Solo of the Month #36

The backing track this month sounds like something from a sixties spy thriller (although only to me apparently, judging by the other entries). I'm thinking of things like Get Carter (not actually from the 1960s, I know), The Persuaders, The Ipcress File and so on.

Hence I have attempted to create "Theme from Unknown Man", the title sequence from a little-known TV series shown for 3 weeks only on ATV Midlands in 1969.

In my simplistic way, "spy theme" boils down to semi-tone intervals and lashings of plate reverb. So I fiddled around in Am and added grace notes a semi-tone above or below where the main notes were until I got a melody that sounded suitably mysterious. I played the first half in 3/4 across the 4/4 beat to make it sound interesting, and the second half in 4/4, but shorter phrases, to make it sound like it was going faster.

Production wise, this was straight into the audio interface and all effects in the box: JS 1175 compressor (one of the many compressors in Reaper), a bass amp plugin that came free with Computer Music, TAL's Dub II delay, Acon Digital Verb (also free with CM), and a (free) valve exciter thing to sprinkle a little pixie dust over the top. (I haven't gone for many paid plugins yet!)

Solo of the Month #34

There are only three chords in this month's backing track, and the third one only crops up twice anyway. That doesn't mean it sounds monotonous though, it's a jazzy, minor feel vamp, loosely based on the progression from "Unchain My Heart".

The root key here is Gm, but the other chords bring in other notes and scales and - as ever - I don't have the theoretical basis to be clear what would be "right" here. I little improvisation over it shows that keeping in Gm pentatonic sounds about right, but a bit dull. The other approach is to work out what notes are in the chords and work with those (in fact, B, whose knowledge of music theory is better than mine, suggested this as well). I probably should have done this to advance my knowledge and understanding, but I didn't have the time and couldn't really be bothered.

I experimented for a while with variations of the chords at different positions to see if the transitions inspired anything, but couldn't quite make it work to my satisfaction (one of the other participants did the same and ended up with a gorgeous sounding spy theme, much better than I would have been able to do). However, during this, I hit on the idea of playing with octaves, and decided to make this the basis of my solo.

I played through the track multiple times and eventually the shape of the solo worked itself out. So I suppose we could consider it "composed" rather than improvised. I recorded it in sections so I wouldn't forget it, and then played along with myself to get the whole solo in my head. I liked the sound of this, so I decided to have two guitars at points. The important thing there is that the two guitars are two different takes, not just the same take duplicated, because the tiny differences in timings and intonations is what gives it a sense of space.

The final take is a single pass through, since I'd learned the whole thing, and the second guitar is used to "pop" some of the key notes, as well as providing a harmony in the last four bars. Both guitars were recorded dry, just through the amp. I added a bit of EQ and compression in Reaper, but no reverb since it sounds nice without it. I used a touch of reverb to the harmony guitar to give it a slightly different position in the track. Finally, when it got to the harmonies in the last bars, I panned the guitars slightly left and right, to emphasise the change.

This was a bit of a struggle, mainly because I couldn't hear anything over the track for a long time. But the end result, a product of a solid three hours right at the end of the time allowed, is something I'm rather pleased with. It's understated and works with the track rather than sitting on top of it, I think.

Solo of the Month #33

Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama" is the inspiration for this month's backing track, and apparently it's also the source of a fair amount of online debate about what key it's in. The chord sequence is D / C-add9 / G, so D sounds like the home key to me, but the chords would be G major. Different people hear it different ways, and I guess that's part of what makes it a memorable track.

I know the song of course, but I deliberately didn't listen to it while I was trying to find something to play over this, so that I didn't get unduly influenced. A clean-ish tone seemed appropriate to go with the strummed chords, and to start with I tried D major pentatonic (which in my head is the same as Bm pentatonic), then I tried it again with a capo the 7th fret on to see if I could get some interesting open notes contrasting with higher notes. Unfortunately nothing was working and nothing sounded fluent, so I left it for a few days.

When I came back to it, I thought I'd try something different. In fact, everything different. Instead of a clean tone, I went for the scuzziest, messiest sound I could (courtesy of a Fredric Effects Unpleasant Companion); instead of playing up the neck, I just used the bottom string (tuned down to D); and instead of trying to make a solo out of it, I tried to make a riff. I think I had something White Stripes-y in my head. Once it was done, I added the same notes in again, two octaves up for a bit of contrast.

With this kind of sound, the guitar doesn't matter as much, but what I had in hand at the time was the Yamaha SA2200. It was recorded dry; I tried adding some reverb or delay in Reaper, but the sound is so filled out that it swamps anything subtle. I settled for a bit of EQ to take the bottom and top ends out and emphasise the mids. What we have isn't brilliant, I don't think, but at least it's a bit different!

Solo of the Month #32

Although I love playing the guitar, I'm not a big fan of "guitar music", by which I mean the Steve Vai's of this world. However exciting the playing and sound, it has to be in the context of a good song, because outside of that, it's all a bit meaningless. As a result, there aren't many guitarists of whom I would say I was a big fan, and who I've tried to emulate. However, there's a few whose playing I've absorbed more than others, purely by dint of listening to music that features them, and probably none more than Larry Carlton.

Carlton is not widely known outside the guitar fraternity, but a legend within it, for his tone, taste and timing. In particular for me, it's his playing you can hear in much of Steely Dan's later seventies work (although they used lots of guitarists) and especially Donald Fagen's superb solo album from 1982, The Nightfly. He's the very essence of a supporting playing, enhancing the music rather than showcasing his ability. Listen to "New Frontier" or "Ruby Baby" and marvel at how the guitar winds around the performance, never intrusive but always beautifully judged.

So when this month's Solo of the Month backing track turned up, a clever pastiche combining, to my ears, the two Fagen tracks named above, there wasn't really much else I could hear over it other than Larry Carlton's elegant phrasing. Unfortunately, it's a very difficult style to pull off well, and also it's very easy for me to fall into default phrasing. I tried to think of something completely different but failed.

As a result, I felt like I struggled with this one and I'm not hugely happy with the it. Because of its jazzy feel, it's not a straightforward minor pentatonic and since that's where my knowledge of theory largely ends, I can only do things by ear. I copped a few licks from looking at tab from "New Frontier", then played over the backing track again and again until something started to emerge. As a result, it's a bit of a mix of my standard licks and others. There's lots of space because I felt that's what it needed - and if you listen to Carlton playing on those tracks, that's what he's doing too, so I think that's his influence. If I'd had more time, I would have done it again, because the timing's not particularly good in places, but it's OK.

I recorded it using the Yamaha SA2200's neck pickup, straight from the amp with no effects. I added a little eq (small boost around 5K, removed the bottom end) and added a rather nice "Studio A" reverb from Acon CM Verb (free with Computer Music) for some subtle air. Bit of balancing and here it is:

Solo of the Month #27

May 2017

We have a slice of what is probably a middle of the road rock ballad this time round. As the middle eight finishes it sounds like someone should be chiming in with "You know I love you, I always will ...".

The chord progression is simple: G, C, D. Maybe too simple. I found it really hard to hang any kind of interesting idea onto this. Also, I was slightly put off by the fact that the obvious - no, the cliched - sound over this is a smooth overdrive, which is what I expected everyone else to use, and I know there are people who are much better at that kind of playing than me. The main thing I can do is use my imagination to come up with something slightly different.

Since this is in G, I normally think in Em, in terms of shapes on the fretboard anyway. This also means that quite a few of the harmonics at the 12th, 7th and 5th frets will be valid notes in that scale. It turned out that the smooth overdriven sound (EXH Soul Food on max boost into the Tech 21 Double Drive running on full "class A" gain, and the MXR Carbon Copy providing some subtle delay) made the harmonics sound pretty epic, so that gave me a good intro. Then a simple repeated riff using basic notes from the chords did the rest.

I don't think it's particularly inspired but then, if I'm honest, I don't think the backing track is either. Apparently it's the middle eight from an existing full track, with the vocal and solo stripped out, and I think some of that context would have helped inform the solo. Anyway, here's what I ended up with.

Solo of the Month #26

April 2017

This month's backing track is a medium paced, poppy sort of chord progression to start with, but then in the second half it moves through a more jazzy sequence of chords, which all resolve nicely back to the original.

I can usually work out what the base key of a track is, but this one had me stumped and, for the first time, I had to ask what the chords were. The first section is straightforward enough, it turned out (Emin7, A7, Dmaj7), but the second was completely beyond me. Still, once I knew the key, I could do the rest by ear, since I don't really have the theory to work out the "proper" notes.

I have a new toy, a Frederic Effects Unpleasant Companion (mk II), which is an absolute fuzz monster, so whatever I did was going to include that if at all possible. I had Ernie Isley's superb work on "Summer Breeze" and, in particular, "That Lady" in mind, and the simple signal chain of the Unpleasant Companion and an MXR Phase 90 gives something very close to that tone.

Sometimes it takes me a long time to work out a few lines for the solo, but this was a short piece with two clear sections and it didn't take long at all. A little practice to get it all in one go, and I was there.

I recorded it without reverb and added it in Reaper using the TAL Reverb 4 plugin, which is a nice and simple, to give a properly spacey feel. Finally, I'd fluffed the ending very slightly by not allowing the note to ring as long as I wanted, so I added a synced delay (iZotope DDLY plugin) on the last couple of seconds to extend it slightly.

Here's the final result:

Solo of the Month #25

March 2017

Here we have a simple 4 bar repeated pattern in E major, with a rock 'n' roll feel. It seemed to call for a rockabilly style, which is unfortunate since I can't play that at all.

In fact, the first question for me was whether I should use a major or minor scale. The track itself is purely major chords, but a major scale felt far too polite and not rock 'n' roll enough. A minor pentatonic isn't "right" but it does fit with the expected feel of a piece like this, so that's what I went with.

To give it the right sound I set up a slapback delay on the MXR Carbon Copy, with lashings of reverb from the spring emulation on the TC Hall Of Fame, and a single coil (tapped) setting on the neck pickup which gave it the right wirey-ness.

I worked over the track many times, making up for a slight lack of ideas by repeating a few notes over multiple changes (I'm sure I've heard Rory Gallagher do this ...). I particularly struggled with some of the quicker playing at about 38 seconds, but I was pleased with my ending. Sometimes I piece the solo together from multiple takes but this didn't have any gaps, so I had to practice the whole thing enough to get it acceptable when played right through. Once recorded, I just balanced the levels a little in Reaper and that was it.

And et voila:



I didn't do the two months' SotM before this, due our kitchen refit - the first I've missed in almost two years. The amp and pedals were packed away, but I still intended to record it with an amp sim in the box. In the end I just didn't have time.

Solo of the Month #22

December 2016

Often the biggest influence on what I choose to play over a solo is the presence of a new toy. In this month's case, it's a very simple one: an expression pedal. Attached to the EHX Pitchfork, it makes it into a Whammy-style effect, and huge amounts of fun.

So it was already on the board when this rather nice backing track came up. It's got good dynamics, it's well recorded and there's some lovely little details going on. In fact, at nearly two minutes and with a clear verse/chorus structure (albeit one that cuts off rather suddenly), it's more like recording an instrumental than a solo.

After a bit of experimentation I settled on a compressed driven tone, using the EXH Soul Food into the drive channel of my amp and the internal gain boost on as well. I had a verse part and a chorus part and to add interest I used the expression pedal with the Pitchfork to sweep up an octave to the chorus, up another octave in the middle of the chorus, and down again at the end. The very high octave parts in the first chorus sounded a little thin, so I doubled it quietly an octave below. Then for the second chorus I recorded a harmony part, mostly fourths - basically, the same pattern but a string higher.

Recording this was straightforward, particularly since I did it in several parts, but this probably ended up being the most complex "production" in Reaper yet. I ended up with eight tracks (plus one for the backing): the guitar parts themselves, plus separate tracks for delay and reverb and a bus track to bring it all together. It was recorded dry, so I routed all the guitar parts through the TAL Reverb plate emulation plugin. I also wanted delay, but at different levels for different parts, in particular the long downwards glissando at the end of the first chorus. Here, a big modulated delay made it sound very other-worldly. It's using the superb PSP cmDelay (a cut down version of their Stomp Delay that was given away with Computer Music).

The guitars were routed in parallel through the delay and reverb, not in series, and brought together on a bus so I could control the volume easily. I put automation on the delay volume to bring it in and out where I wanted it. The reverb was as much because when the delay kicks in half way through the first verse, it makes a big difference to the sound, and the reverb cushions this slightly. However, it does have the effect that when you first hear the guitar, it does sound a bit like it's in a tunnel. I wasn't sure how to prevent this, but it does all come together later.

I'm quite proud of this one. It got some nice comments during the voting, including top marks from the guy who had recorded the backing track in the first place.

Solo of the Month #21

November 2016

A first this month: the solo section from a well-known classic. One of the players on the forum has been recording a very close version of Ace's "How Long". mainly (as far as I can tell) to learn the track for live performance.

I thought the challenge for everyone on this one would be to avoid reproducing the original solo, unconsciously or not. But when I went back to listen to it, I realised I didn't know the solo at all, even though I'm very familiar with the song. It's Paul Carrack's wonderful vocal I remember, and the lovely plodding bass that introduces the track. The solo seems like it belongs in a different song.

I was also surprised to find that most other participants in the challenge didn't know the song at all. That freed them to produce some interesting solos, but - for me, anyway - ones that would have entirely failed to work in the context of the overall track. My personal challenge, then, was to try and do something that could be fitted into the original song and not stick out.

Having some context was a nice change, actually. It meant that the melody of the verse could be used as a jumping off point for the solo. I dialled in a gently overdriven tone on the amp, and recorded it in two sections. I added a bit of EQ to thicken up the tone and gentle reverb to place it in the mix. The master had Melda's MLimiter on it to punch up the overall sound. And here it is:

Solo of the Month #20

October 2016

I wasn't quite sure what to make of this month's backing track. It is quite sparse and would probably lend itself to a number of different styles. It didn't help that I wasn't really feeling very inspired generally, and unfortunately this track didn't inspire me either.

I tried a number of different options and ended up with a main theme that used some wide intervals for interest. The tone was a general purpose driven tone with a delay on it from the Carbon Copy, synced as best I could with the beat. I had to stitch together a couple of takes to get it right, which was annoying as it wasn't actually that difficult, but oddly the one glitch you can hear (at about 0:37) was due to me making a very slight mistake on fretting a note! At 0:46 I switched to the bridge pickup to vary the sound somewhat.

All very straightforward in Reaper, just a little EQ tweaking and we're done: