Call me biased, but if this isn't a cool collab - I am not sure what is...

To remind you, we started off brainstorming November last year about a possible next collab. Some ideas were tossed around, then Cael showed us a draft idea of a 'Cowboy' song - and the rest is now (GMC!) history...!

Today I present to you the final result

STUDENT COLLAB:
(collab thread here)




Kris / Instructor collab:
(collab thread here)



You will also find both tracks in the GMC Radio.

Extra special thanks to Cael for his amazing musical skills and also for helping me out with a video edit for the track!

I really enjoyed the whole process, and you all made me extremely proud and you were all amazing in the thread.

I hope we can repeat the success again!

Also for everyone participating, let me know your thoughts, ideas, comments and everything of course!

I'm amazed by how cool this turned out. Both projects have a similar vibe but very different in their own way. All of the solos in both are interesting and don't step on the song at all. Also, the vocals on both are really cool. It's hard to pick a fave as they are both just really good.

Super job by Kris and Cael on leading the way to this final result. It was a very cool idea to start with about splitting them up and it turned out great!

Also, both videos look very cool. This very well may be our coolest ever. Congrats!

Wow...both songs sound amazing!!! Are different, but I would not be able to choose a winner.

Ben, your collab sound very melodic and I love this. You did an amazing job and all the takes sounds really awesome!!! Also, the video looks really great.
Huge congrats to all of you!!! These definitely are the best takes from the latest collabs.


Kris, your collab sounds very emotional. I love everything from it but there are two things that touched my heart:
1. The solo made by Ken (4:03) sounds magnificent!!! It's so beautiful and so good played. It's absolutely perfect.

2. Kris, I don't know if you realize, but your voice sounds so damn cool when you say: "I'm on my way, home again. I'm coming back again... mama!!". The way you sang this part (in a grunge vocal style) made these words so powerful that I had tears in my eyes. It was a perfect ending for this beautiful song!!!
BTW, if you will compose a song and use this type of voice, I'm sure it will be a hit.

No need to pick a fave at all. They are both really great!

I really enjoyed leading the one I did and I got a LOT out of it as well!

The videos are both created with stock video footage from Pexels. I re-used some of the clips in both videos of course, as it was difficult to find new ones for both.



No need to pick one, cause we have both

Kris has a really cool voice and is a really good singer! He should definitely use it more!

Yes. Very cool indeed.
I like how Ben's thread really documented his collab every step of the way.

Ours (Kris's) probably should have been documented a little better. I personally am really bad at that. Mostly because 1) I don't have a decent camera set up 2) I'm not that motivated to do it and 3) I have almost no idea what I'm going to do until I actually "do it" and at that point, documenting it is the farthest thing from my mind.

Brilliant!! Both are brilliant!!!!!!!!!!!!

Great job everyone and thank you to you all, especially, from me to Ben for your help, I deliberately didn't look at the Kris thread, I wanted to keep it as a surprise.

Ben, I thought the video footage you picked for my solo was perfect and I loved the way you panned the guitar

Thank you to everyone involved, this is what makes GMC so special

I'm glad you noticed how it was panning from side to side. It added a little nice twist to it, in my opinion! Awesome playing, Phil!

GMC is special, indeed!

And just at the right speed

I felt documenting it that way and doing a bit "back and forth" communication with everyone was a good way of doing it I'm glad you liked it!

I think documenting things like this come a bit natural to me, as when I write or work on songs it's usually very much documented beforehand in Guitar Pro or done simultaneously if I come up with something new. My memory can be a bit wonky, so I've found the best workaround on that has been to write ideas down rather than think "I'll remember that tomorrow!" I also work quite fast in Guitar Pro these days, so that helps a bit.



I did do it manually in Reaper with some automation, so I just placed some dots (the pan left and the pan right) at the end of every 2 bars if I recall correctly - or maybe every fourth bar. It's a neat little trick to add just a slight touch of ambience to something atmospheric like what you played. I'm honestly not sure if it's something a lot of people do, but I liked it at that part. Not something to overuse of though, I'd say.

Click to view attachment

I've used automation a little bit but I've just had an idea to keep in mind for the future. I wonder what it would sound like with the main guitar central then a second guitar (same track with different effects) panning slightly at lower volume behind it.

Might sound terrible but it came into my head when I was reading your reply

Awesome you guys like it 😍


Thanks Monica 🙏 I'm also fan of that ending, it's kinda dark but still somehow touching in a positive way.

In general I am fan of writing and listening to dark music - I do realise it is not everyone's cup of tea though.



Agreed - we could have done much better here!

I also think it's a thing to be practiced: the more comfortable we get writing / recording stuff together, the easier it gets to post feedback / suggestions etc in the open.

About videoing my takes - it's not realistic for my singing (yet!). I am just too crappy at it and I need 1000 takes before I catch the right vibe.

But it could perhaps have been done with some guitar stuff or screen captures from the mixing work.

You're like me then! I must have 500 files for the vocal takes. I'm really not a singer, or at least not trained at it, but I'd love to find the motivation to work on that, but it's just not a priority. I think we might be kinda the same there? I practice a bit if I record vocals if I write a song with some lyrics, otherwise I don't practice it.

Funny story that I told in another thread too, but at some point I started crying while singing the lyrics: "So many friends have come and gone over the years, left stories to tell that will bring you right to tears, they lost it all, they were brought right to their knees", and it changed my voice completely and kind of hit a "vibe" that I liked, so I had to re-do everything I had done up untill then. Then my voice started going back to normal and I couldn't find that tone again

Yes same here. I have gotten a little more strategic recently and occasionally sing a bit with the acoustic guitar. But it's not very regular.

Also I am actively refraining from humming in falsetto voice, and instead try to use my natural range. The falsetto thing is a bad habit from humming to pop song with female singers who have a totally different range.




Hehe yes, I have done similar as well. Sometimes when working on a song I have managed to record one sentence with a fantastic voice (ie like Dio) - just to find myself completely unable to reproduce it even once. You can imagine the frustration! I had no idea what I did - and even though I don't deserve getting a Dio's voice just like that, it would still be amazingly helpful to understand what I did right for that specific take.

My falsetto is more or less pointless. Well, that's a lie, but I can go to about a G4 in my normal range, sometimes G#4 or a push to A4, but I'm not sure what I'm doing there. My falsetto is at best a C5, so about 4 notes higher than my regular voice... A, Bb, B and C. Tried just now, but actually really struggling with the B and C notes, but I'm not warm either. I can go down to about a C4 in falsetto though, interestingly.

I can also go into the low bass-register, down to about 2 octaves below middle C plus a note lower or so according to an app, but that was uncomfortable for sure - and so is anything around that C! I do feel most comfortable singing in baritone register. But then again, I don't know what I'm doing, so I probably don't even know what "comfortable" is supposed to feel like.



Yes, I get the same! Especially when growling. Some times it's spot on and no pain, then next time I come back it's coughing and pain and I have to stop right away

Wow, this turned out awesome. Thanks again Cael for taking the lead and making this a special collab. Also forgot to mention before, like how you made subtle changes to the drum arrangements with MisterM solo, I think it made for a more dynamic and emotional solo.

I just listened to both collabs side by side. I didn't follow the Instructor version until the end. It is a super creative song you guys put together. Really digging it! It feels cinematic at times (especially the main theme)... can imagine it being used in a movie.
The effect on Kris's solo was super cool with the wild bends and whammy. Both solos were excellent. Great job everybody!

Yeah, I sprinkled his solo with a few small hits to change the dynamics. I was at one point trying to spice up the drums throughout the track, but I kept feeling like whatever I did was too much, even just adding a kick hit here or there, so I decided to just stay with the relatively simple.

Thanks DeGroot - your contributions to our collabs are always extremely thoughtful and tasty - and your presence always puts a smile on my face (and raises expectations quite a bit 😎 😅 )

Yeah!! It is very interesting to listen to the two songs one after the other. Both share the same melancholy but at the same time they propose different things. These types of activities make the GMC community great. Great job folks!

Hi there,

Great work. I liked the slow work at the bottom of time, Benjamin's advice on the harmonization of solos. All this was done naturally in a great conviviality

My opinion :
On the last collabs, we always go too fast.
Exemple :
Instructor : Your solo is great, thank you for your participation...
Gmcer : he feel like "Yes I'm the best of guitar..So easy !"

Let's be honest !
Instructor : No, it's not great, you should improve this and that.

This is very exaggerated, I try to express what I feel

Our compositions sound very amateur except for some guitarist have a higher level.
I liked that CAEL said to me: No I don't see it like that... look at this note can conclude, there is no need for the rest! It's this kind of comment that will keep us going.

Very cool both collabs ������
For me what i personally like about the collabs is that everybody can join regardless of what level of playing you are.
I think feedback is always great but i think if there is too much feedback you can also lose participants and People can lose their joy (it was not like this in this collab Cael )
Anyway nice how both collabs sounded and turned out.
ON to the next one ������

Interesting, this made me think we should have an “advanced” collab - where the instructor only uses the takes that will enhance the song. And through constant feedback help students understand what they need to fix to qualify.

That may discourage less qualified students to get stuck in, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe, time and inclination permitting, the leader of the collab could do two versions, an "All Comers" and an "Elite". Maybe two leaders like on the last one, Ben could do the "All Comers" and an official instructor could do the Elite. That isn't to say that Ben isn't up to the "Elite" job, he's more than capable, it's just some ideas

This made me really happy to read!

I agree that sometimes it's too "fast" with the response, but I also know that instructors may have other obligations like family, band and so on. I don't have to worry much about that But I agree with you, and that's why I wanted to give feedback throughout with some encouragement but also a little push to improve some things for the student.




Yes, it's about finding the balance and what works for each student. Some prefer more feedback and some are happy with just some quick words. I'm glad you like how it turned out!






I'm not totally sure about "advanced" and "open to all". I know that naturally people have different levels of playing, but I don't think it's necesarily motivating to be put into a specific grouping like that. I can't say how exactly, but I think it'd be more interesting working on an idea where more advanced players can help out others in some way - rather than seperating.

I know that might not be exactly what you meant, but I think it can be demotivating (I know it was for me in the past) if a person has worked on something and then all that is used is 2 notes. It's tricky though and I'm not sure how to solve it yet. Of course we want the best possible finished product, but you also don't want to discourage anyone from joining in that way. Perhaps some brainstorming needed

At least I don't think it should create a gap between different levelled players. I'd rather see a GMC united throughout the levels.

Perhaps more so just two versions of collabs if possible - one "streamlined" a bit and one that is a bit more inclusive, but they're both still open to all, if that makes sense. People still get their takes used in the inclusive one and perhaps in a lesser way in the "streamlined" one. Not sure if it would work or not of course, just that I would feel bad if someone barely got a note in.

Just brainstorming, by the way.

Great job, enjoy listening to both and very nice videos too.

I personally really enjoyed and learned from the feedbacks and tips on the takes. I would defy recommend to consider keeping those, when possible off corse as I realize it can take a lot of time.

Cheers

Hi

jim's and degroot's solos are wonderful and the tone is really perfect in the mix.
The next collab, I'll try to work on the sound, it's a big problem for me every time.
Objective : Listen to the premix and switch things up to blend in with the others.

I listened again this morning, it made me feel good before going to work.

Have a nice day.

I agree, I was just offering an alternative to the proposed idea but keeping a similar theme

I think the collabs are all about being inclusive, I certainly wouldn't have recorded the pedal steel part if it wasn't!
Maybe from the outset people can say whether they want honest feedback and guidance or not.
Allowing the not so polished players to join gives a chance to really try their best and something to look back on and see their progress after time

I'm not sure how I feel about a two tier system,
Instructors and Students doesn't create any real divide but All Welcome and Elite kind of does.
I think I prefer Kris' idea with the advanced collab which can be picky but also give guidance. Depending on the backing track and how much time and effort I can spend on it sometimes I'll produce something good enough for an advanced Collab and other times the All comers.