Announcing... RiffMasters!

Holy Moley, if your name wasn't Vito and you didn't live in Jersey a fella might be inclined to offer you the scorekeeper job!

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What are you trying to say? Are you implying I would cook the books somehow?!?
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...... ok, thats a fair statement.
 
UPDATE on MIA players

none of these fellows... @Mitch Pearrow SJMP @LRT and @mcblink have answered my messages regarding their forward intentions.
As members of the initial 11 who registered, they agreed to take part in Guitar Duels, but there is no requirement to take part in any
Main Event Challenge. It is my hope all remain in good health and that they are not avoiding TTR because, reasons. RiffMasters was
designed to be as inclusive as possible, but I can't give players a leg up if they can't find a way to even try.

With no automatic 5 points for a submission, or "I'd Tap That" submissions they all sit firmly at the bottom with no points on the board.
I was thinking a 3 way guitar duel, but the radio silence from this group is disconcerting, particularly when I know each of these three
have SO VERY MUCH to add to this game! We should all remain hopeful.

iu


I need to travel for a bit over the break here, returning to home base on Dec. 28th, so I will give these dudes until then to get in touch
with me via PM to work out how move forward. If nobody gets in touch, I have an alternate plan for the duel, because it has to happen.
But, it's my preference to stick with the original gameplan and have more or our brothers in and taking part.

Rest assured after the Main Event #2 Challenge reveal later tonight, the rest of you will surely have your hands full with plenty
to think about over the holidays about how you are going to approach completion of Main Event #2. Might even take a little research.

I hope to make my plans/choices for my own round 5 submission over the holidays too.

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TTR Members and RiffMaster co-competitors have decided on the results of the first poll vote

Thatbastard Don's creative A/V take on Sabbath's Electric Funeral wins the day, as some predicted.
This validates what I noted earlier in that PRESENTATION may be key to a win. Donnie didn't win by as much as
some might have thought, though, but he got ahead early and stayed on top the whole way. 10 Pts much deserved

Liveevil2000's "Slow Ride" wasn't so slow either. His nastier-than-thou take with full on poppin bass finally
got the extra vote taking him out of a four way tie for second, to own all by hisself. 7 Points, yay for you!

A three way tie for third place between Jethro Rocker with Dr. Love, C-Grin with Breakin da Law, and me with
70's throwback Sister Golden Hair at 12 votes - as per the rules I narrowly edge out the others to own third place,
being the earlier entry. Sorry pals, way she goes! 7 pts. yay for me!

Congratulations to all, a really close vote, not as big a spread as one would have thought among everyone.
Everyone got some validation for what they did. And all outside the top three earn FIVE Riffmaster points
Thank you to the submitters, and the voters.

Opening Act - 1 main event final.jpg

Please join me in congratulating everyone for the effort and the variety of submissions. I wish everyone could win!
Are you ready to move forward, my riff-lovin' friends?
 
PRESS PLAY


Main Event #1 had you firmly in your comfort zone, something you probably played probably dozens and dozens of times, and a chance to revisit. For those now invested, the road to RiffMastery will slowly begin to take a gentle turn or two.

Perhaps there’ll be a few musical potholes to navigate, your job is to now maintain control and steer through to the final destination as best you can. Thankfully we are in no a hurry, plenty of time. You can choose to opt out of any Main Event, but where’s the fun in that? I promised I would challenge you and force you to use dormant musical muscles, might even have to develop new ones too! Gonna be a bit of a deeper stretch for some, for others? Maybe not so much! Rest assured, once you power through this one you can look forward to plenty of other varieties in the challenges ahead.

Welcome RiffMasters, and all other interested TTR members, I now get to reveal Main Event #2, again open to anyone who wishes to give 'er a go! Join the fun; way more interesting as a participant than a spectator!

fF9D3vmF_o.jpg


I expect the variety of entries in this one may get super crazy bcz there are 2 very different ways to go. It’s important to understand your song / creative approach will be of paramount concern for success.

But the cool thing is, in "Folked Up" You Get To Choose!

1. Select a classic folk piece, then rock it up real, real good. I suggest something first recorded prior to 1975 in a folksy
spirit would be your best choice. Might be Greensleeves, Dylan, Peter, Paul & Mary, or pure Americana roots type folk,
even an old spiritual might be cool.

2. Alternately, take a modern gained-up hard/heavy electrifried rock ‘n roll song such as “Rock Candy” and totally “Folk it Up”
with a stripped down "power blackout" treatment. This means acoustic guitar, or clean jangly electric, maybe some simple
percussion, cajon, bongos, tambourine, some harmonica, wind instruments, even a kazoo might be frickin’ awesome LOL!
But, it MUST be an old-timey take, with your choice of soundscape and production. No hidin’ behind a wall of gain here, boys.

These two choices allow you to time-travel forwards, and/or back! A minimum 1:00 submission is required, audio only, or audio/video, just as we’ve already seen - I like the video submissions personally! It could have made the difference for me in the first challenge.
Once again your window to create and submit is five weeks.

Submission Deadline: Thursday Jan 25th, 7PM CST

Bonus Points:
Can’t make up your mind? Why not tackle BOTH versions 2 separate songs and be generously awarded an automatic 3 points for the extra. However, you will need to choose ONE selection as your entry for the round-ending vote poll. The smarty-pantses among you will recognize a big opportunity for some A/B testing strategy.

Everyone Remember: RiffMaster Main Events are 100% OPEN to ALL TTR members. Jump in at any time, join the fun and score points! Drop in, sit out, play along. It’s all to continue fostering TTR musical fellowship, and sharing our joy.

Main Event Scoring:
48 hour Community Vote once all submissions are in.
Top Vote Earner = 10 points
Second & Third places = 7 points.
Participation Award: All other competitors who submitted = 5 points, 3 automatic points for alternate “Folked Up” selection.
In the event of a tied vote, earliest submission wins top position.

Timing Sucks, My Fault!
Due to the holidays and the fact I’m on the road away from home base ‘til probably Thursday, Dec 28, I have to delay the big reveal of the “Guitar Duel” choice until then. However, with two possible challenges in front of you right now, and a minimum 7 automatic points already available, it should be enough for all you hungry RiffMasters to chew on ‘til then. I have already laid out the hopes/plans for the next Guitar Duel, we will wait until the 28th to see where that goes.

I'll get an updated scoreboard up soon, until then,

vbvGxM0G_o.gif
 
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Wow! Thanks everyone! What a ton of fun that was to come up with! I had a blast making my entry, and I hope everyone else had a good time too! So many gave the impression, through their entries, that it was hard to decide which ones not to vote for. Let’s see what’s next to fire the synapses! I’m sure it’s either gonna be great fun, or cruel and merciless torture….EXCELLENT!!!
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Edit: Hahahahahaha! As I typed….
 
I took the liberty of putting together a little something to help with an overall view of where we stand as the game progresses.
I'm sure there is some sort of priority to determine ties.
Now I feel I have contributed something to the game.
Also, accounting errors can happen and the right amount of persuasion can make my pencil a little duller. If you get my drift.
1703207897691.png
1703208078627.png
 
PRESS PLAY


Main Event #1 had you firmly in your comfort zone, something you probably played probably dozens
and dozens of times, and a chance to revisit. For those now invested, the road to RiffMastery will slowly
begin to take a gentle turn or two. Perhaps there’ll be a few musical potholes to navigate, your job is to
maintain control and steer through to the final destination as best you can. Thankfully we are in no a hurry,
plenty of time. You can choose to opt out of any Main Event, but where’s the fun in that? I promised I would
challenge you and force you to use dormant musical muscles, might even have to develop new ones too!
Gonna be a bit of a deeper stretch for some, for others? Maybe not so much! Rest assured, once you power
through this one you can look forward to plenty of other varieties in the challenges ahead.

Welcome RiffMasters, and all other interested TTR members, I now get to reveal Main Event #2, again open
to anyone who wishes to give 'er a go! Join the fun; way more interesting as a participant than a spectator!

fF9D3vmF_o.jpg


I expect the variety of entries in this one may get super crazy bcz there are 2 very different ways to go.
It’s important to understand your song / creative approach will be of paramount concern for success.

But the cool thing is, in "Folked Up" You Get To Choose!

1. Select a classic folk piece, then rock it up real, real good. I suggest something first recorded prior to 1975 in a folksy
spirit would be your best choice. Might be Greensleeves, Dylan, Peter, Paul & Mary, or pure Americana roots type folk,
even an old spiritual might be cool.

2. Alternately, take a modern gained-up hard/heavy electrifried rock ‘n roll song such as “Rock Candy” and totally “Folk it Up”
with a stripped down "power blackout" treatment. This means acoustic guitar, or clean jangly electric, maybe some simple
percussion, cajon, bongos, tambourine, some harmonica, wind instruments, even a kazoo might be frickin’ awesome LOL!
But, it MUST be an old-timey take, with your choice of soundscape and production. No hidin’ behind a wall of gain here, boys.

These two choices allow you to time-travel forwards, and/or back! A minimum 1:00 submission is required, audio only, or audio/video,
just as we’ve already seen - I like the video submissions personally! It could have made the difference for me in the first challenge.
Once again your window to create and submit is five weeks.

Submission Deadline: Thursday Jan 25th, 7PM CST

Bonus Points:
Can’t make up your mind? Why not tackle BOTH versions 2 separate songs and be generously awarded
an automatic 3 points for the extra. However, you will need to choose ONE selections as your entry for the round-ending
vote poll. The smarty-pantses among you will recognize is a big opportunity for some A/B testing strategy.

Everyone Remember: RiffMaster Main Events are 100% OPEN to ALL TTR members. Jump in at any time, join the fun
and score points! Drop in, sit out, play along. It’s all to continue fostering TTR musical fellowship, and sharing our joy.

Main Event Scoring:
48 hour Community Vote once all submissions are in.
Top Vote Earner = 10 points
Second & Third places = 7 points.
Participation Award: All other competitors who submitted = 5 points, 3 automatic points for alternate “Folked Up” selection.
In the event of a tied vote, earliest submission wins top position.

Timing Sucks, My Fault!
Due to the holidays and the fact I’m on the road away from home base ‘til probably Thursday, Dec 28, I have to delay
the big reveal of the “Guitar Duel” choice until then. However, with two possible challenges in front of you right now, and
a minimum 7 automatic points already available, it should be enough for all you hungry RiffMasters to chew on ‘til then.
have already laid out the hopes/plans for the next Guitar Duel, we will wait until the 28th to see where that goes.

I'll get an updated scoreboard up soon, until then,

vbvGxM0G_o.gif
O….
M….
G….
I think my brain just peed a little….
Let’s get ready to FOLK some Shizz UP!!!
IMG_2590.gif
 
That is really swell @LiveeviL2000. Can you keep doing this?
Absolutely.
I have it mapped out to challenge 10. Fully planned on it.
It's all automated, so all I need to do is plug the points in and it does the rest.
Let me know if there is something that breaks ties and I'll include that asap.

Also,
Thank you to all who voted for me in the challenge. I didn't think I'd finish that high in the polls. Fully expected Don to finish first. I'm shocked he didnt get 100% of the votes.
 
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@LiveeviL2000 the only best way I can figure on ties is earlier submission takes precedent in votes anyway.
but for regular running score, I don't think we need a tiebreaker. Adds more drama LOL
 
Absolutely.
I have it mapped out to challenge 10. Fully planned on it.
It's all automated, so all I need to do is plug the points in and it does the rest.
Let me know if there is something that breaks ties and I'll include that asap.

Also,
Thank you to all who votes for me in the challenge. I didn't think I'd finish that high in the polls. Fully expected Don to finish first. I'm shocked he didnt get 100% of the votes.
Three voters didn’t vote for me….I was one of them…I’m ecstatic, and super thankful!!!
 
Once again I kindly remind everyone to put this thread on watch, and bookmark the post.

I have a naming convention like this, which is helpful - RffM #2 Folked Up Post #710 pg36
it's really helpful to find stuff this way, and you won't miss things if you get the notification

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