production info

[Blakkheim]

what is still unknown to me is what studio gear was used whilst in the studio...because the gt-3 and all these individual pedals all sound great for us flids at home...but what happens when u compare the best boss delay pedal to the best professional audio studio delays...u know what im talking about...the racks of outboard FX...surely what we are hearing is those £1000 rack FX and not £100 pedals....or am i completely wrong?

ya know, back in thoze days, we used our live gear also in the studio, so its all pedals and it was all good....

but yeah, being in the studio these days we use all effects from digital outboard racks or software plugs...

still, its not like we're talkin multi million wakko jakko shit here... u can get away with a lot if u just know how to twiddle those knobs, even on a pedal. its all about the twiddle thing....

 

[papaloidflook]

haha the twiddle thing...nicely put mate...there will probably be a new number 1 hit in UK now called "the twiddle thing"....bunch of fannies twiddling their fingers...called "the twiddling benny boys"....

anyway...back to the initial topic of production...

1. do u reckon that while you are twiddling those nobs (on those FX pedals or rack-mounted FX) that the FX actually influence and inspires you to write the music you write...for example...you start strumming a chord clean with no FX on...but you're not impressed...so you switch on your FX and then start strumming and like what you hear...it then sets the mood and ideas start flooding your mind...and you begin your musical adventure down a path you wouldnt have taken had you not twiddled like a maniac?

OR...

2. is it knowledge of Music Theory which influences the next note or chord rather than the tone or FX (delay,reverb etc)?

this has puzzled me for at least 8 years!...what makes a musician play the notes they play?...why those?...and why in that order?....and why with that FX being used?...

there must be a certain level of knowledge of Music theory...and technical knowledge...

so in your case wise Blakkheim...whats your opinion mate?

 

[jptk]

haha the twiddle thing...nicely put mate...there will probably be a new number 1 hit in UK now called "the twiddle thing"....bunch of fannies twiddling their fingers...called "the twiddling benny boys"....

anyway...back to the initial topic of production...

1. do u reckon that while you are twiddling those nobs (on those FX pedals or rack-mounted FX) that the FX actually influence and inspires you to write the music you write...for example...you start strumming a chord clean with no FX on...but you're not impressed...so you switch on your FX and then start strumming and like what you hear...it then sets the mood and ideas start flooding your mind...and you begin your musical adventure down a path you wouldnt have taken had you not twiddled like a maniac?

OR...

2. is it knowledge of Music Theory which influences the next note or chord rather than the tone or FX (delay,reverb etc)?

this has puzzled me for at least 8 years!...what makes a musician play the notes they play?...why those?...and why in that order?....and why with that FX being used?...

there must be a certain level of knowledge of Music theory...and technical knowledge...

so in your case wise Blakkheim...whats your opinion mate?

I think that if you use music theory to write songs they will end up sounding a bit cold (and not in a good way!). It takes the emotion out of the music(In my opinion). I am doing a jazz coarse at the moment which means i need to know all my scales, chords and knowledge of harmony and stuff, but if im writing music (not jazz), I dont think about anything like that, I just play what i wanna hear.

 

[papaloidflook]

i appreciate your view...but i think the question still remains unanswered because...how do we know wether all our favourite musicians are sitting down with pen and paper and a book on music theory or not?...

lets take a painter like dali for instance...did he first imagine a picture...then try and paint it exactly how he saw it in his minds eye...or did he just start by drawing a line...then another...then another...and each previous line directing the next one...and eventually it ends up as a masterpiece...how much planning is invloved?...

in a musicians case...do they first hear a sequence of chords in their mind...then try and find the correct chords or single notes to create that exact sequence they imagined...

OR...do they start with one chord that they like...then use a music theory book...to work out what the next chord should be...etc...so they have a chord progression all planned out...e.g...dark rock like Katatonia...would want a sequence of fairly dark depressing dissonant dreamy chords and notes....to hit that spot in all of us...is there a formula....a musical plan...are they finding the right combinations in the right order to hit the spot in our brains and trigger the endorphin secretion which we all enjoy so much?

ok i admit...sounds like im a paranoid schizophrenic...but i think i have all the reason to think this fellow turnip sniffing children...

 

[Cerulean]

Just wanted to say that in my case, I usually have made up tunes in my head, then I grab a guitar and try to make it sound right.

 

[papaloidflook]

mhmm so thats your method...and would you say its the best method to use to create songs of the same quality as Katatonia and Opeth etc ?....

i still reckon that almost all of the legendary musicians knew their instruments so well and had sufficient knowledge of music theory in order to write the songs they wrote...
to name a few....Lennon...Drake....Schuldiner....Azagthoth...and ofcourse Akerfeldt and Nyström....

 

[jptk]

mhmm so thats your method...and would you say its the best method to use to create songs of the same quality as Katatonia and Opeth etc ?....

i still reckon that almost all of the legendary musicians knew their instruments so well and had sufficient knowledge of music theory in order to write the songs they wrote...
to name a few....Lennon...Drake....Schuldiner....Azagthoth...and ofcourse Akerfeldt and Nyström....

I think its more of an emotional thing. What i would usually do is just sit down with the guitar and whatever mood im in will come out in what i play. Ill usually hear something in my head and then it comes out on the instrument. Ive heard that the beatles used theory knowledge to come up with chord changes, but i wouldnt exactly call them amazing.(just my opinion). I think its easy to whip out a theory book on chords and scales and write a song but to just feel the music without too much thought is hard and is not a quality every musician has(IMO)

 

[For My Sweetheart the Drunk]

hi blackheim, just want to say that you're one of my guitar heroes and that I had the incredible pleasure of seeing you in Montreal last year. Also, you're one of the reasons I got into Jeff Buckley -- which I discovered in 99' after getting into Tonight's Decision and browsing the site.

Anyways, I was wondering with the Boss GT-3, do you use the distortions on it, and if so, how do you get a half decent sound of it? Apart from that, the thing is pretty cool; I love the delays and the reverbs especially.

 

[Jinn]

you might want to open up a different thread to get Anders' attention