Episode 35 - The Backing Track Episode

0:00 Dude, when are we starting the only fans NCC dog you know? We got something similar coming, the only shred app. It's only shred. We'll just call it the NCC app I guess. All right, let's roll with that. We've combined Guitar Super System and the No Cover Charge podcast into one fateful, glorious community that you can download for free No Cover Charge.

0:20 We're going all the way, baby. We want you guys to have this community with us for everything we love about guitar, about music. We're talking lessons. We're talking gear. Giveaways. Giveaways, big time. Yeah. You want some free stuff? The concept of this episode is the backing track episode. There will be free backing tracks anybody can access. Just sign up for the app for free. I can't emphasize free no cover charge free free podcast is a no cover charge app.

0:47 Guitar fans only, guitar only shred. We tried all those different copyrights and they were all got denied so. We just went back to no cover charge. Yeah, let's just roll with the NCC app the. Pod is going to remain the same. They're going to still have interviews. It's like Zeppelin. Did the pod remains the same, the song remains the same, people, Everything you love is still here. We're just elevating it.

1:08 We're adding on. Wherever you want to nocovercharge.com. Join me, would you? Let's have some fun you. Going to make a profile dude. Yeah, dude, I'm literally going to come on here right now and and be like, hey man, I'm Jared. I'm from Wisconsin. I like. Here's my rig. So backing tracks is a lost art. I think, you know, sometimes you find the backing track from 2012, it's still the best one.

1:31 We need great backing tracks in our community. There's never enough of them. So that's what this episode is about. And we are going to create these backing tracks using Neural DSP plug insurance who are sponsoring this episode. Thank you to them. Use no cover charge to get a 30% discount on any Neural DSP plug in. Neural rules.

1:52 We're going to be making our own backing tracks in this episode, which we've already filmed. Spoiler alert. So this is a backing track that I've already made. Let me know what you think of this. I created it with the Tom Morello plug in OK. Let me hear it. You want me to just jam on it? Sure, I guess I don't know what's happening.

2:45 The pocket that's so awesome. You like that? When a backing track is inspiring, it pushes me to a new level and also it gets me excited because it actually feels like I'm playing real music. Sometimes with backing tracks, click it and it's MIDI. There's no groove. It's like there's nothing there to really latch onto. But with this, right away I was like, oh, like I didn't even know what was going to come and the changes, but I just kept feeling it.

3:14 And I was like, oh, oh, wait, it's going to the major. Another good thing about these backing tracks, when you do go to play over them, they're all over 10 minutes long, so you just go off into the ether and enjoy yourself. Without further ado, with the power of editing, we're going to go back in time and create all these backing tracks.

3:30 No covercharge.com/tracks to jam along. Get the app. So let me just do that nice and gentle. So Oh my God. See hey, anyone watching getting Jared? It's like a bull in a China shop around here. I'm looking out for the camera and then my liquid death is about to spill on this. I got the bullet today.

3:52 Come on dude, let's. Oh, I got a tone going, bro, A tone going. Sounds pretty cool, now I'm getting all warmed up. Sounds great. How much is this Cortana? New. Yeah, this was a student guitar, right? Yeah. I think I probably paid more for it now than it was somebody paid in 1983. Well, it's cool 'cause it's got the telly.

4:34 Neck. I know I've never seen anything like it. That weird little star there on the top. Thicker. It's a thick boy. We have a drum set up here, the Butch Vig drums. Love it. That's a good groove, right? Let's start, dude, I think just loop it like a million times for us, bro. Should we drop to you dude? Can you turn turn you up a little bit? I think space is the key.

5:17 So there's there's pockets of jam like what was like. Now send the D maybe like a give me your pick really quick. This is you never saw this but which is? Happening more and more. Maybe that's like our rhythm under sugar. Yeah, there you go. Take that thing. Ah, it burns. It burns. You want to play something on the top of that? We could do like four of those.

6:14 To the D maybe? Harmony. I like that. Do that again. One more round of those. Dude, what's cool about that? We're in that major thing. And then you can kind of mess around with that. What? What? How would you call that? Well, it's major to minor, just major to. Minor. Yeah, we should totally have something like that. I mean, that's that can be the verse and then maybe the chorus goes to something just straight up, you know, easy. I love that.

7:39 So much fun making tracks with your buddy because when you bounce things off each other I feel like. It streamlines it all. Yeah, because you ever get that where you're like, you're like lost in your own echo chamber and you're like, no, do it like this. And then someone else plays something, you go, wait a minute. That actually makes my part sound better. Do you want to play a bass?

7:55 Do you have a bass? Oh yeah, you got a bass in your bathroom? In the bathroom? I was like, yeah, there's like 3 bases in the bathroom. There's a bass in the bathroom. Hey, man, how about that bass that's in your bathroom? Listen, we love bass players, and we've been actually talking to some bass players trying to get some some bass love on the pod.

8:14 Yeah, we better take the basses out of the bathroom now when they come over. That's true. See. Dude it was already in drop D you. Know what I'm up to? Did you 2. 3. Yeah, give me one more. I'm just getting sick. Watch this slide. That's the P bass, man. Now, what could be really cool on this chorus and take it to another level?

9:13 Could you play like some open like like cleaner chords, like oh, by the way, with these jam tracks, please, when you get on the app, send us, show us what you're doing on these and also on social media, whatever, tag us. I want to hear you guys jam over this stuff because to me that's the best part is we make them and then you take them.

9:37 Only the vibe. It's actually funny because it's on its own. Way like surf. Yeah, it's kind of, I'm thinking of it barely there too. Yes, this. I could sit here for days, reflecting on days gone by. Reflecting on days gone. Paths. I just want to try something like a supplemental guitar part on the verses, and it's just going to be something that could kind of be really gnarly.

10:15 Oh my God, yeah, just do that. What about this one? That's cleaner. The. So that's good. Should we move on? I think so. New tempo, new guitars. Because I feel like in order to break the cycle, we got to just go away from what we just did. So if I play the Rick Graham signature model, does that mean I'll be able to play as fast as Rick? That's what he billed it as.

11:58 Yeah, that's what I saw in an ad. I mean, I feel like all of ours are going to have a bit of a rocker. Dude let's do it like a high tempo track though. What's the difference between a silver snark and a regular snark? Silver gets it in tune 1 cent better. Dude, I ain't going to lie, this ain't no I'm not trying to yell at Snark or any of these headstock companies, but one time I bought a Snark and I swear that they didn't too.

12:19 But it's actually working against you. Is that true? Yeah. And then every snark, snark, snark or come clean. Snark. Come clean snark. No, Dan Electro are the ones who make snarks, and Dan Electro's awesome. Steve. I love Steve. We're just kidding, snark. No snarks. We just like saying snark snark.

12:36 Hey, I was getting a little snarky, so here's the riff. Here's my riff. Oh, that's nice. Yeah. All right, let's just see what what comes out of you. Let's see what comes out of you, boy. My. Favorite producer prompt? Let's see what comes out. Don't forget this, because it took me a long time to figure this out. When you're jamming riffs, if something sounds lazy, it's probably because you're just dragging a little bit. I love to drag.

13:16 Like my favorite players drag and they play and they'd. Yeah, but sometimes with a riff you need to be warm too, beyond that beat. Beyond the Beat because it's for a backing track, so we want to provide the most neutral palette. Yeah, the most blank canvas possibly. Do you like some weird stuff?

13:40 Dude? This is a car, you motherfucker. I'm thinking about those Phrygian. You're a fucking genius dude. Can I play something kind of OK? This is weird. Can I this? Can I do? Can I do 1? This is so weird. Can you make it almost sound like a sitar? I need a sitar sound. Sitar. You guys, I am not on drugs.

14:17 Plenty. He kind of a, you know. Plenty sitar. Some sort of worldly type of man. Should we send him Adm? Hey plenty, Got any world tones brush? Plenty. Watch all the sudden it says world tone and it's exactly what we need. Twang Knight octave lead sounds. Like a weird acid trip. James Bond. Use that sound.

14:50 What were you playing exactly? E. Yep. C to B. That was the sound, right? OK, Jared, what are you doing? I'm trying to summon R2D2. Yeah. Yeah. Now this is weird, I know, but it's kind of like Halloween vibes now, just underneath. Like a little bit of like, hey, how you doing? You know what I mean? Hey, how you doing?

15:29 How? Many frets. Is this guitar dude? 24. Get the bass tone as disgusting as possible. Like fucking. Disgust. Dark glass is good, dude. The bass player shut up. Brian Weaver, We got him playing dark glass. I jammed with Rex Brown from Pantera. Right. Oh, watch your feet name dropping. And he had a dark glass pedal and I remember. Yeah, dude.

16:12 I'm in on the hell yeah. That's it, dude. That's that's catchy. I know. Why do you want to add any part on top of that of what I was doing there? Or do you just want to leave it raw? I think we leave that one raw because at the end of this video we should have our own little shreds over our like, of course that's going to happen. Maybe I'll build them in as we go through these. Music.

18:08 Let's go something chill. We need to do a chill zone dude. I like that. And it ends with that, Yeah. Maybe just like, let hang on that last one, hang on the last one, stay, stay on that left. And. Then go back and back, yeah. And that's the repeater. And then you do that descending thing to like tag it.

19:02 So we'll do this a few times, maybe 4 times through that whole thing, then check this out then, then I'll go. Boom boom boom. Jam, now you can even do that gravity tank. Put a little bit of vibrato on it. Come on, baby. A little stutter. And then and it's cold. It's a good one. What's the drum group?

20:29 Music and then in the high intensity. Perfect, babe. And also maybe one cool thing could be if you just want to go like you like over the top of that. Oh, that's nice. Hey, look at my faces. Yeah, dude. So what was the chords? So basically, if you want to be really, really rocking, you do like A.

21:00 Well, it's kind of like AB with an A with an A in the bass. OK, so I'll play. It's all about that little Ruby with that a. Add some. Oh I like adding that like. A little little fragile. Like a little eggshell. I just just like a little fragile small. Shell. That's cool. What are you doing is that?

21:37 Seconds. Play the game bro. Who are you? Who sent you here? I love it. I was going to say, if you want to, you go Blade. Do do, do, do do do do do do. Do you know what I'm saying? Like kind of follow the then I get a little melody on top. Or you just keep it Blade. That's what I'll do. Good. Got it. Try this.

22:29 Gorgeous. That's like raindrops falling on a. On on this part, you want to overdub that you said. Yeah, I just on the EI love this part you made dude, this one beautiful. And then I'm thinking like just like. Something like that. That works. We should add cords underneath. Literally just some big open up.

22:58 Maybe the hi hat hit a few splices. Keep everything rolling though, you know what I mean? Hi hat wide open. The. The. Music. What about something that's with that high hat but it's harmonized like? I got it all right, so check this out 1234. I'll be cleaner. Yeah, that's cool. Hey, could you change my tone a little bit from Yeah, maybe just like a little cleaner, not like crazy clean, but just like dirty clean.

26:35 You'll be kind of cool on this. What if? What if like the next section was more like bass influence with just those chords? Like like you were going like a just keep it open. How? About you do that and I'll go. Just let this ride out a little bit. You want to go to E minor. Sure. F and back down to the.

27:10 Let's make it modal. So let's make this like a Lydian, OK? And then to the F, so I could introduce that sharp 4 right here. And then to the F then yeah. Now we need a bass, and that'll be this track. Cool. Can I hear it really quick while we're while I'm basing out? Music. The. The. The. So now all these backing tracks are completed.

30:51 You saw a handful that we created here live for you, but you can bet we are creating many offline. And I think it's a lot of fun. And please comment as well what styles you guys want us to tackle because we're just having fun. We're just doing what's coming to us really naturally. And I feel like the Sky's the limit. So like, comment what you want to hear because we'll just make some super fun stuff.

31:13 We could do some heavy bluesy stuff. We should dip our toe into everything. It'll all be organized in the backing track section of the app, which you can find linked below. We haven't done some huge public release. We probably will roll it out slowly, but I mean, we're just trying to share what we love and, you know, keep supporting ourselves in the process to continue doing this.

31:36 So we appreciate you coming along for the journey. Download these backing tracks, jam with them for free and enjoy what's to come from the NCC. I'm excited dude.