Yes indeed, I been recording lately and not had much time to update as of late. However I have 3 songs set up and 1 finally recorded. I still have some laying to do and mixing however ugh.
The recorded song is titled “Eon’s” which I will release on the site for a short time here on Stuntaxe.com.
Eon’s is about the passage of time and when I hear it I can feel the infinite situation we all live in or maybe its because its takin so long to get this one together. The timing is very precise and with every single portion I had to do several takes and retakes. Also as music goes finding the right satisfaction with what is being made makes gauging my eye’s out seem like more fun.
Eon’s will be a neat tune and I hope ya readers will like it.
Been quite sometime since I heard a band that I really liked and Texas Hippie Coalition is tearing it up for me.
Check it out.
True to the “Hard Rock Texas” sound that has influenced me for sometime THC reigns supreme as one of the latest and best sounds around. I called the sound “Southern Metal” while others call it “Red Dirt Metal”. The sound of Southern Hard Rock has heavy leanings in Blues of course and some predecessors to this hard to master sound starts with John5 from White Zombie, and Pantera. Add in a twist of ZZ Top and subtract the anger. ZZ Top is clearly defined as Rock but to my ear they have the roots of the “Southern Blues Rock sound” and are certainly masters of it if not outright founders.
Anyways you can be sure to hear more about THC as they rise to fame. These guys are the real deal when it comes to the style of Metal that has influenced me enormously. I look forward to more from them.
Where do I derive my riffs? Well for starters over 90% of the riff’s I try are failures. Actually 100% of them are failures in the grand scheme of things, none of my riffs anyone has really heard cept friends and a few locals, maybe you have heard a few here, and I thank you for listening. But still ya never know if what ya create has a catchy potential. SO what to do? Ya save them and expand on them and come back to them on occasion.
Sometimes comming up with an idea for a sound just does not work out, I may fiddle with a concept for a while but if I have to force it I just write it off. If a riff is catchy it sticks with me and I find myself going to it while improvising different things. Usually a riff to me is one element of something I like then it ends up falling onto another riff or a combination of another riff. There are alot of kinetics going on from time to time in the process.
A little advice, take fretted idea’s and figure them out to see how it may sound as something that is strummed then try and work out a rythm.
Anyways back to riffs. Ones that stick have stuck with me for years and those number to about 15 or so and only 5 of which are really worked out into complete songs. These riffs I really like have found worth writing on paper and analysing. I am not exactly a theory sort of guy but I have found one thing that really helps is to have a transposing wheel.
If you come up with something it’s worth taking the time to find out about it IF you feel something is in it and doing so will certainly help you explore the scales that open up to a given riff. Simple theory can widen a whole new dimension to the sound and its pretty handy to just tap into a little theory once in a while. Find the scale on the wheel and find out how many different ways you can get a riff worked out does it sound better in the Key of E? A? D? How about all 3?
If you are somewhat scatter brained like me it’s best to sit down and record something and take a look at it later or just have it cataloged. Do not take what you create for granted I can tell you honestly that I have made alot of cool riff’s over the years and damn it to hell I have forgetton alot of them.
This small little ballad I named “The Final Peace”. The story is something along the thoughts of a funny question. If there is an afterlife, and an eternity would one eventually resolve for it all to end?
Wouldnt exhisting forever eventually lead to a wish for it all to just stop and have a final peace?
Lets sample a piece of my tone. I love Tremelo, not exactly a good spot to define tone right? I know…
However Tremelo provides me with Soundscapes that give an underlying dark depth while providing cracks to slip into, and I happen to think good use of the tremolo can really enhance someones sound. Not just dive bombing roars but a tool that lays down the foundation of your own sound and “Tone”. This bit is using my Jackson, my JC120 and DS 1 Distortion Pedal. The tuning is Probably a half step down in Drop D.
Its not really a ground breaking piece, but it does demonstrate some things I like to do with the tremelo. Yes, I know…
Les Pauls do not come with a Floyd Rose. Unless ya like Zakk and go CUstom.
Lets get back to dime for a sec. I want to point out a couple things that he did that had alot of influence on me.
Take a good listen to the beginning where he goes with the whaa pedal.
What Dime is doing here is pretty incredible, he is working the trem, with the wah which creates some very intense audio. This is Dime when he was at his finest, everything was in order for his tone and style at this point in his playing. This particular little bit he did often at his shows so if you saw it it live you know what I am talking about. It’s a major lesson in Tone and if ya missed it thats awright. I am just attempting to define what has influenced my tone. Not everyone likes Banshee shrieks and sick metal riffage, everyone finds there own path in defining tone and this ear thrashing enigma affected my choice and now resides in my own audio weaponry. However I was not on the journey to being a Dime clone. Far from it infact. Take a few listen’s to this piece and I will be back later with more explanations on why I went with a Les Paul over a Dean.
The grizzly distinct tone that eluded me for many years had arrived, God Bless Dime Bag Darrel. I heard what I heard damn ye! At long last there was a piece of audio fabric that I have searched for! An element of my very soul was seeping out of Dimes Dean! I was not a huge fan of Pantera till the band broke up believe it or not. Yeah I know, I know what you are thinking. If you are a true Metalogist You got faith in Pantera! WTF? Well put down the pitch forks guys…
I never even considered DIME a master till Damage Plan came about, the lead singer of Pantera sounded like barf echoing out of a port-a-pottie to me. Pretty bold words there for sure but yeah I said it… The only thing that came out of Pantera worth anything at all in the history of Metal is Vinnie and Dime. But none the less the tone I was looking for was in DIMES band called “Damage Plan”. Now wait wait! Shut up… I know, I know. Dime didnt play a Les Paul. What I was kinda looking for was in his sound though then screetch!!!! Dime got shot. Damn just when he was beginning to truly define his sound in many serious ways. Dimes shit changed after Pantera believe it, he was just evolving and it fucking sucks he got killed. Yeah I was pretty crushed about the fall of Dime. At any rate my answer was in Dean somewhere or was it? I studied Dimes claimed rigs on a website site, checked out everything I could. So it came down to this. I needed something with 4 nobs, and a switch with some wicked pick ups for starters. At the time I was not willing to put down hard cash! I did not want to have another 4 year mistake! My next Guitar will not be in my hands till I was absolutly sure. OK I am not that bright sometimes, yeah I said it 4 nobs for tone control and a fricken switch. It goes alot deeper than that simple statement. Let me try and explain 4 nobs and a switch. These 4 nobs is where the sound of distinction comes from, it is the core of tone and my Jackson only had 2 nobs that did nothing and a 4 way switch that didnt effect much in tone. Try to Keep in mind finding a sound is a complex issue, at least to me and many a good player say they searched for years and when I was younger I thought that was alot of bullshit. So I am giving you my story or journey that lead me to something with 4 Nobs and a switch.
I am going to drop back to what I started with in my playing, my first guitar was a Squire Strat. All kinds of great players started on a Strat and still stand with them to this day, but not me. Why wasnt I attracted to the Squire strat? A good friend of mine swore by his strat, and how it will be the only stage weapon he will ever have. Well while learning the basics of guitar I was in a shred mode. I liked the idea of fast picking anything I could, alternate picking cold hard metal shred. Needless to say I matured a little since then, but at the same time the strat did not provide me with the depth I wanted in the sound, the neck grip was awesome, the fret’s were great, strings maybe a little to high along the board but no big deal. However most importantly the strat did not give me alot of diversity in tone control and to be blunt it just was not the tone for me. I jacked the strat into Marshal’s, and anything else I could find and the sound just was not there for me. One thing I can be thankful for in the strat was leading me to my Roland JC 120. Yup thats another story… So anyways the love affaire ended in tears and flames at a beach bon fire. Thats yet another story and lets just say my old Strat is no longer here with us today.
Enter the age of my Jackson. I have another artical about my Jackson comming up soon but anyways. Why did I go with the Jackson after a strat? Isnt that kind of backwards? Why yes it is, to some! But here me out. I was a victim of shred mode which just happens to be the ultimate excuse for any player that has never resolved to study the tone and sound that best communicates and portrays them as a unique player amoung millions. Not only that but Shred is hard to shake and my jackson had the Floyd Rose! I dive bombed that thing a ton and it roard like a mother, especially in Drop D! The sounds a Floyd Rose can pull off for saucy sound scapes is just to rich and deep for any mortal soul not to get wrapped up in. I got alot of use out of of my Jackson but still the pain continued in my desire for a special tone. I am no expert in tone I just know what I like and then one late night at a sweaty concert there it was. The fricken sound! I heard it. There was Dime on stage doing a monster solo and like all worshipper’s I was studying. Studying hard.
TO be Continued.
