Riff of the Month (RotM) #41 - Chat

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Here's the 41st Riff of the Month (RotM) Challenge, being run by @stratman3142 and @TTony.

The challenge is now open, and remains open for submissions until 11:30pm on 24th March 2018

All you have to do is ...
Write a riff. You can include whatever else you want in the mix, but the main focus must be on the riff. Most entries will probably be guitar based riffs, but they don't have to be.
Keep it to a maximum of 50 seconds. This is about riffs, not songs.

Send your entry (as an mp3) to riffs@theFB.co.uk
Include your forum name in the email.


Voting will start soon after the submission deadline of 24th March 2018, with each voter selecting their 1st, 2nd and 3rd choice.
First choice gets 5 points - Second choice gets 3 points - Third choice gets 1 point
Voting will end on 11.30pm 31st March 2018
The order and scores of the three people with the most votes will be announced soon after the voting ends.

No prizes. It's just for fun.

It's not a competition.
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Comments

  • bingefellerbingefeller Frets: 5723
    edited March 2018
    Sent.  Ahhh crap mine is 52 seconds.....

    I can trim the noiseless bit if you want.
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  • poopotpoopot Frets: 9098
    Sent... Flute on this one :)
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  • horsehorse Frets: 1563
    I'm in. Been a while since I've done one of these. Probably a direct rip off of something... Sent it in so I don't keep messing with the mix instead of getting on with more important stuff!
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  • stratman3142stratman3142 Frets: 2177
    Done mine. That makes 4 entries so far.

    It's not a competition.
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  • spark240spark240 Frets: 2073
    Sent....


    Mac Mini M1
    Presonus Studio One V5
     https://www.studiowear.co.uk/ -
     https://twitter.com/spark240
     Facebook - m.me/studiowear.co.uk
    Reddit r/newmusicreview 
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  • DulcetJonesDulcetJones Frets: 515
    Sent. Simple fingerpicked nylon string with lapsteel lead, came out kind of mournful.?.

    “Theory is something that is written down after the music has been made so we can explain it to others”– Levi Clay


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  • IMC1980IMC1980 Frets: 141
    Sent mine, very different to my previous entries....
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  • stratman3142stratman3142 Frets: 2177
    7 entries so far.
    It's not a competition.
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  • flying_pieflying_pie Frets: 1806
    7 entries so far.
    Make that eight 
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  • TTonyTTony Frets: 27346
    7 entries so far.
    Make that eight 
    Or, make it NINE

    I'm in
    :)
    Having trouble posting images here?  This might help.
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  • stratman3142stratman3142 Frets: 2177
    Yes 9 entries so far.

    It's not a competition.
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  • stratman3142stratman3142 Frets: 2177
    Just a reminder that entries will be closed tonight (24th March) at 11.30pm.

    It's not a competition.
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  • stratman3142stratman3142 Frets: 2177
    Entries closed.

    It's not a competition.
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  • poopotpoopot Frets: 9098
    OK, will give a bit of an explanation for my entry this month...

    That day I had spent a good 4 hours in the car with MrsPoo and LittlemissPoo listening to "chic", "Sister Sledge" and multiple other dance/disco/pop acts, tbh all we needed was a big silver spinning ball hanging from the rear view mirror instead of a pine tree and we could have had our own mobile disco!!!!

    Got home and continued the fun by just playing back and forward between Emaj and Amaj on the acoustic watching the pair dancing around the living room! I quickly whipped out  the laptop and Emaj and Amaj was committed to vinyl (well hard drive). Purely so I could stick it on a loop and bugger off and do something else!!!!

    So I had this:


    playing around over the top of it, I started riffing about with some octaves again mainly back and forwards between E and A


    Add the two together and you get the bones of my entry for this month:


    Taking it further tho' Its great for an intro/chorus, what about a verse? Sticking with the E a little chromatic run up at the end of the riff back to E (but minor this time) gets us into a "verse"... keeping it simple Em, Am and G


    No we have the bones of a dancy pop track that the singer can get of his backside and write some words to!!!!


    Hope that explains the thought behind this months slab of musical gold :)
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  • flying_pieflying_pie Frets: 1806
    poopot said:
    OK, will give a bit of an explanation for my entry this month...

    Hope that explains the thought behind this months slab of musical gold

    Very insightful. Thanks for sharing. And it's a great riff.

    My workfow was somewhat simpler.

    I fancied writing something with more of a classic rock vibe having been doing Rammstein style metal over the last couple of months. I had a stompy shuffle in mind and quickly came up with the riff based around A to D.

    I recorded a lofi version using a Smokey amp into the mic on my mobile phone to use as the intro. It came out much clearer than I wanted so I added a phaser in Reaper to make it grungier. 

    The drum and bass vibe seemed instinctive and came fairly quickly. It was only after I tracked the main guitars and Emailed it off I realised where the inspiration came from...

    (a late 70s song about a city on the west coast of America sung by a tiny rock powerhouse with riffs by a Strat wielding rock god)
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  • bingefellerbingefeller Frets: 5723
    Nice funk stuff there PooPot.  

    @horse what did you use for drums?
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  • horsehorse Frets: 1563
    Nice funk stuff there PooPot.  

    @horse what did you use for drums?
    I picked up bfd3 in the half price sale a few months ago - used one of the thrash metal presets. I'd usually play drums in via a midi kit, but this was way beyond me so I input using mouse to Reaper midi grid instead - took a lot longer than tracking the guitars!

    I was going for a late 80s slightly messy thrash effect with the drums. Was pleased how the kick triplets worked out.
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  • bingefellerbingefeller Frets: 5723
    horse said:
    Nice funk stuff there PooPot.  

    @horse what did you use for drums?
    I picked up bfd3 in the half price sale a few months ago - used one of the thrash metal presets. I'd usually play drums in via a midi kit, but this was way beyond me so I input using mouse to Reaper midi grid instead - took a lot longer than tracking the guitars!

    I was going for a late 80s slightly messy thrash effect with the drums. Was pleased how the kick triplets worked out.
    Yes mate I have BFD 3 too and it's amazing.  
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  • TTonyTTony Frets: 27346

    My workfow was somewhat simpler.

    Likewise.

    I never really sit down and think about these things.  Perhaps I should.

    The extent of my planning is to try to base a RotM entry on a RRotM effort.  So Raw comes first.

    My approach is to wait until I've got a spare 30mins.
    Noodle aimlessly for 27mins, usually treading the well-worn-frets path, hoping that something emerges.
    In the last 3mins, I reckon I've got time for 3 attempts at getting  whatever emerges committed to HDD.
    = RRotm.


    If I then  have more spare time later in the month, I try to work out a drum track, bass line and sometimes even another guitar over the top.

    I've migrated from iPad to old MacBook Air, which at least gives me a better version of GarageBand to play with, and a midi keyboard for input too.  One day I may get into "proper" DAWs, but that's not likely to be any day soon ...
    Having trouble posting images here?  This might help.
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  • flying_pieflying_pie Frets: 1806
    TTony said:


    Likewise.

    I never really sit down and think about these things.  Perhaps I should.

    The extent of my planning is to try to base a RotM entry on a RRotM effort.  So Raw comes first.

    Not overthinking things is good. I try to go with instinct and commit early to ideas. I do find out easier to start with a very vague idea of the style of song I'd be writing rather than just try to noodle a catchy riff.

    I try to visualise RROTM as a solo riff that would hopefully stand out by itself - usually it would be an intro/outro or bridge type riff but could be the main riff. I see it as a more difficult challenge than ROTM even though it doesn't involve other instrumentation.

    I try to see ROTM as a riff that stands out within a groove which would be the basis for a song. If you want to see what I did with last month's ROTM entry then look at the thread titled "Industrial Metal Love Song". I had a pretty good idea of the song when I wrote the riff.

    That's a good effort for half an hours work though. Kudos 
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