(Discussion Thread) - Fretboard Challenge #4- Entries

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Hi Everyone,

Please use this thread to discuss all the entries for Fretboard Challenge #4.
Old Is Gold
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Comments

  • It's a difficult choice again! I'm going to have to mull this over a bit before I can pick my top three but congratulations to everybody on some excellent entries. And we've even got a bit of 'controversy' again to spice up proceedings.
    X_X

    Love these challenges.

    :D
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  • Ooh controversy! :)
    Haha, enjoyed listening to those. Will vote this weekend :)
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  • FretwiredFretwired Frets: 24601
    Bending the rules is part of the game .. ;-)

    Remember, it's easier to criticise than create!
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  • Antique_GuitarsAntique_Guitars Frets: 1167
    edited September 2014
    So yes a few people have slighly bent the rules in a minor way and one person has bent it in a larger way. As always I try to be pretty flexible as it is a fun challenge so people can vote for any of them if they feel it sits within the spirit of the competition.

    I will just please ask people to be aware of the rules of the various competitions in future and if there are any grey areas please ask a question and I'm sure we can sort it out. I don't want to get too serious about it but it would be good to follow the challenges a teeny weeny bit more strictly
    <:-P
    Old Is Gold
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  • FretwiredFretwired Frets: 24601
    So yes a few people have slighly bent the rules in a minor way and one person has bent it in a larger way. As always I try to be pretty flexible as it is a fun challenge so people can vote for any of them if they feel it sits within the spirit of the competition.

    I will just please ask people to be aware of the rules of the various competitions in future and if there are any grey areas please ask a question and I'm sure we can sort it out. I don't want to get too serious about it but it would be good to follow the challenges a teeny weeny bit more strictly
    <:-P
    Fair enough .. I have no problem with rules and my comments should not be construed as criticism. I should have read the rules properly. Perhaps my entry should be excluded as it doesn't meet the rules being too long ...

    Remember, it's easier to criticise than create!
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  • Don't worry you followed the rules you just went over a little bit, not a major issue honestly. You composed for the vid and a little bit of an outro:-). Your entry as with all of the shall stay. Good luck to all of you who entered!
    Old Is Gold
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  • Hurrah! This will brighten up my journey into and out of work today listening to and watching these :)

    I'd like to point out mine would have been much better if *somebody* hadn't taken it out of the freezer and left it to melt
    Please note my communication is not very good, so please be patient with me
    soundcloud.com/thecolourbox-1
    youtube.com/@TheColourboxMusic
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  • TTonyTTony Frets: 27345
    Just given them all a quick listen.

    Hmmm.

    I think I have my top4 based on initial reaction, but will need to listen again.

    I did spend 10 mins trying to sync Grunfeld's entry to a copy of the original video running in a different window ... and then realised that they're of different lengths, so gave up on that one I'm afraid.
    Having trouble posting images here?  This might help.
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  • LevLev Frets: 228
    Just submitted my vote, really excellent work by everyone. I loved the more modern takes of @Fretwired and @theColourbox and how well they work with the vintage footage. I think I got too carried away with syncing up sound effects.

    Not sure what everyone was using but Reaper was absolutely brilliant for this, I could import the video and it just added it as an additional track in the project. It popped up a little video player each time it played which made it so easy to sync up to the video with other audio tracks in the project.
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  • Lev said:

    Not sure what everyone was using but Reaper was absolutely brilliant for this, I could import the video and it just added it as an additional track in the project. It popped up a little video player each time it played which made it so easy to sync up to the video with other audio tracks in the project.
    That's exactly how my version of Cubase is supposed to work. But I've got an old computer, an old version of Cubase and a couple of different media players -  they just wouldn't play nicely with each other.  :(

    I know it's possible but I just didn't have the time and energy to get it all working. I had a grand plan to record something very similar to the 'Unquiet Spirit' track that I submitted but with pecussion, bass and guitar played along to the film to emphasise the action.

    What I ended up with is, I feel, more akin to a music video than a soundtrack. I have great admiration for anyone who managed to sync up their track with the action - whether as a more modern 'soundtrack' with effects, etc or as an old-fashioned 'silent movie' style piece improvised along with the action.

    And then there's Grunfeld's masterpiece! Definitely stretching the challenge brief to breaking point. I'm trying to decide how important that is to my voting decisions. Absolutely stunning piece of work, though.
    =D>
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  • LevLev Frets: 228
    What I ended up with is, I feel, more akin to a music video than a soundtrack. I have great admiration for anyone who managed to sync up their track with the action - whether as a more modern 'soundtrack' with effects, etc or as an old-fashioned 'silent movie' style piece improvised along with the action.

    I thoroughly enjoyed your video, I think you got the feel and tension in your composition spot on. 
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  • steamabacussteamabacus Frets: 1258
    edited September 2014
    @Lev Thanks, although as I said in the entries thread, I feel I 'cheated' a little as this was a pre-existing piece I adapted and edited for this challenge. It was the original inspiration for what I intended to do had I managed to get video working in Cubase. At the last minute I suddenly realised I could probably just use the piece as it was. It seemed to work quite well when I finally heard it along with the video for the first time.

    I guess my life must just feel like being chased by zombies!
    >:D<
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  • I essentially decided i wanted it to be 32 bars (8x4 bar loop riff), the vid was roughly 90 seconds, so my metronome needed to be roughly 85 to 90 to get 32 bars in. Set the drum going then just made a racket over the loop. Hence the lack of coordination with the vid and me also overunning by (i think) 6 seconds...

    Used Cubase, Zoom g3, an undisclosed mix of guitar and synth (guitorgan?) and an old mans voice

    can not wait to watch these later!
    Please note my communication is not very good, so please be patient with me
    soundcloud.com/thecolourbox-1
    youtube.com/@TheColourboxMusic
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  • FretwiredFretwired Frets: 24601
    Thanks @Lev .. I liked your track as well.

    Mine was produced in two hours using NI Maschine for the drums, Roland GR55 for various bass sounds and a Strat through a clean amp sim with a Strymon Blue Sky for the ambient guitar noise. This was dumped into Cubase and the sounds manipulated using Izotope Alloy and Trash and Steinberg plugins.

    Remember, it's easier to criticise than create!
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  • Crikey!! I just recorded straight to mic playing my Larrivee acoustic! I think my entries are way too raw in comparison to you guys :( Loved the entries, though - and will vote in due course!
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  • davewwdaveww Frets: 165
    Good stuff everyone who entered and thanks Skarloey and TTony for the votes.  Interesting the different ideas on all of them!  I've only had a quick listen this morning before going off to work.  So I'll put the headphones on and give them all a thorough good listening to before casting my votes tonight.

    Mine was played and recorded straight into a mic' as well on my THR10 amp so it's also pretty raw as with all my stuff.  Added the little bit of drumming in the background freestyle in garageband.  Did want to put a comic doorbell in for effect when she went to the house door but couldn't find a good sample.....


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  • steamabacussteamabacus Frets: 1258
    edited September 2014
    So, the votes are in from the land of geriatric steam-powered computing....

    Firstly, I thought @Grunfeld 's piece was excellent but in the end decided it strayed too far from the challenge brief to get on the podium. Superb, atmospheric piece though - in another challenge it would probably have won.

    So my votes went (in reverse order)

    3rd - @Lev     ; Great use of sound fx to emphasise the action. I thought your piece was the closest to a 'proper' soundtrack style entry and you managed to do everything I failed with as far as getting the computer to synchronise all the audio and video. Nice credits at the end, too.

    2nd - @Daveww   ; Really effective atmosphere and 'vibe'. The playing illustrated the visual action well and the percussion really helped emphasise the action. I liked the 'Phew! I'm safe now' chord at the end as well.

    1st - @Thecolourbox  ; I loved the guitar on this and I'm a sucker for a bit of William Blake. Maybe more of a 'music vid' style than 'film soundtrack' but the music and images went together really well - a bit like those old B&W films they used on The Old Grey Whistle Test. Is this the same guy who posted a thread about giving up the guitar because he wasn't any good? Bollocks! I hear talent there.
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  • @thomasross20 superb playing there to follow the video, was really effective at getting the panic and tension across. Works remarkably well on acoustic, its almost like a sketch to go with the black and white vid

    @daveww really like your feeling of motion as well, really could imagine it mariachi style with a banging drum as well

    @fretwired really interesting and different groove for the fretboard, looked coherant and like an actual mash up music vid style, with a lovely building up of texture

    @lev wow, sounded like jools Holland being possessed by demons, in an awesome way. Boogie woogie from hell and a real fitting soundtrack

    @grunfeld agree it doesn't fit the brief but who cares outside of that, its very emotive and clearly means something strongly to you so well played for expressing it and getting it out there

    @steamabacus smooth man! Love the jazzy drums, very real movement in the piece that matches the zombie frenzy perfectly. I think I've seen that zombie playing bass at my local jazz club actually. Really liked the uneasy atmosphere your piece created. And I'm not just saying that because you were nice to me and gave me five points, my first five points ever. Honestly! Thanks though

    @thecolourbox who the frick invited that plank?
    Please note my communication is not very good, so please be patient with me
    soundcloud.com/thecolourbox-1
    youtube.com/@TheColourboxMusic
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  • Just voted - always hate doing that and leaving people out - would vote for you all lol! 

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  • Thanks Thomas, if you're interested the "high pitched wails" you mentioned are effectively two strings held down at the same time on any combination of the top three strings above the 12th fret, bend them up then back again and then slide down the frets. But also heavily mashed up with fx (though all through g3). Its got big muff fuzz on max, volume low, tone to taste, octaver 1&2 octaves below, into the bassman model fairly cranked, then after that the whammy style model on one of the different colours, i think detune), then the marvellous trigger delay. All that just to make a scream noise...vive le multi fx
    Please note my communication is not very good, so please be patient with me
    soundcloud.com/thecolourbox-1
    youtube.com/@TheColourboxMusic
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