Red Zone

Hey Rip, ...this has a great feel to it.  It's wonderfully arranged and mixed.  Your guitar playing has terrific tone & I really like your lines.  (My minor nit is that on the coda I kept expecting some searing guitar.)  This piece kept my attention throughout -- one of the best guitar pieces I've heard on this forum in quite awhile !!
 
Allan
=-=-=
 

The guitar sounds great!  I have a question:  do you plan out in your mind a map of where you're going to take the song before you record ( i mean the solo) or do you improvise on the spot?

Really nice guitar playing. I mean... really nice. Love your tone, expression, musicality. And I really like the tune.
 
Since I'm a horn player, I'm not digging the horns too much. I'm totally nit-picking, and probably most people wouldn't notice. I like analog synth "horn" patches that don't try to sound like the real thing, but produce the vibe with that fat analog synth sound (think Van Halen's "Jump," even though that might not be the best example). And I like sampled horns done with wind controllers and filters that shape the tone (not just dynamics) in a realistic, musical way. I'm being picky 'cause I'm a sax player -- but imagine a sax player trying to play a guitar sample through an amp simulator and kinda, but not quite, getting it.
 
I hope I don't sound to picky on the horns, but that's my thing. :-) Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Very gratifying for it to be well received. 
 

eph221
The guitar sounds great!  I have a question:  do you plan out in your mind a map of where you're going to take the song before you record ( i mean the solo) or do you improvise on the spot?

I composed the head riff. The rest is improved. I usually do a couple of passes and choose which take I prefer. I might use one take for one progression, another for the bridge etc. I don't comp in a section if I can avoid it. Rather just do another pass if I don't feel it's happening.
 

hornplayer
 
I hope I don't sound to picky on the horns, but that's my thing. :-) Thanks for sharing!

Not nit picking at all hornplayer! I hear what your saying on the horns. Have great respect for what a live section can bring. Some good suggestions.

Bob Oister
 
Really good stuff, and welcome to the Songs Forum!
 

Thank you Bob. Look forward to being a part of this great community.

dcumpian
 I would maybe drop the tribal toms now and again just to give the song some space. 
 
Regards,
Dan

Good point Dan. I might have to revisit that.
 
Thanks everyone,
Rip
 

That's very kind of you Larry. I do love these streets. Very intense and yet still a great neighborhood with some amazing people. 

First off Rip, welcome to the forum.  Thanks for making your debut with this terrific, driving guitar piece.  Really nice playing there.  My only suggestion would be to back off the heavy percussion some to give the rest of the track a little more room to work.

Welcome some nice playing on this have to agree that backing the drums off would work well, possibly even a breakdown section to expose that guitar tone.
 
Thanks for sharing.

Welcome to the forum!  Excellent number with some great chops.  I agree with the above comments concerning the drums.  They do compete a bit with the guitar in places.
 
Nice one!!

Great tune, I really enjoyed it.  The groove/main hook is big and catchy.  The lead guitar lines are plowing along yet still sound a bit relaxed, which aint easy to do!   
 
Mix/arrangement-wise I agree with the above about adding some dynamics to the drums by having them back down in spots.   But personally, I would also add some presence to the lead guitar parts so they ride just a bit more above the powerful backing tracks - they deserve just a tad bit more IMO.  
 

Yeah, I'm enjoying this too. A nice instrumental piece. Not a big fan of brass in rock tunes but they are not a turn off either.
 
How did you produce this? Sounds like a recorded band but there's so much great stuff you can do "in the box" now that you just never know for sure. The guitar is obviously proper guitar, so did you mic up your amp or DI?
 
Purple Sneakers was a fun ditty
 
cheers
 
andy

Sweet.  Definitely reminds me of walking through a big city on a hot night.
 
I have to agree with the horns though, they seem a little lackluster compared to the rest of the instruments' energy.  But I couldn't tell you how to make them punchier.  Having said that, it was the brass line that I was "bah-bah-bah' ing" after the song ended...