Castlevania II: Simon's Quest - Bloody Tears ~Metal Remix~

[xRisingForce]

Here's my metal remix of a kickass song by Michiru Yamane. Questions and comments appreciated.

Song: ~Bloody Tears ~Guitar Ver.~~

Artist: ~Michiru Yamane~

Performed and Arranged by: ~Kenichi Matsubara~

[xRisingForce]

you just failed so hard you actually won.

congratulations!

Why does it fail? And could you please offer clearer criticism? Baseless bashing benefits neither you nor me.

[Liontamer]

Just noting, your sig picture can't be that large. Please make it much smaller.

Don't mind the trolling.

[danimal cannon]

You're a hell of speed picker and good with a whammy bar.

I wasn't always a huge fan of your note choice, and that tapping part wasn't exactly pretty.

Make your own remix man.

[Tensei]

Umm, I guess you should read up on what is considered a remix here. What they want down here is a complete arrangement of the source, not just a guitar solo slapped on an already existing arrangement. If anything, this video should be in Non-Remixes.

Apart from that, the guitar solo is great. Some of the arpeggial choices show a definite knack for arrangement, but execution is relatively sloppy throughout (mostly referring to your sweep picking and tapping, though some of the alternate picking licks are quite iffy too, I can pretty much hear how you haven't been practicing to a metronome =P)

[Nekofrog]

What can I say?

As a guitar player, the only thing I can do is critique.. and you won't like it. The playing seems very, very sloppy. Especially the more speedy parts. It's almost like you're trying to be showy when the skills just aren't there yet. With practice they'll be there, as the potential is clearly there, but just not yet.

[SnappleMan]

Too sloppy, you gotta relax a little. You've got considerable skill, but you gotta learn to play cleaner. And also, make your own song next time. Playing over someone else's music doesn't make it your own. Also, most of your soloing is completely mindless and stupid sounding. You need to learn to play things that matter musically.

[Hemophiliac]

i realize that he says it in the video description on youtube, but this isn't his own arrangement. the arrangement is from an album called Dracula Battle Perfect Selection, and he's just playing over the top of it, and then soloing at the end.

why is this in wip?

also for an actual comment on the playing, it's actually kinda sloppy; the timing is off a lot. keep practicing.

[Liontamer]

It was originally posted in Community and I put it in Works. Anything VG-related performance can be posted in Works, even if it's not meant for submission. You damn rocket scientists, he's not even claiming the arrangement is his, just that he played on top of it. You saw him say that anyway. Just stick to critiquing the performance. Definitely could stand to be tighter, but showed decent skill and certainly potential for improvement. Yeah, keep it up.

[xRisingForce]

You're a hell of speed picker and good with a whammy bar.

I wasn't always a huge fan of your note choice, and that tapping part wasn't exactly pretty.

Make your own remix man.

Umm, I guess you should read up on what is considered a remix here. What they want down here is a complete arrangement of the source, not just a guitar solo slapped on an already existing arrangement. If anything, this video should be in Non-Remixes.

Apart from that, the guitar solo is great. Some of the arpeggial choices show a definite knack for arrangement, but execution is relatively sloppy throughout (mostly referring to your sweep picking and tapping, though some of the alternate picking licks are quite iffy too, I can pretty much hear how you haven't been practicing to a metronome =P)

What can I say?

As a guitar player, the only thing I can do is critique.. and you won't like it. The playing seems very, very sloppy. Especially the more speedy parts. It's almost like you're trying to be showy when the skills just aren't there yet. With practice they'll be there, as the potential is clearly there, but just not yet.

http://xtourdeforce.blogspot.com/2007/10/my-thoughts-on-music.html

Read it, I agree with most of the things you guys said. I appreciate Tensai-san's positive remarks, and yeah, those sweeps were put together about five minutes before the video. They're much cleaner now. Purely focusing on improving your technical side, via exercises or drilling to a metronome, is stupid in my opinion. It completely tears apart your musicality. All of the guitarists I've heard drill six note exercises over and over again, I've found to have very little musical expressiveness and very robotic and sterie vibrato. I think it's much better to "practice" to real music, or backing tracks if it comes to that. And to Nekofrog, maybe you should start approaching music in a different mindset. Not as a guitar player, because that binds you to 21 frets and 6 strings. Maybe you should approach music as, I dunno, a musician.

I appreciate Liontamer's defense, as some of this criticism is just stupidly irrelevant. Thanks for all the constructive criticism for those of you who didn't nonsensically bash it.

And I'm not arrogant, but I think the tapping part was clean.

[Chickenwarlord]

Something that hasn't really been mentioned that I felt needed work were transitions between some of the insane noodling back to the melody. A lot of the soloing seems aimless.

The most important thing to improve at this juncture is the timing.

[Tensei]

http://xtourdeforce.blogspot.com/2007/10/my-thoughts-on-music.html

I appreciate Tensai-san's positive remarks, and yeah, those sweeps were put together about five minutes before the video. They're much cleaner now. Purely focusing on improving your technical side, via exercises or drilling to a metronome, is stupid in my opinion. It completely tears apart your musicality. All of the guitarists I've heard drill six note exercises over and over again, I've found to have very little musical expressiveness and very robotic and sterie vibrato. I think it's much better to "practice" to real music, or backing tracks if it comes to that.

God do I disagree with you on this. You can have the most amazing solo ever in your head, but if you can't play a steady rhythm and a lot the of notes sound dirty, people will comment on that, not on the solo itself. One of the most important aspects of soloing is knowing how to work in the notes rhythmically and use them to your advantage to build up to a climax.

Playing sloppy doesn't make you more musically expressive than someone with a perfect sense of timing and absolutely clean picking, it just makes you sound amateurish in comparison. Also, I don't really see how practicing with a metronome makes your vibrato sterile and robotic, I practice daily with a metronome (apart from 'practicing' by playing along and soloing to songs) and I can assure you that I got a vibrato that's at least as fast and wide as yours, just doesn't sound that uncontrolled.

Really, I don't mean to flame you, but calling me and most other people less of a musician just because they have the discipline to practice properly is just stupid.

[xRisingForce]

God do I disagree with you on this. You can have the most amazing solo ever in your head, but if you can't play a steady rhythm and a lot the of notes sound dirty, people will comment on that, not on the solo itself. One of the most important aspects of soloing is knowing how to work in the notes rhythmically and use them to your advantage to build up to a climax.

Playing sloppy doesn't make you more musically expressive than someone with a perfect sense of timing and absolutely clean picking, it just makes you sound amateurish in comparison. Also, I don't really see how practicing with a metronome makes your vibrato sterile and robotic, I practice daily with a metronome (apart from 'practicing' by playing along and soloing to songs) and I can assure you that I got a vibrato that's at least as fast and wide as yours, just doesn't sound that uncontrolled.

Really, I don't mean to flame you, but calling me and most other people less of a musician just because they have the discipline to practice properly is just stupid.

No no, I'm sorry if you took it that way, I'm not calling you stupid or less of a musician or anything like that- of course not. I'm just speaking from personal experience, from what I've seen in person and what I've seen on YouTube. And of course you should have the technicality required to play your solo before you play it, that's stupid to try and play something you're incapable of. I don't know if we all hate Yngwie here since it's America so we're probably all Satriani-fanboys, but I know even he says that "If you can't play it clean as well as fast, don't play it at all."

I think even more than rhythm, the melody of your solo is more important, since the term melody entails both rhythm as well as pitch. I'm not sure what you mean by "using it to your advantage", but that sounds to be in the same vein as guitarists telling me that I'm stupid when I bash their solos because "That lick was made to catch your attention," or "That lick's based around the fifth to fit the Cmaj7#9." This dude was pulling shit like this out of his ass for ages when I told him his composing and improv skills sucked (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmbZxQQJWJg).

Thinking so much before you play makes you sound so mechanical- you can describe it as amazingly as you want but if it doesn't sound good in action, what's the point? Plus, if a "fifth" sounds best during a "Cmaj7#9" chord, I'd rather be the type to recognize that by hearing and to match a great sounding lick to that chord without having to listen to the song 10 times beforehand to write a lick that sounds decent. It makes your playing much more organic and expressive, I think.

Tensai, if you have a videocamera, would you mind recording some of your playing for me as I'm very interested in how you play, unless you have some videos up on YouTube already? Plus, I don't think there's a such thing as "practicing properly". Yngwie J. Malmsteen never once practiced to a metronome, but look at how clean his playing was when he was with Steeler.

And this is sort of relevant, Tensai. Could you tell me what you think of this?

[Synth]

http://xtourdeforce.blogspot.com/2007/10/my-thoughts-on-music.html

Read it, I agree with most of the things you guys said. I appreciate Tensai-san's positive remarks, and yeah, those sweeps were put together about five minutes before the video. They're much cleaner now. Purely focusing on improving your technical side, via exercises or drilling to a metronome, is stupid in my opinion. It completely tears apart your musicality. All of the guitarists I've heard drill six note exercises over and over again, I've found to have very little musical expressiveness and very robotic and sterie vibrato. I think it's much better to "practice" to real music, or backing tracks if it comes to that. And to Nekofrog, maybe you should start approaching music in a different mindset. Not as a guitar player, because that binds you to 21 frets and 6 strings. Maybe you should approach music as, I dunno, a musician.

I appreciate Liontamer's defense, as some of this criticism is just stupidly irrelevant. Thanks for all the constructive criticism for those of you who didn't nonsensically bash it.

And I'm not arrogant, but I think the tapping part was clean.

Just about all of the guitar gods play with a metronome, Vai, Satriani, Heafy, Etc. Are you saying there wrong?

[xRisingForce]

Just about all of the guitar gods play with a metronome, Vai, Satriani, Heafy, Etc. Are you saying there wrong?

Well, while I think Vai has some cool songs and very original playing, and Satriani does as well, they generally aren't super shredders, and Heafy is about as exciting as a rock.

[Tensei]

No no, I'm sorry if you took it that way, I'm not calling you stupid or less of a musician or anything like that- of course not. I'm just speaking from personal experience, from what I've seen in person and what I've seen on YouTube. And of course you should have the technicality required to play your solo before you play it, that's stupid to try and play something you're incapable of. I don't know if we all hate Yngwie here since it's America so we're probably all Satriani-fanboys, but I know even he says that "If you can't play it clean as well as fast, don't play it at all."

I think even more than rhythm, the melody of your solo is more important, since the term melody entails both rhythm as well as pitch. I'm not sure what you mean by "using it to your advantage", but that sounds to be in the same vein as guitarists telling me that I'm stupid when I bash their solos because "That lick was made to catch your attention," or "That lick's based around the fifth to fit the Cmaj7#9." This dude was pulling shit like this out of his ass for ages when I told him his composing and improv skills sucked (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmbZxQQJWJg).

Thinking so much before you play makes you sound so mechanical- you can describe it as amazingly as you want but if it doesn't sound good in action, what's the point? Plus, if a "fifth" sounds best during a "Cmaj7#9" chord, I'd rather be the type to recognize that by hearing and to match a great sounding lick to that chord without having to listen to the song 10 times beforehand to write a lick that sounds decent. It makes your playing much more organic and expressive, I think.

Tensai, if you have a videocamera, would you mind recording some of your playing for me as I'm very interested in how you play, unless you have some videos up on YouTube already? Plus, I don't think there's a such thing as "practicing properly". Yngwie J. Malmsteen never once practiced to a metronome, but look at how clean his playing was when he was with Steeler.

And this is sort of relevant, Tensai. Could you tell me what you think of this?

I don't hate Yngwie because I live in America (because I don't), but I hate him for being a pretentious fuck with a relatively sloppy technique (if you compare him to Petrucci, Batio or Gilbert) and writing songs with NO musical content whatsoever. Seriously, EVERY song sounds the same, with the same harmonic minor/phrygian scales+ diminished arpeggio's being shredded over a half-assed chord progression.

Geez, I don't understand how you can rip on Death Metal in your blog for 'being too pretentious in terms of technique' while happily proclaiming what a musical genius Yngwie is. At least Death Metal is funny and something you can nod (or bang) your head to.

Also, I disagree with your notions on melody. Take a look at the solo to Stairway to Heaven. You can analyze it and say " Well it's pretty much just pentatonic noodling", but it's in the way the notes are implemented rhythmically over the backing that is what sets this solo apart. It's incredibly hard to get a feeling for WHEN to put a note over a chord progression (and for determining the duration of the note too of course) to create an effective counterpoint. Of course melody has a role too, but don't tell me Eric Clapton and Santana are bad guitar players just because they usually just stay in Major/Minor/Pentatonic scales.

Also, NOT thinking before you play? How the hell would that work?

I'm not referring to thinking " Oh Geez, a Dm#6 Arpeggio would work greatly over this chord progression", but to thinking (subconciously)" I'm going to play this note because I can hear in my head how it sounds over this backing and I like it". IMO that's the only proper approach to improvisation, what you're saying is basically "Play random notes".

I don't have decent cam, nor am I planning on posting youtube video's but you can assume from me that I don't play like a random youtube shredder ( I'm not even that fast). If you're really desperate to hear some of my music knock yourself out but there's not much shredding going on.

By the way, this thread kind of got derailed, sorry for that =P

[xRisingForce]

I don't hate Yngwie because I live in America (because I don't), but I hate him for being a pretentious fuck with a relatively sloppy technique (if you compare him to Petrucci, Batio or Gilbert) and writing songs with NO musical content whatsoever. Seriously, EVERY song sounds the same, with the same harmonic minor/phrygian scales+ diminished arpeggio's being shredded over a half-assed chord progression.

Geez, I don't understand how you can rip on Death Metal in your blog for 'being too pretentious in terms of technique' while happily proclaiming what a musical genius Yngwie is. At least Death Metal is funny and something you can nod (or bang) your head to.

Also, I disagree with your notions on melody. Take a look at the solo to Stairway to Heaven. You can analyze it and say " Well it's pretty much just pentatonic noodling", but it's in the way the notes are implemented rhythmically over the backing that is what sets this solo apart. It's incredibly hard to get a feeling for WHEN to put a note over a chord progression (and for determining the duration of the note too of course) to create an effective counterpoint. Of course melody has a role too, but don't tell me Eric Clapton and Santana are bad guitar players just because they usually just stay in Major/Minor/Pentatonic scales.

Also, NOT thinking before you play? How the hell would that work?

I'm not referring to thinking " Oh Geez, a Dm#6 Arpeggio would work greatly over this chord progression", but to thinking (subconciously)" I'm going to play this note because I can hear in my head how it sounds over this backing and I like it". IMO that's the only proper approach to improvisation, what you're saying is basically "Play random notes".

I don't have decent cam, nor am I planning on posting youtube video's but you can assume from me that I don't play like a random youtube shredder ( I'm not even that fast). If you're really desperate to hear some of my music knock yourself out but there's not much shredding going on.

By the way, this thread kind of got derailed, sorry for that =P

If you think I dislike the solo to Stairway to Heaven, I think it's safe to say that you don't have a very clear grasp on what I'm trying to say at all. In no fuckin' way am I saying to improvise randomly! That's retarded, I 100% agree with you. What you're saying about playing subconsciously, that's basically what I'm saying too, just slightly differently. Naturally, people solo differently because they have different auditory aesthetics as to what sounds the best over such and such progressions. But if you think these groups of notes sound best over this particular part in a standard blues jam, what's keeping you from playing that specific lick EVERY time you play the blues? That's where the "random" (to you) or spur-of-the-moment (to me) aspect ties into soloing; I'll play whatever I feel at the given moment. And isn't spur-of-the-moment, by definition, what improvisation and ad-libbing are?

And also, when to play notes, how doesn't that tie into melody? Isn't rhythm intrinsically a part of melody? If I wrote out the guitar solo on a sheet of music, wouldn't I have to notate the note lengths and rests? Isn't that what rhythm essentially is? The pattern of pulses in music caused by the occurrence of beats (Note lengths and rests?) (Webster, rhythm)? I don't get how anyone can disagree with melody's foremost importance to writing a solo, or even composing in general.

Seriously, after reading that blog, I'm shocked how you can still confuse my stance on music with all these ideas. I don't care whether you shred or not, my blog clearly states that Malmsteen remains the only guitar driven artist I'll listen to, and that I don't give two shits about shredding. Which brings me to another point: it's the most commonly made argument that Malmsteen is gay because of his attitude. We have no idea of what type of person he is other than those very biased 80s interviews and Pantera's "Donut" video, and if someone was disrespecting you to that degree, I'm not saying Yngwie handled it in the best way but doesn't the blatant disrespectful intention of those donuts alleviate some of the blame? With donuts you're calling someone fat, can any of you justifiably call him a cocky faggot for not taking that kind of insult gracefully? And who the hell in this world is perfect or characteristically flawless enough to be able to judge him, or anyone else for that matter, without being a hypocrite? This is why personality attacks bother me so much- unless you're as flawless as Jesus, or maybe Mother Teresa, you have no right to judge anyone else. If you somehow were as flawless as Mother Teresa, such humble people don't waste their time rebuking other people to begin with. All rebuking does is make you (not YOU) look like an elitist prick.

And you must be kidding if you think Petrucci plays cleaner than this.

Also, the remix wasn't bad, but the chords at 0:45 were wrong. Did you do that on purpose? Some of the bends are flat too, like the one at 2:57. The arrangement is pretty badass for the most part, the half-time breakdown at 1:35 is sick as shit, although I think I could do without some of the double bass gunning. And.. your vibrato doesn't sound wide like mine at all. Maybe it's the solid state amp or globs of distortion sucking up the tone that should be coming from your fingers.

On a final note, this thread has become heavily derailed. But I don't mind it, I really like hearing other people's views.

P.S.: Contrary to your assumption, I think Santana is a BEAST. Clapton, in my opinion, is an overrated amateur, but not because he sticks to those scales. I have no problem with that, people call Yngwie repetitive but what's the difference between sticking to your style and being repetitive? Aren't they essentially the same thing? What do the Americans want, for Yngwie to release a Jazz Fusion album? Would he not be "repetitive" then? How the hell does anyone even suggest that all of his songs sound the same? How in the world does Blitzkrieg sound like Far Beyond the Sun, or does Dreaming sound like Fugue? What about Prelude to April? Vivance? Amberdawn? I Don't Know? Seventh Sign? Someone want to start drawing parallels?

[Fishy]

That yngwie video may have been fast and clean, but man... Its just a relentless raping of ONE scale, the only one he ever plays, followed by a cover with some random scales inbetween lines. Clean? fair enough, Intereting? No.

Random petrucci video:

Not as fast, but man do I prefer it. He can play and improvise smoothly in pretty much any key and time signature; he has more or less every guitar technique under his belt so he can use any of them at will and most importantly, he makes great use of every range of the guitar. Those are 3 aspects which yngwie lack and in my opinion makes him uninteresting to watch. Impressive, but uninteresting.

[xRisingForce]

That yngwie video may have been fast and clean, but man... Its just a relentless raping of ONE scale, the only one he ever plays, followed by a cover with some random scales inbetween lines. Clean? fair enough, Intereting? No.

Random petrucci video:

Not as fast, but man do I prefer it. He can play and improvise smoothly in pretty much any key and time signature; he has more or less every guitar technique under his belt so he can use any of them at will and most importantly, he makes great use of every range of the guitar. Those are 3 aspects which yngwie lack and in my opinion makes him uninteresting to watch. Impressive, but uninteresting.

Well a criticism bouncing around in this thread is "cleanliness", and the lick from 0:12 - 0:14 is horribly messy. Obviously Yngwie's gonna stick to the harmonic minor, it's his trademark. Why aren't you people off bashing B.B. King for using the blues? Yngwie has at least used the pentatonic, blues, minor, harmonic minor, major, AND mixolydian scales in his career, whereas B.B. King has only used that single scale for his entire 60+ year career. I don't see any slamming there though. You could say the same for Robert Cray, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Clapton, Joe Walsh, AND Buddy Guy.

Honestly man, I don't see how you can prefer that nonsensical mess of notes at 0:38 - 0:41 to Yngwie. Oh well, to each his own, and in the end, I respect your opinion.

[Sixto]

Faaaaaast! But...that's about it. A little sloppy, sure. But who isn't a little sloppy when playing live?

[Fishy]

Well a criticism bouncing around in this thread is "cleanliness", and the lick from 0:12 - 0:14 is horribly messy. Obviously Yngwie's gonna stick to the harmonic minor, it's his trademark. Why aren't you people off bashing B.B. King for using the blues? Yngwie has at least used the pentatonic, blues, minor, harmonic minor, major, AND mixolydian scales in his career, whereas B.B. King has only used that single scale for his entire 60+ year career. I don't see any slamming there though. You could say the same for Robert Cray, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Clapton, Joe Walsh, AND Buddy Guy.

Honestly man, I don't see how you can prefer that nonsensical mess of notes at 0:38 - 0:41 to Yngwie. Oh well, to each his own, and in the end, I respect your opinion.

I know yngwie has probably used a range of scales, but 90% of his stuff is either harmonic minor or phyrigian with diminished chords. When you listen to a Dream Theater song, you have no idea what key to expect, or what style to expect, because they push their boundaries in ways other then pure speed.

BB King isn't really up for comparison here because he doesn't know anything about music theory, he just plays what he hears in his head. I don't slam the other players you mention because I don't find the way they plays obnoxious.

I don't see how 0:38 - 0:41 is nonsensical, especially when you consider the video you linked to had absolutely no structure whatsoever. He was just showing off in a solo spot, which is fair enough. I went to see Vai live twice, he does the same sort of thing inbetween songs, its showmanship, its not musicality. Yngwie does it for 5 minutes and you praise it, Petrucci does it for 3 seconds and you call it nonsensical. I can't be the only one spotting the inconsistency?

Thats just the way I feel about it.

[xRisingForce]

I know yngwie has probably used a range of scales, but 90% of his stuff is either harmonic minor or phyrigian with diminished chords. When you listen to a Dream Theater song, you have no idea what key to expect, or what style to expect, because they push their boundaries in ways other then pure speed.

BB King isn't really up for comparison here because he doesn't know anything about music theory, he just plays what he hears in his head. I don't slam the other players you mention because I don't find the way they plays obnoxious.

I don't see how 0:38 - 0:41 is nonsensical, especially when you consider the video you linked to had absolutely no structure whatsoever. He was just showing off in a solo spot, which is fair enough. I went to see Vai live twice, he does the same sort of thing inbetween songs, its showmanship, its not musicality. Yngwie does it for 5 minutes and you praise it, Petrucci does it for 3 seconds and you call it nonsensical. I can't be the only one spotting the inconsistency?

Thats just the way I feel about it.

Give me the times for any nonsensical licks in that improvised solo.

[Fishy]

0:14 - 0:17

0:21 - 0:29

I'm bored already because I'm going to be listing more or less everything bar the boiree.

Can you honestly say you think hes doing anymore then petrucci did for those 3 seconds? He's playing notes from the correct scale, as fast as he can, maybe with a recurring sequence or pattern. If you honestly think that theres some higher purpose within these notes other then showing off (which is the entire point of these inbetween song bits) then fine, I have nothing further to add.

[xRisingForce]

0:14 - 0:17

0:21 - 0:29

I'm bored already because I'm going to be listing more or less everything bar the boiree.

Can you honestly say you think hes doing anymore then petrucci did for those 3 seconds? He's playing notes from the correct scale, as fast as he can, maybe with a recurring sequence or pattern. If you honestly think that theres some higher purpose within these notes other then showing off (which is the entire point of these inbetween song bits) then fine, I have nothing further to add.

Personally, I do. But this argument isn't going anywhere, so how about we just agree that they're both showing off? And if you decide not to agree, that's cool too.

[Fishy]

Sure, thats what I was getting at anyway. This has made me want to play guitar more at any rate, so thanks for the debate :3.