The Challenge 6 - 15 September 2010 Vote

Renesongs

Here are this weeks entries only one was brave enough to enter in the advanced group so I am going to dispense with grouping this round. You have one vote use it wisely before Sundown on Sunday

[quote author=X-rated Bob link=action=profile;u=411 date=1284049792] I hereby request a new category - "P" for "pitiful". But enough about me. Here's my entry - beginner's category please http://www.box.net/shared/sa1kif473n This is an attempt at Richard Thompson in drone/celtic mode. He's not a player that many on the forum are familiar with, so here's a clip for reference. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBs4oVGFy3k [/quote]

[quote author=Warren link=action=profile;u=2258 date=1284497280] My dodgy attempt at copying the Gringo! http://www.box.net/shared/4nvkdsed8e [/quote]

[quote author=SoHo link=action=profile;u=2717 date=1284570023] This is my first competition entry. My wannabe is Flea from the red hot chili peppers. Thanks for the great competitions. I play the bass and one of my friends helped with the guitar, drums are programmed. Here's the link : www.box.net/shared/bhltqivo2s [/quote]

[quote author=chris77 link=action=profile;u=1551 date=1284570281] Beginner category please. First few artists didnt work out at all! (Gary Moore, Peter Buck, Eric Clapton) Luckily JFjr posted that Rolling Stone 500 list, so that gave me a few more options to choose from. :D In the end I decided on Chuck Berry. I know I wont make a Tribute band with this, but aagh well, here it is. http://www.box.net/shared/tukz34g5gg Was a lot of fun actaully. Frustarting, but fun :-[ [/quote]

(old forum) Poll Results: Wannabe

X-rated Bob Thompson: 2
Warren Santana: 11
SoHo Balzary: 2
chris77 Berry: 2

guitarboy2828

Oh my, GREAT JOB guys! FLIP!! Really impressed!

I have no idea who i'm going to vote for.. Seriously.. It doesn't help that Santana and berry are like my hero's and I love their music.. :O

Soho, great to have you participating. Just one comment is maybe try pull the lead guitar down a little and pump the bass higher, it was very hard to hear what the bass was doing. ☹ But great entry!

Renesongs

Great entries all round. Warren you had Don Carlos waxed both tonally and playing wise. you needed a bit more sustain on the longer notes a compressor would do the trick quite nicely I think ?

Bob-Dubery

This is very difficult to judge. The idea is to decide who the best mimic is. Very difficult, and counter intuitive.

SoHo

Very nicely done everyone, sounds great.

guitarboy2828 wrote: Oh my, GREAT JOB guys! FLIP!! Really impressed!

I have no idea who i'm going to vote for.. Seriously.. It doesn't help that Santana and berry are like my hero's and I love their music.. :O

Soho, great to have you participating. Just one comment is maybe try pull the lead guitar down a little and pump the bass higher, it was very hard to hear what the bass was doing. ☹ But great entry!

Thanks for the advice I will keep it in mind next time.

andrewjbryson

Bob : Very cool, enjoyed the different expansion of voicings and the steady journey feel to it.
Nice recording signal/level on the guitar

Soho: Enjoyed the driving feel of it. Can hear you got the Flea Bass Chops going.
Enjoyed the lead guitar too, and yes the bass must come up ?
And if your levels are already maxiumum, boost your frequency range from
90K - 150 K ?

I havent had time to listen to the others yet , will do though

Squonk

Bob, I thought it was an excellent take on Richard Thompson, if you had a tele or a strat it would have been even more authentic.
The only snag would be that not many would be able to compare you to RT, if they haven't heard him. Even your RT clip is not enough for them to judge how well you pulled this off.

Warren that's the best I have heard you play, I would have guessed Santana even if you hadn't suggested it.

Chris excellent stuff, you really did your homework, I hope you were doing the chicken strut thing that he does as well!

Soho - got the Flea Funk down to a T, good guitar playing as well

Very difficult to pull a winner out of the hat!

Bob-Dubery

Squonk wrote: Bob, I thought it was an excellent take on Richard Thompson, if you had a tele or a strat it would have been even more authentic.
The only snag would be that not many would be able to compare you to RT, if they haven't heard him. Even your RT clip is not enough for them to judge how well you pulled this off

A silly choice really for this kind of competition. He's one of those players who is hard to pin down. Jeff Beck or Tom Verlaine would also be poor choices because one of the things that makes them so interesting is that they are unpredictable. Warren and Chris chose far more wisely.

NorioDS

Really enjoyed all the entries this week. Very fun comp to listen to for me ?

Warren, you completely nailed Santana. It really sounded like I was listening to one of his songs. Awesome job ?

Bob-Dubery

Squonk wrote: Bob, I thought it was an excellent take on Richard Thompson, if you had a tele or a strat it would have been even more authentic.

Well I played that on my Cortcaster, which is blue and has three of those single-wotchmacallem pickup things. I even stuck the switch in an in-between position just like himself does.

However the Roland micro-cube is probably not quite up to the job - even in "Black Panel" emulation.

Ray

I liked your thing Bob it made me think of the chap who you trying to emulate and I like him and what he does.

chris77

Aaagh no man Warren, you making me all confused now. I don't like Santana, but I like your entry ?
You seem to be making it a habit of getting my vote every week...Really well done, especially the first part. (So when are you going to start making little cameo appearances on pop records...??? ?)

Bob. Very atmospheric. I don’t know Thompson at all, but if that’s the type of vibe associated with his playing then I want to! I love the way that you changed the main meat and potatoes around without messing up the meal, if that makes any sense. I also like that you didn’t opt for drums or any other backing, but stuck with only guitar. It fits well with the type of tune you were playing.

Soho. @#&*'it, but you okes can turn it on hey! Enough's been said about making the Bass more prominent, but ja, same here. I really wanted to hear the bass but that wasn't the standout part. Great energy and catchy as hell though. My foot was tapping and my head bopping the whole way. If this was another challenge you would have been serious contenders. Good stuff.

Warren

Haha, thanks for the cool comments guys ? Glad you liked the entry, I was a bit disappointed with it myself, but just shows we shouldn't critique our own stuff too much!

@Rene
Definitely agree there. I actually tried a couple of things: compressor, wah, etc. but couldn't get it sounding right, so in the end I ditched the lot and went for simple. Santana definitely uses a sustainer on his long notes though, they just ring out for years...

@Chris
I'm expecting a call from Shakira any day now. ? Your entry was great! Very representative of Berry's playing indeed, and he's one of my fave's. Yours gets my vote for authenticity, for sure.

@Bob
Not sure what you're being so self-critical about, I actually think yours sounds pretty good, and along the lines of the clip you posted. Admittedly, yes, not a player many of us would know. Plus it got you plugging in the Cort ?

@SoHo
Super energy on your entry man! I agree with the dudes that I struggled to really catch what the bass was up to in all parts. You know, a lot of Flea's playing accentuates and aligns with the stuff Frusciante is doing on top, especially the funk stuff, so for the next entry as a suggestion, get your guitarist to give you a little more space to show us your bass chops! And on that note, why not get him to join the forums too? ?

SoHo

mmmmm, 217 reads but only 17 votes...

Thanks to everyone for the great advice and comments I really appreciate it, its always good to learn!!

Renesongs

Congratulations to Warren you are the this weeks champion by a landslide.

Renesongs

mmmmm, 217 reads but only 17 votes...

Yes that is sad

Squonk

But at least all 17 of us are consistent ?

There will be always at least 17 votes

chris77

Congrats Warren, and thanks to the guys and gals who voted.