Metal Fans Favorite Composers and Subgenres

[Genius Gone Insane]

For what it's worth:
http://www.talkclassical.com/22695-metal-fans-favorite-composers.html

I have not joined this forum but I thought the thread was interesting. I really think these two genres will meld together in the next 20 years.

If the symphony ever decides to permanently incorporate electric guitar into its arsenal, a lot of us in this forum will be famous one day, which is kind of cool to think about.

 

[LeSedna]

Even though I'm quite a big fan of classical music, I hate mixing an orchestra with electric guitar or a rock/metal band. The only band I like every time when it does that is Septic Flesh, because they have the taste of doing it in a non show-off way ("yeah we're big enough to play with the Prag Philharmonic Orchestra like the others !!"), and just precisely dosing it as much as the songs needs. Most of the time I actually prefer when the orchestration is fake and from synth sounds or pads.

I don't think an electric guitar sounds too good in an orchestra, there is something un-balanced and like out of phase when this happens, just like I don't really like hearing a real bass instead of contrabasses or low brasses. It doesn't sound as woody as the original instruments, and sticks out too much. For some reasons I think drums can blend better, because they have no real competitor to begin with (classical percussions are not really comparable with drums, they rarely give the rythm for minutes but rather are an addition to the rest of the orchestra for punch and emphasize). Also, the electric guitar vibrato sounds slightly out of tune for being up only (while the classical vibrato is more around the note, starting from going down, and some instruments have a vibrato based in intensity and not the note).

I don't think it has any chance to "meld together" in 20 years. If it ever does, it will take more than that. Electric guitars have been around for 60 years already, and still haven't really brought anything fundamentally interesting for classical music IMO

 

[Sweetnothing]

I love classical. I come from a classical background, my father was a pro french horn player so that's what I heard until I reached 11 years old or so.

But...I don't think electric guitars/bass can compete. Maybe in a drone kind of way yes, but I think it would sound out of place.
I agree with LeSedna, much prefer when electric guitars, bass, etc goes with synthy orchestrations.

I still think that even loving playing guitar in a band context, classical will be way far away in just about any aspect.

 

[Charlie E.]

Classical music rocks. As far as combining the two, Winds did a decent job.

 

[RemoWilliams]

I think it comes down to composer writing more for the instrument. Not that there haven't been pieces written to specifically for electric guitar, there just not as abundant as those written for acoustic (both nylon and steel string). Michael Kamen, Steven Mackey, and Michael Daugherty have both written concerto pieces for electric guitar which I enjoy (and Yngwie Malmsteen has his neo-baroque/classical piece). Steven Mackey's peice "Dreamhouse" also uses a trio of electric guitars and bass as in integral part. Though the use of both electric guitar and bass is nothing new as far as a textural one. Both Penderecki and Schnittke have used them to such effect (and other composers that don't immediately spring to mind).

Though, with the new crop of composers coming up, I think there will be more written for it and pieces written to incorporate it.

 

[ArnaudM]

I think mixing electric guitars to classical music is a very difficult job, because the material quality, I mean, the way the sound, physically, is produced, is very different and doesn't mix so well together. I say that, but I'm working on a symphonic extreme metal band hehehe. Maybe that's why I'm more aware of it maybe. I think we can used acoustic instruments in a metal context, being cautious, to get a richer tonal palette, but using an electric guitar within the context of an orchestra hurts my ears. Sceptic Flesh are more into creating tonal textures with the orchestra than really writing orchestral music (even if the job is really clever and sick), that's why they are so good at doing it.

 

[drew_drummer]

Just gets a bit too November Rain for my liking.

 

[Nuno Filipe]

I think mixing electric guitars to classical music is a very difficult job, because the material quality, I mean, the way the sound, physically, is produced, is very different and doesn't mix so well together. I say that, but I'm working on a symphonic extreme metal band hehehe. Maybe that's why I'm more aware of it maybe. I think we can used acoustic instruments in a metal context, being cautious, to get a richer tonal palette, but using an electric guitar within the context of an orchestra hurts my ears. Sceptic Flesh are more into creating tonal textures with the orchestra than really writing orchestral music (even if the job is really clever and sick), that's why they are so good at doing it.

Fully agree, even worse if the music has double kick all the way. Almost pointless to compose things for low range instruments like double bass, basson, tuba e.t.c because the kick drum and the bass guitar will eat all the frequencies that those instruments needs to shine in a mix. Even without the low range instruments, a dense orchestral compostion it will be a PITA because the distorted guitars sucks a lot of frequencies, almost all Frequency spectrum, so something will be buried in the mix. Huge guitars will mean a thin orchetration, a big orchestration will means thin and weak guitars!lol That´s why it´s so hard to mix this kind of shit.