Me after 2.5 months

Ok.. This is me after about 2-1/2 months of playing. It's less than a minute. You will survive, I promise. :p Yes, there is a lot of suck factor. I know this. But, i'm ok with it for only play for 2-1/2 months. I only came up with this riff two nights ago and have had very little time to clean it up. But. I wanted to share it regardless.

Couple things

1) The recording is poor quality as well. I need to learn how to manipulate it better.
2) Timing could be better
3) Need better lead in from the opening slow sad sounding riff to the chunk section of the riff
4) Going from chunk section to where I move up the fretboard in that happy sounding rythm... Not sure I like that. Not sure if flows well with the theme of the riff.

http://cid-f1c667b529532c45.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/Public/Need%20a%20name%20for%20this.mp3

Anyway, honesty is welcome, flames are not. :D

it sounds good rick,
i am not sure if i like your tone, iam sure you will be changing it a lot as you keep playing i know i have.

I got that tone via my Line6 PODx3. I plug directly into POD, then from pod directly into my laptop. I modeled :
Tube screamer -> Marshal Lead Plexi -> Compression -> EQ -> Chorus -> Delay

I like the organic sound of the tube screamer in some cases, not all. I have another tone that is less organic, more crunch which models one of Line6's amps.

Also i will say this, what gets recorded sounds a LOT different than what comes out of my amp. I've got a lot to learn about Reaper (the recording software I'm using).

I know one thing for sure... I have to have chorus. Not an over amount, but just enough.


If you have any suggestions on my tone, believe me I'm all ears. One thing I don't know very well is effect setup.

Hey Rick,
This track has definite potential. Even though you have only been playing a short time its obvious you have good ideas - from years of listening to 80's shred no doubt;-) You're making great progress re technique for the ammount of time at the axe, that's for sure so I won't comment on your playing - that will develop at the same rate over the coming months.
Re the recording - you said that what you hear from your amp is very different to what gets cut to disk. A couple of things affect the tone through the signal chain. First test is to turn the amp off and plug in your headphones - that is the best monitoring you can get for direct recording. What you hear from your amp is affected by the tone from the amp speaker itself and loads of other things like the room accoustics etc. The only way to get that tone is by micing up. Anyway, you will probably find by direct monitoring that you just need to make some tweaks to the tone settings to get back to what you want.
One thing you should do is download a free drum package (or buy EZdrummer when you can). Untill you get something better a freeware software that does the job and gt me started recording is Hammerhead Studio, get it here:
http://www.threechords.com/hammerhead/
I can hear some intonation issues on your guitar (makes the higher note warble slightly when picked and sustained). Most people have intonation probs though, to get it sorted you should have a guitar shop put on your next set of strings and do a basc setup.
I think this will develop into a nice track, I like the intro minor sounding melody - lots of potential. i would try experimenting with multitracking some open powerchords to ring out below it along with some clean sounding picked chord (like in Metallica's 'Call of Ktulu'). First step is to add the drums though, they will give the track a lot more structure.
You're taste in tones will develop with your playing too - next track you do will more than likely be with completely different settings but the tones there are fine. A tip to get around the intonation probs is to add vibrato to the sustained notes at the beginning. Hope that helps!

Thank you VERY much for you straight up feed back Superhuman. Exactly what I was hoping for. I do play though my headphones a lot. Guitar into pod headphones out of pod.

Thanks for the heads up on the drum software, I'll download it. I recently purchased Boss RC-2 loop pedal which also has drum tracks built into it. They are preset and I don't think I can do much about it other than adjust the tempo.

As far as intonation? I took my guitar into the shop right after I bought it and it set it up for me. However, since I've done that, I've adjusted the action on the neck, changed strings a few times and changed out my pups. For all I know, this probably has knocked out the intonation.

I seen how the guitar tech set it, I suppose I could try and do it myself. Cant really hurt the guitar by trying. I've done all the other work by myself with the guidance of another internet guitar friend. Not trying to take biz away from guitar tech folks, but, I love to tinker. Become one with your guitar. ;)




As far as that riff... I've added more to it. It's taking on an entire new life. I really like the intro as well. It has a very sad sound feeling to it... The problem is. It doesn't really fit with the rest of the song. What I've been working on has a lot more rhythm, more uptempo. The note pattern is the same, but that's about it. I need to somehow tie it in better in the middle of the song, or completely take it out.

Eh.. This is fun and I'll see what I come up with. I have a lot of riffs for this. What I don't have is any good composing structure yet. I need to sit down, record each individual riff and start putting structure behind it.

I just tried to record again. Something I noticed is that the recording software is accentuating my picking. Not sure if that is my picking, the pickups or the recording software, but when what I'm hearing through my amp, or headphones via the POD, it doesn't sound that accentuated.

Rock on man!
Thats a long long way from twinkle twinkle little star! I like it. Definately has that 80's rock sound man. Well done!