Finally, a reliable traditional forum about music!
 

Hello everyone! I'm SmokeAndMirrors, you can call me that, or Smoke, or S&M.

I've been digging around everywhere for active, traditional forums about music and places to hang out online. It's hard to find, actually. Mostly because everyone's on social media these days and reddit. Which is fine, but it gets repetitive after a while, you know? So, I scoured the internet for a message board search engine, found Board Reader, and did a little bit of sifting. This place came up on like page 8 or 9 I think in one of my searches. I feel relieved just finding it to be honest.

Music is pretty much my whole life. I'm a 29 year old man, I've been playing bass guitar since I was 15 years old. I've been on tour, met some great people, and met some real ****heads, but I mean that's just the nature of the beast as the expression goes. That's the life, and I absolutely love it.

I AM a little bit paranoid (and with good reason) about my identity and whatnot due to aspects on how my personal life has gone, so I won't make anything pertaining to that public, really. At least not until I get a bit comfortable here. I prefer to keep bands I've worked in and with private, as well as things like my actual legal name and whatnot. (Identity theft is an increasing problem, you can never be too careful these days).

I play a six string bass guitar. An ESP LTD B-206SM. I've gotten to where I love all genres of music. I actually was going to pursue it further in college but I had to drop out of college after a year due to personal reasons, then life kinda kicked me in the ass and I just started shuffling around working to pay bills and whatnot. I've always favored hard rock and heavy metal, but as I've gotten a bit older, I don't have the aggression in me that I did when I was younger. And while I appreciate it still and it'll always be my baby, I've gotten more and more into slower, and more calming music over the years. I actually played a 3/4 Double Bass for a few years. Unfortunately the strings on it broke around the time I got to an intermediate level with it, those strings aren't cheap either, and the bridge holds them pretty tight. I could get it re-strung I'm sure but I don't currently have the means to. That's sort of on my list of things I'll eventually get to.

But yeah, that's just me and my quick intro. I'm pretty much this long haired, bearded, pretty financially broke guy that just lives for music, really. Alright, I gotta pop out to go to work. I'll check back in later tonight. I'm excited to be here and that I found the place.

Welcome aboard! Who are some of your favorite artists?

Welcome from BC.

It's always possible to get people back into metal.

Welcome, nice to see a fellow bassist for once.

I use an MTD KZ5 custom shop.

That's because all the ones with actual talent are called "guitarists".

Nah not really. Have you ever been to a Guitar Center?

Marrying yourself to one instrument is a daft move though.

Lol, you're a funny guy.

Lol, you're also a funny guy.

And don't even get me started on those dorky guitar humour videos.

For metal and hard rock stuff?
The Devil's Blood. Eternal Tapestry. Orchid. Nightbringer. Watain. Nokturnal Mortum, Mortuary Drape. Darkthrone. Bathory. Venom. Celtic Frost. Electric Wizard. The Oath. Sunn O))). Thorr's Hammer. Shroud Eater. Destroyer Of Light. Mayhem. Sleep. Om. Cult Of Fire. Therion. And obviously, Black Sabbath.

Al Cisneros from Sleep/Om still remains to be my favorite metal bassist. Him and Geezer Butler.



I never really totally fell out of metal. I'm still in a metal band. I just don't listen to it as much. I've been doing metal pretty much the entire time I've been playing. My interests have just branched out over the years, is all. Progressively speaking, composition and song structure, the detail work, became more and more interesting to me. I still love it, just that my approach to it is a bit different these days than it has been in the past.


Heyo! Yeah, it's fun man. I haven't used a pick in years. LOL. Occasionally I'll pick one up for tone, but that's pretty rare. Fingers just feel more natural.

For anything you want.

There's a few in there I don't know but Electric Wizard is one of my favorite bands and it's nice to see someone else around here who digs Cult of Fire. :beer:

Oh **** a Thorr's Hammer fan!

Yep. You'll fit right in here. Welcome!

I got into black metal when I was 15, ssoo, circa 2001 or 2002?? Which isn't all that common in the Southeast of the U.S. I'm in the heart of the Bible Belt, and it does indeed live up to being called that too. Long enough to see Celtic Frost and Withered with Kult ov Azazel for the Monotheist tour when they played through the U.S when I was 17 or 18. A little strange that I went from being on the floor, watching Kult ov Azazel, to being booked for festival shows on tour where they were also playing. But I mean, I'll roll with it, you know?

I definitely still love my metal music. I just have to handle it in smaller doses of listening to it. Because, when you're writing, rehearsing, recording, and doing shows, it can become a bit overwhelming if you've been doing it for years and years with different bands over time. I like peace and quiet in my down time. I'm kind of a nerd. I read a lot. That was how I got into classical, jazz, and funk. I love jazz theory and classical formats. I'm big into music theory, it's a useful writing tool. Obviously, when you're working with something like metal music, sometimes you have to throw the rule book out, but other times when you're writing, it can also come in handy if you know how to use it.

For jazz and funk style stuff, I got into America Paz a couple years ago. I have a lot of admiration and respect for her as a musician. It's been a cool ride watching her career rise up too. It got up enough to where she went from being what seemed like mostly a street performer according to some youtube videos to teaching master classes for bass and now she's been on television in her country. I write with a lot of note modulation and harmony. Which is really strange for a bassist to do, and bridging the other instruments together, it just makes the corner pocket feel more comfortable for me and still lets me do my job.

Over time, as a musician, genres kind of became genreLESS to me. More recently I actually discovered the cellist Jacqueline du Pre. Who, completely blew my mind while watching her fingers on the fingerboard. I brushed up on my history like I do anytime I discover new music with an artist, and was pleasantly surprised. That Elgar Cello Concerto she did is legendary for a reason. The woman retired out of performance at 28 and started teaching music, due to the onset development of multiple sclerosis which eventually took her life at the age of 42. There's a later interview with her on YouTube where she gets asked about her verbal articulation, that she learned to speak about music in a more articulate way. Her response was: "That just means I've had to use my mouth instead of my hands." Which is, really inspiring as a musician. Probably something I myself would do if I couldn't play anymore. You just adapt, and keep going. And everyone knows about Beethoven. lol. My professor when I was in college said: "Beethoven. Probably the most famous composer of all time. Even people who know nothing about classical music at all know Beethoven. Even if they don't know his name, if you sing the melody for Ode To Joy they'll eventually say: "Oh that one deaf guy."

Welcome. Did you see CF promote Monotheist? I would have shat myself.

Seems like you have solid taste so far, what artists outside of metal do you like?

It was a ****ing amazing show. I sat and talked with Martin Ain and Tom Warrior a bit after.

Outside of metal, kind of bounce around a bit. Skip Martin for jazz, Stanley Clarke and Marcus Miller for funk, Chopin for romantic, Beethoven with classical, Bach for Baroque (for which without, there simply would be no counterpoint). Big Joe Williams, Lightning Hopkins, and Odetta with older blues music, Dead Kennedys and older Misfits stuff with punk, Fields of the Nephilim were a huge find for me too, Dawnrazor was solid. And oddly enough, I like Rasputina and Switchblade Symphony because it just sounds obscure.

I like a lot of drone and earlier 80s noise music too. Zero Kama, Korpses Katatonik, Coil, Current 93, Black Mountain Transmitter, T.O.M.B., Dreadlords, Psychic T.V.,Throbbing Gristle, andd I get into a little of the more modern industrial too, Covenant, Project Pitchfork, My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult, Acylum, Tactical Sekt.

I do actually, like a lot of folk music, traditional music, and some new age. Pentangle were actually what made me really get into playing a 3/4 Double Bass. Like with Fairport Convention, and The Hare And The Moon, most of the music is traditional and folk pieces, often being hundreds of years old. I like a bit of Loreena McKennitt's material too.

I've even found some rap I've gotten to like, and some oddball types of country music like with what the Goddamn Gallows do. Nekro's older stuff for rap was pretty solid, Wu-Tang Clan dropped some great material, and I've done a little uncredited work and helped with editing for beats for some guys into rap and hiphop that I've known for a long time or worked with, etc.

Atmosphere is my thing with music, especially the creepy and weird. Basically, if it sounds creepy and weird, I'll probably love it immediately. That's kind of my thing with music, creepy and weird atmospheres. Following the cliche, I'm also a horror movie buff that prefers more psychological horror and thriller. I also read a lot, but I'm sure there's a thread in the off topic section somewhere for books and movies, etc.

(Zero Kama, if you've never heard the material, is music made on instruments made out of real, actual human bones. Recorded for The Secret Eye of L.A.Y.L.A.H. album, by Michael DeWitt in the early 80s of Austria, I believe. The recordings were then ran through a processor and remixed for the release. It has a very tribal-esque type of feel to it.)

So, musically I really do kind of bounce around between everything, genrelessly.

Welcome to MB!
There's some great stuff among your favourites.
Looking forward to you being around here.

Welcome aboard.