Death's way of writing riffs.

[The_Orlonater]

Hello, TB I'm a little bit confused on how Death wrote Spirit Crusher.

http://www.bassmasta.net/d/death/101749.html

Here's a link to the tab.

Can someone help me? I'm just want to know how they wrote it and what scale they used. At first it seems Minor, but it goes D(Root), A(5th),E(2nd),F(Min3rd),A(5th), Eb (??????) Bb(4th) , and then the same thing goes and and when he's on Bb he slides down to Db and th Gb.

Sorry if I seem a little naive. I've been only playing for a year and only like 5 months ago I was understanding all this theory and learning all these scales(Major,Minor,Harmonic Minor,Melodic Minor,Diminished,Mixolydian,,Phygrian,Arabic,Chrom atic) I got them down well,though. I just need a little help.

Please don't go hard.

[metalstorm]

It wasnt composed to fit any sort of scale, he wrote what he heard in his head.

[The_Orlonater]

Originally Posted by metalstorm

It wasnt composed to fit any sort of scale, he wrote what he heard in his head.

__

I'm not saying I don't believe you, but do you have any proof?

[Earthday]

I'll let a theory buff handle this. But keep in mind that scales, chords, arpeggios, modes and all that are just tools - not rules. I highly doubt a musician as creative as Chuck Schuldinner (sp) sits down and thinks "ok D minor... well I have to stay in that scale now, so... hmmm... A?" I think it's more of he heard the riff is in head, played it, and used theory to help him and his bandmates write the rest of the song.

[metalstorm]

Originally Posted by Earthday

I'll let a theory buff handle this. But keep in mind that scales, chords, arpeggios, modes and all that are just tools - not rules. I highly doubt a musician as creative as Chuck Schuldinner (sp) sits down and thinks "ok D minor... well I have to stay in that scale now, so... hmmm... A?" I think it's more of he heard the riff is in head, played it, and used theory to help him and his bandmates write the rest of the song.

That is exactly what i meant.

[jenderfazz]

Yup, one of the most interesting things in music IMO (and something I need to be better at) is playing outside of the key/scale/chord. It's easy to play within the constraints given to you, and it's not a bad thing, but it's great to add in notes and chords that don't "belong" - it adds tension, etc.

[Siegy]

When I read the title, I imagined a large hooded figure in a black cloak playing a scythe-bass.

[chaosMK]

I heard (maybe from reading the wikipedia article) that he wasnt classically trained, but sort of invented his own scales. Some cool scales, either way.

[PortraitOfJames]

chuck was great. but this is a bass forum. so let's talk about steve digeorgio (i don't feel like looking up his name to spell it right).

he is completely insane at bass.

[HaVIC5]

It's non-functional harmony. It doesn't work by conforming to a particular scale choice. It's tonal (there's a definite tonal center in the D), and the collection of pitches serve to move to and from the tonal center at varying intervals, but, like with a lot of metal stuff, applying scalar theory is just a procrustean bed. It doesn't work that way.

[El-Bob]

Originally Posted by Siegy

When I read the title, I imagined a large hooded figure in a black cloak playing a scythe-bass.

Death is a great band, you owe it to yourself to listen to some of their songs.

[Earthday]

Yeah, Death is definitely the death metal band to listen to if you've never heard any. They started it all. Trapped in a Corner, Crystal Mountain, and Symbolic are some good songs. Voice of the Soul is another must hear, even though its completely outside of their style.

And if you're a fan of Steve DiGiorgio, definitely check out Vintersorg. Some of his best work is in that band. Sharpen Your Mind is a good example.

[PortraitOfJames]

Thanks!

[purduebass]

Originally Posted by Earthday

Yeah, Death is definitely the death metal band to listen to if you've never heard any. They started it all. Trapped in a Corner, Crystal Mountain, and Symbolic are some good songs. Voice of the Soul is another must hear, even though its completely outside of their style.

And if you're a fan of Steve DiGiorgio, definitely check out Vintersorg. Some of his best work is in that band. Sharpen Your Mind is a good example.

Don't forget his work on Quo Vadis- Defiant Imagination, that album never fails to amaze me. His fretless style really adds a lot to the album

[El-Bob]

Originally Posted by purduebass

Don't forget his work on Quo Vadis- Defiant Imagination, that album never fails to amaze me. His fretless style really adds a lot to the album

+1, Quo Vadis is an amazing band.

[lamarjones]

For the longest time, Slayer had NO IDEA what they were playing. I remember an article around the time that South Of Heaven came out they said they hired some Dr in music or something to explain to them the theory of what it is they were doing.

And Death is more complex IMO, so I wouldn't be buying anything that they are trying to follow a formula. Coolest part about metal that is not radio accessible, it really was something new. Kinda

[OtterOnBass]

Ah, metal. The place musicians go to break the rules when they don't like jazz.

Metal thrives on dissonance and unusual/unharmonic tones. The band named Death may or may not 'know' theory, but either way they can recognize dissonance and non-traditional intervals and tones. That's why the tritone interval (the least harmonic relationship two notes can have - 1, b5) is used so often. It's so suspenseful waiting for it to resolve (and often they leave you hanging there, unresolved.)

[HaVIC5]

Originally Posted by OtterOnBass

Ah, metal. The place musicians go to break the rules when they don't like jazz.

Metal thrives on dissonance and unusual/unharmonic tones. The band named Death may or may not 'know' theory, but either way they can recognize dissonance and non-traditional intervals and tones. That's why the tritone interval (the least harmonic relationship two notes can have - 1, b5) is used so often. It's so suspenseful waiting for it to resolve (and often they leave you hanging there, unresolved.)

While unresolved tritones are a big part of metal like this, that certainly isn't the defining characteristic. Another music, namely blues, consists of nothing BUT unresolved tritones in dominant chords. This of course in the standard 12-bar format, but also in blues-harmony tunes like Gee Baby Ain't I Good to You.

Even though the tritone plays a big part, I think another equally important part in metal harmony is the treatment of every individual note as being roughly harmonically equal - there are no such things as "chord tones" or "scale degrees" or anything like that. Just tonic (often an open string) and non-tonic. It's somewhat akin to the 12-tone row concept used in atonal classical music, although there is a definite tonal center in metal, so it's not completely analogous.

[El-Bob]

i wish i knew theory

[Insanity^2]

I like the instrumental parts in Death Metal, but the growls? I just laugh whenever I hear them... next time you listen to death, imagine a short, leprechaun-like figure trying to be intimidating