Prog-gnosis with Tosin Abasi - Animals as Leaders - September 2012
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Over the next few months, I'll be demonstrating some of the techniques and approaches I rely on in the writing and performing of the music I play with my band, Animals as Leaders. Hopefully, you will find these ideas useful in your own musical endeavors.
I'd like to begin with a look at some excerpts from the song "Somnarium," from the most recent Animals as Leaders album, Weightless.
![Tosin Abasi (Animals As Leaders) Thumping lessons [HD]](/img/n.gif)
Tosin's the most innovative electric guitarist around at the moment.
His clean chord voicings are beautiful and fresh, I wish he had more songs like david that are just chilled out clean guitar playing. The djenty metal stuff is cool and all but sometimes it distracts from the true beauty that comes out of this dudes musical brain
This was more than 7 years ago, but I have to say it: I disagree entirely. Yes, I wish he had made more clean stuff, but distortion doesn't really detract from the beauty, and if anything, adds more layers and depth to the concepts being portrayed. While there are a great many clean tones, and the sounds from clean amps are very different, distortion is a completely different animal. Every sound you make with distortion becomes its own unique realm of tonal possibilities, and just a slight change in dynamic can make that technique sound completely different. I'd argue that distorted tones are more expressive and lively, but entirely clean pieces are always apprecited and far too rare.
This guy just blows me away with everything he does, his music, technique, personality and even the tough decisions he makes of not having a singer and bass player in his band, this is the future without a doubt. Tosin has been the first ever guitarist who has made it big with an instrumental project without first being involved with a famous singer or band to give him a boost like the others guys who I hugely admire, respect and learn everyday from (Vai, Becker, Kotzen, etc). Respect!!!
Look at him. Look at Tosin. Seriously.
That's 4:37 minutes of him going, "It's cool that people want me to teach them, but these songs are easy man. Why do they need me?"
this dude is a fucking boss man, his guitar riffs and playing blow my mind every time.
Absolutely man, that's the whole idea. When it gets more advanced and you're running through 4, or 5 part harmonies, knowledge of exotic scales or uncommon interval relationships can just help you get to the end product faster, that's all. Anyone who plays a chord or two notes in sequence is subjected to music theory whether they know it or not. Putting sound into words just becomes an essential tool for communication of ideas, and the fruition of more uncommon ideas. Emotion is the key, always.
I hate hybrid picking right now because I suck at it but I guess it's a very useful technique to develop
God Years ago everybody thought.."o.k. Guys like Gilbert, Vai, Lane, Becker etc. brought it to the Top..there is no more possible"..and now..we have Guys like Tosin, Sergey Golovin, Guthrie Govan...it is just sick...they are technically way ahead of all our old Heros..where this will end?! 0_0
Abasi is a great example of how an approach rooted in theory can expand your sonic variety and land you & the listener in unfamiliar places. Knowledge of polyrhythms and voice leading, odd meter, etc. just enhances the piece. Sometimes it goes overboard and becomes an experiment in math rather than soul. Mozart's music is a great example of emotion achieved through an immense understanding of music. A good example of emotion through simplicity would be Green Day. The two are worlds apart.
his clean tone here sounds so beautiful
this guitarist is incredibly smooth across the fret broad very interesting to watch but trying to copy his style is a life commitment... so happy if I can take away a few ideas here and there, Animals as leaders = awesome band! music for musicians I say
It's called "Somnarium" from the album "Weightless"
The swell on this tape delay just game me eargasms!
great! and veeeery nice clean delay tone!
Exactly. A "better" player should never intimidate you, thay should inspire you to become a better player, to push you farther, and to be learned from.
He is getting really great clean sound with that guitar, figured only repeated superdistortion (which I think sounds really cool) was only possible.
this guy is the next step. awesome.
Sounds very relaxing. Changes from the usual maxed distortion shred.
that guitar sounds just beautiful
What a nicer clean sound Tosin gets with passives rather than active EMGs!
this is just beautiful
Man this guy has so much potential and techniques
You are my favorite Guitarist and I'm trying to follow in your footsteps your a trailblazer
Even though not a big fan of Animals As Leaders.....Tosin Abasi is a mother fucking beast
this dude is wicked good. i love these guys
Damn! Another reason to get better lol. I love finding people that are better than me at guitar. Gives me drive to get better lol as it should for everyone else lol.
love that sound
Thats my favourite guitar out of his set
What an amazing Djentelmen, he plays the guitar so diliDjently
Wow beautiful playing.
His guitar terms makes it soo easy to learn :D!
Sounds so nice!
I agree but what theory really does is that it helps you compose easier and save up much time by knowing it.Other than that it's just up to the player,how creative he is,what his vision is etc.
I love how he acts like its not even a big deal.
Nice. That tone is very lush.
nevermind found it!!! lol i can't believe i missed that part! i love it
2:30 "A V major chord"
This dude is so good, he made his own chords.
That " Ab major 7" is actually Aflat Dom7b13 and it goes with mixolydian flat 6 scale(5th mode of C# melodic minor)
I miss this tone...
I don't even play guitar properly, I just love watching him instruct.
Definitely my current fav guitar player:P
I'm already doing that though-making my own music by transferring my emotions to the guitar, and what comes out the other end has the same effect on me as when I listen to my favorite bands, so must be working :) Maybe one day though, when I'm satisfied, I shall learn some, but for now, I prefer pouring my emotions into the metal strings and wooden body.
loving those chords!
fuck he is seriously so good. how do you even begin to write a song like that?!
God... DAMNIT, that tone is stupid good.
maestro eres muy bueno. eres un virtuoso.
@iTZTHORAX just listened and i do like the SD EMTY pups. Much closer to the tone I want then my EMG's. But still not exactly what i'm looking for. Thanks dude.
Dat clean tone!
"Hey it's Tosin Abasi from Animals as Leaders" *instant like*
Very good!
thank you for the advice
Good playing bro.Love the axe.
Passing tones? For real? I don't know if what I'm viewing is right (correct me if I'm wrong), but I see him running down an arpeggio consisting of Eb, Db, Ab, and E (the only note in a D minor scale), and landing back on Abmaj7 on one. Last I checked, you don't play an arpeggio with only passing tones until you just feel like going to a scalar note. And while I'm at it, what mode would consist of a flat 1, 2, 5, and 6? I'm going to play a D minor modal scale, but the tonic is flat. Genius.
In the video of him and Javier in Germany by MeinlDistribution TV he says they're (Ibanez standard passive) DiMarzio's.
The main thing you need to know about jazz, is that it is all about thinking outside the box when it comes to harmonic structure.
That guitar sounds amazing
That's because the guitar is not an orchestral instrument. But as a progression of the lute, the guitar has been around for quite some time, mainly in Baroque and Renaissance music and later in Romantic music. It's solo instrument.
soooooooo jazzy....i love it :D
During the intro credits the solo section for CAFO is playing
Doubt it, I know most of their stuff is in drop E so he probably uses a larger than average string for the lowest one, which means there'd be more tension to be released during the divebomb. Tremolos exist for electric bass too actually haha. Les Claypool and Victor Wooten are 2 I can think of who have used them.
Awesome!
Don't worry man, I have an open mind for jazz because I have to study it next year at school as well as classical which I am very familiar with. Could you suggest some jazz guitarists like Tosin? Whenever I search up jazz stuff all I find is brass and sax, but I am a guitarist so I can't relate at all to that.
Beautiful. 2:53 until 3:09.
please post part 2
This tone is so much better than his tone on Weightless.
I have seen Ibanez electrics make it to the retail shelf without installed truss rod covers. No small screw holes either. Makes for a "hot rod" look?
Have a cigar my man!
You sound like a young man who subscribes to a belief system I too once had. I went over 15 years as a "technician", and was entirely content. My technique was exceptional after 15 years of practice. One day I got tired of playing the music of others. I wanted to express myself on the instrument after years of expressing Hendrix and Page. Theory is merely the science of manipulating emotion with sound. One day down the road, you too will be starved for knowledge. Learn it now while you're young.
I'm not really well versed in jazz guitar players myself, but I know of a few. Check out Wes Montgomery, John Scofield, Pat Metheny, and Django Reinhardt. All of them play a different style of jazz, so it's kind of a wide range just in those four guys. And don't look just specifically at guitar. A lot of jazz innovations were made on horns and you can still pull a lot of stuff out of brass instruments, even if you've never picked up a horn.
Love that he knows his theory. I know for sure when he said "C major 7 sus 4 and then, um, I kind of do this cool ascending Ab major 7 triad, but it has an augmented 5th in it", the tab boys wept because he didn't tell you what fret, string, and finger, LOL.
...even the lesson sounds pretty enough to listen to just for the music...
Nice playing!
In a different video, he mentions they are DiMarzio D-Activator 8s.
I just saw him at a clinic 2 days ago. Someone asked him about the stolen guitars, and he said he got only one back. So they didn't get most of the gear back according to Tosin.
Of course it doesn't sound the same. But transcriptions still work very well. For example, the first movement of the Moonlight Sonata works way better on guitar, in my opinion, as you have a vastly bigger range of emotions on a classical guitar.
i highly doubt it, the stock pickups on it are quite muddy sounding, i just recieved my shecter diamond omen 7 extreme and the stock pickups are quite impressive but nothing beats bareknuckles or dimarzio for djent
Question to all guitarists: I am a left handed person and yet Ive started learning how to play the guitar with my right hand. this was before I knew about left handed guitars lol.. Ive been coming across problems like limited speed etc but I havent been practicing as much as I should.. My question is should I try left handed??
It's not that bassists aren't needed anymore, it's that he's already got his guitar tuned to the low E on a bass and so having a bassist would just muddy things up. If he played with more normal tunings, the bass player could try to tune down and maintain that octave relationship without getting muddy.
I have the same kind of flexible thumb.And i have learned Tosin style to use it.
I think that we are freaks.I am classically trained and pick is not needed.BUT it is useful if you use pinky for picking strings.
Like a boss!
Many touring guitarists take off the truss rod cover, because they go to places with different weather so they need to adjust the truss rod pretty often. For example, watch any live video of Steve Vai.
musicality takes precedence over perfect technique.
Thanks bro
Interesting guitar! It looks like an Ibanez RG2228 with a custom body/paint job. I'm not sure if anyone else has noticed, but I find it funny, being an Ibanez RGA8 owner myself, that he didn't put the truss rod cover back on!
the modern hendrix !
1. Non-sequitor.
2. I love Pantera.
3. I love Blues.
You can listen to more than one type of music, y'know.
2:29 "V-Major Chord"
Tosin Abasi invents new notes.
Exactly!
Fuckin salute to you, my good sir
It's a fixed bridge. (Ibanez FX III for 8 string)
Jazz uses a lot more of a modal approach, it's more of a perspective towards playing than a certain sound. I'd recommend for guitar based jazz, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Allan Holdsworth, especially Holdsworth with Soft Machine. Miles Davis Bitches brew, Live evil. The Aristocrats, even Primus and Jeff Buckley, these guitarists all approach playing from a jazz perspective.
To explain how jazz works is practically impossible to do. It's something you just have to listen to and study for awhile for it to make the most sense. I, myself, am studying it and it goes VERY deep into theory and composition. If you're interested in it, I'd suggest looking up some artists and giving it a chance, but keep an open mind with it. There are MANY different kinds of jazz.
That's beautiful. Sounds like Steve Vai or maybe even a little bit of a Lenny sound. Love it. That's a monster of a fucking guitar, too!
To hear another great guitarist.. and bassist, drummer and singer for that matter, check out Bound State! Search 'Bound State Looking-Glass Self' and 'Bound State The Seam'.
It's not floating so it's basically a locking hard tail bridge. Only Kahler makes a 8 string locking tremolo, and Kahlers are sooo smooth. I would love to try an 8 string with a kahler.
I'm waiting for Tosin Abasi with flattop.
unfortunatly emg's on 7/8 strings have a muddy sound, i recommend getting a set of blackouts or painkillers
this is the first 8 string i saw with a floyd rose, would that not break the low f sharp if you divebombed it?
its funny, that he bases his lesson on this song, because i've been listening to it nonstop for past few weeks now and now i can learn it by what he's doing.
advice to all "ill never be as good as him" guys - pick up the fucking guitar and practice. he doesn't do anything impossible, trust me on that hehe
I thought he ran Bare Knuckle Aftermaths - anyhow sound so so awesome! :D