GT Solo Assignment - March 2008

With Wriggler's track, right-click on the link and select Save As... and save it to your hard drive.. that way you can listen to it in whatever you prefer to listen to MP3s with and it won't stop and start as it attempts to buffer itself.

I'm getting ready for work at the moment so I will have to listen to the re-takes and your first take when I get home (I can read and post messages from work but not listen to music :( ).

Listened to the tracks and they all sounded great.
Bar Chord - I really liked that clean tone. I thought of going that route originally. Did you fingerpick any of the track because I thought the opening sounded like your might have been and then around 1:16 it sounded like you plucked 2 strings at once about 2 or 3 times. Anyway nice track.

Wriggler - The bass really changed the feel of the track. I am not sure if I like the second version better or not. There were a couple of times where the bass was really out front. But overall I thought it was really cool. You had a couple of of nice licks in there.

Light - Your track had a nice full sound plenty of reverb or it sounded like reverb to me and delay. Very smooth you really let all the notes fade off nicely. I need to work more on that in my playing. I would have to say your take so far has fit the backing track the best.

Mpaq - Really nice sound you have going. There were a couple of times where it was really sounding great. But there were also some points where it was to much for the backing track. I think thats something that takes some touch with that kind of aggressive tone. It really sounds good when your in the pocket but if you get a little to aggressive it shows. Also I almost forgot you had a really cool sounding little hook going in that track. It was just like 4 or 5 notes but you hit it perfect and repeated it several times. Thats the kind of thing that can really make a nice track.

Most of you guys are probably at a higher skill level than me so this critique is just from my point of view as a listener. Not so much as a player. It was hard for me to keep all of it totally straight I took some short notes while I listened. But I am worried I might have gotten mixed up on the tracks and If so then sorry in advance but I tried to keep it straight in my head after going through them. Man what a rant, I better shut up now. :D

Originally Posted by: light487With Wriggler's track, right-click on the link and select Save As... and save it to your hard drive.. that way you can listen to it in whatever you prefer to listen to MP3s with and it won't stop and start as it attempts to buffer itself.

I've resurrected my Soundclick page and updated the link. No need to download now!

Fingerspasm - That was pretty cool actually, I thought you were overusing that intro phrase then it suddenly exploded into a nice wah sound, some good licks in there. I particularly liked the half-strummed chords in the chorus, if they had been slightly more accented it would have sounded really good. Some of the bends drifted quite a bit towards the end.

I haven't posted comments yet cause I'm waiting to see if I'm going to change it. I don't want to be influenced by the other tracks but to answer you Fingerspasm I always pick with my fingers. I almost never use a pick. I find it very uncomfortable and clumsy to us a pick.

Nick

Originally Posted by: WrigglerUkI've resurrected my Soundclick page and updated the link. No need to download now!

Fingerspasm - That was pretty cool actually, I thought you were overusing that intro phrase then it suddenly exploded into a nice wah sound, some good licks in there. I particularly liked the half-strummed chords in the chorus, if they had been slightly more accented it would have sounded really good. Some of the bends drifted quite a bit towards the end.

Thanks for the comment. I decided to use the the effects to help break it up a little.

Originally Posted by: Bar Chord NickI haven't posted comments yet cause I'm waiting to see if I'm going to change it. I don't want to be influenced by the other tracks but to answer you Fingerspasm I always pick with my fingers. I almost never use a pick. I find it very uncomfortable and clumsy to us a pick.

Nick

I am glad I was right about your picking with your fingers. I almost did not comment on it because I was afraid of looking stupid if I was wrong. I really liked that track and now I know why it sounded nice an full. I used to know about half of the song Classical Gas. That was the only time I have used my fingers to pick. I really enjoyed it and keep thinking about picking it back up again. But I guess at this point I am still only talking about it. :rolleyes:

Hey..

Just wanted to apologise for not getting back to anyone about their tracks yet, except for the other two comments I made earlier. The reason is that I just gave up smoking and it's day 7 today.. and so my brain chemistry is severely out of whack and I haven't even played my guitar since Sunday... that's the longest I haven't played guitar for in about a year.. I'm not sure how long I will be like this but I haven't had a smoke for over 6 days and going strong..

Talk to you all soon.

Originally Posted by: light487Hey..

Just wanted to apologise for not getting back to anyone about their tracks yet, except for the other two comments I made earlier. The reason is that I just gave up smoking and it's day 7 today.. and so my brain chemistry is severely out of whack and I haven't even played my guitar since Sunday... that's the longest I haven't played guitar for in about a year.. I'm not sure how long I will be like this but I haven't had a smoke for over 6 days and going strong..

Talk to you all soon.

Hang in there! I quite on my 30th Birthday..... 11 years ago. Damn I am old. But its the best thing I ever did. Wait until about a month from now when you realize that you have not really been able to taste food properly. All of the sudden you will start liking food you never cared for. Because you can really taste it! Before any of you smokers get on my case. I am not an Anti Smoking Nut. I have many friends that smoke and I still crave them from time to time when I have a beer or two. People who want to smoke have every right to smoke.
Once again good luck and hang in there. Oh and by the way I used sunflower seeds still in the shell to help kick the habit. I was spitting shells out all day. It really helps. If you work inside find an empty soda bottle to spit the shells into. :cool:

Originally Posted by: light487Hey..

Just wanted to apologise for not getting back to anyone about their tracks yet, except for the other two comments I made earlier. The reason is that I just gave up smoking and it's day 7 today.. and so my brain chemistry is severely out of whack and I haven't even played my guitar since Sunday... that's the longest I haven't played guitar for in about a year.. I'm not sure how long I will be like this but I haven't had a smoke for over 6 days and going strong..

Talk to you all soon.

Good luck with that. Just think in less than six months from now you will be able to buy yourself a really nice guitar with the money you saved on smokes. At Canadian prices anyway :)

I too will be listening and commenting on all the tracks so far, tomorrow when i get access to high speed bandwidth.
Thanks to the guys who commented on mine!

ok ive listened to them all and will post some high level comments from a listeners perspective not a theorist.
Overall i enjoyed them all, hope we get some more entries before month end, ive learned a few things from each track.

Bar Chord Nick - nice intro and tone, very melodic. I dont know how you manage to play without a pick but I guess its what your used to. Gives you a distinctive style.
Didnt sound repetitive or that you were stuck in a box to me, i liked it.

Wriggler - - good job, very melodic as well, you reached a bit on some of the higher notes and the effect at the end while interesting, didnt really fit the backing track but overall it was quite good.

Light - - yes shame on you, you are the moderator, your track should be perfect ;) Seriously though it was quite well done. Really nice chorus, and nice runs - overall very well structured.

FingerSpasm - enjoyed your track, lots of variation, and interesting runs. Bit of a timing issue at the intro and a couple overly repetitious bends, but overall i liked your technique. I think it might have sounded even better without the wah for this particular track, but thats a personal choice......your control of it was good.

Hi guys.

Today was my day off; so, I managed to record my take.
I thought that it would be nice to explore the D Phrygian Major over the D chord, since that chord lasts longer than the others in the backing track.
I used the B minor pentatonic and the D Ionian scale too.
I also did a volume swell with the knob. :cool:

There is a cracking noise coming from my really cheap Interface. I hope I can replace it soon, because it is driving me crazy.

Gear: Fender Strat -> Xenyx802 mixer -> Guitar Port Interface -> Laptop.

equator


I’ll be commenting on your takes soon. :)



.

Equator - that was a very cool take. No clue how you manage to do those runs so well and keep them so well in time but sounded great. I liked your intro and really nice transition to the first chorus.

I cant seem to dl the file.....

can someone send it to me?

Should be able to right click & save as...

marchBT

Did Wriggler's link work?

Hi there, finally got the BT......

Here's my take.... I named it 'Over The Horizon' .... a bit wobbly in places.

March 07

Hey mpaq. Thanks for your comments. I’m glad you liked my take.

I’m kinda busy these days; so, I’m gonna listen to your takes and comment one by one. I hope you guys don’t mind.

WrigglerUk. You did a good job playing the bass, it really added rhythm and body to the track.
Your timing has improved a lot.
My only criticism is on something I have mentioned to you before, and that is… your bending technique. Always remember to bend the notes into the right pitch.

I don’t know what everybody else think about the effect you used, but I kinda like it. I’d use it at the very end and let it fade out, though.

Equator - thanks for that. I re-visited it with a pitch analyser and worked out I'm basically not bending far enough - ending up nearly a full tone off in places, semi tone in others.
And you're right, it does sound better with the wierd effect as a fade out trick.

Listening to your take - some very interesting changes of mode. I'm not sure it all worked, but it was interesting all through. I liked the switch to a slightly rockier, gritty feel at about 1:20-30 ish, and that ascending scale repeated at the end was neat!

Maestro - suberbly melodic, great tone and just really good, except that last 30 seconds or so which kind of sounded like the well had run dry after the great build up.

Yeah, sometimes bending can be tricky. What helped me to bend the notes to the correct pitch was the use of a chromatic tuner. I used to play a note and bend it whilst keeping my eyes on the tuner to make sure I was bending the note to the right pitch.

Bar Chord Nick. Very interesting picture on the player. :)
Nice track man, I enjoyed it, liked your tone choice, phrasing and you targeted the strong notes of each chord while moving along with the chord changes. Nicely done.

Originally Posted by: maestro shazHi there, finally got the BT......

Here's my take.... I named it 'Over The Horizon' .... a bit wobbly in places.

March 07

Maestro - In a word, outstanding. Not just this months, but i took the opportunity to listen to the other months tracks on your page. You blow me away man. Really cool rendition of Sandman on your page too!

by copy to all: is there a place where all the past backing tracks are stored? I particularly like the Jan 07 track on Maestro's page and would like to download it.

EDIT: Never mind guys I sifted through the old threads and found it, along with a few of the others from magicninga's page.