Post your (own) HM demos here!

I'm using my 2 Westone Thunder 1As (lead and bass), so these are both Matsumoku active coil buckers. I always use these guitars to prototype stuff, because I can get practically any sound I want out of them (not perfect, but that's why I own other guitars which are more "specialist" sounding).

Got back on Tuesday, and found a couple of hours yesterday to knock up a prototype thrash track.

Edited by Certif1ed - August 14 2008 at 03:21

MikeEnRegalia wrote: I think I'll try to experiment with a rectifier sound for the rhythm parts and see how that works out. As far as the bass is concerned ... playing bass is something which I always wanted to try. If you're interested I could supply you with a mix without the bass, but I also want to try to get ahead in that department.

MikeEnRegalia wrote: Alright folks, here it comes: http://progfreak.com/_ws/mediabase/mp3/MikeEnRegalia-Thrash1.mp3 Edit: Second mix, with less snare: http://progfreak.com/_ws/mediabase/mp3/MikeEnRegalia-Thrash1-2.mp3 It's really just my first experiment at recording with Ableton Live ... expect nothing musically challenging. Let me know what think about the guitar tone though. BTW: I don't have any bass instrument right now so I used a string synth ... in case you were wondering.

Edited by Certif1ed - July 31 2008 at 03:07

MikeEn- Excellent recording. Liked the intro, then the change into the hard driving metal guitars, then the lead out with same echoed chords was nice. Good rythme and balance throughout.

Do you sing? If not, I feel a collaboration with Certif1ed coming on- the tune screams out for a vocal.

edit: you seem to have got a handle on Ableton fairly quick. The recording was pure and sweet (strange way to describe metal...). Are the drums from Ableton or something else? What about the effects- Ableton or guitar equipment? Shame you didn't have a bass to give more drive. What about writing your bass lines in midi?

Edited by cobb2 - July 30 2008 at 20:07

Alright folks, here it comes:

http://progfreak.com/_ws/mediabase/mp3/MikeEnRegalia-Thrash1.mp3

Edit: Second mix, with less snare:

http://progfreak.com/_ws/mediabase/mp3/MikeEnRegalia-Thrash1-2.mp3

It's really just my first experiment at recording with Ableton Live ... expect nothing musically challenging. Let me know what you think about the guitar tone though.

BTW: I don't have any bass instrument right now so I used a string synth ... in case you were wondering.


Edited by MikeEnRegalia - July 31 2008 at 03:30

First, we recorded the drums at a studio. Then we recorded the other instruments and vocals at home. I have a M-Audio Fast Track Usb, and a Line 6 Pod 2.3

^Have you downloaded the "Wherever I May Roam" Tone into your locker? I d/l'd loads of Line6 tones, but that's the one I always fall back to for seriously heavy riffs. Sounds great with EMGs

MikeEnRegalia wrote: ^ I'm really a big fan of copy and paste when it comes to riffs ... saves you a lot of work. I can't see why you shouldn't do that - of course when the song finally takes form you can record it from start to finish again if you're "old-school", but during the composition process I can only recommend to anyone to simply record great riffs as you think about them, and later play around with them a bit - combine them to form songs.

Well, I was just talking about speeding it up as cheating, but I no you don't want that award for being a douche, so I know you wont cheat

I think, to give it more of a 80s thrash vibe, everyone try their best to see how long their stamina and accuracy can take them in one recording but of course I have no problem with anyone that wants to cut and paste as much as possible, I just think it takes away from the challenge a little.

Certif1ed wrote: When it comes to constructing songs in the first place, you can't beat copy and paste - after all, the verses and choruses are going to follow pretty much the same patterns and use the same riffs.   All my NWoBHM tracks are copy and paste-fests - I didn't have the time to do them properly, and your tip on using it to speed up the composition process is spot-on Mike - although I truly agree with Hughes - songs should be played properly. That's not "old-school", it's making music rather than a product.   I tried experimenting with "Walk the Walk" last night, to see how it would stand up to being thrashed - amazingly, it worked, just by playing all the riffs with 16th-note based patterns (adding some accenting here and there to get an interesting style, not just taking the "Overkill" approach ), and sticking in some double bass drum loops.   Of course, I'd need to completely redo the vocals with a more appropriate style - should be interesting, I've never tried growling before, and my "screaming" needs a LOT of work... then there's the guitar solos, which will probably have to be Kerry King specials, since my shredding technique needs a lot more practice than I have time for.   The other interesting thing will be getting the 1990s guitar tones - I've been practicing getting a much more modern sound (as well as the retro late 1970s sound), and to my ears, the late 1980s/early 1990s are generally a disaster area (Metallica's self-titled album apart) for amp sounds. Alice in Chains sounded good, and the Almighty had a great sound - but everyone else seemed to use choruses to fatten the sound up - which is cheating, in my book.   You should first get a great sound from your amp, THEN pretty it up subtly, or bludgeon the life out of it with OTT effects - for effect only, IMO. The other thing they tended to do was massively scoop the EQ - why? Why not just cut the midrange on the amp's EQ, if that's the sound you're after? I find that BOOSTING mid on the amp and cutting bass works better anyway for a really big sound.   Any more guitar sound production tips specific to getting a good thrash sound?

Ohhhh, I've done vocals on a thrash metal song before, I just sound like I'm not taking it seriously, and that's when I actually try to do them seriously
Well, I was actually listening to Alice In Chains yesterday, and yep, a great guitar sound Cantrell had, even if it's not thrash, I'm sure his Bogner amp he uses would be pretty much suited to any heavy style of music.
For me, I'm going to be using the Mesa Boogie amp simulations, with the mid range cut, which I think can work great on record, but never really works that well in a live situation (in band practice, I ALWAYS crank the mids), and just double/triple track of course.
For leads, I'm going for the Soldano SLO-100, which is pretty much very mid rangey sounding, and I would rather use that for leads because it just sound thin like a mid scooped amp sound would.
How much bottom end you use, is partly dependent on the pickups on your guitar.
I use a Seymour Duncan JB-4 bridge pickup, which has amazing harmonics for leads, but the bottom end it fairly loose, and you need to back off the low end for rhythm guitar to stop it mushing up (that said, the JB isn't as loose in the low end, as say some of the humbuckers fitted to many of Epiphones guitars).
Dave Mustaine used the JB throughout his career, and my guess is that his low end it slightly backed off to maintain a clearer signal path.
He now uses his own signature active pickups, and the bridge is based on the JB model, but the output is higher, and they seem to handle more bottom end without mushing out as quickly as their passive brother (I've the Mustaine Live Wire active pickup before, so I can testify to first hand experience with it and I highly recommend them for a searing metal tone).

^ I'm really a big fan of copy and paste when it comes to riffs ... saves you a lot of work. I can't see why you shouldn't do that - of course when the song finally takes form you can record it from start to finish again if you're "old-school", but during the composition process I can only recommend to anyone to simply record great riffs as you think about them, and later play around with them a bit - combine them to form songs.