A couple years ago, I attended a recording class taught by Ben Weinman and Billy Rymer of The Dillinger Escape Plan, along with two of metal’s great engineers Will Putney and Kevin Antressian. One of the things that Ben stressed was that during recording, Dillinger really dig in to their instruments to achieve a vibe that wouldn’t be possible with routine playing technique.
So despite how brief this clip of Ben tracking “Prancer” from 2013’s One of Us is the Killer is, it’s pretty instructive as to how Dillinger attain some of the intensity on their recordings. Note how there’s little difference between how Ben reacts physically to his riffs in the studio and how he plays them onstage – the downbeat (“kick drum”) open E string comes with a slamming down of the guitar, the high riff with assorted raisings and flailings, etc.
Keep your eyes peeled on the Party Smasher instagram page – the video suggests that there will be more exclusive clips from the making of both Dillinger and the forthcoming Giraffe Tongue Orchestra albums.
chamelious / October 27, 2015 7:46 am
Worth baring in mind that this agression is made possible/or at least easier when recording due to the evertune bridge. Try that without one and you’ll be looking at lots of intonation issues.
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Sharon Williams / November 3, 2015 8:50 am
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