For some reason I decided to start transcribing a stripped-down version of Demilich’s ‘Sixteenth Six-Tooth Son’ (etc.). The way the drums emphasise different beats during the second (pre-lyrics) riff of the song started giving me a headache, so I’m gonna continue it tomorrow. Will probably upload the finished (and cleaned up, MuseScore ruins everything) transcription once I’m done, along with at least some basic analysis of the rhythmic interplay I already see here between guitars and guitar/drums. There’s some pretty cool stuff obvious already.
There’s a bit of the transcription cut off at the bottom of the first page, so please don’t use this as a learning device XD
A podcast where musicians take apart their songs, and piece by piece, tell the story of how they were made. Part of the Maximum Fun network. http://songexploder.net http://twitter.com/songexplode
This is great. I always enjoy getting to hear about music from the musician’s themselves –and not in the same old “this is what the song is about” kind of way.
After a prolonged period of not really listening to, or playing, the music I love, my belief and conviction are finally restored - as is my memory of the password for my Tumblr blogs, but that's beside the point :P
The mission for this blog is unchanged: shed some light on compositional techniques used, wittingly or no, in various subgenres of metal, and provide a forum for discussion, critique and overall learning. As such, increasing the number of writers-who-aren't-me is a little more important than I retrospectively gave it credit for, although I'm still doing FINE ON MY OWN PFFFFFFT. I now have a slightly larger network of metalheads-I-know-online and will be reaching out to them to find more writers for HMM; in the meantime, if you'd like to be involved in my Awesome Metal Analysis and Discussion, get in contact.
Band Top Tuesday because I can't remember how I recorded my headphone amp playing through my laptop speakers yet.
I have two tour shirts for Out To Die - one bought during their UK tour, one during their Europe one when they played Damnation Festival in Leeds. They're both awesome (and different), so I don't mind.
Anyway, Northern Darkness #1 in Newcastle (At The Gates, Napalm Death headlining) are having a competition for unsigned bands and I’d really rather like you to vote for this one. ;) You’ll need a Soundcloud account, but can vote by clicking on the track and liking it - only takes a few seconds to do. I honestly believe that Common Gods are the best band in this round, and having seen part of their set at the North of the Wall festival in April I think they’re good live as well - if you live nowhere near the UK, you can at least make me happy by giving me another chance to see a full set!
There are three other bands in this round of the competition; two are boring, Vehement is okay but kind of monotonous (or maybe I just listen to too much black metal, heh). I’m looking forward to what the next rounds have in store, though…
Over the coming months, I'll be writing about my bastardised version of mindfulness and about helpful practice habits (WHICH I'D BETTER DEVELOP, DAMNIT). I'll also keep up with my metal song analyses - in particular, I have a piece on Belkètre's 'The Dark Promise' which I just need to write up and record audio for. If you have any questions, requests or articles to contribute, send them my way; if not, I have ceased to care about silent followers and whether you read my stuff or not has no bearing on me. :P
You probably know about the theory that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to master a chosen field (2.7 years at 10 h/day); if you are anything less than superhuman and want results as quickly as possible, this amount of dedication seems pretty impossible, never mind that the advantages of practicing more than four or five hours a day are highly debated.
One of the main studies this theory is based on was done on violinists at a music academy. By the age of 20, the 'star' players had practiced for 10,000 hours, the 'good' professionals for 8,000, and the 'teachers' for 4,000. In addition, a further study on pianists identified the 'amateur' group with 2,000 hours logged at age 20. That's 2.7 years at 2h/day or 1.3 years at 4h/day, which seems much more attainable and is what I will be going for. (After all, I have the rest of my life to master the guitar.)
The fact that I don't know exactly what being an amateur according to this study entails is of absolutely no consequence to me; neither is the existence of many sceptics regarding the whole 10,000 hour rule. 2,000 hours is a measurable target and I am confident that, if I practice mindfully, I will see great improvements. The key word here is 'mindfully'.
I have been playing the guitar for about four hours today. However, I haven't actually practiced (except for writing a little more music, which I do count as practicing). The majority of my time has been spent noodling around and playing random things, which is all very fun but won't get me to that amateur status on its own. You need focus and intensity to get things done.
My plan for the next two years comes in two parts. Oddly enough, the first part - practicing 2-4 hours every day, where possible - is not my main focus: that would be mindfulness. Being aware and in the present has been a huge struggle for me ever since I realised that I was almost never in this state, but I'm getting better at it. Now I feel confident enough to try to stay mindful (or constantly check my thoughts) over longer periods of time - multiple hours, for example. As I get better at this, I should also notice that it gets easier to stay alert when practicing and to achieve better quality practice, as well as the benefits that I'll get (and have already gotten) in the rest of my life.
I need to finish that Morbid Angel analysis at some point, then I have an interesting idea for a composition exercise that I want to try. I'm currently writing another song and getting a better feel of how much repetition (of rhythm, etc.) to use, but am not sure I can actually put this into words yet.
As always, feel free to submit ideas/questions/suggestions for future content.
Most of these were given to me and I feel bad about not using them (to be fair, I haven't even LISTENED to those Venom or Deicide albums). We found the two printed patches where the mosh pit had been after a grindcore gig. The Chapel of Disease patch was mostly because I wanted to support the band but didn't have enough money on me for an actual album. Now I'm not sure whether to put it on my kutte or not. WHAT TO DO WITH ALL OF THESE
The Holocaust patch (which was signed at Brofest 2013 WHICH WAS AMAZING and I'll write about on arrogant-paranoid so I can boast) is going on the left pocket over my heart. It's not on yet because I only have one patch on the front and need to fill it up a bit more... I just don't know which patches to get now and how I'm going to lay everything out. Need to start looking again.
Stick some pointy things through the corners of the patch (and anywhere else you deem necessary) to attach them to the jacket (straight pins, needles, even badges would probably work), then sew away. I use zig-zag stitching because it looks more secure, but I've seen loads of people using plain running stitch so it must be fine. It'll take a while to do at first, but you'll get used to it.
I've had a huge love for fretless basses ever since I heard 'Body No Body' by Doom (the Japanese band, not the English crust one XD). Their sound has a more 'song-like' quality than normal basses.
That said... I really enjoyed Forest's work in Augury, but this doesn't interest me as much. He's still a very good player though.
I'm terribly good at starting to write music and terrible at actually seeing the process through - in fact, before today, I'd never finished a non-comedy metal song. With the threat of February Album Writing Month hanging over me, however, I have JUST COMPLETED the basic guitar parts for one. I've also done an incredibly simplistic drum line, a little bass and two verses of lyrics. As far as I am concerned, this is a SUCCESS and I have in fact won FAWM even if I don't manage to finish the other 13 songs I should technically have done by the end of the month XD
I think practicing songwriting a lot (without trying to write something amazingly meaningful or based on a topic you feel very strongly about) is very useful to do so that you can get all of the terrible music you have in you out before you start writing something important. If nothing else, you're bound to come up with some pretty awesome riffs you wouldn't have thought of otherwise.
I honestly hope I take my own advice now. Here's to my second song!
Probably won't be around for the next few days, since I won't have my laptop with me. I will, however, be starting to write songs for February Album Writing Month (FAWM), and it'd be awesome if others here did as well!
Variations on a Theme by Azagthoth, part 2 [brief analysis of Morbid Angel's 'Day of Suffering' from Blessed Are The Sick]
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Part 1 | Score with audio
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Riff 2
This is only repeated once more, so probably serves the purpose of a transition. Whilst keeping the rhythm of the previous riff (and hence a sense of continuity), it sets up a slightly more diatonic feel.
The second half of the riff is made by shifting the first half down a semitone, continuing the pattern of unstable tonality on a larger scale.
Variation 1
Although this has a different rhythm to the previous bars, the melody (at least after the first beat of each bar) is just Riff 2 transposed up and doubled in note duration. We also 'modulate' (although there isn't a very strong sense of key, just a feeling that it's changed), which gives the feeling of a new and important idea.
Variation 2
We pick up speed again with some tremolo picking, although the length of the actual riff is doubled. The first part of Variation 1 is used verbatim in the first and third bars; the second and fourth bars have the same melodic rhythm, but differ in their second halves (where the fourth bar is just the second half of Variation 1).
The difference in the second bar is quite effective at making the riff more interesting, even though only three notes are changed: most importantly, it ends on the dominant (assuming we're in D minor). This creates an imperfect cadence (anything-V), which sounds as though it needs to be resolved and creates a bit of tension. The end of the fourth bar, by comparison, can be interpreted as a plagal cadence and sounds finished, making the entire riff more of a mini-melody in two phrases.
… I was about 30 - 40 years old. I was working in an office, bored out of my mind for a full shift. And I just was sitting there thinking of lost opportunities, typing mindlessly.
And that was it. That was my dream.
I woke up and I thought about it for awhile. I can’t just sit here and let that happen. I need to get my ass moving if I want to make a career in music happen. I can’t let that be my future. I can’t. I won’t.
In case anyone wants to have a look at it along with my analysis.
Corrections welcome, as are actual drum part transcriptions that aren't just the snare - leave me a message and I'll let you edit it yourself.
I'm going to do more of these in the future, although it's unlikely they'll be tabbed out because I find it easier to see patterns in standard notation.
