GT Solo Assignment June '07

Okay here is my opinion on the entries so far.... (That is what this is all about isnt it?). :rolleyes: My opinions are more as a listener and of course the type of music I like will affect my opinion. In no way am I giving advice as I consider myself to be the one who could use advice. I just think its nice after putting in the work to have someone at least comment on your work. If I am wrong then tell me to keep a lid on it and I will not take any offense. :cool:

Equator - Yours was a little different as usual. Thats a good thing! Do you consider your style Prog? Your style is striking me as a kinda pink floyd/Rush/Carlos Santana influence. Not so much on this song as on some of your other stuff. I liked your opening. I also liked the affects at about the 47 second mark. And you pulled off a good lick at the 1:21 mark. Yours seemed to lack sustain and the highs were not there. But that was probably your intent. Nice entry.

Zoso - I liked your tone the most. Your opening seemed to get lost in the mix. I really liked the lick at the 1:01 mark. As a matter of fact the solo really stepped up a notch from that point forward. Nice stuff as usual.

WrigglerUK - I liked yours the best so far. Very smooth and good tone. I got the impression that you could have really let loose and did some shred if you wanted. It seemed like you were very comfortable at the pace you were playing there was no tension. Right in the middle of the solo it sounded like you doubled the guitar part for a few seconds with some delay maybe? Very cool sound.

Once again this is as a listener and not as a player. I have alot to learn from you guys and I get a kick out of being able to do this. If any of my comments were off base please let me know. And Keep posting!

Originally Posted by: FingerSpasmOkay here is my opinion on the entries so far.... (That is what this is all about isnt it?). :rolleyes: My opinions are more as a listener and of course the type of music I like will affect my opinion. In no way am I giving advice as I consider myself to be the one who could use advice. I just think its nice after putting in the work to have someone at least comment on your work. If I am wrong then tell me to keep a lid on it and I will not take any offense. :cool:

Equator - Yours was a little different as usual. Thats a good thing! Do you consider your style Prog? Your style is striking me as a kinda pink floyd/Rush/Carlos Santana influence. Not so much on this song as on some of your other stuff. I liked your opening. I also liked the affects at about the 47 second mark. And you pulled off a good lick at the 1:21 mark. Yours seemed to lack sustain and the highs were not there. But that was probably your intent. Nice entry.

Zoso - I liked your tone the most. Your opening seemed to get lost in the mix. I really liked the lick at the 1:01 mark. As a matter of fact the solo really stepped up a notch from that point forward. Nice stuff as usual.

WrigglerUK - I liked yours the best so far. Very smooth and good tone. I got the impression that you could have really let loose and did some shred if you wanted. It seemed like you were very comfortable at the pace you were playing there was no tension. Right in the middle of the solo it sounded like you doubled the guitar part for a few seconds with some delay maybe? Very cool sound.

Once again this is as a listener and not as a player. I have alot to learn from you guys and I get a kick out of being able to do this. If any of my comments were off base please let me know. And Keep posting!

Spot on about Zozo's tone - it was gorgeous! And the playing weren't bad either... The stereo panning didn't work for me - it was good in the intro and the playout, I felt distracted by it during the rest of the track. But that's just nitpicking!
As for me - that's the pace I feel most comfortable with. Faster and I start to lose track of where I am in relation to the song - I'm just not 'familiar' with the scales as yet. I used Audacity's built in effects - a touch of chorus & delay as you spotted.
Regarding your take - there was definitely some beer involved...! You obviously have the dexterity to play, the tone was good and you had some good ideas - but it sounded (to me ) like you had identified what scale & key to use and were just playing without really trying to stay with the chord progression & so it sounded 'off' in places. Try putting the BT on 'loop' play and listen trhough once then play once. You really need to stay with the changes. It'll come! :) Oh yeah - & before Magic jumps on your case you need to use the hyperlink button and name your link for your own name...

Thanks for the input...the panning thing was more experimental....I agree that it is an effect that that should be used very sparingly....I have not figured out how to pan just a part of a track yet. Wriggler...great tone ...slide was very cool..that lick between the 1:13 point and 1:20 was very tasty in a Pagey way that I like :D and the doubling at :47 was kickin' as well. good job. you are the one to beat at this point, IMO.

Originally Posted by: z0s0_jpThanks for the input...the panning thing was more experimental....I agree that it is an effect that that should be used very sparingly....I have not figured out how to pan just a part of a track yet.

Gee that was fast - I hadn't finished editting! What software are you recording with? Using Audacity you can just highlight a section of the track and add the effect.

I had not finished editing either ...so check my last post again:rolleyes: I use Tracktion but I have no directions because it was included with my Stealth Plug purchase.

Equator - Yours was a little different as usual. Thats a good thing! Do you consider your style Prog? Your style is striking me as a kinda pink floyd/Rush/Carlos Santana influence. Not so much on this song as on some of your other stuff. I liked your opening. I also liked the affects at about the 47 second mark. And you pulled off a good lick at the 1:21 mark. Yours seemed to lack sustain and the highs were not there. But that was probably your intent. Nice entry.

Thanks for listening man. You are right about my influences, I grew up listening to Santana and my friends and me use to get drunk listening to Pink Floyd; not a fan of Rush though.
The effects you mentioned is actually my steel slide. The lack of sustain may be due to old strings or me playing too staccato. (metronomes can do that to you )
Thanks for pointing out the absence of high frequencies. I did try to warm the sound boosting the lows and cutting the highs “a little” and got carried away.

Ok. My turn now to give you my honest opinion on your take.
The tone is excellent. What kind of gear are you using?
The guitar was a little too loud and the backing got lost in the mix; also your guitar and the backing are fighting for the same place in the mix, panning either one about 25% to the sides would do the trick.
Yeah, there were some sloppy passages, chopped notes and off pitch bends.
On the brighter side…you have a nice vibrato technique, good timing, you played a few pull offs and managed to bend some notes to the right pitch. Also, you played on the low and high register, and not played in just three strings; which is good.
Keep recording and rocking.

Originally Posted by: z0s0_jpI had not finished editing either ...so check my last post again:rolleyes: I use Tracktion but I have no directions because it was included with my Stealth Plug purchase.

Ah - OK. I also use Tracktion when I want VST's and midi. I think the only way is to mark the section you want using the '/' key and drag the marked section to another track to which you can then add the effect. If you want the manuals for Tracktion it's available from
mackie tech support they are at the bottom of the page.

Thanks brotha :D

Originally Posted by: z0s0_jpno...that is why I took the pos back and will save for the E609 :D

It's definitely worth every penny. Hope you like it. When you get it that is. :rolleyes:

Originally Posted by: equatorThanks for listening man. You are right about my influences, I grew up listening to Santana and my friends and me use to get drunk listening to Pink Floyd; not a fan of Rush though.
The effects you mentioned is actually my steel slide. The lack of sustain may be due to old strings or me playing too staccato. (metronomes can do that to you )
Thanks for pointing out the absence of high frequencies. I did try to warm the sound boosting the lows and cutting the highs “a little” and got carried away.

Ok. My turn now to give you my honest opinion on your take.
The tone is excellent. What kind of gear are you using?
The guitar was a little too loud and the backing got lost in the mix; also your guitar and the backing are fighting for the same place in the mix, panning either one about 25% to the sides would do the trick.
Yeah, there were some sloppy passages, chopped notes and off pitch bends.
On the brighter side…you have a nice vibrato technique, good timing, you played a few pull offs and managed to bend some notes to the right pitch. Also, you played on the low and high register, and not played in just three strings; which is good.
Keep recording and rocking.

Thanks for the feedback. I guess I should say I was being lazy more than frustrated. I just was not feeling it on this one. And I wanted to listen to everybodys stuff so I threw something together real quick. Thanks for pointing out some of the things I did right. I am really playing a little faster than I should be for my skill level and thats some of my problem. I am going to keep playing and working on my chops so Hopefully you guys will hear some better stuff in the future.
As for my equipment. I played through a GNX4 on the Angus Young Preset with a TubeScreamer effect added. The GNX4 was routed into my usb on my computer to Cool Edit Pro. I played on my Strat with a mini humbucker in the bridge. My amp is a Peavey Triple XXX tube amp.
WrigglerUK thanks for the feedback and I will try to figure the hyperlink deal out.

As far as the out of tune backing track is concerned, I used a little tuning enhancement from garageband. Used to the fullest, you can really hear the parts where it looses it. It really did a pretty good job of cleaning it up though.