19 replies to this topic

[xXAshes-In-WinterXx]

Okay, so i just recently formed a band named Black Winter. I have two guitarists (lead & rythm) while im doing vocals. I've had a few stand in bass players and drummers help us out at local talent shows (We won one talent show, and came second in a local battle of the bands competition) and stuff. We sound pretty good (that's my opinion). Currently we have written 16 songs total, and i consider our genre as Punk Metal. Im not sure what else to say, but if anyone can supply some advice on what wud improve my band, pls give it. I would like my band to release a Demo EP in mid 2012 (or possibly sooner, judging on how quickly we can get a permanent drummer and bass player)

If anyone needs a sample of our lyrics, just tell me and i'll post a few lyrics. Also, i have a post in the Entertainment Section call "[Lyrics] Cry Black Tears" Thats an entire song for my band.

[Steve]

Get a full-time drummer and bassist, that way you can work a groove with them instead of just getting stand-ins to just play a little.

[xXAshes-In-WinterXx]

Well we have drummer tryouts this friday, so hopefully we'll find a badass drummer. The bassist is another story, we aren't having much luck with that... so if worst comes to worst, I'll be playing Rythm Guitar, and Vocals, while my Rythm guitarist does bass.

[Gangsta Fag]

Getting rid of the "Punk Metal" part would be a good start. Each by itself is amazing, but they should never be combined.

[Insane Pie]

First, get rid of the fantasies of releasing an EP. That's not gonna happen, you're 16, it's just going to be a song or a demo. That's reality, you have no fan basis. Get rid of Punk Metal, you can't have both, it's one or the other. They are two totally different styles musically. It's all about gigs when it comes to exposure, no one is gonna want to hear your songs, they could honestly careless. You start with playing covers, then once you get someplace, you add one or two of your songs to the middle of your setlist.

[xXAshes-In-WinterXx]

Alright, so simply my band is Rock (i dont think i can put it more simply) and as for what Alex said, i think your right, and im just a highly ambitious person when it comes down to it so i do sound a bit overboard with my hopes for my band. Still, me and the band are currently deciding on a band to cover... So im open to any suggestions. For extra info... My band played "Everlong" By Foo Fighters at the talent show we won, then one of our own songs at a battlle of the bands.

[Steve]

Well as Alex said, the EP is not going to work. Well, it could, but that would be very rare a situation, so yeah, just work on a song. Once you have your whole band set up and ready to play, start just jamming together. It's great to just play with a band who know you well and whom you know well too, as they can adjust how they play to make the music sound better. It makes sense in my head, anyway. One thing I'd recommend not doing is covering songs for practice. That will end up stunting how you play because you're not creating, you're copying. Not that it's a bad thing to cover a song, just don't use covering as a means to get better because you just simply won't. I've been telling my band off for saying that they want to use a practice session to cover something (even more so that they want to cover Paramore) because it just doesn't help to play along to a song, ya know?

I don't know where you are at the moment when it comes to skill, but don't forget to practice on your own or even take lessons for the instrument you're playing (especially vocals, there are countless bands out there that have great instrumentals but poor-average vocals which ruins them). Personally, I think it's best to play song-by-song when you're coming up with things. Write one song at a time, learn and master one song at a time, then move to the next. The songs you play previously should not be forgotten though, don't forget to play those back again so as to not forget what you did in the first place.

Another thing you can do to improve is to record yourself. I find that when I play back what I played a day or two ago, I spot parts I can improve upon and change because you don't always see when/where you fuck up or do something below what you want it to sound like immediately, it's like looking back on what you've written in high school 2 years on and thinking "I could do a hell of a lot more to improve this, now that I review it."

As for the genre of music you play, when starting out I think it's best to just play what you think sounds best for the lyrics you've written (I also think it's best to play to lyrics you've already written, rather than write lyrics to instrumentals that you have already played) but I see you've already got a lot of songs. I can't tell you which genre of music to play, but I can tell you that punk-metal doesn't sound that good a genre, it just seems like one of those genres like "hardcore crunk reggae metal" that try selling themselves as something new just for the sake of being the only band of that genre.

Either way, you'll find that playing live and looking for gigs to do (make sure you have a demo CD to show to people who could potentially hire you first, though) will be beneficial to you. Sure, it's nerve racking to most people who haven't done it often/before, but it encourages you to improve for that big date (even if you're playing for something small like $200, it's totally worth getting your work out there and attracting potential fans).

It's hard to do two things at once, but if you can master both playing the guitar and singing, then by all means go for it, there are a lot of singers who play rhythm/lead/bass and even drums as well. (Benjamin Burnley from Breaking Benjamin is an example) If, however, you find it a challenge you can't handle, look for a bassist, you'll need one at least, a good bassist and good bass riffs increase the band's overall performance by a lot. Also, tell your drummer to learn some complex fills and patterns, off-beat snare patterns, hi-hat patterns and bass patterns are great to listen to (refer to RUSH - Tom Sawyer's drum patterns [by the wonderful Neil Peart] as an example and note how it improves the performance a lot that it's not repetitive). Solos too, if you're good enough that is, to pull off a solo is a great thing. Some solos are amazing to listen to like Sonata Arctica - Caleb and Kamelot - Hunter's Season for the guitar part. Solos can be for the bassist and drummer too, don't neglect that fact.

Another way to improve is to get good, constructive feedback from people. It's nice to hear from your mother or girlfriend etc. that "You did good, well done" but ultimately that's a biased opinion unless they're really brutally honest with you. Talk to people you know will give you good feedback and not a pat on the back and a "well done", such as a music tutor/teacher or a close, honest friend. Every artist should want critique, it's a way to improve and their critique may point out something you were previously blind to. If your drummer is out of time in songs, tell him to go practice timing with a metronome. If your guitar sounds out of tune or you're making it 'buzz' a lot, tune it up and get better at hitting notes clearly.

Hope I helped and somewhere in the midst of my ramblings, you find something of use to improve!

Edit: Concerning gigs, you should probably do more covers than your own songs, as Alex said.

[xXAshes-In-WinterXx]

Thanks Steve, thats a huge help. Recently my band has gotten together to rehearse some covers of songs. As much as you and many others hate the Black Veil Brides, we are working on a cover of "Perfect Weapon" which sounds not to bad (i think my voice fits it better than Andy Sixx's monotoned voice)

As for the genre, im truly unconcerned with it, i'll let ppl say what genre we are. i see it as Post-Hardcore (like escape the fate and other bands) but overall, each of my songs have its own genre, with i think may b kind of unique.

Recently ive been working on my Rythm Guitar skills, and ended up writing tabs for one of my songs. Its a steady rythm, and my lead player is building his tabs around my rythm. We have a drummer (Wooo!) So things are starting to progress now.

[Steve]

Good, not to try and make drummers sound incredibly awesome, but you need a drummer, they're the timing of the band. Yes, it's true I hate BVB, even the abbreviation looks like some kind of weeaboo emote BvB"" but if that's what you want to cover and you're aiming your music to an audience that likes that kind of thing, then go for it

_{Even though they suck and whoever likes them needs to be euthanised}

[xXAshes-In-WinterXx]

lol thanks for the support. When my band records a cover of "Perfect Weapon" i'll let you hear it. My lead guitarist has a in home recording studio, so it makes things much easier.

So recently it was decided, i wud be doing Vocals and Rythm Guitar. I've been searching around for a new Guitar and Amp. My Crate Electra is in poor condition and i need a new guitar that can handle heavy rythm and some riffs. I was checking out Guitar Center and i saw some possible guitars, but i've been trying to direct myself towards a HSS Electric.
I already purchased a Line 6 Spider III Amplifier, and the thing is badass, sadly my Crate can't live up to the amp.
I want something affordable but well performing... does anyone have any suggestions? Im open to any.

[Steve]

Well I can't say I know much about amps, since I don't use them, but my guitarist and bassist both have Marshall amps. The bassist's father, a music teacher at the local university uses this amp: http://www.woodbrass.com/en/marshall-mg30fx-30w-+-dsp-effects-p62940-af833.html It's pretty reliable and clear.

[xXAshes-In-WinterXx]

well i got the amp covered, you can c it here; http://www.guitarcenter.com/Line-6-Spider-III-15-15W-1x8-Guitar-Combo-Amp-482276-i1979323.gc. Im checking for guitars tho.

Btw Steve, two of my songs tht ive written are located in the emo poems section, if u wanna check them out.

[teensuicide]

Punk Metal is possible, but probably not the kind you're playing. Hardcore Punk combined with Doom Metal is normally called Sludge.

[PageNotFound404]

Punk metal?

Metalcore??

Maybe I'm just talking out of my ass, but hey, I think that's what you mean by "punk metal". Although you also have this Speed Metal which actually has a fusion of hardcore punk rock with heavy metal in it, some legit stuff. Bands you should take inspiration from would be Motorhead, Machine Head, Judas Priest, Helloween, Sonata Artica, Children Of Bodom or of course, Slayer (Or try to find more thrash bands if you prefer more aggressive sounds).

Actually, go for Speed Metal, I've been listening to Metalcore for so long that anymore -core music nowadays would make me nauseating, especially those that are made by bands that started with playing covers of BVB songs or any other mainstream core bands, just yuck.

[teensuicide]

^ Listen to this dude, he knows his shit.

Also if you want something disgustingly heavy listen to this;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uRiB7ZLDvk&feature=related

[PageNotFound404]

You know it's heavy when it falls on top of you (and if there is no struggle .... good, just let it comes)



I feel dirty now :L

[teensuicide]

All good metal music leaves you with a sense of being raped and violated after repeated listens xD

[xXAshes-In-WinterXx]

I think the mix of inspiration kinda sets my band at a diffrent stand point. I've gotten inspiration from Black Veil Brides, Metallica, Slipknot, Foo Fighters, All That Remains, and Bullet For My Valentine. If you think about each ones genre, they are very different. Combining them all is what my band is. SO trying to lable my bands genre is difficult.

[teensuicide]

Black Veil Brides = emo pop "metal"
Metallica = thrash metal / hard rock
Slipknot = Nu Metal / hard rock
Foo Fighters = Post-Grunge / rock
All That Remains = post-hardcore emo pop
Bullet For My Valentine = emo pop "metal"

so you guys are an emo nu metal/ hard rock band?

[xXAshes-In-WinterXx]

Pretty much, damn cocks you really thought tht through, im impressed!
Im sure you've read a few of my songs, each song has its own tone, meaning, and mood. But generally alot of them are dark themed, but it manages to work.