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Here are the Entries for the Western Challenge. To avoid the situation of having only one choice in a category I have done away with them for this challenge. Everybody has two votes to use however you like. Voting ends on 29th of February.

[quote author=Tamla Kahn 'Hammeron' McMahon link=action=profile;u=3309 date=1329309289] Hi. Here is my challenge entry: Ok, i wrote this a few weeks back. It's me on my [ sub-standard :D ] Ritmeuller acoustic miced into the desk. There is some backing from me on the Epi Explorer thru a Cube 60. [ First time I ever double tracked anything! ] We left the doors open and my brother smacked a tambourine. Oh.....incorporating one agitated Western Diamondback Rattlesnake! http://www.box.com/s/mp3k66ke81u52d2n2dm9 [/quote]

[quote author=deefstes link=action=profile;u=2979 date=1329819579] Hi ,Here is my Intermediate entry for this month's challenge. This time I've actually borrowed a mic and added some vocals. Below are the lyrics in case anyone is interested. http://www.box.com/s/0bfo2eeai4gc0bdgoob9

[u][b]Noon In Los Hovos[/b][/u]

It was a scorching day in Los Hovos The sun taking dead aim on the town Windows were closed and the shutters drawn The townsfolk knew what was going down

Fixing his gaze down the main road He was a stranger to this land Friendless in this godforsaken place That he don't understand

   Noon would be the hour
   And the hour was drawing near
   When he'd face this man, Peppito
   Whom the townsfolk seemed to revere

But everybody knew Peppito He was lightning fast with a gun His six shooter shoots six bullets But he usually needs only one

It was a good day for a duel And this stranger couldn't leave too soon He'd been strutting on Peppito's turf But that would all change at noon

   Noon would be the hour
   And the hour was drawing near
   When he'd face this man, Peppito
   Whom the townsfolk seemed to revere

Since he'd been a boy, he had been paying his dues Carrying buckets of water up the hill He had been waxing on, he had been waxing off Diligently honing his skill

The Katana was his only friend Which he was ready to wield again Many others had fallen at his blade And today would be simply the same

   Noon would be the hour
   And the hour was drawing near
   When he'd face this man, Peppito
   Whom the townsfolk seemed to revere

Cautious eyes peeking through the shutters As the combatants stood ready for the bout When the clock tower signalled the hour A single shot rang out

The stranger slumped where he stood His abandoned sword catching the sunlight And Peppito spoke "Mi Amigo you drew a knife in a gunfight"

[/quote]

[quote author=Highway Chile link=action=profile;u=3960 date=1330070132] Here is mine. Very last minute.......it is what it is. :P http://www.box.com/s/c440mekez47s9ocb8to2 Once again and as always I entered under Expert. [/quote]

[quote author=V8 link=action=profile;u=1415 date=1330116147] Hiya, Here's my entry for the Intermediate category :
music story here : http://www.box.com/s/u0xvkc8jlnpnumzlslya text story here : http://www.box.com/s/0ix8bq33hlxf148dijv8 Enjoy [/quote]


(old forum) Poll Results: Western

  • Tamla Kahn 'Hammeron' McMahon: 8
  • deefstes: 8
  • Highway Chile: 11
  • V8: 2
    V8. I got a zip file on one link and a txt file on the other. I can't consider the text anyway - the entries are supposed to be judged as pieces of music.


      So right click and extract the mp3 hey. Then double click it and away you go it plays a song for you. And while it's playing read the text just to get in the mood.
        Nice entries you guys!

        Deefstes your lyrics were great as was the track, wide open putting the focus on the words and the lift on the chorus......the taking a knife to a gunfight ending was hilarious as was the wax on wax off.....loved the underlying humor. Ballsy move putting vocals in there. I can so hear William Shatner narrating that....LOL!!!! Did you cut and paste the 2nd chorus to use for the 3rd chorus? I heard the same delayed lower octave vocal note at the very end, which was really awesome BTW!

        As with other submissions of yours, I love the sparseness Tam and the sound of the acoustic was cool. In places it reminded me of early Fleetwood Mac. Really nice writing too. When you hit the guitar louder in the strumming section the low E sounded a little funky. Do you have really light gauge strings on it or electric strings rather than acoustic? I liked the behind-the-nut bend or whatever you were doing there at the end....... turning the machine head? Sounded good.

        Nice Spanish style on the nylon guitar V8, that was really different........ your approach reminded me of older Spaghetti Western's.........super playing and composition... very nice mate. I heard some slight timing issues here and there, but I understand you were under the gun to get it in last minute, as was I.

        Good luck to you all, once again we should all compliment ourselves for participating and taking the challenge, especially as we are all busy doing other stuff also. I'm giving myself a pat on my own back as I type, ? ....... for being as tired as I was but still getting up off the couch to go do it...LOL! It was touch and go.....head to the bedroom and an early night's sleep, or go to my studio..........sleep-studio-sleep-studio-sleep-studio.......? :-\

        Okay....studio..... ???

        BTW I like the voting now. It has changed right? Before you could hit See Voting or whatever without having voted...... but now you have to actually vote to see them and then they automatically show when you open the thread. That is different yes or am I spacing out?

        Believe it or not, I was actually going to suggest this as it forces one to make a vote before seeing what the votes already are. But I decided to not say so until after this comp.

        I am so damned tired I cannot remember exactly how it was but if it is different, nice move Rene.
          @ HC - Squeaky wheels get oiled first. You also can't change your vote once you've cast it. 8)
            I did not even know you could change your vote. How was that possible? Once you had voted you lost the Vote Now button.....I don't understand. Was there a change your vote option somewhere I did not see?

            But yes, much nicer.....once you are in, you are in. Thanks.
              Hiesh, great entries everyone - wish I'd polished mine, 10% inspiration and only 10% persperation :-[

              Apologies for uploading a zip file, quickshare was shut down and the first time I used box for uploads. Will get it right next time (E.g. label entry with level and upload a mp3).

              My 'piece' is the result of 3mths of flamenco lessons + I really wanted to hear what a ibeam equipped yamaha nylon + gigpro preamp would sound like (both ex-Kiera) recorded - been on my music to-do list for a while now! I'll be honest - no metronome was 'harmed' (or even used ???) during the recording and the two guitar -ahem- leads were the first two takes of finding notes that 'worked' - they were supposed to be electric guitars drenched in reverb having a stereo duel...My bad for leaving it -literally- last minute

              Imho - HWC steals the show, again! Loved it, with a 'oh-so-movie' soundtrack. Droooooooooling
              Deefstes : Awesome, big smile listening to this - well done, felt the movie-ness (eagle screech was an inspired touch).
              Tamla : Dug the 'metal' feel, the 'yeah' @ 1:31 made it for me (along with tasteful reverb & delay throughout the track).

              Congrats to all, impressed with the creativity levels - take a bow!

                Man, all of those where exceptionally good entries. It was a difficult one for me

                Tamla - Man, oh man, you hit the nail on the head with your one. What a treat. I like the rattle, and that surf guitar effect you used.

                Deefstes - Superb, those vocals reminded me of Lou reed (in a good way). That was very Western indeed. From a production point of view, it was great.

                Highway - I think you hardly need my input, based on the voting the ppl clearly love your song, and as do I. It was well written. You sir are a versatile musician

                V8 - Best one I've heard from you yet. That was great. It sounded a bit flamminco to me, but I dug it. I can literally hear how you are progressing as a muso. Very inspiring
                  Thanks Adrian, I appreciate it. Yes, everyone had a very solid entry this challenge.
                    Thanks Adrian, much appreciated - such high quality entries this month, I'm tempted to spend another few hours polishing mine up ?

                    But have another project to work on for end March, live performance with the Afterlife VJ's at 'SpiritFest', fingers crossed for this one!
                      Oh my word! I was really pleased with my entry and you guys manage to make me look like a toddler on a Toys R Us banjo once again. Seriously, kudos to all three of you. It seems disingenuous to be singing the praises of all entries but really, they were all exceptional.

                      HWC - how on earth do you manage to slap such a polished entry together in 3.5 hours? ??? That deserves some real respect. Seriously dude, I consider it more of an honour to share a stage with you than a contest to compete with you. Would you mind if I quiz you on two aspects though? What did you use to generate those flute sounds at the beginning? What effects did you use to achieve that awesome western guitar tone?

                      V8 - I loved yours! I don't think the flamenco feel is at odds with the genre at all. In fact, it takes me right to a hacienda in some remote Mexican village that I've never heard of. Well done.

                      Hammeron - This is one of your best entries to date. You displayed some nice technique and you evoke a very strong feeling. I can't say that I know your music well but I think I can start picking up on a certain characteristic that seems to be present in all of your entries. While that characteristic is there, you still manage to embrace the theme and you did it very well in this one.

                      Me - While I was chuffed with my entry, I never felt like I really conveyed the "feel" I had in mind. For one, I ended up recording the entire piece at 75bpm just so I could fit it in to the time limit (and I still exceeded that) but I actually wanted to record at 50bpm. Also, I still have a lot to learn in terms of mastering and getting the balances between the different tracks right. It was good fun though.
                        dang. most seriously impressive y'all. for me hammeron's got me into the spirit of things right away. deefstes', there was no doubt was the most fun, highway's the most polished, and v8's was probably the one i appreciated the most.

                        in the end though, i will vote for the ones i believe met the brief best.

                        good luck - and job bloody well done to all of you!
                        dh
                          Thanks Deefetses..... that was an East West shakuhachi sample triggered from my MIDI guitar. The spaghetti western sounding guitar was my Fender Nashville B-bender Telecaster through on the bridge P/U into Eleven Rack using a Vox AC 30 Top Boost model. The effects are the Fender spring reverb, echoplex, RC Booster, Keeley Compressor, tubescreamer, and of course the amp vibrato is turned on.....moderate speed and almost full depth.

                          If you guys feel I have too much of an edge with all the gear and soft sample libraries I have etc etc......although I think there are a few folks here that are setup like I am or have even better gear............. I will be happy to let the winner of the Intermediate category be the one to choose the next topic. I'll take the Advanced win but won't pull the next category, we can call the winner of Intermediate the overall winner. It's kinda lonely in here by myself anyway and the real race seems to be in the Intermediate, with Deefstes taking the early lead but Tamla has caught up nicely....last time I looked it was neck and neck. If it's still a tie maybe I will choose the next topic to keep it simple but either way, I don't mind.

                          It's up to Rene and you guys. I have a nice simple topic in mind for the next one that could be won by a full band deal or just an acoustic guitar solo..........and the genre is one we all have in our roots somewhere......I think....LOL!!! But it can go the way I mentioned also. I'll go with whatever I see next time I log on here.

                          Watching the Intermediate "race" has been fun.

                          Who is going to bring a last minute tie breaker? C'mon peeps!!! Cast that vote in the Intermediate category.
                            Highway Chile wrote:I'll take the Advanced win but won't pull the next category, we can call the winner of Intermediate the overall winner. It's kinda lonely in here by myself anyway and the real race seems to be in the Intermediate, with Deefstes taking the early lead but Tamla has caught up nicely....last time I looked it was neck and neck. If it's still a tie maybe I will choose the next topic to keep it simple but either way, I don't mind.
                            I'm not particularly fussed with getting to choose a topic. If the race ends with Hammeron and me in a draw I'd be happy to defer to her for a topic. She certainly has worked hard enough in these challenges to deserve it.
                              Whoa!
                              You guys know how to cross a road, that's for sure!
                              Excellent, well done!
                              Thank you for the fantastic feedback, always much appreciated from such great musos as yourselves.
                                Wow guys. The quality on each and every entry knocked me for a six. Well done! My views on the individual pieces echoes the sentiments expressed by Domhatch exactly. Good luck to you all - this was astonishing!
                                  Oh, and Deef, if you ever ever steal a sample - or a Rattlesnake for that matter- from me again, I'm gonna tell your Mum!




                                    Tamla Kahn 'Hammeron' McMahon wrote: Oh, and Deef, if you ever ever steal a sample - or a Rattlesnake for that matter- from me again, I'm gonna tell your Mum!
                                    What could you possibly mean? I recorded this rattlesnake myself many years ago when I got lost in the Sonoran desert with nothing but the clothes on my back (and an Edirol sound recorder with parabolic microphone).
                                      deefstes wrote:
                                      Tamla Kahn 'Hammeron' McMahon wrote: Oh, and Deef, if you ever ever steal a sample - or a Rattlesnake for that matter- from me again, I'm gonna tell your Mum!
                                      What could you possibly mean? I recorded this rattlesnake myself many years ago when I got lost in the Sonoran desert with nothing but the clothes on my back (and an Edirol sound recorder with parabolic microphone).
                                      Whatever..........who were you with, Cheech n chong?