Archive-name: heavy-metal/metal-as-physical-objects
Posting-frequency: semimonthly Last-Modified: 27-Sep-01 See reader questions & answers on this topic! - Help others by sharing your knowledge III. Metal as Physical Manifestation 3.1 Concerts Concerts can be a rewarding experience of metallic sub-culture observation, if the experience is conducted properly. Beware the haphazard, as those are the fools who are full of excuses when someone gets stabbed or hurt. 3.1.1 Information Index of guides to tour and concert information: 3.1.1.1 List of tour date sites http://www.tourdates.com/ Tour dates from the ASCAP machine. http://www.pollstar.com/ An easy way to track who's on tour http://www.moshking.com/ Southern California metal shows 3.1.1.2 Band homepage finder http://www.metal-links.com/ A giant metal links forest. http://www.anus.com/metal/links.html The FAQ maintainer's maintained links list. http://www.iki.fi/~mega/ A massive metal page with tons of links. 3.1.1.3 Venues by city Los Angeles Whisky A Go Go (310) 652-4202 8901 W Sunset Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90069 Al's Bar 305 S. Hewitt St. Downtown L.A., CA (213)687-3558 Gabah's (Formerly the Anti-Club): 4658 Melrose Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90029 (213) 661-3913 San Fernando Valley: The Cobalt 22047 Sherman Way Canoga Park, CA (818)348-3789 East and West Los Angeles: The Showcase Theatre 683 S. Main St. Corona, CA (909)340-0988 Pasadena: Pleasures 3570 E Foothill Blvd Pasadena, CA 91107 (626) 795-1259 San Bernardino (#1!): Masterdome 137 S. G St. San Bernandino, CA (909)276-7770 Detroit Harpos (313) 824-1700 14238 Harper I-Rock Nightclub 46350 Harper (313) 881-7625 The Old Miami 3930 Cass Ave. Detroit, MI 48201 (313)831-3830 3.1.2 Attendance With some attential to logic, concert attendance is graceful and enjoyable. 3.1.2.1 Ear protection Amplified systems within clubs sometimes go over 120 dB in terms of effect on the listener, so it is wise to purchase intelligent ear plugs (either the silicon blobs or the compressible sponge probes). Anyone who scorns you for doing this is probably deaf already, so don't bother replying. 3.1.2.2 Social interaction If you walk with respect for self, others, and world, and do not interfere with the needs and spaces of others, you will almost universally be fine. You may witness violent cultures such as skinheads, cholos, or deranged Hessians on speed and the best way to handle it is gently. Provocative behavior usually will result in violence. Should your intelligence save you from destruction, you will wish to display prominently the t-shirt obtained by wearing it: (Preferred) As your sole garment except black pants all day on the following day. (Acceptable) Underneath your uniform of slavery the next working or school day, hopefully wearing some mark of violence/evil as well. (Degraded) As your sole garment all day for the next three days. 3.1.2.3 Rules of evidence It is wisest to keep all "evidence" (things that are likely to be confiscated) on one's person in soft objects, rather than cases. One is often frisked at the door and all strange hard objects explored to see if they are weapons; keeping the stuff on one's self reduces the task of one's car being impounded and sold by the cops. Moving joints into concerts has always been easy for me; I avoid socks, as they often frisk there, and prefer to either sling the baggie under the scrotum or in the wallet, where although it is flat, it will rarely be disturbed (but be careful whipping out your wallet!). Smoking joints is easy; you want no flame to be visible near the scent of marijuana, so you curl your hand around the joint and cup it to your mouth like you are holding your chin. Always pass it to partners below the line of sight, e.g. waist level, and blow smoke toward the floor. As far as I can tell, the only way to smuggle alcohol in to a show is to have a woman with you, as often they don't frisk those. 3.1.3 Merchandise 3.1.3.1 Shirts and prices T-shirts are usually sold in XL and other sizes and are $20 for short sleeves, $25 for longer sleeves, with the bigger shows charging even more. 3.1.3.2 CD's Usually bands will sell their CD's for $12-15 at concerts or clubs. Quite often more of the profit goes to the band instead of the distributor and possibly more than the label, so this author enjoys buying CD's before the encore. 3.1.3.3 Royalties breakdown When buying t-shirts and CD's from the bands themselves at this venue, one is directing a much larger chunk of profit toward the band than thru a record store or mail order from the label. Forget not that record stores buy major releases for $7, and then sell for $12-17; that extra money in the CD cost goes somewhere and when there's no store, label, or venue involved, it's the band. Order of preference for buying objects: 1) Band 2) Band at show 3) Label 4) Underground Mail Order 5) Specialty record stores 6) Chain record stores 3.2 Recordings Purchasing metal recordings can be very sensible and efficient if you know what you're looking for. 3.2.1 Audio Audio is any recorded sound, whether live (bootleg or live album) or studio (recorded with intent for release). 3.2.1.1 Live Live sound is either a live album released by one of the band's labels, or a bootleg recording which is released by a fan or scammer. 3.2.1.1.1 Acquisition Please visit the metal links page at http://www.evilmusic.com/metal/links/ 3.2.1.1.2 Resources Please visit the metal links page at http://www.evilmusic.com/metal/links/ 3.2.1.2 Studio Studio music is produced by agreement between band and label as pushed as the regular "product" containing the music of the band. 3.2.1.2.1 Acquisition Please visit the metal links page at http://www.evilmusic.com/metal/links/ 3.2.1.2.2 Resources Please visit the metal links page at http://www.evilmusic.com/metal/links/ 3.2.2 Video Video is any recorded motion picture imagery, whether live (bootleg or official concert performance) or studio (recorded with intent for release as a separate production). 3.2.2.1 Live Please visit the metal links page at http://www.evilmusic.com/metal/links/ 3.2.2.2 Studio Please visit the metal links page at http://www.evilmusic.com/metal/links/ 3.3 Production Production is how technology is used to make something sound like the artist wishes it to, and includes a number of acoustic and electrical disciplines. 3.3.1 Techniques Methods of production that produce a consistent effect, as requested. 3.3.1.1 Swedish distortion See section I, subsection 1.5.1. 3.3.1.2 Distortion mini-FAQ This section to be completed in the future. 3.3.1.3 Vocal effects This section to be completed in the future. 3.3.2 Studios Some classic studio names are mentioned often in the annals of metal history and so are worth knowing, for that bored day when you're wondering what the difference between Tampa Gutteral American Death Metal production and Norsk Arisk Frozen Tempest production. 3.3.2.1 Morrisound http://www.morrisound.com/ Home to many famous productions, mostly from the Florida scene of Amerikan metal: Death, Malevolent Creation, Monstrosity, Deicide, Resurrection. 3.3.2.2 Grieghallen Home to many famous productions from the Norse scene, including Immortal, Enslaved, Burzum, and Gorgoroth. 3.3.2.3 Sunlight sunlightstudio@telia.com Home to many famous productions from the Swedish death metal scene, including Carnage, Entombed, Dismember, Seance. 3.3.3 Producers These people are known for their various styles, some of which empowered musical advancements in metal to be heard by the masses. 3.3.3.1 Harris Johns Producer who engineered records for Kreator, Voi Vod, Coroner, Tankard and other bands during the middle to late 1980s, was a madman. 3.3.3.2 Tomas Skogsberg When the first school of Swedish death metal appeared, it utilized a new form of blisteringly destruction distortion, requiring a producer who could tame that sound into coherence. Sunlight Studios and Thomas Skogsberg forever will be remembered for that utilization. 3.3.3.3 Pytten Produces most of the Scandinavian school of blackmetal at Grieghallen. First name Eirik, unknown if he is related to the person by that name who played bass on the first Immortal LP. 3.3.3.4 Tom Morris The "Morrisound sound" can be either a curse or blessing, depending on your intended audience. Although it is mocked often for its consistency, the Morrisound folks were the first to figure out how to consistently preserve bass AND tone in metal music. Some say toward the end of the American death metal period, Morrisound was producing almost mechanical-sounding boosted recordings that destroyed the texture of sound. 3.3.3.5 Scott Burns Known mainly for being the guy in the "NO MOSH - NO CORE - NO FUN - NO TRENDS" circle on old mayhem records, Scott Burns cranked out an amazing number of death metal albums as producer and engineer. Some say his work sucks, and at least a lot of it sucks, but he's done some reasonably adept productions as well. Also, metal bands/grindcore bands are rarely working with matched sets of current equipment. Of late has worked predominantly out of Morrisound Studios. 3.4 Objects The various assorted physical objects one can get in addition to recordings can contribute to a sense of groundedness in the genre, but could also be a waste of time. Tshirts however serve the useful social function of spreading information; the band name and logo are shouted at every occasion by intense visuals. 3.4.1 Gear The soft goods of the metal scene. 3.4.1.1 Clothing T-shirts: should be $15 for short sleeves, $20-25 for longsleeves Hooded sweats: should be $25 3.4.1.2 Patches Generally $1-$5, these are band logos in (manly) embroidered patches. 3.4.1.3 Armor Many Hessians choose to make their own armor. However, many mailorder places will sell Armor and Weapons. 3.4.1.4 Weapons Many Hessians choose to make their own weapons, but these too are sold through the mail. Mostly this involves midevalism and other forms of classicism, but often there are Hessians making nuclear weapons for Satanic annihilation of life in the most normal neighborhoods. 3.4.2 Distribution Metal uses an internal network of underground distributors, activists, and content architects in order to ensure the distribution of ideas. It is a remarkably efficient chaotic machine. 3.4.2.1 labels For an updated list, see the Dark Legions archive labels database at: http://www.anus.com/metal/labels.html 3.4.2.2 mail order For an updated list, see Dark Legions archive mailorder list at: http://www.anus.com/metal/labels.html 3.4.2.3 net sales Net sales are common as they allow the seller to receive $6-12 for a CD otherwise returning $2-4 at a record store or $0.50-2 at a corporate music outlet. Most transactions occur through a posted ad in USENET and an email agreement, then check or cash or money order transfer followed by shipping. Yes, this runs on the honor system, but what doesn't? If you get ripped off by a merchant, you _could_ sue -- if you had ten thousand dollars and several years to wait. Remember that how you treat others influences the likelihood of how you will be treated. When selling, post a list of CD's, prices, and terms and conditions (postage, quality of merchandise, time required) with a Subject: line beginning with CDSALE: and you will get the most response by convention. When buying, ask conditions and consider asking for a bulk discount if purchasing many items. Always keep contact information for the seller, because if the package doesn't arrive, you want to ask before slinging accusations. However, if something goes wrong and the person with whom you're dealing does nothing for a couple of months, post a message to the metal groups explaining your experience and asking for advice. Usually the seller will either wake up and give you straight answers or the underground will boycott the person who has so dishonored themselves. At the Dark Legions Archive, there is a list of links to current cautions/"bad" trader list: - http://www.evilmusic.com/metal/links/traders.html 3.4.2.4 tape trading Some consider tape trading "illegal" and "immoral," but such things make no difference to a busy metalhead, especially when tape trading is the background of diversity in metal. Finding new bands is difficult, especially with catalog descriptions like "Necro-fuck carnal excretory metal" and "Trollish folkloric sado-metal," so often people will spend time and effort making custom sampler tapes for friends in exchange for a similar offering. This allows metalheads worldwide to hear a much broader range of music than if they were confined to hearing only what they could afford, and spreads different kinds of music to the different groups of people who appreciate each kind. Not only does it benefit the fans and the bands, but by extension the labels, who in exchange for hosting the capital that funds each new release take most of the profits for their own satiation. For this reason, it is the opinion of this writer that it is best to keep tape trading as a metal institution. On the newsgroups or via IRC or via personal web pages you can make contact with other individuals wishing to tape trade, and then arrange for the trade in email or by phone. Most IRC clients will allow you to have a DCC file server from which you can dish out your "for sale/trade" list, as you can post it to USENET or other open forums. Spread everything you can, especially demo bands, who self produce their tapes and sell them through local or metal-specialty record stores. "Unauthorized duplication of this release is not only permitted but encouraged, make a tape of the shit and give it to a friend. This is the underground, support it. If we were in it for the money we would have quit long ago." - Skinless 3.4.2.5 used sales Record stores often make more money on used CD's - for which they pay $2-$5 and sell for $6-$10 - than shrink-wrapped brand new versions. Hence most of them now have some form of used music display. Netwise buyers sell mostly used merchandise at often better prices, if you're chary enough to buy bulk, and transfer more of the money taken in toward buying more metal, on the whole. Support yourself and the underground with a person to person transaction. A newer breed of record stores exist which specialize in bulk resale, e.g. they have a ton of stock in a warehouse environment. These often will sell you two decades of metal for $25 or thereabouts. 3.5 Playing Part of the Hessian experience is to get involved in music making, which instigates a respect for the beauty things create in one's mind even when the things themselves are fully deconstructed. The "aesthetic barrier" is what restricts most people from understanding music; they understand it as a whole, usually based on its production values or choices of coloring within the pieces. To be a musician is to transcend the aesthetic barrier or to forever be a slave to the translation factor of pushing music through one's instrument. 3.5.1 Guitar http://www.pst.informatik.uni-muenchen.de/~dranidis/Music/ Learning Guitar through Music Theory is an excellent resource. For a "metal" sound, it is recommended that you get a guitar with deep tone and if possible double humbucker pickups for extra crunch. Of all the picks commercially available, the "Tortex" last the longest compared to normal planned obselence plastic erases. Many metal musicians swear by thicker-than-normal strings, also. Most of the fast strumming techniques seem to be centered around holding the guitar at a radical angle nearly over the shoulder, and cutting diagonally across the bottom three strings often in a circular wrist motion. 3.5.2 Drums I have found some tricks that will allow great speed with minimal effort. On Monday I saw a recent edition of Modern Drummer has published a technical section by Virgil Donati who I consider to be the master of double bass drumming. I only got a quick glance but I know it goes through his concepts of playing doubles on each foot. This generally allows you greater speed and endurance than if you were just to play singles all the time. I used to listen to Virgil practice in a room just next to me as I was waiting for my drum lessons and the stuff he can do with his feet are amazing. Unfortunately, it takes a long time to develop the strength and accuracy of doubles on the left foot so that it matches the right foot. As I have continued to work on my left foot doubles, I have found that I can utilise the speed of my right foot to get to faster tempos without worrying the left foot too much. Instead of doing straight singles or doubles, I use a mixture of the two. Doubles on my right foot and singles on my left. This means I have groups of three notes happening on my feet faster than I can play them with normal singles. The way to practice this is simply to play them as triplets. Left-right-right-left-right-right- etc. With the quarter-notes in capitals it looks like this: L r r L r r L r r L r r L r r L r r L r r L r r Once you get to the stage where all notes sound even you can then make this stream of notes into anything. To play them as sixteenth notes your feet do this: L r r l R r l r R l r r L r r l R r l r R l r r This can feel a little weird at first because the pattern your feet are playing resolves after 1.5 or 3 bars but most music is in four bar phrasing so it sometimes can seem strange to get in and out of. Trust me though, once you practice this for a couple of days you should be gaining in speed immediately. I like to use this technique a bit but it is only a passing thing until I get to using doubles on both feet. -- Richard Beechey, richard_beechey@hotmail.com Well, I started out as a death metal drummer so heres my .308 1.Don't sit low(preferably so that when you sit on your drum throne your arse is higher than your knees) .I find it a lot easier to play doubles faster and for much longer periods of time when I sit a little higher 2.Buy a metronome,and a book with the basic drum rudiments 3.Practise the above with legs,feet,both starting out slow and gradually increasing speed when you feel comfortable with the slower tempos. Also practise playing triplets,quads,quintuplets etc. to a steady 4/4 rock beat and "four on the floor" 8th,16th and 32nd note rolls with hands,feet,combined,slowly at first and also learn the associated rests ie. This is all about learning to walk before learning to run. 4.I normally play a set with the snare and ride at more or less the same height(sitting down,a little lower than elbow height) the hihat a little higher.Toms placed a little higher than the snare at a small angle.Crashes and china at about shoulder height and the splashes halfway between the tom rims and crashes.This makes it easier to play fast and otherwise because the movement needed is basically minimal. 5.Listen and play along to Gene Hoglan,Sean Reinert,Tomas Haake,Tim Alexander,Pete Sandoval,Dean Castronovo,Vinnie Paul,Arcturus and Mayhem :) 6.Try your pedals at medium tension and the drumhead a little tighter. More rebound and a quicker response 7.Use ankle weights and practise rudiments with big ass drumsticks. ...A little help I suppose 8.when practising donīt tense up,when you feel like your arms are starting to tense up, slow down to a comfortable speed. 9.Stretch out before you start to play, pay attention to the hands. Warm up a little.Ignoring points 8 and 9 can lead to serious problems in the future ( I know).Stretch out after you finish playing. A little help I hope -Pyry, kaisa.lukkariniemi@inet.fi 3.5.3 Bass I use a lot of chords in my playing. I mostly play metal genres though which is a different situation than you are in. I think my use of chords (2,3, and 4 note) stems from my days playing in one-guitar groups where the need to fill things in during solo sections drove me to cover for the lack of a rhythm guitar. Now I play in a 5-piece with two guitars so there's not as much room but I still find places to let loose some excessive bass frequencies. - Brian (Ion Vein) For metal playing generally, look for a low action - a little fret buzz is okay - and a basic sound that has plenty of top and bottom. That it's generally a good bass with a good setup, that you're comfortable playing, is more important than the particular brand. - David Hodges 3.5.4 Vocals When performing death metal, grindcore, or black metal vocals, it is important to remember that believe it or not, one is still singing. The harsh sounds in the throat are produced by the aggravated resonance of the vocal cords, but the cords themselves will be damaged unless given amplification by a whole lot of wind from below. This brings in the diaphragm, a beltlike muscle around the base of the lungs which allows for external pressure to work the dual sacs as a billows. Contracting that muscle is as easy as deep breathing; once you've memorized that feeling enough to reproduce it, you can control this muscle to shove more air across your vocal cords and thus to pre-amplify your sound. "Gorgoroth is heavy, but not the heaviest. They play a lot in mid-tempo, and my main point of critisism is the vocals. The singer sounds like a duck being castrated." - Sybren, S.J.Hettinga@lr.tudelft.nl (c) Copyright 1994-2002 Hessian Studies Center http://www.anus.com/hsc/ User Contributions:
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