Guitar

[Centurion]

This question is for Martin.

First! You did a great job on Everblack (i have not heard the first album yet, but I supose you did a great job there too). And it was impressing to see you in action at Inferno too.

I would like to ask you for some details about the solo on "Screaming from the heavens". Can you tell some details on amp settings and effects used on the solo at the slow part of that song (that is from 3:34 to 4:46). It sounds extremly good, I would like to know how too .. .. ..

:)

[Martin]

Hi there!
I joined the band in august 2003, so unfortunately I didn't play on that album, but I agree with you - it's a great solo! I was playing at Inferno,though, so: Thank You!
About the sound on the album, I can tell you that Signar (Former lead-guitarist) used an:
Ibanez Jem (six-string; don't know which pickups he used but most likely Dimarzio of some sort.
Carvin Vai Legacy: I don't know anything about the settings of the amp, so I can't help you with that.
The effects used are probably: compressor, delay, reverb and a little bit of chorus. Unfortunately, I can't specify any settings for the effects, so you just have to try until you get it right:D
I hope that you can use at least some of the information:)

Martin

[Centurion]

Okei!

I`m sorry. I knew that Mercenary changed one of the guitarists. But a friend of mine told me it was the rythm guitarist. ..::)

Well, I have figured out that combination of effects so far. I use that combination a lot myself. But is there also a pitchshifter used on that solo? Or is it just an ilusion created by delay/reverb. I do that sometimes to give my playing a 2 voice feeling. But it never sounds like this. And most pitchshifters I have tried are crap. The last one was Digitech Whammy. As far as I know this is suposed to be the best "stand alone box" with that effect. The Whammy part was ok, and the Harmonize section sucked, it sounded ok, but there was no way to program it to your needs. If you know of any good pitchshifter/harmonizers I would like to know. Both "stand alone" and on rack.

Thank you so far..:)

[Martin]

That's ok:D
I think Signar dubbed the solos himself. He didn't use harmonizer/pitch-shifter. Dubbing his own parts was kinda his thing :)
Live, when Signar was in the band, the keyboard-player, Morten, played the harmony in the Screaming-solo but now we've boiled it down to a "single-note-line" i.e. I only play the melody, 'cause I think it would be quite messy live...well, playing the harmony live, takes away alot of the atmosphere that makes the solo great, in my humble opinion[8)]
In the Everblack-solo, Morten is dubbing me, though, so I'm not saying that it's a no go, but it's a use with caution "weapon" (in my opinion).
I haven't found a harmonizer/pitch-shifter that I was satisfied with, nor have I tried to find one:) So I guess my advice is: Hire a keyboard-player to dub your solos live[8D] or another guitarist would work as well[8D]

Martin

[BumZen]

quote:Originally posted by Centurion

Okei!

I`m sorry. I knew that Mercenary changed one of the guitarists. But a friend of mine told me it was the rythm guitarist. ..::)

Well, I have figured out that combination of effects so far. I use that combination a lot myself. But is there also a pitchshifter used on that solo? Or is it just an ilusion created by delay/reverb. I do that sometimes to give my playing a 2 voice feeling. But it never sounds like this. And most pitchshifters I have tried are crap. The last one was Digitech Whammy. As far as I know this is suposed to be the best "stand alone box" with that effect. The Whammy part was ok, and the Harmonize section sucked, it sounded ok, but there was no way to program it to your needs. If you know of any good pitchshifter/harmonizers I would like to know. Both "stand alone" and on rack.

Thank you so far..:)


Not to be hostile or anything, but if you OWNED the Everblack CD you would know Martin is not playing on it.

But Martin will soon become a God on the guitar. I remember when I first saw him play in Malmö. He had only been in the band for like a week and he did an absolutely amazing job. His solos on the new stuff (the stuff we get to hear at koncerts) are marvellous. Finally Denmark gets an awesome lead-guitar player

Mads

From rivers of sorrow
to oceans deep with hope
I have travelled them

- Chuck Schuldiner (RIP)

[Dillman]

quote:Originally posted by BumZen

[quote]Originally posted by Centurion

Okei!

Finally Denmark gets an awesome lead-guitar player



Couldn't agree more [8D]

[imported_n/a]

yeah me too :) The guy´s amazing.

Yours In Murder

Kral

[Dillman]

Hey! Your bassplaying is killer too!!! I bow my crazy head to the roaring basslines of "Seize the night" :)



"If you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you." - F. Nietzsche

[imported_n/a]

Thanx man, i bow my head to you guys, the persistant fans, keep rocking okay [8D]

Yours In Murder

Kral

[nailz]

Krals growls are better than his bass playing, and his bass playing is awesome. :D

---------------------------------
A defining moment in your life is never defined until after the moment.

[BumZen]

This is turning in to a "who-can-kiss-the-most-ass-on-a-mercenary-member?" competition... [8D] Very exciting [:p]

I do want to second that the basslines on seize the night truly is awesome :D


\m/ads

From rivers of sorrow
to oceans deep with hope
I have travelled them

- Chuck Schuldiner (RIP)

[Centurion]

Martin

I`ve managed to find a pitchshifter/harmonizer that works amazingly good compared to others I have tried out..:P It is not designed for guitar though. I just thought "Well, if it can do this with vocal, it should work on guitar as well". I had some doughts..but it did the job well. I use it with my Pod Xt Pro..It can produce a pitched signal that even sounds natural sometimes..:) Not the typical artificial pitchshiftersound..but close to the sound of two or more guitars.

I still agree that a real guitarist or a keyboardplayer is the best solution when it is possible to do it that way. But for extreme and fast solos that van be kind of "a problem". So if you get the chance to try it out do so..:)


The Digitech Vocalist Preformer EX is the name of my new hellmachine..:P

[Martin]

Hi again!
It's great to hear that you managed to find a pitch-shifter that actually works in "real-time":)
I'm gonna have to check it out!
Thanx!

[Centurion]

Since we alredy have a guitar section on this forum..

Martin.

Some words on the above subject first..

It`s me again. I have been borowing that Digitech machine from the local dealer since I wrote that last post....[:p] Now..I think I will return it. I want to try out a Eventide processor first. I think Vai is using Eventide. Ever tried one? I hear they are suposed to be insane..

I`m about to get myself a new guitar now. And this time it is "the final guitar" or "the one". I don`t care how much I have to pay. This time I will spare nothing to get the best of everything. But I have noe idea what pick ups I should chose..I have some ideas myself of what is good and not. But I always ask others too. And it seems there are as many views upon this as there are guitarists out there. So I would like to hear yours too. :) It will be one humbucker and two singlecoils on it. Some time ago it stood between EMG and S.Duncan. But I`m not sure anymore...I`m colecting views on the subject..:)

I fucked your sister last night..

[Centurion]

Damn it..that "I fucked your sister" line looks like a part of the post.. It is not!:D

I fucked your sister last night..

[Centurion]

I give it another try...[8D]

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I fucked your sister last night..

[Martin]

Hahaha:D
I have never tried the Eventide myself but I've heard that it should be one hell of a machine too:)
About choosing a pickup, I'd say you should go out and try as many different-sounding pickups as you can. Personally, I like Dimarzio, especially the Evolution (Humbucker). (In my opinion) The Evolution has got a great deal of middle tone which I really like. It makes the tone more clear and it has tons of output. I would use an Evolution in the neck position and probably another Dimarzio at the bridge...
My current setup is: DiMarzio 7-N (Humbucker) neck pu
DiMarzio Blaze II (Single coil) mid pu
DiMarzio 7-B (Humbucker) bridge pu
I'd really like to replace the 7-N at the neck with a Evolution and hopefully I'll get to that in a while...but the current setup works for me at the moment so I'm gonna stick to that for now[8D]:D
In the end, it's all about taste in sound. You might not like the sound of the pickups that I like and vice versa:D
So just try out as many as you can and then settle with something you really like and think makes your sound better

Martin

[Centurion]

Thank you..:) I have tried and heard a lot of playing on a guitar with Dimarzio. But that was a B.C Rich....:( But they sounded excelent. Even when the owner played it through a V-Amp. My EMG`Z did not sound that good on it. I think I will try the get mye hands on guitars with Duncan`s. The problem is that Duncan have so many models.. So if I don`t find some duncans i like I will go for Dimarzio too. The best Dimarzios money can by...:D

So how many notes can you do pr sec.?..:D Let`s get this guitar talk foinf..there have to be other guitarists in this forum too?..

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I fucked your sister last night..

[Martin]

S. Duncan's would be a good choice too. Also tons of output...

About how many notes I can play pr. second:
I don't practise as much speed-picking as I used to, so as of now I play (Only tried clean channel playing different (strange) patterns:D) 16th notes at 212 bpm. If I go to a higher tempo, you won't hear the notes, but just some kinda "Shred-Inferno", that doesn't make that much sense:D

Martin

[Broadmoor]

hmm which patterns did you play at 212 bpm? Just chromatic stuff or more scale/neo-classical Yngwie-like stuff..hehe.:)

My personal record is 16th notes at 208 bpm on various chromatic exercises with string skips.

"I don't apologize to anyone. I'm sorry, but that's the way I am"
- Homer J. Simpson

[Martin]

Hehe...I'm trying to cover "the whole thing" when I practise technique, so various exercises incorporating chromatic, string-skipping, scales etc...
I'm not quite sure what you mean by "neo-classical Yngwie-like stuff". Are you talking about arpeggios?

Martin

[Centurion]

Hey I want to be in this contest too..[:p]

My record is something above 64 notes pr sec.
This is done by sweeping chords over the D G H E strings. combined with alternate picking 3 notes everytime i go by the G string. I did this at 32`z at 250 bpm and I`m sure i doubbled that speed, but it was hard to measure it to the click. It is kind of strange..when I played that to a frieind of mine, he said that it was so fast that it sounded slow..like a noise freq..[:p] Anyway it have no tonal purpose. And I`m almost ashamed of doing this instead of playing good solos..

Tapping- about 32`z at 250
Alternate scale (not cromatic) picking 6.tripplets at 250
Legato I just did 6 tripplets at 250

It`s pathetic..I know..i got the "bright" idea of trying to beat markus Paus`s world record last winter. Now I just started practicing again after the summer..This is madness..anmd if I don`t stop my fingers will fall of..[xx(]

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I fucked your sister last night..

[Broadmoor]

--> Centurion:
32nd notes at 250 bpm?! [?][?] I'm sorry, but I find that very hard to believe. The record that Paus set..wasn't it just alternate picking on a single string without incorporating the left hand at all?

If what you say is true, then you play (32*250)/(60)= 133 notes per second!!!! And Paus' world record is 46,67. *cough*


---> Martin:
I also try to incorporate every aspect of technique into my practicing. Diversity is the key [8D]

quote:I'm not quite sure what you mean by "neo-classical Yngwie-like stuff". Are you talking about arpeggios?

I mean: If you are able to play various scales (fx the nice soundin' harmonic minor scale) in 16th notes at 212 bpm or if the record that you set was just some chromatic stuff you practiced :)

"I don't apologize to anyone. I'm sorry, but that's the way I am"
- Homer J. Simpson

[Centurion]

Well, I played 32. notes at 250. That is 8 notes pr beat. Then I played it at least twice that speed. And I think that Markus did a minor scale of some kind from e string to e string at about 47 notes pr sec. But remember that I do a sweeping lick resulting in about 4 notes each up and downstroke. And its easier to reach a insane number of notes pr sec with sweeping than scalepicking. And I can`t aply that speed to what ever I want....just a few moves that I have been doing every day for over a year..so it is true..sorry..[:p]

(when I said 32. notes i mean 8 notes pr beat not 32)

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I fucked your sister last night..

[Broadmoor]

quote:That is 8 notes pr beat. oh yeah..my bad :D HAHAHA! Of course it is..I don't know what I was thinking.. it's been a loooong day at work for me..I'd just come home when I wrote that first message..hehe. 32nd notes at 250 bpm is pretty insane to me..are you some kind of well-known shred head or something?

"I don't apologize to anyone. I'm sorry, but that's the way I am"
- Homer J. Simpson

[Centurion]

Thats ok..:)

No Ìm not well known. I`m just some mad guitarist that like technical and fast playing. I practiced 5 - 8 hours every day this winter. Playing technique 90% of that time. I just enjoy playing the instrument..hopefully people will be able to hear me when I get that band of mine up and running..:) Personaly I think I`m a sucky guitar player..if I start a sequenser track/jamtrack and play to it...most of the sounds coming out of my guitar are crap..[:p] Technixal skills alone does not make one a great guitarist..I will focus more on melodic playing than shreds the coming winter..

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I fucked your sister last night..

[Broadmoor]

Okay fair enough.
I like for example Marcel Coenen, Michael Romeo and John Petrucci because they put a lot of feeling and melodic elements in their solos. I hate it when people just shred away without any structure at all.. It's just total chaos

"I don't apologize to anyone. I'm sorry, but that's the way I am"
- Homer J. Simpson

[Centurion]

Ops..i see I wrote 6 tripplets on scalepicking and legato..what I ment was 6 notes pr beat..I`m not the only one beeing tired last night..:P

anyways take a look at this..

http://www.jarleholsen.com/videoclips/Jarle%20H.%20Olsen%20-%20Airborne.mpg

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I fucked your sister last night..

[imported_n/a]

Wauw! That was an amazing clip, i love the kind of guitarist who make really fast guitar playing seem so easy. This guy really is something else, thanks for posting a very cool clip for us guitar nerds hehe:D

As i swim through you my firesoul, swims through me and, when you stole my heart you took control. Let me float away.

Yours In Murder

Kral

[Centurion]

I din`t think that guy have any albums out. Does not look that way at his page...strange..
And that video is just amazing...Anf even worse..few people even here in Norway have even heard his name..

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I fucked your sister last night..

[Broadmoor]

Oh my fucking gooood... That guy is amazing! By the way: check out the videos at www.francescofareri.com he is one of the fastest guitarists that I have heard.

"I don't apologize to anyone. I'm sorry, but that's the way I am"
- Homer J. Simpson

[imported_n/a]

Also check out this dude, he plays guitar with his mouth, and everything else. Big laughs:D:D enjoy
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/4/dokakamusic.htm


As i swim through you my firesoul, swims through me and, when you stole my heart you took control. Let me float away.

Yours In Murder

Kral

[Broadmoor]

HAHAHAHAHA!!! At first I couldn't believe my own ears! [?][?] Thought that I had been redirected to another page beacuse of a broken link or something..hehe. I have never ever heard something like that in my life :D

Angel of Death rocks even more in this version...[}:)]

"I don't apologize to anyone. I'm sorry, but that's the way I am"
- Homer J. Simpson

[Centurion]

HeHe. This is realy strange..I`m feeling a bit close to mental confusion after two songs of this.. this must be the finniest version of The Trooper since Anton Maiden..:P

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I fucked your sister last night..

[confessor townsend]

Try this guy for some of sickest examples of piano tapping I've seen in a while. http://adam.fulara.com

Beware though the videos contain some of the worst examples of guitar face I've seen in a long time. ;)

"More gain dammit I'm not bleeding yet!!"

[Broadmoor]

That Adam Fulara guy is pretty amazing!! But I bet he can't sweep pick..hahaha :D or something..

quote:Beware though the videos contain some of the worst examples of guitar face I've seen in a long time.

What do you mean by that? Guitar face?![?] Explanation please[^]

"I don't apologize to anyone. I'm sorry, but that's the way I am"
- Homer J. Simpson

[confessor townsend]

http://www.angelfire.com/tx/singlecoil/face.html

Guitar face is a horrible affliction that plagues many musicians.... :D:D

"More gain dammit I'm not bleeding yet!!"

[Centurion]

Steve Vai have som realy uggly guitarfaces. I just saw a live DVD. A lot of extremly "bad taste clothing", guitarfaces. And when he started using his tounge on the strings I was close to puking on the floor..:P Why can`t he see that people have no interesst in seeing his tounge..:P

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I fucked your sister last night..

[Centurion]

Ok! I love shreding of guitars..but THIS is overkill. Damn! Take a look at the video where he is uising that two-neck guitar. What is that guy thinking?

First he takes every technique to the virtuous level..and then..

"I still got 4 hours left every day. What can I do with them? Ahh! I will use them to get just as good with my other hand, so I can shift between left and right when i play. And it would be cool to play just as good whit my guitar up-side-down..."

How usefull.. To me this is like learning to run Maraton on your hands too..:D

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I fucked your sister last night..

[Centurion]

Martin.

Some question about your guitar..:)

I was going to buy a Jackson Custom last time I asked you about those pickups. But I have to wait like 1 year to get it. And it will cost a lot of money. I alredy have a Jackson. And the way I see it there is not that big a difreance between Jackson and Ibanez. And here in Norway a guy is doing "pirate import" on Ibanez guitars. He gets them new for almost half the price the official distro have. I was aiming for the Vai signature (the white one). But I can get a Prestige too. A friend told me that the Prestige guitar is very simular to the JEM`s. Is this true? I would just go and try them both out if I could. But in a small town like this, there is no marked for expensive guitars like that. They onlye have cheap crap tin the stores..:(

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I fucked your sister last night..

[Martin]

Hi again:)
I'm not sure, but I don't remember whether I've even played A Jem 7-string, actually:D
Anyway, my RG2077xl Prestige model has a very slim neck/fretboard imo. and I think the same thing applies for the Jem. I've only played a 6-string Jem, so I'm not perfectly sure about the 7-string:(
Try as many different guitars as possible before you decide which one to get...there is a lot of cool guitars out there so, at least, you should try out half of them:)

Martin

[Centurion]

Well, I have tried out the Jem 6 string. I like it a lot. I would like to spend my money on a guitar like that. But if it is true that the RG top models have the same "playability" as the Jem, I would rather go for a RG. I think it is kind of "not very cool" to have a signature guitar..hehe. Everyone would think I`m a steve-wannabe. Good guitarist, inspires me a lot, but I don`t like his music at all..:P

Try out guitars. I cant do that as I stated above..hehe.

But the things you said there is the same as others have told me. Actualy I decided earlyer today that I will go for one of the expensive RG`s. They are very simular to my Jackson. And I want a guitar as close to that as I can get, but better. Actualy I owned a RG 4-5 years ago, cheap crappy one...:P I`ve tried out some "middle class" RG`s lately and they are good, so I guess the top models have to be great.

Thank you for the information...:D

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You are closer to the edge now, one push and YOU disapear.. :P

[imported_n/a]

I have just discovered another of those very fast guitarists from Texas band Outworld, which is a very cool prog band. Check out the guitarist www.rustycooley.com and notice his weird looking 8 string guitar :-)

Pinocchio quote: "Sit on my face honey ...and I will tell you a lie" :-)

[Nocturnal swede]

Cool guitar!! I want one of those!

Btw, that guy must have spent one hour or two practising...

[Centurion]

Take a look at these axes. Cool..

http://www.lgmguitars.com/guitars/leviathan/finish_options_exotics.html

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You are closer to the edge now, one push and YOU disapear.. :P

[Nocturnal swede]

Badass guitars... great paint job!
I´d really like to try on of them 8-strings.

[neither]

or even worse
http://www.conklinguitars.com/cherished.html
... what a hell to change strings on a niner!!!

[Zacrifize]

..and where the fu** can you buy strings for those guitars?[8D] guess you'll have to buy 2 or 3 separate strings for each time you buy a set...[V]

[Yranecrem]

Well any who... Check out Muhammed Suiçmez. He is also pretty 'svedig' :-)