How do you virtually jam?

[Iheartbacon]

Just curious, but I am wondering how you guys approach your contributions here in the Virtual Jam Room.

Do you treat it like a real jam session, think about what you want to play a little bit, hit record and see what you get from improvising?

Do you practice a bunch, then record a bunch of takes until you get a good one to post?

Do you script out a solo and practice before recording it?

Do you do it all in a single track, or do you do a lot of editing in the DAW, mixing licks from different takes, moving things, re-recording etc?

 

[Ted_Zeppelin]

I listen to what everyone else has done on the track to get a general feel for the track. From there I just load the track into Reaper and start recording. I rarely keep my first attempt but you never know when the right inspiration will strike. I would say that 70- 80% of mine are one take but there have been several occasions where I have spliced together multiple takes. I don’t worry too much about what tone patch I use since I can go back afterward and change the take to any patch I want, although I try to get something close to what the track asks for. I cannot script our solos. For me, memorizing something just leads to the frustrations of messing it up. The downside is that I tend to play licks and phrases that are familiar to me but I just don’t seem to have the mental capacity to play solos from memory. I have posted things anywhere from my first take to some that I fought with for 15-20 takes.

 

[PapaRaptor]

Just curious, but I am wondering how you guys approach your contributions here in the Virtual Jam Room.
Do you treat it like a real jam session, think about what you want to play a little bit, hit record and see what you get from improvising?

Sometimes. I'll frequently listen a couple times and then just let it fly.

Do you practice a bunch, then record a bunch of takes until you get a good one to post?

Sometimes. If I'm having a 'fingers aren't doing what I want them to do' day, I'll record until I finally have something I'm relatively happy with. If I screw the pooch on the very last note, I do it all over again.

Do you script out a solo and practice before recording it?

No. However, I have been known to play along with an entire 10+ minute track, just to get a feel for what I want to condense down into 24~36 bars. I guess that could be considered scripting.
Usually, it's just set up my DAW to punch-in record a few bars ahead of where I need to be and let 'er rip.

Do you do it all in a single track, or do you do a lot of editing in the DAW, mixing licks from different takes, moving things, re-recording etc?

Yes and no. I always do a straight take and don't recall having ever spliced any material together in a solo. I record two tracks simultaneously. One is a stereo patch through my Eleven Rack. The other is a dry recording that is just the raw guitar input before 11r does anything with it. That way, if the modeled signal from the 11r doesn't sound good to me after I record, I still have the entire solo and several other tools available to try and achieve the sound I think I want.

The only time I ever splice or cut and paste in a jam track is if I'm making one from scratch, where I'll make a bass loop and use it more than once.

 

[Elwood]

Interesting question! and a great time to thank Papa and everyone who posts starters and keeps the VJR alive!!! Good work and much appreciated!!!!

1) Not "real" jam, but yeah- kinda, sometimes a post will trigger some kind of recall and playing a few notes to a familiar background, just feels good.

2) Don't practice what I'm posting to VJR, but sometimes I record it over and over until I'm sure it won't get any worse (my better efforts usually are from less effort).

3) Wouldn't know how to script out a solo. I'll leave that to others. I need my time to play.

4) single track yes, for recording. I do too much editing in Reaper (for my current skill set). Especially with an acoustic, I just can't stop until it sounds like a junk guitar in a big empty hall, so far. re-record, guilty as charged. Moving licks, mixing from different takes??? ha ha ha ha ha, I mean !!!! You got Fred Flintstone driving a Lamborghini here. I am doing good to patch a track into the vjr without adversely affecting the pooch. I do make copies of my one track and pan it and do other magic stuff, EQ it until unequal and compress it mercilessly, add reverb, then limit it if the urge strikes. I really don't even know what a "tone patch" is, I don't think I have any. Unless the simulator settings on my superchamp 2 are patches.

I do enjoy hearing what other have done (not starting off of course) and recalling what I may have heard done in similar musical conditions and trying to enjoy the fantasy of playing guitar with a combo. I never played guitar with a group so this is a new view of what is sometimes an old road. I am still amazed at how recording, even in solitude, help me to play lousy. And in this regard the computer is a disappointing as it is with many other important tasks we allocate to them. Playing in a jam, the best fun I remember is the synergy, reacting to what another has done sure, you can do that with vjr.....they ain't gonna re-act back. So you get as close as you might get with a machine.

Still it is good fun and a chance for those who don't get out to play along.


and then ramblings from the wandering mind....
I wonder if we could swap segments, like call and response, between players in the vjr?
I wonder how long you guys "hold a track" while recording? I know when things are not really perking, or when Reaper is no being kind to me, time flies by. As soon as I think of the time, I really play and mix bad.
I wonder if you guys have any trouble with levels? some times the tracks are so hot I have a hard time getting audible without saturation (I know, learn more)
I assume when you do your addition to the vjr track everyone leaves what they download untouched except for their addition. Is that correct?

 

[PapaRaptor]

and then ramblings from the wandering mind....
II wonder if we could swap segments, like call and response, between players in the vjr?

If I recall correctly, it has been tried without much success in the past. That doesn't mean it can't be tried again!

I wonder how long you guys "hold a track" while recording? I know when things are not really perking, or when Reaper is no being kind to me, time flies by. As soon as I think of the time, I really play and mix bad.

When the VJR was first started, it wasn't unusual for someone to hold a track for up to 24 hours, although there would usually be some bitching and moaning if it went much over 8 hours. Honestly, the recording technical skill level at this point is much higher than it was when the VJR was in its infancy.
I like to get in and get out. I'll d/l a track without posting that I'm recording and fool around with it for a while. Once I have something recorded I think might be a keeper, I'll check and see if anyone else has snagged it in the meantime. If no one else has laid claim, I'll put up a recording message and finish doing any production work I might want to do. If someone else beats me to it, oh well, I'll either do it again or take my contribution and move it to the end of theirs. It's no big deal. It works for me.

I wonder if you guys have any trouble with levels? some times the tracks are so hot I have a hard time getting audible without saturation (I know, learn more)

Not usually. The problem with a lot of canned jam tracks is they are mastered and 'all the cracks are filled,' meaning the levels are bumped about as high as they can go. That doesn't leave much dynamic space for a solo. For the starter tracks I put up, I try to remember to make sure the levels don't exceed -6db, which leaves plenty of room for a solo over the top. I don't always remember to check it before I upload, but if you see a hand-me-down track from a previous contributor with the backing section filling the entire graphic display, don't be shy about knocking the entire track down so there is at least 3db of headroom before saturation (6db is probably better).

I assume when you do your addition to the vjr track everyone leaves what they download untouched except for their addition. Is that correct?

I don't alter the sonics, but I will reduce the overall level of a track if it is too hot when I get it.

 

[Elwood]

that is very helpful stuff Papa!!!

 

[Iheartbacon]

Great answers so far! I will add that one of the few I have done so far was too hot for me to manage so I knocked it down a bit. There was room, but not enough, and it took me too long to figure out what the issue was and how to fix it. That won’t be an issue next time, but I think I also need to learn to limit and adjust levels of my own track better. Slowly climbing the learning curve.

 

[Many Moons]

Once I have something recorded I think might be a keeper, I'll check and see if anyone else has snagged it in the meantime. If no one else has laid claim, I'll put up a recording message and finish doing any production work I might want to do. If someone else beats me to it, oh well, I'll either do it again or take my contribution and move it to the end of theirs. It's no big deal. It works for me.

Ditto. I used to try several takes and then pick the best one, but recently I have just jammed along with the remaining time on the jam track, then downloaded it and stuck my effort on.

 

[artyman]

I usually download the track into Audacity then add a track for my solo and hit record, I mostly play along until just before I should start, so that I get a feel, mostly just one take, I'm not that ambitious, if it is absolute rubbish I'll go again. I may adjust volumes in places on my track if I think it needs it, I also then check to see if anyone has jumped in then post a recording message, and then do my saving of files and uploading to dropbox stuff before posting the link.

 

[CaptainMoto]

I give it a listen, load it up and play along.
If it a new track and I'm up first, I just go with what ever inspires me at the moment.
If I'm following somebody,, they generally set the mood and I try not veer too far away from that but, yet want to make my contribution my own.
I don't spend much time at all recording, if what I played sounds terrible, I'll go for a re-do.
Once in a while if I'm trying something more intricate, I'll go back and fix small section before I send it off.
My guess is, from download to upload time, It's usually about 10 min, that includes copying to DropBox and creating posting the link.

 

[Norfolk Bill]

yep same as most,,listen to the last 20 secs of whats been done ,,and just press record,,unless a major mess up, thats what i post,,

 

[JPsuff]

I give it a listen, load it up and play along.
If it a new track and I'm up first, I just go with what ever inspires me at the moment.
If I'm following somebody,, they generally set the mood and I try not veer too far away from that but, yet want to make my contribution my own.
I don't spend much time at all recording, if what I played sounds terrible, I'll go for a re-do.
Once in a while if I'm trying something more intricate, I'll go back and fix small section before I send it off.
My guess is, from download to upload time, It's usually about 10 min, that includes copying to DropBox and creating posting the link.

I do it pretty much the same way except that I don't care much for editing.

I generally like to play a solo "front to back" without any adjustments.
I sometimes nail it on the first try, but mostly I do about three takes and pick the one I like best.

Jimmy Page said he did it that way.
I think it's a good approach because three of anything offers a tiebreaker and more than three just confuses the issue.

 

[gpower]

When I did a few, way back, I'd find the spot where the next player jumps in, then go back hit record,and play along to get a feel for the rhythm and timing, then dive in the deep end as I got to the open slot. We did try a version of Soulshine once. At the end Warren Haynes, Derek Trucks, and Trey Anastasio swap lines... We're not them.. I'll leave it at that...