[XMattxMetalX]

I am finding a great interest in mathcore. if anyone knows any mathcore scales or playing techniques or tips to help me out


also if anyone could help me out on sweep picking techniques....

[MattyCakes]

mathcore scales............................................ .......

[Apophis]

Use search button my friend

[SevenDeadly]

E--2+2--
b--2/8--E=mc^2--
g--a=-b(+,- Square root)--
d--Diminished^8.2E/Delta Pi
a--well, you get the idea
e--I'm a sarcastic poojabber
b--so, You + her=music-fun/when she's too fat=cut and run

[guitarplayerone]

Use the circle of 12 tones (how do you think they wrote The Machinations of Dementia?).

Any 'synthetic scales', that is modes of melodic minor, etc, are good.

Harmonic major, lydian b7, etc.

Umm... what do you mean sweep picking help? just go practice.

math metal imo is much more about polyrythms and odd times than it is about using wierd scales. I think its more about more unusual key changes, etc, but the whole point of math metal is that there are 'rules'. (vs free jazz lol). furthermore, I'm going to guess here that if you don't know how to sweep yet, you havent memorized your modes of major, harmonic, and melodic minor. so learn those first, (esp major), before you attempt to do some fully synthetic stuff (or other exotic scales you will find chilling around).

it always helps to learn some music theory. It seems contradictory to learn classical and jazz music theory to play things like Spastic Ink and Behold the Arctopus, but fyi- those guys REALLY know their theory. The more unusual chord progressions and wierd scales you use, the more the human ear percieves what you are playing as 'noise'. Good math metal walks that very fine line (and this is very difficult to do).

Rythym is the backbone to any music. Learn some 3over4 poly's, 2over3 etc, and get comfortable playing in odd time signatures based on these (basically just listen to lots of Meshuggah for a month or two), and you will notice your music will sound much more 'math' just from that.

Aside from that, there is no universal way to play 'mathcore', or 'prog', etc whatever. It's all about self-expression, and unfortunately that usually comes waay after mastering the core techniques of playing (in that style of music anyway)

that is the difference between technical 'masturbation' (and/or noise) and creating engaging music, which happens to be technical as a side-effect of its uniqueness.

[Wolfster]

well said.

[neon_black88]

Originally Posted by SevenDeadly

E--2+2--
b--2/8--E=mc^2--
g--a=-b(+,- Square root)--
d--Diminished^8.2E/Delta Pi
a--well, you get the idea
e--I'm a sarcastic poojabber
b--so, You + her=music-fun/when she's too fat=cut and run

Mathcore scales

Dont look at scales as genre defining.

[S-O]

Take a major scale... And through it away.

Make 9 tone scales from 'scratch'

Just throw 9 intervals together

C D# E F F# G A A# B (C)

1 #2 3 4 #4 5 6 #6 7 (octave/8)

Then take a straight 8ths rhythm in 7/8, write it out:
♪♪♪♪♪♪♪

Then erase 1 8th note: (.'s will be where 8ths previously were, or think of it as an 8th note rest)
♪♪.♪♪♪♪

Then make all the permutations for taking one note away.

Then take 2 notes away:
♪♪.♪.♪♪

Do this for all permutations, moving on to taking 3, 4, 5, and 6 notes away.

Then add some rhythms togther, I will use the two I wrote :
|♪♪.♪♪♪♪|♪♪.♪.♪♪|

Then assign notes from thye scale you made up

| C C . D# D# E E | C C . D# . E E |

tuh duh!

This can generate some intersting sounds.

Try using different time signatures, odd and normal ones. Like 8/8 (4/4), 11/8, 9/8, 6/8, etc...

Also try scales with less notes, like whole tone scales, pentatonic scales, mutant freak pentatonic scales with odd intervals.

Then combine time sigs and scales for über crazy rhythms.

Then try to make melodies out of it, skip octaves, insane strin skipping from the low B and high E, all that jazz. Hell, try sweeping, it comes up with weird sounds.

[Randy]

^
Wow... I've never seen this explained that way. Sweet!

[S-O]

Also another way is to accent certain beats, or have the measure divided up into groups.

Play these on your thighs, every one, or accented beat, should be played either louder or with your dominat hand and the other being 234567... and so on.

In 7/8
12 12 123 <- I like this one the best
123 12 12
12 123 12 <- sounds weird.
12 12 12 1 <- this one is cool
1 12 12 12 <- same thing backwards
123 1234
1234 123
123 123 1
1 123 123
make up your own now

in 11/8, I like this one because of how many options there are.
1234 123 12 12
123 123 123 12
12 123 12 123 1
1234 1234 123
there are tons more, I didn't make too many so you can make your own.

Then try insane time sigs!

23/8
1234 123 123 12 123 1234 1234
1 12 123 1234 12 123 1234 1234
these are hard to groove

Then, using the same method as before, 'delete' beats to form cool rhythms!

These ideas are the tip of the mathcore/syncopation/polyrhythm iceberg. make up stuff, branch off from ideas, through everything out play as if a monkey was playing, try to make computer noises like the old dial up sounds. Record sounds you hear while out in the city, like jackhammers, car horns, people talking, birds chirping, leaves rustling, babies crying, someone screaming. Then go home and work the rhythms/notes out on your instrument, or while chillin on the bus try tapping it out on your thighs or the seat.