Guitar Challenge 0020 - jamming with Vincent Blue Beast

[DavidP]

Here's the backing track that I had in mind when I undertook to Clint to have a go.

https://soundcloud.com/david-preece-24770685/voices-of-vincent-blue-beast

There's lots of details over in AVOYP.

For here I think suffice to say ... key of D, 80 bpm

Jam on ...

[brianlarsen]

Okay- I'm not sure where the appropriate place to post this is, as the discussion surrounding it is over on the main board, but let's try not to create more work for Richard 
You pushed the boundaries on this one, David, and I'm with you in the idea that we learn most at the edges of our comfort zone.

I've had the occasional noodle playing random notes of a scale over songs, which gave me great pleasure, but this time I sat down and actually thought what notes to play.
Damn, it's hard!

I'm afraid I ran out of steam/ideas/inspiration/licks half-way through. I contemplated just repeating the whole shebang, but that seemed pointless.
It is heavily edited and spliced together, but Clint says that's ok 
I lifted the video off a Pink Floyd Breathe tribute I came across, but don't know the original creator.
I thought it suited David's Vincent/Blue theme nicely. (It would have worked nicely in a look if I could have gone on!)
I hope you enjoy, but remember- I prefer helpful criticism than generosity 



 

[DavidP]

First up, I'm tickled a faint shade of pink that somebody had a go.  Thanks for that Brian.

You have posted up in exactly the right place. As a rule the backing tracks are only posted here in the challenge, but I felt that it was a piece of music that was interesting enough in its own rights and (I confess) I also wanted more folk to listen, offer feedback etc.  And this area is not the busiest.

The video was fabulous.  Can see echoes of Van Gogh at moments.  It worked ever so well.

But what you are interested in is your play.  Overall well done and good effort. Sounded good to me, didn't notice sour notes and some pleasing licks and runs. 

Good job on the editing, wouldn't have know if you hadn't said so.  And it is definitely OK.

Helpful criticism is more difficult for me to offer when it comes to lead play, but I'll have a go.

Firstly, I would have liked the backing track a little softer.   

I think there were times when you were locked into the feel of the backing and other times lost a little connection.  I think it is about when to start a word or phrase.

Enjoyed it.

[brianlarsen]

Glad to tickle the pink, David (although that sounds terrible!)
You're welcome 
Softer backing track implies louder 'Brian track', which is what we are probably trying to disguise!
The video serves a similar e purpose... distraction.
Well picked up on the bits that seemed 'disconnected' with the backing track. There were a couple of sections where I just cut and pasted some lead (in the same rhythm), but not played to that particular part.
As I said above: Damn hard.
Still, I'll never learn if I don't do it; so thanks again for providing your bit of grit, which hopefully in years to come will be will be beautiful enough to cast before swine... 

[b1rdland]

Brian, good job, I enjoyed listening and watching that great vid. This is a lot better than you think, there’s some nice playing and ideas in there. Here’s some hopefully useful feedback.

1. The timing is slightly out which makes the lead often sound disconnected from the backing
2. There’s about 4 or 5 nice licks, motifs or whatever you call them in there, you play one then another then another. Nothing wrong with that,  now my ear is familiar with those licks I’m happy to hear them again, so play them again please...in the second half. You don’t have to have more and more licks to fill the time, re-use what you’ve already got, try playing part of a lick or mix them up.
3. The track is in D, so maybe experiment playing a D arpeggio or just a few chord tones or strum a chord from the key and let it ring.
4. Don’t forget those thicker strings, for more texture try a little bassy thing on the thick E string maybe?

Anyhow, I’d be pleased with what you’ve played if I where you 

[DavidP]

Hear Hear !!

Well said, Steve.

I had the same feeling, Brian.  I think, like me to a degree, you are partial to some self-deprecatory commentary.

But truly, without being "generous", no need for us to be distracted and not hearing you clearly.  Loud and proud.  This is a place for people learning so I've never had any expectation that contributions must be perfect.

Not sure what DAW you are using, have a feeling it is Audacity.  If so at some point may be worth trying something like Reaper, which will open up creative doors to throw on some fx on that guitar.

Keep on rocking that leccy ...

[b1rdland]

David, My effort  https://soundcloud.com/steve-cardus/black-and-blue-beast-1/s-XsSBsndF0ly I don't think I've disrespected your ace backing track 

Steve.

[DavidP]

Steve, that was just fabulous.  You have such versatility to adapt your playing to different genres and now to dance over this backing track. Lovely tone and feel throughout.  I enjoyed the way you changed things up through each verse.

As for worrying about disrespecting my track ... quite the contrary, I am delighted to hear you play over the track and I think you played with the backing most wonderfully.  And I doubt you'd ever disrespect, treat lightly anybody's music hear in the Community.

[b1rdland]

Thanks David, glad you liked it. I didn't want to drown out the backing as it's a great piece of work in its own right, so I tried to give it space (respect) and make sure it could still be heard.

[brianlarsen]

@ Steve
Ta very much,
exactly the kind of stuff I was looking for. Yeah, I've come across those thoughts in comments from Richard as well as Justin's videos, but it's good to hear them again, particularly in context of something you've just done 
I have neglected all theory for a while, so am not even sure what arpeggios are, but sound scale-like to me.
I think I did venture down to the E once!
My biggest problem of course, is just practice and become familiar with the fretboard, so my fingers know where to go 
Don't get me wrong-
I'm quite happy with my effort  and where I am, but more importantly, how I got here.
I used to ski a lot and was pretty hot in my day. I taught a lot of family and friends from scratch. It was always good to see them get the hang of the 'snow-plough' turns and ski independently. Gotta get to grips with that before parallel turns and off-piste.
I'm well aware that I'm doing snow-plough here on guitar, but keeping my eyes peeled for cool runs when I'm ready
I thought your take was pretty nifty. I got a kind of 70's vibe off it.
... and ta for all the input/comments in recent days.

[brianlarsen]

@ David
Cheers,
as above for Steve.
You're right. Audacity is the one.
I'm a stingy old frugal git, who refuses to upgrade outdated technology and buy kit 
I do get some kind of perverse pleasure out of squeezing as much as possible out of whatever basic kit I have available, though I guess that's kind of obvious if you look at most of my recordings 

[DavidP]

Your recordings are great, Brian. The modern phone produces a surprisingly good quality recording.  And nothing wrong with Audacity. 

My first couple were made with Audacity.  And then on the light version of Ableton that came with my Audio Interface. I only upgraded to Reaper, which is punches way above its $60 pricetag, when I wanted more tracks than the light version allowed. That was dollars well spent, not regretted that buy for a moment.

That said, if you are in the Apple camp and have an iPad I think you could do a lot with Garage Band for free. No idea if there is another open source DAW like Audacity that enables you to use plugins, which I think is the main limitation of Audacity.

But irrespective you do great right now.

[Garfield]

Steve - really good but I sort of expected that. I'm always curious to hear what you've done. It always sounds like you but it's always different.

Brian - I thought was really good. You have something there and I thought what you did worked well with the backing and added to it.

Sent from my SM-A530F using JustinGuitar Community mobile app

[close2u]

@ Brian
You started off with a little motif and expounded / expanded on it which is a fantastic way of extracting lots of goodness from one idea.
The early lick actually reminded me a little of Noel Gallagher's lead guitar in an Oasis song. He's not exactly the world's greatest player but he got the job done to serve the song. So there's a compliment in there somewhere fella! If it works stick to it.
Critique ... after the 1 minute mark you seemed to lose a little purpose and were hesitant. Use your ears, take time exploring the sound of each note in the scale you're using. For example, at 1min16 you hit and hold a note that sounds off. Your ears, with training, will tell you to find a different finishing note so the off-note becomes a passing note only. One other thing - you can sing and carry a tune. Try to sing the melodic phrases as you play them. Think about how you would structure the phrasing of the melody.

@b1rdland
You're grabbing some nice partial chords and playing them as lead fills to start with.  Their reintroduction later on does what you suggested to Brian - returns to something happy and familiar. The sparse playing really does suit the backing nicely.

[CT]

Thanks for sharing such a cool backing track DP! I sped it up a bit and put down a couple of lead tracks:
The Beast & I

[CT]

@brianlarsen

Trippy track! Nice package all the way around.

Lot's of good advice already given, I don't want to muddy the water. You are on the right track, keep at it and keep having fun (like you did here).

[DavidP]

Thanks for sharing such a cool backing track DP! I sped it up a bit and put down a couple of lead tracks:
The Beast & I

Sounding sooo good with the Beast, Clint.  Really enjoyed the melodic lines and phrases and the airy tone you had a going. 

One last time, thanks for the encouraging nudge that led to this.  When you drop a stone in the pond you never know what'll happen.  First the backing and now Richard's lessons on thirds and more.

[close2u]

@ CT

You have some great shimmering moments and some super gritty refrains which tie everything together really well. Good stuff.

[CT]

Sounding sooo good with the Beast, Clint.  Really enjoyed the melodic lines and phrases and the airy tone you had a going. 

One last time, thanks for the encouraging nudge that led to this.  When you drop a stone in the pond you never know what'll happen.  First the backing and now Richard's lessons on thirds and more.

Thanks DP! You're very kind as always. Brian kind of locked down the imagery for the song with his video clip. Really a trippy cartoon journey that I should not have seen before taking my swing at it. That's the risk of checking out other people's tracks beforehand. All in all, there are some nice underlying melodies that can be derived from your track, hopefully I was able to unlock a few. 

[Fourtwo]

Well, I've finally managed to finish this - tough challenge David (good job on the track though). Problem is that your track is so distinctive that everything I tried was overpowered. I couldn't steal Clint's brilliant idea to speed it up as it's supposed to be an individual challenge so I decided to try some slide guitar. Now I've not really played much slide so the technique may be lacking, and I did lapse into aimless noodling a few times, but I am happy that I've put something out that is worth a listen.
https://soundcloud.com/fourtwo42/blue-beast-slider

Now onto the next challenge...
Neil

[DavidP]

I love the sound of slide guitar, Neil.  I thought you got a great slide tone going that worked over the backing. And it all seemed to blend together pretty well.  Good job. Now maybe one day I may take up my own challenge 

[close2u]

@Neil
Great tone and your approach really appeals to me over this track. The sparse, echoing feel of ringing notes played simply suits the busy movement of the melodic 3rds underneath everything.

[Fourtwo]

@brianlarsen

Brian, Kudos for having a go at this - not easy and it's a long time to be improvising, but you have to start somewhere. Looks like you're getting the idea and your licks worked in the context of the track. I'd suggest you work on vibrato. You'll find that the notes sound more fluid with some vibrato and it's a fairly easy win. Good to hear you progressing!
Neil

[Fourtwo]

David, My effort  https://soundcloud.com/steve-cardus/black-and-blue-beast-1/s-XsSBsndF0ly I don't think I've disrespected your ace backing track 

Steve.

Steve,
Started off a little stiff but flowed into some lovely licks around 1 minute 30 secs, and maintained the level to the end.
Enjoyed it.
Neil

[Fourtwo]

Thanks for sharing such a cool backing track DP! I sped it up a bit and put down a couple of lead tracks:
The Beast & I

Clint,
Brilliant! You owned this track by the end of your improv. Great idea to speed it up as I think it helped shift the focus away from the backing to your lead.
Neil