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Archive for the ‘recording’ Category

Grab a Guitar, Learn Some Power Chords, Learn Vomit Screaming ~ Get a Recording Contract

Posted in guitar, Guitars, Music, rants, recording on July 22, 2007| 4 Comments »

After a few years of listening to my boys blast their death metal, new punk and “alternative” rock, I’ve finally hit a breaking point. I just can’t stand that shit! Kudos to those artists who’ve been able to get recording contracts, but I’m sorry, it’s just not for me; especially that vomit screaming bullshit that somehow passes for singing. I first heard that type of voicing when I was riding in a friend’s car. He was always into pretty heavy stuff, but this was way over the top, all growl, no melody, filled with tons of low-end power chords. And now, that style of “singing” has moved into the more mainstream metal areas. I’m not sure I call it an evolution.

Call me old-fashioned or old-skool, but I need a much more melodic approach to music. Don’t get me wrong, I like metal, but I’ll qualify that with I like metal where the musicians have a very definite, discernible level of skill – especially in the guitar department. They don’t necessarily have to be fast, but they really have to feel what they’re playing. In a lot of the music I’ve heard my kids play, I can’t tell one guitarist from another – they all play the same fuckin’ licks! On the other hand, take a pretty high-powered, heavy, thrash metal band like Metallica, and just listen to Kirk Hammett play. The guy’s technique is incredible! Or let’s get even heavier with Pantera. Phil Anselmo may growl a lot, but there is a recognizable melody in what he sings. As far as guitar playing is concerned, does “Dimebag” Darrell ring a bell?

Perhaps I’d be a bit more tolerant of my kids’ music if I could detect a uniqueness in their bands’ musicality, but I can’t. As I said before, it’s as if they all play the same licks. But even though I admire these bands for getting recording contracts, it’s amazing that at least to the younger set, this shit passes for music. So maybe as a seasoned musician who can play more than power chords, plus a trained vocalist, I should learn how to vomit scream and play two chord songs. I just might get a recording contract – NOT!

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Do Solid State Amps Really Suck?

Posted in amps, Guitars, Music, recording on March 8, 2007| 5 Comments »

A lot of tube amp purists seem to think so, and for the most part, I’d have to agree. But on the flip side, solid state amps have their uses. For instance, under some conditions, a solid state amp actually makes more sense to use than a tube amp. When I gig, I bring two amps with me: A re-tubed and modified Fender Hot Rod Deluxe, and a Roland Cube 60. I play my electrics (ES-335 and Strat with Tex Mex pickups) through the Hot Rod, while I play my Ovation Elite acoustic/electric through the Roland Cube. There’s a practical reason for this in addition to a more personal reason. The practical reason is that I have effect boxes that are specifically geared towards shaping my electric guitars’ tones on the Hot Rod. Having to dial in the effects for a third is just too impractical.

On the personal side of things, I found that my Ovation actually sounded better (to my ears) on the clean channel of the Cube. I wasn’t expecting it, but I think the brightness and high touch sensitivity of the Hot Rod actually made my ovation too bright – it’s already a bright-sound guitar unplugged. With the Roland, I could dial back the brightness of the amp to bring out the Ovation’s natural brightness, and with the built-in chorus, add some subtle overtones that was very pleasing to my ears. I also “cheat” a bit by running a Presonus TubePre right before the amp, and that really warms up my signal. And by the way, the Cube 60 is a VERY LOUD amp; so loud, in fact, that I actually use the tube pre-amp as a gain limiter to control the amp’s volume – otherwise, I’d have to play the amp at around 2.

I also own a Line 6 Flextone III Plus that I use extensively in my recording work. Why? With its controllable direct out, I can get a nice even signal coming from my amp and go directly in to my recording unit. Furthermore, because it’s a modeling amp, I can tweak a lot of different things to create a unique patch that I couldn’t achieve without a lot of signal processing (read: effect boxes) on my tube amp. Note however, that the guitar parts that I play through the Flextone III typically play a supporting role in my songs, but even as support, they play a valuable part.

Another important point that I’d like to make is that with a modeling amp, you get a very consistent tone. In a lot of cases that consistency can equate to “boringness,” but for my uses, I can create a background guitar part knowing that I won’t have to do much with it in my recording software. Also with respect to consistency, once I’ve dialed in a tone on my Flextone, it sounds pretty much the same throughout a wide range of volumes. That’s very useful.

The downside of a modeling amp is that, well, your sounds are models. While modeling technology has certainly come a long way, you can get close to a particular tone from a tube amp, but it’s not quite the same. Another thing that I found is that with a full-blown modeling amp like the Flextone III, it actually sounds horrible on stage; especially if you’ve introduced distortion into the patch. There’s a lot to be said about the interplay between pre-amp and power amp tubes in producing a distorted signal. Modeling amps just can’t capture that 100%. But I will say that played clean, it’s tough to distinguish between the two types of amps, especially if you put a tube pre before a modeling amp, like I did with my Cube 60.

So the moral of the story boys and girls is that modeling amps don’t suck. For me, they’re very useful for specific purposes. In all others, I’ll take a tube amp any day.

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