Studious? I Hope So...

It sure takes some persistence to figure out music gear. I've just spent a solid hour playing with tones, so far, I'm seriously jazzed about the bad ass tones that I've pulled out of this HD500. I did do some searching around to see what I could dig up and found a few things on the Line6 Forums that came in handy.

POD HD 500 - configuration for modern metal tone

More than anything I just needed to play around with the POD HD500 Edit Software and figure out how to actually setup the amps, cabinets, and all the individual gear. After playing around and getting some pretty good heavy tones and starting on a clean tone I decided I was done messing and just played for about an hour. Before I wrapped for the night though I did find one more link, which pretty much sums up how seriously bad ass the HD500 can be.

POD HD500 ~ Jeff Loomis and John Petrucci Tones... NOW tell me it can't do metal... =)

When you pull the absolute heaviness of Jeff Loomis and the strange things that John Petrucci puts together, you know you've landed in a very heavy place. That led me to a decision, before wrapping I dove into some Strapping Young Lad. These guys know what heavy means, seriously crazy heavy. After that I decided I'd roll right into some Devin Townsend Project, again... heavy mood. Until later, I'm exhausted for this round.

...and some of that Jeff Loomis shredding...

Day After...

Last night I got the HD500 up and running. I told a few long time friends about the purchase and have received all sorts of kudos. I also got an emotion that I haven't had in a while...

The sound of the electric guitar cutting through the placid simple tranquility lights a fire in my soul that invigorates me. It lays rest to all my other curiosities and interests for a time, inspiring me to create, write, and compose the music and the ideas in my mind. Now I sit here the next day, pondering how to decrease my other work, time spent, and other such things so I can focus deeply on my music. I've left it alone for far too long. I've felt partially dead for the better part of a decade and I'm done dancing the dirge of the walking dead. I'm ready to play, to write. So I am...

So with this new inspiration I'm looking for ways to push more music into my schedule. This will be an interesting challenge. I even ponder, can I cut my salary in half and only work 20 hours a week? Not really, but the idea did pop into my head, I do however love what I do and like going to work. But the music does call...

POD HD500

Last week I purchased a Line6 HD500 for the beginnings of the setup to compose, play, and prospectively record music. This is music I've had in my head for years, have played in some bands, and have never gotten around to recording. Slowly I'm putting the pieces back together; the tones, words, and nuances of what I was trying to create. In addition I've never stopped hearing and creating new material, so that is added to what I have already in my mind.

So as I write this I tweak and fiddle with this new gadget I have. There are so many possibilities among the features, but for now I just aim in one direction. I want a nice, thick, distorted sound that will make the dead scream!

On to some shredding...

What's a POD^® HD500 it's a whole range of sounds and toys to create with. I've still got a long way to go before I even know what I can do with half of the features. Just a few of the key items I'm going to play with first...

• 16 HD Amp Models
• 100+ Effect Models
• Up to 8 Simultaneous Effects
• 512 Preset Locations
• 48-second Looper

 ...the rest of the feature soup will just have to wait until another day.

Diving Back In!

Over the last several years I've neglected my music, my writing, and my creation of new music. It has been painful, frustrating, and self induced. This is all about to change and this blog is where I'm going to write about it.

This first entry kicks off my writing about my musical activities, but it also is here to stand as a warning. My music that I write is my deepest emotional bindings, my most internal thoughts, and is 100% true and uncensored. To some, this can be scary, to others it may be damning, to me it is pure and honest. It is, if one description should be attached to it, "Pure Unadulterated Metal".

With that out of the way, onward toward the dangerous things.