Instrumental guitar music

I should mention one more thing...

I'm not sure how clear I was in the previous post. When I mentioned feedback, I would like to note that any feedback, either regarding the actual compositions themselves (ie. my writing, technique, tone, sound, soloing, etc) or my recording style would both be appreciated.

I realize this is a 'technique and style' forum, which is why any feedback regarding my actual playing is very-much appreciated.

Now to delve off topic: What is economy picking? I probably already know, but I only heard the term recently. Is that like picking a string, then moving the fretting hand and letting the resonance of the string allow the notes to ring out?

Economy picking is kind of a mixture between alternate picking and sweep picking within passages. Simply put, if you're switching to a lower string, and you're on a downstroke, follow through with that downstroke to hit the next string. Vice versa with upstroke. Strokes in parenthesis are continuations of the previos stroke. Make sense? This is nice and all, but I prefer strict alternate picking or sweeping, I don't like economy...

Example:

d u d(d)u d u(u)(u)
e|-------5-7-8-7-----|
B|-5-7-8---------8---|
G|-----------------7-|


He bro. I listened to some of your stuff, and I thinks it's pretty good. I like the groove factor. Remindes me of Joe satch a little. I also like how you play with melody. This is good. The songs are real good too.

I'm really enjoying this so far 'Awestune' is pretty good, technically competant, my only teeny criticism is that it takes a little while to get into the real lead guitar work, although when it does, it's pretty good, nice mix of techniques. Was it improvised? some places sound improvised, others more composed, which isnt a bad thing at all!

I'd give it an 8/10, keep up the good work!

I am a member of soundclick. Very cool, I will check out your site. Mine is http://www.soundclcik.com/alligatorwine we also have music on there.

Oh yeah this is a technique and style forum...sorry about the above post. I will copy the original poster and add....If anyone wants to view my site and music, let me know what style it is. It doesn't seem to fit in any genre musically LOL good or bad? I dunno

Thanx for the comments Leadfootdriver and Nasum_human! :)

I'll be sure to check out your sites, Alliwine and Leadfoot.


Nasum_human, as far as soloing goes, my approach when recording is to pretty much try anything. For the most part, unless there's something I really want to get down, it's almost always improvisational at this stage of the process. Of course, unless I get a good take, I wouldn't hesitate to re-record. There's always a certain amount of tricks I have up my sleeve...it gives me the opportunity to stake out a direction of where the song is going in my head.

As far as song writing is concerned, my same approach to soloing also guides my writing process. In other words, I have no clue what I'm doing before I get there. For many of these tunes, the melodies are written on the spot. In some instances, I don't even have any riffs ready, so I just experiment on the spot until something catches my ear. This may not be the best way to approach song-writing, but I feel it gives me a certain degree of innovation and freedom.
Once I've gotten everything down, and I'm happy with it, then I will actually re-learn the way I performed the solos on the recording for live situations. Often I still end up improvising on stage though.

Matt :)

Wow, nice stuff Leadfootdriver!

Very impressive. That first tune...whoa, 8 mins! Very good though. Nice, smooth guitar playing, lots of harmonizing, and very interesting switch-up right in the middle of the tune. Great legatto, sweeping, etc. Only criticism is recording-quality..a bit of clipping....maybe a little hot, but considering everything, who cares. Very good stuff. Did you record everything yourself? What did you use for drums? Liked all your tunes. Got a cd?

Nice stuff Alliwine. Listening to 'National Couch Circuit' right now. You guys got some funky rythmes going on. Really enjoy it. Solid and strong playing. I kind of relate to your style because I also perform in a blues/funk/rock band. I'm definitely a fan of the funk-style playing.

Originally posted by finger_cruncher
Wow, nice stuff Leadfootdriver!

Very impressive. That first tune...whoa, 8 mins! Very good though. Nice, smooth guitar playing, lots of harmonizing, and very interesting switch-up right in the middle of the tune. Great legatto, sweeping, etc. Only criticism is recording-quality..a bit of clipping....maybe a little hot, but considering everything, who cares. Very good stuff. Did you record everything yourself? What did you use for drums? Liked all your tunes. Got a cd?

Thanks brother. Clipping though??? Hmmm, I don't have any on the original, so I don't know what the deal is with that. But hey man, I'm glad you dug it! I don't have a full length CD for you. I guess I have enough stuff, but I want to release a disc with a real band.

I'm trying to get a live act together. We're doing some recording tomarrow, Tuesday, and Wedensday here at the crib. We still don't have a singer yet though. I'm thinking of doing it, but I don't have a voice at all. I wish I did though, 'cuz it would be so much easier that way. The rhythm section you heard on the those recordings were from a Boss DR-5. So yes to your question, I've been doing it all myself. Why not? Recording gear is so cheap now, and also so much better, AND easier to use. You can see pics of my goofy ass, along with others of my gear, and stuff, if you click on the "images" link on the mp3.com site.

I remember when the first ADAT's came out about ten years ago. Now the recording scene has just exploded, especially with computers being so popular. It just makes sence. I talked to a real industry guy over the summer, and he said the big recording studios are starting to take a big hit now. Power to the people! That's why I decided to buy all this crap in the first place. Think about it. You pay all that money to record at a studio, and everybody has their hands out for cash. Plus you're under the gun to perform, and you have to get it right fast, or you pay even more. You don't really learn anything that way. You can get a recording program for like $40 clams now! All you need is a good converter to your computer, and maybe a mixer if you're recording more than just guitars.

Just go out and look at compressors, and pick one up for yourself. The Behringer stuff is good, and super cheap to boot. That's pretty much the biggest key to recording. It's all about keeping the levels even, so the mix sounds even, and things don't get quiet, or jump out and bite you.

Thanks!
Mick

Hey guys...


Just wrote a new tune today. Recorded completely in Cakewalk. Three guitars -one melody, one harmonizing, and one lead. It's called 'While It Rained' and I guess you could say it's neo-classical...I don't really know. I used some of my favorite 5-string sweeps and minor scales. Let me know what you think. Here's the link:

http://www.soundclick.com/mattsmith

Btw, if anyone's interested, I've been considering online collaboration for writing some tunes. I've never tried it before and I don't really know anyone. But if someone's interested, I'd like to give that a shot sometime.


Latez,

Matt