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Why does this Alembic sound so bad?

#101
freakonaleash said:
C flat??
Do you mean B?
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shhhhhh... it's metal!


I keed, I keed. But in all seriousness, someone would have -and yet may- come along and point to that post as an example of who plays what kinds of music. They'd be generalizing, of course, but perceptions are always going to exist.

Of course, you're a member of the Metal club, so I may be overanalyzing things a bit.
 
#102
Auriaprottu said:
shhhhhh... it's metal!


I keed, I keed. But in all seriousness, someone would have -and yet may- come along and point to that post as an example of who plays what kinds of music. They'd be generalizing, of course, but perceptions are always going to exist.
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I play metal and but originally am a classically-trained pianist.
I had no idea that flipper_gv is a metalhead, I'm assuming that's what you mean when you comment on him talking about C flat.

Metal-bashing........................so last year :p
 
#104
CHILDISHGAMBINO said:
I've got no problems with how people make music or what instrument they choose to make it with. My point is that I have noticed lately that any thread that involves metal in any way always contains a statement about how metal sucks or it isn't music etc, etc. You yourself have made at least 3 such comments that I can remember recently. Usually these types of comments are made by guys who prefer some form of Jazz on some form of extended range bass which is all fine. The part that I don't get is that I don't see metal fans and players commenting about how the genre of music you happen to prefer sucks. Sorry if I came off has sounding anti ERB. Seems like it's perfectly fine to continually be predjudiced against metal and the musicians who happen to play and enjoy it though.
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I like harder rock and metal, along with all sorts of other music. And I thought this sounded pretty bad. Rather than wondering what's wrong with the bass, though, I'm wondering what's wrong with the singers' voices...
 
#105
It's anyone's guess how the audio was recorded, and once it's been made ready for youtube it'll make anything sound like a ferret inside a nun's habit.
The video doesn't do their sound any justice at all, and to dis it just because it's metal, well that's lamer then the lamest superhero can ever be :p
 
#106
Kink Rimson said:
Chaos AD is a Stingray. And it sounds fantastic.
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Are you sure?
Jason Newsted was involved with the Bass recording of Chaos AD, at the time he was really into Alembics and Paulo is pictured with an Essence 5 string in the inner sleeve of the digipack version of Chaos AD. Other than that, to me it sounds like Alembic...

My point was: Some here suggest the sound in the clip was the sound he was going for, I don't think so. Something was wrong (bad DI, bad tube, problems with the electronics of that bass or something else)
 
#108
Auriaprottu said:
I think part of what you're seeing is a natural aspect of being part of a site full of musicians and not music fans period. Jazz and classical are genres that allow the musician to make the most use of his training. Rock and metal are, for the most part, not.

Also, there are many mature (40-50something) players here who are beyond their rebellious-for-the-sake-of-being-rebellious years. That tends to mean that they're probably not into metal anymore.

With my house payment on the line, I'd wager that there are more music fans here who evaluate music from a technical POV (along with simply enjoying it as a layman does). Combine that with the anonymity of the Net, and you have the comments you've seen here. The thread itself has an opinionated title.
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Interestingly after years of convincing myself I was a fusion lover I finally grew out of the bulk of it (Stan, RTF and Matt Garrison aside). For the most part, I've gone back to the rock I truly love. So it can work both ways.
 
#110
CHILDISHGAMBINO said:
Usually these types of comments are made by guys who prefer some form of Jazz on some form of extended range bass which is all fine.
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Talk about inaccurate blanket statements!

I mean, I used to like Sepultura, but that was when I was 13. My musical tastes have matured a bit since then. You can't expect every just to like metal or to have nothing negative to say about it.
 
#111
Chris2112 said:
Talk about inaccurate blanket statements!

I mean, I used to like Sepultura, but that was when I was 13. My musical tastes have matured a bit since then. You can't expect every just to like metal or to have nothing negative to say about it.
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You play Jazz. In the last 3 or 4 threads I've seen that involve metal you are trashing it. How is that a broad sweeping statement. In one of your posts you even posted a link to some fusion dude. I don't expect everyone to like metal that's not the problem that I have with you or anyone else who doesn't like what I like big deal different strokes etc etc. I just don't see why you and other elitist snobs feel the need to say things like metal sucks every time they see the word metal in a thread.

For the record I don't like the tone in that clip that much either. The fact that there are a lot of musicians who seem to feel the need to trash talk it every chance they get because they prefer some other style of music is something I don't understand.

I'm glad that your tastes have "matured". Bully for you. Good to see that you've matured, I wonder how much of a troll you would have been if you hadn't.
 
#112
Essen said:
Shame to use an Alembic for that kind out "music".. Such a great instrument played in such primitive basic way.. Some people aren't supposed to make music, although they try.
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Do you have some youtube footage of you playing "music" in a huge venue for thousands of fans? Maybe you could post it so us primitive types can hear some real "music". Just because a genre of music doesn't revolve around all the fancy tricks the player knows doesn't mean it's not music. Music is an expression of emotion and those guys were/are angry. I think their sound and style convey that pretty well. So what if there's no slap, tap or some other form of technical flash. That's not what this music is about.
 
#113
I really don't see why it's so difficult to like both Metal and Jazz (and any other genre that takes your fancy). I love Motorhead. I love RTF. I love John McLaughlin. I love Manowar. I love Black Sabbath. I love Buddy Rich. I love Judas Priest. I also love ABBA, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, RCHPs, Bow Wow Wow and just about every other type of music out there. Why do you have to have a preference? It's funny, I grew up listening to Jazz (my dad is a Jazz musician), and yet at no point did I ever feel like I'd dumbed down when I started listening to rock. When I first heard Smoke on the Water I was blown away, and this despite spending most of my youth listening to Charlie Parker and Duke Ellington. I think immaturity is shown in thinking one form of music is intrinsically superior to another. This is why labels can be so damaging. I understand that not everyone will like every single band (I don't either) but to write off a whole genre just seems weird to me. I just love music that makes me feel something, that involves me in some way, and that can be any type of music.
 
#115
Agreed, it seems pointless to me too.

What I have to add to my previous post is that even where I don't like a band or artist that in no way makes their music invalid. Many people seem to forget this. Just because somebody doesn't speak to you as an individual it doesn't mean what they say has no relevance.
 
#116
*Wasn't this thread originally about the tone of the Alembic bass on that particular video? Here is a Link Removed I recorded using my Alembic Essence 5 string. Although I have since sold it I used to own a Spoiler as well. These two basses were my main basses for a couple of years. I ended up selling the Spoiler because it sounded very similar to the Essence and I wanted to see what other tones were out there.
*My point is that it seems no matter what bass you are playing it is all in how you amplify and EQ it. I use my Alembic for a wide range of styles. From pop to funk to hard rock and it has always sounded good.
 
#118
ishouldbeking said:
I really can't stand it when when people post in these threads solely to make fun of styles of music they don't like. Honestly, I didn't like any of the clips posted that show what an Alembic is "supposed to sound like". In fact, for the most part (with the exception of Entwhistle's clip) I dislike the styles of music. With that said, I'm not going to knock what those guys are doing purely because it's not my thing. I'm not some raging metalhead -- I listen to a huge range of music -- but I think metal certainly has it's place in the musical world.

To those who feel the the need to make fun of sepultura because they think thrash isn't music... grow up, get a life, post elsewhere, and stop trolling in these threads if your only intent is to bash on something to make yourself feel good. Sepultura have probably had a lot more musical success than you ever will (and no, it's not all "marketing", their early albums were hugely influential and they're one of if not THE most successful acts to come out of Brazil), they're a hard working band, and for those that appreciate what they've done, they have some truly classic albums to their name (Arise is fantastic, IMO). Personally I don't care for any of their music from Chaos AD and onward, but their importance in the metal world cannot be underestimated as they were one of the key bands that led to the creation of death metal, even if they soon moved in a different direction. And yes, death metal has it's place too. Metal is music, whether YOU like it or not.

This clip admittedly sounds bad. I've seen other live footage of them where the bass sounds fine, but I don't think he always used an alembic either (though I could be mistaken). But what band doesn't have some bad live footage out there? For a band who has played literally thousands of shows it's inevitable that some of them will have bad live sound. It could very well be user error resulting in the ugly tone, or like others have said, it could have been an ugly DI'd tone that the sound guy didn't know how to work with. Who knows. But to take a conversation on tone and turn it into an attack on musical style and on the musicians themselves, it's not only lame, but it's disrespectful... and there shouldn't be any tolerance for it on the boards, IMHO.

EDIT: I just watched the video of them again. I think it sounds fine, actually. When it's in the mix the bass sounds more or less the way it should... only when solo'd did it sound bad, and that's often what happens when you get a sound that works well within the mix. Obviously it's not a perfect sounding bass tone, but for punked-out thrash it certainly works. And to those that want to knock the band based solely on this performance: that song is NOT indicative of what sepultura sound like. It was written as a throwback to all the hardcore punk they grew up on, and was written as a protest song about the police in brazil. Their earlier sound is typified by a highly technical brand of thrash bordering on death metal at times, and they evolved into a more tribal, stripped down form of modern metal which was very important in defining what would later become nu-metal... which I'll be the first to admit I don't like at all, but hey, a lot of other people did, so props to them.
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ding ding
 
#119
CHILDISHGAMBINO said:
How is that a broad sweeping statement.....I just don't see why you and other elitist snobs feel the need to say things like metal sucks every time they see the word metal in a thread.
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Your blanket statement was lumping ERB's in with jazz and fusion and whatnot. I was merely using that as an example of the half-baked, hair-brained statements you seem to like making. If you feel the need to come in here and insult me and call me an "elitist snob" then you need to get a life. :rolleyes:
 

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