D.I.Y. Solo Metal Recordings

[Oxidised Razor Masticator]

Fellow metal musicians,

I am interested in what other people in similar circumstance to myself are composing and recording.

I am a guitarist who lives in country Australia and has very little access to local musicians who have a similar understanding, interest and ability in metal to jam and consult with. Therefore I am forced to sequence drums/bass and record guitars by myself.

I have been writing metal for the better half of my life and enjoy listening to my own compositions. But I am looking to see what other people like myself are doing and are (eventually) hoping to compile information and ideas so as to better my own, and assist bettering others abilities and resources.

Please submit links (To (a) recording/s) for analasys, and I will do the same. Then we can discuss factors of interest and hopefully individually benefit from a trade of criticism and ideas.

Ok. Here is a link to the first draft of my latest project. Its to be second track on a CD I will be recording with a drummer from another city in Australia, once he has learned my rythms etc..

This is only a draft, so guitar harmonies and song structures are experimental and to the point. This is an extremely low budget recording. Please do not distribute my material without my consent.

Sk@le tracker was used for all bass, drums and intro horns etc. Guitars recorded in Adobe Audition (formerly Cool Edit Pro 2.1) and played by myself through a digitech RP50.

Track 2

[ed. File is 5.26MB Mp3Pro VBR]

-GoaT

 

[SevenString]

hey, ORM

I like your stuff... sounds kind of progressive. I think you've got something here! I look forward to hearing the final product with some vox.

The DIY thing is a topic near and dear to my heart. I've been in a lot of bands, but I had been frustrated for a long time in not being able to find the right musicians to do the music that's in my head. So finally, I just bit the bullet and did a solo CD.

If you're interested, here's a link to a couple of low-bandwidth tunes:

http://www.lesliespring.com/ancientsigns.mp3

http://www.lesliespring.com/seaofstars.mp3


Also I'd be happy to talk about my writing and production process.

 

[Splinterhead]

I'm in the same boat as well. I found that by doing everything myself it really broadened my horizons as a musician and producer. Think of it as an experiment on how far you can push yourself to achieve your goals. It's not easy but I sure as hell learned a lot about rhythm, arrangement, engineering, marketing etc etc. I say go for it!

 

[Oxidised Razor Masticator]

SevenString:

I loved those clips. I have a major soft spot for Progressive Metal/Rock. I hear a lot of Michael Romeo's style of guitar playing and Russell Allen in your vocals. So I am guessing that you are a big fan of Symphony X?

Unfortunately living in Australia, I have never had the opportunity to see any of my favorite prog bands in the flesh. I understand how annoying it would be for you not being able to perform this with a band. There would be a lot of work involved in 'training' people to play your music. I think it is obvious that you would have to play the guitar! (After hearing your solos - very impressive).

This leads me to wonder. Can you play guitar and sing at the same time (at the level recorded)? Some of the guitar parts you are singing over have very irregular sequencing and that is something I have always had problems singing over. Perhaps it's just a matter of practice on my part.

I am constantly in a point of indecision over whether to break the boundaries of my own performance in my recordings. I like to imagine that all the material is quite easily performable with a 4 member group. Holding me back in the complexities, as I have tried to write extremely complex structures in the past and kind of ruined an opportunity I had to form a band by having too much of a singular vision and expecting people to learn songs that took me months to write and a week to learn just to record!

Which leads me to another question. How long did these take to write and record? In particular sea of stars?

Thanx for taking the time to listen to my draft. It is a long way from being finished. I correspond with a drummer in Newcastle (Aus) who has the biggest kit I have ever seen in the flesh and is, in my mind, a rhythmic genius. He takes a lot of writing technique from Mike Portnoy. He will strip my sequenced tracks off the session and record live drums for the current draft. Then he will map out the song and make structural suggestions, which we discuss. All the while I play around with some leads etc.. etc... Basically, it will take a long time to finish the song!

 

[SevenString]

hey, thanks for the compliments, ORM. I'm DEFINITELY into Sym-X, although I think I'm more inspired by what they're doing with the genre, than I'm actually picking up a direct influence from them. (at least i'm not DELIBERATELY picking up anything)

But hey, if you hear Romeo and Allen in my stuff, then I'LL TAKE IT!!! lol

My main influence guitar-wise is actually paul gilbert, and a lot of my vocal style comes from the late Carl Albert (Vicious Rumors). I tend to sing more cleanly than Carl, but the way I shape my words and such is directly influenced by him. Plus, I like ARK and Vanden Plas a lot as well. I think Jorn is a fantastic singer. However, I DO think that Russ Allen is one of the (if not THE) best singers in metal today.

Funny you should mention Symphony-X and training people... that's EXACTLY what I had to do recently. I was asked to play on the bill with Sym-X last November at a venue in Hollywood, and I COULDN'T say no to that, now could I?

So I had to train a drummer, bass player, keyboard player, and second lead guitarist to do the show. I had a couple of months lead-time, but it was still down to the wire to get everybody up to speed on 40 minutes worth of material. It was all worth it, though. That had to have been one of the most FUN gigs of my musical history.

And yeah, I can play and sing at the same time, although it was great having another guitar player for that live show, so that I could give my brain a rest once in a while. In fact, when we opened the set with "Ancient Signs", I just came out and did vocals only for that one. Then I put my guitar on for most of the rest of the set. Plus that "second" guitar player is actually quite a shred monster by the name of Dave Bates.

As for writing and recording, if I have NOTHING else going on, I can probably bang out a single song in about a week or so, which is about how long it took to do "Sea of Stars". The process itself isn't really linear, though, because I'll write lyrics to the entire album first, then lay down a lot of the drums for several songs, then guitars for those several songs, etc... but it averages out to about one tune a week or so, not counting mixing and mastering.

It IS good to work with a real drummer though. I'm still sort of looking for someone that I can collaborate with, but I'm getting pretty picky lately. It'll have to be someone with a "Portnoy/Rullo/Morgenstein/Travis" kind of thing, and those guys are pretty rare. It sounds like you have a good collaborator, though, so this should be some cool stuff.

 

[Sacha]

Sounds pretty good, ORM, atmospheric yet good riffage. Check out my project ENDITOL if you get a chance.

-Sacha

 

[Oxidised Razor Masticator]

What programs are you guys sequencing your drum tracks in?

Enditol:

It will take a few listens to get my head around All Hope Universal! Nice mixture of styles. One of the riffs at the start reminded me of older crazy Deicide stuff. Very orginal riffing. In a few songs I have written, I have had 4 or so riffs that arn't good enough to stand on their own legs, so I make them into one crazy out of sorts riff. Sounds crazy and very complicated. Much like some of your riffs, I like it.

Do you have any Cabinet modeling going on in your guitar recording process? The guitars have that 'crunchy' non modelled sound. I use an RP50 very cheap pedal, but does the job until I can afford a GNX3

[ed. VST is also a very cheap modelling solution]

 

[Arahilion]

Oh yeah finally a fitting topic i upload my songs always to http://ara.dmusic.com/ , path into light and riders in the dawn are serious songs, the other stuff isnt important i'll check your music in some minutes

 

[Arahilion]

@Sevenstring, you did great job in seaofstars! The guitar work is awesome, the riffs so cool with an asian harmonic minor touch, which i very like! I also like the vocals! That's pretty professional, hm one critics maybe is that some parts are repeated to often for my taste, maybe you could reduce it from 8 minutes to 6,5 or so? love the cool guitar about 6, i very like Dream Theater, and that is same genious as them, maybe even better truly!!! How long have you been playing guitar? i'm very impressed by you!
ancientsigns: like the style of the intro, mystic and epic! amazing lead guitar and riffing! the drums are cool too! the synths are awesome too, givin varifietion to the song! your solos just kick ass! nothing to complain about vocals, good work! you rock!!!

@ORM yeah the beginning is very cool progressive! just riffs are following, hm you also can sing? would be filling this cool passage, some greatvariation about 3, very cool solo about 4, the drums are awesome! especially i like that passage about 4.45 with that 2 guitars really cool that's the firs draft, so i think u will add vocals? good job!

and hehe to my songs , i know the drums suck, cauz im not a drummer, i dont have any samples, so i have to do it with midi, i'll try to add vocals on riders in the dawn...

will listen to enditol now:
Blame is just kicking ass ! :Spin: such great riffing! love the lead guitar, wow that's damn excellent!
all hope universal, i have to do again, what an intro, so cooool, amazing riffing, hm strange vocal melody but with own style, that's pretty good in my opinion, at 2 it becomes clear what the melody goes for , like that clam part and the solo, wish i could play such solos, really great!! great piano insertion. very complex song
exterminans : intersting rhythms at the beginning, like that sound, nice riffing, cool stuff!

you guys all so rock!! very excellent progressive songs! after listening to you i decided my songs are uke:

 

[Splinterhead]

Fellow metal musicians,

I am interested in what other people in similar circumstance to myself are composing and recording.

I am a guitarist who lives in country Australia and has very little access to local musicians who have a similar understanding, interest and ability in metal to jam and consult with. Therefore I am forced to sequence drums/bass and record guitars by myself.

I have been writing metal for the better half of my life and enjoy listening to my own compositions. But I am looking to see what other people like myself are doing and are (eventually) hoping to compile information and ideas so as to better my own, and assist bettering others abilities and resources.

Please submit links (To (a) recording/s) for analasys, and I will do the same. Then we can discuss factors of interest and hopefully individually benefit from a trade of criticism and ideas.

Ok. Here is a link to the first draft of my latest project. Its to be second track on a CD I will be recording with a drummer from another city in Australia, once he has learned my rythms etc..

This is only a draft, so guitar harmonies and song structures are experimental and to the point. This is an extremely low budget recording. Please do not distribute my material without my consent.

Sk@le tracker was used for all bass, drums and intro horns etc. Guitars recorded in Adobe Audition (formerly Cool Edit Pro 2.1) and played by myself through a digitech RP50.

Track 2

[ed. File is 5.26MB Mp3Pro VBR]

-GoaT

I finally downloaded (on dialup ). The tune has a very cool moodiness about it. I can also see it used for cinematic purposes. I think it makes for a great backdrop for either soloing or vocals. (not sure which you planned on what you are doing). Keep us updated I'd like to see how your ideas evolve.

 

[Oxidised Razor Masticator]

Arahilion: I like your melodic ideas. What I would like to know is what software and equipment you are using? maybe we can help you out a bit with samples etc.

Splinterhead: Laying down vocals are an option. However, I try to refrain from this with my recordings as there would be only 3 or so riffs in that song that I could actually perform and sing over (in any decent manner) at the same time. Ideally I would like to eventually perform all of my material (and there's heaps!) with a band, so I am afraid of getting used to a certain sound. I find if I get too used to a set vocal pattern/style in a song, I find it hard to move away from it if is so required in the future.

Although, all of that could just be my own justification in order to excuse my laziness and lack of motivation to practice singing and playing more... nah! that's not like me at all

As for solos. Yeah, I have got a few good ideas worked out. I will put lead down on the next draft when my associate in Newcastle (Aus) has figured out what nasty things he is going to do to my rhythm structures

 

[GILBERTO]

man that sounds wickedly awesome (ORM)
crazy bass and percussion used and I digged that part where the guitar and drums were like having a "play off" (only way I could describe it)
makes me feel very amateur. u created that on your own?
I would buy that 4sure