Announcing... RiffMasters!

@C-Grin brings his Top of the Pops entry with flair, like in a fantasy Rock Pool where we see Jimmy Page replace Brian Jones,
instead of Mick Taylor in '69. I really could have used more cowbell, though those two burnin' wah lead sections, but it was there
enough for 3 "Cowbell" points, add a point for Deth Drop tuning (inspired choice of chords there to nasty it a bit), AND it will
also go for a vote at the end of this round. Some great leads there man! And overall had a really great live "metal country fusion\
band stage-caged behind chicken wire" in a rough-ass biker bar vibe. Really decent vocals, but could have benefitted from some
harmony vocals too.. but overall, Dick, gotta give it an 8. Had a great cowbell beat, rockin' guitar and i could dance to it, both naked
or clothed as well!

iu
 
@ibmorjamn kicks in the door and tosses in his deth drop/cowbell flashbang combo - killer riff man!, with Great little punctuation contrast with the harmonics.
I just love that nasty dirty guitar riff though! Well-played... Had me nodding along like a good highway tune

I think the lyrics are about drugs and cartel life, and fantasy I hope? Not familiar with the Clint connection... a film I have not seen ...But thank you for including them... a great "renegade rocker" paying the price tale ... I do like the mix you posted off soundcloud slightly better but rules are rules. One constructive critique on vocals is I think you could step into "character" a bit deeper when you deliver... just more "extra". Helps me to approach lyrical performance as more of an "acting" job, storytelling in Higher drama mode seems to sell lyrics better, though of course I'm no seasoned vocal performer myself, obviously. But "The Battle Of The Pass" definitely valid as 1pt for deth drop, + 3 pts for cowbell in my opinion.

Lots of character and unique flavour! Your best in RiifMasters so far IMO.
I do appreciate the critique Brad. I really struggle with vocals. The only small help is the tuning. I do get what you are saying.
Kind of wish I would have looked back at the rules before posting. Oh well.I barely make the first rung on the ladder here.

Lol, yes that guitar was nasty dirty in a good way. I think it's a Diezel amp model.
 
I do appreciate the critique Brad. I really struggle with vocals. The only small help is the tuning. I do get what you are saying.
Kind of wish I would have looked back at the rules before posting. Oh well.I barely make the first rung on the ladder here.

Lol, yes that guitar was nasty dirty in a good way. I think it's a Diezel amp model.

If life so far has taught me anything, the rules we learn after we know about 'em, are the ones that sink in the deepest LOL!
Game is still young. You are likely up for a duel, next round, it's your turn for the catapult baby, strap in, and be ready to holler!
 
@C-Grin brings his Top of the Pops entry with flair, like in a fantasy Rock Pool where we see Jimmy Page replace Brian Jones,
instead of Mick Taylor in '69. I really could have used more cowbell, though those two burnin' wah lead sections, but it was there
enough for 3 "Cowbell" points, add a point for Deth Drop tuning (inspired choice of chords there to nasty it a bit), AND it will
also go for a vote at the end of this round. Some great leads there man! And overall had a really great live "metal country fusion\
band stage-caged behind chicken wire" in a rough-ass biker bar vibe. Really decent vocals, but could have benefitted from some
harmony vocals too.. but overall, Dick, gotta give it an 8. Had a great cowbell beat, rockin' guitar and i could dance to it, both naked
or clothed as well!

iu
Thank you kind sir, I guess I was hoping it would have a live sort of feel, cuz it wasn’t mixed at all. I literally had a three hour window from start to finish to get it done. Of course winging it sort of my own personal flair :blink:. I had in mind something else for the cowbell track but time just isn’t on my side, (hey was that a #1?) any who still having a blast.

Love, peace and chicken grease:celebrate2::dood:
 
:eek: Too short!
@Randy Van Malmsteen the guitar duel "deth drop" challenge is open to all for a single point, which I may begrudgingly award if anyone might agree those riffs sounded a little bit dark, scary and evil, and not like some happy children's Sunday school singalong melody.
 
:eek: Too short!
@Randy Van Malmsteen the guitar duel "deth drop" challenge is open to all for a single point, which I may begrudgingly award if anyone might agree those riffs sounded a little bit dark, scary and evil, and not like some happy children's Sunday school singalong melody.
If at 20 secs in that doesn't sound heavy enough.. in drop C... and then that later riff at 54 seconds, then I've done this for my own amusement it seems. :unsure:
I could cut and paste the heavy 8 bars over and over and make one very repetitive song. :D

Tried to make something a bit more listenable & interesting (with multiple time signature changes even), with some very heavy elements. The softer section (?) makes me queasy; there's a chord change that crosses my eyeballs. Arcade Fire did something like that in Cold Wind.
 
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:eek: Too short!
@Randy Van Malmsteen the guitar duel "deth drop" challenge is open to all for a single point, which I may begrudgingly award if anyone might agree those riffs sounded a little bit dark, scary and evil, and not like some happy children's Sunday school singalong melody.
Isn't it sposed to be 1 minute? This is 1:49?
I really liked it!!
 
@Randy Van Malmsteen nah I was just funnin' ya... that is PLENTY DARK!!! One point well-earned! I think what you did there is the contrast thing... some bells in the beginning... starts out in a lighter vibe, then it turns darker and darker, the monster keeps getting closer, no matter how fast you run, then eventually just slices and dices the listener up in his powerful tree shredder jawz. Fricken cool!

Sounds like it belongs in some terrifying video game to me, which is perfectly on point for the challenge
 

"Might interfere with my aim"
In the Southwest the sum of good and bad
Blondie and Tuco form an aliance in New Mexico
Tempted fate from afar.

Two kinds of people in the world my friend,
Those with the noose around their neck
and the people with the job of doing the cutting

The neck at the end of the noose is mine
The neck at the end of the noose is mine
The neck at the end.

$20,000 is the catch in the battle of 62 at the pass.
The gold from the chaotic war
One shot from afar
Tempted fate gone awry.
One shot from afar.

All recording is HX stomp.
Except the bass is straight in the pre amp and of course cowbell.
The tuning is drop D, E is C#
Excellemt! Heavy and fun solo!!
I apologise that I have been absent, I have been crazy busy with all manner of crapola, bla bla. I really have some catching up to do. I did manage to put together a rushed POS recording of my 60's pop #1. In dropped D with cow bell wink wink.

Beauty! Really heavied it up plis great wah work!
Stellar stuf! Really good production amd awesome lead work!

You guys are really ripping it!
 
@ibmorjamn kicks in the door and tosses in his deth drop/cowbell flashbang combo - killer riff man!, with Great little punctuation contrast with the harmonics.
I just love that nasty dirty guitar riff though! Well-played... Had me nodding along like a good highway tune

I think the lyrics are about drugs and cartel life, and fantasy I hope? Not familiar with the Clint connection... a film I have not seen ...But thank you for including them... a great "renegade rocker" paying the price tale ... I do like the mix you posted off soundcloud slightly better but rules are rules. One constructive critique on vocals is I think you could step into "character" a bit deeper when you deliver... just more "extra". Helps me to approach lyrical performance as more of an "acting" job, storytelling in Higher drama mode seems to sell lyrics better, though of course I'm no seasoned vocal performer myself, obviously. But "The Battle Of The Pass" definitely valid as 1pt for deth drop, + 3 pts for cowbell in my opinion.

Lots of character and unique flavour! Your best in RiifMasters so far IMO.
The good and bad, should have mentioned ugly. Lol
 

"Might interfere with my aim"
In the Southwest the sum of good and bad
Blondie and Tuco form an aliance in New Mexico
Tempted fate from afar.

Two kinds of people in the world my friend,
Those with the noose around their neck
and the people with the job of doing the cutting

The neck at the end of the noose is mine
The neck at the end of the noose is mine
The neck at the end.

$20,000 is the catch in the battle of 62 at the pass.
The gold from the chaotic war
One shot from afar
Tempted fate gone awry.
One shot from afar.

All recording is HX stomp.
Except the bass is straight in the pre amp and of course cowbell.
The tuning is drop D, E is C#
Nice iBs. The casbah keeps on 'a rockin'.
 
Here is Come Together. The solo is cheesy but passable.
Recorded it in Drop B
The BC Rich WarBeast was used for all the rhythm using the bridge Nazgûl pup.
The solo was neck Sentient pup.
The 5 banger bass has Nordstrand Big Break pups. I love the boom boom from this thing.
The HX stomp settings are pictured below.
That’s right … that preset is Beast Mode!!
Here is Beatle-tallica

View attachment 98344View attachment 98343
I guess I missed this altogether, damn good my friend. The bar is getting raised yet again. :cheers:. :dood::dood::jammer::dood::dood:
 
Once again a status update where we all at right now!

@LiveeviL2000 I think maybe we need to add some points before we get too far behind
1 for tvvoodoo, "C'mon" Deth Drop
4 for Ibmorjamn, Deth Drop w/cowbell "Battle of the Pass")
4 for C-Grin, Deth Drop w/ cowbell, he's done for Round 4 w/ "Honky Djonk Woman"

1 for Randy Van Malmsteem for his medicinal Deth Drop

Liveevil2000 and Ku may share the tippy-top of the leaderboard,
but Randy Van Malmsteem is gettin' more hotties than any three of us put together
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +

LiveeviL2000 - Death Dropped "Come Together" in Beast Mode for (1) great effect
Clockworkmike - Edged out 16 points by dueling, wants to take us higher
Mitch Pearrow SJMP - Gentlemanly moving on to his 60's hit, or cowbell
Ku² - Gettin' to know Eleanor real well, still living in a dream
Ibmorjam - Trying to hang onto sloopy, Deth dropped w/cowbell, battle of the pass (4)
TVvoodoo - Shoogah'd Off one time, Deth Dropped C'mon (1)
C-Grin - Honky Tonked w/cowbell and Deth Drop, crazy! (4)
Jethro Rocker - Is starting to feel some disbelief
Sapient - Said he was hittin' the road, will he come back?
SG John - Suspiciously, seems to be getting more suspicious every day
Thatbastarddon - Sees a red door, wants to paint it black
Kerry Brown - On hiatus, all wish him 100% good mojo
jtcnj - Who has Power of Attorney, shall we pull the plug?
Randy Van Malmsteen - VS Big Bad John, Deth dropped, "Customer lost" (1)
Iblive - All we've heard so far is the Sound of Silence, literally
BFT Gibson - Rang that Liberty Bell low down and hard (4), just keeps hangin' on

RiffMasters Chapter Four allows for up to 16 new points for most competitors,
eleven of them pretty easily without even winning a vote! How do you get 'em?


1. Main Event: Top Of The Pops 1960's (10/7/5 pts. (5 automatic after the vote)

Redo a 1960's Billboard Charts #1 Hit, but put some extra oomph in 'er please

2. Guitar Duel: (1 pt. for most, 16/8 for Clockwork vs Mitch)
"Deth Drop"
minimum 1:00 Riff of Dark Scary Evilness, down-tuned guitar
(you may combine this with your 60's #1 cover, Moar Cowbell, or both like C-grin did!)

3. "Moar Cowbell" Min. 1:00 (1-5 pts.)
1 pt. cowbell solo, or to a playalong
2 pts. Moar cowbell to your drums and original rockin' guitar riff
3 pts. Same as above, adding a funkyass/groovin'/rock bassline
4 pts All of the above, but we also need video of you conkin' that bell and singing some lyrics
5 pts. Virtuoso Mode: You, on vid, conkin; that bell artistically and enthusiastically,
to a TOTALLY non-cowbell type of song of your choice

Guidelines:
1. Even if you have not submitted anything to RiffMasters so far, anyone can jump in at any time if you are feelin' it.
2. Regular challenges are all optional. Only the official peer-to-peer Guitar Duels are mandatory.
3. Points don't matter. RiffMasters is about putting the gear to work, inspiration, creativity and guitar fellowship.

iu
 
Once again a status update where we all at right now!

@LiveeviL2000 I think maybe we need to add some points before we get too far behind
1 for tvvoodoo, "C'mon" Deth Drop
4 for Ibmorjamn, Deth Drop w/cowbell "Battle of the Pass")
4 for C-Grin, Deth Drop w/ cowbell, he's done for Round 4 w/ "Honky Djonk Woman"

1 for Randy Van Malmsteem for his medicinal Deth Drop

Liveevil2000 and Ku may share the tippy-top of the leaderboard,
but Randy Van Malmsteem is gettin' more hotties than any three of us put together
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +

LiveeviL2000 - Death Dropped "Come Together" in Beast Mode for (1) great effect
Clockworkmike - Edged out 16 points by dueling, wants to take us higher
Mitch Pearrow SJMP - Gentlemanly moving on to his 60's hit, or cowbell
Ku² - Gettin' to know Eleanor real well, still living in a dream
Ibmorjam - Trying to hang onto sloopy, Deth dropped w/cowbell, battle of the pass (4)
TVvoodoo - Shoogah'd Off one time, Deth Dropped C'mon (1)
C-Grin - Honky Tonked w/cowbell and Deth Drop, crazy! (4)
Jethro Rocker - Is starting to feel some disbelief
Sapient - Said he was hittin' the road, will he come back?
SG John - Suspiciously, seems to be getting more suspicious every day
Thatbastarddon - Sees a red door, wants to paint it black
Kerry Brown - On hiatus, all wish him 100% good mojo
jtcnj - Who has Power of Attorney, shall we pull the plug?
Randy Van Malmsteen - VS Big Bad John, Deth dropped, "Customer lost" (1)
Iblive - All we've heard so far is the Sound of Silence, literally
BFT Gibson - Rang that Liberty Bell low down and hard (4), just keeps hangin' on

RiffMasters Chapter Four allows for up to 16 new points for most competitors,
eleven of them pretty easily without even winning a vote! How do you get 'em?


1. Main Event: Top Of The Pops 1960's (10/7/5 pts. (5 automatic after the vote)

Redo a 1960's Billboard Charts #1 Hit, but put some extra oomph in 'er please

2. Guitar Duel: (1 pt. for most, 16/8 for Clockwork vs Mitch)
"Deth Drop"
minimum 1:00 Riff of Dark Scary Evilness, down-tuned guitar
(you may combine this with your 60's #1 cover, Moar Cowbell, or both like C-grin did!)

3. "Moar Cowbell" Min. 1:00 (1-5 pts.)
1 pt. cowbell solo, or to a playalong
2 pts. Moar cowbell to your drums and original rockin' guitar riff
3 pts. Same as above, adding a funkyass/groovin'/rock bassline
4 pts All of the above, but we also need video of you conkin' that bell and singing some lyrics
5 pts. Virtuoso Mode: You, on vid, conkin; that bell artistically and enthusiastically,
to a TOTALLY non-cowbell type of song of your choice

Guidelines:
1. Even if you have not submitted anything to RiffMasters so far, anyone can jump in at any time if you are feelin' it.
2. Regular challenges are all optional. Only the official peer-to-peer Guitar Duels are mandatory.
3. Points don't matter. RiffMasters is about putting the gear to work, inspiration, creativity and guitar fellowship.

iu
Sorry about the silent running. Last week had to convert my “studio/music room” back into a bedroom as we had 3 of our 4 grandkids for the week. It’s been a busy 30 days at my place. 2 1/2 weeks of those 30 days vacationing in FL.
 
Hey @Randy Van Malmsteen would you mind posting a screen shot of your timeline for "Patient"
particularly the last 20 seconds? I'm listening and relistening, trying to figure out how many
layers of guitars you have on that piece. I really dig it, but I am afraid I am getting low on shield
and health, and I don't know the best trick needed to bring that big baddie down to roll credits
 
Hey @Randy Van Malmsteen would you mind posting a screen shot of your timeline for "Patient"
particularly the last 20 seconds? I'm listening and relistening, trying to figure out how many
layers of guitars you have on that piece. I really dig it, but I am afraid I am getting low on shield
and health, and I don't know the best trick needed to bring that big baddie down to roll credits
OK see attached. Nothing too special... maybe the delays on the leads make it sound like more than it is.
The underlying rhythm is hard left and right (in mono), the 2 stereo lead tracks in the last 20 seconds are panned about 15% inwards from each side.
One thing about my guitar recording lately is printing tones and effects "as is", not worrying about fiddling later. Which defies modern recording logic... but I think having too many choices might prevent accomplishing anything.
 

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@Randy Van Malmsteen - yes you are correct, the delays got me all disoriented, which is probably the intent, I'm thinking.
Thanks for that, I enjoy relistening to a piece when I can see the timeline. And i learned something new tonight.
I always confused the Glockenspeil with the harpsichord. But it's actually more the Xylophone, but with metal keys vs wood.
In high school band we had glockenspiel, but everyone always called it a xylophone, I think even the band teachers.
 
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