More progress on my new track

I have nearly completed the writing process of my track called, "Surge".

I really am enjoying this song. I have implemented a few time signature changes. Most of the song is in headbanging 4/4 time. The first change is 6/4 time, the second time the riff is played in the song, followed by a 7/4 time signature. I think I want to try out 5/4. Or maybe 9/8. Actually...that's the same thing. 9/8 is just a 4/4 and then a 5/4 right afterwards. But I guess the riff could be 9 bars long before a change.

This song is constantly evolving so the listener is not bored so easily. The riffs are hardly ever the same the next time you hear them in the track. I am blasting through my software POD Farm. I am emulating a 5150 amp head. Those things are monsters for heavy metal. If you have POD Farm 2 and the Metal Shop expansion download the tone here. I am playing my cheap Ibanez IJX 121 guitar for the rhythms, and my Ibanez RG350DX for the guitar solo. I am tuned to Drop B for my rhythms. I used Ernie Ball Not Even Slinkys, 12-56 string gauge.

My influences for this song are Demon Hunter, RED, Aria, WideK, Skillet, Hope for the dying, Kreepmaster, and the Guitar Master Class online site. I'm sure there are many more, but I would say this is a good list.

Writing metal in Drop B

I posted the below video on YouTube yesterday. Here it is now on my blog with a little more of the back story.



I'm calling this song "Hard drive failure." =D At least right now anyways. I've experienced the failure of a hard drive a couple of times in my life and know how it feels. My external hard drive is messed up. I can't access it. I hope I can one day access it on my own or I've lost some important videos and pictures.

Demon Hunter is a big inspiration for this song. Their cover of Snap your fingers, snap your neck gave me a line or two in this song. A Romanian metal band Aria, with the guitarist Cosmin Lupu, was also an inspiration. Red inspired my use of a chord progression. WideK inspired a riff I am putting after the chorus.

I'll be posting my tone soon. But I'm using a Criminal amp in POD Farm, which is the same thing as the popular 5150 amp. I posted a clip of this song on my SoundCloud, but I have since then re-recorded the guitars. Keep a watch on that page, because I'll be posting another clip soon.

I'm using my cheap guitar: Ibanez IJX 121, tuned to Drop B, with Ernie Ball 12-56 strings.

Cheers!!
Brandon

My POD Farm Presets

Do you use POD Farm for recording guitars? POD Farm simulates amps and effects so you can record via USB. If you are in search of some rockin' tones, download my best tones here!

Goodbye Vox VT 30 amp

Today I sold my Vox VT 30 amp. I no longer enjoyed the sound. It's too thin for my taste. I'm searching for another amp. This is a long term goal, as the tone I am seeking will require a fat wallet.

Even before I sold this amp (I was thinking about it) I played a Marshall Haze 15 in a store close to me. It sounded nice - at least for the first amp I ever tried in my searching. It had a great gain. However, I had a inkling I would not enjoy it for long. The amp just didn't impress me all that much. It was a good smaller size, but it definitely wasn't a 10/10...more like a 7/10.

But after all, it was only the first amp I tried. I had to play on some more before I made a final decision. I tried a few other smaller amps in the store, but none came close to the Haze 15. The clerk even cranked it up for me to play to hear what it would really do. Wow. Loud. Big. Cool.

When I sold my amp today at another guitar shop, I played on two bigger amps that really impressed me. They were a Mesa Boogie Mark Five and a Marshall JCM 2000 Dual Super Lead. They were BIG amps! One of these definitely would be too big for my room. Perhaps having a bigger room and a fatter wallet will go hand in hand in years to come.

The Mesa I played had the most complex and customizable head I had ever seen! The clerk walked me through so many different tones possible on that amp. It was very expensive though. Nevertheless, I was very impressed with the amp, and with what I've seen so far, I'd give it a 10/10.

You can see the two amps I played are sitting side by side. How convenient!

The Marshall JCM was very cool and had a killer high gain tone, just as the Mesa. However, the fact that it didn't have a wide variety of tones was a disadvantage. I'd give it a 9/10 for that reason. However, it was half the price because it was used. That didn't make any difference anyway. I have no where near the money for either of these amps. Let's just call this a very long term goal. Perhaps it would span a few years from now.

I was thinking of getting a Mesa Dual Rectifier as Anthony Armstrong has in the band RED, but I haven't even tried it, and yet again, a new amp that I would enjoy the most is way out of my price range.

So what do I have for an amp now, you ask? I have a cheap Ibanez GTA 15R. That and a Tube Screamer guitar pedal is what I'll use to produce live performances for others. But I usually use POD Farm anyway. The reason I sold the Vox right now is because I don't use it anyway - except for clean channel occasionally, but I can get that from my little amp. I didn't see much sense keeping it if I wasn't happy with it. I just got a little bit of store credit. :)

And so the tone adventure continues!

While I was there at the shop playing on these amps, I also dropped off my red Jackson SLSMG for modification and setup. I am getting it modified for Drop A tuning! I'm going to use GHS Baritone Guitar strings (14-70 gauge). This will definitely be heavy! It will probably be the end of next week when I get the Jackson back. In the meantime, I will be playing my two Ibanezes.