Pop Evil Style Rhythm

Welcome to the Pop Evil style Rhythm lesson !

For me Pop Evil is a great example of classic rock evolution. They deliver songs powered by variations of single riff with a specific, classic rock energy. All is being adapted to the modern needs - more distortion, commercial mixing and mastering. I like to point their recordings as a good quality reference for modern rock mixing. They basically sound good on anything - from studio monitors to cheap pc speakers). In this lesson we will work on a short track, similar to one of their promoted hits. We will work over variations of the same riff, using some dynamics and more or less strings to create a contrast between each part. Your goal here is to be tight timing-wise and precise. You would rather want to use more picking strength than gain from the amp/plug-in - it will help especially for your right hand mechanics.


Gear used (in order of connection chain placement):

1. SX SST57 guitar (JB Junior bridge pickup)
2. Presonus Inspire 1394 firewire audio interface (input gain 40%)
3. Poulin LeXtac vst plug-in:
- Channel - blue
- Input 50%
- Gain 70%
- Pre EQ - brighter
- Bass 50%
- Middle 40%
- Treble 50%
- Contour 100%
6. Kefir impulse loader (mix 100%)
7. Impulse - Catharsis s-preshigh


Tuning - drop D (D6 A5 D4 G3 B2 E1)


Backing track progression:

4/4 Dm |Dm F G | Dm | C/E Dm |
Dm | Dm F G | Dm | Em Dm |
Dm | Dm F G | Dm | Dm C/E F |
Dm | Dm | Dm F G | Dm | Dm C/E F |
Dm | Dm F G | Dm |Dm E F |
Dm | Dm F G | Dm | Dm C/E F |
||: Dm | Dm | Dm | Dm :||
||: F | C | Dm | Dm :||
F | C | Dm | Bb | F | C | Dm | Dm ||




Tempo: Main song tempo is 170 bpm. There are backing tracks available at 60, 80, 100, 130. 150 and 170 bpm.

Time signature: 4/4

Scales used in this lesson:

D-minor