idea, and already better in the slow part with that melody a bit dark that gives a great touch to the idea. The only thing that I think you missed is that maybe you should make the solo explode, adding some agressive stuff. Apart from that, it’s an excelent job. Congrats! Marc_Maiden (2:42 - 3:22): Very nice ideas, but you have to pay more atenttion in working some fast lines. I noted some tempo and excecution problems. The general idea of the solo is very nice, but it's blackened by these details. I suggest you to work these fast lines with metronome so you can develop more precition in your play beggining very slow and then increasing speed little by little. Let's get on work!!! Dream Theater Collaboration Link -------------------- Check out my lessons!
My Band: Thabu Myspace New Thabu Official Site!! My Websites: http://www.santiagodiazgarces.com.ar Myspace |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Jul 27 2009, 07:36 PM
|
|
Play and Rest Collaboration
NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS: 13 FINAL MIX HERE Hi guys and welcome to final mix and comments for Play and Rest collaboration. This was our 5th in class type collaboration and there were total of 13 participants (including myself). The purpose of this collaboration was to teach you how to create rests or spacing in your solos. We as guitar players who (primarily) like rock/metal/instrumental music tend to put technique before melody. If you followed closely rules of this collaboration and practiced using play rest patterns you should be noticing some major improvements. In case you haven't worked enough on this topic I strongly advise you to go back and do your work over and over until resting becomes natural to your ear and you start hearing melodies that you play in your head. Before I get to comments for each of you I would just like to suggest you to use this same approach over anything you work on! Here are some examples what I mean by that : - One chord vamp (maybe Dominant 7th chord vamp or Minor 7th or any mode that you want to work on) - Two chord vamp (here you can work on II V patterns or perhaps V to I or I to V etc) - Three chord vamp (12 bar blues is best for this) - Four or more chords ( this can be from section of a song all the way to whole songs and progressions) Modes of accompaniment you could and should use : - Metronome - Backing tracks - Another instrument (record yourself playing bass guitar roots for example or record just rhythm guitar so you can have another instrument as reference) - Trio setting (record bass and drums and then you do your soloing over that) - No accompaniment, rubato, free tempo (this pretty much means that you have to hear changes in your head without any reference and keep track of tempo on your own). Final recommendation - RECORD EVERYTHING YOU PLAY! This should be very educational and helpful for your further improvement. You need to analyze your playing and be realistic of your past , current and future goals. Find out what are things that need work, isolate them, create exercises/practice plan for them and improve. It is as simple as that, all you have to do is have will and dedication to stick to it. Hope this was very useful collaboration for you, enjoy the final mix and your comments. As always let me know if there are any questions ! For the first time I will divide comment into two categories for each one of you. Things I like and Things that need work. I hope you will like that approach but if you have any more questions feel free to ask here or via PM regarding your take. berko (0:00 - 0:37) Things that I like: Sound in 1st and 2nd section, your overal stylistic approach and you somewhat did great with play rest patterns. Things that need work: Melodic approach (Eb over G min chord is avoid note and should be used as passing tone only). Technique needs some polishing, hammer ons and pull offs (legato) don't sound even and it reflects on phrasing ideas (on and off phrasing). Conclusion: I wanted to hear specific play rest approach but you mixed different approach which is not what you were supposed to do. A lot of guys did this and I consider it to be not so great because I gave you instructions for a reason (to follow them). If I look at the play rest approaches you applied it sounds good but I wanted to grade on very specific approach (play one rest one or play two rest two, not both). Overall great sound and stylistic approach but melodic approach and technique need work. Thank you Berko! Caelumamittendum (0:37 - 1:12) Things that I like: Melodic approach, development in the melodies, technique applied and phrasing. Things that need work: Your sound (sounds like its in the background and you mentioned yourself that it doesn't work over this sort of backing) ! Conclusion : Like with previous take I wanted to hear specific play rest approach but you mixed play one rest one and play two rest two. I must say that you did really great job with that but regardless I just wanted you to pick one as it is far more difficult and challenging than combining two or mixing them up. Your development and technique was very well applied in this take and overall I am very pleased with it. Thank you Ben! Dexxter (1:12 - 1:48) Things that I like: Sound, development, different endings, question and answer phrasing, straight and syncopated rhythm, chord tones and tensions in your melodies. Things that need work: None Conclusion: Perfect take! I do mean it Max. You took only one play rest approach and did all the good things I mentioned in 36 seconds of solo. Well done man, I have no suggestions for you except to keep doing great work! Thank you Max! enforcer (1:48 - 2:23) Things that I like: Melodic approach, techniques applied, sound, development and phrasing (to some extent). Things that need work: Phrasing (on certain parts is weaker) and tunning (B and G string sound out compared to backing track, it might be that the strings are old or intonation is off). Conclusion: First thing I have to say is you didn't follow one specific play rest approach but rather mixed them. If we put this aside I can say that I am very happy with melodic content and approach in this solo. Make sure your guitar is in tune 100% with backing track next time you plan to record and work on phrasing a bit more. P.S. Excellent alternate picking run ! Thank you Can! JamesT (2:24 - 3:00) Things that I like: Sound, development, question and answer phrasing, melodic approach. Things that need work: Technique (very minimal improvement for bends with vibrato and vibrato itself) and phrasing (more variety in rhythm choices perhaps or even different starting places on and off the beat!) Conclusion: Jim you followed very specific play rest approach and I am very happy because of that. Things that need work were technique and phrasing but to be honest this is very minimal work and I think within a month time (or less) this will fall into right place. Keep working on bending, vibrato and phrasing, everything else is awesome. Thank you Jim! Matt23 (3:00 - 3:35) Things that I like: Melodic approach (in most of the solo), development, question and answer phrasing. Things that need work: Sound (it is very clean and dry, I am sure with better sound solo would have sounded more "alive"), technique (you need to work on your left hand mutting as double stops need to have joint and balanced sound) and phrasing (in some sections phrasing was weak but this was due to technique) Conclusion: Overall I am very pleased to see that you took only one specific play rest approach. Well done for that Matt. I believe you need to work on your sound most , technique and phrasing. You are doing great with REC program, keep practicing and good things will happen! Thank you Matt! Outlaw2112 (3:35 - 4:10) Things that I like: Melodic approach and technique (to some extent). Things that need work: Sound (it has way too much gain - I had to drop it down in the mix by 70% or so because it was peaking), phrasing (it was dropping in certain sections), development (more repetition, sequence, different endings) Conclusion: John you did not follow specific play rest approach. There were play one rest one as well as play two rest two. At times you even rested for three,four bars (very beginning) and played more than two bars (in the 2nd section). Regardles of that, your sound needs most work as I have heard you use high gain sound in my previous collaborations. Let me know if I can be of any assistance regarding that. Your phrasing could also be tighter so work on it with metronome and backing tracks (check modes of accompainment on top of the post!). Thank you John! Oxac (4:10 - 4:45) Things that I like: Sound, melodic approach, development, question and answer phrasing and overall creativity. Things that need work: Phrasing (in 2nd part you dropped a note in one of your phrases), arrangement (choose different sound to your guitar and bring it higher in the mix) technique ( I would have liked to hear some arpeggios using double time on keyboard, would have sounded awesome at some point!) Conclusion: Olle you almost followed one play rest approach 100% of the time. I didn't like that you played too much into the bars towards the end in the 2nd section but overall it was very good approach. I really like your creativity and I was very happy to provide you backing without my keys on there. It took me a lot extra work to mix it but if you like doing this I can give you more chance to do this in future. I would like to hear you use more techniqal things on keyboard although your solo was very melodic and well developed. Well done Olle! Thank you Olle! skennington (4:46 - 5:21) Things that I like: Sound, melodic approach, development, question and answer phrasing, sequence, repetition, different endings, chord tones and tensions. Things that need work: Bending (in the take I picked there were slightly flat bends that need work!), Technique/Vibrato/Intonation (when you end melody on last note it tends to be sharp - maybe you are trying to do light vibrato but instead produce a bit sharper pitch!) Conclusion: Steve first of all thank you for submitting two takes for this collaboration. I had really hard time last night deciding which one to pick for final mix. I decided to go with your first take because I like development, melodic structure and phrasing more then in second take. In other words, your first take was more musical to me Things that need work I am sure you will work on. Uncle Skillet is there to help you but if you need any help from me regarding bending exercises and vibrato do let me know. As final project I can recommend you to transcribe your solo in Guitar pro (it will be very usefull - ear training purposes, harmony analysis and rhythm training!) and I hope to see you in some future collaborations of mine. Thank you Steve! superize (5:21 - 5:57) Things that I like: Sound, melodic approach (except at one spot!), development, question and answer phrasing, chord tones and tensions. Things that need work: Melodic approach at 5:39-5:42 ! There are out notes there, transcribe your solo and you will see what I am talking about. Conclusion: Isac like most guys, you mixed different play rest approaches and this is not what I had in mind. If we take that out of the way and consider what you did in this take, I must say I am very pleased and happy with it. Well done man and next time follow the rules I post in main topic Thank you Isac! TheKeplerConjecture (5:57-6:32) Things that I like: Technique, chord tones and tensions, development and melodic approach (in some sections). Things that need work: Sound (it was very distorted I had to decrease gain a lot and even then sounded distorted still , melodic choice (especially in the first section), question and answer phrasing (phrases don't sound natural one after another, they melodies need to blend well).Conclusion: I like how you followed one specific play rest approach! That was great. In future try not to over play into next bar (like ending melodies on beat 2 of next bar and such). Pointers I made regarding things that need work I advise you take them seriously and work on them. This is the first time I hear you in my collaboration so I can't draw any conclusion what your real level of playing is. If you get a chance for some future collaboration record couple of takes and work on it as early as possible so that we can pick the best take! Thank you TheKeplerConjecture! Velvet Roger (6:33 - 7:08) Things that I like: Sound, development, chord tones and tensions, melodic approach, question and answer phrasing. Things that need work: Phrasing (in some parts phrasing is a bit weaker, if you check your solo with Guitar pro file you submitted you will see what I mean), Technique (small things on legato and vibrato, bending has definitely improved a lot!) Conclusion: Roger you mixed up different patterns instead of sticking to one play rest approach. I like a lot of things in your solo but I think phrasing needs work especially with faster rhythms (triplets and such) as well as off beat/syncopated type phrases. I do however think that you are imporving a lot over the time and things that you do compared to what you did in first collaborations is huge difference. Now its just matter of details with vibrato and phrasing. Pretty soon I expect your improvisations to make a lot of sense as you are using chord tones tensions and scale passages naturally already. Very good take but work on the things mentioned and next time follow the rules! Thank you Roger! Pedja Simovic (7:08 - 7:44) Things that I like: Melodic approach, motive development, question and answer phrasing, straigh and syncopated rhythms, chord tones, superimposing, through composed soling, technique etc Things that need work: Sound (I created this sound very quick and now that I listen to it I think I could have created a better sound!) Conclusion: I picked play one rest one approach. There were different starting places for melodies (pick up bar up beat of 4, down beat of 1 , up beat of one). Melodic approach, motive development, question and answer phrasing, straigh and syncopated rhythms, chord tones, superimposing and through composed soling is what made this solo sound as a whole thing very well. I personally think that sound could have been better but then again maybe this solo with different sound (less treble) wouldn't have same spiky statement as this one had at times! Thank you for participating in this collaboration and I hope to see you guys in next one! Pedja |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Jul 31 2009, 11:02 PM
|
|
Stormy Monday Collab:
Ok fellas, here are the comments and Final Mix, all in one place. Let me know if there is anything that I can do for you further on this collab, and I will notify you via PM when the time for another collab comes. Cheers everybody smile.gif skennington: Rhythmically take was great - you really nailed the notes in right positions, accenting all the good moments of the backing. Syncopation is present and in just the right amount, and all the note duration values are used very tastefully and fluidly. In the beginning there is that second phrase (with pulloffs) that sounded that you kinda went on G and stayed there, but could develop it one or two notes more. Minor rhythmic misplacement if we relate it to it's function tied to phrases before and after it. Also in the second part couple of phrases were connected ahead of drum patterns, which gives impression that you are rushing things, but this is a minor issue that can easily be interpreted as moment of inspiration and syncopation as well. Worth mentioning tho. Melodically it was very good - there is a tendency in your playing for following the backing, and I like the fact that you developed phrases that will follow the chord progression. Thing that should be more focused on is connecting various phrases together to form some kind of a story that will make sense for the listener. There are many ways for phrases to be developed and to relate to each other using similar notes but changing the order a bit. The phrasing quality is something that comes with time, and I can see that there is room for improvement here. When finishing phrases it is always good to land them on strong notes as we know, but it is also good to connect all the ending notes of phrases so that they form a story on their own. If two phrases have the same landing note they will sound repetative no matter if the phrases were different or not. If the phrases were the same and have only the landing note different, this is already concerned better way to go, cause listener can grab to that last note and see the development - he/she will be interested to hear what comes after it if you know what I mean. Phrasing effects were great - your bends and vibratos (that are usually weak spot in peoples playing) is pretty solid sounding to me. Some pinched are used as well (in the end I think), and in general all the techniques are nicely used, with taste, and on right places. Vibrating every longer note is recommended, and you did that and vibrato was even and solid. Tone quality is good - as you mentioned yourself your tone could use some tweaking, towards cleaning up the preset from amount of gain. Although I could hear everything clearly, in the upper register there is always present certain amount of buzz that is probably created by unability for a digital modeler to actually produce the necessary harmonics. Short said - it sounds like overdrive solid state amp. I would prefer to hear your tone completely clean, possibly with some very gentle overdrive that will break the signal only on highest notes. Your playing has the necessary dynamics, now you have to find a preset that we display the dynamics in your playing to it's full extent. I recommend Fender emulation, but preferences are different of course and gear is different, so any tweaking time can be valuable spent time. Deadevil: Timing in your playing is excellent, and it has a very logical progression till the end of the take. Starting with slower notes, having the ability to stay on them, and making it more and more complex as the solo is progressing towards the end is something that is appreciated with any style, and blues as well. Good shuffle feel is very good as well, and you are using the backing's hihat hits to accent certain notes and in your phrasing which I find a very good thing to do. Nothing more to add here. Phrasing development very good - Very cool and smooth take here with equal amount of dedication for phrasing as for rhythm. Starting with bending phrase, and going octave down, continuing there and using a small run to climb is a good progress within a solo, and although the first phrase was good, it is somehow left there all alone up on the treble strings, as you continue right away down on the bass. This alone phrase can sometimes leave the impression of unfinished idea or musical sentence so when using it you have to be careful that later in the part you somehow remember the listener of it, or it will be there with very little function on it's own. Afterwards, using those nice runs is a clever way of inserting effective smaller note durations in a solo. Even when runs are note to note in a scale, they are effective if placed properly rhythmically, so this is a good way to play. In the second part with changing the chord progression, you followed it nicely and used overdubbed takes to fill the solo with fresh sounds, which I think turned out good. Using common long notes is a good trick to use when you find yourself out of key and you cannot anticipate the next harmonic movement, and you used it well here. Technically take was very solid - general impression could be put in two words basically - more vibrato. Everything else was very cool, very nice and smooth tone, and I have impression that you are playing these things with ease here. Also, when using those runs, it is wise to cut down the pauses between the notes as much as you can unless you want to play them staccato intentionally. Using legato slides, hammeron/pulloffs played a major role in adding flow to your solo. Sound was pretty good - I really like it, smooth balanced tone, a bit buzzy, but in the lower part of the spectre and it turned out nice. Dynamics is good, and in overall I can only recommend to tweak your presets more and more to achieve better dynamics, possibly even with decreasing gain just for the sake of recording and testing. Overall tone color sounds very cool to me. Berglmir: Rhythm playing: Syncopation and shuffled rhythms are something that comes naturally to you, you have a good feel for them. One thing that is part of your style are those short muted notes that you insert on the beat. In general you can maintain a good balance of fast and long notes, and from rhythm point of view there is very little I can suggest, sounded very interesting to me. One thing that you may need to work on here is making your notes a bit more defined and focused. It is good to use syncopation, but you have to know where every note needs to be just before you play them. One good way to do this is to actually imagine phrase just before you play it, and while you are playing it you imagine the next phrase and so forth. While imagining the phrase you don't need to know exactly how many notes will it have, main thing to know is beginning and start note, but one thing that you should keep in mind when improvising them is overall note durations in a lick/phrase, and try to maintain that pace with your fingers accordingly. This all happens in a split of a second, so it is important to back it up with some extensive workouts so you can really cover all the notes imagined properly, not letting any note in that is not needed, or letting the needed notes out. Melody&Phrasing: Melodies and phrases you used here are good and have a nice and steady progression towards the end, I like the connection between the licks and their function. Licks are put in right places, and I don;t get a strong impression of a lick-by-lick solo. Stacking licks is not what needs to be done anywhere, they need to function together and tell a story, and in overall I think 80% your take is functioning in that way. In the beginning there is that first unfinished phrase that ends up on the bended D note on the G string. I kinda felt that this phrase was ended a bit unnecessary there but it's a minor detail. Phrasing effects: Very good use of many different effects, vibrato, bends, pinched. I think the thing that you should work more on is vibrato. It is fast, shallow and uncontrolled, and you should make it exactly opposite: slow, deep and controlled. This way you will achieve full control over it. It comes with time, but try with metronome and practice only vibrato for 2-3 weeks. You will be amazed how much your overall bending/vibrato technique AND your TONE will improve because of the better feel of the grip on the strings. Sound: Good sound but I have a feeling of classic overuse here. Your take would blend with this backing very nicely with less overdrive, less delay, less reverb and less treble on the EQ. All this said, when I say less, I talk in very small increments. One component of the sound affects another so it is important to remember this when shaping the tone for recording. Start dry, and make a useful overdriven sound, but not too much. Then add space and see how it now sounds. Chances are if you put too much space your guitar will loose definition and get lost in the mix. Be extra careful with the amount of stuff you put in, as always less goes a long way. Crazyfret: Rhythm: Rhtythm is nicelt fitted with the backing, good use of all the note durations, and very balanced. In the second part of the solo the note durations become a bit longer which is note following the natural progression of the solo and the rhythmic balance of the solo becomes a bit unstable, as it forces the end of the backing too soon. In the end however, there is a nice faster sequence that solves the problem, but it happened a bit too late. This kind of detail is important to focus on, and usually what player does is think too much about his next move without having something to fill in the gaps. If you do experience an improvisation block which is common and can happen to anyone apply some of your good known repetitive notes/licks that will hold the attention of the listener, having in mind of the rhythmic placements and timing. If you started to progress your solo towards more notes, keep it that way, just simplify the lick a bit and get it to loop around until you come up with the next phrase. Melody&Phrasing: I liked the licks you used in this solo, very melodic and executed in a solid way. Starting with the first lick in Gary Moore style and progressing with some bluesy licks involving lots of whole step bends. Unfortunately as I said for rhythm it goes here as well - phrasing in the middle and second part of the solo is insuficient and too many notes are played, some of the licks just slowed down a lot and repeated. This solution for this just as for rhythm - find a good lick that you know and hold it a bit while you think up something and then use it straight away. Good idea would be to analyze the backing a bit and see what chords are there so you can define your phrases based on strong notes, and build them around them as centers. Phrasing effects: Bending technique very good, bends need to be a bit more sharper and tighter. Same goes for vibrato, and I would like to hear more of it. Spending couple of months focusing on vibrato 15-20 mins per day to achieve professional level is my rough estimation. Sound: Good sound, a bit too much overdrive is what I would say. I think your take would sound better clean but some overdrive cannot hurt. Your tone has a nice middly vintage spice to it, and it is in-your-face one with just right amount of reverb on it. Reverb is much nicer space effect to use on this kind of track than delay, and your sound is in overall more of a vintage tone. What I would like to hear is less overdrive, and more control from the fingers giving your take more dynamics. This would really shine out in my opinion. Other than less overdrive, no complatins, sounds great. @UncleSkillet I definitely recommend and encourage you to do more takes if you want, this makes progressing better and more can be learned. PLease feel free to do so. Here are the comments for your first take: Rhythm: Very good syncopation and good feel for the track. The main impression I got from this take is that although your timing is good, you have to work a bit on two things. First on is connecting the licks in a more natural rhythmical way, and second being progressing with note durations as the improvisation develops. Both things require some practice and possibly focusing and analyzing your playing a bit, but in essence, following some well established rules like starting the solo slowly, then going faster, and louder, and in the end doing more smaller note durations is something that you should definitely do to make it sound even more interesting for the listener. Phrasing&Melody: Similar things can apply as for rhythm, cause your playing consists of many very nicely and tasty licks played with a good feeling in mind, but they are not connected fluidly. This is mainly cause you made variations in the first part but forgot to change the landing note, so in 3-4 licks you finish on the same root note, which will definitely make it sound repetitive. Landing on root octave higher, or other string note is something to do here. You can notice the solo started to sound fun as soon as you went up scale. Phrasing effects: very good use of ghost notes and dynamics. One thing that you should work on are your bends, they can sometimes be not exactly on pitch so try to keep them as precise and tight as you can. A bit practicing on the, couple of days usually solves this problem for a while. Sound: Great preset you made, and I suggest you record all your takes using similar method - it definitely works. Good smooth tone, good control over the tone from the fingers, and good dynamics makes your playing shine. If you like this kind of a more mellow, almost jazzy type of tone color, definitely use it, cause you nailed a good preset. Don't forget to save it for the future, and tweak it even more, perhaps you find some other combinations around it that will work even better. sted: Rhythm: you showed good feel for the use of longer note durations between faster passages to keep things interesting, just like in the other collab, but one thing that your rhythmic abilities lack and you should pay more attention to is dynamics of the rhythm as in the other collab. In general it is always to first follow to basic rule of solo dynamic buildup which says that it is good to start with bigger and end with more frequent smaller note durations. If you examine your solo you will hear that you started right away with familiar rhythmical sequences, and continue to use them right until the end of the solo. They do sound good, but spending more time in really developing the rhythmical sentences with more care is something that can raise your playing to a whole new level. You know when to stop, you gotta focus to learn how to build rhythm better. Phrasing: As before, too many phrases are ended on the root, and it is the same root in the same octave. The use of Mixolydian mode here is noticeable and it definitely sounds interesting, but when using it, you have to handle it with care, cause pure mixolydian cannot work standalone in blues and create a nice bluesy effect. My suggestion here would be to mix two patters together. I've made a lesson on mixing the patterns that will come out any day now, so I suggest you check it out when it does. It's about mixing major and minor patterns in blues in order to create different feels. If you would wanted to apply it to your phrasing structure/style, you could use one mixolydian voiced riff with major 3rd and minor 7th and then introduce a nice blues minor pentatonic lick as a response. Then continue again over mixo mode, than use major penta, and so on. Various combos can be achieve and always keep it simple if you are just starting to experiment with new scales. This way you have more time to hear, focus, and get yourself familiar with all the notes you play. Phrasing effects & technique: Very good playing throughout, using some nice faster legato sequences, and cool bends. All this needs some polishing, bends could be more tighter, and legato could be more cleaner. In essence, technique and effect elements used are good but could need more work. Also, more vibrato use would raise the quality level by a big step. Sound: As on the other collab, it is a bit buzzy in the higher register, mainly due to overuse of distortion. I would keep the distortion down, turn on slight overdrive, and overdrive the amp before the actuall pedal. Use pedal as a booster, and use something like tubescreamer more than anything else. Also I think there is a bit too much space added, deep reverb that eats away the definition of your playing so during a play I get an impression that you play "behind" the track in a way. Try to use less drive and less space, and you will hear more defined and more dynamic sound definitely. Jones: Rhythm: great feeling for the blues rhythm and this track in overall. I like how you progressed with note values from start to end. In some places there are notes that could possibly be left out, but I think the rhythm was good nonetheless. One thing that I could possibly suggest is tightening up the rhythm and note execution a bit. In the first part everything is nice and solid, but in the second part and towards the end I would like to hear more defined notes. I like the staccato style in the first part and all the notes had a nice borders between each other, but in the second part it kinds muddies here and there, specially on the faster sequences. So this would be something to practice a bit with a metronome. Phrasing: Good phrases and good licks throughout. First two phrases are ended on the root, and I would like to see the other phrase resolve on some other note than the root to keep it more interesting. After that you inserted a nice Phrygian moment in there, which sounds very good to me. Right up until the end there are several very cool licks. What I would like to hear in the second part is possibly more logic, structure and connection between all those nice licks to form a story. You did nice syncopation and went to various places with the landing notes which sounded cool, but somehow I was getting the impression that you need to work a bit more on analyzing the phrases and using them as whole. Just a though to pay more attention on. Phrasing techniques & Technique: I really like the fact that you used vibrato throughout the solo, but my impression is that it should be even more tighter, wider and more even. You do it fast, and vibrato should be a bit slower and in sync with the backing. Good way to vibrate the string is using 3 consecutive bends during one click, which means vibrating using eight note triplets. On this kind of slow backing using fast vibrato could be achieved using sixteen note triplets, so pay more attention on that synchronization is my advice here. Sound: Very interesting sound, has a bit of a throaty character that can be found sometimes when using wah pedal. I like the tone color, but the overall quality of the preset could be better in terms of dynamics and buzzing in the higher register. These are minor problems, and I think both can be fixed with some EQing and compression. In general amount of overdrive is just about enough. Dexxter: Rhythm: Very good ideas, and tasty rhythmical figures, sounds very good to my ears. There are only couple of notes that have timing issues in the beginning and at the end, but these mistakes are mostly small - just notes that are not exactly on the beat. Other than that I think you really have a nice feel for the note durations and syncopation, specially those long bends. I like the fact you used shorter note durations towards the end. Focus more on those shaky notes in the beginning and end and it should be perfect. Phrasing & Structure: You started to develop well the first part of the solo, and the second part as well, but towards the end phrases kinda loose touch with one another. Problem with the last couple of phrases is choosing good ending notes to round them up like logical musical sentences. All the phrases should correlate with one another and form a sort of a story. With a minimalistic approach that you used here it is relatively hard to achieve that cause every note carries more heaviness and function to itself. I would advise spending more time on focusing developing question&answer phrasing pairs to really get the feel for them. Other than that I really like the licks and the bends, they really fit nicely. Technique: Your technique is great, good clean playing, and well defined notes. Some bends are a bit shaky and not precise, but all in all good use of them, and also good use of vibratos. Sound: Great sound that cuts well through the mix, in the mids and round. Little crunchy, exactly the amount that is needed. No mistakes here from what I can hear. leedbreak: Rhythm: Good start and good use of rhythmic phrases to develop the solo to the peak in the middle with some more shorter durations. Towards the end a slow turn again, and in the end a solid wrap up. I think you play very interestingly your rhythmical sentences, and they do form a structure that is very nice. The thing that I could recommend possibly is inserting more longer notes, for example longer bends and holding them, this would really add a new dimension to this take. Just a thought. The whole solo has a nice structure, intro, build up, climax, build down, outro, very nicely rounded, just need to work more on finesses like connecting them in a more natural way, which is heavily related to melodic phrases as well. Phrasing: Good development and nice melodic all around in a solo, nice notes are used, and sounds pretty solid. The part that needs a bit more work is the second part. I have a feeling that there are some unfinished and undefined phrases in there that could could really represent the world difference. Techniques: Several techniques used that are good, palm muting for one, that is executed successfully throughout, and then bends and vibrato. I would suggest a bit more work on bending. It has to be precisely in pitch every time. Sound: Your sound is good but I think it lacked some dynamics and mids to really cut through the mix. I will raise the level a bit in the final mix so it comes out nicely, and this is just something I would modify here. Other than that, I believe that a smaller amount of gain would really define your tone even better than it is now. Staffy: Rhythm: Just great, almost perfect, some timing issues that are strictly technical nature, but the sense of syncopation and rhythmic build up in your playing is just without any problems at all. Great job. Overall great take, really great sense for the blues. Phrasing: Very tastefully used licks and phrases, that really have a nice development, every note is in it's place, very cool. In the middle there is that a bit odd arpeggio out of the bloom is good, but I have a feeling it is there more because of the habit of doing it instead of phrasing intentions. I like it, but could be a bit smoother I think, rhythmically as well. Techniques: I beleive your tone control is very good and you are really playing these licks and phrases with a good deal of comfort. There is room for improvement since there are notes that are a bit loose, but it is not of major importance. Also noise could be a bit of an issue on several places, so try to keep your tone as tight as you can and only let the things you play to ring out. Sound: Although the sound has just the right amount of drive, dynamics and space, I am finding that top end sizzle is a bit harsh on some high notes. Possibly smoothing out the presence range a bit with the EQ would really make it very nice. Not too much of course, so it doesn't loose the sparkle, just that spot with the harshness. FINAL MIX New Wave Collab: Ok guys, here are comments and final mix of this collaboration, all in one place! smile.gif Thanks a lot for participating and I hope to see you on the next collab as well! Cheers everybody! smile.gif Berglmir: Rhythm: Great rhythmical build up in the first section using quarter notes on the upbeat followed but couple of eight notes after it, followed by longer note (usually bend) and continuing to use that rhythmical phrase couple of times. In the middle section there is nice logical progression, but I got the impression there are too many quarter notes towards the end of the solo. This is something that could easily be made even more interesting by breaking the equal note sequence and using eight notes here and there between those quarters. Two good lesson exercises that I can recommend for this is speed burst are these: https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/solo-guit...n-speed-bursts/ https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/speed-power-burst/ first one handling horizontal and second one handling vertical movements. Tempo is not important just the main concept. Phrasing&Melody: Your phrasing ability is one of the best aspects of this solo. Good phrases and good logical connection between them. As I commented in the other collab on some previous takes, main thing is to keep the last strong note changing, this already gives a sense of movement within a melody. You are doing a very good job of it, by using very similar licks but changing the last note and inserting some effects as well to accent it more. Part with bends in the middle was very good, after that there are two faster sequences with the part between them that has a bend that doesn't have a very strong function there, it's a dead end, probably a moment of inspiration or fingers just went there not knowing what to do next in the same style, so you came back on that run once again. Small detail, but important to mention cause that bend could be used a bit more effectively by just changing timing of it. Phrasing effects: Good use of pinched harmonics really stands out here, and accenting strong notes with it turned out great. Your vibrato is not very well controled, it is shallow and too fast, but it does have a certain positive character to it here, as it somehow goes along nicely with this kind of style. I would still prefer for you to achieve a better control with it, cause there is difference between controlled fast vibrato and uncotrolled one. Usually that difference is that controlled one is more even and steady. Here is one small video with some tips about doing hte bends that I've made for Toroso some time ago, you may find if useful: https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_fo...st&p=329234 Sound: Good intense sound that cuts well through the mix, with lots of treble and lots of gain. You inserted some (a bit dark) delay on it which adds nicely to the space, very subtle and not very audible in the mix which I find a positive thing, cause this kind of a track I think requires more of a natural dry raw type of sound. One thing that you should work on is muting techniques to remove all the unnecessary noise from your playing which will then really make your tone more defined and even sharper. sted: rhythm: Very good rhythmic placement can be heard throughout the whole solo. THe key word here is not logical but interesting in my opinion. ALthough all the solo parts are not connected and function together as a whole in rhythmic sense, they do keep the focus for the listener, and maintain a flow, although these are some simple rhythmic patterns (some eight note sequences, with a touch of swing feel here and there followed by longer duration, usually bended quarter or half). In essense all the parts were nice and solid, but what I can suggest is paying more attention to overall rhythmical structure. You understand when to insert a longer note to keep things more interesting, now try to possibly tie all those rhythmical phrases together to form a meaning, and possibly insert smaller note durations towards the end, maybe a mini run for a more effective ending wouldn't be a bad idea. Good thing to practice thins kind of stuff would be to take only 2 notes and make various combinations with them, this sharpens the rhythmic feel even on faster paced tracks. Phrasing: You have a good sense for phrasing and the highlight of the track is actually first two phrases that have two parallel pairs of major seconds melodic sequences played at the end of each phrase which sounded like a great opening to me. After that you were kinda lost out there, using roots for landing, and on several phrases after that, perhaps 3 or 4 out of 5 prhases you landed on a root in a similar fashion. It is very important to keep things interesting and to land on several different notes to build a story from your phrases. This kind os structure resembles on a call/response structure with pairs of similar licks evolving but sounding similar cause the landing notes is often the root. Gotta fix that root and keep it more interesting. In the end the ending was a bit acquard as well cause of that C note, and then out of the sudden, without any logical connection playing a bluesy interval in the very end. Sounded cool to me, but I think more connection between those elements is needed, either by involving C somehow and inserting more notes to create a logical sequence to that last lick, or by keeping things simple and just dropping the C out of the equation completely, leaving only the bluesy lick in the end and possibly spicing it up with vibrato. Phrasing effects: Very good and solid bending throughout the solo. I would prefer to hear a bit more vibrato use, and it has to be more solid, but with those kinds of bends you are on the right track. Keep it up. Sound: The sound sounded buzy to me simply put. Very little dynamics, no punch and buzzy in the higher register mean one thing - too much distortion. Try to clip the sound lot less for the recording purposes - it will become more distorted later in the mix. leedbreak Rhythm: Starting solid with the rhythm, but problems with the middle part. Some notes are a bit off, specially in that accending run. Other than that I think you played everything very nice, sounds pretty solid to me. Phrasing: Good use of pentatonics, first couple of phrases are great, and second couple is great as well, but the ending on the last one is that descending run that is a bit undefined rhythmically. After that there are some ascending/descending runs and not too defined phrases, so this part could use a bit more structure. In the end you finished nicely using build-up phrases, and god ending, although I would like to hear the root one octave higher, possibly bended. Technique: You technique is in general good, and everything you play is pretty solid, leaning a bit towards metal styles mainly because of the palm muting that is often heard. This is not bad however, I think you managed to achieve a very cool HM vibe here. What I would like to hear more, and bends and vibratos, specially towards the end, and in the end itself. Sound: Your sound was good, but as I said on the stormy collab, it lack some volumen, punch and cutting through the mix. This all can be very easily adjusted by using some EQ, and possibly lowering down ovedrive knob juust a tiny bit to increase overall definition. Sollesnes Rhythm: Good rhythmical structure, very interesting in the first part, and good in the second part as well, very similar compared to the first one. I like the fact you took a main theme approach and it sounds very good. One thing that could be inserted are perhaps some longer notes in the middle or possibly developing rhythmically the main theme when you played it in second part of the solo. Not too much tho, but just inserting note here or there to keep it interesting and with some rhythmical jump outs. Phrasing: Good main theme on the solo, catchy. Nicely balanced solo, but I feel you could do nicer climax and build the solo up in the middle part, specially on the second phrase in the middle part. Technique: Everything is very good, I think your playing is pretty solid. I would like to hear couple of more bends, and possibly even a vibrato in the middle part on the second phrase tho. Sound: Good sound, but I have a feeling it is not cutting well through the mix. I think spending a bit more time on adjusting the EQ will do the trick with that. Other than that it is good and smooth. jafomatic Rhythm: Very interesting rhythmic "islands" and phrases man. The solo progresses in a very interesting way and definitely has a great vibe to it. Some notes need some polishing, they are not perfectly in time, but this is technique issue not rhythmical. Overall, really well done on the rhythm part, sounds pretty cool. Phrasing: Good phrasing, reminds me on British rock, and it is a very positive thing. There are 6 phrases here, actually 3 pairs of phrases, and the finishing one that is number 7 and seems similar to phrases 5 and 6. All pairs are great, and middle pair is brilliant. Sounds like a true british hit rock song from the 80ties. I think the weakest link is the ending itself, cause I woudl make a big build up using intervals and climb it up, possibly using tremolo playing or something like that. Similar build up techniques would make this really a stand out material. technique: Pretty solid in my opinion. There are some noise issues, and not all notes came out perfectly clear, but I think everything is played on a very decent level, just needs a bit more polishing. Sound: Very nice sound, really feels like British rock tone, but I would say it needs a bit more punch and mids to it to really make it nasty. Ovedrive is just right perhaps liiitle over the top (on the top end). All in all very good, and cuts nicely. I'm please to hear this take, it is very interesting. FINAL MIX -------------------- - Ivan's Video Chat Lesson Notes HERE
- Check out my GMC Profile and Lessons - (Please subscribe to my) YouTube Official Channel - Let's be connected through ! Facebook! :) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Aug 27 2009, 09:36 PM
|
|
FUNK ROCK COLLABORATION Number of participant : 6
Funk_FINAL_MIX.mp3 ( 7.39MB )
Number of downloads: 142These it is the final mix and comments of the Funk rock collaboration, thanks to all for his participation Dexxter (0:00 to 0:56): Excelent solo!!. A very nice show of a solo that could surely be part of a song, not only an example of virtuosity that doesn’t say too much. You have to know how adapt yourself to the different styles and the needs of the songs (Or the backing track in this case) and I think that you got the idea perfectly. There’s nothing to correct. I’m very glad and happy to see your progress Toroso (0:56 to 1:49): The idea of working on a melodic pattern and variations on them as I think you tried to do in this solo is very good. You have to check out some things. In one hand, I’ve noted some out of tune of your guitar. It could be not only that your guitar is out of tune, could be also problems of calibration or very old strings. Technically, the idea es nice, but you have to work on your vibrato and bendings, because you don’t reach the exactly note you have to reach when bending. Working on these details, the solo would be much better Leedbreak (1:49 to 2:41): Very nice the main idea and without rhythmic or technical problems. What I already noted is that the idea turns quite repetitive and sounds more like a singed part than a solo. As a beginning is perfecto, but maybe you should fly a little more along the solo and expand with other ideas and scales (as the ones I marked at the beggining of this collab). Although, the idea is perfect, and maybe, as you said, it was just a matter of time. JVM (2:41 to 3:33): The first thing that I noted when I heard your solos is that you have to work more on the bendings tune and vibratos. The idea is good and your tone is very nice too, in the style of Santana or something similar, but you have to add some sustain I think. To sum up, you should work on what I marked previously and you would get a so much better result of the solo. Staffy(3:33 to 5:19): The idea and the combination of scales is excelent. You catched the posibilites you can execute inside every chord and you combined them perfectly, reaching an equilibrium between disonant and chords note. Technically there’s not too much to correct, but you should mute a little more the strings when you’re playing with distortion, so those little noises when you’re playing don’t appear. Excelent work!! Enforcer: Very nice job. I liked a lot how you applied techniques without leaving behind the feeling that these kind of styles requiered. Also, the tune of your bednings and Harmonics is very good. The only thing you should work is on vibrato (It has to be more marked on these “more rocker” styles).
Funk_FINAL_MIX.mp3 ( 7.39MB )
Number of downloads: 142-------------------- Check out my lessons!
My Band: Thabu Myspace New Thabu Official Site!! My Websites: http://www.santiagodiazgarces.com.ar Myspace |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Aug 28 2009, 04:41 AM
|
|
Name: Iron Maiden Collaboration
Number of participants: 9
Maiden_Collab_Final_Mix_2.mp3 ( 12.3MB )
Number of downloads: 185Hi there! This is the final mix and comments thread for the Iron Maiden Collaboration! First I would like to say thanks for all the participants! There are many inspiring ideas in you solos! The overall is very good… and I can say that I would do lessons based on some of your entries! As we didn't have enough "video" entries I won't the video here but I'll do it in my personal board. Ok, let's start with the comments. Canis: (00:02 to 00:45) The first part sounds good. The melody is very Maidenish and if you would have added an harmonized guitar it could be a song from their latest albums! The solo starts very good but you play some notes out of scale after 00:26. It seams like if you play some notes from G minor Aeolian over E minor key. Maybe you felt confused with the first modulation… The playing is well; you only need to work a bit on timing and vibrato. Keep on rocking! Marek: (00:46 to 01:29) We have an amazing Maidenish melody at the beginning. I really like it this. Then the solo sound a bit strange. If we analyze the note that you choose we find many tensions (notes that don't belong to the chord that is sounding). This makes you solo sound a bit weird… not out of scale but more like a jazz player playing metal. This makes your solo sound original but maybe a bit out of style. I'm not saying this as a bad thing; I just wanted to comment it. Is this your idea? The last part sounds interesting and once again very original. Well done! Kepler (01:29 to 02:13) Your take is really good! I like the evolution of your composition. Everything sounds on pitch and the apparition of the harmonized guitars is just perfect. The last part when you change the rhythm playing short notes with silence between them is a really good idea and functions very well there. Congrats of your creativity and great playing! Dexxter (02:13 to 02:56) Killer!! You have the Maiden style very incorporated in your playing! This really sounds like something composed by Maiden. The harmonized guitars at the beginning and the end of the take sound like the duet Murray/Smith. The solo sounds in the style of Adrian Smith. I can hear many of his rocker licks there. Everything is very well played. Keep on the great job man and we'll have great news from your music career! Sensible Jones (02:57 to 03:40) Your composition is really good and it sounds very in the style! It's a pity that the take has important timing problems. Isn't it a latency problem with your soundcard? Te melodies and solos are in scale and your technique is good. If this is a technical problem you need to work on your timing. Audiopaal (03:40 to 04:25) Nice tone and playing Paal! The overall playing is very good. I only think tat your take need a bit more of expression. Maybe if you add a stronger vibrato and some rocker bending everything would sound even more interesting. Btw the takes sounds really nice but more like a Vinnie Moore melodic solo… and this isn't a bad ting eh! Kaznie (04:26 to 05:10) Nice take Kaznie! The first melody is fantastic for me. It sounds like "mysterious" and reminds me to Marty Friedman's solo albums. The solo is also interesting and sounds very Maidenish. It only needs a bit of adjustment in the fastest section but the rest is very good. I'm not completely convinced of te last melody. In the last melodies there are some notes that function as tensions at the moment that you are playing them and it doesn't sound like Maiden.. but maybe it sounds like Kaznie… who knows… Great job man! Chris Evans: (05:10 to 05:50) THIS is Maiden! You harmonized melodies (the first and the last ones) could be found in some of the best Maiden songs! I love these melodies! The harmonisations are very well composed. Te first one is more in the style of "hallowed be thy name" and the last one reminds me to Powerslave album. Te solo is also really good! I would like to analize it because it has been composed very well. It has 4 different moments where you explore different Maidenish licks. The first one is a fast passage in the style of Murray. The second one is repetitive lick alla Adrian Smith. Then we have an amazing lick playing pull offs with open strings notes (like the intro of Wasted Years). And finally another repetitive lick which sounds really original to me. Congrats Chris! Botox Fox: (05:51 to 06:36) Amazing take! You decided to use all the first part as a solo part and the last part as the harmonized melodies section. It is a very good idea. You used many interesting licks and the overall sounds very very Maidenish! There are some little timing problems in some licks in the beginning but the overall sounds very well played and at a great level! The last melodies sound very nice. The first one is more Maidenish and the second part remembers me to Racer X or Cacophony. I like your tone and creativity. Congrats on your playing! Keep on rocking! ORIGINAL THREAD -------------------- My lessons
Do you need a Guitar Plan? Join Gab's Army Check my band:Cirse Check my soundcloud:Soundcloud Please subscribe to my:Youtube Channel |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Aug 31 2009, 09:13 PM
|
|
Slow Neoclassical solo Collaboration by Emir Hot
GROUP 1 Chris Evans (0:00 - 1:09) This take is great. The first thing I noticed when I imported your takes in the project was that you followed all the rules about recording and exporting the track. Great and healthy signal, mono solo track, no reverb/delay and stereo track with the backing. Well done. I believe that's not a hard task plus I don't need to spend 15 min aligning and cleaning the take. Your tone is really nice and has a great clean definition. I don't really have many words to say about your playing. It is clear that you enjoyed playing over this backing and when such thing happens, the take must be good I said in the lesson explanation "try to feel the whole thing as you're telling some kind of a story on the guitar". Your take is exactly that, like the whole story. If you don't feel what you're playing then the melody reflects in a weird way. Everyone can notice that, even if a listener is not a musician. It is obvious that you're a skilled and experienced player. Great control, nice flow and smooth connection between notes and phrases, nice amount of consistent vibrato and overall feel was great. Note choice was very interesting especially when you target the diminished chords. I was scared that at some point you don't get too excited and not overplay but you carried it nicely all the way. I liked those jumps from a lower octave phrases to a very high notes. It just shows that your imagination and compositional skills are coming from a true artist. Well done Chris.TheKeplerConjecture (1:09 - 2-14) I really like this take. Full of great melody lines. There are some nice jumps from lower to higher octave. Well known Yngwie/metal trick. Your control throughout the take was very well controlled and balanced. You also did a good job with note choices. It is clear that you really worked on this and there was that polishing stage where you probably got rid of some unwanted notes and ended up with a nice take. That's also my approach to composing. I might be wrong but it really sounds like you spent some serious time. I like the way how you target diminished scales. You wait for it on some note and kick in with the group of very nicely chosen ones for the dim7 part. The only thing that could be much better is your vibrato. It would sound much stronger if your vibrato was wider. Don't be afraid to use it as much as possible in this style of music. It really adds power in playing. Also remember that next time you export mono guitar take. No need for stereo track on solo take. You export stereo only for the one with the backing. That's a good practice and everyone should pay attention on that. Remember it if you want to have the whole thing done in a professional way when you work with producers and sound engineers. Well done for this one. Enforcer (2:14 - 3-19) After some discussion on forum about your previous recording you managed to produce very interesting take. There are still a couple of things that could be improved but this take works as it is. I noticed in your previous collaborations that your vibrato is somehow aggressive and very often some notes sound like nearly out of tune. In this take nothing is out of tune but sometimes just on the edge. I have a feeling that most of the notes you're bending unconsciously even though there are no bends. The vibrato is consistent most of the time but sometimes you break that 8th note feel when vibrating and that reflects different in the phrasing. It should always be the same from beginning until the end. The scales are all correct and you did a great job with some very interesting melodies. That shows your real creative side which I noticed from your first collaboration. The first part of the solo was somehow all over the place with no perfectly defined melodic continuity but later (from those drum breaks) everything was perfect. There was a great melody flow. Especially the part when you're sliding that diminished pattern and all the way until the end. I also noticed that when you're picking faster palm muted phrases they are not perfectly in time. Maybe because of the palm muting you need to concentrate more on picking as your hand get stuck on the bridge and you limit your picking movement. Not a very big deal but it's hearable. This take is very interesting melody wise and that shows your great compositional skills but some technical side of it can be more polished. Credits go to you for the properly exported track. Good signal, mono track, no effect etc... That's how pro guys do it Well done.maharzan (3:19 - 4:24) Very nice take. Perfectly structured melody which starts slowly and with every next phrase announcing something different. That's exactly how an interesting melody should be composed. Your vibrato is pretty good. Well controlled and consistent. There were only a couple of moments where you nearly lost that continuity but that was nothing dangerous. Some notes were not vibrated. Don't be afraid to go for it all the time whenever you have a long note. All scales were correct and your note choice was very interesting. There are million ways how you can build the melody over this progression and you definitely found a good one. I noticed that when you're going for faster runs you're not perfectly in time. That's noticeable when the drums have those broken fills and in the end with the very last lick. That lick itself was great but you were speeding it up just slightly before the beat. Be careful there. If you make us enjoy the take all the way then don't ruin it at the very end just because you got too excited. You had some nice bends which were very precise. That's very important when you go for bending not to make it sound out of tune. Another interesting part is how clever you target your every next note and switch from one scale to another. You wait for the part to come and just execute or resolve on the right spot with the right note. That shows that your skills as a composer are very good. You really showed an interesting and creative piece of work which I am very pleased to hear. Well done. audiopaal (4:24 - 5:28) This take has some very nice melody flow. There was only one wrong note on 4:41 (A note instead of A#). There you have the F# chord and it's a major chord. A# is major 3rd from F# so that would be the right one. Never play minor interval over a major chord. The sound is somehow too clean. While is doesn't sound bad at all I think it sounds better when I applied some distortion from Amplitube plugin. I couldn't make warmer distortion as your sound was somehow already a bit distorted. Now it sounds dirtier but at least more in style. This solo is supposed to be played with distortion but not extreme metal one, more like a hard rock type of sound. Your vibrato could be more consistent. Vibrate from the wrist and keep the 8th notes feel against the tempo while vibrating. Vibrato is very important key in nicer and smoother connection between notes. It really adds a lot into the overall impression. Your phrasing was ok but sometimes too many long notes in a row. I wish you went for just a few more busier melodic runs. That's just a stylistic thing, nothing to do with your actual playing but also improves the overall quality of the take. I liked when you switched to the higher octave and broke that low register continuity. It refreshed the melody and made it much more interesting. Your notes in that part were really good. Always felt like you're targeting somewhere to resolve while you kept just the right amount of tension. The resolution came in the end which was nicely composed but you went a bit far after the backing stopped. I like this take but for the next time try to think of some tips that I mentioned in order to make it even better. I can hear that you're talented musician and no reason why every next one wouldn't sound better and better. Good work. jafomatic (5:29 - 6:33) Very good playing Jafo. Your melodic ideas are really nice. Not repetitive at all. Always something unexpected but never overplayed which I like. I wish your vibrato was much wider. It sounds almost flat. Read audiopaal's comment about the vibrato. The take would definitely sound better if you applied some vibrato. Your faster phrases are very nice but sometimes they sound like you pick them weak. Don't be afraid to pick harder. It also reflects in your sound. You just can't get out all the power of you good guitar sound if you don't pick the note properly. While speaking about the sound you could have a bit more drive. All your faster melodic shapes were excellent but sometimes sloppy in rhythmical placement. They need to sound tight and that's the impression I want to have where we can all say "hey this guy knows how to do this" . The reason might be because of your picking. Just pick harder and with confidence. You had one wrong and weak note (6:20) which was the only wrong one in the whole take. Just before the long drum fill. The chord was F# and you slided from E to F. You should have played E and F#. I am sure this one didn't sound right to you either. The rest of your notes and ideas were just great. Many cool licks and melodies to borrow from this one. I was really enjoying listening to this take. One thing recording wise - do not export your solo guitar in stereo format. Really no need for that. It sounds exactly the same as mono and my processor needs more power when I have such take in the mix. You're an extremely talented player and just try to work on the things I mentioned. Stronger picking and vibrato. Your compositional skills are good. Well done.Sensible Jones (6:33 - 7:38) Nice ideas Jones. Very nicely organized solo but there are things that you can improve. You played all correct notes but many of your runs were sloppy. Some of them were completely displaced from the actual rhythm and that just doesn't sound right. I heard exactly what your great ideas were but they would make more sense only if you played them on the correct spot. You need to practice your licks slowly. Once you're 100% sure that you're doing great then you speed it up until you reach the tempo you need. The first sloppy one was 6:41-6:43. Very common neoclassical lick but you slipped a little. The next one was on 7:12. You played one unnecessary note before the actual expected pattern. That first note displaced the whole line and the whole run sounded off beat. That's the place where many of you went unison with the backing – on the long drum fill over F# chord. On 7:25 you had some scratches just before the diminished run. They sounded like you didn't know how to start that pattern and you went faster with the diminished line which sounded rhythmically displaced. All nice ideas and great note choice but many times not rhythmically correct. The ending was good with that little trill. The other thing I want to say is your sound. It's too trebly and too distorted. Just tweak it with the EQ and gain. Take out some treble and put less gain. The basic sound definition was good. The last thing but not less important is your vibrato which is nearly flat. I mentioned that in previous comments. Vibrato is one of the most important ingredients for a good soloing that every player should use whenever there is a long note. Read audiopaal's comment regarding the vibrato. Your overall playing is good and your melodic ideas are great. Just work on the things mentioned and you can become a good guitarist. With your talent I see no reason why you can't get there soon. Nice work overall. bladzerok (7:38 - 8:43) The first thing that I noticed is a very cool guitar sound. Kind of 80's rock sound which I really like. Sounds like a real amp. Your playing and your ideas are on a great way to become a pro player. That's very obvious from your melodic approach and some very interesting phrasing. You used a floyd rose in a couple of places but in a very clever way. One of the things I wish I could hear more is the vibrato. I said it many times in previous comments. The take is very well organized and everything could have been perfect if you didn't miss that last diminished scale You played F dim notes but we need E dim notes. E, G, A# and C# are the right notes in that part. I am sure this didn't sound right to you either. On 7:55 or 7:56 you had A note over F# chord which is minor 3rd against F#. Just after that the second time you played A# which is major 3rd and that's the correct one, not the A note. The whole line was nicely structured so that note didn't stand out that much as a wrong one but technically it was the wrong one. One of my favorite lines in your solo was 8:02 – 8:08. Great idea for the melodic run which finishes with a floyd rose touch in the end. I can hear that you pretty much know what you're doing on the guitar and that's very good to notice. Just be very careful which scale goes where. Please export your solo take mono next time. Read jafomatic's comment about that as he did the same That's just one thing every sound engineer will require if they hire you for some session work. Nice work overall.Crazyfret (8:43 - 9:48) I am not sure how long you've been playing guitar for but if I knew it would help me better judge your playing. Your main problem is timing and rhythm placement. I used to have the same problem when I first got into soloing. While your melodic ideas were really nice your timing was off nearly throughout the whole take. Every line started somehow before the actual beat. You need to practice with the metronome and follow that beat and the tempo. That will help you tighten up your playing. Take some simple pattern in 8th notes and repeat slowly until you're 100% aligned with the tempo. Not a single note should be before or after the beat. The rest of your playing was nice. Some lines reminded me of Garry Moore The guitar sound had a good definition but your vibrato is very weak and that gives you hard time in getting the 100% of your sound out. You need to practice vibrato. In this case of ballad feel you need to vibrate in 8th notes against the tempo. That adds a lot into the overall playing impression. Most of your notes were in the correct scale which is good. On 9:45 (ending of the last diminished run) you finished with the wrong note. You stopped on C# instead of D note. There I resolve on Bm chord and the D note is minor 3rd against Bm chord so that would be the right one to go for. Another thing which wasn't really necessary was your very last note. You already finished unison with the backing and you should have stopped there. That note goes too much into the next take and interferes with Gus' guitar Also read jafomatic's and bladzerok's comments about exporting the mono track for mixing. Not a big deal but it's a good practice to remember for the next time. You had nice melodic runs just try to practice things I mentioned. Thanks for collaborating Gus (9:48 - 10:55) Another stereo track Just read jafomatic's and bladzerok's comments and I don't need to repeat it. Nice playing Gus. Your rock feel is very good. There are things you could work on. The first thing is the control. On 10:04 there was that first dirty unarticulated noise which shouldn't be heard in a studio recorded take. You have tools to mute it before exporting the track. I heard some other minor ones but they were on the edge of acceptable range Vibrato was present most of the time but it really should be more consistent. Especially when you bend and hold the note vibrato should be really wide if you want to sound like a pro. Your bends were good btw. Some rhythmical problems were noticeable all the way from 10:24 – 10:29. I am talking about the hammer ons and pull offs. Rhythm placement of those licks was all over the place. When you go for such pattern you really need to make sure it's tight as much as possible and on the beat, otherwise the whole lick is wasted. The rock run on 10:40 – 10:45 wasn't precise either. Very good idea but not executed tight. The ending was good. Good thing is that your scales were all correct and well done for that. It is clear that your ideas sound very clever but in order to really make them work you need to work more on all the things mentioned. There were some very nice lines and I just wish you played them tighter. Remember these tips for the next time and I hope we'll see improvement. Thanks for joining the collaboration.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- GROUP 2 Dexxter (0:00 – 1:10) Awesome take Dexxter. Excellent tone. Is this your flying V guitar? I remember from your REC takes that you had killer tone on that guitar. Besides you have an excellent control and feel. Your take sounds extremely professional. Every melodic line and your creative ideas are something that we usually hear from top class players. I like that you moved to the higher octave at some point and broke the low register continuity which gave totally new dimension and huge refreshment. Scales, lines and note choice are all great. I can hardly find any weak point to comment. The only thing I noticed is your bends could be just a tiny bit more in tune. You followed my lick from the lesson (or it sounds like it to me) when I play a note and right after bend to that same note from a fret below. You didn't bend it all the way to the right spot but that's really minor issue which is not even worth mentioning Your vibrato is very consistent and great but I would go for even wider vibrato if I played this take. When you moved to the high octave you played just great amount of vibrato. Don't be afraid to go for it, just make sure that you control it well. Excellent take and thanks for joining the collab.JamesT (1:10 – 2:14) Great ideas James. I really like your solo. Very good control and great neoclassical lines. Some parts sounded like I am listening to Bach I like how you combine muting and normal picking so you get dynamics and more interesting phrasing. That's what I do as well all the time. It just shows that you have skills and experience. Sounds like you followed my instructions and went for the correct scale approach. You even targeted that sus 4 spot and resolved on a normal major chord. However I have to say that there is one weird spot with the scale choice. On 1:57 you played C note over F dim 7 chord. That note doesn't belong to that arpeggio. You should have gone for F, G#. B or D. After that you went for the B note to target that F# sus 4 which is great but I couldn't hear the sus 4 at all as you already ruined the logical chord structure with the previous C note which created harmonic confusion. After that you had another diminished run which was correct. Let me say that the last diminished run wasn't very well controlled. It sounded a bit sloppy. Sounds like your hammer ons and pull offs are not strong enough. There are tons of exercises for that and just practice that technique more. Also the last note (before the unison ending) was just a bit late from the right beat. Besides these things I think you're an extremely talented player which is on a good way to make a great career. Well done.leedbreak (2:15 – 3:19) After some corrections that we had in your Guitar Pro file you managed to produce a very listenable take with some very interesting lines. So there is already progress which is great. I have just looked back at our corrected GP file and there are still a couple of notes that you missed from our corrections although nothing major. I said I will not judge your scales this time as you said you're not very familiar with the theory but I will focus on your playing. For that reason I am not going to go back and tell you which notes you missed but please be careful next time and I am sure you can do it correctly even without my help. Of course you can always feel free to ask anything if you get stuck. Now back to your technique. I am not sure how long you have been playing guitar but to me it sounds like a couple of years. If I am correct with this then I think that you're doing pretty good. I say this because I remember when I had 2-3 years of playing I sounded similar Not everyone can compose, record and play solos after a couple of years so you're on a good way. You need to practice vibrato. Play 2 or 3 notes over some simple progression and try to connect them smoothly while vibrating from the wrist. Try to stick to the tempo and vibrate in that tempo feel. In this particular case of a ballad the best vibrato is if you're following 8th notes feel when vibrating. The next thing is your connection between notes. It's a bit aggressive and not smooth. You're cutting notes just slightly shorter than their actual durations so your melodic lines don't sound like smoothly connected. You did have some vibrated notes and some bends. Both sounded nearly out of tune because you're not controlling them 100%. This comes with time and I said you're already doing good just need more practice. I can hear that you have some clever ideas for the melody. You just need to use that skill with your improved technique and your playing can sound good very soon. The purpose of these collaborations is that you get experience with composing, practicing, improving your improvisational skills etc. That's why it is useful to join whenever you have time so we can monitor your progress and give you the best advices possible. If you want to learn theory, Pedja's collaborations are great for that. In my ones you can learn theory as well but the focus in my collabs is towards the technique, melodic creativity and sometimes recording. This take is good and I am looking forward to your next ones which should be better each next time. Good work overall.Nimrandir (3:19 – 4:24) This take is excellent. Great control and great ideas. You attached dry guitar because you were not sure about the sound but I think your sound works great over this backing track. Maybe just a little less bass frequency. You also mentioned some timing issues but that's almost impossible to notice so I won't take it as an important issue. You are one of rare in this collaboration that had good vibrato. Very nicely controlled and executed where needed. You really sound like very experienced player. I don't know how you sound with faster shred stuff but in this kind of soloing you did a great job. Phrasing and note choice are very tasteful. There were some small trills in some of the melodic lines which added excellent taste to your melody. I almost don't have anything else to say apart from well done. Next time just export mono take instead of stereo. Your dry take was mono but this one wasn't. Great work Nimrandir. Oubollig (4:24 – 5:29) I heard some very interesting playing in this one. There were some chords played together with the solo which is very interesting approach in soloing. Reminds me of George Lynch in some parts. First I want to say that your tone could have had just a little more drive. It works as it is but at some parts you needed a bit more sustain for longer notes. It actually sounds over distorted on the lower strings but on the higher not enough drive. That happens sometimes if you are using neck pickup all the way through the solo but I might be wrong here as I don't know which one you used. Regarding the technique everything was pretty nicely controlled but you had some lines where you could have been tighter. All melodic runs were great but there were some wrong notes. Let me just correct that for you and be just little more careful next time. From the start I can see that you're great player so let's avoid any wrong note next time as we all want to enjoy listening to pro guys. I am saying this because you're really not far from becoming a pro. On 4:36 you played pure A major chord over my E/G#. That was a complete clash. You could have gone for E7 arpeggio or if you wanted to play the chord just follow my E/G#. Then on 5:02 – 5:05 (F# phrygian dominant) was another wrong one. Just before the finishing note of that phrase you had A, B, C# and B. It should have been A#, B, C# and B as that's the F# phrygian dominant pattern. When I am talking about this pattern I want to point that you didn't play it very tight. Two notes were a bit sloppy. On 5:19 – 5:21 there were four chromatic notes. The second note C was not in the scale. I understand that you wanted to go for the chromatic approach but this would have worked only if this line was at least as twice as fast so we can treat that C as a passing note. This way sounds like that note is the real part of the melody and clashes with F# phrygian dominant formula. The last one is the ending line where you once used A note. A# should have been used as we are still in F# major chord. Everything else was very nicely composed. As I said you're on a good way to become very good player and just pay more attention next time which scales you're going for. Very good work overall. Sergio Dorado (5:29 – 6:33) What to say Sergio. Every time you impress me with your great ideas. Awesome control, killer tone and great execution. I have never heard you using floyd rose this way like Vai and Satriani usually do. You went for that effect that people call dive bombing but in some very smartly chosen places. Where the backing track has some melody fill you go for that as you don't want to disturb my line and then go back to soloing. This just shows that you really think of the whole arrangement not just your own playing which is a great thing to notice. I must say that you had some timing problems here and there but the overall quality of your solo really puts that behind. It usually happens when you're finishing some faster phrases. The scream on 6:10 was not perfectly in tune and the ending of that scream ended with the noise instead of nicely defined note. You just need to be more careful when using floyd rose this aggressive way. The ending line made me smile. Great idea to play the harmony in 3rds over my melody on the backing track. Besides the issues I mentioned, this is still an awesome take full of creativity and some very interesting techniques. As always, I am very happy when you join my collaborations as your participation is giving these collabs a great flavor. Well done Sergio superize (6:33 – 7:38) Nice intro Superize. Great melody, good control and some cool neoclassical licks. I remember from your great REC takes that your vibrato is not yet developed 100% for solos like this but I can tell you that it extremely improved since you did my first collab. The vibrato timing is good, feel is good and it just needs a better control and a bit wider than now. That of course makes me happy whenever I hear the improvement. Just continue to practice it and it will be great. I know your timing is great and you are very aware when you go off a little. That's noticeable from your metal riffs in REC takes where you demonstrated some very exceptional takes with complex timing. Your notes are all nicely connected and there were no breaks in the melody. The phrase on 6:55 – 7:04 could have been executed tighter. Practice picking and get better with faster playing. This musically awesome line was a bit sloppy but within acceptable range. Also the last diminished part had one little note that almost slipped but you managed to land safely. Everything else was very good. I would just advise that next time you export your mono take for the solo and please switch off delays and reverbs. You left your effects in this one so I can't do much in the mix with your take although your guitar sound is very nice. Great work superize. twist (7:38 – 8:43) Hi Twist. I remember fixing your GP file but I can't hear that you corrected some of the notes in this recording. Open your GP file (fixed one) and look at the bar 9 where I changed your 14th fret into 15th. We are in the F# major chord and your 14th fret on the 3rd string is minor 3rd interval from F# but we need major 3rd which sits on the 15th fret. The exact same thing happens in the bar 17. Apart from that everything was correct. You posted this video on Youtube. I watched it and there is something I noticed which I wouldn't otherwise if you just left your audio You use your pinky in places where you have normal 4 frets situation which is good. Wherever you have wider stretch you are using only 3 fingers. Why? It is more natural to use it there as you're dealing with more frets. This happens in that part which you didn't fix (bars 9 and 17) and the last diminished line. Both of these are "crying" for pinky. Because of that you have much more stress to control the whole line. Whenever you have opportunity to use your pinky just go for it. That means when you have 4 frets situation and more than that, always use pinky. Your vibrato is not very developed. You're vibrating from the finger but you need to do it from the wrist. This will come with time but you really need to practice vibrato more. Your guitar sound is well defined but the type of distortion you are using is a bit buzzy. Listen to Dexter's take and try to find something similar in your presets if you are using any amp simulator. I am looking for something warm, and with enough sustain but decent amount of drive. This take works as it is and I am happy I could help with your GP file. I am happy to do it anytime but please don't forget about those corrections. Nice work with your creativity.Velvet Roger (8:43 – 9:48) This take is interesting with some cool arpeggios. I like the concept you had in mind when you were composing it. However there were quite few notes that were not in the scale but I will rather focus on your playing this time. Your connection between notes is not smooth. I said the same thing to "leedbreak". This is my sentence quoted from his comment: "You're cutting notes just slightly shorter than their actual durations so your melodic lines don't sound like smoothly connected." I can only think of one reason why this happens. It really sounds that you played the whole take with all down strokes when picking. I really apologize if I am wrong but that's how it sounds to me. When all notes are picked like that you have constant amount of attack (the same tension) and you're completely losing dynamics. Alternate picking (up/down) will smooth that movement as some notes will be with less attack and some with more. That's how we create nice melody flow and dynamics which is very important in music in general, not only in soloing. You need to achieve the melodic flow with no breaks. That's not an easy task but if you practice picking and vibrato like I said in many previous comments I am sure you will sound much better. You do use vibrato but it is inconsistent and that's another thing that won't let you achieve the smooth flow of your melody. I liked the way you composed this solo as there are some very nice lines. If only you played them the way I explained this would have sounded great. It works as it is but I am trying to give you tips to make it better. Well done for all good things that you delivered and I hope I'll see you again Tjchep (9:48 – 10:52) You are an extremely talented musician. I enjoyed your every upload on forum and every video of you playing. Great feel and overall control, nice vibrato – agressive just when needed. There is not much to be said about your playing. Just keep up the great work and you are ready to start becoming well known player. I heard some dirty notes but that probably came because you were too excited when recording. Almost slipped completely a couple of times You also need to concentrate on your hands instead of closing eyes and just killing the beast out of the guitar which is a great thing if you execute everything properly The weakest point in this solo was that double stop on 10:05 which was out of tune. I would have played these two (look at the bottom Tjchep picture attached). Apart from that I liked everything you played and I can only say well done and thanks for joining the collaboration. I hope to see you again. Well doneRated Htr (10:52 - end) The first thing is to apologize about missing your take I hope now it's all ok. Your take sounds good. All correct notes and good control. Some faster runs can be tighter especially when you're playing legato which doesn't really sound like you have enough strength. It is important to pull off like you really pluck your string hard, not just moving off the finger from the fretboard. The playing and the creativity is good. Some things can be controlled better. Often you go for that quick hammer on and pull off like you want to make a quick trill. That's a very cool little thing which I use a lot in my licks. The problem is that every time you execute it too slow so it doesn't sound like a trill anymore. That one is usually notated as the grace note (the note doesn't even have the duration) but it's up to you to find a place for it. Vibrato is not bad but it could be more consistent. I know you're soon to become ICMP student so I am sure you will improve it all there and come back to impress us all The mistake you made is that you exported your solo with the effects so unfortunately I can't do much in the mix. The worse is that you have a huge amount of reverb in your sound so if I touch anything I will just make it worse. The third is that your take is stereo which doesn't change the sound but it's a good practice to export your solo guitar mono for easier mixing. The last thing is that your last note was cut. You probably didn't set your markers all the way when you were exporting the take. I fixed it somehow I like your melody and creative ideas. You can definitely compose just need to improve the technique. Wish you good luck at your university and if not on GMC I can help directly from London. Cheers Group 1 Mix Group 2 Mix -------------------- |
|
|
|
|
 
|
1 User(s) are reading this topic (1 Guests and 0 Anonymous Users)
0 Members:
