Guitar Instrumental - fast melodic solos

S

Superhuman

Shagaholic
Hi fellas,
Been a while since I've been to the site.... work, babies etc.
Anyway, I managed to get another track done, I would really appreciate some feedback.
Cheers,
Dave

Link: http://mp3unsigned.com/Showband.asp?id=4890

Genre: Instrumental rock/metal/progressive/sci-fi/whatever

Gear used: Ibanez Jem, Mesa Boogie Triaxis, Palmer PDI-03 speaker simulator, Fender Squire bass, DFH Superior for the drums. Apogee AD-8000 to digitize anologue signals.

Mix: ProTools

Note: Everything was recorded D.I. no micing up amps etc, I prefer it this way... some don't!
 
Good chops, well produced and played, good sound, tight, I like it.

One small suggestion:

How long are you gonna play in A minor? :p There is no deviation whatsover from it save for the usual I IV V I stuff. It never modulates out, not once, and its distracting.

Thats a very small nitpick for an overall very god piece of work, its a great sound and impressive.
 
I'm a sucker for 'sweep' picking. Nice stuff.

I agree with the above, a more musically interesting backdrop would do wonders for your material. ya got the chops.
 
DavidK said:
Good chops, well produced and played, good sound, tight, I like it.

One small suggestion:

How long are you gonna play in A minor? :p There is no deviation whatsover from it save for the usual I IV V I stuff. It never modulates out, not once, and its distracting.

Thats a very small nitpick for an overall very god piece of work, its a great sound and impressive.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the feedback, I actually know nothing about guitar theory. I've never had a lesson or anything, just kind of made things up by ear as I went along. I have been told that this track is in A minor and uses the harmonic minor but if you asked me to play a scale I wouldnt know which was which. I just liked the the way the leads flowed along with this particular groove. Not all of my stuff is in the same key... and I do vary the over all sound and feel in other tracks, I just liked the way that one worked.

HangDog: Re the D.I. recording, I just find it better. I hate micing up amps and to be honest I don't like the way they sound. Guitar tone is entirely down to personal taste after all.
 
Sounds like Megadeth. Nice chops. I don't mind the tone.

The drums need some eq'ing. They are a bit St. Anger-ish sounding.

Some harmonic movement would be cool. You've certainly got the ability.

Nice playing.
 
Superhuman said:
I actually know nothing about guitar theory.
Click to expand...

I recommend getting a few books on it. It aint rocket science, you would pick up the basic fundamentals quickly. You already have them, you just dont know it :D You have the ear, the chops and the talent. Check out a local community college, they might have a class or two that would be not only good for you but pretty interesting stuff as well.

The stuff I said like I IV V I, you did that! You just dont know what its called. A lot of rock guys have good musical theory skills but they dont know the technical terms. It might not seem important but it will come in handy someday.

Trust me on this: I wouldnt waste your time ( or mine) telling you this, I can hear the talent in you. A few pointers on chords, modulations and structure is all you need to take this to the next level, cause its already quite good. :cool:
 
espskully said:
Sounds like Megadeth. Nice chops. I don't mind the tone.

The drums need some eq'ing. They are a bit St. Anger-ish sounding.

Some harmonic movement would be cool. You've certainly got the ability.

Nice playing.
Click to expand...


Yeah, I know what you mean about the drums, I only got to experiment with the snare for about five minites and the rest is just direct levels and panning. Actually, the snare track was just run through the Eventide Eclipse along with the leads for compression and reverb on one of the stock presets... no thought went into it and I suppose it shows. When I get a chance I will be doing a proper mix on everthing with a sound engineer. Anyway, it will get more interesting when I add in the midi (orchestral strings and choirs). Thanks for the feedback, it's much appreciated!
 
DavidK said:
I recommend getting a few books on it. It aint rocket science, you would pick up the basic fundamentals quickly. You already have them, you just dont know it :D You have the ear, the chops and the talent. Check out a local community college, they might have a class or two that would be not only good for you but pretty interesting stuff as well.

The stuff I said like I IV V I, you did that! You just dont know what its called. A lot of rock guys have good musical theory skills but they dont know the technical terms. It might not seem important but it will come in handy someday.

Trust me on this: I wouldnt waste your time ( or mine) telling you this, I can hear the talent in you. A few pointers on chords, modulations and structure is all you need to take this to the next level, cause its already quite good. :cool:
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot man, it's good to get constructive criticism and advice. I suppose it could only help to study some theory, finding the time to do it is another story... (job, wife and baby!!). I was thinking of investing in a Berklee home course, I would love to be able to take things to the next level. Technique isnt really the problem, it;s just knowing what to do with it. Thanks again.
 
The only thing i didnt like about this were the drums. In my opinion this is wayyyyyyy over drummed. I'm not really sure thats a word. Guitar is great,..I'm not minding the tone either. Pretty good really for direct in. I could never get dI'd guitars to sound that good. It's amazing that you dont know more about music. I would have guessed you were an expert,..but maybe,.... because I'm not.

Overall,....good sound,..great playing,..drums need taming!

Take 'er easy,..
Calwood
 
Thanks for the comment Calwood! Re the drumming, yep it's exteme allright. I never liked the instrumentals that had the drum machine ticking along with one or two static beats. I suppose I like to goof off drums too. Point taken though, they may be a bit over the top in places. It would help if I had a drummer to either play them live or help with the sequencing. They are all programmed one beat at a time through DFHS... I ended up getting lost in a blur of beats over a couples of nights!

As far ast he tone goes, another reason for going DI for me was the fact that I can keep the same tone throughout the entire cd. The lst time I micced up amp things went wrong when I came in a different day and couldnt get the exact same sound... air pressure, temperature in the studio etc. Also, DI sounds a little different so it helps to get a more distinctive sound (to my ears anyway!).

Thanks again!
 
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