##guitar/libera Jam Challenge #3

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forestandgarden
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##guitar/libera Jam Challenge #3

Post by forestandgarden »

This post will get updated as the challenge proceeds. Stay tuned. Check the 'last edited'- date.

##guitar Jam Challenge

This is a relaxed, open to everyone, uncompetitive, guitar-centric challenge that is at home at the IRC channel ##guitar, on the Libera network. You could have a look by using the Webchat, but for regular use, a dedicated IRC client is recommended. I'm going by the nick of aloo_shu there, and other channel regulars will be helpful, too.

Jam #1 was hosted here, #2, here, and the next jam may end up somewhere else, but #3 will live in this thread, and I'm curious for the synergies this may create.

Backing Track

*due to the file storage I'm using, downloaded files will have hashes as names (but the right extension).The clickable links to them are the suggested filenames*

Stage 1


At this time, there are 3 (+ 1) versions of the backing track: #1, #2, and #3 (recommended). #1 has a louder bass, #2 has a string synth that makes understanding the harmonies easier, and #3 is a fixed version that is combining the best of both. They are otherwise identical, use what suits you best. As an extra, and due to popular demand, there's a kit, don't use it before you're acquainted with the song structure, or if you are not comfortable with doing bar-exact split, copy, and paste operations in a DAW. There's an 8 beat count in, the exported submissions will be the easiest to handle for me later, if the imported track incl. count in, begins with the project, i.e. is pulled leftmost on the track timeline.

You will want to set your DAW to 92 BPM before importing any playback/guide or stem tracks.

The chords are

A ("chorus")

|: Dm7 (9 11)| Ebmaj7 (9 11) :| x3, | Dm7 (9 11)| A7 (#9) |

B
("verse/impro")

|: Bbmaj7 9 | % | Am7 | % :| x3, | Bbmaj7 | % | % | Bm7 Cmaj7 9 |


On the guide/playback track, the parts are presented in the order A B B A A, but this is not cast in stone, and will likely change for the finished song. Think part oriented. But if you are having, for instance, a genius idea for a line that runs over the bridge chords at the end of B, and into A, then don't hesitate and record it, I'll see if I can make it fit into a concept for the final song.

There are rhytmical accents: not all chords are exactly on bar boundaries. Capture them if you can, no problem at all if you can't, and play rhythmically simple, but well. Same goes for the harmonies: if you just do minor and major, or only power chords, that's absolutely ok, if you manage the 7's and maj7's, cool, if you're a nerd, go for the options and alterations.

Submissions

Submissions should be by easily downloadable link, flac recommended, but other formats accepted session rate is 44.1kHz, Contact aloo_shu with the link(s), on the Libera network, either in the ##guitar channel, or by private message (/query), or by memo (/msg memoserv send). I may find submissions on this thread, too, but the home of this event should remain on the channel that created it.

Stage 1

Everything goes. See next post for details, explanations, examples. Really everything, but for Stage 1, there are tentative priorities: we'd like to find good hooklines, especially for A, the chorus part. A main melody, a theme. If B inspires you more, make one over B. We can also use good rhythm guitars, accompaniments, for all parts. The style and prerecorded instrument parts of the guide track are placeholders: they're meant to help you develop ideas, that I will try to select, edit, and develop into a direction for the song, in such a way that (hopefully) everybody can find themselves in it. Also see next post for examples where that could go.

The deadline for Stage 1 (was) Monday, July 4th, and (theoretically) not overly flexible - this is because there'll be a Stage 2 based on the harvest of Stage 1, needing intermediate mixing and a new submission period, and because a next challenge could be planned for August.

UPDATE: the deadline didn't work, but continued interest was shown in the channel, in consequence, the challenge will now progress when enough submissions have come in, which basically means when I feel like it, because the way the challenge is laid out, I'll only know what 'enough' means when I've got real submissions to go by. What I'd find desirable, would be receiving submissions (many each, few/one each, long, short see next post) from at least 5 different participants.

---------> NOW GET CREATIVE! <---------
Last edited by forestandgarden on Wed Jul 06, 2022 1:29 am, edited 33 times in total.
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What to submit, and what will happen with it

Post by forestandgarden »

*due to the file storage I'm using, downloaded files will have hashes as names (but the right extension).The clickable links to them are the suggested filenames*

This Jam Challenge is new in that it is more jam than challenge: everything goes. That means you can play a full length solo over the backing track, and submit that, like in previous editions of the challenge. You can even submit a dozen takes. But I'm not committing to making everything a part of the final reveal in full. There may be a part in the finished song where solos follow each other, like they did in other final mixes, but what I'm most curious about, is creating the impression of a band playing together, more than soloists taking turns. How I'll do that, is going to be my problem, but expect me to edit, change context & sound to that end. I'll of course try to respect the originals, try to capture and express their essence, but I won't promise to leave them untouched. If all is going well, then in the end, we will have a whole that is more than its parts.

What this also means, is that you can, but don't have to, create submissions in a much more casual manner: given that I'm going to arrange and re-arrange anyway, you can just let go of planning and record any little bit that fits somewhere, be it a rhythm, a melody, a drone or atmospheric shimmer. If you've just let the backing track run in the backrground often enough feel familiar, then 20 minutes can be enough to get a little playalong idea captured, exported and uploaded, and you can give me as many of them as you like and as successive submissions, one doesn't invalidate the other.

For how to contact/pass me the links to your uploads, and the priority wishlists for the stages of the challenge, see the previous post, Let's get to the examples.

The first:

You have set your DAW project to 92 BPM, imported the guide track, jammed over it for a while, then pressed record, and played over the entire length of the track. When listening to the result, you find that you only like a very small part of the take you just did. That's great. In this example, what you do next, is remove everything around the part you want to keep. At this point, your project is looking like this:

Your session:
yoursession.png
yoursession.png (83.15 KiB) Viewed 1366 times
Now comes the nifty bit: if you render the track to FLAC, with the entire session length as time span, you'll still end up with a small file. The one used in this example, is RECORDING.flac. Get it, import it into the project you made with the guide track. You, or I, will now see something like this:

My Session:
mysession.png
mysession.png (84.89 KiB) Viewed 1366 times
Notice that, despite the filesize of only 1.1MiB, the import is spanning the entire length, and the recorded instrumental part, is right in its original place. Listen to the passage.

You will see later that the small melody doesn't have to stay at its place, and can be used in different ways, but the fact that it is where the author recorded it, is a good start.

Now, for the next example, let's say I got an entirely different submission, from an entirely different character. Together with the guide track, it is sounding like this doomsday.mp3. It is totally possible that I adapt the project now, it could go into a direction like this: doom-mix.mp3.

But probably I won't, because I want to do something with the submission from the first example, too. So in this mix combo-mix.mp3, I'm giving edited versions of the simple lick a lot of prominence, and taking from the doomsday submission just the heavy guitar on the A chord, passed through some effects. In practice, I'd probably strike a different balance between submissions, but I'm just trying to make the point about fitting the pieces, and using submissions flexibly.

As a last example, I want to show that, given submissions are warranting it, the same song, same tempo, same harmonies, could take yet another direction: bossa-mix.mp3.

So, really everything is open stylistically, dont't limit your imagination. Personally, I could see the song in the jazz-fusion zone, with doses of funk and latin, but if it wants to become a crossover between folk and djent, punk rock and hair metal, then so be it :).
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Re: ##guitar/libera Jam Challenge #3

Post by forestandgarden »

just adding some (probably inexact) notes regarding fingerings that surfaced on the channel, any trick you found, feel free to post them, too.

2022-06-24 00:41:50 aloo_shu try Dm7 and Ebmaj7 :)
2022-06-24 00:42:02 aloo_shu there are some cool fingerings, like
2022-06-24 00:42:59 aloo_shu x 0 0 5 6 5 , x 1 1 3 3 3
2022-06-24 00:45:42 aloo_shu for the Am7 Bbmaj7 part, there are other ones, Am7 0 0 2 0 1 0 is simple, but Bbmaj7 there's a cool x 1 3 0 3 0 that's not so easy
2022-06-24 00:51:52 aloo_shu what I'm using, is Am7 5 x 5 5 5 x , Bbmaj79 6 x 0 5 6 0 , later Bm7 7 x 7 7 7 0, Cmaj79 8 x x 0 7 8 0 , but those aren't suitable for alternate bass picking. maybe they sound good with a single bassnote, they're interesting voicings with open strings that are not hard to finger, but sound terribly sophisticated
2022-06-24 00:54:52 aloo_shu I'm just picking 4 strings at once, and letting them ring out, they're going through a strong-ish compressor that lets through a bit of attack from the treble rich piezo PU, then a chorus, hence the synth-like impression
2022-06-24 00:56:51 aloo_shu oh Bm7 is 7 x 7 7 7 x, not 0
2022-06-24 01:00:26 aloo_shu can do that with middle- and ring finger alone, the other chords from A to C are also with the middle finger on the bottom note, then index and ring doing the stuff higer up,once you're getting the knack of it, this type of chord is less effort than a barré
some of my stuff is ending up here https://alooshu.byethost17.com and here https://clyp.it/user/i4p5dng1 , and you can love me at https://liberapay.com/aloo_shu
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Re: ##guitar/libera Jam Challenge #3

Post by forestandgarden »

Guitar Jam #3 is now closed.

There have been only 2 submissions, which isn't enough for what I had intended to do. Also, this is the time when I cannot run my solar powered studio anymore - no sun. So, for the time being, there's only one thing I can offer as a reveal: an intermediary mix with one of the submissions, over the length of the entire track, and perhaps modified to fit in some places.

Here it is: Mix.mp3
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Re: ##guitar/libera Jam Challenge #3: Post Mortem Reveal

Post by forestandgarden »

Maybe more later, here is your Christmas gift:

Jam Challenge #3 Post Mortem Reveal.flac

Jam Challenge #3 Post Mortem Reveal.mp3]

Ukulele is by jprajzne (relatively original), heavy guitar is by gnrp (processed in differnt ways), I've done backing track and production

Enjoy

some of my stuff is ending up here https://alooshu.byethost17.com and here https://clyp.it/user/i4p5dng1 , and you can love me at https://liberapay.com/aloo_shu
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