Author Topic: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge  (Read 10904 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Lonk

  • DTF.org Member
  • *
  • Posts: 6005
Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
« Reply #35 on: February 14, 2021, 06:04:49 PM »
Nice job

Which amp are you using? Really like the tone.
Vmadera has evolved into Lonk

Offline Fiery Winds

  • DTF.org Alumni
  • ****
  • Posts: 2959
  • Gender: Male
Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
« Reply #36 on: February 14, 2021, 06:35:27 PM »
Thanks, I'm actually using a Zoom G5n pedalboard that does a decent job at modelling amps/cabs and effects. This particular preset simulated a Bogner Ecstasy Blue and an Ibanez Tube Screamer. I recorded it directly to a Zoom R24, then synced up the audio with the video from my phone using Reaper.

Offline nikatapi

  • Posts: 1638
  • Gender: Male
Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
« Reply #37 on: February 15, 2021, 03:31:49 AM »
Awesome stuff people, keep it coming.

Here's my attempt at one of the (in my opinion) most difficult riffs to get up to speed, from At Wit's End, along with a few mistakes and awkward face expressions included  :lol

https://youtu.be/QLGVYY9xvdY


That riff is absurd and hard to play in time at tempo, but you definitely did it justice  :metal   The facial expressions are like bonus material  :lol   :tup

Thanks for the feedback, really appreciate it!
« Last Edit: February 15, 2021, 04:10:41 AM by nikatapi »

Online ReaperKK

  • Sweeter After Difficulty
  • DTF.org Alumni
  • ****
  • Posts: 17716
  • Gender: Male
Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
« Reply #38 on: February 15, 2021, 07:28:39 AM »
Awesome videos guys, I need to get something posted here

Awesome stuff people, keep it coming.

Here's my attempt at one of the (in my opinion) most difficult riffs to get up to speed, from At Wit's End, along with a few mistakes and awkward face expressions included  :lol

https://youtu.be/QLGVYY9xvdY


That riff is absurd and hard to play in time at tempo, but you definitely did it justice  :metal   The facial expressions are like bonus material  :lol   :tup

Thanks for the feedback, really appreciate it!

I love that riff but my hand gets tired looking at it being played :lol

Offline Skeever

  • Posts: 2879
Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
« Reply #39 on: February 15, 2021, 07:47:11 AM »
Great job to everyone so far! JiM-Extreme - you played that very well. ANd Fiery Winds, once again you've inspired me, I think I'll try that solo later on too.

I had a tough time with this week... Although I think I've got all the notes in there (aside from the first part), I'll probably take another week on this solo and see if I can't polish it up more for week 3.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VRD5BnBtRw

Offline Elite

  • The 'other' Rich
  • DTF.org Alumni
  • ****
  • Posts: 17544
  • Gender: Male
  • also, a tin teardrop
Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
« Reply #40 on: February 15, 2021, 09:25:36 AM »
So, this is open for further submissions? I' was confused, because the OP still says 8th of february :)
Hey dude slow the fuck down so we can finish together at the same time.  :biggrin:
Squ
scRa are the resultaten of sound nog bring propey

Offline nikatapi

  • Posts: 1638
  • Gender: Male
Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
« Reply #41 on: February 15, 2021, 09:34:45 AM »
Great job to everyone so far! JiM-Extreme - you played that very well. ANd Fiery Winds, once again you've inspired me, I think I'll try that solo later on too.

I had a tough time with this week... Although I think I've got all the notes in there (aside from the first part), I'll probably take another week on this solo and see if I can't polish it up more for week 3.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VRD5BnBtRw

Nice one, interesting choice of tone!

Here's my video for the week, from the beloved Overture 1928:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohDYzjycjk0

Offline Skeever

  • Posts: 2879
Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
« Reply #42 on: February 15, 2021, 10:45:59 AM »
So, this is open for further submissions? I' was confused, because the OP still says 8th of february :)

Absolutely. Mondays are the deadline to share what you've worked on for the week. I'll change the OP.

Great job to everyone so far! JiM-Extreme - you played that very well. ANd Fiery Winds, once again you've inspired me, I think I'll try that solo later on too.

I had a tough time with this week... Although I think I've got all the notes in there (aside from the first part), I'll probably take another week on this solo and see if I can't polish it up more for week 3.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VRD5BnBtRw

Nice one, interesting choice of tone!

Here's my video for the week, from the beloved Overture 1928:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohDYzjycjk0

All I have is a single-coil guitar and a blues jr., with a boss pedal in front, so the tone is kinda what it is... will be switching out some gear shortly though  :biggrin:

Nice job on Overture 1928, I remember starting that one in High School, but didn't have the patience to get anywhere at that time.

Offline JiM-Xtreme

  • Posts: 506
  • Gender: Male
Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
« Reply #43 on: February 15, 2021, 11:49:07 AM »

Here's my video for the week, from the beloved Overture 1928:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohDYzjycjk0

Niceeee  :metal love it dude! One of my favourite pieces of music by the band ever  ;D

Offline Elite

  • The 'other' Rich
  • DTF.org Alumni
  • ****
  • Posts: 17544
  • Gender: Male
  • also, a tin teardrop
Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
« Reply #44 on: February 15, 2021, 02:03:31 PM »
Cool, I like the Overture solo! My band once did a cover of that one :)

There's a bunch of stuff from DT I've learned in the past. I'll see if I can join in on the fun!
Hey dude slow the fuck down so we can finish together at the same time.  :biggrin:
Squ
scRa are the resultaten of sound nog bring propey

Offline Lonk

  • DTF.org Member
  • *
  • Posts: 6005
Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
« Reply #45 on: February 15, 2021, 02:17:54 PM »
Cool, I like the Overture solo! My band once did a cover of that one :)

There's a bunch of stuff from DT I've learned in the past. I'll see if I can join in on the fun!

The more the merrier!

Alright, disclaimer: Sound is pretty bad for my video. As I started recording today, I noticed something off with my guitar (I have not play it in a while). I decided to put new strings on it, hydrate the neck and give it some much needed love. Not sure what happened but now I am getting pretty bad buzz on my 6th and 7th string, I think the neck warped a little (which is pretty common with neckt-hru guitars). I tried masking it and I think I made it worse  :facepalm:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7mJhsOSW5Y&feature=youtu.be

Anyways, Not sure if this falls under speed or technique challenge. I usually default to economy picking and it just doesn't work for me on this part. I tried to overcome that and get comfortable with Alt picking and I got the pattern, kind of. Still needs a lot of work but in the spirit of continuing this challenge, I am ok with uploading a bad video.
Vmadera has evolved into Lonk

Offline Elite

  • The 'other' Rich
  • DTF.org Alumni
  • ****
  • Posts: 17544
  • Gender: Male
  • also, a tin teardrop
Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
« Reply #46 on: February 15, 2021, 02:44:17 PM »
I'm really excited about this. I have lots of practice video's on my computer from Dream Theater songs or parts of songs. I just have o figure out what I want to do for this particular challenge. There's a couple of songs I know right of the bat that I play somewhat often still. Maybe I'll just pick one of those to test the waters first :biggrin:
Hey dude slow the fuck down so we can finish together at the same time.  :biggrin:
Squ
scRa are the resultaten of sound nog bring propey

Offline T-ski

  • Posts: 2914
Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
« Reply #47 on: February 15, 2021, 04:13:39 PM »
Any recommendations for an easy riff a beginner could try? I’ve only been playing for 10 months.
Is all that we see or seem, but a dream within a dream?

Offline Lonk

  • DTF.org Member
  • *
  • Posts: 6005
Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
« Reply #48 on: February 15, 2021, 05:31:55 PM »
Any recommendations for an easy riff a beginner could try? I’ve only been playing for 10 months.

I've seen your videos from the "learning guitar" thread. you can try "Finally Free" -  Riff that starts at 4:00. Really simple and cool sounding.
Vmadera has evolved into Lonk

Offline nikatapi

  • Posts: 1638
  • Gender: Male
Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
« Reply #49 on: February 16, 2021, 01:04:18 AM »
Cool, I like the Overture solo! My band once did a cover of that one :)

There's a bunch of stuff from DT I've learned in the past. I'll see if I can join in on the fun!

The more the merrier!

Alright, disclaimer: Sound is pretty bad for my video. As I started recording today, I noticed something off with my guitar (I have not play it in a while). I decided to put new strings on it, hydrate the neck and give it some much needed love. Not sure what happened but now I am getting pretty bad buzz on my 6th and 7th string, I think the neck warped a little (which is pretty common with neckt-hru guitars). I tried masking it and I think I made it worse  :facepalm:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7mJhsOSW5Y&feature=youtu.be

Anyways, Not sure if this falls under speed or technique challenge. I usually default to economy picking and it just doesn't work for me on this part. I tried to overcome that and get comfortable with Alt picking and I got the pattern, kind of. Still needs a lot of work but in the spirit of continuing this challenge, I am ok with uploading a bad video.

Great stuff, you know you have to give us more 7-string  guitar goodness! I think it sounds pretty great, indeed these alt picking parts are tricky for both muting and getting the perfect coordination between the hands but that was great.

Offline Skeever

  • Posts: 2879
Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
« Reply #50 on: February 16, 2021, 06:47:37 AM »
Good job everyone! I've updated the frontpage with everyone's submissions.

 I've been spending at least 15-30 minutes of my hourly practice routine each day working on the solo, and it's been great dedicating at least part of my efforts to a stretching toward something that I've always considered "too hard" for me. Let's keep this going...

Week Three starts today. We'll keep it open ended again. I may continue polishing my Week Two submission... not sure yet.

Submissions due 2/22.

Offline Fiery Winds

  • DTF.org Alumni
  • ****
  • Posts: 2959
  • Gender: Male
Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
« Reply #51 on: February 16, 2021, 08:55:17 PM »
@Skeever, love that solo, and you've definitely got the foundation set, looking forward to seeing your progress! Glad I could inspire with my selection; at the start of this challenge I actually ran through the first half of the discography while at work and that solo just stood out to me.

@nikatapi, great work on those runs, it's a challenge syncing up both hands at those speeds!

@Vmadera, speaking of syncing up both hands, that sounded pretty good to me! Glad to see a 7-string as well, and as an aside, I'll just mention that ACOS is really fun to play.  ;D

@T-Ski, I think DT's greatest hit of all time (PMU) would be good place to start (intro to chorus at least).

Offline Lonk

  • DTF.org Member
  • *
  • Posts: 6005
Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
« Reply #52 on: February 17, 2021, 07:37:45 AM »
Great stuff, you know you have to give us more 7-string  guitar goodness! I think it sounds pretty great, indeed these alt picking parts are tricky for both muting and getting the perfect coordination between the hands but that was great.

@Vmadera, speaking of syncing up both hands, that sounded pretty good to me! Glad to see a 7-string as well, and as an aside, I'll just mention that ACOS is really fun to play.  ;D

Thanks! Glad to hear it doesn't sound as bad as I thought. I'm still trying to pick the next challenge, maybe ACOS will make an appearance...  :P
Vmadera has evolved into Lonk

Offline Skeever

  • Posts: 2879
Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
« Reply #53 on: February 17, 2021, 09:04:17 AM »
@T-Ski, I think DT's greatest hit of all time (PMU) would be good place to start (intro to chorus at least).

The only thing I would add is - don't feel like you need to learn any full songs. DT can be really tough with a lot of relatively easy songs still having some insanely challenging parts. Don't get snagged on thinking you have to learn any more than the parts that sound like a doable challenge for you, keep it fun without feeling unattainable.

Speaking from experience as someone who put down guitar for a long time (at least this style of playing) for reasons similar to the above.

Offline T-ski

  • Posts: 2914
Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
« Reply #54 on: February 17, 2021, 03:03:59 PM »
Thanks for the suggestions!
Is all that we see or seem, but a dream within a dream?

Offline Lonk

  • DTF.org Member
  • *
  • Posts: 6005
Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
« Reply #55 on: February 18, 2021, 05:32:12 PM »
Random question:

For these challenges, are we limited to DT material or are side/solo projects included? just wondering :justjen :huh:
Vmadera has evolved into Lonk

Offline Skeever

  • Posts: 2879
Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
« Reply #56 on: February 18, 2021, 06:55:49 PM »
Random question:

For these challenges, are we limited to DT material or are side/solo projects included? just wondering :justjen :huh:

I was thinking we should keep it to DT, since it's a DT-related challenge. But if you want to play something a DT member did on another album, I think that's OK. What does not feel as appropriate is playing something a non-DT member did on a DT adjacent side-project. So, for example, playing a JP lick from LTE or his solo album feels more "right" to me than playing a Roine Stolt part from the newest Transatlantic.

That said, if people want to try some new things after awhile, we could maybe broaden the challenge over that the Musician's sub. For now, though, I like considering this a "DT-related" challenge, rather than a general musicians one. I'm trying to keep it as broad as possible for all DT fans, so even someone who just started could feel comfortable sharing their progress on any part no matter how difficult as long as it's DT.

Offline Lonk

  • DTF.org Member
  • *
  • Posts: 6005
Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
« Reply #57 on: February 18, 2021, 07:20:17 PM »
Got it :tup makes sense, I was just wondering for the future. There's plenty of DT material I want to learn.
Vmadera has evolved into Lonk

Offline JiM-Xtreme

  • Posts: 506
  • Gender: Male
Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
« Reply #58 on: February 22, 2021, 01:48:05 PM »
Here's my submission for Week 3!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-jxkMfEor8&feature=youtu.be&ab_channel=JiM-Xtreme

The lesson for me this week was, not to be overly ambitious. Over the last couple of weeks I've had so many different ideas of what to present for this and in almost every case, I've really underestimated the amount of work I need to put in to get it up to recording standard, especially given such a short period of time. Initially I wanted to go on to the next section as part of this video, but considering how much I needed to practice just to get this riff as tight as it needed to be, I figured I had done enough here.

But I just want to repeat what I said about this last week (and will probably continue to repeat every time I upload something) that I am really happy that we're doing this as it's given me that motivation I need to practice regularly and not make excuses, even in spite of having a busy life and work commitments. I hope this can continue for a long time!  ;D

Offline RaiseTheKnife

  • Posts: 1600
Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
« Reply #59 on: February 22, 2021, 02:47:20 PM »
That was awesome, Jim, thanks for posting.  Love your bass sound.

Offline Skeever

  • Posts: 2879
Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
« Reply #60 on: February 22, 2021, 06:18:03 PM »
Good work, JiM! I think it sounded good and didn't seem like you were struggling at all.

I had a similar revelation to you. I did the same thing again, hoping to polish it more. But, it turns out, one week is not the difference between being able to play triplets and sextuplets at 130 BPM. I think overall I did a better job, but certainly one week (where maybe the solo takes up about 15-20 minutes of my daily routine) wasn't the difference between getting the solo from 75% to 100%.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrX4ivU34k8

Next week, I'm definitely going to go with something simpler. Maybe just a riff.

Offline Fiery Winds

  • DTF.org Alumni
  • ****
  • Posts: 2959
  • Gender: Male
Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
« Reply #61 on: February 22, 2021, 08:53:52 PM »
Great intro to Ytse Jam, JiM, really liked the tone.

@Skeever, you sound a lot more comfortable with the solo this week, nice work.

I can also 3rd the humbling experience, so I decided to stick with just a 7 measure section from Erotomania, one of my favorites I like to refer to as the Beethoven section:

https://youtu.be/RJFs4Jf5JTY

This took quite a bit of practice at 60-70% BPM in order to get smoothly transition from string to string ready to pull off with my pinky. Fortunately, I had plenty of time once I decided to scrap the insurmountable speed run leading up to it, let alone the ones after it.  :lol
« Last Edit: February 22, 2021, 09:02:03 PM by Fiery Winds »

Offline nikatapi

  • Posts: 1638
  • Gender: Male
Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
« Reply #62 on: February 23, 2021, 01:03:50 AM »
Love the work you people are doing, awesome playing by JiM-Xtreme, Skeever and Fiery Winds.
My attempt for the week is Barstool Warrior, with lots of mistakes in the transition of the riff, but i wanted to have something this week as well, so please be kind :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6Pl4TAmSmM

Offline Lonk

  • DTF.org Member
  • *
  • Posts: 6005
Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
« Reply #63 on: February 23, 2021, 07:04:42 AM »
Great job guys!

@Jim: Glad to see someone pulling out material from WDADU. sound good  :metal

@Skeever: Sounds good, sure improvement from last week  :metal

@Fiery Winds: Sounds good! Erotomania has some really cool parts and that's one of my favorites  :metal

@Nikatapi: Sounds great. I learned that riff when the album first came out and I remember playing it differently. I'll have to go back to it and check but sounds pretty good  :metal

No video for me this week  :\ Had a busy week with not enough time to record on the weekend. I practiced the "Heavy" part of Glass Prison's Restoration. Starting around 8:50 until right before the solo at 9:41. I started practicing just the ascending part of the pre-chorus, but realized how awesome that entire thing is. Hopefully I'll have a video for it for next week.
Vmadera has evolved into Lonk

Offline JiM-Xtreme

  • Posts: 506
  • Gender: Male
Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
« Reply #64 on: February 23, 2021, 11:56:46 AM »
Thanks a lot for the compliments guys, much appreciated! Love what you guys are doing also!

I'm already excited about my submission for next week and practice has begun  :tup

Offline Skeever

  • Posts: 2879
Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
« Reply #65 on: February 23, 2021, 02:06:33 PM »
Great stuff guys! I've updated the frontpage.

@Fiery Winds - Awake was my first DT album, with that solo in particular being a major "oh shit" moment for me  :lol

Offline Elite

  • The 'other' Rich
  • DTF.org Alumni
  • ****
  • Posts: 17544
  • Gender: Male
  • also, a tin teardrop
Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
« Reply #66 on: February 24, 2021, 12:21:06 PM »
I recorded something! (rough take, be warned)

I just need to find a way to show it to you guys, since I do not have a Youtube account (yet).



EDIT: Here it is! https://youtu.be/_w9CULxUEFQ
« Last Edit: February 24, 2021, 01:29:21 PM by Elite »
Hey dude slow the fuck down so we can finish together at the same time.  :biggrin:
Squ
scRa are the resultaten of sound nog bring propey

Offline nikatapi

  • Posts: 1638
  • Gender: Male
Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
« Reply #67 on: February 24, 2021, 02:57:20 PM »
That's some tight right hand technique!
Awesome work Elite!

Offline Lonk

  • DTF.org Member
  • *
  • Posts: 6005
Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
« Reply #68 on: February 24, 2021, 03:40:27 PM »
My forearm hurts just looking at it, nice jobs!
Vmadera has evolved into Lonk

Offline Fiery Winds

  • DTF.org Alumni
  • ****
  • Posts: 2959
  • Gender: Male
Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
« Reply #69 on: February 24, 2021, 08:50:20 PM »
@Nikatapi: Nice job, those weaving spider-like patterns JP likes to write are fun to play.

@Elite: Glad to have another weekly participant, and I think you've made up for the first couple weeks with that endurance run.  :metal