Thanks very much but it's not entirely hats off.

In your picture, your hat is still on so you should have the picture taken again with your hat off. Or use Photoshop to edit it out...

Sorry for the slow reply.

Always happy to teach people new English words. Even when I don't intend to.

"You had me after the first seconds"

Same here - I love listening to that very direct start and simple killer riff. The sparse, swung drum groove really helps bring the riff out.

""guitar signal interruption" (may I say a chasm?) @ 1:38"

Yes, a nice little pause. A double extension of the same thing from around 0:32. I love it.

"a Good slide guitar solo"

One of my best ever. Very melodic. At 1:48 there's another.

2:52 the track drops back down and there is some nice chillout bass g.

"nothing new from you, but interesting."

Lots of new stuff in this track, especially the unusual combination of a lead undistorted guitar part over a low, heavy riff. I also do that at 7:35.

All the timestretched guitar parts are a new technique I really enjoy. Some sound so much like vocals. 3:46 sounds just like a woman.

""mildly-wild" guitar solo (with some notes borrowed from an eastern scale?"

Yes, some is a crossover between dark and Eastern scales. But I only know two scales (major and minor) so I can't really tell you about them.

"@5:00 almost a reprise of the original riff"

Not really. That's where a distorted bass g part arrives on top of the sub bass (which is too loud throughout the track).

""complete stop" gives the listener time to breath"

Yes, it's supposed to be a dramatic shock. Then some haunting guitar voices and then I'm back with a new heavy riff.

"~7:05 ... double tempo"

Not exactly but I know what you mean. It's just a drummer's technique for making things more intense and busy.

"slow down and prepare for the ending"

I love the last minute and it really feels like a warm, beautiful conclusion to an epic journey. The timestretched guitar voices are really beautiful as things are slowing down.

Thanks again for the detail, even if you didn't like this one as much as I do.

Yo, SloeBro.

I wondered if you had perhaps killed yourself again and were busy regenerating in a test tube or in darkness and copious quantities of shit (like a mushroom).

You can show the love by letting me know if the sub bass is too loud in this nice track bro. I'm concerned about it on this one and two others (Roar Stone and Zero Hours) as I got some nice new Sony headphones for Xmas and the sub really does seem too loud in those three when listening through the new cans.

No bass problems with any other tracks - it's just in those three, which all use the same synth bass patch.

I hope there's enough badassery in this one for you. I haven't played any rocking guitar for ages - at least a month or two. I'm missing it but need to come up with some decent riffage otherwise there's no point.

Later, regenerator...

Word up, NeoChasmicBro

A longish and good review from you - the kind I like and prefer.

I've got somewhat used to this track's title (gotta have one) after not liking it much. If you have any better suggestions let me know and I may well choose a more suitable one. The Evanator had a go but none of his offerings quite fit.

"there's quite a bit of uncommon things in here as your tracks go."

If/when I stop adding those surprises, I suspect I'll be making music that's boring to me and no interesting progression or evolution.

Yeah, straight in with the low end riffage, then the lead melodic is a nice surprise. When I tried that 'clean over heavy' idea out and it seemed to fit, I knew I could be onto something special. A fun contrast and I'm glad you pointed out the Jamaican steel drums thing as I get what you mean but hadn't thought of it in those terms. Yes, quite a metallic chimey tone to that guitar part that I wasn't initially happy with but various EQing got it to its current state. Total fluke that it sounds like that - I was just going for a decent, clean, far out (ie plus delay) sound.

Yeah, a good resonator sound here. Mine is not a good quality guitar (those seem to be a lot more expensive) so I always have to add effects and do some processing in the computer. It's just some added delay and reverb here, maybe some EQ, so very standard stuff. A fair bit of poorer quality resonator sounds in my tracks but sometimes I have to keep those parts because the playing's good.

"low register stuff becomes apparent around 2:53"

Yes - first bit of bass guitar in this. Some quite tasteful grooving.

"Am I hearing reverses in there?"

No reverses in the track. Everything that sounds like that is timestretched guitar parts, of which there are shitloads scattered all over the place. Some sound a lot like voices.

"truly one of your best"

Thanks but it'll be much better when I go back and fix the far too loud and oppressive sub bass. I got some better headphones for Christmas and now I can hear that the sub is way too loud in this (and a few other tracks). I did not enjoy listening back to this version when writing this and checking what you had written with your time references. Just because of the oppressive bass.

You'll probably also enjoy the hard rocking track this one came from. Not as good but there's still some cool stuff, including some timestretched guitar parts. And the sub is also way too heavy! Don't know why no one has pointed that out. Maybe my headphones are too bassy.

Roar Stone

http://www.looperman.com/tracks/detail/171907

Finally, I did reply to you on that forum post about you doing album artwork, basically saying 'yes'. Been working remixing and remastering loads of album tracks since then, freshly inspired by your offer.

Take care...

Cool.

I don't know what 'stunting' is but I hope it's something good.

Probably something like jumping around, I'd guess.

I hope it's nothing like stunted growth.

Get the little man to do a decent review and I'll forgive any spelling errors...

Sorry for the slow reply, Mr PJB.

A real surprise to see you listening and even commenting. But a good and potentially very useful comment. Potentially cos you may be able to give me some further good advice.

Yes, the little melodic riff that arrives after the initial low end riffage sets this apart, I feel, from a lot of metal. I'm no proper metaller though I of course do listen to various heavy stuff. But my focus is always on melody and groove rather than brutality and I can't really further a heavy track if I don't have some strong melodic and grooving elements. Without them, it just seems like a load of heavy riffage for the sake of it.

I've never hear anything by The Grateful Dead that I liked though I've never really tried that hard. Guess there must be something I'd like if you think I'm inadvertently channelling them here.

"muddiness in the mix"

pisses me off probably more than anything about my music. I'm continually confused as to whether I am actually a pretty good producer and mixer or if I'm just not good enough and not doing the sounds and arrangement justice by having some things buried and the mix not being powerful and clear enough. I've definitely improved a lot in the last few years.

I'd love to try out your drum mixing/processing suggestion but I can't say I totally understand it, which is why I'd love a further bit of clarification. I use Toontrack's Superior Drummer and multiple kits in a track, some of which often play simultaneously. I've still never done a track with only one kit!

I do have some drum processing technical limitations and don't seem able to output all the separate Superior drum mixer channels in Cubase though I'm sure some people do it in their DAWs. So, I can't even automate each kit part's volume level or panning. However, that does mean that I do a lot of careful velocity trimming of lots of hits, which can have the same effect as reducing/boosting their volume (plus a change in timbre, of course).

I think what you're saying is that I could do better if I applied reverb to, say, only a snare and left the rest of the kit dry.

Perhaps the muddiness in the mix here is caused by the heavy synth sub bass. Maybe that's more the culprit than the drums.

Perhaps you could start a forum topic on your drum processing point and I'd comment there, as might someone like Mahloo.

"there's so much good playing going on here it's pretty amazing"

Thanks very much for that as it does mean something, especially coming from you.

Thanks for the extended review!

Stretchy word ups, yo, equally dearest Bradobro.

You seem to have put a short, standard Looperman comment such as "Nice track bro" through that timestretch software to produce a detailed, lengthy review. You'd think you'd just get "Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice trrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrack brooooooooooooooooooo" but the settings can be tweaked to make oh so much more.

I've never really heard anything I liked by Van Halen (Jump is decent) but I know EVH is a greatguitarist. Fun, fat intro here. Maybe I'll eventually find a VH track a little like it.

When I came up with the rather nice chords of the clean lead at 0:22, I knew I had something special. Big chill over big balls, so to speak.

"like a diva in Los Angeles"

is a fun analogy.

2:31 is me trying to play fast and up the badassery. Was meant to be longer but I'm trying to cram less in tracks these days so just made it brief.

2:32 very brief stretchy g fill and then 2:42 angelic stretchy voices.

"resting sound at the next segment"

Yes, I like the chilling, laidback drum comedown there (2:52) and that contains one of only two bass g sections.

3:13 new stretchy g that's very vocal at times especially breathy female vocal oddness at 3:35. Check 3:38 for the high "woo woo" notes.

I was trying for the badass guitar at 4:18 to be more upfront but I've somehow got the sound wrong. Cool playing but sound is not right.

"chord change at 5:00"

Not sure there is one but I do add some distorted bass g riffage to thicken shit up even more (on top of the synth sub bass).

"almost-dead silence at 5:42"

is pretty damn tight and hopefully a fun surprise. I needed to make some sort of transition and that turned out to be dramatic. Then more ambient chill female stretchy g vocals and we're back to another big riff, even if the transition to it isn't good enough. Yes, a very different chill section.

" lacking that solid bass that one does not notice"

Good point - that's pretty much the only time time the sub bass ain't playing.

"a gentle solo overlaying it all"

Lead at 7:35 is a return of the idea of chill guitar over badass riffage.

"being consumed by the time-stretched guitars"

is a good way to put it.

I agree that the stretchy guits do take it to some other, unusual level.

Wish I could make a track like this every day but I can't.

Am working on a few right now (including a chillfunk remix of this very track) but they're all currently no good. I have a lot of musical limitations.

Thanks for your kind and interesting words and yes, I must release some albums. One would be a start.

You should starting stretching guitar parts as well as your vocals for mega ambient sounds. It'll work, trust me...

SN to tha mothafuckin' Cru G, yo.

You seem not to have liked this one quite as much as my last rocking track, Roar Stone. This was made out of leftover parts from it and is in (mostly?) the same key and same tempo. I think it's a much stronger and deeper track.

I really like the very first cymbal crash of the intro, no messing about there. I thought the string bends were somewhat subtle but you never know quite what will appeal to people (or annoy them).

My Living Colour connection is seeing some of them under a different name in a New Orleans club in 2013. I spent quite a while chatting to the girlfriend/partner of bass player Doug Wimbish, whose setup consisted of at least about 20 separate floor pedals!

"1:15 nice bring it back in"

Yes, nice emphatic stop and I'm really happy with the flow of the first few mins. It's all kind of the same idea - I just keep varying the drums and bringing in new guitar parts (eg slide) and stuff.

"cool reverse sounds"

Yeah, they really do have that feel but there's no reversing - just the extreme timestretching, with, at times, its rather interesting vowelly character.

"2:55 and a cool bassline with some jangles"

Not sure what the jangles are. Maybe from guitar? That's the first of only two appearances of bass g in this.

"3:19 has some time stretching creeping in to the song"

There are bits carefully scattered all over the place. Very female vocally around the 4 min transition section leading to the outright badassery that takes over at 4:18.

5:44 breakdown is hauntingly ambient and more like chillout dance music than metal. I totally agree that the transition back to the hard rocking guitar is not as smooth as it could/should be. That ambient breakdown only exists as a way to break up the hard rocking sections though I don't know if it has anything to do with fisting a turkey. But I appreciate your creative image. Those "vocals" in the ambient breakdown also return later atop the hard rocking guitar. Nice to also hear them in a chillout context.

"Ending was just right"

Yes, lady voices meandering away right at the end. That's a stretched slide note getting a bit discordant through its chromatic movement.

I have deep funk/ambient sections of this track that I left out and am working on as a separate remix track though it's not going very well.

Thanks for my shitting birds, Front Nationale leaders, warm clothing and half eaten fruit. I'll take them all but don't need the cock rings so you can wear all of them at the same time as you carve up the Xmas turkey, otherwise naked.

I haven't got you a present this year so will instead wish you and your Lady Cru extreme happiness and eternal health. Here's hoping they let you out of your CruInstitution at least for Xmas dinner with the wife...

Good to hear you liked it.

"I dont hear this kind of heavy metal much anymore."

I don't really know what sort of metal this is. That's why I'm interested to hear from people as to who or what it sounds like.

I'd like to listen to more metal like it. There's a big focus on things being beautiful and grooving rather than just being brutal and loud. So, it's unlike a lot of metal in that respect.

"many dark tones that blend together perfectly"

Yes - my attempt to create dark beauty that's hopefully never too brutal or unpleasant to listen to.

I like to think that some people who don't listen to metal might like at least some sections of this. But I could be wrong about that.

Thanks.

Hi.

In the last few months, I've been doing very short intros and sometimes no intro at all. This one is straight to the point and thus we're rocking within one second.

I tend not to do long intros. Probably cos I do such long tracks. So much to get to that I like to get to something cool and groovy fairly quickly.

"contretemps of the I think, slide works at about :25."

That's a very hard sentence to understand. There's no slide guitar at that point so you must mean the movement of the heavy guitar as it descends into the kick drum thump. Lots of kick drum thumping in this track.

2:32 I turn up the EQ on the drums to bring them out a bit as I was trying to launch into another exciting section.

" Not sure this is heavy metal in my understanding"

I totally agree and I always look to make something that is a crossover of at least a few genres. Perhaps if you remove all the undistored guitar parts, it would be metal. But I've sat the very melodic ones on top of the heavy ones, which is less common in metal.

3:40 lots of strange female vocal parts there, which is all timestretched slide guitar parts.

"GREAT LICKS at 4:50"

Thanks. A bit of dark lead widdling there and I do like that held note at 4:50.

"Back to metal at 6:20."

Yes, a bit of vocal chillout before then (5:50) but metal always had to come back, with me trying to save some badass drum energy for the end sections.

"The vocal simulation works to the point that you could build a track off of it"

That's kind of what I've tried to do here as there are so many of those parts scattered about.

There are almost no pads in this and I think you'd have a hard time spotting them (3:03 and 8:18) so I'm pretty sure that anything you heard as a pad was actually a timestretched guitar part.

Thanks for the thoughts and I'm glad you found some brilliance. I always try to stick it in but I'm not always successful.

Take care.

Chasmic Nomad word ups, yo.

My vast chasm contains no pennies, gum wrappers or shoes but it does have one tyre, which I use as a toilet. The main detritus is trimmings of timestretched guitar parts, left over from making this epic track bro. Some are miles long. There are also some Nomad beard shavings scattered about.

Lead doesn't make me think of sitar though it's quite "chimey". I did check out the Petty song. Won't Back Down is still my favourite.

First few mins are my fave section in this, mostly cos of the lead chillout guitar (whose timestretched parts are scattered throughout). The chunky rhythm one is also great and does a lot and is sometimes pushed forward as the lead part.

0:55 lead is just some nice, expressive slide playing. Don't think I bothered trying to timestretch that part but did so with a few other bits of slide playing.

2:53 yes like a beach at sunset. My music's all about wide open spaces and far out imaginings. Places I'll never go (eg deep space, Heaven etc) but try to capture in sound.

2:53 is also first of two bass g sections.

Second is the heavy, distorted bass arriving at 5:00 to thicken shit up even more. Makes a big difference and sits on top of the sub bass.

I assume you don't think everywhere apart from "the 4:00 area" is unpolished and unprofessional. Lots of female vocal guitar sounds there.

6:47 has a vocal tune I can sing along to. No idea how timestretching creates such clear vowel sounds.

4:18 badassery was some dark, joyous fun to make. Came up with that section before the first few mins.

"an outro lead that makes me think of slowly swirling blue and white smoke"

I'm guessing that starts at 7:35.

Down With The Thickness could be a cool title. Not keen on your others (for this track) but I'm damn hard to please. You're better at coming up with title phrases when not asked ie just in your general words. Thanks for having a go.

I like the idea of gods getting it on. Poseidon beating off Jesus as Shiva observes with glee. I'd watch that.

This Mean Motor Scooter was a definite contender for this but it lacks the beauty, which is the standout element here for me. More so than the badassery.

Maybe Hypnoculars will be my Xmas present. If so, make sure to gift wrap it for me.

Nomad, pissing all over The Evanator's black kettle.

Yo.

Have you got any tracks with extremely stretched guitars in them that I could hear?

You're right about the timestretch shimmer effect. It's amazing.

It seems to work particularly well with slide guitar parts. Something to do with the fact that the slide is moving through each microtone as it moves up or down a string. And then that gets seriously elongated, producing some haunting sounds. But the vocal qualities produced here I still don't understand!

"the opening melodies"

I guess you mean the lead melodic guitar starting 0:21. I used a section of that guitar playing for timestretching (and sprinkling throughout the track) as the chords are so pleasant. Strange to put that kind of melodic chill vibe over this powerful doom-like stuff. I think it actually stops it from being doom.

I'm working on a chillout ambient funk remix/continuation of this track right now though it's not going too well.

"the feeling of sheer joy you seem to feel when just rocking out."

Very pleased to hear you feel that too as my instrument playing is mostly about joy and groove and melody. Even when hard rocking or playing metal it's very rarely aggressive but about luxuriating in powerful, psychedelic sounds and fun grooves.

"It's gonna take a few listens to capture everything that's going on here"

Always the aim with every track I make. I look to make deep stuff that offers more and more and that is unlike throwaway pop music.

Thanks again.

Thanks though I'm definitely not in the league of either of those two guys.

Jeff Beck is not my favourite guitarist (not quite sure who is, actually) but I feel he has pretty much the greatest "touch" on that instrument of almost anyone I've heard ie his control of the strings is just amazing.

However, I'm not really sure either of them do anything quite this heavy but I could be wrong.

" the driving drums coming to the fore later"

I'm thinking you perhaps mean around 7:12 when they get really heavy. Lots of driving drumming before then but I had to try to save some heavy, crashing energy for the end.

Thanks for the feedback.

OK. What I'd do is speed that up 100 times and then shred over it and add that playing to the original 1BPM doomgroove.

Then I'd take the 100BPM fretwank widdling and stick it through the extreme timestretch software to create haunting ambiences. A little like what I've done in this track.

Yo, Mr 4.

Is melodic metal your favourite type? I'd expect you to prefer something creepier and darker.

I do wonder if the large amount of melody might put off some metallers. No doubt death, black and grindcore types but let's not worry about them.

"I like that idea of time stretching guitar parts for vocals"

No, that wasn't my idea - that was just the lovely surprise with how things turned out. I simply took a few guitar parts from within the track, timestretched them 800% and reimported them and spent ages arranging and trimming them.

" I love how dark it gets"

Yeah, that's the dark middle eg 4:18 with some crashing cymbal work. Then out of the relative darkness and back into the light for a triumphant ending.

"have you heard the spongebob theme song slowed down 800x"

No cos I'm not interested in that but I've heard loads of well known tracks slowed down 800% on Youtube. I think that's probably how I came across the Paul stretching software.

My favourite stretchy track is the Indiana Jones theme - Raiders March.

"may have more thoughts"

As always - come back if you have any. I'd rather hear about this track than Spongebob.

Take care.