Equestrian Folk Metal - Need Collab Partners

[keleneses]

Hey guys, this is something I've been working on for a while.
Basically it's a folk metal song about Equestrian history .
I can play/record Tin Whistle and Melodica, but I'm in need of collab partners for most of the other parts.
Are there any Guitarists, Violinists or metal Vocalists (screaming/growling) out there who would be interested in helping out?

Here's a link to the WIP. It's only a midi right now, and there are no vocals yet, but it gives a basic idea of the arrangement (which is not set in stone. If you have any ideas for things I should change, let me know!)

Lyrics:

All the world was covered in ice
Everypony hated, quarrelled and fought
Until the power of friendship
Made them unite

The spirits of frost met the hope of love
And screamed as they returned above
But from the sky they left behind
The genesis of changeling kind

The scaled ones retook their land
The dragons treasured all they found
Cities drenched in fiery breath
And they did nothing but collect

The form of ponies changelings took
But their black hearts soon overturned
Hungry for love they scoured the world
And feasted as everything burned

This is Equestria
Together we will take back our land
This is Equestria
We will not suffer at evil's hand

Before the blaze could burn all away
The dragons were drowned in chocolate rain
And upon the throne pure chaos sat
And all was turned upside down

The draconequus met the changeling queen
And together they ruled over everything
Disharmony left all ponies in
Fear and strife

United ponies faced their foes
But Discord's army stopped them cold
And the tyrant laughed at all his little
Toys

Malignant their deity ruled
All who tried to stop him fooled
Held by ties and bonds they could not
Break

This is Equestria
Together we will take back our land
This is Equestria
We will not suffer at evil's hand

This is Equestria
Together we will take back our land
All as one we stand
We will not suffer at evil's hand

From the depths of Everfree
Two sisters like nopony'd seen
Wielded power beyond belief
The elements of harmony

At their head a bird of light
The phoenix rose – majestic sight
Purging light gave strength to those
Who'd given up the fight

From the towns the royal guard was formed
And forward they thrust through changeling hordes
The light of the elements shining through
The reign of Discord's mind

From the scene the changelings flew
Spread across the entire world
And defenceless Discord fell
To his demise

Thanks for listening!

[Greaserpirate]

I'm interested. I play guitar, and I'm currently in the process of turning my brother's room into a recording studio. Currently I'm having problems setting up JACK, so I can't use Rosegarden (my workstation of choice) or Ardour, but I can get a decent sound on Audacity, which at least I'm familiar with.

So, do you have any tabs? I can probably figure out most of the guitar, but it's going to take some time since there's a lot of different parts, and I also want to make sure what I'm playing is right.

By the way, the sample sounds totally awesome! I can't wait to hear what it's going to sound like with vocals and real instruments!

[NightmareSnake]

Vocalist. Right here. And this is RIGHT up my alley.

[ThatRobChap]

Sounds pretty awesome. Guitarist here, if you need another.

[BlackElectric]

I am interested as well. I can do guitar for you if you'd like. I can also do the bass guitar, program the drums, and do the mixing/mastering too.

Here's a demo so you know how I sound: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/54422810/Luna%2 ... trills.mp3 (ignore the file name. It's still a WIP)

[keleneses]

Wow, that's a lot of guitarists...thanks for the interest everyone!
I'll be in touch with you all .

[Greaserpirate]

So here's progress so far:

http://soundcloud.com/matt-kaltenwinter/this-is-equestria-guitar-preview

I figured out all the guitar parts and made a bunch of takes, and spliced them into 3 tracks: guitar 1 (left), guitar 2(right), and clean guitar.
Here are those tracks, along with the MIDI-generated audio along with the starting click track that I used for reference. Add all the files to different tracks and they should synch up. I also included some tabs for the crazy guitar riff that happens after the first pause and is usually not accompanied.

This isn't final though, so feel free to give me feedback and tell me if you need any more tracks.

Fellow guitarists, feel free to re-record some of my guitar parts; after all, there are two guitars. And we definitely need a Kyoga solo somewhere. I've listened to some of his songs and I've gotta say he's freaking amazing.

[keleneses]

Wow man, you got it almost note perfect!
I couldn't get the text file to format correctly, so I couldn't really read the riff, but I think there are a few off notes. Here's my version.
Anyway, did you get my PM?

[Greaserpirate]

Wow man, you got it almost note perfect!
I couldn't get the text file to format correctly, so I couldn't really read the riff, but I think there are a few off notes. Here's my version.
Anyway, did you get my PM?

Oh, whoops. I found out about the PM just now. Well, I record direct in with my guitar and Zoom G2 effects box, and I do a bit of EQ in Audacity. The demo you heard was recorded through the built-in mic of a macbook, so yeah I guess it should be updated.
I don't have a bass. BlackElectric said he does though, so we should be fine.

Anyway, I figured out all the parts and I'm satisfied with them. The riff you sent me does sound a lot more like the MIDI version, but the alterate-picking on the E (or rather B) power chord is hard to pull off without sounding messy or scratchy. Alternate-picking one string gives you a way clearer sound than alternate-picking chords, and I kinda like the double-guitar thing I had going there. I hope you don't mind if I took some artistic liberty.

[keleneses]

Okay, cool. Would it be possible for you to send me a clean signal? I want to see what I can do with it.
The alt-picking thing is fine, I'm still kind of unclear about how those sections are normally written. Do most bands use just one string for chugs?
I already talked to Kyoga and it sounds like he's down for recording guitars as well, so I figure it will sound great if we double track them.

Here's the midi btw, in case you want to look it over (Doesn't sound like you need to, but I figured I'd post it here anyway).

[Greaserpirate]

Sorry for the delay.

Okay, cool. Would it be possible for you to send me a clean signal? I want to see what I can do with it.

Just to clarify: should I try and get a mistake-free take, or is this purely for experiments?
I recorded some clean takes, but they have some minor timing errors and muffled notes, and it's going to take a while to get it all perfect, especially with the other stuff (mainly the start of Ultimate season) going on. I could send them to you if you want, though.

The alt-picking thing is fine, I'm still kind of unclear about how those sections are normally written. Do most bands use just one string for chugs?

Not really. "Chugs" are palm-muted and almost always down-picked (though there are some exceptions) since it gives it a much clearer tone. (Example)

What I did was more of a "speed picking" style, where one un-muted string is alternate-picked at high speed. (Example)

The reason I did this is that the riff is just too fast for me to down-pick without breaking my wrist. I could alternate-pick and palm mute, but it wouldn't sound as clear.

Anyway, any updates on the other instruments? I noticed this topic was drifting to the bottom of the page, and I just wanted to make sure this is still alive.

[keleneses]

Just to clarify: should I try and get a mistake-free take, or is this purely for experiments?
I recorded some clean takes, but they have some minor timing errors and muffled notes, and it's going to take a while to get it all perfect, especially with the other stuff (mainly the start of Ultimate season) going on. I could send them to you if you want, though.

Yeah, just experiments for now. Don't worry about the final recordings too much yet, I usually work really slowly anyways.

Not really. "Chugs" are palm-muted and almost always down-picked (though there are some exceptions) since it gives it a much clearer tone. (Example)

What I did was more of a "speed picking" style, where one un-muted string is alternate-picked at high speed. (Example)

The reason I did this is that the riff is just too fast for me to down-pick without breaking my wrist. I could alternate-pick and palm mute, but it wouldn't sound as clear.

Oh, okay, that makes a lot of sense. I'd always lumped both styles into the same category when I listened to them. Just wondering, does it make sense to have both guitars playing more or less the same thing for those sections? Feel free to experiment and change it up if you'd like!

I love Arch Enemy btw .

Anyway, any updates on the other instruments? I noticed this topic was drifting to the bottom of the page, and I just wanted to make sure this is still alive.

Still alive! If I need to, I'll contact some people individually for the other parts once the guitars, whistles and melodica have been recorded (I'm planning on doing my parts this weekend, but I don't know if I'll get through all of it).