Any metal heads

Maddogg6

or hard rock...

Thats right, not many people will tell ya they program their bass guitarist and drummers. I do, I love it. I get compliments and offers to join bands, so I guess its ok.

I strive for re-creating human performances on drums. I add bass only to fill the low end, and in NO WAY consider my self a bassist.

If you want to have a listen:
http://esnips.com/web/MD6Music

I also contributed on someone elses songs, which I might add is my best programming to date.

The song is called Dragon written by N.A.M.O.S.S.
http://www.myspace.com/N.A.M.O.S.S

I added bass, drums and re-mixed from an MP3 imported into Sonar 2XL.

I have since upgraded my PC and switched over to the KX driver after finding the APSLive driver I was using seemed to have dwindled away. The KX drivers are wayyy better anyway.

Let me know what you think.

Thanks,
Mark

Russ

Yes, and yes I listen to a fairly wide range of music styles, but metal is my main interest .
Good work on your songs, I like them (I love the sound of Jackson guitars). I think I like "Crumbling Universe" the best. Very impressive that it is all made by one person. Good stuff.

-Russ

trevbushell

hi maddog..
had a listen x2 to your songs. youre a very good guitarist and use lots of varied sounds with your guitar. nice playing 9sensitive to the songs) and not just showing off in your solos (which many do!), they fitted the songs well which is really important...

im not a hevy rock fan as you probs know from my songs, but i really appreciated the songs. rlly good melody and rif playing throughout!

i think my fav was first wave adrenaline... i think thats cos im not really into heavy rock and this was further into the electronic area than the others. loved the guitar riff and rebirthy bass programming was nice too! very emotive and powerful !!!

broken will- is well written and put together too! again nice guitar hooks.. youre good at those arent you!! i can hear a potential black rapper voice in bits of the song (but you probs hate that idea, ????)

youre gonna hate me for this, cos you did mention about your 'humanesque' drums... but i do think the drums let the songs down a bit. (my personal opinion) good programming but they do sound like midi drums if you know what i mean. i think you need to choose some better/ more cutting sounds ( maybe its the mix tho, perhaps some compression etc would help???)

?tip-i think also a bit more subtlety when you do drum offbeats and licks/snare fills to make it sound more human (ie- variation in velocity). hope you dont mind these comments??!
other than that all cool,

trev

Maddogg6

Thanks Russ - Good to know us pc/metal/nerds are still willing to admit to it :s

I myself give most credit to my tone to the J-Station - best $150 I ever spent in this pricey hobby of mine. I traded my $550 peavy pro-fexII for that $150 JS and the JS waaayy better than the old peavy. AND, sounds great in headphones, so I dont annoy the neighbors. Its amazing how little most understand, about intended use for musical equipment around here.

Its allll about cabinet and speaker emulation, when you own a mic, but not a mixer to (phantom) power it or a soundproof room to record in. yup. Forget about getting vocals down tho. Thats ok, cuz I hate my voice.

piece.

Maddogg6

Thanks for the 'props'

Actually, I wrote lyrics for that with a rap tone (more LinkinPark tho)

I'm self taught and have NO idea what a hook IS. I mean I have heard the term plenty, but never understood what *exactly* a hook is. - But thanks, and I'll take your word on it, that I have a knack for em

Hey thanks for the comments trev and yes, they are taken kindly. Constructive critisism is appreciated.

A side note before I continue. The songs on myspace are RESAMPLED to 128Kb/s MP3's and the conversion is not the highest of quality. The conversion artifacts tend to 'cheapen' my reverb sound and I think this is *part* of what you described about the drums.

Aside from that, I know my drum fills are my weakest point as they tend to stand out in a mix more (or are expected to).

And agreed not all my songs are perfect in that they fool everyone, but, a few of them usually fool most (when listening to CD). Most have commented on their ability to hear how my skill (eh hem) has eveolved and usually can tell me in the order in which I did them.

I have played with different drum samples and have mostly worked on the crash cymbals samples/instrument because they tend to really stand (badly) out to me (at least with the samples I have in my limited library), so having another (honest) viewpoint is priceless to me.

I am still digesting recording / mixing / mastering techniques along with writting music and learning how to emulate various acoustical instruments all in one big pill. But I get compliments enough to encourage me to torment others with the various noises I make.

1 more tormented - mission successfull

Thanks again for the input.

Oh Trev, would you agree that my work on dragon is my best work? (technically, sample quality aside)

piece.

Zardon

Broken will is really good Mark, I like the sound - a little like Satriani especially the main riff, and the more gentle "solo" section which reminded me of a progression Mike Oldfield would play. Keep it up, nice to hear musicans pushing the mould a little.

"Crumbling Universe" sounds like it could have been on an early Satriani album too prior to Flying in a blue dream, again nice melodic riff.

Maddogg6

Hey thanks, Im a huge Satriani fan - he's my idol. So thats like a huge compliment.
I am also a fan of Oldfield (somewhat), maybe better classified as, 'admirer of his compositional skills and accomplishments'. I mean, who doesn't like the tubular bells / exorcist theme.

Zardon

Oldfield is a consumate musican really, he can play anything. Satriani is basically a genius...

If you dont mind some constructive input, I hope you manage to hit it off with some musicans in your area, I think your music and guitar compositions would take new light with a drummer, bass player and perhaps a good singer (hard to find I know). Im in no way insulting what you have created as I honestly have liked the pieces I played, especially the two I mentioned, I just feel having the chance to play with some other talented musicans would not only sound overall more "full" and less processed but it would perhaps move your playing into different more spontaneous directions.

I used to play myself long ago in a blues rock band in ireland, but it was a long time ago......

If you ever see a CD from oldfield called "Amarok", be sure to check it out, its 1 hour of solid music, with him playing around 70 instruments, its quirky and quite unique, but for someone like yourself, well worth checking out for arrangements and off the wall ideas.

Maddogg6

Yeah, finding musicians for me to play with has always been a huge problem for me.
1, because I am just for hobby, most in my area have rock-star visions and want nothing to do with a hobbiest OR - have no time/schedule conflicts - its very hard just to meet up with the friends I already have, much less, with new ones.
2, things I write, I cant verbalize to others, they would have to listen and basically figure out what Im doing. All in all I have a hard time just 'jamming' with others. I am MUCH more comfortable behind a sonar screen.
3, I don't have an amp.

I *would* like to find a good singer tho, and maybe take it to the local pubs for some fun. Specially if SHE was hot! he he

If ya want to hear more at http://md6.us - yes its a valid URL - I likes how short it is.
There's some Satriani covers and some 'concepts' and some other originals too I think.

My choices are Sabra (cover), Dragon and Sorry (love the guitar tone here). But then again, Im partial.

Anyone ever collaborate on line? Dragon was done and I never met the guitarist (well actually I did, but I may as well not have, technically)

Amarok - I have had that CD, was since stolen. Didn't read closely enogh to realize he played everything, just knew he was an amazing composer before getting it.

Anyway, please download the songs to listen, to save on my bandwidth - tia.
Hope all enjoy, and if anyone wants to collaborate, id love to add my touch to someone elses 'starting point'.

TJ-

Check out YOU WILL DIE awesome new band... thats a shot from their debut cd.

http://www.hawthornestreetrecords.com

trevbushell

hooks are very difficult to explain!!! they are musical phrases that happen repeatedly throughout the song, either by guitar or any other instrument. usually before or after a verse or chorus section. . a bit like a lead part. it is designed to draw you into the song (it is a good hook line when it rememberable. i.e. that part of a song you cant get out of your head!!!!!)) does that make sense? thats why its called a hook!




i just read your note re dragon and tried to listen but i couldnt access the site???? can you sort it for me?
trev

ps have you heard the drums in my asynthomania song? i know they arent anything like real sounding drums but im pleased with them and the feel of them... what do you think? probs not your taste

Maddogg6

Oh, ok now I see why its difficult to understand - everything I play sticks in my head - so its ALL about the listeners 'stuck in there head' factor.

Thanks.

http://md6.us - is this not accessable? what exaclry is wrong - it works everytime I go check? Oh well, I dunno what would be wrong other than needing to right click on the 'listen' link and choose 'save as'. Sometimes players wont start up when left clicked on. Its all WMA (Windows Media - V7 I think on most, Dragon may be V9 tho)

trevbushell

ok got it, dont know what i was doing?????

will listen!

trev

edit- yeah 'dragon' is much better drum wise, i still dont believe those feels over the toms but i think its the sounds not the programming!!! imaybe use a bit of looser/humanised quantising to the fills .liked the snare drum fill near the bridge of the song, that was real sounding!

'sorry' was good too drum programming wise. welldone!
trev

Russ

Maddog6, the links to download your songs aren't working.

One a (metal) side note. I went to OzzFest last month. Iron Maiden still rocks.

Maddogg6

Oh - howd I miss your msg here russ.. sorry I took that down... I'll try to get that stuff back soon. But for now I do have another new song that was a callaboration between and a guy I met on myspace.com and goes by N.A.M.O.S.S.


I love maiden too - I have a version of 'Affraid to shoot strangers' and 'Hallowed be thy Name' Ive been working on for some time - still needs some polish tho.


Dragon and A180 are both work we did together. - he sent me a dry guitar stereo track - I added bass and drums via midi programming on both.

A higher Q version of A180 is
http://fileanchor.com/23747-d

Hold on to your hats cuz is a fast one.

And thanks for the input all... I strive for better each time and learn more as I do..

Russ

I just listened to A180. I like it. That has got to be tough, adding drum tracks to a song like that after the fact, etc. Good job, I am no drummer or anything, but it seems to fit with song nicely.

Maddogg6

its fun... we seem to make a great team imho - which is pretty rare for me, ive had a heck of a time finding those that I 'gel' with. Hes like 'you put the drums I hear in my head, into the song' ... lol

thanks for listening....

Russ

lol