how do you build your sounds.

Progrockabuse · Post by **Progrockabuse** » Thu Sep 08, 2011 12:12 pm

so, thought this might be a good topic. we've all got favourite gear and different approaches to playing/performing and i'd like to ask this.

how to you build up your sound when it comes to a band?

do you stick with the gear/sound you already have and bring that into the band and form the sound around that?

so you start with a blank or generic canvas and build up a sound as a band?

or maybe a bit of both

be good to see what people do

Johno · Post by **Johno** » Thu Sep 08, 2011 12:33 pm

When I write/wrote for my old band I never had any rules regarding how I/we went about creating the sound. I'd knock up demos of songs/structures/ sometimes just a riff on my laptop then email it to the rest of the band before we hit the rehearsal room.
Then as a band we would kick it around a bit & by the time everyone had their part down the songs just took on their own shape.

With he band I joined recently, the singer is the catalyst for the songs in that he writes them on a keyboard/mac then plays them to the band who interpret them into a live sound. Its great for me I don't even use pedals anymore, just straight to amp.

I do miss playing my own songs in a band though & have loads since Arc-Light fell apart so plan on getting a new crew together in the new year.

robroe · Post by **robroe** » Thu Sep 08, 2011 1:53 pm

i get 2 extra guys to stand behind my amp and play the song for me while i run around on stage spinning my guitar around my head

WHAAA UHHHG

Dogma Hollow · Post by **Dogma Hollow** » Thu Sep 08, 2011 3:23 pm

Interesting question. Sounds more like you're asking about building a new band, but I think it applies to what I'm doing in joining an established band as well.

It's a 4-piece, and they basically want me to come in and fill out the guitar parts, maybe add a bit here and there but nothing fancy. So they've already got their sound established, I just need to write parts that fit without overpowering anything that's already there. I guess already having the blueprint for their sound makes it easy to focus.

As for gear though, that's going to be an adventure. The guitarist has a dual Bogner setup, and I'm currently running through a Fender Hot Rod DeVille with a H&K Tubeman pedal. The theory was that it might work because he's got such a full sound on the lower end that I'd add some clarity to the higher end. It worked fairly well when Dots and I were jamming for a while. Turns out it doesn't work so well this time. This band is heavier, and the difference is just a little bit too much. We just couldn't get it to blend right. So now everyone's bringing in whatever guitar gear they have and we're going to try it all out and see what happens.

If I end up getting the job, I'll have to buy a new amp. That seems to be what happens whenever I join or start a band though. There's always something about my rig that changes to try to either blend better or add something that's needed, both with bass and guitar. I don't really mind an excuse to buy new gear.

Fran · Post by **Fran** » Thu Sep 08, 2011 5:22 pm

First thing i do is consider the influences of a band, then how many other instruments there is to consider in the band.

In the case of Master Charger they are firmly Rock influenced, more so the raw stuff like Motorhead and earlier Sabbath. There is also another guitarist. Which means i keep my sound basic with minimal tones, perhaps a Wah here and there. I also try to use Overdrive rather than Distortion so i'm not lost in the mix.

Temporary Asylum is completely the opposite. Mixed influences and i am the only guitarist- Which means i try to fill out the sound with Delay or feedback a lot. As far as Effects go i have an open playing field, they would be more than happy for me to do an Agata on the sound, it is quite experimental.

AMOS is purely Punk, but leaning towards the 70's/80's stuff. I do try to avoid saturated Distortion though as there is another guitarist and i dont want to sound like a sk8 punk boi.

I think you usually develop a sound as things go along but i found a simple hot Overdriven sound is the best starting point (blank canvas). Unless you play clean of course. More FX means more mess especially in the writing process, i find it better to add color later once everyone knows where a song is going.
Its also rare i buy new gear for new bands too, but then i am one of them guys that already owns too much as y'all know and i've got most things covered.

Post by **Doog** » Thu Sep 08, 2011 5:40 pm

I guess I try to fill the gap that the line-up dictates?

Benmurray85 · Post by **Benmurray85** » Thu Sep 08, 2011 6:57 pm

i was just slowly scrolling down this thread loving every word of it, right up my street this sort of this. Mulling over what response and pearls of wisdom i could offer. what gear ive tried, what techniques id use, what inspirations to draw from. the doog writes this

Doog wrote:I guess I try to fill the gap that the line-up dictates?

and does it all in one bloody sentence. bastardo

hahaha

damienblair17 · Post by **damienblair17** » Thu Sep 08, 2011 8:41 pm

In Run Amok I'm trying to do more than just be the bassist, 'cause there's only three of us. None of us have to stick to "just low end" or "just the highs" or whatever (although my bass tends to stick to lows and MaMo's guitar to highs). I get to use pretty much any pedals I want as long as they have a good use in the song.

In my old band I had most of the same pedals, but I only used each effect in a single song (OD on one, wah on another, etc.) I played mostly clean since there were two guitarists and double kick drums. I did end up buying a 4x10 cabinet to compete with a Mesa mark V and a Randall Kirk Hammett setup. Sold the cab as soon as I could.

Freddy V-C · Post by **Freddy V-C** » Thu Sep 08, 2011 8:50 pm

This is an interesting topic for me because The Frontier Psychiatrists is the only real band I've ever been in. Tom and I were 13 when we started the band (18 now) and as we've got older we've built our playing style and sound around each other, there's never been any real thought process behind it. I'm interested to see what happens when I try to start a new band at uni, whether I'll stick with a similar sound.

Post by **Doog** » Thu Sep 08, 2011 9:15 pm

Benmurray85 wrote:i was just slowly scrolling down this thread loving every word of it, right up my street this sort of this. Mulling over what response and pearls of wisdom i could offer. what gear ive tried, what techniques id use, what inspirations to draw from. the doog writes this

Doog wrote:I guess I try to fill the gap that the line-up dictates?
and does it all in one bloody sentence. bastardo

hahaha

Hahaha, 'The Doog'..

Thom · Post by **Thom** » Thu Sep 08, 2011 9:37 pm

Totally depends on the band, and largely depends whether or not I am the sole guitarist or not.
If it's just me then I tend to play much more stripped down, virtually no effects, and I guess I have a guitar sound I like and would generally use in these instances. Usually amp gain and not much else. In lamp we had 1 song where I used phaser and delay, otherwise it was just clean and dirty.
If there are 2 guitars then there's much more scope in my mind to play around and just fill in where needed. Pedalboard pretty much triples in size and I'll happily play a couple of notes through a bunch of effects. Behringer slow motion + phase 90 + delay could keep me happy for ages.
I have bought and sold amps in the past because I wanted a specific sound, but ultimately I usually return to the same basic set up.

Fran · Post by **Fran** » Thu Sep 08, 2011 9:56 pm

Doog wrote:I guess I try to fill the gap that the line-up dictates?

Short, sweet and uninformative

You are the best player on this forum except for me and Icey, the kids wanna know more maaaan...

ultratwin · Post by **ultratwin** » Fri Sep 09, 2011 2:22 am

Doog pretty much nailed it for me, if you add the caveat that I may be decent at chords and inversions, yet have no idea what a guitar solo is.

Next week I'll be wrapping the last gig of a nationwide 18-date tour with a K-Pop veteran, nicely spaced over 4 months. The second half (about 90 min) of the show is a rock set, and every night I'm in the back of the stage with the Yamaha SG1000 and Epiphone LP 7-string. The lead guitarist is a 26 year old ace who also sounds good, so all I have to do is be the looming neanderthal in the back pounding out powerchords. Started with an AC-30CC, shortly later replaced by a Fender Super Reverb. A couple of Moollon pedals on the board keep my mids in the mix. I mentioned some of this in a previous thread, but it was the first time I wanted to through out all of my distortion pedals and simply drive the amp hard...It was pretty much the trick that worked.

Camera on the keyboardist's riser.

► Show Spoiler

Gabriel · Post by **Gabriel** » Fri Sep 09, 2011 2:17 pm

It depends very much on the band I'm playing in, usually if its rock I tend to just crank my amp up and use my guitars volume to get varying levels of gain. I've also started using a fredric effects unholy companion infront of an already saturated sound to get a lot of noise which is useful for soloing in a 3 piece band.

I use a lot of delay when I'm playing lighter styles of music, it just fleshes out my parts so is rather useful. Apart from it depends on the music, I use a lot of wah but my pedal board tends to be fairly basic.

I can't wait to get my vox revalved so I can start playing out with it again though.

dkoor · Post by **dkoor** » Fri Sep 09, 2011 2:35 pm

Ensure you're the only guy with guitar in band.
Buy amp that is louder than anyone else's in the band.
That sounds like a good. plan.

Wait... what was the thread question?

Post by **Doog** » Fri Sep 09, 2011 3:31 pm

Fran wrote:
Doog wrote:I guess I try to fill the gap that the line-up dictates?
Short, sweet and uninformative
You are the best player on this forum except for me and Icey, the kids wanna know more maaaan...

Hahaha. I don't think I've ever really thought about it too much apart from with Casa Bonita. Do you really want to know?..

I hated the lack of low end in "standard" drum-guitar duos (re: White Stripes), so I immediately went for lowwwww (B & A) drop tunings with a very full sounding distortion (RAT) to try and fill the frequencies sorely missing. T'was a start, but still too empty. Enter the octave pedal.. certainly a start to beefing things up. Nowdays, I use a BASS string for my detuned 6th string, an octave down (Micro POG) and 2-octave up (Boss PS-5) to fill out the space in varying degrees as and when it's required, plus my signal also goes to a bass amp that I can mute via my pedalboard.

It's quite an interesting position to be able to control the 'depth' of a song entirely from my pedalboard, pretty fun but can get a bit hectic while singing and playing wonky math rock nonsense. In terms of playing, I generally try and form chunky chords on the bottom 3 strings, or do some wannabe-Hendrix 'bass on low strings, melody on the high strings' stuff to keep it from being.. easy for me to play, hahaha.

Josh · Post by **Josh** » Fri Sep 09, 2011 5:10 pm

I usually use a lot of reverb. amp overdrive or fuzz if it's called for. lately have been sticking with the telecaster for band practice.

kypdurron · Post by **kypdurron** » Sat Sep 10, 2011 11:44 pm

I don't know. My main gear (Jazzmaster and Twin Reverb) hasn't changed in over a decade. I used it in a Punk Band, a Indie Band, a Neo Goth Band, a Surf Band and a Country Band. It always fits in when it sounds good, but strange enough, it doesn't always sound good. I tried a lot of OD Pedals and have only kept two, one is a Behringer ands one a Danelectro.

I remember somebody trying to talk me into a fuzzier sound. I tried some fuzzes, wan't satisfied and didn't use them anymore. To maybe answer the question, the Band sound is the band and the mix. my guitar sound is my guitar sound, and it's very simple. I' always working with what I know works for my playing, I'm really not someone who tries a lot of different sounds to fit a certain style. I mean, a Jazzmaster or Mustang has 4 different sounds. With a Overdrive, thats 8. With Overdrive and Reverb, that's ... already too much to handle during a gig.

paul_ · Post by **paul_** » Sun Sep 11, 2011 1:08 am

Les Paul Junior ---> Marshall Super Lead

It sounds like "rawr dadada dahhhhh" sort of. Sometimes even nicer.