Kristofer Dahl: Red Shot, My new instrumenatal video Options

[Kristofer Dahl]

Hey guys - finally I have the pleasure to present new material!

This one was a lot of fun to do and I am currently very inspired to write more instrumental material.

Recoding wise I did a lot of stuff differently with this tune. I kept it very simple with a minimum amount of overdubs. I ended up with only five tracks + drums, compare that to my usual 50-60 tracks! As a substitute for lots of panned dubs (etc) I worked more with delays/chorus/pitch shifting etc.

This method of working saved me a lot of time, since I am quite slow at nailing tight rhythm guitars and mixing a song, and in my opinion this gave a more dynamic/real sounding mix. On the negative side the mix is is a little thinner - but I find that ok for this kind of guitar tune.

I have also sold off some of my old gear (including my beloved working horse amp Peavey XXX) and bought a Mark V combo and a line6 M13 pedal.

Thanks to the M13 (and more specifically its' tube compressor imitation) I rely on a real bass for the first time - I have never got decent real bass to sound good before - but this time I got something which I thought worked. It was a lot of fun to play bass! =)

The Mark V is a chapter on its' own (I am sure Rokchik will agree) and for those interested I can do more demos of it. For this tune I used the Mark I channel for all guitars.

I have also rediscovered my Parker guitar which I now find gives a very uncolored/natural guitar sound - as opposed to my strat which ads a lot of midrange and compression to the tone. I think part of the reason I am hearing this now is because of my new amp! Either way I recorded all guitars with the parker which I haven't used for recordings for a long time.

As usual I am grateful for any questions/comments you have - and you can expect a more extensive coverage of this tune in lessons to come!

Guitaring rocks!!

[Wabba]

Very cool song, and i like the video too

And yeah, line6 M13 rules!

[Kristofer Dahl]

Very cool song, and i like the video too

And yeah, line6 M13 rules!

Thanks Wabba - glad you liked the video as well, I wanted to try something new!

[The Uncreator]

I think your new approach to recording and mixing is paying off, The mix may be thinner but I think your tone and the song itself beef it up, Riffs are wicked, So as always, great job!

[Adrian Figallo]

i like it very much kris, love your playing presence too, you look great playing!

[audiopaal]

Very nice Kris!!!
Thanks for sharing

[Kristofer Dahl]

i like it very much kris, love your playing presence too, you look great playing!

Hehe thanks Adrian - I tried to think about that when recording the video (you do a great job yourself!). I have to say I find it to be a pain because if I try to look cool I immediately start to play really bad and sloppy - but I know it will eventually come naturally.

I think your new approach to recording and mixing is paying off, The mix may be thinner but I think your tone and the song itself beef it up, Riffs are wicked, So as always, great job!

Thanks Brett - yes for this kind of tune I really don't try to think a lot about the average listener...this is good because it makes you "riff away" in a way you would never do when trying to write a more easily-digestible tune.

[Kristofer Dahl]

Very nice Kris!!!
Thanks for sharing

Thanks Paal your feedback is always appreciated - let me know if you got any thoughts about the master/mix this time!

[MickeM]

Was just about to comment yesterday when my computer crashed... bad omen!!!

I liked the tone a lot. I'm not so much for instrumental music though I think it's a good idea to keep it simple not overdoing the production, to my ears such a production sounds better where bands skip all the bells and whistles in the extra 50 tracks.

Congratulations on the new toys

[Kristian Hyvarin...]

Absolutely wicked!! Once again, I've got to grab my guitar because of you, Kris!

[zen]

Great sound and catchy licks mate.. Very well done . Call me old fashioned but I loved the chuga chuga riff starting at 0:21 .. Simple yet so effective
They add a great punch to the song ..
Post more

[jstcrsn]

Be careful GMCers inside this strobe i beleieve Kris has hidden subliminal messages
I haven't figured them out yet, but Kris
We are on to you

This post has been edited by jstcrsn: May 16 2010, 01:56 PM

[Keilnoth]

Hey Kris, very nice work here. I especially like at 1:14 when you play those groovy licks and then start again.

[Kristofer Dahl]

Be careful GMCers inside this strobe i beleieve Kris has hidden subliminal messages
I haven't figured them out yet, but Kris
We are on to you

Oh no I better hide then!

Great sound and catchy licks mate.. Very well done . Call me old fashioned but I loved the chuga chuga riff starting at 0:21 .. Simple yet so effective
They add a great punch to the song ..
Post more

Thanks - we're two then, old fashioned stuff can be very cool. Chuga chuga is also a lot of fun to play!

[Adrian Figallo]

Hehe thanks Adrian - I tried to think about that when recording the video (you do a great job yourself!). I have to say I find it to be a pain because if I try to look cool I immediately start to play really bad and sloppy - but I know it will eventually come naturally.

That's the only problem
you are looking super cool but at the same time you are completely out of key

[Fran]

It has great riffing and catchy licks that stick in your head, I'd say this one is among your best Kris!

Oh, and congrats on the Mark V & M13, cool "toys" indeed

[Adrian Figallo]

hey kris, thinking on that line6, is it a good buy? need some to carry to the gigs, and i don't feel like putting a pedalboard together at this moment.

i think i could use my cry baby - > line 6 -> some good overdrive pedal on the loop -> amp return

can i put the overdrive after the compressor but before the modulation effects?

[alvaroshredd]

The first riff you played is amazing man kind of slayer dark sound love your song good luck with it!

[Kristian Hyvarin...]

The swingy shred licks are awesome, but the people has voted: We want more chuga chuga!

[Kristofer Dahl]

hey kris, thinking on that line6, is it a good buy? need some to carry to the gigs, and i don't feel like putting a pedalboard together at this moment.

i think i could use my cry baby - > line 6 -> some good overdrive pedal on the loop -> amp return

can i put the overdrive after the compressor but before the modulation effects?

Yes it can definitely be done - it's extremely versatile, you can put the effect loop wherever you want, the effects in whichever order you want + you can create 12 different scenes to change it all at the touch of a button.

You can also use an expression pedal with the M13 but I don't know how it compares to a crybaby.

Using an external overdrive pedal sounds like a great idea - I think the overdrives/distortions are the weakest part of the pedal.

I currently use a tube screamer first in the chain (before the M13) - what are the advantages of having it in the loop? I know a lot of people do that.

The first riff you played is amazing man kind of slayer dark sound love your song good luck with it!

Thanks Alvaro - I am very proud I inspired your first post on the forum, I hope there will be more of them!

The swingy shred licks are awesome, but the people has voted: We want more chuga chuga!

Hehe well then there is no turning back for me!