Fast heavy metal solos and shredding leads using hardware or software step sequencing?

rs2000

You really don't need much to fake that metal riff. The minimum required clean sound source can even be a synth that, when listened to directly, only sounds remotely similar to a guitar but delivers the essential muted pick and sustained tone with enough 'pluck attack". It could just be a patch in which velocity controls sustain and increases filter curoff and decay time by a bit.
If you're using a good distortion effect, this can be tuned to spit out halfway authentic riffs.

rs2000

A quick Drambo demo:

Samu

@GeorgeL909 said:

I guess in theory then, the music I want to make can be achieved on the digitakt, a tracker, drambo, anything really, just with a firmer understanding of note spacing and relationships.

Bingo! It's not always about to tools but how you use them

You'd be surprised how many 'chip tunes' from the C64 translate very, very well to metal...

(Original SID definitely done by programming a sequence of events)

(Metal Version)

GeorgeL909

This is what I came up with using inspiration from this thread. It's not exactly metal, but I'm sure you could hear the influences buried under confusing genre layers.

This was made entirely in grooverider gr-16, recorded into the built in sequencer. By making the rhythm base 32, it halved the bar length of each pattern but gave me enough resolution to add those faster melodies. It's not natural sounding at all, but I guess it's not meant to be. Just heavy and complicated and maybe a little annoying.

@rs2000 said:
A quick Drambo demo:

That's a fantastic drambo patch. I like the concept of not exactly emulating an electric guitar (nothing will beat shreddage or an expensive sample library for that except for a real guitar) but to get synths that sound like synths, patched to be as just as heavy while maintaining their synth character.

I find FM to be fantastic at that, especially those genesis 4 op fake guitar patches.

@Samu said:

@GeorgeL909 said:

I guess in theory then, the music I want to make can be achieved on the digitakt, a tracker, drambo, anything really, just with a firmer understanding of note spacing and relationships.

Bingo! It's not always about to tools but how you use them

You'd be surprised how many 'chip tunes' from the C64 translate very, very well to metal...

(Original SID definitely done by programming a sequence of events)

(Metal Version)

I agree chiptunes are a great source of inspiration, as they represent one of the pinnacles of working within limited constraints. While I don't listen to chiptunes tracks regularly (I can only take so much pulse wave) it's amazing what some artists can do with it. In other words, I have no excuse to blame limited hardware or software 😂

Thanks for calming down my GAS and creative frustrations everyone.

ecou

The keyboard player with the most guitar like technique is Derik Sherinian if you need inspiration.

GeorgeL909

@ecou said:
The keyboard player with the most guitar like technique is Derik Sherinian if you need inspiration.

Wow this guy is really good! Ok! Inspiration gained! Definitely feeling the itch to up my keyboard game.

rs2000

@GeorgeL909 Thanks!
Yes, FM and Wavetable synths can be harsh without FX but for distorted synths, that's just what the doctor ordered 😊

Also, thanks @ecou for the fun playing technique!
And he's playing my all-time favorite hardware synth for sound design.
The pitch stick of the Nord Leads also helps a lot with fast, guitar-like pitch bends.
Almost impossible with a pitch bend wheel or the horizontal Roland-style pitch bender.