This is an old song I have been working on for a long time. I recently re-amped the guitar part with the Axe-fx and added the tasteful keyboard parts by Ben Martin-Peddey.

Chords (with Ben Martin-Peddey)

Hi - this is just an excerpt of me playing an excerpt from the Kurt Elling tune "Where I Belong" through the axe-fx.

Amp model: "TX Clean" (aka Lonestar) 
Spkr cab:  F150 1x12 Shadow Mix (TAF) 

( I tried a lot of different cabs, but this one works best for me - it's actually the C90 cab that's meant for the Lonestar)

WhereIbelong - ToneTestOnly

This is my entry into the JTC Guitar Solo Contest for 2015. Check it out, and hit the "Rate" button (if you feel so inclined). 

https://jamtrackcentral.com/jtcguitarsolocontest2015/entry/1584/

Also, any comments or critiques you have would be most welcome. 

Cheers,
Judd.

JTC  Solo Contest 2015 - Judd Niemann

God Bless the Child, by Billie Holiday.
   
   Dan Harvey: Vocals,Drums
(https://soundcloud.com/danharveymusic)
   Judd Niemann: Guitar



God Bless The Child (feat. Dan Harvey)

Yardbird Suite, by Charlie Parker
fast / 280 bpm
Judd Niemann, guitar (Ibanez af207-bs)
Axefx II XL

There is also a Youtube video of this here: https://youtu.be/40i0xnwVCKc


Yardbird Suite

This is a Jam over a "Lowdown" - style groove which I often use as a warm-up, or for practicing ideas.

In this version, I am playing around with the 50w Plexi model on the Axe-Fx, which I really enjoy. This particular jam was recorded using the version 19b1 axefx firmware, which unfortunately doesn't sound as good as the previous version  (18.12), but I didn't realize that until I had tracked it. (Apparently, the good sound is back again in 19b2, but I haven't tried that one yet ...)

Like A Boz 2015 - Plexi Jam

Short Tone test of 50w Plexi in AxeFX fw18.12


LikeABoz 2015 - 05 - 17 -FW18.12

Yardbird Suite, by Charlie Parker
at a nice leisurely tempo of 190bpm.

Youtube video of this available here: https://youtu.be/EKcTRQzBZ1w


Yardbird Suite (slow)

This is a cover of the Jessie J tune "Price Tag" which we play in our funk band, The Groove Doctors 
( https://www.facebook.com/groovedoctors )

Dan reharmonized the chords, and we had a bit of fun playing around with it.

Dan Harvey - Vox, Drums (https://soundcloud.com/danharveymusic)
Michael Kocent - Keyboards
Stuart Martin - Bass
Judd Niemann - Guitar

Price Tag (cover)

Prelude

This is the result of me messing around with iSequence for the first time.
I had a lot of fun making this. I know it's not exactly Aphex Twin, but hey ...
This was produced entirely on an iPad.
The song was created in iSequence and the exported audio was uploaded to SoundCloud using TwistedWave editor ( a fine wave editor fo iOS )


Need an Ark ? I Noah Guy ;-)

This song started out as a rhythmic displacement exercise in which I was trying to come up with some interesting Djent Grooves. The main riff employs a rhythmic figure which creates a 13-bar cycle when played against a 4/4 background. 

The clean melodic B-section is played against the same bass line ( with a few small modifications ), 

The Guitar solo is played over a simple 4-bar riff. The Guitar solo starts out using an A-flat Lydian Dominant tonality, but gradually gravitates towards an 8-dote dominant scale, with the introduction of  B and A-natural later in the solo.

I used the Baritone Guitar tuned to Ab,Db,Gb,B,E,Ab,Db for the rhythm part, and the PRS with standard tuning for the Solo.

Lemniscate

My arrangement of  "Doctor Gradus Ad Parnassum"
========================================

Lately, I have been getting into some early 20th Century "Classical" music. I have always liked the music of Claude Debussy,  whose sense of harmony often has a close resemblance to jazz, and other "modern" music.

This song is the first movement of Debussy's "Children's Corner", a suite which is an evocation of early childhood, dedicated to Debussy's 3-year old daughter, Claude-Emma (known as "Chou-Chou". Sadly, she died of Diptheria at the age of 13 - not long after her father's death).

This piece is normally played on Piano, and is a moderately difficult piece to play on that instrument. 

On guitar, I found some of the passages to be murderously difficult, since passages which are natural to play on piano are not necessarily easy to play on guitar.
In fact, I hadn't really heard anyone play it on guitar until I heard Paul Galbraith play it on 8-string guitar, which inspired me to try it myself.

For this arrangement, I used two guitars - the melody and chords are played on my "jazz" guitar (7-string archtop) and the bass lines were played on my "death metal" guitar (7-string LTD baritone). (If I perform this live, I will either do a solo arrangement with a few compromises to make it playable on a single guitar, or I will do it as a duet with a bass player. I would love to play this on a 7- or 8-string classical guitar but, sadly, I don't own one of those !)

I spent a LOT of time practicing this, but I learned a lot from it. Thanks to my long-suffering wife and kids for putting up with me practicing the same passages over and over again !

I put a youtube version here, which displays the sheet music along with the piece:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmS-Oq3yNUw

PS - I recommend that you check out some other versions of this piece. Paul Galbraith plays it flawlessly on his CD. Bela Fleck also has a superb version for Banjo and Cello. And, of course, there are lots of different piano interpretations on Youtube - some outstanding, some not-so-good :-)


Doctor Gradus Ad Parnassum

This is me, jamming on Donna Lee, using Amplitube for iPad
The whole track was produced on an iPad, except for some final editing in Samplitude.
The sound quality isn't ideal, but it is an interesting experiment to try to produce good results using only an iPad and a guitar. 

The iRig guitar interface is quite noisy and also has trouble with hot signals from active pickups. Maybe the new iRig HD (which has its own 2496 ADC built-in) will be a better way of getting guitar audio into an iPad. I also find the latency to be rather distracting, as even a very slight delay can be detrimental to your timing for Jazz and Bebop.
 
The Head and solos were played on the Ibanez af207bs and the Rythm part was played on the sc607b tuned down to a minor 3rd to A-flat (Ab,Db,Gb,B,E,Ab,Db).



Donna Lee

I studied Jazz for quite a while, but I also love Prog Rock and Metal ... 




Judd Niemann

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