Possessed

No matter what kind of wind, impact, or force of any kind you go through, your hair will not get messed up.

I wish I knew somebody that could sing over these.  I think they would really have a chance of being popular, and I might would even write.

The reason I think it COULD get popular, is because everybody that I show it to likes it.  Even those who normally listen to pop rock or lighter stuff.  My music has an intensity beyond rock, but once the initial 'shock' of it wears off, everybody I show it to seems to enjoy it.  It's got the ferociousness of metal, the fun of rock, and the melodic sensibilities of pop.

If I could find a decent singer who has sortof a harsher voice but could still sing softer things I think it could really do something.

New song.  https://soundcloud.com/jacob-martin-28/daughter-of-the-moon-jacob-martin

I think you'll agree the production values have been stepped up.  The old songs might even see a remix now thanks to new techniques I've found. 

TV's Frink said:

 Thanks, Ric.

TV's Frink said:

That's not a question.

 Nice to be in good company then.

The other covers of that song by other people on youtube?  I'd agree.  I wouldn't really even call them covers, just "look I can play this song"'s.  They even play over the actual song in all the ones I heard.

You really need to get another set of headphones with both earbuds to hear these man.   :)  My mixing technique is VERY stereo.  To illustrate what you are missing out on when you listen to only one speaker, I present the following diagram.  :)

L=Hard left speaker.  Meaning there is not even an echo of it coming out of the right speaker.  C=right in the center.  R=Hard right speaker

Here are the guitar parts (every song has 3, occasionally there may be a random 4th one that generally just plays some fancy unnecessary overdub) as they appear on the stereo image.

L GT1----------CGT3----------GT2R

Guitar 3, the one smack in the middle usually plays the melodies, and/or solos.  Guitars 1 and 2, which generally play the riffs and chords are hard left and right.  They are usually playing the same thing so having them so far apart gives the mix space to breathe while at the same time making the riffs sound really thick and chunky.

However, anytime there is harmony or "dual melody", It switches up in an instant, and the part that was playing the main lead is now playing the rhythm part and the two parts that were playing the rhythm are now playing the two leads.  I do this to make the harmony's stand out and sound clear, since in a dual harmony situation they should take precedence over the backing part.  Two leads sortof overshadow the rhythm part, which is how it should be.  But having two rhythms doesn't over power one lead because since they are playing the same thing it doesn't stand out to your ears as much so it's balanced.

May seem a bit of a weird set up, but trust me it's the way to go.  I've experimented with having everything a little closer to the center and it just sounds muddy and takes away the punch.

So, in listening with only one earbud, you miss out on ALL the dual harmony parts and only get one of the melodies when there should be two.  And there is one of those in alteration.

And not only that, but the riffs will sound weaker and/or thinner to you because there is meant to be an entirely different take of that riff playing at the same time.

And that concludes my thoughts on the matter.  Regards. :)

RicOlie_2 said:

If I understand the video description correctly, every track in the song is replaced with a new cover by you, whether done digitally or recorded. Is that correct?

 I'm not sure I understand your question correctly.  Are you asking whether I made the backing track from scratch or just used a template one I found and played over it?  If that's the question, the answer is I made the backing track from this one from scratch in a midi then used soundfonts to "bring it to life" so to speak.  In the video I'm only playing the guitar, but the bass and drums and keyboards are all "programmed" by me.  In the soundcloud files I play the guitars and the bass, and the drums and keyboards are programmed.  Sometimes by me,  sometimes with the help of midis I find on the net, but always spiced up by me.

I make the backing tracks from scratch sometimes, sometimes with the help of midis, but even in that case I still at least edit the midi, plus set the tone controls and instrument patches for the sound tone of it.

He seems to be on a Darth Ender Bender... he's searching out threads started by him and replying to all of them for the sake of replying.

Is there a reason you just replied to like 10 threads started by darth ender in the span of about 20 minutes?

It's a synth of an orchestra string section.  String ensemble.

Which version, the video or the one with the layers?  The video was more of a novelty to prove I could actually play it.  I did videos of "Hades", "Follow the Reaper" and "Rust Never Sleeps" too.

And no they aren't.  I've done quite a few by Kalmah, but there are also some Insomnium, Led Zeppelin, Children of Bodom, Norther, and Iron Maiden.  In the future I plan to do more of Led Zeppelin, some Thin Lizzy, Rush, and Iron Maiden but mold them into this style.

I guess you'll just have to live with having a reduced risk of seizures, dizziness, nausea, unexplained numbness, muscle spasms, rashes, depression, fatigue, rapid heartbeat, insomnia, problems: seeing, hearing, and breathing... anxiety, joint pain, ringing in your ears, vertigo, brain tumors, MS, epilepsy, parkinsons, alzheimers, lymphoma, fibromyalgia, and diabetes.  

You poor, poor dear.

OH SHIT.  Lmao.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nINtjQKHf4w

All of them?  The other day I did like I said and added like 15 new songs and the ones that were already up have all (except mortal share) been updated with new mixes.

But by the way, since you liked Alteration, here's a video of me playing it.  :)  I just play the one part instead of all the layers so it doesn't sound as full but oh well.  No overdubs either it's all live so it isn't always pitch perfect.  There aren't any *huge* mistakes though.

It's a little bit old, I'm not *QUITE* that young looking anymore.  Lol.  Also I've lost weight since then and grown out my hair a tad bit.

Watch it though cuz I sincerely believe it deserves more than 13 views.  XD

Hello world.  I make instrumental heavy metal covers of songs of all genres, mostly metal but occasionally I take other types of music and mold them into metal.  By ‘metal’ I don’t mean the over the top, all noise and no melody that’s popular these days.  There’s plenty of aggression, but melody and harmony are also important.

Here is my soundcloud page.   Please feel free to listen and subscribe.  https://soundcloud.com/jacob-martin-28/

To date I have released five albums. I will catalog them here as I get them uploaded to the internet. (previously just distributed in physical copies to people in the area.)

My first album, Alterations. Much more primitive and raw than my later albums. It hits hard, pulls no punches, and doesn’t let up until the end. It’s not as thoughtful as my later albums and the sound quality isn’t as polished, but it still sounds good enough and I think it’s one of my more solid efforts, despite not being as thoughtful or having as much pop appeal as later albums. Very direct album, fast and intense. Over before you realize it’s a one trick pony.

FLAC: http://www.filehosting.org/file/details/710608/Jacob Martin - Alterations.zip

Withering, my second album. It’s much the same as the first, although with poorer recording quality due to conditions at the time and me rushing the production job. It’s an okay album, although I would definitely say it’s my weakest. If you like my sound you will enjoy it, but it’s not as punchy as the first album or as creative and enveloping as the later albums. But if you like my sound it’s still worth a listen.

http://www.filehosting.org/file/details/717178/Withering.7z

My third album, The Way. This is where things really started for me, and it was certainly when I first started to get fans and attention. (A little of each anyway…) This is the album that started the tradition of a narrative concept album, still told through instrumentals. Less emphasis on guitar pyrotechnics and aggression and more on musicality and creating a mood. Atmosphere and ambiance became a huge focus on this one, and if you like the sound I have now this is where it all started.

http://www.filehosting.org/file/details/724015/The Way.zip

My fourth album, released in 2016. Quite possibly my favorite, definitely my favorite “theme” or “tone” for an album. This one keeps the heavy but takes a more somber and subdued style, with track listing selected accordingly. Have little to no memory of making this album due to alcohol consumption at the time that was worse than anything I’ve thought about doing lately… Sound quality is eh… the drum machine is notably forward but the guitar production is a bit dry sounding. But it has my favorite track listing of any album to date.

http://www.filehosting.org/file/details/741211/Nightfall.zip

My fifth album, from 2016. I don’t have as much to say about this album as I would like. While making it I thought it was going to be my masterpiece, but that’s still The Way I think. Anyway, I think musically it’s a very solid album, great track selection and interesting arrangements. What’s holding it back is a poor guitar tone in the recording. I really dropped the ball on that one, and seeing as it’s instrumental rock, it’s kinda important… but it still sounds decent. The next and newest album finally brings a lush guitar tone, but we’ll get to that one soon.

http://www.filehosting.org/file/details/746659/Up Toward the Sky.7z

My newest album, “The Lost Woods”. I’m very excited about this one. It is a rather ambient and moody album. It’s very atmospheric but also quite sharp. It has the best sound quality of any of my albums to date and also the most content, if you’re using physical media it is two discs. (PM me if you want one)

https://jacobmartin2.bandcamp.com/album/the-lost-woods

You're probably right.

Done.  Here you go.

For all those interested, I have updated my soundcloud page to include the final mixes of all the songs, except for the newest ones of course, and am in the process of uploading my complete work, and then will organize them into the two albums, and those not in an "album" are considered to be WIP.

Shouldn't this be in the bitching thread?  You punk ass

I might try that!  Also I updated my soundcloud to a pro plan so I will soon upload all of my current mixes.

Today's the first day in 4 + years I didn't wake up and immediately get stoned.  I don't know why, I'm not out or anything, I just woke up with something else on my mind and went and did that, and then now I realize it's 230 PM and I still haven't smoked yet.  This is unprecedented and I usually smoke about every 1 to 2 hours.  I wonder what that's about... it wasn't a conscious effort, I just didn't really feel like it today for the first time in years.

Am I going to quit?  Hell naw, I'm sure I'll end up having a toke later.  Perhaps I can wait til after work though.

PERHAPS.

Leonardo said:

Possessed said:

It's actually more raw than it sounds.

I record the guitars and bass with audacity, connecting the "line out" cable on the back of my amplifier to the input on my computer and recording directly.  Most people say mic'ing it is better, but honestly I don't see how.  Seems like it would sound fuzzy and unclear that way.

I process all the recorded tracks with audacity as well.  High pass filters, low pass filters, eq, dynamic range compression, levelling, noise removal, all that in audacity.

I make the backing tracks in midi form with Anvil Studio.  Just a free midi authoring studio I found some years ago.

I use synthfont to render the midi's into .wav forms with soundfonts I found on the web to make them sound like real instruments.

Then I mix it all together with Krystal Audio Engine.

All of this software is freeware.

 Oh I guess most of the sound is in the actual hardware, then.

What guitar(s), bass, amp(s) do you have?

I use Audacity regularly but I had never heard of K A E before. Looks like I found myself a new toy! :)

 It isn't in the hardware so much, you just have to know how to process the recording.  It makes much more of a difference than you might think... you could have a recorded track that sounds great by itself but if you don't process it right it will be impossible to get it to blend in... it will either be buried or it will bury everything else.

The guitars and amps I used for these recordings are all very cheap.  Most of my tone comes from my fingers... I take the Stevie Ray Vaughan approach to playing which is to play hard, play loud, and floor it.  My sounds sound so sharp and loud because I strum really hard and bend really far.

I don't keep track of which guitars go to which tracks in a song, it's usually on the spot decisions.  But the guitars I use and the cheapness involved are approximately as follows:
A red fender squire strat-$100

A blue pevey raptor plus exp-$150

A black and red BC Rich Warlock-$100

A black Ibanez Gio-$300-400 (the most expensive yet I use it probably the least... no real reason for that it just seems to be the one I think about the least)

The bass is a nameless 5 string bass I bought for like $70 (seriously... no brand.  No stickers on it or anything.  It came brand new that way too... and I lost the box it came in and there's no way to tell on the instrument. . . guess they don't care about advertising XD) It's nothing fancy and very cheap but it works well enough.

I use a Fender Vibrotone XD amp, it's like 5 or 10 watts.  Not very powerful at all, but it is my experience that when it comes to recording, less powerful is usually the way to go as it fits into the sonic picture best.  Plus since I use line out I can wire it to another sound receiver and make it as loud as I want... I don't understand why people don't use this method cuz when I have friends over it sounds like this huge wall of sound and then they freak out when I show them it's a little bitty amp hooked up to a surround sound system.

I use this amp for the bass as well.  You should never play bass with a guitar amp as it will damage the speaker, but since I have the actual speaker on the amp disable in order to use line out it's fine.

So you see, I use very cheap hardware.  It's all in how you utilize it!  I don't have any real mixers or anything like that, I do all that with audacity and krystal.

I forgot to mention I use a DanElectro "METAL" distortion pedal, but that doesn't influence sound quality, just tone.

It's actually more raw than it sounds.

I record the guitars and bass with audacity, connecting the "line out" cable on the back of my amplifier to the input on my computer and recording directly.  Most people say mic'ing it is better, but honestly I don't see how.  Seems like it would sound fuzzy and unclear that way.

I process all the recorded tracks with audacity as well.  High pass filters, low pass filters, eq, dynamic range compression, levelling, noise removal, all that in audacity.

I make the backing tracks in midi form with Anvil Studio.  Just a free midi authoring studio I found some years ago.

I use synthfont to render the midi's into .wav forms with soundfonts I found on the web to make them sound like real instruments.

Then I mix it all together with Krystal Audio Engine.

All of this software is freeware.

Here it is.

Of course I'll probably end up remixing it 12 times or so.

I made a new one last night, I'll try to post it this afternoon.  I like it alot, it's pretty, heavy, and catchy all at the same time.  I tried to create a feeling with this one.  The solo has alot of feeling to me.  It's fast and constant and kinda like shredding, but it's harmonized and has two different guitars shredding on different notes but in the same rhythm and pattern (sortof) and the effect is quite nice.  Sounds almost glittery and even a little cosmic.

Leonardo said:

Did we have a music/musicians thread? I don't remember.

Those instrumentals sound really cool, even though I'm not a fan of metal in general, I can definitely picture myself speeding with those tracks coming from my stereo.

Great production, you can hear every note loud and clear, but most importantly loud! :)

Some related but random thoughts, I recently brought my guitar to the shop to put new pegs in and fix the neck. Still need new pots though.

I'm making my own picks and will be trying to build a small amplifier soon. Bought my first multimeter today, I'm very excited.

Meanwhile, I'm making covers of 80's songs on Famitracker. I'm more than halfway through a couple of them, I find making music on Famitracker very fun and addictive.

 Thanks for the thoughts, appreciate it.  :)

And really? Building your own amp... that's pretty kickass.