Guitar Challenge

[BobM]

I put together a track that's kind of a slow rock-blues. Of course I added in my fake guitar synth part as the main melody and a solo section in the middle but I got to thinking this would make a great track for a guitar challenge. So first, here's my full version:

https://soundcloud.com/user-13963192...tion-no-relief



Here's the stripped down version with piano, bass and drums as a WAV file. It should be downloadable for you, if you click on the 3 dots (...) you get that option, please let me know if it isn't. Please download this and add in your own guitar part. There's plenty of room at the end for a guitar outro as well so go for it. I do ask that you keep at least some of the main melody intact but other then that you have free reign - no rules. Give us your best Stevie Ray Vaughn or Joe Pass or etc.

https://soundcloud.com/user-13963192...hallenge-track



When you have completed your version post it back on this thread with your name as a Soundcloud or YouTube or whatever link so we can all check it out. There is no prize except pride of ownership and bragging rights but I hope some of you wanna be guitar gods will pick it up and show us your stuff.

[hFx]

Cool idea! I'll give it a shot if I can find the time in the holidays! Though maybe not as a "wanna be", but rather as a "has been" I hope a few others will try as well, as it would be interesting to hear some different interpretations.

[daveyf]

An excellent idea! I like your intro track as well. Can you enlighten us as to the gear used to create it?

[BobM]

Sure. I have an Arturia Keylab88 MK2 that is just a fantastic keyboard.

For software I use Arturia plug-in products as well as Spitfire Audio, Kontakt, Native Access, MT Drums, Steven Slate drums and several others. From Ableton I have Analogue Lab, Rhodes Stage 73, Hammond B3, Piano, Wurli, MiniMoog, Pigments, and VOX.

My DAW is Ableton 10 Suite.

On this track you are hearing a Rhodes, an OBX-a for bass,MT Drums, and Pigments for the guitar tone.

[daveyf]

Sure. I have an Arturia Keylab88 MK2 that is just a fantastic keyboard.

For software I use Arturia plug-in products as well as Spitfire Audio, Kontakt, Native Access, MT Drums, Steven Slate drums and several others. From Ableton I have Analogue Lab, Rhodes Stage 73, Hammond B3, Piano, Wurli, MiniMoog, Pigments, and VOX.

My DAW is Ableton 10 Suite.

On this track you are hearing a Rhodes, an OBX-a for bass,MT Drums, and Pigments for the guitar tone.

Do you play guitar?

[BobM]

I don't think anyone would call me a guitar player. Maybe once, a long time ago, I could strum some chords.

BTW - I see 2 downloads of the challenge track so far. Looking forward to hearing some interpretations. Come-on the rest of you guys. Give it a go. Plenty of plays logged but only 2 people picking up the challenge so far. I would think some of you guitarists would love to show us your chops. I know there's a bunch of really great musicians on this forum - I for one would love to hear you guys bend some strings on this.

[daveyf]

Tried to download this file on my Mac...nothing doing! Wont allow me to open the file, perhaps because it is a Windows product or???

[Distance of Man 1]

This is a cool idea. I have some days off coming up over the holidays. I have plans to record some other stuff, but I want to try to fit this in too.

[Distance of Man 1]

I might give it a shot in a few days. Not sure I have enough chops to make nearly 7 minutes interesting, but maybe I can fade out early, lol.

I had the same thought. 6:43 is a long time to keep things interesting. It's easier to play something more brief and make a statement. But it's a challenge.

[BobM]

At least 3 minutes of that is keys and the main theme. Probably only 3 mins of improv, one section in the middle and an outro at the end that you can fade out if you run out of ideas.

[daveyf]

At least 3 minutes of that is keys and the main theme. Probably only 3 mins of improv, one section in the middle and an outro at the end that you can fade out if you run out of ideas.

I think the whole piece is great for adding solos. Lots of ways to go there, just need to a few great riffs and off you go. Now, as to editing and getting the whole production together, well that's another story...for me.

[BobM]

For those of you who might otherwise want to participate but don't have the software to do so, here's something that might help. The Bandlab site offers a free DAW for download. it's called Cakewalk. I haven't used it personally but it very well may do the trick for you.

https://www.bandlab.com/products/cakewalk

[Plasmatopia]

For those of you who might otherwise want to participate but don't have the software to do so, here's something that might help. The Bandlab site offers a free DAW for download. it's called Cakewalk. I haven't used it personally but it very well may do the trick for you.

https://www.bandlab.com/products/cakewalk

Started building a new DAW last night and almost downloaded that (Sonar), but it was getting late, I was getting tired and didn't feel like creating an account at that hour, lol. I'm hoping that version of Sonar will be able to open some old Sonar project files I have on my XP box which is getting junked.

I figured out it's been 11 years since I last built a PC. Forgot how much fun it could be.

[progmatist]

Started building a new DAW last night and almost downloaded that (Sonar), but it was getting late, I was getting tired and didn't feel like creating an account at that hour, lol. I'm hoping that version of Sonar will be able to open some old Sonar project files I have on my XP box which is getting junked.

I figured out it's been 11 years since I last built a PC. Forgot how much fun it could be.

I can almost guarantee BandLab Cakewalk *WILL* open your old Sonar files.

[Plasmatopia]

I can almost guarantee BandLab Cakewalk *WILL* open your old Sonar files.

Yes! Yesterday I loaded Cakewalk and was able to open the old files. I got the new DAW mostly up and running. Just need to update the firmware in my mixer/interface and install the Windows drivers and I'll be in business.

[Guitarplyrjvb]

^^ I would be interested in the components you decided upon in building your DAW. I haven't upgraded my setup in years as I fear the limiting factor is my composing and playing more than the gear.

[Plasmatopia]

^^ I would be interested in the components you decided upon in building your DAW. I haven't upgraded my setup in years as I fear the limiting factor is my composing and playing more than the gear.

My composing and playing would probably not justify any equipment purchases, lol. But for me messing around with the equipment and software is just another thing I do for fun.

Here's what I bought. I already had a monitor, mouse, and keyboard and I had to buy Windows 10. I spent just under $1K. So far this system barely breaks a sweat.

EVGA 500 GD 100-GD-0500-V1 500W ATX12V / EPS12V 80 PLUS GOLD Certi!ed Non-Modular Active PFC Power Supply

Deepcool GAMMAXX 400 V2(Blue) 120mm Hydro Bearing CPU Cooler

Western Digital WD BLACK SN750 NVMe M.2 2280 250GB PCI- Express 3.0 x4 64-layer 3D NAND Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
AMD RYZEN 5 3600 6-Core 3.6 GHz (4.2 GHz Max Boost) Socket AM4 65W 100-100000031BOX Desktop Processor

G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 16GB 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 3200 (PC4 25600) Desktop Memory Model F4-3200C16S-16GVK

Western Digital WD BLACK SN750 NVMe M.2 2280 500GB PCI- Express 3.0 x4 64-layer 3D NAND Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
MSI MPG X570 GAMING PLUS Gaming Motherboard AMD AM4 SATA 6Gb/s M.2 USB 3.2 Gen 2 HDMI ATX

Fractal Design Meshify C Black ATX High-Air"ow Compact Light Tint Tempered Glass Mid Tower Computer Case

[Guitarplyrjvb]

^^ What are you doing for music interfaces and DAW software?

[The Muffin Man]

Hey Bob - I got a basic DAW (Scarlett 2i2 with ProTools First) under the tree, so the Guitar Challenge will be part of my learning curve I think. I'll work on it and maybe try to post something in a week or so ...

Mike aka The Muffin Man

[The Muffin Man]

Hey Bob - I got a basic DAW (Scarlett 2i2 with ProTools First) under the tree, so the Guitar Challenge will be part of my learning curve I think. I managed to download the track from Soundcloud and load it into the DAW, did some transcription of the main melody. I'll work on it and maybe try to post something in a week or so ...

Mike aka The Muffin Man

[BobM]

Sounds great Mike. I wonder if anyone else on here needs a transcription of the melody? It's not that complicated and should be easy enough to figure out by ear, but you never know.

I hope some others have taken a shot at this over the holiday week. I know our holiday partying was severely limited this year due to "U know what".

Also, you know this is titled a "guitar" challenge but I bet it would work equally as well for a saxophone or a trumpet or harmonica or anything else you may want to throw at it, maybe even voice if you have that blues vibe thing in your throat. Just extra food for thought.

Looking forward to hearing some of the interpretations from this group.

[Plasmatopia]

^^ What are you doing for music interfaces and DAW software?

I have a Mackie DL32R which I bought a few years back for live sound when I was in a band. It works great as a USB audio interface, although it's a bit on the overkill side, lol. I am using Reaper for DAW software (and will probably try messing around with Cakewalk again since I've installed it now).

[frinspar]

Just downloaded it. I'm off next week - first full week I've taken in 3 years - and I have plans to do nothing but relax and play guitar and games. So I'll give this a run.

[The Muffin Man]

I wonder if anyone else on here needs a transcription of the melody? It's not that complicated and should be easy enough to figure out by ear, but you never know.

Yes, EZ to figure out, hard to remember (for some of us at least!) This is what I come up with (copied and pasted from Guitar Pro tab maker) - your mileage may vary:

[Instrumental]

Chords are basically: Dm-Am-Dm-Am-B-Am-Gm-F-A-A7

[Intro]

e|-----8/10-8------------------------|
B|-10---------8/10-b10r8 5/6------|
G|-------------------------------7-6-|
D|------------------------------------|
A|------------------------------------|
E|------------------------------------|

[Main Theme]

*repeat 2nd time thru ************************************************** then go to x

e|------------------------------------------------------|---------12-13-15b17r15-13-12-13----12-|
B|-13-13b15r13-10---------------13-13b15r13-10-|-/15-15-------------------------------15----|
G|--------------------12b14r12-9---------------------|-----------------------------------------------|
D|------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------|
A|-------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------|
E|-------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------|

e|-------------------------------|----------------------12-15b17r15-13-12------------|
B|-13b15r13-10---------------|-----------10-13-15------------------------13-10-----|
G|----------------12b14r12-9-|-9-10-12-------------------------------------------/10-|
D|------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------|
A|------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------|
E|------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------|

e|------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------|
B|------------------------------------------|--------------------------------10-11-10-11-10------|
G|-----------------13-12-10-12-9--------|-----------6-7-6-7-9-10-9-10-------------------6-7-|
D|-11-12-12-14-------------------10-----|-7-8-7-8----------------------------------------------|
A|--------------------------------------12-|--------------------------------------------------------|
E|------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------|

Go to * - repeat

x - 2nd time thru the main theme varies slightly after *** section:

e|--------------------------------------|-----------------------------|
B|-13b15-13-12-11-10----10--------|-----------------10-11-10-|
G|------------------------12----10-9--|------6-7-9-10-------------|
D|--------------------------------------|-7-8------------------------|
A|--------------------------------------|-----------------------------|
E|--------------------------------------|-----------------------------|

e|---------------------------------------------------------|
B|---------------------------------10-11-10-11-10------|
G|-----------6-7-6-7-9-10-9-10-------------------------|
D|-7-8-7-8------------------------------------------6-7-|
A|---------------------------------------------------------|
E|---------------------------------------------------------|

************************************

| r Release
| b Bend
| / Slide up
| \ Slide down

************************************

[BobM]

Definitely a guitar tab. It's all gibberish to this keyboardist.