so i updated our myspace with some newer songs. i'm looking for some constructive criticism. something more than "you suck". these are from practice, so there are mistakes and it isn't a nice studio mix.

www.myspace.com/graemusic

The only song that I could get to play was "Falling Apart"...the others do nothing.

Um, well...from one musician to another, um...don't take offense, but how often have you guys been playing? It sounds to me like you guys aren't as experienced/comfortable with your instruments. The guitar riff is rather redundant and seems to follow a basic chord progression. The song itself also follows a basic format.

HOWEVER, there's a lot of emotion to the song, and I can actually get into it. But, it's sort of a style that's been done before. But, that's not such a problem. Yet, I'm of the mind that if a band is going to do what's been done, they better have something that stands out. The singer is all that really stands out when I listen to it. He's very emotional and has a fantastic voice. The drummer needs to learn more dynamic control, more stick control, and stray away from the cymbals...and (since I'm a devout percussionist), I don't like listening to drummers who don't realize the drums are part of the instrument. There's so many places to throw some fills in rather than repetive snare hits. And double-bass adds a lot. The guitarist has a good style (but, like I said, it's been done)...but, if I may suggest: www.all-guitar-chords.com and fuckin' around with the scales available there. There's nothing quite like a gypsy scale or an egyptian. Adds a lot of flavor, and it helps a guitarist to understand switching key signatures within a song. The bassist isn't bad...but doesn't stand out.

Overall, I actually like it. If we were to play a show together, I'd be listening to you. However, I think there's a lot of room for improvement. You got the right foundation for something, but you're really going to have to sparkle if you want to shine. Then again, what do I know??? I've been in 5 failed bands.

I thought the bass made the song complete in my opinion. Not my style of music. Though turned up on a good stereo sounds nice.

i also could only listen to "falling apart"

i agree with sixx. a little less cymbals, and a little more tom work would go a long way, also try possibly a little more mid-low tone in the guitar, earlier on, its a little screetch heavy. sounds good, but it could either be backed up by a second guitar playing say a lower toned harmony, or just slap in a lower toned effect on the guitar to give it a little more body. possibly slacken the wrist a little more, ease up your left hand as the change between chords sounded a little... tense in some places, not quite spot on time with the drums, i can hear that there's accentuation on certain beats that both the drums and guitar hit, and it sounds as if its just like, a tiny tiny bit like youre hurrying to hit the note, but because of that, not hitting it til just a lil late. possibly relax a tiny bit and you'll hit the emphasis right on with at the same time.

other than that, later on into the song it just fell perfectly into place. except the cymbals kept on ruining the otherwise perfect song. a lil double bass drum pedal would sound awesome with your style, and possibly tell the drummer to close his hi-hat a tiny bit, as the ring counterracts with the other cymbals and all you can hear is sustained crashing.
possibly if he loves smashing cymbals about in fills, get a splash, or for a lovely effect, a china splash.

i have some in a double stack, a china splash above a splash ontop of my hats. lots of fun.

bass sounds right on, possibly, i know this is sometimes a hard subject, a tiny bit of dirt effect, and a lil louder too.

other than that, i love your music, freaking awesome. make a cd, i'll buy it!.

ima download the track and try it out on the party stack (four 12" cabs, two 15" cabs, two 18"bins) and see what goes

hope my input is cool for ya, i mean no negative whatsoever. keep em comin, hopefully myspazz will let us hear your other tracks soon.

thanks for the input guys. i play bass/backing vocals, so you made me smile. the drummer that is in falling apart was let go. the other 3 songs are with steve, our new drummer. i definitely don't take anything the wrong way. i like to hear what people think so i can get a better perception of how different tastes like different things.

try the tracks out again guys. steve said he couldn't get them to play either. however i can get them to here and at work. so i'm a little baffled. the only thing i can think of is that too many people are trying to play them at the same time.

bingo

or the fact that myspace runs like it's coded by that guy from bakalakadakakishtan with no arms, no feet, no parents and no goats that all those chain bulletins go on about.

rofpmpl = rolling on floor pissing my pants laughing

so you guys get them to play?

I do, you just have to sit there for like an hour and it eventually loads

They worked fine for me.

Yeah, the bass definately stands out more on those other three songs. Do you use your fingers or a pick? Ever tried slap/pop?

I still think the drummer (the new one) and the guitarist need to be far more comfortable with their instruments. I highly suggest the drummer starts listening to Jazz...all drummers should listen to Jazz. It's why drums were invented. And, for flavor, tell your drummer to practice outside of 4/4. It's kind of tricky, but once you can do it, you'll find you can do all types of crazy shit. As for the guitarist, I still suggest that website I showed you earlier with all those scales. I think the best way to become comfortable with guitar is to lose the pick and actually start playing sloppy...strumming with your right hand and throwing your left hand all over the place. As for me, right now with guitar, I'm trying polyrhythmics (playing multiple time signatures at once) with finger tapping (using my left to keep a rhythm and my right to play the melody). It's hard, but fun.

i play with my fingers and pick using my fingernail. i generallys use my nail if i'm playing high melodic stuf or chords. i have used slap/pop, but i haven't found much of a use for it in what i play at the moment. could it work later, of course. but i'll just have to see.

steve is actually a jazz drummer. he's played highschool, drumcore, jazz/funk bands, and now getting back to something harder with us. the songs you are listening to were originally done with the old drummer. so steve is basically taking what the old drummer did and sprucing it up. the new stuff (should we ever get to it) should showcase his talents better.

john doesn't really play outside of practice and neither do i. so having him go to the website would be pretty futile. he's more of a major scale, pop kind of player. he's sort of entering a new realm with my heavy, dark, dissonant sound. a lot of this stuff was written a year ago or so. the newer stuff we've yet to develop is a bit more indepth. however we move at a snails pace, so don't expect it for another year. he also plays with his hand a lot. there has been a few gigs where there is a bit of blood splatter on the guitar.

That's fucked. As for sixxx talking about guitar...that's weird. I only find tapping good if you are good at playing that guitar. Otherwise is sounds shitty. I also hate sloppy playing. Again that's my own opinion.

You only find tapping good if you play that guitar??? What? As in, not if you play another guitar? Because, y'know, it's not like most people don't use the same guitar (or 2 or to play with...especially at shows.

But I don't know about that...I love tapping on bass as well. In all seriousness, tapping really only depends on string gauge and string heighth...obviously, if you're used to tapping on thinner strings that hug the neck, it's going to be harder to tap on thicker strings raised above the neck.

And on that note...when it comes to bass, I know a lot of bassists out there (and guitarists) love thicker gauged strings because you can really pound into them and they have a fatter sound...but, the thinner the string (and it's proximity to the neck) really allows one to glide all over the neck. My last bassist had his strings way up off the neck...no wonder he couldn't do much past eighth notes.

And as for playing sloppy...I'm not saying to play punk-rock type shit. I'm talking about rhythms and improvisation. You can keep the rhythm going with your left hand (as in, playing a scale in 4/4), but with your right hand you can mix it up. Rather than focusing on plucking each note, try sweeps, or try plucking one note and hammering the rest. And if you're playing a chord, don't focus on playing every note in that chord...if you're trying a rhythm with your right hand and you hit a few notes outside of that chord, use that as a way to think: HEY! I can maybe do a hammer on here or switch between chords quite easily...or whatever. That's why I'm starting to see the beauty of not playing with a pick. It allows you to do multiple things.

But I guess, all in all, it depends on what type of music you like and what type of style you like. I listen to a lot of metal and gothic shit and whatnot, but I prefer to play jammy-progressive-heavy-jazzy type stuff.

Anyway...what type of stuff do you play Fallen? And what kind of set-up do you have (guitar, pedals, amps...etc.)?

I didn't mean to say that guitar. I meant to say the guitar. I play metal. I have a Fender Strat with the third pickup a humbucker. Heavier gauge strings. I have two pedals. I have a Behringer Ultra Metal and a Boss ME-50 Guitar Multiple Effects Floor processor. For an amp I do have a Peavey which I never use. I run my guitar through the computer.

A Fender Strat for metal? Interesting...

I have a variety of guitars...a Fender Squire, a Samik, a B.C. Rich Warlock, a Washburn Dimbag Darbell Series (and I'm serious, it says Darbell...I called Washburn and asked them about it, but they deny it exists...then I got into contact with two other people who have the same guitar...go figure), an Ovation electric/acoustic, and an Ibanez X series (good for jazz and blues), and a Dean Bass.

For pedals, I've gone through quite a few...but my pride and joy is my Tone Works: Korg...with 18 possible sections, 4 channels per section, and at most 5 possible types of sounds (distortion, echo, wah, etc. etc. etc.) per channel. It's fuckin' sah-weet! And I generally stick with Crate amps and cabinets...currently I have a cabinet with four 12's and a Crate head.

I also have a bunch of other stuff...P.A. (which I actually just traded for another drum-set), drums, cowbell (I RULE!), bass amp, keyboard.

And all of it (except the Ibanez) is collecting dust.

are you guys waxing poetic in my thread?

you should hang on to that, stuff with misprints usually work out to be worth more money in the future.