TGF Do Something Weekly Challenge Week 1 Thread

I wanted to wait until this week's deadline had passed before commenting on the submissions and make one big post. I usually have a personal policy about not making direct personnel comments on other's work. This because I have a deep appreciation of the amount of effort that is required and the fact it takes nerve to put it out there. So in fairness, I'll also critique my own submission. Note, anything I might say is intended to be constructive and from my own perspective of personal tastes. I listened to all the tracks at least 2 or more times.

Self critique;
Of the about 15 tracks I published over the last year, this track is probably one of my least favorite. I found myself having a very difficult time combining all the elements from original concept to actual finished release in terms of timbre and overall mix. This especially true in the beginning all in section before the first guitar solo. The tonal mix of the synths, guitars, bass, and drums is harsh. It's not the warm sound I was going for in my head. Also the drums could be louder throughout the track. On a positive note, I feel the track got better is went on. The lead guitars have that bluesy grind I was after. The middle bridge section with the synth solo transitions nicely with strong melodic identity.

Ok, enough about me :)

@Iron1

Ola would ask, "can it chug"? Oh yes it can! Love the mix where you left lots of space to let the track breath. Everything very tight. Well done. Only critique I could offer is the effects on the Prince of Darkness voice over makes track sound noisy where it otherwise is not as such. I found myself too focused on the effect rather than the actual voice over.

@sotipay
As a fellow Takamine owner, I can really appreciate the tone qualities here. The playing has nice swing and feel. I found myself wishing the lead Charvel would last a bit longer towards the end to pull the whole track into a climax. The phasing of the solo is very well done.

@Alex Kenivel
This is craziest thing. I love it! Big respect for the real drum playing and processing. The mixing is very creative with the flanging and other elements. The guitar levels sit right where they should be. I look forward to more submissions.

@FAKA!
That was totally fun. It's almost as you were meant to be the official soundtrack of Godzilla. Cool variations of the theme throughout. The bass is nice tight and fits well. I wouldn't think you'd get that with the tune's genre using a single pup P-Bass. But there it is as a secret sauce.

@metropolis_4
Beautiful tones here. Very expressive playing. Strong head statements with an easy swing. That push in your playing isn't a negative at all. It sounds natural.

@SeeD
Nice balanced tones. The mix is interesting with the panned elements. Everything has a punch to it in a good way. As you said, it does come off as an unfinished demo. That's a shame as is because you're certainly on to something here. There's lots of room for a melodic instrumental top or a vocal track. I hope you do develop it more. I look forward to hearing it.

@Fireproof
Any PF cover is ok by me. Nice right hand finger style technique. Love the Martin sound.
 
PART 2...

@la szum
Cool track. I love when an odd meter doesn't feel odd and you've got that down. I'm gonna have to try that 9/8 time sig myself at some point. Constructively, I think the bass could be lower or less bright in the mix. It fights the guitar and snare sounds. Maybe some more guitar panning would leave room for that tone. Everything except the drums seems to be centered.

@Piing
Nice tones from your Frankenstrat. Well executed boomer bends. Very smooth and easy to listen to.

@TheTrueZoltan!
That was rocking'! Sounds like something you'd hear on the end credits of a big car chase movie. I kinda wanted to hear those lead lines a bit more. Overall very well played.

@Jarick
I hope this isn't the last song you write in the next 15 years 'cause I like the vibe here. Interesting mix of heavy and clean. The end solo made for a great built up. I wanted more of that.

@JiveTurkey
Where are the dancing robots when I need them ;) I really like the scratchy quality of some guitar parts. They're almost like a counter rhythm against the main thumping beat. I miss your guitar synth though ;-( Forget cowbells. More trumpets please!!!

@woody
The guitars in beginning and throughout is very nice with the panned effect. Love the style. Strong lead solo.

@Gearzilla
There's some great playing here and a cool concept. Constructively, I'd say there's also way too much reverb in the mix. Almost like being in the nosebleed seats of a concert arena. I'm also a big fan of Valhalla stuff. But most of the presets need the mix level dialed down to be less showy. Loved the radio dial samples.

@Whizzinby
Powerful track. I like the way everything amps up in the middle to the end. My personal taste would have liked to hear the bass play more of a groove along to the drum track. This, with some counterpoint to keep things going. Overall, I like the airiness of the track.

@TravisG406
Nice old school rockin' vibe. I almost can vision a hippy blonde chick dancing in the front row to this. This being a demo as you said, the production is very dry and the vocal is somewhat buried. It reminds me of Rolling Stones like rawness. I could see you keeping it that way or producing it more.

@fretworn
An '80 vibe like the sound of my youth. Very pleasing tones. Now I want an electric 12 string. Dammmmmmm you!!!

@Bruce
Ok, the vibe and Leslie stuff is delicious. The solo guitar soaring is great. Loved the percussion and vinyl speed drop. To quote "The Crunge", excuse me, where's that confounded bridge? Oh wait, it's in there :) I like that.

@DrewJD82
OMG!!! This like driving the Autobahn in a Chiron Super Sport 300+. Too much for me to take in personally, but I very much respect the effort. The mix output is kinda low relative to the other postings here. I dig the wha lead.

That's it. I hope I get everyone.
 
Last edited:
I was going to get home and do the vocals and a few more cracks at the solo but I've got friends over and I doubt I'll be able to do anything by the time they leave. I still want to do vocals on this one, I got most of the parts written in my head. And a better solo. The mix is a bit f*cky with the solo volume, just a bit too loud but I'm not gonna start mixing now.



Guitar- Solar E-type
Amp-AxeFX using a dual-amp preset, IIC++ on one side and Dual Rec on the other. The guitars are double tracked and when I did the 2nd track I reversed the cab panning, so basically each amp is on each side to fulfill an OCD thing in me. I just prefer things balanced like that instead of an entirely different tone in each speaker, but I'm working on it.

Bass- Spector Pulse, preset is a JCM800 into an 8x10 and a DI.

Drums SD3 and I chopped the sh*t out of that drum track. Sometimes I just can't force something out and the dance/hi-hat pump section and the other section I cut out were just making me not enjoy working on it, so I went with keeping the song uptempo the whole way through so I could feel thoroughly stressed while getting all those palm mutes double tracked tightly.

It's a whole different thing mixing something at this tempo, I never realized how much of an effect that would have on everything the higher the tempo. I also initially had this in drop-D but when it wasn't working out with the Edwards I switched to the Solar in drop-C. I prefer it in D, but only because of the tension of the strings.

Drum tracks for the next one won't be posted til tomorrow, FYI!

:headbang :rawk:headbang:rawk:headbang

Those squeals totally sound like the Dime wah pedal variety, but I don't see a wah listed in your gear. Am I off base with that?
 
@Iron1

Ola would ask, "can it chug"? Oh yes it can! Love the mix where you left lots of space to let the track breath. Everything very tight. Well done. Only critique I could offer is the effects on the Prince of Darkness voice over makes track sound noisy where it otherwise is not as such. I found myself too focused on the effect rather than the actual voice over.
Thank you sir! And, I totally agree with the SFX comment. I totally phoned that in, no pun intended, and just used my iPhone to record something off Youtube, then slapped it in the track.

Now, on to the next one...
 
Damn guys, hats off. I was thinking this would be a really cool thing to do (had some family things come up this week which derailed guitar) but after making it through the entries on just the first 7 pages it's clear I should probably just stay on the porch while the big dogs run. I'll come back in a while with some specific individual comments, but just to you all as a group, brav-freaking-o!!!
 
@Whizzinby
Powerful track. I like the way everything amps up in the middle to the end. My personal taste would have liked to hear the bass play more of a groove along to the drum track. This, with some counterpoint to keep things going. Overall, I like the airiness of the track.

Thanks for the kind words.

I agree about the bass. I was tracking “bass” with a guitar and the Logic bass sim, which made it difficult to find the balance I wanted while sounding natural.

I’m actually considering buying an ultra cheap bass just to track with. (Yuck lol)
 
Damn guys, hats off. I was thinking this would be a really cool thing to do (had some family things come up this week which derailed guitar) but after making it through the entries on just the first 7 pages it's clear I should probably just stay on the porch while the big dogs run. I'll come back in a while with some specific individual comments, but just to you all as a group, brav-freaking-o!!!

That would be sad!
One of my favourite quotes of all time is:
"Anything worth doing is worth doing badly."

I don't want to fish for compliments, but I don't feel great about my instrumental composing or about my guitar soloing skills at this point in time.
But I know that I will make progress if I just do it.
I find this challenge a great recurring opportunity to hold myself accountable for just doing stuff in relative anonymity.

And in the beginning of our journey, we all suck.
And if we do stuff anyway, repeatedly, there may come a time when we suck less.
Just showing up, doing something in a consistent manner will get you upward and onward.
It's a great opportunity to get going to learn and grow.
 
That would be sad!
One of my favourite quotes of all time is:
"Anything worth doing is worth doing badly."

I don't want to fish for compliments, but I don't feel great about my instrumental composing or about my guitar soloing skills at this point in time.
But I know that I will make progress if I just do it.
I find this challenge a great recurring opportunity to hold myself accountable for just doing stuff in relative anonymity.

And in the beginning of our journey, we all suck.
And if we do stuff anyway, repeatedly, there may come a time when we suck less.
Just showing up, doing something in a consistent manner will get you upward and onward.
It's a great opportunity to get going to learn and grow.


One of my favorite quotes of all time from YouTuber AvE …

“If you did it right the first time, you’ve done it before.“


Motivation Keep Trying GIF by MOODMAN
 
PART 2...

@la szum
Cool track. I love when an odd meter doesn't feel odd and you've got that down. I'm gonna have to try that 9/8 time sig myself at some point. Constructively, I think the bass could be lower or less bright in the mix. It fights the guitar and snare sounds. Maybe some more guitar panning would leave room for that tone. Everything except the drums seems to be centered.

@Piing
Nice tones from your Frankenstrat. Well executed boomer bends. Very smooth and easy to listen to.

@TheTrueZoltan!
That was rocking'! Sounds like something you'd hear on the end credits of a big car chase movie. I kinda wanted to hear those lead lines a bit more. Overall very well played.

@Jarick
I hope this isn't the last song you write in the next 15 years 'cause I like the vibe here. Interesting mix of heavy and clean. The end solo made for a great built up. I wanted more of that.

@JiveTurkey
Where are the dancing robots when I need them ;) I really like the scratchy quality of some guitar parts. They're almost like a counter rhythm against the main thumping beat. I miss your guitar synth though ;-( Forget cowbells. More trumpets please!!!

@woody
The guitars in beginning and throughout is very nice with the panned effect. Love the style. Strong lead solo.

@Gearzilla
There's some great playing here and a cool concept. Constructively, I'd say there's also way too much reverb in the mix. Almost like being in the nosebleed seats of a concert arena. I'm also a big fan of Valhalla stuff. But most of the presets need the mix level dialed down to be less showy. Loved the radio dial samples.

@Whizzinby
Powerful track. I like the way everything amps up in the middle to the end. My personal taste would have liked to hear the bass play more of a groove along to the drum track. This, with some counterpoint to keep things going. Overall, I like the airiness of the track.

@TravisG406
Nice old school rockin' vibe. I almost can vision a hippy blonde chick dancing in the front row to this. This being a demo as you said, the production is very dry and the vocal is somewhat buried. It reminds me of Rolling Stones like rawness. I could see you keeping it that way or producing it more.

@fretworn
An '80 vibe like the sound of my youth. Very pleasing tones. Now I want an electric 12 string. Dammmmmmm you!!!

@Bruce
Ok, the vibe and Leslie stuff is delicious. The solo guitar soaring is great. Loved the percussion and vinyl speed drop. To quote "The Crunge", excuse me, where's that confounded bridge? Oh wait, it's in there :) I like that.

@DrewJD82
OMG!!! This like driving the Autobahn in a Chiron Super Sport 300+. Too much for me to take in personally, but I very much respect the effort. The mix output is kinda low relative to the other postings here. I dig the wha lead.

That's it. I hope I get everyone.
Thanks TJ! I struggled with the tone tbh. The mix itself sounded good to me (with the acknowledged lack of bass guitar) but then compared to everyone else it was very high end focused. The scratchiness bugs me but it's also a combination of the tone and the guitar part itself. I'm going to try to do better on the next one :clint


SY is at practice spot so synths took a pass this time.


Your track was great. Had a trippy lounge vibe with great tones and some excellent twists and turns :chef
 
Damn guys, hats off. I was thinking this would be a really cool thing to do (had some family things come up this week which derailed guitar) but after making it through the entries on just the first 7 pages it's clear I should probably just stay on the porch while the big dogs run. I'll come back in a while with some specific individual comments, but just to you all as a group, brav-freaking-o!!!

Nah, man, that's silly! Everyone has something to offer, regardless of what you think of your abilities. *EVERYONE* here said something similar going into this and look what they put out! And even if it's your first time recording, you really don't know what you're capable of until you start!
 
Thanks for the kind words.

I agree about the bass. I was tracking “bass” with a guitar and the Logic bass sim, which made it difficult to find the balance I wanted while sounding natural.

I’m actually considering buying an ultra cheap bass just to track with. (Yuck lol)
I picked up a Squire 50's P-Bass last year for cheap. It's actually pretty dang good.

Thanks TJ! I struggled with the tone tbh. The mix itself sounded good to me (with the acknowledged lack of bass guitar) but then compared to everyone else it was very high end focused. The scratchiness bugs me but it's also a combination of the tone and the guitar part itself. I'm going to try to do better on the next one :clint


SY is at practice spot so synths took a pass this time.


Your track was great. Had a trippy lounge vibe with great tones and some excellent twists and turns :chef
For this track, the scratch works as it comes in/out of focus.

Thanks for the kind words.
 
Thanks for the kind words.

I agree about the bass. I was tracking “bass” with a guitar and the Logic bass sim, which made it difficult to find the balance I wanted while sounding natural.

I’m actually considering buying an ultra cheap bass just to track with. (Yuck lol)
I thought your faux-bass sounded pretty damn good 👍

My Ibanez Talman Bass was $200 and only really gets touched for recording. I think it's a damn fine instrument (price went up tho)
 
I was going to get home and do the vocals and a few more cracks at the solo but I've got friends over and I doubt I'll be able to do anything by the time they leave. I still want to do vocals on this one, I got most of the parts written in my head. And a better solo. The mix is a bit f*cky with the solo volume, just a bit too loud but I'm not gonna start mixing now.



Guitar- Solar E-type
Amp-AxeFX using a dual-amp preset, IIC++ on one side and Dual Rec on the other. The guitars are double tracked and when I did the 2nd track I reversed the cab panning, so basically each amp is on each side to fulfill an OCD thing in me. I just prefer things balanced like that instead of an entirely different tone in each speaker, but I'm working on it.

Bass- Spector Pulse, preset is a JCM800 into an 8x10 and a DI.

Drums SD3 and I chopped the sh*t out of that drum track. Sometimes I just can't force something out and the dance/hi-hat pump section and the other section I cut out were just making me not enjoy working on it, so I went with keeping the song uptempo the whole way through so I could feel thoroughly stressed while getting all those palm mutes double tracked tightly.

It's a whole different thing mixing something at this tempo, I never realized how much of an effect that would have on everything the higher the tempo. I also initially had this in drop-D but when it wasn't working out with the Edwards I switched to the Solar in drop-C. I prefer it in D, but only because of the tension of the strings.

Drum tracks for the next one won't be posted til tomorrow, FYI!

Holeeey sheeeyit!
holy GIF
 
Hopefully everyone who participated got the first submission ebee jeebies over with! You all already proved you’re more capable than you thought or let onto, so ya’ll can blow that stuff out your asses!!

I’m trying to get the motivation to go do the drum tracks for this coming week’s submission, this next one will have to run Sunday-Saturday. And note, this will most certainly be the last time I submit the drum tracks simply because I don’t have that many full songs ready to go like that and if I program them myself I won’t have time to do anything else.

If anyone has full song MIDI’s they want to send me I’d be more than happy to run them through SD3 and make the tracks, though!
 
Hopefully everyone who participated got the first submission ebee jeebies over with! You all already proved you’re more capable than you thought or let onto, so ya’ll can blow that stuff out your asses!!

I’m trying to get the motivation to go do the drum tracks for this coming week’s submission, this next one will have to run Sunday-Saturday. And note, this will most certainly be the last time I submit the drum tracks simply because I don’t have that many full songs ready to go like that and if I program them myself I won’t have time to do anything else.

If anyone has full song MIDI’s they want to send me I’d be more than happy to run them through SD3 and make the tracks, though!
Not sure if it's feasible, but I could always strip out drum tracks in any number of my older SAW submissions and send them your way.
 
Not sure if it's feasible, but I could always strip out drum tracks in any number of my older SAW submissions and send them your way.

True dat. I got a bunch I could use from my own songs but they tend to not be….normal. Hahahah I don’t think they’d be the best for other people to work off of. It’s possible I have a bunch more but my MIDI folders are a mess and it takes forever to sort through them all.
 
Back
Top