Animals As Leaders MEGATHREAD

[guitareben]

Wow, this guy has some sick skills :O

Needs to work on his impro though -



Having said that, this guys is a better shredder than me :O and very very good, and hes only 14 so lots of time to work on other stuff other than technique to

 

[Haunted]

cool lesson, I should try that tuning... its E\A\standard E tuning right?

 

[splinter8451]

It's standard 7 tuning with a dropped 8th string so...

EBEADGBe

 

[signalgrey]

It's standard 7 tuning with a dropped 8th string so...

EBEADGBe

i thought it was EAEADGbe

 

[splinter8451]

Well look at it this way, he said his lowest 3 strings are in a I-V-I relation. So, E (8th String) is the root 1 and B (7th string) would be the 5th and then E again for his 6th string for another root or 1.

Having EAE would be a 4th relationship not a 5th relationship or power chord voicing like he said.

Plus I've just heard him explain that tuning a million times before

 

[Winspear]

Yes the tuning is 8string standard in drop E so it's normal dropped powerchord shapes.
I think EAE is more fun, though, but it kinda eliminates using basic 3string chord shapes.

 

[Harry]

Not surprised on either video.
I remember when I learnt to play again from scratch, when I was 16, I progressed really quickly, because that teen brain just absorbs new skills and info like a sponge, so not surprised that this kid was shredding AAL.

Improv video was pretty bad to be blunt.
It's what happens when a teenager who for the most part probably only plays metal attempts some fusion.
Technique was rather sloppy at points, bad intonation on many of the bends and also on how he frets some notes, lots of random note choices in an attempt to be "fusion" without having a good understanding of proper chromatic and pass note usage (a general lack of theory knowledge required for the style) and goddamn, those sweeps are WAY out of place. Not saying you can't sweep in fusion, since of course there are no rules as to what techniques you can use, but it's just that blatant 80s shred/metal sweeps that really sound awful in that context.

Also, as with many kids who spend that much time developing speed techniques, his vibrato, phrasing and use of space is pretty terrible.
I was like this once as well, my vibrato was just horrible, I had no sense of good phrasing when improvising and didn't really understand how to use spaces properly.
It's interesting how much you may realize your playing has progressed as far as tastefulness and phrasing goes when you watch these kinda vids.
I still love shredding and will always shred, but I've learnt to play nowhere near as much notes as I used to when jamming around backing tracks.
Also interesting as how I've gotten older and more experienced, that I pay more attention to nuances and the tiny details, yet at the same time being able to see the solo as a whole, whereas many younger players have not quite developed that sense for great nuance yet.

As was said, he's still young. Perhaps when he hits his 20s, he may be playing with the kind of fluidity and tastefulness (and hopefully the amazing vibrato and intonation) of Joe Satriani, Guthrie Govan and Chris Poland (to name a few)

 

[leandroab]

Terrible taste in pickup colours.

Kids these days

I would do that! Brazil ftw!

 

[sessionswan]

You know, the actual songs and songwriting should really be the main focus instead of bitching about real vs. programmed and natural sounds vs. sample replacement. Lots of people bitched about Tomas not playing the drums on Catch 33 but in the end, it's another awesome Meshuggah album with awesome drums. By all means, take an interest in the road and path taken to get somewhere but the true joy should be in the final destination.

 

[xwmucradiox]

You know, the actual songs and songwriting should really be the main focus instead of bitching about real vs. programmed and natural sounds vs. sample replacement. Lots of people bitched about Tomas not playing the drums on Catch 33 but in the end, it's another awesome Meshuggah album with awesome drums. By all means, take an interest in the road and path taken to get somewhere but the true joy should be in the final destination.

My qualm is this - why even be in the band, or be a band at all, if the people in the band are not recording the music. I would rather hear something imperfect played by a real person than something flawless that was compiled from samples on a grid.

I hear people on the cost of recording drums "properly" issue but really, just do what you can with the budget you have. You dont have to break the bank to set up some mics on a kit in a room. Maybe you want to have a flawless record or something but really, let your stuff when you dont have lots of cash be real and of acceptable quality to deliver to fans. When you have loads of money and support that wont be an issue any more. I like the idea of progressing from raw to polished as a band but I guess people want to go straight to polished nowadays.

 

[Malkav]

Firstly fuck you all , a band as cool as Animals As Leaders would never tour in my home country and here you are bitching because an amazing drummer plays the amazing songs in a slightly different but amazing way Just appreciate the fact that you can go watch a band this amazing rather than worrying about all the little idiosyncratic shit.

Our band is forced to use samples because it's pretty much impossible to record down here unless you have mamoth amounts of income and honestly so long as you mess with the velocity to give it a more human feel it can be pretty cool. We'd prefer to do a live drum recording cause our drummer is old school and digs Mike Portnoy (who's a fag for leaving DT) and is just like if he can do it and make it sound awesome then it can sound awesome, but it's just not an option.

My only real concern for the new AAL album is that it may be slightly less heavy without Misha's input - which only time will tell anyway Seeing as everyone is talking about Navene I'm going to talk about someone else - Javier who from what I've been told is quite into flamenco which is great cause so am I and I'd love to see it blended into a modern prog-metal context I'm sure I'll still love the new album but I really enjoy the heavy parts and I'd hope that such a beautiful blend of dynamic still remains

Only time will tell whether or not the new record is going to be amazing and I'm sure that they'll lose some fans and gain some fans cause there's always some tool complaining about the direction in which an artist wants to grow. It's best to just accept and enjoy than to sit on a forum and complain - let's just keep the vibes positive and if you don't like it just don't mention it, then you won't piss on someone else's parade and the sun will keep shining all over happy land

Catch 33 is fucking amazing...my favourite Meshuggah album, props!

Oh and I'm from South Africa (if anyone cares), our countries music scene sucks cause noone ever wants to tour here...it's not like Brazil where we're 3rd world but Iron Maiden comes down for a nice big concert, we're just 3rd world and if anyone pools together enough money to bring down anyone it's usually something gay like Muse or 30 Seconds To Mars oh wait soon U2 are coming down, as if anyone cares....

 

[Customisbetter]

I laugh heavily at the sevenstring guitar wielding, Modeling amplifier tweaking idiots that get butthurt about drum sampling.

 

[bulb]

My qualm is this - why even be in the band, or be a band at all, if the people in the band are not recording the music. I would rather hear something imperfect played by a real person than something flawless that was compiled from samples on a grid.

I hear people on the cost of recording drums "properly" issue but really, just do what you can with the budget you have. You dont have to break the bank to set up some mics on a kit in a room. Maybe you want to have a flawless record or something but really, let your stuff when you dont have lots of cash be real and of acceptable quality to deliver to fans. When you have loads of money and support that wont be an issue any more. I like the idea of progressing from raw to polished as a band but I guess people want to go straight to polished nowadays.

The reason is plain a simple: that's your opinion and as much as you are entitled to it, others will disagree and act accordingly.

 

[xwmucradiox]

The reason is plain a simple: that's your opinion and as much as you are entitled to it, others will disagree and act accordingly.

Totally fine. Thats why there are a million bands and loads of different ways to make music.

 

[guitar4tw]

That was awesome

 

[Coryd]

Can't wait for the next album!!!!

 

[Kairos]

Guitar Messenger – Animals As Leaders: Tosin Abasi Masterclass (Part 1)

Video and Tabs on the link.

I can't wait to work on some of this...oh wait, I only have a 6

 

[S-O]

Hell yeah, love it!

I have been dieing for an 8 string...

 

[lava]

For the record, you can get great-sounding live drums recorded fairly cheaply. Scout the cheaper local studios, ask for samples. Zero in on the engineers who get good drum sounds. Then make sure you have an awesome drummer who has practiced your songs a ton prior to entering the studio. You could potentially go in and get a great product for only a few hours and a few hundred bucks. Still not as cheap as software, but the point is it can be done.

 

[All_¥our_Bass]

My qualm is this - why even be in the band, or be a band at all, if the people in the band are not recording the music. I would rather hear something imperfect played by a real person than something flawless that was compiled from samples on a grid.

I hear people on the cost of recording drums "properly" issue but really, just do what you can with the budget you have. You dont have to break the bank to set up some mics on a kit in a room. Maybe you want to have a flawless record or something but really, let your stuff when you dont have lots of cash be real and of acceptable quality to deliver to fans. When you have loads of money and support that wont be an issue any more. I like the idea of progressing from raw to polished as a band but I guess people want to go straight to polished nowadays.

Also, Catch 33 is more of a one-off experiment than a proper album, not saying your opinion isn't valid, but it really is apart from their other work-I think the drums on 'I' might have been programmed too, but I'm not certain.