For the collaborative part of my project, I worked with George Cassel to create a guitar solo for my track. I began by creating a rhythm section appropriate for soloing over, this was done by creating a very simple but driving riff using 2 power chords being tremolo picked in order to create an aggressive and fast sound. Being that the rhythm guitar riff is a very simple two note riff, it made it simple to think of an appropriate scale for the solo. The two notes of the rhythm riff are E and F, for this reason I felt it would be most appropriate to use an E minor pentatonic scale for the solo.
George and I briefly communed via email(seen below) before meeting up to discuss and record the guitar part. During the recording process, I provided an example of how I wanted the solo to sound, as well as providing solos from popular hardcore punk songs to use an inspiration. After this, we recorded dozens of takes into logic, each time discussing what was working with the solo, as well as what needed improving. During the beginning of the process, we found that it may be difficult as George does not typically play lead guitar, and the scale used was unfamiliar to him. This lead to multiple takes during the beginning in which George would play a wrong note or make a mistake; this resulted in us discussing what was going wrong and found that George was struggling with the distance between the notes he wanted. We combatted this by using the higher register of the guitar, above the 12th fret as this was where George felt most comfortable playing, and also creates a brighter sound, making it stand out more.
In the end, we decided that the two main techniques that felt appropriate to the song were fast, frenzied tremolo picking and slower bends that match the rhythm of the rhythm guitar playing. This allowed for a further frantic and fast-paced sounding section to the track, making it seem it more intense, whilst simultaneously adding some different dynamics to the track with the bends.
I feel as though the end result we created was good recreation of the playing style used in hardcore punk, it is accurate to the genre and fits well into my track. The main difference between this solo and the solos that were recorded during hardcore punk in the 80's is that this solo follows a scale, with the key in mind. Most punk bands during that time wouldn't have been conscious of the key and wouldn't have used a scale as this wasn't thought about during the time, since most of those artists were just beginning to make music and so didn't have that knowledge. However, I added one in this case as it allows me to showcase my musical knowledge whilst ensuring there are no notes that sound out of place.
No comments:
Post a Comment