Like a pair of sunbathing mambas (Green Eleven reviews)

[LML]

Keep em in the kitchen is what I say. I like it in there. There are microwaves. Wait...

Hmmm. How are your sangwich makin' skills?

About as good as my rat poisoned morning coffee is.

[Billy's Little Trip]

Keep em in the kitchen is what I say. I like it in there. There are microwaves. Wait...

Hmmm. How are your sangwich makin' skills?

About as good as my rat poisoned morning coffee is.

Nothin' like a little d-con to get your day started.

[Ross]

I AM Jack Johnson.

I didn't know that side comment I made would cause such hellfire. This is what happens when you let a WOMAN review Songfight!

Agreed!

i kid... i kid!

heh heh - Uterus vs. Cock. This is funny

[Caravan Ray]

I AM Jack Johnson.

I didn't know that side comment I made would cause such hellfire. This is what happens when you let a WOMAN review Songfight!

Yeah - it seems like every review thread I take part in breaks out into some sort of shit fight eventually. I wish you women would stop doing that.

[MisterQuoons]

Reviews.

I didn't do these in any particular order, so you'll just have to sift through them to find yours. Sorry.

LML - Kind of drifting in and out of this one. I'm sure that this song is about more than just a clock, but I have a hard time getting interested enough to find out what. The tune is catchy and I like the sound of your voice, but overall, I find it a little bland.

Andy Sucks - Yes. I mean, no, you don't suck, but yes, this is good. This is very good. I need to listen to it again because I didn't really catch the lyrics the first time around, but the guitar work is awesome. I wish I could play like that.

Chopped Liver Meat God - LOL Michael Jackson. I don't quite understand what Reist was bitching about; I think this is awesome. When a melodic line this recognizable is used in a manner that is obviously intended to be humorous, I don't see how it can be called plagiarism. Oh, shit, you mimicked the solo pretty dead-on, too. That's impressive. One time a friend of mine and I got drunk and recorded a blues song about giant penises, and I used the opening riff to Secret Agent Man as a solo. This song is fun on that sort of a level. I guess my only real criticism is that it's maybe a little long (says the guy who co-wrote an eight minute spoken word song this week).

Andrew Reist - You know, I have to admit I was a little pissed off by your review (or rather, curt dismissal) of our song; that is until I heard yours, at which point I decided that your opinion was not worth taking too seriously. You're a far better guitarist than I am at present, I'll give you that, but if you're going to try to rock you really ought to, um, you know, rock. This has more energy than anything you've submitted to SF before? Based on what little I remember of your previous entries that I've heard, I'd agree with you. This is rock music for people who find Linkin Park to be a little too "dangerous". And by the way, "crap" is a term relative to the tastes of a given individual, and if you don't want to participate in the review threads, nobody is holding a gun to your head. Jackass.

Jake Lions Band - I think you should just cut out the verse parts and have the whole thing be nothing but synths and "bum bum bum bum". Couldn't make out the lyrics so I can't review them. I'm not quite sure if you were trying to be serious with this or not, but I hope it was "not" because as a joke entry, this is kind of funny, but if it was a serious effort, I'd feel a little sorry for you.

Chthonic Chthock - The composition, style and singing on this remind me of a Weird Al Yankovic song. I hope that's what you were going for. Overall I think I like this, but not really enough to listen to it again.

Fartin' In The Club - Spite has prompted me to vote for this.

Abominominous - I was fortunate enough to notice your post about how your song is about Mountain Dew before I listened to this. Knowing that enhanced my enjoyment of this selection, although I probably would have liked it anyway. This is clever, original, and just a little edgy, and it doesn't take itself too seriously. Right up my alley.

Larry Knox - The tune and instrumentals are very well put together, and it's very well produced. The vocals are far from great, but not terrible. I try not to come down too hard on people for having shitty vocals, because A. I can't sing all that well myself and B. I feel that just because a person can't sing doesn't mean they shouldn't. However, the rather monotonous tone of your singing did prevent me from catching most of the lyrics, so I can't really offer a comment there. Sorry. Overall, though, this is pretty good.

Lucky Spoon - The little synthy steel drums sound like the soundtrack to a video game, and I like soundtracks to video games. However, I tend to want to punch environmentalists and social activists in the face most of the time. Just a personal sentiment. The rap is not awful as far as white rappers on SongFight go (although to be fair that's not really a high bar to pass) but the fact that it's "hippie rap" just kills it for me. That it's a light and faintly humorous song makes it tolerable, considering that, given your choice of subject matter, you could have gone a much more heavy handed direction with this (and thank you for not doing that) but altogether it's too lame to really enjoy.

Death Be Not Proud - I can't understand the lyrics at all. Maybe if I put headphones on I could make the words out a little better, but coming through my external speakers this sounds like Wing. I have no idea what this song is about, but I think I get the gist of it based on the type of song it is. Kind of cute if you like this sort of thing, but unfortunately, I don't.

Kasper - This isn't bad. I have to be honest; angsty ballads about failed relationships tend to make me want to roll my eyes a little. As far as this sort of thing goes, though, I could listen to this again.

The Sky Looks Pissed - This song contains every aspect of Kasper's song that I didn't like, with none of the aspects that I did like. I've heard three of your songs so far, I think, and based on that I can only deduce that your songwriting process involves about five or six minutes of coming up with an idea, followed by a one-take recording process of strumming chords and saying things that pop into your head. While I can respect that kind of approach for some people and some styles of music, I don't really think it works for you or yours. I really think you ought to try spending some more time building your songs before you sit down to record them. You also might want to read up a little on in-home production techniques; producing high-quality recordings on a budget is not as hard as it sounds.

Caravan Ray - Okay, I see what everyone was talking about. This sounds a lot like Jack Johnson. And, like Jack Johnson, I don't at all hate it, even if I don't exactly love it. It's sort of light and fluffy; not the kind of song I'd sit and listen to over and over, but it's definitely good in a lighthearted, easy listening kind of way. This would be a good song to put on while I'm doing the dishes or something.

IndiAdamJones - Um...I can't tell if I like this or not. Like the tune, like the production, the intro was kind of funny....not sure if I like the rapping. Yeah, I'm pretty sure now that I don't. Now it's just meandering. I don't automatically have a problem with meandering songs, but this isn't doing it for me. Okay, I'm shutting this off now.

SomeGuyCalledNoel - Nice. Quiet. I really like these pensive little guitar patterns of yours. I have to say that this song starts getting a little redundant after awhile, but all in all I like it.

FABULOUS PRUNES - This is me bored at 3 AM. If you play this piece backwards, I'm pretty sure you can hear Edgard Varese turning over in his grave. And yes, Andrew, I am intentionally wasting your time. Thank you for noticing.

Gnome Alone - Ooh. I wasn't sure about this until I heard the whole thing. I like how it's just a weird little snippet; this could have gotten annoying if it had gone on too much longer, but as it is, I rather like it.

The Hinsdale Patent - What's good: I used to live near a street called Hinsdale, and your band name reminded me of that. What's bad: Lame radio pop.

Pathetic Wannabes - Until the vox started I was pretty sure I wasn't going to like this. However, now I can safely say that I do. This isn't the sort of thing that I'd save and listen to again, but I like hearing submissions from people who seem to just want to record music for the sheer fun of doing it. As far as I'm concerned, this is the kind of thing that this site is supposed to be about.

Howl Down the Chimney w/ Todd McH - Different than what you usually do, but I like it. The instrumentation is cool, and I like the way it transitions between the percussion-less verse parts and the slightly poppy (but not too poppy) chorus. Ooooooh, is that a real sitar, or just a guitar playing some sort of Eastern mode? Either way I FUCKING LOVE IT.

Jan Krueger - I can really hear your accent in this one, but I actually think that it adds to this. Your lyrics are good considering that English does not seem to be your primary language. Yeah, I'm pretty sure I can dig this. Nice work.

deetak - this is probably the most "normal" sounding thing I've ever heard from you. If I were producing, I'd suggest adding drums and possibly an organ. Your vocal style works really well for this. Vox need to come down a little in the mix, though. Is that a bass or just bass keys on a piano? Either way, thicker bass would help to fill this out a little more. All in all, a very good song.

Todd McHatton - This one is kind of a 'meh' for me. I like the overall structure of it, and the piano is cool, but for some reason I can't entirely get into it. The instrumentation is pretty good throughout, maybe it's the lyrics I'm not that into. I'm not sure. I think I like it for the most part, but probably not enough to save or listen to again.

Melvin - More or less what I was expecting, but I will say that I like the sort of aloof, grey vocal style you chose to go with here. The refrain parts sound like they could be used in a car commercial, but the verse parts are actually pretty cool. Not bad.

Cobalt Stomach - The use of static and lo-fi guitar sounds is very Nine Inch Nails-esque. I like the vocal style you used here much better than the style you normally use, in fact this song as a whole is a dramatic improvement over your past entries. Catchy, slightly melancholy synth lines, straightforward chord progression...this is a nice, vaguely goth-ish nerd-pop song. Very nice work, keep it up.

Night Elf Mohawk - This is the first completed song by the band that Tungsten Chic and I formed. Personally, I think this is some of the best work either of us has done, and it works really well for a title as abstract as this one, although I had pretty much resigned myself to the fact that most of you were going to hate it before I even sent it in. As much as I enjoy participating in these fights, appealing to the collective taste here is a bit like trying to appeal to radio audiences, except I don't make any money. Oh, well. This song will definitely need to be re-mixed before we do anything else with it, but other than that I feel pretty good about it.

Paco Del Stinko - I Like the riff on this one. The song itself is not the most interesting thing I've ever heard, but it's definitely not bad. I also like a lot of the freaky guitar sounds in the middle. This sounds like it would be pretty good live.

MC Milkplus - OH MY GOD!!!!! Rap songs with tuba basslines, where the hell have you been all my life?!? Jeezis, bells, flutes, cowbell and strings too! Even without all of the cool instrumentation, this beat is very delicious. This song is delicious. You yourself, I would wager, are quite delicious. You should change your name to Judge Fudge.

Ross D - This sounds like a sea chanty, and I do so love a good sea chanty. The environmentalist lyrics are substantially better done and less annoying than Lucky Spoon's. The subject matter still makes this song come off a little smug, particularly with the whole "martyrdom" theme you've got going, but it's a good song, so I'll forgive you.

John Kloberdanz - This sounds like that one song by America; Horse With No Name. Seriously. Now this is what I would call plagiaristic. The vocal style and the tune, if not the subject matter and the lyrics. Also, the vocals are waaaaaaay too loud. I'm sorry, but this fails. The penalty is death.

Weakest Suit - Okay, I can't listen to this. I'm sorry. The chord changes are about the only aspect of this song that I can hear through the flange (or whatever it is), so I can't even approach the song itself. If it were recorded differently it sounds like something I might possibly like, though.

Elaine DiMasi - For all your "casiocore country", "science-fiction folk", "layered vocals" and "crafty lyrics", I'm afraid that all I can hear is a bunch of gay cowboys eating pudding.

[Teplin]

Are you playing a variax on sitar there at the end? On a personal note, I had to give "my" autoharp back to its owner last year and I'm still sad. I troll craigslist every now and again looking for a cheap one. Vote.

Thanks for the reviews.

I've done a lot of experiments on my very first electric guitar (an Epiphone strat copy), finally turning it into a sitar by grinding a homemade buzz bridge out of stone. No sympathetic or drone strings (yet!). But yeah, I didn't process it in any way except to add a little delay and reverb, so that's what it really sounds like.

Sorry to hear of the loss of "your" autoharp, Reve. I do a lot of songwriting on mine, because it helps break me out of the usual chord patterns.

[LML]

I would like to get my hands on an Epiphone Stratocaster copy. Seeing as Fender makes strats.

J/K!

Somebody post more reviews.

[Reist]

Andrew Reist - You know, I have to admit I was a little pissed off by your review (or rather, curt dismissal) of our song; that is until I heard yours, at which point I decided that your opinion was not worth taking too seriously. You're a far better guitarist than I am at present, I'll give you that, but if you're going to try to rock you really ought to, um, you know, rock. This has more energy than anything you've submitted to SF before? Based on what little I remember of your previous entries that I've heard, I'd agree with you. This is rock music for people who find Linkin Park to be a little too "dangerous". And by the way, "crap" is a term relative to the tastes of a given individual, and if you don't want to participate in the review threads, nobody is holding a gun to your head. Jackass.

Haha, making fun of my song out of bitterness isn't going to make me retract my opinion about your song. You're the Night Elf Mohawks, right? You want advice instead of a curt dismissal? Try writing a melody, and fill it out with something that will intrigue the listener for more than 15 seconds. And hey, if you don't like pop, that's cool. I admit that my songs tend to be generic - and I'm still in the process of tweaking my writing style. But don't tell me that my opinion isn't worth taking seriously - I know music. Sorry if you put a lot of effort into your "song", and my hasty dismissal of it was too much for you to handle. The truth is, I can hardly review songfight anymore because there's so many people like you who can't handle the truth - that a song with no melody and (for a lot of people, not you in this case) no relevance to the title is not going to draw positive interest from listeners. And please quit bitching every time someone doesn't like your song, especially if it's spoken word over a boring, non-melodic backing track.

[Billy's Little Trip]

Soooo, Mr. Quoons, how does that make you feel?

[Teplin]

I would like to get my hands on an Epiphone Stratocaster copy. Seeing as Fender makes strats.

Oooh, this is your lucky day, then!

Epiphone Strat Copy

Only a hundred bucks. Be warned... as a guitar it pretty much blows, but with a little work it can be turned into a decent electric sitar.

[LML]

I would like to get my hands on an Epiphone Stratocaster copy. Seeing as Fender makes strats.

Oooh, this is your lucky day, then!

Epiphone Strat Copy

Only a hundred bucks. Be warned... as a guitar it pretty much blows, but with a little work it can be turned into a decent electric sitar.

Oh yeah! I forgot about Korean knock offs. I hear they make great weapons, door openers, and paperweights though. I think I'll stick with my G-400. The damn things' falling apart on me though. I can't afford a ukulele right now...

[TheTungstenSheik]

I'd like to take a moment here, amidst this heated discussion, to address a couple of negative comments about the song Mr. Quoons and I, as Night Elf Mohawk, submitted this week, as rationally as I can.

Night Elf Mohark- 1/5
Erg. Uh... I can't listen to it. Maybe I missed something great but songs usually involve singing... right?

Permit me to disagree. The kind of songs that get played on the radio almost exclusively involve singing, yes, so if that's what you're after, you have every reason to dislike our piece. But spoken word over a simple beat has a respectable enough pedigree that I am comfortable calling it a "song".

Night Elf Mohawk - No. Are ... you serious? Keep this shit to yourself. Or put it on myspace or something.

It's clear we have a difference of opinion here. You don't like our style of music, and we don't like yours (my reviews aren't done yet, but I'm guessing you won't be surprised if yours was not my favorite). I'm not going to tell you your music is crap, though, because I'm content that it's just for a different audience. Similarly, I don't think it would be unfair to say that you, Mr. Reist, are not among our core audience. I know that the Internet gives everyone the right to be mean to one another, but I find it more productive to be civil.

So there you go. I know a lot of you don't like our take on this week's title; I wasn't expecting an especially warm reception. Thank you anyway to everyone who listened.

[JakeLion]

My whole everything is kind of a joke, so I pretty much take things seriously by not talking things seriously. At this point I just don't really care about anything I'm doing enough to get it pit for polish, or to turn it into a, quote unquote, seamless, enjoyable audio wave. It'll probably be 10 or 15 years down the road before I really consider "jeez, maybe I should, I don't know, give this whole 'craft' concept a once-over and work on my shoe-shinin' abilities"

I'm also just a generally angry and lazy person, in such a reliving lack of words.

[Reist]

Since I'm still pissed off and in disbelief at the stuff I'm hearing , I might as well put this out there.

And by the way, "crap" is a term relative to the tastes of a given individual

I'm not going to tell you your music is crap, though, because I'm content that it's just for a different audience. Similarly, I don't think it would be unfair to say that you, Mr. Reist, are not among our core audience. I know that the Internet gives everyone the right to be mean to one another, but I find it more productive to be civil.

I don't think good music is entirely subjective to the tastes of the listener - there's good and bad music in every genre, regardless of what I personally think, but I can appreciate most of it. I'm also sure that there is spoken word out there that I would enjoy - but the storytelling in your song is not strong or enthralling, the backing track is boring, it's ridiculously long, and I just can't find anything enticing about it. Don't flatter yourself and believe that if someone dislikes your song, they simply must not be in your target audience. If most people dislike your music (and from checking the review thread at a quick glance - that's how it is), then maybe you should consider taking criticism and learning from it, instead of holding onto the arrogant notion that you can do no wrong. Also, I believe that I gave you some genuinely useful advice in my review - if you think you're creating a song that nobody is going to like (as you stated in your post), just upload it to your myspace and save everybody here the trouble of sorting through garbage. Believe me - it's a good idea, and I've done it myself on occasion.

[TheTungstenSheik]

I don't think good music is entirely subjective to the tastes of the listener - there's good and bad music in every genre, regardless of what I personally think, but I can appreciate most of it.

Actually, I was just pondering this very point myself earlier. The problem with describing music - or really any creative work - in terms of "good" and "bad" is that you really can't separate it from your own opinion. I don't want to make this a debate about whether or not bad music exists, there are plenty of things I call bad on a regular basis. But it isn't, and cannot be, an objective, absolute definition. You may also notice (or not, your call) that I didn't say anything about how good I think our song is. I don't think it's amazing, or that I can do no wrong, all I was trying to say is that there are people whose opinion of it may be higher than yours based on personal taste. Your initial review of the song was glib and mean-spirited, and while you have since gone into greater detail about what you don't like about it - and I appreciate your position, really - based on the kind of music you make and the songs you review favorably, when I say you aren't in our audience, I mean that the criticisms you gave us are not unexpected.
As for whether or not a song I expect not to be popular ought to be shared with SongFight, while it's true that the general taste of the audience here seems to lean more toward your idiom than mine, that does not mean there isn't someone here who occasionally likes the bizarre things that I do, and I find those experiences more than justify the negativity I receive from people like you.

[ElaineDiMasi]

Elaine DiMasi - Just a quick FAWM song, Jeff Landgraf played guitar, thanks. Feel free to skip this in your reviews. (I say as 80 posts I haven't looked at are on the thread...)

FABULOUS PRUNES - This really wasn't bad to listen to once. It kind of moves forward. Not going back to it though.

Fartin' in the Club - I'll feel free to skip this in my reviews.

Gnome Alone - No hook.

the Hinsdale Patent - Hooky and a groove I like! I want to sing your backup vocals someday. I won't care what the words are. Yeah, I like what the bass is doing, and all that.

Howl Down w/ Todd McHatton - Heh! I like the choruses and the way you got the green eleven in there. I like the "gang", as usual. Musically, kind of a strange combination. Hybrid of your styles I mean. Do you guys like it? Quite honestly, I picture the Green Eleven moving a little faster than your typical sitar.

IndiAdamJones - Only listened once.

Jake Lions Band - Listened twice. I don't know how you made any of your decisions.

Jan Krüger - Competent.

John Kloberdanz - Definitely sounds familiar - yeah! America "horse with no name" kind of thing. I had trouble paying attention, don't know why, melody maybe?

Kasper - Somehow I think it works that the first verse is all "this that whatever idaknow" and very good that the chorus is more definite than that. Being that it was good that the second verse wasn't all like whatever but said what it said. The music being a little tick-tocky helps set the scene I think too.

Larry Knox - This has too much / too little drama for itself somehow. The music isn't grabbing me even though the instrumentation sounds pretty good.

LML - Clock sidefight winner, rocks more than the other one. I dig the way the lyrics start with that "I" right up front center stage. And stays there! Pretty much like the complete lyric. Song structure is unimaginative, so the third time the verse comes around it's melodically boring now but you drive straight through it to the end with no apology and it still works.

Lucky Spoon - I like the calypso flavor. "Dial Green 11" is a cute hook.

MC Milk Plus - Funny.

Night Elf Mohawk - I'm sonically bored. I get that my song probably bored people too.

Paco del Stinko - Even before the revving sounds, listening to this for me was like being in the back seat while somebody's driving randomly around the city and going around a bunch of sharp corners fast a lot.

Pathetic Wannabees - If I played guitar I'd probably always make it all warbly like this.

Ross Durand - I like this! Seems like the right amount of facetiousness. Definitely appreciate hearing a story I haven't heard before!

The Sky Looks Pissed - I get the type of style you're going for, but I don't like the phrasing in the verses. Rattling stuff off like that and making it work is a black art, maybe. Kudos for going for a simple song though.

SomeGuyCalledNoel - I'm a sucker for melodies that make these big leaps and for these kinds of suspended sounding strums. I like the way it deepens at 2:00. Keeps everything still simple, but grows the song a bit too.

Todd McHatton - Oh, the accompaniment kind of really plods and thumps. As usual, the structure is pretty interesting. But not an offer I couldn't refuse.

Weakest Suit - Not a fan of the monotone melodies here.

Abominominous - It's good!

Andrew Reist - Kind of hooky, but kind of incoherent also.

Andy Sucks - It's ok.

Caravan Ray - I like this. Enough story to get me listening for what happens next, without being a story song. Plenty of variation of melodies between sections, which I really like.

Chopped Liver Meat God - Too repetitive, tedious! The way you put the green eleven into the song is really all right.

Chthonic Chthock - Vox make it groovier than I expected somehow. I like this genre, and this song comes out sounding fun.

Cobalt Stomach - track could be on Mechanical Animals. I think the death in outer space sidefight is a tie.

Death Be Not Proud - Ok I guess. It hurt that I couldn't understand the words in the audio very well.

deetak - It's a wobbly chord progression, or something.

[JonPorobil]

WSheik, once again proving that you don't have to get all defensive every time someone says something mean about something you wrote. Good sir, your songs belie your intelligence. You ought to hang out in the chat room sometime, if you haven't yet.

And Reist... Just a bit of advice from personal experience: Life gets a lot easier when you realize that you only have to get bent out of shape about the opinions of people you care about. If you didn't like Night Elf Mohawk's song (and evidently don't like them very much either), then why do you care so much what they thought of yours?

[Reist]

If you didn't like Night Elf Mohawk's song (and evidently don't like them very much either), then why do you care so much what they thought of yours?

I wasn't complaining about how they didn't like my song, I just thought it was absurd that quoon's entire review of my song was based off his bitterness about my review. Believe me, I don't take offense anymore if people don't like my music.

[reve]

Are you playing a variax on sitar there at the end?

I've done a lot of experiments on my very first electric guitar (an Epiphone strat copy), finally turning it into a sitar by grinding a homemade buzz bridge out of stone.

Dude.

You are a total, total genius. Did you figure out what to do yourself or is there some sort of tutorial somewhere? Regardless, you should post a pic of the bridge here.

[irwin]

Kasper - Somehow I think it works that the first verse is all "this that whatever idaknow" and very good that the chorus is more definite than that. Being that it was good that the second verse wasn't all like whatever but said what it said. The music being a little tick-tocky helps set the scene I think too.

Hey, thanks for the review!

The tick-tocky rhythm and mechanical synth bits were definitely intended to evoke a clockwork feel. I can sometimes obsess about weird little details of a song like this, and it's nice to have someone else notice!

Someone else mentioned the song "needing more energy" I think it was. This was also intentional. It's 11:51 after all, and the protagonist is obviously tired.

[Teplin]

There are plenty of things I call bad on a regular basis. But it isn't, and cannot be, an objective, absolute definition.

Here here! Well said.

As for whether or not a song I expect not to be popular ought to be shared with SongFight. While it's true that the general taste of the audience here seems to lean more toward your idiom than mine, that does not mean there isn't someone here who occasionally likes the bizarre things that I do, and I find those experiences more than justify the negativity I receive from people like you.

Yeah, what is this, a "mainstreamers only club"? When someone posts a critique that boils down to a pissy "don't participate in songfight", they shouldn't expect to have their opinion taken seriously.

While it might not always tickle my personal fancy, I always look forward to hearing what you guys are going to come up with next. At least I know it's not going to be an unashamedly generic, homogeneous song. I'm glad you're around and I hope you keep it up. And I second Jon Eric's suggestion... you should check in on the chat now and then. (That goes for everyone else, too)

[Teplin]

Did you figure out what to do yourself or is there some sort of tutorial somewhere? Regardless, you should post a pic of the bridge here.

No tutorial required, I just looked at some pictures of a sitar bridge. The concept is actually really simple. All you need is a flat surface for the strings to rest on, with the edge ground to a certain angle. Any reasonably hard material will work. I used stone because my dad makes stone jewelry, so I had easy access to a workshop with a grinder.


(copper swirl paintjob: an earlier experiment)

Getting the angle right is the hard part. I just trial and error'd it. Whole project took my maybe an hour. It's not even attached, the second stone just keeps it propped up tight against the strings. It's not elegant, but it's a lot more fun to play as a sitar than it ever was as a guitar.