What ever happened to Johan Defarfalla ?

[Ecto]

I love bass sound and really can't get why in most cases it's hidden behind the final mix. Many arrengements are sou cool and indeed is a plus that is missed.

 

[noura]

I only just read this thread fully, didn;t think we'd get far with those questions! Thanks muchly Antzor, very interesting stuff. The bass on that album really stands out which is why I had no trouble believing it was Mike that wrote atleast the majority. It makes sense from Johan's interest and what he says that he had a lot of input.

Past is the past however and now even though Martin's a great bass player and there are some groovy bits, if Mike writes all of it then it makes me wonder why Mendez doesn't have his own side project or whatever...

 

[To rid you disease]

I only just read this thread fully, didn;t think we'd get far with those questions! Thanks muchly Antzor, very interesting stuff. The bass on that album really stands out which is why I had no trouble believing it was Mike that wrote atleast the majority. It makes sense from Johan's interest and what he says that he had a lot of input.

Past is the past however and now even though Martin's a great bass player and there are some groovy bits, if Mike writes all of it then it makes me wonder why Mendez doesn't have his own side project or whatever...

"i dont rly like being in the studio, recording is boring. when we play live i feel like... i feel high or something"

id say he does it for the gigs

 

[noura]

ah yeh, that's what he said on the Roundhouse Tapes interview but I was also referring to his creativity as it was being questioned, didn't make that clear.

 

[hexwind]

Mike owns Opeth I think !! if any one noticed in the rehearsal tape (in the From another planet chapter) he was telling Axe the drumming should be !!!!

 

[noura]

Yeh, we know he's the ringleader...

 

[hexwind]

but what the hell the other guys are doing??? !!!

 

[To rid you disease]

i thought it was common knowledge mike writes pretty much everything, but u guys seem to be surprised o.0

 

[NicholasDWolfwood]

mike writes the basic structure, I'm sure the other guys have their say in their parts as well. lopez and mike would compromise on the drum parts (as said in d/d docu) and peter would write his own solos (as shown in d/d docu). I'm sure mendez and axe are the same, they're given the basic structure and the feel of the part that mike is looking for and then they thrown their own style in the mix

 

[sotua]

If Martin wrote anything, he must be mentioned as a co-composer of some songs. But this doesn't happen as far I know. Evidently Mike writes everything himself. Only Peter Lindgren participated in composing sometimes.
In the new album there is a participation of Fredrik and Per. But about Mendez and De Farfalla I haven't heard anything.

Yay, year-old bump.

Anyway, there's a difference between coming up with the song and coming up with the bass part. I'd wager Mike comes up with the song on guitar, tells Martin to bass it up, Mendez does, he and Mike go over it, maybe Mike will want something different, Mendez tweaks it until everyone's happy. Martin wrote the bass part, but Mike came up with the original song, without which Mendez's bass part wouldn't exist. Ergo, no composer credits.

At least, that's how it worked on all the original bands I've been in - guitar guy comes up with the song, I come up with the bass line. Nobody wrote my parts, and I wouldn't ask for composer credit for coming up with "just" the bass line, no matter how important to the song it might be.

To summarize, a bassist not getting composer credits on a song doesn't automatically mean he/she didn't write his/her own bass lines.

 

[Dammnare]

Well if the understanding of Mike's writing everything is surprising I guess you need to think it like this:

Mike is the main composer. Like Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Bach whoever you can name. They make up the songs. And centuries later (or simply after writing it) some orchestras play them. This is the same case with Opeth if we think Mike's writing every single damn thing.

 

[sotua]

Well if the understanding of Mike's writing everything is surprising I guess you need to think it like this:

Mike is the main composer. Like Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Bach whoever you can name. They make up the songs. And centuries later (or simply after writing it) some orchestras play them. This is the same case with Opeth if we think Mike's writing every single damn thing.

That line of thinking is fine - if you believe Mendez, Axe and Fredrik just play the sheet music Mikael puts in front of them. I, for one, don't. I do believe that Mikael does have a lot of influence in everybody's parts (if Axe comes up with a fill or Mendez comes up with a bass line or Fredrik creates a solo that Mike doesn't like, guess who wins ) but I don't believe he's outright scoring each of his bandmates' parts (like Mozart, Beethoven, et al did when writing a symphony).

If that where the case, the bass from the DeFarfalla albums would have a very similar style, if not the same, as MYMH, and so would the Mendez albums. It's not just the touch of the player, is what they bring to the song... by writing their own parts, drawing from their own style, influences and experience.

But, since they didn't come up with the song that their bass lines go with, they can't claim writer's credit.

 

[Ozzloaf]

No I asked when I met Opeth. Mike writes everything including drums, bass, keys, etc. Of course he writes it only as far as he can take it and then the other members use their own expertise and style to improve it.

 

[biggsy]

yeah doesnt mike say in the lamentations doco that he puts most of the stuff on paper then the rest take that and add to it or alter parts

 

[sotua]

No I asked when I met Opeth. Mike writes everything including drums, bass, keys, etc. Of course he writes it only as far as he can take it and then the other members use their own expertise and style to improve it.

This I can buy. Mike has the original song idea, creates a rough demo, lays down the guidelines(*), and then the rest of the guys put in their own magic.

What I wasn't buying is that Mike wrote down everything to the last note and the others are just sheet music readers like orchestra performers. The whole "so what's the big deal about DeFarfalla/Mendez/Lopez/whatever, Mike writes everything anyway" thing irritates me.

(*) the main composer/guitar player usually has objections if your bass line essentialy changes his chord progression by shifting the tones under it

 

[Defluo]

Based on what I've read and heard, Mikael does more than just lay down the guidelines for the others.

While he's said they do have some input, it's doubtful that input is very extensive. Mikael probably has Axe doing his own thing more than the other two though if things are still similiar to how they were with Lopez, but that still wouldn't stretch far..Mike just has a very clear vision of what he wants out of his songs so it isn't necessary to have every other band member relentlessly chipping in their ideas - they're sensible enough to know this too.

As for Defarfalla I suspect he had more involvement in the writing process than Mike would put up with these days, at least with his own bass lines. If I remember rightly, this is partially why he departed Opeth - Mikael felt the music was becoming or could become too bass orientated with Johan's (weird, jazzy...unmetal!) influence so potent.

 

[To rid you disease]

^

yeah, in one of the documentaries, don remember which, mike is even showing mendez an exact bass riff, note by note. not like, so the chord progression is this and this and its in the key of y.

 

[hexwind]

^that one was on the Making Of Damnation & Deliverance. but guys, we weren't there in the writing process, we just see few seconds of the rehearsal, recording or whatever and we don't know exactly what's going on there, so those seconds don't represent the songwriting process. hope u got my point