Question for Dave...

[Ultima Ibanez Overlord]

How do you write solo's?

I find writing solo's really hard. I tend to improvise them a lot, I just practice a lot of phrasing ideas, so I've got a "bag of tricks" that I call upon.

Your solo's have a lot more direction, though (something I'd like to achieve). Do you wait for inspiration, improvise and just make note of the cool ideas and put them in some sort of order as time goes by (what I do, I suppose), or do you sit down to write solo's?

I suppose it could be a combination of all three, but I won't try to second guess your answer....

 

[Dave - Power of Omens]

Well, allot of it is mental...
I listen to the backing track over and over, and try to imagine where I want to take the idea. When I finally get a decent picture in my head, I'll sit down and improv a few tracks...just close my eyes, and play from the heart...sometimes, the exact idea flows across, sometimes only in pieces...but what this does, is helps me to hear a general dea of what was in my head....from there, I'll sit down with the ideas, and start analyzing them...finding out how I want to phrase things...and I'll generally focus on two different styles of phrasing...feel and technique. (ie. where do I want to play fast, and where do I want to sing with a melody.)
After I've mapped out my idea, I'll start transcribing everthing out to Tab, (however, only for general references)...I've never been that good of a soloist so I never try to play everything I write note-for-note (unless it's with a unison/harmony key solo). By doing this, it gives me more of a natural feel, and a more "from the heart" take. (Play the written singing melody, and improv the fast lines in and out) I do have a small bag of inventoried licks that I use, this is what's helpful for the faster leads...but what makes them work, is making sure they connect the melodies smoothly...and not sound as if there are "un-natural" bridges between melodic ideas.
So in a way, it is a bit of all three. One thing that is important to me IS direction...and making sure that what I do, does make sense, and is not just a bunch of jumbled notes just for the sake of playing fast...and a nice blend of both phrasing techniques always helps to achieve that.

Dave

 

[Ultima Ibanez Overlord]

Wow, thanks for such an indepth answer, Dave. It's fantastic to be able to ask such great players questions. Can I be cheeky and ask a couple more?

I appreciate what you're saying about listening to the piece. It's important to play what the song needs, instead of just using it as a platform to show off. Great solo's are usually ones that sit fantastically well in a song.

Do you find it's difficult to write solo's? I'm not the most prolific musician, and it takes me a long time to finish each composition. But it's clear to me that I write a lot more riffs and song parts than actual guitar solo's. Do they come easy to you?

I feel quite happy with my improvisations; somehow, they feel ok bearing in mind they're improvs. But they're not the sort of quality I'd like to commit to tape. Have you ever felt like that about your soloing?

 

[Dave - Power of Omens]

You know...I truly appreciate being able to interact with people regarding music...it's always a good way to learn more about yourself as well as others.
As for solos being hard for me... Not really...playing guitar for over 18 years, after a while, everything becomes very natural. Not to mention, every rehearsal that we do, always starts off with a 15-20 minute jam session of nothing but improving. This is usually when I get my chance to to just play...it's becomes a challenge when Alex begins to play odd meter, and I have to constantly be alert, and focused...it really helps me to see what it is that I am doing...and always helps my timing especially with solos as well as phrasing. For me writing a solo is not hard, bringing it to life is what's a challenge. Take the solo for "With These Words", I wrote that solo, along with the keys, in about an hour...but it took me a few days before I had it tight enough to record. I guess allot of it also depends on the mood of a song. If you're trying to solo to a ballad, you need to have a solo that's gonna bleed and pour out from your soul, and if you're just not feeling it, it's not gonna happen...that's where inspiration comes in, and sometimes setting a mood, can make a world of difference. Take a song like "Tears of the Wind" from our first CD...it's a slow flamenco piece that was 98% improved while recording. That was a song I wrote for an ex-girlfriend...it was my way of saying good-bye to her...When I went in to record it, I turned out all of the lights, lit a few candles, and thought about all of the wonderful times we shared...and hit record...what you hear is exactly what I felt at that very moment. Soloing is just another form of expression, if you say what you feel from inside, then you'll find writing solos to be allot easier.
As for the second part of your question, yes I can definately say that there are times that I don't find what I do, good enough for tape. In fact there are a few solos on our first CD that I wish I could re-do. I think allot has to do with having faith in yourself. The more confidence you have, the better your soloing will come across. I can definately say that over the years, my own confidence level has definately come up...but I still feel that there is much more that I can accomplish if I can continue to open up and trust my own playing.

Dave

 

[Ultima Ibanez Overlord]

When I rehearse with my band, we always start off with an improv, too. Someone (usually the first to be set up, I suppose) will start just playing, and the rest of us join in.
We tend to jam in 4/4, or /4 note divisions. But what can throw me is the harmony used. Our bassist uses pretty typical ideas, but the keyboard player likes to use a lot of altered harmony, using long, strange sequences of suspended 2 chords so they have no diatonic value, or just going nuts like the opening riff in Dream Theater's Erotomania or something.
It's really good for my ear to try and solo over changes like that.

A big thanks for your advice/answers, Dave. Especially the bit about setting the mood in the room.
I think I'm fairly ok technque-wise. I've been playing for about 11-12 years now, and I spent a lot of time working on technique. But because I've never done much work with bands until a few years ago, my creativity has never been used. I need to hone my skills as a writer, since technique is only a half, or less, of being a musician.

 

[Ultima Ibanez Overlord]

Another question, if that's cool, Dave (or any of the band). I have been listening to the stuff a lot recently. I can seriously say I haven't heard a band with vocals doing anything as complicated in terms of orchestration as this before. Even the new Planet X album seems to have less of a focus on orchestration.
How is it writing this sort of stuff?

I have read various interviews with bands who have been considered to be very complicated, and more often than not, they say the stuff just flows out like that.
Genesis were always said to have a very complicated sound, but most of the members I've read interviews with said it just came out like that, it didn't require obessing over to write stuff like that.
I've read John Petrucci saying pretty much the same thing, and Derek Sherinian, too.
Is it like this for you guys, too?

 

[Dave - Power of Omens]

Well, I hate to sound like everyone else....but, honestly, allot of what we write is natural, and we generally have no problem writing stuff like that. Especially when you get into that zone, everything starts to just flow...When it comes to writing, orchestration is a HUGE part of the band. We've always wanted to write music where you can hear every instrument doing something different, but together make one huge musical picture. So for me personally, when I sit down, I hear so many ideas in my head that when I write for something on the keys, I can already hear an idea for the guitar or vice verca. I also think that the chemistry that we have as a band also helps with the writing. We've been together for so many years that we've grown to know each other, and we know each other's musical thought process as well as each other's limitations. So when I come up with certain riffs, I can already imagine what the other guys are gonna do to it, and they pretty much know me, and what I am capable of doing as well. So it makes it allot easier than it sounds when it comes to writing music as complex as ours. I guess the more you do it, and the longer you do it together makes it easier as you go.

~D