Post-Hardcore I: Silverstein

Hi GMC!

Welcome to these new series in which I'll cover the most relevant Post-Hardcore bands. This is a very wide genre and derives from Hardcore Punk Genre and it's used to label a broad constellation of bands that have been influenced by Hardcore and Punk rock.

There are different scenes and decades in which you'll find bands labeled as Post-Hardcore, but I'll start focusing with the last wave of post-hardcore bands that appeared around the 2000's. The order of the bands covered is not relevant, I basically will cover bands that I consider help you to understand the main concepts behind playing, arranging and composing in this style.

In this lesson, I based the tune on the band Silverstein, a Canadian band from Burlington, Ontario, formed in 2000. They have released 8 studio albums, 3 Eps, and alive DVD. The band line up is lead vocalist Shane Told, lead guitarist Paul Marc Rousseau, rhythm guitarist Josh Bradford, bassist Billy Hamilton, and drummer Paul Koehler.

Music Style:
Their style is pure 2000's Post- Hardcore with melodic and screamo voices. Their music is also considered as Emo, which means "Emotional Hardcore". The songs are mostly based on really catchy vocal melodies and powerful riffing that includes arrangements and sounds that seem to be borrowed from classic metal bands like Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. In this lesson I decide to cover their faster style which can be found on most of their hits like My Heroine, Smile in your Sleep and Smashed into pieces.

Tonality, Chord Progression & Scales:
Silverstein's compositions sound interesting thanks to the wise use of melodies, guitar arrangements and drum grooves. The chord progressions and mostly around minor tonalities, but you'll also find some more happy feeling songs that includes sections in Major tonality. This tune is in E minor, and the scale behind the guitar lines is also E minor (aeolian).

Techniques:
This lesson includes different techniques that can make your rhythm playing more interesting. It includes the normal rhythm techniques like palm muting, struming, downpicking, alternate picking, but it also adds the use of tapping and harmonics.

Sound:
I used LePoin plugins to create the guitar tone. These are free amp emulators that are extremely recommended. The cabinet used for this guitar tone is HyBrit which is a Marshall amp emulation and before it a fuzz emulation by Waves. Check out the settings:



Click HERE to download my Patch.

I used Cubase to record audio and midi, SSD 3.5 for drums and Trillian for bass.

Tuning: Standard 440

Tempo: 180 BPM