Metal Players, how do you rehearse?

[Guitarzan]

Originally posted by THE_GREAT_PHAT_KAT:

Originally posted by ellwood:

I was wondering how metal players rehearse? Do you rehearse at full playing volume always?

 

Before rehearsing I always do some man-napping for our pre-rehearsal and pre-show rituals. Yes, man-napping. I kidnap men from the pathetically unsuspecting villages I visit. Then I peel the skins off a few, put a few others on all fours and... well, you get the point. Please understand I need to practice at full volume in order to cover the screams a bit. Then, I grill their gonads and make them eat them. My grill is highly portable--it's actually a laptop upside down, w/ a toaster-oven grill on top. I know, I'm a genius, like Bach and Beethoven before me. I need no catering, I eat human flesh and drink human blood. Then I beg the surviving humans to come buy tickets to my shows, but that's another topic. What about the remaining villagers? I make them write my name THE GREAT PHAT KAT on the walls. I make the villagers worship me. Then I go around asking "who thinks Joe Satriani is worth a damn"? If someone raises his/her hand , that pathetic hand comes off!!!! Wes Montgomery? Jimi Hendrix? Jimmy Page? Robben Ford? BB King? Yngwie Malsmteen? Steve Vai? Allan Holdsworth? [What a joke! Right now they should be begging for my mercy!] I don't need to touch the villagers, I just reach for my fretboard and assault them w/ a barrage of notes from my claw of death! MY CLAWWWWW OF DOOOM

take me my queen

[jimash]

Here get in on the joke:

http://www.greatkat.com/05/index05.html

[Hardtail]

I didn't even know metal players rehearsed.

[Dr. Ellwood]

Originally posted by Hard Tail:

I didn't even know metal players rehearsed.

They do HT it just doesn't sound like they do!

[Justus A. Picker]

I improvise all my solos. It is weird when you improv because you are sometimes just digging yourself out of a hole the whole solo, but then you listen back and it sounds cool.

 

I thought I played average tonight but I have some cool solos that, in the moment I thought sucked. Weird how your perception plays trix on you (no I wasn't stoned)

 

You can play a solo live and think "god I suck" and then listen back and the stuff you noticed that you thought was off, isn't.. Wierd.

No shit! On the nights you just know that you're rocking the house, playback makes it sound lifeless and uninspired too!

[Hardtail]

Originally posted by ellwood:

Originally posted by Hard Tail:

I didn't even know metal players rehearsed.

They do HT it just doesn't sound like they do!

[THE_GREAT_PHAT_KAT]

quote:

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Originally posted by guitarzan:

take me my queen

[THE_GREAT_PHAT_KAT]

Originally posted by ellwood:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Hard Tail:

I didn't even know metal players rehearsed.

They do HT it just doesn't sound like they do! AAAAARGH! YOU SHALL PAY THE PRICE FOR YOUR INSOLENCE!!!

 

HERE'S YOUR PUNISHMENT: A VIDEO WE TOOK OF ONE OF OUR REHEARSALS!!! I HOPE YA'LL ARE FEELING PATRIOTIC!!!!

 

http://singingfool.com/default.asp?frame=http://singingfool.com/musicvideo.asp?publishedId=248547

 

ALL HAIL THE GREAT PHAT KAT AND THE US OF A!!!!!ALL HAIL MY PLAYING AND MY METHODS OF REHEARSALS!!!!

[THE_GREAT_PHAT_KAT]

ANYONE WHO DISAGREES WILL LOSE THEIR GONADS!!! Hey, where did I put the salt and pepper?

[MILLO]

Originally posted by THE_GREAT_PHAT_KAT:

ALL HAIL THE GREAT PHAT KAT

You mean "all hail Pablo de Sarasate"? Ahahahaha! Hey Kat, I can barely understand anything you're playing! I hear blurs instead of notes!

 

Ok, I'm outta here before I get my nuts roasted by a sodomizing egomaniac!

[Braxat]

im RIGHT behind you millo !!! *flee*

[Ricardo.]

Originally posted by MILLO:

Originally posted by THE_GREAT_PHAT_KAT:

ALL HAIL THE GREAT PHAT KAT

You mean "all hail Pablo de Sarasate"? Ahahahaha! Hey Kat, I can barely understand anything you're playing! I hear blurs instead of notes!

 

Ok, I'm outta here before I get my !

Fix'd.

[Dr. Ellwood]

Originally posted by Dr. Taz:

Whew... with all the whining, I'd have enough gas money for a year.

 

Okay, to answer the post, I do more practicing at home through a decent set of semi-enclosed, studio style headphones and my ZOOM GFX-5 processor. The only thing missing here is the harmonic and microphonic feedback when facing a guitar a few feet away from a speaker cab, but I actually don't care for that effect much.

 

I tend to start off playing with a clean tone for about 20 minutes, and then go through varying degrees of gain, until I have the most dense, punishing tone I can handle. Most of the time, when I do try to figure out scales, or picking runs, or even some tapping, yes, I do them all clean at first, using the neck pickup with the guitar volume and tone turned up full.

 

(I'm not a very fast player, but I'm working on that. Hopefully, I'll bust a few metronomes along the way. )

 

Nothing like playing live through a beefy setup, and killing a few rats... CHUG CHUG CHUG

 

Lately, though, for whatever reason, I've actually been playing with more of a clean tone for nearly everything.

Ok I feel the need for a comment here, it's about playing at high volume. It seems that in almost every post submitted by a metal player volume is always mentioned? why is this? Regular rock players have always played at high volume and most likely metal players don't play any louder than any rock player, classic rock players play at least as loud as metal players do. It's not the volume it's the nasty,over processed fuzzy blur that's added TO the volume that makes it non-musical, it's the drone of open strings and two note chords that makes everything sound like a machine that needs preventative maintenance. Ever notice that one of the worlds loudest groups The WHO always sounds musical.

[Guitarzan]

Originally posted by THE_GREAT_PHAT_KAT:

ANYONE WHO DISAGREES WILL LOSE THEIR GONADS!!! Hey, where did I put the salt and pepper?

i don't think my wife would appreciate you digging through her purse!

[Ricardo.]

Originally posted by ellwood:

Originally posted by Dr. Taz:

[qb

Ok I feel the need for a comment here, it's about playing at high volume. It seems that in almost every post submitted by a metal player volume is always mentioned? why is this? Regular rock players have always played at high volume and most likely metal players don't play any louder than any rock player, classic rock players play at least as loud as metal players do. It's not the volume it's the nasty,over processed fuzzy blur that's added TO the volume that makes it non-musical, it's the drone of open strings and two note chords that makes everything sound like a machine that needs preventative maintenance. [/i]Ever notice that one of the worlds loudest groups The WHO always sounds musical.[/i] [/QB]

Uh, I actually find loud metal bands musical through headphones at low listening levels. But the energy conveyed by the music sounds great at ear-enveloping (not necessarily shattering) volumes.

[Justus A. Picker]

Ok I feel the need for a comment here, it's about playing at high volume. It seems that in almost every post submitted by a metal player volume is always mentioned? why is this? Regular rock players have always played at high volume and most likely metal players don't play any louder than any rock player, classic rock players play at least as loud as metal players do. It's not the volume it's the nasty,over processed fuzzy blur that's added TO the volume that makes it non-musical, it's the drone of open strings and two note chords that makes everything sound like a machine that needs preventative maintenance. Ever notice that one of the worlds loudest groups The WHO always sounds musical.

Loud and clean you need a REALLY clean technique or mistakes, string noise, slop, etc. stand out like a crying baby at a funeral.

 

Loud and over-compressed, distorted sludge tone, the slop doesn't stand out so much.

 

Usually you'll hear the younger less, ummm, experienced or adept, metal players pile on the effects and distortion. Not all metal is tonal sludge.

[Hardtail]

Originally posted by Justus A. Picker:

Loud and clean you need a REALLY clean technique or mistakes, string noise, slop, etc. stand out like a crying baby at a funeral.

 

Loud and over-compressed, distorted sludge tone, the slop doesn't stand out so much.

 

Usually you'll hear the younger less, ummm, experienced or adept, metal players pile on the effects and distortion. Not all metal is tonal sludge.

Bingo! That's what I'm talking about.

 

When I was younger and more serious into the music thing, I don't know how many clowns I saw who thought they were freaking guitar Gods because they covered their slop in distorted, compressed crap at high volume.

 

Give these same guys a Tele and a Twin Reverb and they'd crash and burn all over their sloppy fingers!

[Ricardo.]

We've pretty much established that you guys don't appreciate loud and over-compressed, distorted sludge tone.

 

Now, I still like heavy distortion. Having listened to 80's metal groups after having heard modern offerings, the distortion used by Judas Priest and Iron Maiden always sounds tinny, and pushed low in the mix for me (Iommi's comes off okay, I think). That's the recordings, anyways. I've heard bands live who've obviously screwed up their distorted tone because I can't tell what the hell they're playing. But I can appreciate heavy distortion.

 

If I'm playing metal, I want there to be a thick, scary, thud when I hit the strings while muting them with my left hand. And that's completely muting it, allowing no room for ultra-high pitch harmonics or partially ringing strings. You can't get that at relatively low levels of distortion, no matter how hard you attack your guitar (save for taking a brick and smashing it I suppose).

[Xplorer]

Us metal guy's (I'm sure there are other's on this site who can agree) are just as annoyed as the non-metal guy's are when it comes to 'some inexperienced player' cranking the gain and volume and letting the noise hide his/her mistakes.

That just sucks, period. There are countless annoyances when it comes to listening to someone who is learning the basics of guitar. And that's a major one. And Ellwood, I have to agree with you here, if you turn 'em down or turn off the dirt box, it's going to sound even worse. But is this something that's limited to metal players? Everybody sounds like crap when there learning, but does it bother you that these 'kids' don't realize it?

 

Metal, to me, has always been something about tone. And todays metal bands have developed some sweet tones. Above all the distortion, to me the tone still has to sound like it's coming from a guitar. Distortion set to full sounds like crap to me too. Nasaly high-pitched chainsaw distortion gets on my nerves too. It's no different than a rock guitarist using too much mid, or a blues guitarists with all available treble cranked, or a country guitarist with the suck on full... j/k

 

Anyway, you can't possibly think that some kid at GC discracing a fretboard is representative of metal music. Some of you guy's need to spend more time researching metal today and less time talking sh@t about it.

[Dr. Ellwood]

Yeah, I suppose.

[Hardtail]

Originally posted by Xplorer:

Anyway, you can't possibly think that some kid at GC discracing a fretboard is representative of metal music. Some of you guy's need to spend more time researching metal today and less time talking sh@t about it.

I'm not talking about the kids I see in G.C. I'm talking about the clowns I ran into during my younger days as a musician in the Detroit area. I'm talking about so called... grown men.

 

They were too stoned, drunk, lazy, undisciplined, stupid and full of self-aggrandizement about their musical abilities. If you took away their precious fuzz boxes, they were shit.

[Xplorer]

Originally posted by Hard Tail:

They were too stoned, drunk, lazy, undisciplined, stupid and full of self-aggrandizement about their musical abilities. If you took away their precious fuzz boxes, they were shit.

Do you think they are still playing? I'd love to go to one of their gigs.

[Hardtail]

Originally posted by Xplorer:

Originally posted by Hard Tail:

They were too stoned, drunk, lazy, undisciplined, stupid and full of self-aggrandizement about their musical abilities. If you took away their precious fuzz boxes, they were shit.

Do you think they are still playing? I'd love to go to one of their gigs.

No. They're probably school janitors now or spotwelding bumpers at Ford.

[Dr. Ellwood]

They wheren't playing then, they just didn't know it yet, seems when you get one gig with 18 other bands for free every six months, got discouraging for them, you can find em though, down at the Burger King.

[Guitarzan]

playing metal is no excuse for not having a good tone.

i like to hear the notes of a chord, and i dial my sound accordingly.

i like gain to an extent, but not if all i can play (clearly) is root 5 diads or one finger stuff in drop d.

there is nothing wrong with those techniques but i find it limiting to not being able to use thirds and other chord tones to add seasoning.

it is nice to get some ringing high string stabs that don't fizz out.

as far as early Judas Priest goes, i think they had a very meaty tone. victim of changes, one for the road, island of domination or anything from that era was plain old marshall tone.

my advice to some metal players would be..let the bass player do the low end and try to add separation between the instruments.

lately it seems to be a trend to make the whole band sound like on frikin big organ, no attack, just sludge that blends into a big fuzzy mess.

[Hardtail]

Guitarzan,

 

Case in point to reinforce what you've said is our favorite Chris Poland.

 

Forget the great solo stuff he did on Return to Metropolis for a second. His rhythm and ability to go beyond the 1st/5th power chords was awesome.

 

He had no muddy, sludgy tone to hide behind. He didn't need to hide anything.

[MILLO]

Originally posted by Hard Tail:

Guitarzan,

 

Case in point to reinforce what you've said is our favorite Chris Poland.

 

Forget the great solo stuff he did on Return to Metropolis for a second. His rhythm and ability to go beyond the 1st/5th power chords was awesome.

 

He had no muddy, sludgy tone to hide behind. He didn't need to hide anything.

Oh, that dude is so friggin' articulate-yet-smooth it's scary!

[Guitarzan]

he is ubersmooth.

[Hardtail]

I'm listening to "The Heavy Guitar Jam" right now. At first I wasn't too thrilled about this tune until I realized after listening to it that this guy is totally improving on this entire tune.

 

I only hope to be able to improv 1/2 this well someday.

[Guitarzan]

no hope for me, unless i get a brain transplant.