Tomorrow is the 31st of July. So I’ve made the July video with plenty of time to spare. That’s the lie I’m telling myself at least. I am very much behind the eight ball here. July absolutely got away from me. But never fear, I am determined to not let the July edition of the monthly guitar riff video challenge define me. No … My inability to defeat the dredded migraine monster is what will define me. But that’s another story for another time. It’s probably a story for another place too. Migraines aren’t very metal at all.
Riffage! Let’s see what July brought!
Not much. That’s the honest answer. Sorry if you clicked through from the home page to discover that disappointing bit of information. I’m not sure what it was, but I wasn’t feeling anything overly intricate when putting together this month’s video riff. Keeping the video challenge in mind though, this month’s more vanilla riffage may be an acceptable outcome. If I do manage to combine a few different monthly riffs into one track, then this month’s creation may fit nicely between two otherwise more epic pieces. Time will tell.
Another thing that I discovered in this month’s challenge was the effect lighting has on guitar videos. Since June, I’ve purchased some very cheap affordable, but seemingly decent, studio lighting for my guitar room. The lighting use is something I’ll have to work on. You’ll notice in one section of my video—I’m talking to the two people who watch the video—that the lighting is reflected in the paintwork of the guitar body. On the bright side, it seems I keep my guitar relatively clean. On the opposite of the bright side—whatever that equates to—the reflection of the studio lighting annoys me greatly. I’ll try much harder to not have that appear in the August video.
I think I struggled a bit with the video/audio syncing this month too—seeing as how I’m being honest and open here. The multiple angles and layering of video was testing the RAM capacity on my computer. I was sure I had everything lined up. Then I exported the video and became disappointed.
I’m really selling this month’s video aren’t I?!
The video contains colour and guitar playing. It features distortion too. There we go. Interest regained for sure.
Oh, one thing that added to my lateness of content in July was the pickup you may notice in my Notcaster. That bridge pickup is from FU-Tone and is honestly an amazing pickup. The pickup deserves a better demonstration video and I’m honestly going to attempt that. The pickup responds beautifully to the volume control on the guitar and has an amazing sound when applied to brutal distortion—which happens to be my favourite thing to do on the guitar. Check the part of the video where I dial the volume up and you will hopefully see/hear what I’m talking about.
A HUGE shoutout to Lisa Matthews for making this pickup land in my lap. Lisa won a competition on Twitter and deemed me worthy of her prize. Lisa is one of my favourite people on Twitter and it was an honour to have been chosen by her to accept the prize she so clearly deserved. If you’re on Twitter and you’re not following Lisa, you may just need to question your interest in the guitar. Just sayin’.
Enough typing. Let’s get to the video. Enjoy.