question for steve: nevermore songs you can't play?

[Fragle]

can't play in the sense of "you don't know how to", e.g. you haven't figured them out (yet)...i'm sure that technically you can play any nevermore song there is
the reason for my question is that the last two times i've joined a band who already had a few albums out i usually learnt the songs that are played regulary, maybe added a few other bonus songs here and there, but other than that i think i've never learnt the whole repertoire of a band....i wonder what it is like in nevermore? do you guys rehearse *all* the NM songs from time to time (like C.B.F, matricide, lost, godmoney....all the stuff you never play live basically), or are it just the same "setlist-worthy" songs over and over?

btw, when you play in the US, do you use kranks all the time, or do you also occasionally use whatever amp the promoter provides for you to play through? afaik, for the euro shows you usually rent rectifiers of some sort...i wonder why you don't also rent kranks over here? they might be more popular in the US, but at least in germany i know many places that carry them and also rent them out.


thanks steve, rock on

 

[Fragle]

sorry for the

bump

 

[Steve Smyth]

Hi Fragle,
Sorry about not replying the first time, guess I didn't see this!
Well, probably the ones I don't know are the ones we have never put into the set list, though there have been many that Jeff and I did go over before...Insignificant for instance, comes to mind, I Am the Dog, which the band did end up putting in the list( my idea!), oh man, a few others not recalling right now.
I would say to learn what you want to from a band that you like/and are going to play with, you learn from everything you play; new techniques, a different approach,etc. I did this with Vicious Rumors, and with Testamnt, and eventually, convinced the band we should put thse songs in the set as well!
Hope that answsers this...
As for the Krank amps, yes we do use them whenever we can, and in the instance of the Euro tour in '05 we tried, but thehy were "not available" in time for us to use, someone else already had the whole backlikne rented in advance of us, so it didn't work out on that one.

 

[Jeebo]

Man, I wish you guys would play insignificant live, that would be sweet. I also need to find out if the song's tuning is 7 string Bb or perhaps lower since it sounds like it's in the key of Db and some of the chord shapes feel kinda funky in 7 string half-step down tuning.

 

[Steve Smyth]

Man, I wish you guys would play insignificant live, that would be sweet. I also need to find out if the song's tuning is 7 string Bb or perhaps lower since it sounds like it's in the key of Db and some of the chord shapes feel kinda funky in 7 string half-step down tuning.

No, it's actually DADGAD(Lo to Hi) on a 6 string, down a half step, as I recall.

 

[flying_whale]

No, it's actually DADGAD(Lo to Hi) on a 6 string, down a half step, as I recall.

That is a very wierd tunning. Open D minor is it called?
Btw Steve, what other nevermore songs are in some wierd tunning other than standard or dropped tunning?
Btw Steve, did you figure out Calvert's and Obrien's solos by ear, or did you sit down with Jeff and figure them out?

 

[JBroll]

DADFAD would be open D minor, that's open D suspended (or open C# suspended, after the half step drop) - DADGAD is used pretty frequently, my favorite example being Led Zeppelin's Kashmir.

I think A Future Uncertain had some funny tuning in the intro, perhaps another suspended tuning, but apart from that and the drop-C# songs that's all I know of (and I practice the catalog whenever I can) so...

Jeff

 

[Steve Smyth]

DADFAD would be open D minor, that's open D suspended (or open C# suspended, after the half step drop) - DADGAD is used pretty frequently, my favorite example being Led Zeppelin's Kashmir.

I think A Future Uncertain had some funny tuning in the intro, perhaps another suspended tuning, but apart from that and the drop-C# songs that's all I know of (and I practice the catalog whenever I can) so...

Jeff

You're right Jeff, DADGAD again, only it was in Bb, for the intro to A Future Uncertain. At some point here, I will make a brief transcription of the intro and put it up here...
Paul, Sell My Heart for Stones is on a 7 with the Lo B and E dropped a whole step, as an example.
As for learning those solos from Tim and Pat, I did them on my own, no help from Jeff, and was given the freedom to put my own ideas into them as well.

 

[Genius Gone Insane]

Were there any instances where you were playing an Nmore song and then Jeff cut you off and was like, "nah, nah, bro, you got it wrong...it's played HERE on the fretboard, not down there, and you pick it like THIS...bro, you suck haha"? (just kidding about the you suck part, obviously)

 

[flying_whale]

Hi Steve,
Thanks for answering my question. So if you guys were to play a future uncertain live either you or jeff would have to change guitars while playing the song, or play the song, but one of you would have to play it on a different tunning? or just adapt it to standard or dropped. Btw is there a name for the tunning used for Sell my heart for stones? I would assume it would go like this low to high: ADADGBE a half step down.

 

[Fragle]

hey steve, thanks for answering my question.

"Btw Steve, did you figure out Calvert's and Obrien's solos by ear, or did you sit down with Jeff and figure them out?"

thats an interesting point right there. for some reason i find it REALLY hard to distinguish jeff's leads from pat's, i don't know why, maybe it's because back then jeff's own style was not yet fully developed so to speak....
same thing with dreaming neon black, except for the fact that there are solo credits but seriously, some of tim's leads on that record are SO loomis sounding to my ears, the first beyond within lead for example.

on TGE on the other hand it's really obvious who played what (unlike the rhythms, bittersweet feast for example fits right into jeffs writing style, i was surprised that it's a steve song), you guys both have your very own lead styles that are quite different.
btw, speaking of TGE leads.....i'm the last one to say that jeff is anything less than an amazing godlike guitar player, but as far as i am concerned you, steve, kicked jeff's ass BIG TIME on the psalm of lydia. much more creative, especially your second lead.

 

[Steve Smyth]

Were there any instances where you were playing an Nmore song and then Jeff cut you off and was like, "nah, nah, bro, you got it wrong...it's played HERE on the fretboard, not down there, and you pick it like THIS...bro, you suck haha"? (just kidding about the you suck part, obviously)

No, we always sit down and double check everything, because, at times, Jeff's picking approach or riff approach would be unique enough for him to have to show me what he was doing. Same thing with Eric Peterson, the same with me showing them my riffs...you want to make sure you get the approach right, or it won't sound quite the same.
Hope that helps, GGI.

 

[Steve Smyth]

Hi Steve,
Thanks for answering my question. So if you guys were to play a future uncertain live either you or jeff would have to change guitars while playing the song, or play the song, but one of you would have to play it on a different tunning? or just adapt it to standard or dropped. Btw is there a name for the tunning used for Sell my heart for stones? I would assume it would go like this low to high: ADADGBE a half step down.

Actually, Paul, we had planned on playing this live on the Euro tour 2005, and also on the Jager tour last year as well. I would have had an acoustic on a stand, set to DADGAD tuned down to Bb, then broke into the rest of the song with the band on electric, 7 string, tuned standard, down 1/2 step. Maybe next tour!
As for the name of that tuning, don't really know of a name, we just call it the "Double Drop" tuning.
Hope that helps.

 

[Steve Smyth]

hey steve, thanks for answering my question.

"Btw Steve, did you figure out Calvert's and Obrien's solos by ear, or did you sit down with Jeff and figure them out?"

thats an interesting point right there. for some reason i find it REALLY hard to distinguish jeff's leads from pat's, i don't know why, maybe it's because back then jeff's own style was not yet fully developed so to speak....
same thing with dreaming neon black, except for the fact that there are solo credits but seriously, some of tim's leads on that record are SO loomis sounding to my ears, the first beyond within lead for example.

on TGE on the other hand it's really obvious who played what (unlike the rhythms, bittersweet feast for example fits right into jeffs writing style, i was surprised that it's a steve song), you guys both have your very own lead styles that are quite different.
btw, speaking of TGE leads.....i'm the last one to say that jeff is anything less than an amazing godlike guitar player, but as far as i am concerned you, steve, kicked jeff's ass BIG TIME on the psalm of lydia. much more creative, especially your second lead.

Hey Fragle, yeah, I hear you on that one. I was able to distinguish each player though, and go from there.
Thanks man, I am humbled by your statements there!

 

[flying_whale]

thanks for the response Steve!
I can't wait to hear A future uncertain live. that song rules!

 

[JBroll]

Technically you could call that D#m7/11, but that would just be odd.

Since you have the FR, would it be feasible to have a D-Tuna put on the low Bb and Eb strings? I was wondering about that a while ago, as one of my guitars has a Floyd (now that it's getting blocked, though, it doesn't matter much) and I fucking hate playing in drop tunings *before* factoring the pain in the ass that is setting up floating trems for them.

Jeff

 

[Steve Smyth]

Technically you could call that D#m7/11, but that would just be odd.

Since you have the FR, would it be feasible to have a D-Tuna put on the low Bb and Eb strings? I was wondering about that a while ago, as one of my guitars has a Floyd (now that it's getting blocked, though, it doesn't matter much) and I fucking hate playing in drop tunings *before* factoring the pain in the ass that is setting up floating trems for them.

Jeff

That's right, you could_ call it that.
And, yes as a thought, you could use the D-Tuna on both of those strings; I was actualy considering it, then just decided to go with a fixed bridge guitty to play it on always, and that was that.

 

[JBroll]

Hmm... which fixed bridge might this be played on?

Actually, I've myself been looking to get one of those pink Hello Kitty guitars (tuned to B, with an EMG 85 pickup) and would like to know where to get matching hardware, if you know of any places...

Jeff

 

[Steve Smyth]

Hmm... which fixed bridge might this be played on?

Actually, I've myself been looking to get one of those pink Hello Kitty guitars (tuned to B, with an EMG 85 pickup) and would like to know where to get matching hardware, if you know of any places...

Jeff

Why, the White Warlock of course!
Nope, can't help ya there buddy....don't know anyone who has a pink guitar anyway.

 

[Fragle]

Hey Fragle, yeah, I hear you on that one. I was able to distinguish each player though, and go from there.
Thanks man, I am humbled by your statements there!

so then....how about this: i try to guess who played what on PoE, and you correct me. deal?

ok, 42147: first lead SCREAMS jeff. the tapping section before the crazy lead also sounds like a jeff idea to me, the crazy lead itself (1:20) could be pat...he's a great player you know....2:30 lead is jeff, 3:10 could be either...the melody sounds like something jeff would do, but the fast stuff afterwards is rather strange sounding....i'd say jeff, though.
wow, never realized that song has so many leads
lost: first lead jeff, the weird lead before the breakdown section is also crazy enough to be a jeff thing
passenger: jeff, the ending lick gives it away
seven tongues: ok this is really tough. sounds like the ending section (4:40) was a seperate take, but for some reason i think this is jeff all the way through...could also be pat, though...the shred lick before the ascending stuff right before it goes into the second take sounds rather pat-ish to my ears.
the learning: jeff all the way?
PoE: pretty insane...probably pat
tiananmen man: i'd say jeff all the way
this sacrament: same thing

the problem is....i'm not too familiar with pat's style. with cannibal corpse he's doing a lot of REAL crazy stuff (especially rhythm...way too much whammy bar noise in his CC leads imho), but i'm not too sure about his melodic playing...if there is any.