Home › Forums › Active Melody Member Challenge Response Submissions › March 2020 Challenge – by Sunjamr Steve
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March 26, 2020 at 5:15 pm #164429
It’s 11:00 AM March 27 here in New Zealand, so maybe I’ll be the first to post this month, since the rest of you are still living in March 26 thanks to the International Date Line. I’m hoping we get a lot of submissions this month, since most of us have plenty of time to listen to all of them….several times over. I’m looking forward to it.
This month I was inspired by Brian’s latest lesson, EP353, so I decided to do something similar, but with a different song. On the “Eat a Peach” album, Little Martha was played as a duet by Duane Allman and Dicky Betts, so I decided to learn both parts and play it as a duet with myself. You would think that would be easy, but you would be wrong. Try it sometime. Then I discovered that the original recording had a bass track, and it was included on the less well known “Dreams” album. So my good neighbor Wally Dave agreed to lay down a bass track for me, even as we maintained our required social distancing. The song is played in open E tuning, which I had never tried before. At first it was kind of weird learning new fingering, but now I kind of like that tuning, and I plan to delve into it a bit more later on.
Sunjamr Steve
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March 26, 2020 at 5:32 pm #164430
Very very nice, it was great to listen to,had to play it twice. That mini Taylor looks almost as good as my mini Maton!
Brendan
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March 26, 2020 at 6:19 pm #164434
Looks like a huge amount of work went into that. Lovely to hear your self-duet on the mini GS, thanks for getting my day off to a very bright and breezy start.
Jonathan Amos, Matsuyama, Japan
The farther one travels the less one knows.
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March 26, 2020 at 6:27 pm #164435
First of all, my wife and I just watched this through and I have to say this:
1) Your song choice is impeccable (my favorite of all time).
2) You play it wonderfully/split screen is so complimentary.
3) The bassist nails this b/c the dude can play and he knows how to be an ensemble player and not take over.What a great production. Total joy to listen to. Thank you for sharing.
John
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March 26, 2020 at 6:33 pm #164436Anonymous
Well done Steve. Excellent finger style control…nicely syncopated and very fluid.
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March 26, 2020 at 6:51 pm #164437
Nicely performed Steve, yes its hard playing any duet…you aced it!!! Beautiful!
Wish You Were Here
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March 26, 2020 at 7:21 pm #164438
That was wonderful. One of my favorite ditties that they put on that album. Your playing was inspiring and the bass player was an excellent addition.
I had to go and listen to the original after listening to yours.
https://crowssayveeeh.bandcamp.com/
https://soundcloud.com/kevin-emmrich -
March 26, 2020 at 7:24 pm #164439
Wow Steve you’ve come an awful long way at AM. You should be justly proud of your achievements.
JohnStrat -
March 26, 2020 at 8:19 pm #164441
Played so melodically and gently.
The listening invites to dream.Blue
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March 27, 2020 at 2:11 am #164450
I can’t decide what I’m more impressed with, the playing or the video skills. As one who has only recently entered the realm of video production and experienced great problems with this month’s challenge I marvel at how slick the visual element of your submission is. I then had to listen again to concentrate on the playing. I have not come across this song before and therefore had no yardstick against which to judge it but the subtle interaction of fingering in the two solos was very good and, as John H stated, your bass player pal did a great job. This, for me, was a great way to start my AM challenge reviews. Thank you and stay safe.
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March 27, 2020 at 2:21 am #164452
What a great creative performance!!!
Dieter
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March 27, 2020 at 2:44 am #164466
Wow this was really really amazing!!
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March 27, 2020 at 3:21 am #164477
Hiya Steve
this is really good excellent……….
…………..Hope you are making an album soon………..
you have talents Steve………..stay safe friend………….
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March 27, 2020 at 3:30 am #164480
Beautiful, Steve! Last year I was very often enough on the Allmann Brothers wave. Nice to hear so stylish playing again.
Take care, friend!
Lights. -
March 27, 2020 at 4:18 am #164489
Take a bow Steve and please give your pal Wally a rise. Beautifully played, a wonderful production and a big thanks for all that work.
Richard
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March 27, 2020 at 5:45 am #164516
Beautifully done Steve and Wally. I have always loved that recording. That was a real project, Steve. Is there a link for tabs or a video for that, it’s something I would love to learn at some point.
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March 27, 2020 at 7:16 am #164539
Top notch all around. Love that song. Playing both parts and venturing into open tuning is a challenge indeed. Great project and a joy to listen to.
James
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March 27, 2020 at 8:08 am #164560
I agree with everything you said, very impressive piece of work and he made it look quite easy. But then again, I alw3ays think Brian’s look easy. Really talented people have a knack at that. I am interested in hearing about what you got for production purposes. Is it user friendly and extremely affordable? I don’t even want to spend as much time editing as I do the music itself.
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March 27, 2020 at 8:24 am #164569
The votes appear to be in…..It’s unanimous ! All-Star performance contained herein.
Thanks for the treat, Steve.Marty
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March 27, 2020 at 10:10 am #164592
Superb production quality and playing Steve. Your tones are lovely. Thank you for all the time and effort you put into this for listeners’ enjoyment. Hide
Hidetada Shimizu
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March 27, 2020 at 10:45 am #164629
Nice finger picking and I really enjoyed the video!
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March 27, 2020 at 10:52 am #164634
You’re definitely one of our more ambitious members Steve. Venturing into open tunings must be like starting all over again? Enjoyed this.
Rob -
March 27, 2020 at 11:36 am #164673
Fantastic job on this classic piece. Precise playing and great video and sound production.
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March 27, 2020 at 11:44 am #164679
Wonderful! I enjoyed listening very much.
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Thanks Thomas -
March 27, 2020 at 12:18 pm #164695
Kudos to you and Wally for a wonderful sound Steve!! Nicely put together and in sync! Not easy to do! Again,great job from the both of you guys!!……Sal
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March 27, 2020 at 2:30 pm #164738
It’s a very cool production Steve; completely new from Brian’s basic idea. I cannot recognize the track. The reduction with the bass is also great. You played wonderfully and created a very nice video; the software is definitely Final Cut. You are very creative my friend.
Play guitar just like you live; don't get bogged down in theory, it's just a tool without feeling.
Wilfried
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March 27, 2020 at 2:41 pm #164746
Thanks for all the kind comments everyone. Some people asked about the video production. I used Final Cut Pro X, which is based on iMovie, but to me is easier to use in the long run. I think it cost about $150 US when I bought it, maybe a bit more now. There is a learning curve on it, but thankfully there are many Youtube tutorials on every aspect of it. This video took me about 20 -30 minutes to make, and much of that time was just thinking and trying stuff out to see how it would look. For example, there are maybe 50 different color and lighting tweaks you can use, and I finally chose a sepia shade because the sunlight had come in through the window and made some unpleasantly bright spots on the video. That sort of thing.
The audio went: Taylor GS Mini pickup to Scarlett Focusrite audio interface to MacBook with Logic Pro X. I used 3 tracks, one for each guitar, and one for the bass. My idea was to turn on one of the built-in drum tracks and use that kind of as a metronome, then just delete that track. But I found it too distracting, so in the end I just started playing the first guitar part as steadily as I could. After adding in Wally Dave’s bass track MP3, I exported the whole audio as an MP3.
The video was shot on my iPhone, as usual. The iPhone picks up the sound from my studio monitors (which are connected to the Scarlett interface) pretty well. Then I brought all 3 video clips into Final Cut Pro and lined them up one on top of the other using the audio waveform peaks. Finally I brought in my audio MP3 from Logic Pro and lined it up with the same audio peaks. Then I mute the audio from all video clips, scale and crop the 3 videos, put a vignette effect onto each, and it’s all done.
So if you are thinking of ramping up your video skills, what better time is there than now? You can still buy the software, since you just download it. If you don’t have Apple stuff, I would recommend using Adobe Premier Elements for video editing, and either Cubase or Ableton for audio production. I think Ableton is now more widely used than Cubase, and there are lots of Youtube tutorials on it also.
Sunjamr Steve
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March 27, 2020 at 2:56 pm #164762
Outstanding showcase of skills, Steve! Wonderful song choice, incredible performance by both you and Wally, very tasty video editing – simply delightful to watch and listen to! Thank you, Steve, you are a great inspiration to me!
🎸JoLa
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March 27, 2020 at 4:35 pm #164824
Steve, you always have a pleasant surprise up your sleeve ! Duet with yourself plus a bass – pretty cool.
Cheers, Peter
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March 27, 2020 at 5:39 pm #164890
Amazing that you were able to do this Steve! Well done! I wore that record out back in the day so I know the song well. – Bret
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March 27, 2020 at 6:36 pm #164909
Well that turned out nicely! Amazed at the nice tones from the mini.
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March 27, 2020 at 7:16 pm #164931
I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed that, Steve. Brilliant song choice and playing. An Excellent showcase of talent. That was fantastic to watch and listen to.
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March 27, 2020 at 8:54 pm #164968
You did great Steve, nice duet and great tone.
AndreM
AndréM
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March 27, 2020 at 9:44 pm #165027
Just fantastic Steve. Always look forward to see what you put together.
Very entertaining. -
March 27, 2020 at 10:05 pm #165056
nice going here Steve Sunjamr,, a favorite here too! nice and clean both on tab..enjoyed!
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March 27, 2020 at 11:07 pm #165092
Very very nice Steve. Great job..
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March 28, 2020 at 3:57 am #165160
Great performance, Steve! Sounds really very nice. To add the bass was a good idea, too.
Eric
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March 28, 2020 at 4:14 am #165168
Oh yes, truly excellent performance Steve. Not heard this song before but will have to look it out.
I listened to that through headphones and the balance of the two guitars was and the bass was excellent. Really felt like I was listening to a live performance. -
March 28, 2020 at 4:49 am #165182
Yep a fine production and performance I had to grab a second listen . Well played
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March 28, 2020 at 6:44 am #165239
Very cool idea Steve, the duel video creates a chorus effect. Played both very clean with precision timing…and love the GS Mini, I have that same guitar…
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March 28, 2020 at 8:02 am #165311
Hi Steve.
This one is a fantastic play and production, (not surprising coming by you) but I noticed a hard noise on it.
Is it done intentionally?rgds
David B. -
March 28, 2020 at 8:19 am #165324
Great playing, Steve.
I was not familiar with this song but now I have put it on my list of songs to learn.Thanks for sharing.
Wim.
Wim
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March 28, 2020 at 9:12 am #165348
Great production all round. Duets are an accomplishment in itself but when it is with yourself even more so. Nice bass work there too. Really taken by this tune, so I have already googled it. Thanks for introducing it here.
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March 28, 2020 at 9:17 am #165353
Hi Steve.
This one is a fantastic play and production, (not surprising coming by you) but I noticed a hard noise on it.
Is it done intentionally?rgds
David B.Hi … forget about the noise … for some reason my sound card was adding this but only to certain youtube videos… after resset… all is ok… and your submission sounds fantastic
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March 28, 2020 at 12:18 pm #165465
Very very well done, Steve! A great song, amazing playing and a great split screen video to watch on top.
Wonderful!
Regards,
PatrickPatrick
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March 28, 2020 at 12:47 pm #165499
Wow Steve, your production skills are every bit as polished as your playing, a most enjoyable listening and viewing experience, well done!!!
Scott
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March 28, 2020 at 2:30 pm #165629
Always the most creative and inspiring Steve. It’s beautifully played and the video/audio explanation is really useful. Thanks.
Martyn -
March 28, 2020 at 4:18 pm #165746
Superbly done Steve. Inspirational playing and videography! Nice to see Big Dave in the mix.
Let’s keep working on the Deep Purple & ZZ Top tracks. I’d love to surprise people with those once we nail them when we can finally get together again.
Makes me realize how precious band practice is!
Stay well and #stayhome
Be kind to yourself (especially when you're trying to play this instrument!)
Brian Clough“Got a lotta sinful ideas but they seem kinda sensible” Jim Casy the ex-preacher in The Grapes Of Wrath
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March 28, 2020 at 8:12 pm #165921
Very nice job Steve, I always enjoy your submissions. And your Videos never cease to knock my socks off. I’m just starting to try and learn Ableton Live Intr 10.1 I’ve had it for about a week now and it’s not easy but I’d love to be able to do what you do with it. I’m using MOTU M2 2×2 USB-C Audio Interface as well. Anyway, Excellent job on your submission.
Paddyboy PatALL IT TAKES TO WRITE A SONG IS........3 CHORDS AND THE TRUTH!
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March 28, 2020 at 9:35 pm #165971
Fantastic playing and sound, Steve. Hard to add to all of the great comments above. Kudos to both of you guys and to another top-notch Sunjamr production.
Larry -
March 29, 2020 at 7:35 am #166227
Sweet Melissa, Jessica and this, three of the most amazing songs ever. I have friends whose kids are named after these songs. Excellent job, standing O.
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March 29, 2020 at 10:16 am #166412
Wonderful Steve
Don Mati -
March 29, 2020 at 10:31 am #166427
Nice and mellow very smoothly done
You nearly had me resetting my Bluetooth earbuds I thought I’d dropped the left channel at first 🙂
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March 30, 2020 at 12:55 am #167142
What a beautiful production! Superb playing, and the Taylor sounds so sweet! Nice bass lines too.
Israel
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March 30, 2020 at 2:55 am #167165
Excellent, Steve! Terrific playing, sound and production.
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March 30, 2020 at 3:02 am #167168
I am impressed Steve. Playing a duet with yourself is no easy feat per se, but adding an unfamiliar tuning to it AND making that whole package sound so well is quite an achievement. The beautiful tone of your Baby Taylor surprises me every time. Great production!
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March 30, 2020 at 5:41 am #167208
Hello again — listened again — still super wonderful.
I took your advice and re-did my video by making the audio part just one file, voila, fixed!!! Thanks for the advice. (of course, I deleted my old video, breaking the link in my original post — whoops!)
https://crowssayveeeh.bandcamp.com/
https://soundcloud.com/kevin-emmrich -
March 30, 2020 at 11:17 am #167327
Very clever Steve – you always do such quality work. I’ve always wanted to learn both parts to that one.. you’ve inspired me to do so. Thanks for sharing man!
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March 30, 2020 at 6:25 pm #167433
Really enjoyed that piece and all of the time you and your neighbour put into getting that together. Well played and I look forward to the next!
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