How to rock?

Post by jb » Fri Mar 07, 2008 6:17 pm

heh. still funny.

Billy's Little Trip · Post by **Billy's Little Trip** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 6:22 pm

Ah HA!

Reist · Post by **Reist** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 6:38 pm

Oh! I forgot - go for some grit in the vocals. Don't go all Josh Groban if you want to rock.

blue · Post by **blue** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 6:38 pm

Reïst wrote:Oh! I forgot - go for some grit in the vocals. Don't go all Josh Groban if you want to rock.

or Josh Woodward.

Reist · Post by **Reist** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 6:45 pm

blue wrote:
Reïst wrote:Oh! I forgot - go for some grit in the vocals. Don't go all Josh Groban if you want to rock.
or Josh Woodward.

Ouch. It's true though. Josh's voice is superb, but it's definitely not rock-oriented.

anti-m · Post by **anti-m** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 6:54 pm

Mostess wrote:I mean this seriously. Those who rock (and you know who you are*): how do you do it?

So.... do you LIKE "rock?" What sort of "rock" would you like to emulate?

I'm not actually trying to be snide -- I'm genuinely curious -- there are so many flavors of this "rock" thing, after all.

Alas, I haven't "rocked" in years. But there was a time when I had a band called "Turnbuckle." I lurched around the stage and hollered my fool head off. (Good times! Highly recommended! Saves on therapy bills!)

You'll have to take my credentials for distributing rock advice on good faith, I'm afraid --

Anyhoo...

1. Find someone with a live setup in their basement / garage complete with real drums. Shitty amps and craptastic PA definitely work wonders.

2. Have some beers.

3. Go plug in!

4. Cover the rock you want to emulate. (Turnbuckle covered Scratch Acid's "The Greatest Gift" for our soundcheck song. We didn't sound much like 'em, but we sure aspired to!)

I wish Wookiephobia would censor Songfight. That would make the joke even funnier. LOLZZZZZZZ

Billy's Little Trip · Post by **Billy's Little Trip** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 8:02 pm

I would have loved seeing you lurching around the stage and hollering your fool head off. Any video saved from the day?

Ross · Post by **Ross** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 9:25 pm

If a riff is involved in the guitars, double it in the bass. Think "Train Kept a Rollin'" and various led zep stuff. This may contribute more to heaviness than to rocking, but I think there is a deep relationship here. Also the bass can do fills in this context, think The Who. I don't Rock often, but two of my songs that do rock, "State of Emergency" and "Friendly reminder" use this principal to decent effect, I think.

Adam! · Post by **Adam!** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 11:15 pm

- When you're recording, cranking the distortion on guitars often just washes-out and fuzzes up the sound, having the opposite effect than intended. If you can, mic two amps, one clean(er) and one hi-gain. When you blend the two, the cleaner one will provide all of the bite and clarity, while the distorted one will provide the sustain and 'balls'.

- It was mentioned earlier, but distort the bass. Even if you just do it when the bass is hidden under a wall of guitars, such that the listener wouldn't even realize you stomped on the bass distortion, it will instantly make the song rock harder. Like the guitar trick, I prefer blending the distorted bass with a DI track. Make sure you check that the two are in phase, otherwise you're only sabotaging yourself.

- Turn up the drums.

- Although it's tempting to use studio tricks like limiting or parallel compression to make everything sound huge and beefy, make sure everything still sounds punchy. Basically, the guitars and drums should feel like they're punching you in the face and chest, respectively.

- Turn up the drums again.

Hoblit · Post by **Hoblit** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 11:41 pm

While I'm not saying its impossible...I'd really need PROOF of Anti-M rocking out before I could accept it as truth.

perhaps thats my way of saying the same thing BLT was saying. (er..asking)

or in modern internet meme:

pics or it didn't happen

obscurity · Post by **obscurity** » Sat Mar 08, 2008 3:08 am

fretnoize wrote:That album was recorded on tape though. Yeah, had to look it up to make sure.

Well, it's no surprise that an album recorded in the early/mid 90s used tape for the final master. But from the quote:

Reznor wrote: "99 percent of the stuff we do–even vocals–is recorded into the computer [hard disk] first. We get an arrangement together and then dump it to tape.""

it sure sounds like they did everything digitally and then just dumped it all to the master tape when they were done (rather than, say, sending the drums to tape individually to get some warmth on them). And we don't know if it was analogue tape or DAT!

But all of this is kind of missing the point. It doesn't matter if it was mastered on a wax tablet, the question is: when you listen to it do you hear analogue warmth or digital coldness? And does it rock? Me, I hear a cold, digital track that rocks the fuck out.

roymond · Post by **roymond** » Sat Mar 08, 2008 3:24 am

Hoblit wrote:I've never been to Germany.

There's some secret sauce thing happening here but I haven't cracked the code yet. I'll keep you-all posted...

signboy · Post by **signboy** » Sat Mar 08, 2008 9:52 am

Watch some Jack Black. Then watch some more Jack Black while getting drunk, until you think you are Jack Black. Then there's no way you can avoid rocking the socks off the world around you.

roymond · Post by **roymond** » Sat Mar 08, 2008 3:43 pm

signboy wrote:Watch some Jack Black. Then watch some more Jack Black while getting drunk, until you think you are Jack Black. Then there's no way you can avoid rocking the socks off the world around you.

is it just me who totally doesn't get the link between Jack Black and rock? All I've seen of him is truly cheesy un-rock like crap. Perhaps this is at the core of my own un-rock like behavior.

Billy's Little Trip · Post by **Billy's Little Trip** » Sat Mar 08, 2008 3:48 pm

roymond wrote:
signboy wrote:Watch some Jack Black. Then watch some more Jack Black while getting drunk, until you think you are Jack Black. Then there's no way you can avoid rocking the socks off the world around you.
is it just me who totally doesn't get the association between Jack Black and rock? All I've seen of him is truly cheesy un-rock like crap. Perhaps this is at the core of my own in-rock like behavior.

He said Jack Black, not Jack Johnson.

blue · Post by **blue** » Sat Mar 08, 2008 4:19 pm

roymond wrote:
signboy wrote:Watch some Jack Black. Then watch some more Jack Black while getting drunk, until you think you are Jack Black. Then there's no way you can avoid rocking the socks off the world around you.
is it just me who totally doesn't get the link between Jack Black and rock? All I've seen of him is truly cheesy un-rock like crap. Perhaps this is at the core of my own un-rock like behavior.

dude, you rock. you are a great model for a dude like mostess.. someone who is able to craft shit that still has some balls. JB, too.

mostess, maybe you just need to cuss more.

Leaf · Post by **Leaf** » Sun Mar 09, 2008 12:48 am

For me... I like to listen to tunes that make me feel recklessly mobile... if something get's my head bopping... and I start getting all excited...not horny excited, but close, only horny for riffs... that's rockin out.

Then I just try to play that way... no thinking, just playing, rockin out. Nothing cerebral... just... transferring how I feel when I listen to how I'm feeling while I'm playing...

As far as recording it... I really don't think I have a clue. But I certainly LOVE rockin out when I play, and pretty much do any time I play.

Which can piss some people off when they wanna get all Jack Johnson on me.

Billy's Little Trip · Post by **Billy's Little Trip** » Sun Mar 09, 2008 2:26 am

Leaf!

Reist · Post by **Reist** » Sun Mar 09, 2008 11:10 am

Billy's Little Trip wrote:He said Jack Black, not Jack Johnson.

Leaf wrote:Which can piss some people off when they wanna get all Jack Johnson on me.

Since when is Jack Johnson a bad thing? His music is so much more honest and chill than anything I've heard of late. Or are you guys just stating that he's about as far from rock as it gets?

Adam! · Post by **Adam!** » Sun Mar 09, 2008 12:45 pm

Reïst wrote:
Billy's Little Trip wrote:He said Jack Black, not Jack Johnson.
Leaf wrote:Which can piss some people off when they wanna get all Jack Johnson on me.
Since when is Jack Johnson a bad thing? His music is so much more honest and chill than anything I've heard of late. Or are you guys just stating that he's about as far from rock as it gets?

Honest + Chill != Rock.

Billy's Little Trip · Post by **Billy's Little Trip** » Sun Mar 09, 2008 1:56 pm

Reïst wrote:
Billy's Little Trip wrote:He said Jack Black, not Jack Johnson.

Leaf wrote:Which can piss some people off when they wanna get all Jack Johnson on me.
Since when is Jack Johnson a bad thing? His music is so much more honest and chill than anything I've heard of late. Or are you guys just stating that he's about as far from rock as it gets?

No no, Jack Johnson is cool, but he's mellow and really laid back. Tenacious D rocks!

Caravan Ray · Post by **Caravan Ray** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 12:41 am

1. Remember light & shade
2. Sing about sex or death
3. Assume the persona of a criminal, a seducer or an elven warrior. Preferably all three.
4. Ask "What would Jack Johnson do?" and do the opposite.
5. Burn an effigy of Phil Collins
6. Get drunk (that probably should be listed higher)

How to rock?

Re: How to rock?