The gentle art of ripping someone's face off

evolucian · 2013-04-06T13:42:41+00:00

The solo. Two little words, that when used together, inspire fear and loathing in many a guitarist/musician still on their musical journey. It is usually acc...

The gentle art of ripping someone's face off

chrisbark

Thanks for the kind words Dom and Evo.

can't remember who it was, think it was actually a trumpet player, who said, and i paraphrase, "the space between the notes is as important as the notes themselves". or something to that effect. the spaces, the 'rests', the vibratos, the air between the notes, they emphasise what we're playing, they're part of the music.

I think it was Miles ? Even if he didn't say it he is still the master of tasty phrasing and using space to create lines that ooze feel. I think most guitarists suffer from no breath-itis , if you play the sax or trumpet you have stop to take breath but on a guitar you can go all day!

evolucian wrote: Take pride in what you do and do it to the best of your ability

Words to live by. I guess that's why I am still just messing around in the man cave and not rocking out on stage.
Years of playing for my cat means I don't really know the first thing about performance ... anyway enough excuses I have learned something about myself and my playing which I'm sure was part of the master plan.

20 something takes later I totally nailed it .... except that I was recording the wrong input :'(
One of the main reasons I posted the earlier version is that I didn't want the recording process and Cubase to totally kill my will to live, as it does regularly with the monthly compos.

Anyway this is a better take than the one I posted earlier, less improvised but better performance. Also fixed sample rate and trimmed the tail. https://www.box.com/s/wti0zqozhkp4fx88lc7k

edit ... didnt see your comments before I posted

What were the chordal thumps/open strings/whatever it was by the way? Find a nicer way, perhaps, of executing it without it being so pronounced. It does jar the listener somewhat.

Just playing a Dm barre chord and alternately hitting the open E string on top and open D 6th string on the bottom. I wanted some thump but like you say it probably muddies the whole thing up a bit so I will leave out the 6th string entirely.

maybe learning to back off on your guitar's volume knob will be a good thing

This is rock n roll ... how can backing off volume be a good thing ? I keed I keed.

Thanks for the advice, I will have a think about what you said and then try again. I will nail this eventually.

evolucian

I liked the energy of the first take, although both are equally good. It depends if you think you nailed it or not ? If you think you did actually nail it, then its all good man. I would bring dynamics into the picture again but its your interpretation that counts.

[deleted]

hehe, thanks for the thread evo! I need to practice this for the band, so this is the perfect opportunity.

SoooooI need to make this snappier, and listen more to your part, and only started experimenting with changing the key a third time in the last take, and really think it would have been better if I came in one the "one" in the last two bars, just for some variation, but that's all for tonight ? Oh, and still have to read through all your advice to everyone else... back I go to that.

https://www.box.com/s/y7beyyhk9epblcuucy5v

[deleted]

but since you can't polish a turd

oh but apparently you can. Really dig your tune chrisbark

evolucian

Viccy wrote: hehe, thanks for the thread evo! I need to practice this for the band, so this is the perfect opportunity.

SoooooI need to make this snappier, and listen more to your part, and only started experimenting with changing the key a third time in the last take, and really think it would have been better if I came in one the "one" in the last two bars, just for some variation, but that's all for tonight ? Oh, and still have to read through all your advice to everyone else... back I go to that.

https://www.box.com/s/y7beyyhk9epblcuucy5v

I like your chordal expedition. The darkness portrayed in the first part was cool and haunting. Also the counterpoint of all your moving lines was well done, as was the movement in general. Your overall approach to this was good.

Have you experimented with drive yet? In the sense of using it in soloing lines? Reason being, that drive can make your second half punchier. Playing clean on distorted parts is an interesting alternative, but it doesn't have the balls needed to accentuate the backing. You will have to play less of the chord involved though, but you'll find parts that just ring and make Santa happy.

At 14s I would have made the line go up from all the previous consecutive upward movements you had (instead of repeating your first phrase tailend), and this is where the drive could be brought in with the volume knob. Are you playing with fear Viccy? I realised there wasn't any vibrato, hence the fear question. If you do get some vibrato in, remember: left right not good, gentle circle very good (classical vibrato on electric is bleh). If you do try it with drive, I can't mention the second half till I hear it and you working out what works on it.

I did like your take. It reminded me of The Cure's "Burn" to an extent (on The Crow soundtrack). And I do so love The Cure (back off haters!!! Its my post!). Well done, looking forward to see your revisions

[deleted]

Thanks for the feedback...ha ha ha, pun intended!

Have you experimented with drive yet?

not that much..very rarely. I'm clearly still playing electric like a nylon.

Playing clean on distorted parts is an interesting alternative, but it doesn't have the balls needed to accentuate the backing.

I think that may be, but my rhythm went sloppy, hence balls lost. Dirtying it up won't necessarily solve that problem, I don't think, but I must play around obviously.

At 14s I would have made the line go up from all the previous consecutive upward movements you had (instead of repeating your first phrase tailend), and this is where the drive could be brought in with the volume knob.

yeah, I realised I could have upped the ante a lot sooner.

Are you playing with fear Viccy?

Every day punk ?

I realised there wasn't any vibrato, hence the fear question.

yup, I'm aware of that. Thought of playing with the whammy bar, but not enough time, or not good enough, or whatever. Thanks for the tip on vibrato, will make mental note of being more liberal with it.

And I do so love The Cure

Me too.

Well done, looking forward to see your revisions

:roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao:

Do you realise how long it's been since someone has said that to me....

:roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao:
:roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao:
:roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao:

evolucian

Whammy vibrato is ok if you can do it well... fingers would be best. Yeah, school days perhaps? hehe

chrisbark

Really dig your tune chrisbark

Thanks Viccy. I really like what you did in the first half. Like Evo says if you add some brootalz drive and a bit of oomph in the second half it will be epic ?
I'm also not really used to playing electric, but I did the opposite and had the distortion on 11 from start to finish like a true Ibanez man (Evo I know you wanted to say it sounds like an Ibanez)

I posted the second version out of guilt about my work ethic and before I got comments, so here is another crack it https://www.box.com/s/c19v2uw1l4cc6k0z6ky1 this time thinking more about dynamics.

Find a nicer way, perhaps, of executing it without it being so pronounced. It does jar the listener somewhat

Left out the 6th string entirely and hit open 4th string instead. Probably still needs some more muting.

The good things going for this solo are that you never overplayed. It can be seen as both a solo and 2nd guitar harmonising within the context of the piece, taking a back seat and letting the harmonies of the chords work themselves out.

Had a think about this, and I realise I should probably be a going for a little more "face rip"

The dirtiness of your sound on the first half might be a tad overpowering

Noted, first part is now squeaky clean, but nailing the transition is really kicking my ass >☹
All I'm trying to do is change pickup and FX channel, reduce volume then swell volume, but apparently that is too much for my brain to handle.

Think this is better, but still not quite ripping off faces.

evolucian

@ Chris... now you kicked ass in it. Now you listened and played to the piece. Well done!!

Ripping off faces can be done melodically and even through speed as well as snails pace. Your interpretation is what counts and is all that's needed. If I were you chris, I'd be VERY PROUD of this contribution.

@ everyone: If I had put the other parts of the song in here it would have been easier to make a good solo. So this exercise is not easy at all, so all of you should still be proud of your achievements and willingness to tackle it head on. Like I said, it's your interpretation that counts in the end. Just make sure you are 100% happy with it. All I can do is give some advice as to how to tackle it differently, out of your comfort zone (thinking). Not to say you don't think, but hardly any of us do tend to think when confronted with a backtrack and asked to solo. I myself was guilty of this until I started thinking of what if. What if this was a real song and all I did was wing it? Would I be pushing myself or relying on my current ability to just play automatic patterns? What if I could make something awesome... would it then be awesome?

Hence the "pride in what you do" quip. One Malmsteen album had improvised solo's throughout (he mentioned it in a guitar mag interview) - on listening to the album, all the solo's sounded the same. Now imagine if van Halen and Lukather had only winged the Michael Jackson solo's because it was someone elses music... would they have been as awesome as they are now? I'd go with no...

Something to think about perhaps. Having a reflective morning today so I apologise for you guys having to bear the brunt of it ? Hope it helps...

[deleted]

Thanks Viccy. I really like what you did in the first half. Like Evo says if you add some brootalz drive and a bit of oomph in the second half it will be epic

thanks! You guys are in for a treat, I'm going to do in every patch available to me now.... can anyone say overkill?

chrisbark

Glad I could contribute something for a change rather than lurking in the background and judging other peoples work. Who knows maybe I will actually submit an entry for next months challenge 8)

Just make sure you are 100% happy with it. All I can do is give some advice as to how to tackle it differently, out of your comfort zone (thinking)

Thanks for the realness. I learned a lot and had fun stepping out of the comfort zone, but after recording so many takes I came to the conclusion I will probably never be 100% happy.

Anyway huge thanks for this thread and to all who submitted their work. Keep it coming.

evolucian

Round two will be here soon... A little 32 bar thing I wrote a while ago. Its part of my creedalike song - if you're interested I can post the actual take I did on it... of course, it'll only be after you have done yours ?

guitarbyquintin

Member as of this week ?
enjoyed the Jam and thread.

I pretty much broke the rules and used my phone camera, jamming the night away in the basement. (so camera audio)

https://www.box.com/s/89zsuum0mp6d8ezqvvfg

Just using Modes - DAeolian, Dorian,Phyrigian Dominant, Diminished

Arpeggios pentatonics and Blues scales.

Thanks for thread

Quintin Louw -

evolucian

Thank you Quintin for making a truly useless post and clip (as I will not be downloading a 102MB clip nor listening to it). Read the rules. And quite possibly, as a GIT grad, you didn't need to do it. Yet we are all here to learn from each other and about each other, anyone and everyone is welcome to participate, provided they follow the rules of clip sizes.

Very glad you got to use all those magical possibilities in 36 seconds. Well done.. my frikkin hero. Equally impressed at 36s = 102MB. Did I mention its 102MB yet? I don't think I did... YOUR CLIP IS 102MB!!!! YOU MUST REALLY BE BRAND SPANKING NEW!!!

Now seeing as I can't listen to your track, please explain to me how you approached it using all your extra goodies... pretty please? As this would possibly give some members an idea of how to approach a specific subset of chords using certain outside pitches and why they work, I think its a good idea. As it is only a 16 bar set piece, I suspect the order of things will not carry so many fancy titles and could be reduced to far less.

Please extract the audio, keep it at 16 bars (18 bars with one empty bar on the beginning and end, totalling 36 seconds) and rip it back out at 128k. Then we can all listen to it in peace and... stuff.

guitarbyquintin

Sorry man, I see a bigger picture than just a few bars. I'm on the road and just camera phone.
Ignore the post if its to big. I like the tune and enjoyed jamming on it.

What if I upload to youtube?
I have no conversion software on this computer

In a nutshell, the chord progression has a Dm Tonal centre. The chords being Sus and power chords obviously dont have any 3rd's and fit perfectly in either,
D Aeolian, D Phrygian, and D Dorian. I used Phrygian Dominant on the chorus. The 3rd of Dm is F. So if you raise it a half step- to F# you can play any diminished stuff on that.

Anyone that does watch it and has questions, feel free to mail me.

Later man

evolucian

Not a prob... you can upload to youtube as I noticed it was a .mov file. But this is strictly audio... just saying. If you have any recording software on the 'puter you're on it would be nice to just make an audio track, convert to mp3. Not sure if the free software out there has it but its workable and there are demo's around that convert. In video editing software you have the ability to extract audio as well as replace it. Even windows' stupid video thing allows it... as far as I can remember.

As an aside, making an audio track might just boost people into watching the vid and subscribing and stuff. We don't have huge bandwidth in this country unless we sell our souls and get uncapped. Unfortunately I'm rather attached to my soul and therefore no uncapped for me.

This is a mock example of a solo section to a song, so it can't have V/C sections. It was designed as a clean to driving part with the drums feeding the natural climactic moments. So as for seeing a bigger picture than a few bars, thats understandable. Because thats how it should be, but within a limited context of a solo section within a song leading to either a chorus or another verse for the verbal diarrhoea vocalist to finish his masterpiece of prose.

I'm sure it'll sound killer... if only I could hear it, hence I can't comment on the scale usage. It does have a Dm tonality but still can't comment/ask questions as I can't hear it. Glad you liked the track but not glad that I can't hear it.

[deleted]

hey Quintin, I downloaded your video, I can understand your reluctance for not wanting redo all of that. At first I was confused how you might fit all those scales into those few bars, but now i see. Very very cool ? It's a pity the volume in the second parts of the solo were always louder than the clip, so you could have been playing over pretty much anything. It would have been nicer to hear the mix better.

evolucian

viccy... are you able to rip it into mp3 for us? Or anyone else if its been downloaded?

evolucian

ok, downloaded this monster track and will go and convert it for you, quintin. Along with an analysis. And it will be this one and only time.

Making it four minutes is cheating, booi. I'll remind you that you only have 36 seconds to make magic happen and thats it (on this track). Try again.. but with a daw. You are more than capable of making it happen. There are two sections scattered within your performance that when combined, will make a super duper solo.

guitarbyquintin

LOL
Hey man , I dont have to do anything, I felt the jam the way I played it. I could offer advice to those who are interested. 36 seconds would be a waste of time.
the point is, dont box yourself in with Limitations. Because it will show in your playing. If you feel like breaking the music rules, you should be able to.

You can play on a progression like that for 6 hours straight, pick the best parts, and then you have your section. If you think too much about what you are going to fit into 36 sec, you are thinking too much. I think before and then just jam and feel it.

Thanks for the thread though

Q