Glory, Hallelujah! the Rapture is upon us!

Kronos · #1 05-14-2006, 08:43 PM

My guitar player did something this morning that NONE of us expected he'd ever do.

He actually approached us about getting a second guitarist.

I had wanted a second guitarist in the band since day one, simply because I love to write harmonies. I had numerous discussions with him regarding it, but he didn't budge. He always said that he'd be afraid of what types of conflicts another musician would bring in (clash of styles, attitudes, etc)-but I always explained to him that the decision would be ours to make whether or not too keep the guy. I.E., if he was a jerk, he'd be gone in no time.

Anyway, last night was his birthday party, and a childhood friend of his came over. He's in a band that actually has pretty good connections and plays at least every weekend. They play straight up hardcore and such, and the main guitarist was the guitar tech for one of the guys in Biohazard, so, needless to say, he has a lot of connections. Well, long story short, my guitarist's friend was talking to us about how he's unhappy with the band he's in, because they never want to break out of their style and try new stuff. The other guitarist in the band always shuts him down by saying "Why do you always try to play that complicated stuff!" and then goes into another simple hardcore riff. So, after a nice long chat between my guitarist and his friend, my guitarist comes to the conclusion that he would like his friend to be in our band. I get the phone call this morning, and I'm ecstatic. I wanted to jump through the phone and start jamming right away.

I believe if he agrees to join our band, he'll be able to play at our show in Long Island by the end of the month, and he'll be able to help write more melodic parts, and finally WE CAN WRITE HARMONIES!!!!

markjazzbassist · #2 05-14-2006, 09:14 PM

good to hear man. its great when egos get put to the side and everyone works for the greater good of the band. good luck.

txbasschik · #3 05-16-2006, 03:37 PM

{{{Runs to window, to see if there are any airborne pigs that might hit the house...}}}

BabyJesusInABathtub!!! That's *awesome*!!! Harmonies are *fun*. Best luck to all of you!

Cherie :-)

MikeBass · #4 05-16-2006, 03:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kronos

My guitar player did something this morning that NONE of us expected he'd ever do.

At first I thought you were gonna say he was turning down!

Kronos · #5 05-16-2006, 04:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeBass

At first I thought you were gonna say he was turning down!

Actually, he has a tendency to play too low!

@txbasschik:

I've been bugging him for ages to actually want to have a second guitarist in the band. I love playing harmonies. My last band had 3 guitarists, so we used harmonies judiciously.

txbasschik · #6 05-17-2006, 02:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kronos

Actually, he has a tendency to play too low!

@txbasschik:

I've been bugging him for ages to actually want to have a second guitarist in the band. I love playing harmonies. My last band had 3 guitarists, so we used harmonies judiciously.

I'm sure glad he finally relented!

My old band had three guitars, and nearly eveyone could sing, so we had harmonies going between the guitars and me, and vocal harmonies as well. The leader wanted harmonies on *every* part of the song, though, so "judiciously" was not a concept she understood. However, when we had it right, man...beauty.

The current band only has the two guitar players, though, and it is much easier to create good harmony. No one steps on anyone else, and the parts are more distinct. Very effective!

It is such fun to construct harmonies, experiment with them. When you finally have them nailed down, you can put an audience in a state of true and total awe with those harmonies.

OMG, you boys are going to kick so much a$$!!! I can't wait to hear recordings from this lineup.

Tell us how it goes!!!

Cherie :-)

Kronos · #7 05-17-2006, 07:57 PM

I definitely will. I know you're not into our style of music, but once the harmonies join in, we'll have more of a european feel. (see At The Gates or Edge of Sanity, or maybe even older Hypocrisy). I'm sure we'll still have stompy parts, but I can't wait to let the harmonies flow...

I may even write some dissonant harmonies as well...for the eeeevill!!

Dkerwood · #8 05-19-2006, 08:35 AM

Sometimes I pine for a second guitarist... then I wouldn't have to cover rhythm and lead, it would take some pressure off the bassist, AND we'd have another voice to sing.

Of course, I've had bad luck with second guitarists. Either they didn't want to learn the songs or they weren't intuitive enough to figure out what to play. Rarely could one sing well, and stage presence tended to be nonexistent.

And then I've had my share of wanker lead guitarists. You know, the guy who just sits at the back of the stage and plays whenever he feels like it. Granted, when he decides to shred, it's a great solo, but when it's coming in the middle of the verse on a ballad, it's a little annoying.

I definitely wouldn't mind picking up a second guitarist who sings and plays some keys... but I'm not seeing that in the immediate future.

txbasschik · #9 05-19-2006, 10:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kronos

I definitely will. I know you're not into our style of music, but once the harmonies join in, we'll have more of a european feel. (see At The Gates or Edge of Sanity, or maybe even older Hypocrisy). I'm sure we'll still have stompy parts, but I can't wait to let the harmonies flow...

I may even write some dissonant harmonies as well...for the eeeevill!!

Eeeeevil Dissonant Harmonies...Yeeessss!!! BWA-HA-HA-HA-HAAAAAA!!!

I added ya on MySpace, so's I kin keep up.

Cherie :-)