Well,I know that here must be more than just few BM fans,and that here must be more than one topic about
"How to play/write/sing/record black metal tips&tricks"......But none of them is complete (if you know what i mean),so I deceided to make new thread that deals with BM playing/writing/singing/recording and other stuff .
Here I would like you to write yours tips&tricks,advices,questions and by doing that help other Black metal musitians to improve and solve their own problems.
This should be the only complete BM playing/writing/singing/recording guidelines thread on MS,so write ,write,write.....

PS>Many greenhorns thaks you!

There is no recipe for music in general, and ESPECIALLY for black metal. just play atonal power chords and weird 2-string chords like in Transylvanian Hunger or something, or if you like your shit melodic use many atmospheric clean guitar bits and dissonant chords.

black metal is all about rebellion, dissonance, chaos etc. so quite simply put, think about what Adrian Smith and Dave Murray would do, and make it as twisted as possible. change just one note and the main melody of fear of the dark becomes totally fucked up. that's the easy way to black metal.

With black metal you have the simple powerchords of early Mayhem, to the insane infernos of Deathspell Omega, to the nearly DM-like chugging of modern Dimmu Borgir. Most of the sound stays within the Minor scales. Besides the obvious trem picking and dissodant chords I would suggest trying some inverted chords, alot of people seem to ignore them but they can give a very 'grim' sound.

Written by Got Mayhem? on 23.01.2010 at 03:51

With black metal you have the simple powerchords of early Mayhem, to the insane infernos of Deathspell Omega, to the nearly DM-like chugging of modern Dimmu Borgir. Most of the sound stays within the Minor scales. Besides the obvious trem picking and dissodant chords I would suggest trying some inverted chords, alot of people seem to ignore them but they can give a very 'grim' sound.

yeah, i also add that inverted power chords are actually minor chords..

A--7--
E--5--

the banal A power chord becomes B minor

A--5--
E--7--

which with distortion sounds pretty gr1m

High distortion, low tone.

By the way > how did Bathory get that sound on solos on early albums,like Under the sign of black mark?

Yeah BM is for the most part a simple formula. Use alot of inverted power chords because yes, they do sound evil. Minor scales, minor arpegiation etc. I would also say diminished chords also have a pretty evil quality to them. If you're looking to incorporate a harder, faster sound into your BM writing, then tromolo picking diminished and inverted power chords is a pretty good way to go about it. I would like to know what instrument you play though, because we all seem to be talking about guitar here. We could talk about drumming techniques for bm, or bass (not to say bass has a very prominent place is bm) or vocal techniques. I wouldn't really know how to help you on the recording end of things.

I Play the guitar and i have ,well , mastered it but i am corius to find out how the Bathory get the guitar sound on solos like one from "call from the grave".
Beside guitar i play keyboards,drums and vocals (i've got one-man band) so i am interested on details...

High gain, mucho treble, play around with the mids, little bass, and throw in some reverb and delay. I think.

I think that is god idea! beside i found some old guitar pedals emulator for pc.it is called Ultrawave Guitar Racks....and it does a fine job even in demo version(which lasts some 60 hours,ad it works in full capacity)...
It doesn't make miracles,but gives guitar leads/riffs a little extravagance....try it out......

Black metal, ideally is analog, less digital processing and effects the better. You're better off using an old four-track with a low end mic than any amp processing software.

One simple "trick" or tip when it comes to basic fingering for rythem guitar is as follows, ie:

2|| 4 (middle finger)
3|| 5 (ring finger)
4|| 5 (pinky)
5|| 7 (index finger)

Be it strums, tremolo or arpeggio. This can be done pretty much any where on the neck from six to second strings, as with most regular power chords. I recall one song I had written and recorded where I used a combination of things a few times over but, in essence it was very basic. [Edit] The track I did this on was "Self-Loathing In Desolation" for Bitter Dawn, which you can some what tell in the intro of the track, a bit through the verse/chorus/bridge and then moreso during the outro at 4:00 into the track - thing about that track is the drumming on the intro/outro doesn't match the tempo of the guitar, or vice versa, my fault.

3||4 (index)
4||6 (ring)
5||6 (pinky)

Above is an example. I kept that basic finger shape and did different variations of arpeggio to create a subtle atmosphere, and moved to different points on the neck, and matched it with strums of the two lowest notes on a different channel, negating use of the third string and having the strum channel slightly louder than the arpeggio channel (say by about 5+db or so).
It's all about experimenting and seeing what works best for the sound you want to achieve.

I kinda have low budget for recordings(last demo I recorded on my gear and tech-even made by me which in total is some 10 euros) so digital processing is need rather than choice. But i agree with you I like the analog stuff! BTW thanks for the tips.

Also what band name is better : MY DEAD GIRLFRIEND or SATANIC ANGEL ? I find it hard to chose between.....

Written by ANGEL REAPER on 19.04.2010 at 22:10

I kinda have low budget for recordings(last demo I recorded on my gear and tech-even made by me which in total is some 10 euros) so digital processing is need rather than choice. But i agree with you I like the analog stuff! BTW thanks for the tips.

Also what band name is better : MY DEAD GIRLFRIEND or SATANIC ANGEL ? I find it hard to chose between.....

Neither man, both of those names are terrible. I assume English isn't your first language (Serbian?), so unless you know an English speaking friend I'd stick to something in your mother tongue (more authentic).

If you want to do it with digital processing, you better have a flippin' good processor. :

Written by Throne Dweller on 20.04.2010 at 12:47

Written by ANGEL REAPER on 19.04.2010 at 22:10

I kinda have low budget for recordings(last demo I recorded on my gear and tech-even made by me which in total is some 10 euros) so digital processing is need rather than choice. But i agree with you I like the analog stuff! BTW thanks for the tips.

Also what band name is better : MY DEAD GIRLFRIEND or SATANIC ANGEL ? I find it hard to chose between.....

Neither man, both of those names are terrible. I assume English isn't your first language (Serbian?), so unless you know an English speaking friend I'd stick to something in your mother tongue (more authentic).

If you want to do it with digital processing, you better have a flippin' good processor. :

I'm going to have to agree with Throne on both issues here.

Only problem is : i have only lyrics on English.............maybe i should start with Japanese
I dont know BM on Serbian somehow sucks.....

Well, man for keyboard I suggest that you play longed chords that goes with the riff played, that would fill up the song and give it somehow atmosphere, and try to play leads by Keyboard like (Darkwoods My Betrothed) it sounded fucking awesome without overpowering the guitars that what I like in black metal, I dunno anyway good luck ...

And as for the name I don't know but Satanic Angel sounds so traditional and boring , and My Dead Girlfriend is so cheesy, my main language is not english but I think that "Blood Of Her Sin" would be great If you want something near the Girlfriend thing..

Written by ANGEL REAPER on 23.04.2010 at 09:37

I dont know BM on Serbian somehow sucks.....

I actually find it rather weird to listen to any metal in Serbian although it's my first language and I've spoken it all my life. It just doesn't sound right somehow. If you do manage to come up with some Serbian BM, do let me know.

OK will do..
BTW SATANIC ANGEL went to trash ...

Just have a massive brainstorming session with some buds and try every idea with a Metal Archives search to see if its been taken yet. Good Luck.

>MY DEAD GIRLFRIEND<
visit : www.myspace,com/mydeadgirlfriendserbia to hear my firs demo(low quality ,but still listenable)
please write here your comments

Written by ANGEL REAPER on 25.05.2010 at 22:21

>MY DEAD GIRLFRIEND<
visit : www.myspace,com/mydeadgirlfriendserbia to hear my firs demo(low quality ,but still listenable)
please write here your comments

I've listened to one of the songs, before I judge everything (cuz that requires listening to all of them at least 2 times), I just wanna tell you that keyboard sounds shit ( I am sorry to say that), the strings and Organ are absolutely crap, I guess you gotta get the sounds through a better keyboard or using a program like Reason or whatever, or send the midi to someone who can generate a decent sound through a program.
I have a piece of shit keyboard but I never use it, I use Reason 4 to get sounds I want and it really sounds awesome.
I'll have a listen on the other songs soon and tell you my full opinion.

Yes i know...in fact that song is more like sketch of something that i would like to make in future....

Written by ANGEL REAPER on 31.05.2010 at 22:30

Yes i know...in fact that song is more like sketch of something that i would like to make in future....

I'm going to guess that you're doing a direct in from your guitar to your sound card, yes?

Not entirely certain but, either you have two guitar tracks that aren't quite in sync or, there is some recording delay that throwing things off a bit on one of your tracks. I think there's potential in your stuff dude but, you need to upgrade your recording gear/method a bit. I dig your riffs though man, catchy, dirty and simple, not bad vocals either. If you ever need some help with stuff, feel free to send me a pm.

Well,there was two guitar tracks but somewhere in middle of mixing i've lost sync on them...by the way i recorded it by using one guitar amp,integrated sound card and some software like FL studio 6 for drum machine and synth and Audacity for mixing/cutting/etc....some five euro in total....

Anyway thanks for suggestions and for the help offered ...

Fast tremolo picking, powerchords. Also try inverted powerchords Download some guitarpro tablature for black metal songs and pick up som tips there also
The guitarsound is also very important. Max the "high" turn down the "low" a bit (or much). <--- Depends on the amp and effects you are using

Lots of reverb is KVLT if you are going for the Darkthrone sound.

Well....I am working on second demo right now....I've found some better amp,and get rid of unneeded keys/base/effects,also my guitar playing skills are much better....I think that this new stuff is much better than the last one.....

Just tremolo pick a chord with a root and the minor third. High Gain Scooped Mids distortion helps.

What's a good amp preset for BM? I use Gain at 10 and Treble at 10. It sounds too raw!!

Written by ANGEL REAPER on 18.01.2010 at 22:08

Well,I know that here must be more than just few BM fans,and that here must be more than one topic about
"How to play/write/sing/record black metal tips&tricks"......But none of them is complete (if you know what i mean),so I deceided to make new thread that deals with BM playing/writing/singing/recording and other stuff .
Here I would like you to write yours tips&tricks,advices,questions and by doing that help other Black metal musitians to improve and solve their own problems.
This should be the only complete BM playing/writing/singing/recording guidelines thread on MS,so write ,write,write.....

PS>Many greenhorns thaks you!

Sorry, but MySpace is filtered here..... I'll retry.