The Challenge September 2011 - Please Vote

Renesongs

OK thats more like it people here are our challengers for September. There was some confusion to whether the categories applied so I am going to ask you the jury to decide in your own head which category applies. To be fair please ignore the categories that some challengers used decide for yourself and write a comment if you feel strongly enough .Please cast your 3 votes by Friday 30th

[quote author=mity88 link=action=profile;u=1880 date=1316582942] Alrity, so i decided to send this to you before i change my mind. i hope this is ok I'ts just two guitars, lead guitar using an E-Bow Beginner category please http://www.box.net/shared/pqa29n0bif3vxjl7mxje thank you [/quote]

[quote author=Hammeron link=action=profile;u=3309 date=1316626723] Rene hi. Here is my entry for the September challenge: The Questioning. I wrote this riff a couple of years ago and entered the original recording a couple of challenges back but pulled it because it was too long. Anyway, we re-recorded it with some additions, most notably, the theremin backing. We thought of adding percusion and bass but decided that the theremin and guitar complimented each other beautifully. This is me on guitar and Harold on the theremin. Enjoy! http://www.box.net/shared/hlzppab1lyu2pkpqxkrs [/quote]

[quote author=deefstes link=action=profile;u=2979 date=1316684551] Hi Rene, Here's my entry for this month's challenge. Nothing as grandiose as I had originally planned and certainly nothing as grandiose as I'm hoping to hear from other entrants but a fun evening's exercise. Sleepwalk: http://www.box.net/shared/si20jmfqgn0l26z5mxck Cheers, Déwald [/quote]

[quote author=doc-phil link=action=profile;u=323 date=1316689790] Here's my entry, a track I post-hardcore/metal track I recorded a few weeks ago. For anyone interested, here is my guitar signal chain: Guitar: Gate --> TSE 808 Tubescreamer --> Nick Crow 8505 Lead --> Poulin LeCab 2.0 with GuitarHacks Impulses (Sneap Edge) --> AcmeBarGig Cab enhancer --> EQ. For the lead guitar I used Aftershock delay module by AcmeBarGig. For drums I used EZDrummer with the pop/rock kit with EQ and compression. Bass I got lazy and just used 4Front bass plugin. FL Studio for the synths and strings. I had fun experimenting with free vst's for the first time, so I hope you enjoy my entry! I don't know if you still do the whole 'Advanced' and 'Beginners' category thing, but I will slot in with the beginners if it is still being used. http://www.box.net/shared/qqbtbqujua0tzazek470 [/quote]

[quote author=Seventhson link=action=profile;u=1733 date=1316709631] Hope I am not late. ok This is my cover of seasons in the abyss by slayer. http://www.box.net/shared/4yvhcnun8u6yl948e4sh [/quote]

[quote author=G-Man link=action=profile;u=2202 date=1316758953] Ok so it's a cover of the band Pestilence and the song is Twisted Truth. It's 2 guitars and a midi drum track. The solo's are at 0:59 and 2:23 for those that don't want to listen to the whole thing. I entered under intermediate this time if those categories exist for this month. Enjoy :) http://www.box.net/shared/39g6da5ft1h14dqugmlf [/quote]

[quote author=stu link=action=profile;u=1728 date=1316895367] Heres my entry http://www.box.net/shared/lxyxxdat55ekzefzksja I really dont know what to say about it. [/quote]

[quote author=Jacquesg4j link=action=profile;u=1709 date=1316933931] Here goes. Tried the singing thing, lets see what you all think!! Some time ago I've posted a piece I've written some time ago. So this time around I tried using it with some music! And for all the hard rocking amigos, it isn't a piano song all the way through, stick around till the end!! http://www.box.net/shared/rm3yszad926f130yecs0 [/quote]

[quote author=Highway Chile link=action=profile;u=3960 date=1316937733] Hello Rene, here is my entry. I reckon I am an expert. http://soundcloud.com/highway-chile/up-from-the-antarien-skies Here is my explanation. So I picked this JHE cover from the 60's. I have a lot I can say about all the issues recording and mixing it, but in the essence of it being fun and all I'll just say that I had a good time doing it, even though the mix was challenging in it's own way. I tried to stick to almost exactly how the original was done, down to the panning of the guitars and vocals. I took a few liberties in where I placed the rhythm guitar and vocals because I wanted to also try things out. I tossed [i]Antares-Auto Tune 5[/i] on the vocals for a laff. I have never used it before maxed out...the whole T-Pain or Cher effect. I just wanted to fool around. Initially I had it cranked all the way through but remixed it with the blend dropped and also I automated it in and out, so it was a tad more subtle. Besides, I'm not a singer.......so I figured why not.......everyone else who cannot sing does it! :D :P Hope you like it. I wanted to do one more pass remixing it tomorrow morning, but with the time difference etc I would be cutting it pretty fine. I am looking forward to hearing everyone's entries. [/quote]

(old forum) Poll Results: No Rules Apply

mity88 : 5
Hammeron: 5
deefstes: 10
doc-phil : 12
Seventhson: 4
G-Man: 1
Stu: 8
Jacquesg4j: 9
Highway Chile: 13

Jacquesg4j

Firstly... Wooooohoooooo

Neon-Gecko

Phew, so there was no easy vote here. Well done to all of ya... :applause:

Jacquesg4j

I will leave some comments of what I thought!

Firstly, SO many entries and ALL of them have been so good! Nice to see some new members also playing along!

Mity88 - First one on the list... You did not disappoint! Used the ebow well to create a very emotional effect! I could see a boy sitting on a swing on a farm or somewhere after his dog died... One day I will have an ebow too!!

Hammeron - Nice to see you entering! (Hows the Marshall btw??) . Nice playing! The theramin did create a nice atmosphere although I did miss some rhythmical aspect?? Maybe like a shaker if you want to keep the vibe the same as it is now??

Deefstes - Sad to hear you could not do what you wanted, but boy that was still very kick-ass! Made me think of the Sandy and Danny vibes! Grease lightning!!

Doc-Phil - Geeeez that was a nice full sound! Drums was very very nice and full... Carried the song nicely! Guitars was so nice as well! Perfect all round!!

Seventhson - Hard rocking man!! Very nice! Took me some time to get into the groove but once it got going it was very nice! ... Would have helped if I have ever heard the original version!!

G-man - DUDE! you are improving like mad! I know you are not a first timer to the challenges but that entry of yours was nice and solid!!

Stu - When I heard that I wanted to get into my car and do some racing or something! Great job! The drums sounded a bit empty i.m.o though? Maybe look at using ezdrummer (what doc-phil used)! I liked the sound of that!

Highway Chile - Also a case of "I've never heard the original" but that was nicely put together! Singing was nice man! I should also get some vocal plug-ins for pro-tools! Also took a listen to some of your other stuff on soundcloud while I was on there and I must say... You know your stuff!!

Seventhson

Ag no It did not update ☹

Well sorry for the fading guitar and thanks man?

Warren

I haven't listened to everything yet but must say, Jacques, I think your song (and singing) is great! Good stuff!

Jacquesg4j

Warren wrote: I haven't listened to everything yet but must say, Jacques, I think your song (and singing) is great! Good stuff!

Thanx dude! Scrambled a bit to get it done but yeah! Initial idea was to just speak over the music, but didn't sound that nice so I decided to sing it in a very simple melody! Glad you liked it!

stu

There is some good stuff here! Well done to all.

Although Im wining now, I have a horrible feeling it wont last...

Highway-Chile

Hi guys. After seeing the family off to school and my wife to work.......peace and quiet finally rules supreme in the house, aaaaaaah ?

I just got done listening to all the entries. Very nice work y'all. It was also nice to see such a fat turnout also, the amount of entries jumped up dramatically. Kinda indicates to me the value in not having too many restrictive parameters. I hope that is taken the right way. I am just a newbie here but my suggestion would be to perhaps talk about it some more. Just a thought.

I tried listening to my own submission to see how my levels compared to the rest of yours...I wasn't sure if I was hot enough-it always sounds so much lower than iTunes etc....probably because of the loudness wars thing. Anyway, I found out SoundCloud is DOWN! ☹ Hopefully it will be back up and running soon.

Thank you Jacquesg4j! Your track, and your voice, sounds very good. I wish I could play piano.

I have to run, so I will try and respond more later.

Hammeron

stu wrote: There is some good stuff here! Well done to all.

Although Im wining now, I have a horrible feeling it wont last...

Stu, are you wining or winning...? ?

Hammeron

I find myself in wonderfully incredible company....but I allready knew that didn't I ? ?

Jacquesg4j

Did y'all stick around till my solo at least?? Haha!! I still want to finish the song though! That was just a sample to see what it would sound like! Also wish I could play piano... Although I probably could, I didn't play that!

doc-phil

Great entries from everyone, well done! ?

My vote had to go to Jacques.. was digging that piano and synth in the beginning. But I was thinking, 'hmmm I dunno if I can vote for this cos it doesn't have much guitar'. Then the tasty solo kicked in and I was sold. I just think you should have faded it out at the end. It kinda just stops suddenly.

Hammeron - I hate to admit it, but until I heard your track, I had never heard of a theremin before... sounds sick! I just wikipedia'd it and discovered something new today, so thanks.

mity88

SO GLAD WE HAVE MORE ENTRANTS!!!
not so glad about the file sizes... ???
but hey, really loving the new vibe around here

Jacquesg4j wrote: Mity88 - First one on the list... You did not disappoint! Used the ebow well to create a very emotional effect! I could see a boy sitting on a swing on a farm or somewhere after his dog died... One day I will have an ebow too!!

well thank you fine sir...i must say, having an e-bow is real fun and really worth it! love your imagination too!

Seventhson

Very nice mity88 better than my terrible entry :-[

mity88

Seventhson wrote: Very nice mity88 better than my terrible entry :-[

No way Seventhson...ur entry is no where near terrible...It took a few listens coz I didn't know the song, but then I really enjoyed it!!!
And as with u other guys,I enjoyed every piece...was really hard to actually vote!!!

Seventhson

Thanks man. Did you like the solos?

Jacquesg4j

doc-phil wrote: Great entries from everyone, well done! ?

My vote had to go to Jacques.. was digging that piano and synth in the beginning. But I was thinking, 'hmmm I dunno if I can vote for this cos it doesn't have much guitar'. Then the tasty solo kicked in and I was sold. I just think you should have faded it out at the end. It kinda just stops suddenly.

Hammeron - I hate to admit it, but until I heard your track, I had never heard of a theremin before... sounds sick! I just wikipedia'd it and discovered something new today, so thanks.

Thanx man! Glad you made it to the solo! Otherwise the dynamics just doesn't make sense!!

stu

I also made it to the solo. I thought it was great but turn it up a bit next time! I couldnt hear it that well.

Highway-Chile

I am a little bummed because my entry is dramatically lower in volume, by at least around 6dB to maybe even 8dB.

The problem is that I recently changed my monitoring from straight out the interface to the monitors, to into a mixer-that also has the computer audio and other stuff like my preamp, the output of the interface etc. So now I have several steps of gain staging and I screwed it up because I am not used to it. I have got to calibrate the level of stuff coming from the computer as well as the level of the interface....against the level of the mixer. I have a feeling I am going to have to use test tones and the dB meter.

I knew it was off, as you can tell by my entry post where I said I wanted to spend more time doing another pass. I didn't realize how much I was off, until I heard the entries here. They are nice and loud!

So I went in the studio this morning and threw up a dB meter and compared mine to the rest and it was really much lower than you guys'.....up to 8dB.

Anyway, I went back to the mastering session and pushed the input as well as tweaking the multiband compressor to bump the mid's a bit...just a tickle.

I realize time is up and it's an as is basis....so I can't resubmit the file, even though it is the same thing....just louder. Because of this, I won't link the remastered track unless someone authoritative say's it's okay. I also opened a Box account so I might use that in future.