NEW GUITAR!! Fingerstyle Requests - Episode 3

New Guitar: Taylor 914ce Builder Edition

Taylor sent me this brand spankin' new thing [914ce Builders Edition]. Best Taylor I've played by far! Speaks for itself throughout this whole clip.

This requests episode 3 post was an epic time investment. I'll go through my process below.

Time stamps:

00:00 • NEW GUITAR!

00:05 • 1. Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody

05:58 • 2. System of a Down - Question!

08:54 • 3. Gojira - Born in Winter

12:07 • 4. Metallica - Bleeding Me

15:03 • 5. Tommy Emmanuel Tribute - Ro's Medley

15:06 • • Freight Train (Tommy Tribute)

15:45 • • Blue Moon (Tommy Tribute)

16:41 • • Dixie McGuire (Tommy Tribute)

17:40 • • Angelina (Tommy Tribute)

18:06 • • Drivetime (Tommy Tribute)

18:40 • • Day-tripper (Tommy Tribute)

19:18 • • Gameshow Rag (Tommy Tribute)

19:57 • • Mr. Guitar (Tommy Tribute)

20:23 • • Amy (Tommy Tribute)

21:28 • • Stay Close To Me (Tommy Tribute)

22:40 • 6. Alice in Chains - Nutshell

25:11 • 7. Radiohead - Karma Police

28:49 • 8. Thirsty Merc - Summertime / 20 Good Reasons

31:28 • 9. Louis Armstrong - What a Wonderful World (improv)

34:17 • 10. Sleep Token - Atlantic

Making Requests Episode 3:

Song Selection:

I whittled about 150 requests down to these 10, based on what I felt made a decent contrasting song list and what sounded good on the 914. I intend on attending to a lot of the other requests down the track.

Some songs that JUST missed out, but I'll hopefully get to next time:

• Sevendust - Xmas Day 

• Massive Attack - Teardrop

• COG - The Middle

• Karnivool - Sky Machine

• Tool - Right in two 

• Periphery - “Any Periphery + "something off Periphery I”

• All Aussie adventures 

• Mudvanye - World So Cold

• Jinjer - Pisces 

• The Butterfly Effect - “More butterfly effect" x5 requests

• Portishead - Roads (BR Jürgen)

• Insecure - Tom Misch (@tzz89)

Every song followed this process:

1. Song familiarisation 

• I'll whack the request in a playlist and listen to it a 5-10 times until the melody becomes intuitive / naturally memorised, where I can sing most of it independently.

2. Figure it out

• Figure out the key, the easiest and most complimentary way to play it (ie. transpose a song that's made in A♭ to G).

• Usually work out the chord progression first. It's like the pizza base. Melody second.

3. Draft Recordings

• I'll practice the song into shape and record a new mp3 draft using iPhone voice memo's. Each song usually ends up with about 10 drafts.

• When its feeling ready, I'll often practice the song about 10 times before I start filming / recording.

4. Record + Film

• Pro Tools: I've created a template that has 4 tracks set up (2 paired tracks for 2 mics, an extra 2 for editing). Main plugin used for acoustic = Ezmix 3 (select 'acoustic guitar 1 or 2).

• Record using a Rode NT55 pointed at the 12th Fret and Rode NT1 to capture the sound hole / body.

• Filmed with a Sony HDR-AS50 and an iPhone 16 using filmic pro.

5. Edit

• Audio vs Mp4 stitch (currently using Movavi Video Editor but move between programs all the time).

• Bit of a cheeky colour grade.

Allow to cool before serving.

Repeat process on next track.

All in all, it can take anywhere between 2hrs (ie what a wonderful world) to a full day (Bohemian Rhapsody) on a single song.

If you made it this far, kudos!

Looking forward to chipping away at the next one.

Cheers.

Ro.