I’m sharing this even though I’ve had better practice nights. I’m forcing myself to share something like a, ya know, normal person.
Some context, this song is many firsts for me. First metal song (Marilyn Manson crosses genres but typically is referred to as industrial metal), first foray outside of ‘easy’ songs. My first venture into alternate tuning. First muted strums song. My first double handed muting effort. First effort at distortion. It’s both easy and hard. Easy because it’s only a few notes and at least half the song is just muted strums. The hard part is the time timing (12/8) and the tempo (144 bpm). And to be honest, its kind of hard to mute without making unwanted noise and to get a good sounding muted strum with distortion settings on max so…I kind of only have half an idea what I’m doing. 2nd video shared on the site tho.
I have no idea what I’m looking for. Criticism, not really. Praise, maybe. Sure. Mainly just fighting perfectionism, and building more confidence, as an exercise in being imperfect.
Thanks for any feedback.
Edit to add- the audio is not great, I know that! I put the vid up anyway, as a part of the whole exercise in anti-perfectionism. Besides that, I honestly do not have any kind of quality setup for recording myself, this was simply my cell phone sitting on a table next to a small laptop.
I think it’s another example of where as the player you’re waaaay more aware of any mistakes / issues than the audience are. I’m familiar with the song (to listen, not to play) and I thought your version was really good. Whatever the problems are that you perceive, they aren’t coming through on the video. Maybe someone who scrutinises every last note might pick up on something, but they’re not typical people!
I’ve talked about perfectionism at length on other threads so I won’t hear, other than to say, you need to let go of it. Learn to appreciate good and good enough. You’ll enjoy playing more.
One criticism though - that’s a non-optimal angle for your guitar strap
You played that really well. What was the alternate tuning? There’s a small strum pattern, repeats 3 or four times from 2:56 (and earlier in the piece) that sounds slightly off timing-wise. That criticism may be proof of my unfamiliarity with Marilyn Manson. Well played.
I think ya did real good Stacy!
Yer rhythm seemed spot on to me. Muting seemed good too.
Cool metalhead guitar too. Looks like ya got the right gear to me for what yer wanting to play.
My comment, fwiw, comes from someone who I’d say near never listens to metal music. But what you played sounded like metal music to me. Seems ya got the right idea.
So, keep on jammin, yer doing great I think. Yer on your way to playing metal music! Actually, your there, that was metal music.
Good Job and thanks for posting up for us to listen to.
I thought it was great Stacy - you got your guitar to chug nicely and your timing was spot on to my ears. I think your years of piano playing weren’t wasted even if you go the guitar route (which, let’s face it, everybody should ). Basic stuff like timing and harmony is transferrable between the two instruments.
That was totally rad stacy. You wont be playing any Manson on a piano, well you could but it would not sound killer like that. I am totally stoked you posted.
@brianlarsen I know right, finding normal is futile these days And thanks for the compliment
@mattswain Story of my life tho. Im trying to let the perfectionism go! Thanks for the encouragement, its much needed.
@MacOneill I am glad you enjoyed it. Hehe yeah I am aware the audio is a little crap, but that was kind of the point (its not the best and I am ok with it). But if that is the worst part I am happy with that, so thank you!
@beejay56 Hi Brian, thank you so much. The tuning is drop D. The strum patterns on this song are a little odd (I think, but I again it’s only my first metal song!), there are three slightly different patterns and timing, and all they start on upstrokes no less. The song feels fast and some position changes have to be made quickly because of the fast tempo. I’m still a little weak at the quick changes sometimes, so they’re taking a lot of practice. Work in progress!
@HappyCat Thank you! The rhythm is really fun once I got caught up to playing at full speed. And the muting seems to come naturally, believe it or not, so I am glad I started thinking about playing around with it early in the lessons (also thanks to Justin for introducing it early). Palm muting is easier for this song, because its complete muting as opposed to finding that muted chugging technique where you still want some amount of note ringing out. Fun stuff. And thanks for the compliments. Yes, thank you, I love that guitar. Go metal!
@twistor59 Thank you! I needed to hear these kinds of things. I agree that the piano background is going to pay off in a few areas.
@Ontime Thanks, Jason. You’re definitely right about that, piano just wouldn’t cut it. I couldn’t wait to start messing around with metal on guitar and l just love Manson’s sounds.
The Madman likes a bit of Manson and though I do prefer his covers, this is one originals this old boy has always gravitated to, so well done. Thought the playing and dynamics were pretty solid through out and none too shabby at all.
If I were to add one critique, it would only be one regards the recording. And for starters the video framing was great. But the audio was very low volume, Nerd Stats in YouTube shows the track running at -16 db and the optimum for YT is around -6 to -2 db, so you have another 10 db of headroom to use and make this shout out loud as MM would have wanted. Also the backing track is a bit low in the mix but this might have been deliberate to avoid upsetting those YT copyright BOTS, I would have bumped this by a few DB but if you know the song its loud enough to resonate. Those less familiar may need it to be ooft a bit!
These are all small points but something to be aware of BUT it does not detract from a solid work out over a great song !!
Keep them coming, I am sure there other folks nearing 70 who are up for some Marilyn
Try and develop a habit of looking for the good in what you do and give yourself a pat on the back occasionally. That’s not the same as settling for being second-rate. You can still be honest about what didn’t go so well and look to improve those things next time, just don’t let that detract from the good bits or playing guitar will just be a battle
Well you have certainly nailed it on the head, the struggle is real; and frankly I have no idea where to start except for doing something like this and putting up a video that falls below my normal level quality standard. What you say makes sense, its just hard to actualize. I’m paying attention to the comments though.
Welcome to cellphone against a coffee cup club. It works. Audio and video recording costs a lot. Right now worry about learning to play and advancing your guitar playing. Using a cell phone will totally do that just fine. The rest just takes time away from learning the craft of guitar.
This is my opinion at least. I still use my cell phone. I get good feedback and tips about my playing, which is what I am looking for.
Looks like ya got the right gear to me for what yer wanting to play.
You wont be playing any Manson on a piano, well you could but it would not sound killer like that. I am totally stoked you posted.
And thanks for the compliment
Go metal!