My first song - Thoughts of El


maggior
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Joined: 01/27/13
Posts: 1,723
maggior
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Posts: 1,723
03/09/2018 4:31 am

A local group of guitarists came up with the idea of collecting original guitar instrumental tracks, compiling them into an album to put on iTunes, Spotify, etc., and donate any procedes to a charity (yet to be determined).

This seemed like a rare opportunity so I decided to toss my hat in the ring. Trial by fire!!

I had been fiddling around with a chord progression so I used that as a start.

Anyway, here is what I came up with. Fans of Stranger Things will understand the title :). What really surprised me was how fulfilling it was to "write" a song. This version was a scratch track, but in redoing parts I kept missing a certain something that I captured on the scratch track. So some misses here and there were fixed through the magic of technology rather than retake entire parts.

The bass player in my band was kind enough to provide a wonderful bass track that really tied the whole thing together.

I played the 2 rhythm guitar parts and the lead melody. Drum Beats+ provided the drum track, and my bass player laid down the bass track.

Enjoy!

https://soundcloud.com/ballistic_squid/thoughts-of-el


# 1
ChristopherSchlegel
Guitar Tricks Instructor
Joined: 08/09/05
Posts: 8,328
ChristopherSchlegel
Guitar Tricks Instructor
Joined: 08/09/05
Posts: 8,328
03/09/2018 3:55 pm

Hey, Rich. Sounds good! Nice melodic guitar lines. Good support clean guitar parts stereo separated.

Originally Posted by: maggior

What really surprised me was how fulfilling it was to "write" a song.

[/quote]

Right on. Good stuff. :)

[quote=maggior]This version was a scratch track, but in redoing parts I kept missing a certain something that I captured on the scratch track. So some misses here and there were fixed through the magic of technology rather than retake entire parts.

I know exactly what you mean. Finding the balance between chasing an unrealized ideal & being happy with what's actually there.

Sometimes I just enjoy the process of re-recording a part a zillion times because, why not play the guitar more & see if I can get closer to the perfection in my imagination. Sometimes, it's an important lesson to just let it be as good as is it & stop chasing my tail into diminishing returns. Start working on the next piece already!

The guitar solo lines are well done! Nicely phrased & melodic. The only thing I would change-fix is the rhythm guitar panned right is a little out of tune.

Thanks for posting! Keep writing & recording. :)


Christopher Schlegel
Guitar Tricks Instructor

Christopher Schlegel Lesson Directory
# 2
maggior
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maggior
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03/09/2018 10:37 pm

Thanks so much for the feedback!! I wasn't sure how the chords fit together and somebody pointed out that I hit each note in Dm as a root note for the chords. Totally unintentional.

Something seemed wonky to me on that right guitar track. When I changed my strings last week, I noticed the intonation of one of my strings was off...the screw was loose :(. That would be the culprit.

May be too late to fix that on this recording. You are the first person to mention that...very trained ears for sure :).


# 3
VulcanCCIT
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VulcanCCIT
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06/08/2019 11:41 pm

awesome! I totally enjoyed that!!!!!!


Chuck,

Phoenix, Arizona

# 4
maggior
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maggior
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06/10/2019 8:20 pm
Originally Posted by: VulcanCCIT

awesome! I totally enjoyed that!!!!!!

Thanks!!! Appreciate that! :)


# 5

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