Tag: surf

Surf Pop Rock Jam Track in E minor

11/08/2020 Backing Track No Comments

Modern, uplifting surf-inspired rock-pop jam Track in E minor (150 bpm). Have fun with this  guitar backing track! Download the chord chart here:

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Surf Pop Rock Jam Track (Chord Chart)

1 file(s) 683.15 KB
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About this jam track

Inspired by great surf tracks of the past, this surf backing track gives the genre a modern twist. The harmony also leaves room for Tex-Mex influences (on the B7). The A-section follows a rapid chord progression that brings the main, upbeat groove of the song. The B-section is marked by arpeggiated patterns in the electric guitar. Faster sections are interchanged with short breaks, that leaves room for lower melodies on the guitar.

My solo

If you’re looking for some inspiration for a solo over this track, you can check out my solo here. 

Gear
  • The main guitar used on this surf pop rock jam track is a Fender Stratocaster (1994 American Standard, stock pickups)
  • The only amp used this time is a Fender Blues Jr. III (I decided to go oldschool, so no modeler was used for the guitar tracking this time).
  • Drums: Steven Slate Drums 5.5
  • Bass: programmed with Spectrasonics Trilian
Buy the track
If you’re interested, I offer a high quality WAV (+ mp3) (CD-master) of this backing track from my Sellfy-store.

I had a lot of fun making this surf pop rock backing track, & I sincerely hope that this video will provide you with some inspiration. Keep on playing that guitar! Maarten.

Surf Guitar Instrumental & Solo in E minor

09/08/2020 Video Tab 1 Comment

Original SURF guitar instrumental and solo I wrote, called ‘El Camarón’ (The Shrimp), inspired by an imaginary shrimp super-hero and its quirky adventures in the beach sand 🙂 Aside from this sunny backstory, the track is inspired by the surf hits of Dick Dale, Hank Marvin (The Shadows) and others! Download the TABS (pdf) here: 

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Surf Guitar Instrumental

1 file(s) 698.18 KB
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About the solo

This uplifting, instrumental surf song is in the key of E minor. The song is inspired by surf instrumental classics from Dick Dale, Hank Marvin (The Shadows) The Ventures, and other surf instrumental bands. The track has a repeating motif with a clear Tex-Mex sound to it. I love this blend of Latin, Spanish and Exotic riffs in Surf Music. This is really fun to play for guitarists.-

Gear
  • To record this track, I went back to ‘basics’, playing my 1994 Fender American Std Stratocaster into a Fender Blues Jr. I used the spring reverb from this amp and added some more by sending the recorded signal through the Eventide H9 spring reverb algorithm.
  • Bass: Spectrasonics Trilian Drums (programmed by Maarten)
  • Steven Slate 5.5 (programmed by Maarten)
  • Recorded with Logic Pro X, mixed with Steven Slate & Izotope plugins.
Backing track

Check out the backing track here.

Misirlou Cover (Pulp Fiction) By T.A.F. Surf Trio

22/05/2020 Cover, Technical, The Art Factory No Comments

Cover of the famous Dick Dale song Misirlou (from Pulp Fiction) by Jan, Maarten (me) & Arvid from The Art Factory music school in Roeselare, Belgium. 

About the track

During the time The Art Factory music school was closed (because of the global health crisis), we wanted to create a music video (online collaboration) to lift the spirits of our students (and colleagues).

Our music school just re-opened this year, so the temporary closure was a big setback.

Our choice fell onto a Misirlou cover (or Miserlou), this wild surf guitar song by Dick Dale and His Del-Tones, made famous by the Pulp Fiction movie by Quentin Tarantino.

R.I.P. Dick Dale, what an amazing song you recorded!

This video was so much fun making, even though the frenzied tremolo picking almost gave me a tennis elbow 🙂 

Trying to match the style and vigor of Dick Dale was quite the challenge. Plus, I absolutely love the contributions by Jan & Arvid here. Both the drums and trumpet parts are spot on! Great musicians!

The end result of our impromptu project is too entertaining not to share here, so I hope you enjoy this Misirlou cover! Maarten.

Misirlou Cover
My Misirlou Cover Outfit
Tone tips for guitar

Download the Fractal AX8 Preset here

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Misirlou AX8 preset

1 file(s) 12.65 KB
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I did not match Dick Dale’s tone exactly, but these things helped me to find a satisfying tone:

  • Strat-style guitar with Jumbo frets (my Suhr was up for the task, the frets on my Strat were too worn unfortunately.)
  • Single coil pickups (bridge position)
  • Heavy pick: I use Dunlop Jazz III Carbon Fibre 0,73 mm.
  • Boost pedal: TC Electronic The Spark (“fat”-setting).
  • Delay before the amp I combined my MXR Carbon Copy Delay (+/- 90 ms slap setting) with a 131 ms Delay from the AX8 and put them before the amplifier.
  • Spring Reverb (from AX8)
Misirlou signal flow
delay before amplifier helps to get that vintage tone
Misirlou practice tips
  • Practice with a metronome
  • Start slow (below 150 bpm) to learn the melody, but speed up once you get the knack of it
  • Practice short intervals (10 min.) at high speed: 150 bpm, increasing to 172 bpm
  • Watch out if your picking arm starts hurting (seriously!), try not to play too tense
  • The intro is the hardest part, so practice this ‘hit-the-ground-running’ concept
  • Give yourself some time to learn this song
Credits
  • Credits to Arvid for editing the video www.bluetown.be
  • Credits to stringtheorist for sharing the original AX8-preset for this song. I modified it a little bit to my taste and ears.
  • We do not own the rights to this song. Misirlou is originally performed by Dick Dale & The Del-Tones (1962) written by Nick Roubanis e.a.