Indie Rock Effects question

[KrazyKorean]

Hey there guys, I'm new to the telecaster forum, and I play in a christian post-hardcore band, and I'm pretty much only familiar to that type of style.

Anyways as of recently I've been enjoying more indie rock/alternative and especially with the band Dredg and U2. I was wondering if anyone could perhaps lead me to what I would need to recreate the type of sound that they have in this video especially during the verses/choruses. More specifically at 0:50 to 1:50

For instance, I'd like to know if the guitarist is using just a straight overdrive or is he mixing it with reverb and other effects? I'm pretty new to that kind of music but I really love the atmospheric but somewhat heavy sound that he has.

I do have a Digitech RP pedal if someone uses those and knows how to get this sound in particular would be awesome too.

Sorry for all the questions.

here's the video


maybe one of you will have the ears or the knowledge to help me thanks.

[Kestrel]

Yeah, there's overdrive/distortion being used along with chorus, delay and a touch of reverb. Not a bad sounding group either. There's a definite post-punk influence in their sound reminescent of The Chameleons, Echo & The Bunnymen, and early U2.

Seems to be the a trend now for indie/alternative rock bands to emulate the sounds of 80's post-punk/new wave bands.

[imsilly]

FORGET THAT JUNK!

If you want some tasty post-punk indie there is only one band, The Fall. Mark E Smith is a genius, if at times a little leftfield. His drunk mancunian ramblings are probably the single most consistently brilliant thing indie music has ever produced.

The interesting thing about them is they have been going continously from the mid 1970s, so they kind of trace every fashion in indie effects there has been. There are lots of gritty distortions and overdrives, delays, chorus, synths etc. It goes to show you have much stuff has been used over the years in that type of music.

INCOMING FALL FLOOD!

Touch Sensitive



Container Drivers



Jawbone and the Air Rifle



How I Wrote Elastic Man



English Scheme



In the Park



The N.W.R.A.

[Kestrel]

The Fall, one of my favorite bands of all time!!!

[KrazyKorean]

Ok I guess it was the chorus that I was missing with my overdrive to make it sound more like that.

But yah I really love Dredg's sound they have a different feel from most modern bands and thanks Kestrel for helping me and I like the other two bands you showed too.

Imsilly lol thanks for the flood of The Fall, can't say I prefer them over the other ones though I guess its just the vocals and the instrumentation is way strange for me, no offense though I'm sure they're a great band to other people.
I just prefer a sound like dredg or U2. But I mean if you wanna duel bands my favorite band is Coheed and Cambria I love the post-hardcore rock/high vocals that they have.

I was trying to figure this all out, so that I could start perhaps making some music like that, I want to make a band thats like a post-punk band with songs like Ode to the Sun and such.

If anyone else has some more bands or hints on effects to get the type of sound please keep up the replies.

[TeleBrew]

Well, for good Indie Rock tones you could do worse than Built to Spill.

[s360guitarist]

KK, starting out on a new music venture is a great spot to be in...

For what it is worth, there is a good chuck of delay there at the bridge.

[Kestrel]

Originally Posted by KrazyKorean

Ok I guess it was the chorus that I was missing with my overdrive to make it sound more like that.

But yah I really love Dredg's sound they have a different feel from most modern bands and thanks Kestrel for helping me and I like the other two bands you showed too.

Imsilly lol thanks for the flood of The Fall, can't say I prefer them over the other ones though I guess its just the vocals and the instrumentation is way strange for me, no offense though I'm sure they're a great band to other people.
I just prefer a sound like dredg or U2. But I mean if you wanna duel bands my favorite band is Coheed and Cambria I love the post-hardcore rock/high vocals that they have.

I was trying to figure this all out, so that I could start perhaps making some music like that, I want to make a band thats like a post-punk band with songs like Ode to the Sun and such.

If anyone else has some more bands or hints on effects to get the type of sound please keep up the replies.

Overdrive/distortion, chorus and delay are definitely what you want to start with. From there you can experiment by tweeking your effect settings or perhaps add other effects to shape your sound.

If you like early U2, Echo & The Bunnymen, and The Chameleons you'll probably like Interpol, Editors, I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness, Snowden, Film School and Bloc Party.

And since you seem to have a fondness for ambient echoey guitar sounds like that of The Chameleons there are a legion of effects-laden shoegaze bands to check out. Bands like Kitchens of Distinction, Slowdive, Lush, Bethany Curve, SIANspheric, The Meeting Places, Tears Run Rings, Air Formation, A Shoreline Dream, etc..

[KrazyKorean]

Thanks kestrel these bands are all pretty cool, the type of sound I really like is a lil bit of that ambient guitar, but i'm still pretty rock oriented so I like some type of heaviness to my song, I'm not at the point where I can listen to something super light and love it without a tiny bit of distortion haha.

Anyways out of those I think that my favorite was probably interpol but I like the vibe from film school and I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness. The others were all definitely worth listening to. As long as it doesn't go way out of its way to sound strange, then it doesn't bother me too much.

maybe there is a better genre to define what i'm looking for, with clean/ambient delayed verses and heavier choruses and bridges and complex instrumentals.

Are there any types of specific chords that they tend to use alot especially in distorted mode to get the high up feeling? or are they just playing higher octaves of notes that they would normally use.

[JosephB]

does anyone else find it strange that "indie" is now a genre?

[KrazyKorean]

yah but I guess in a way its kinda changed alot from what it used to be, used to just mean that you produced your own stuff now its become a form of alternative rock and its ok to have a major label like death cab for cutie and some others.

[jmaul]

Originally Posted by JosephB

does anyone else find it strange that "indie" is now a genre?

No. Indie has been a genre longer than you've been alive.

Guided by Voices formed in 1983.
The Pixies and Sebadoh formed in 1986.

[jmaul]

Originally Posted by KrazyKorean

yah but I guess in a way its kinda changed alot from what it used to be, used to just mean that you produced your own stuff now its become a form of alternative rock and its ok to have a major label like death cab for cutie and some others.

I know you guys are young but this isn't really an accurate statement. All the original indie bands went on to majors in the late 80's early 90's and were still labeled as indie bands.

[JosephB]

Originally Posted by jmaul

No. Indie has been a genre longer than you've been alive.

Guided by Voices formed in 1983.
The Pixies and Sebadoh formed in 1986.

kind of a condescending way to correct me by pointing out my young age...but...im not saying the sound of indie...im quite aware of the godfathers and mothers of modern indie, or what we call indie...but they weren't "indie" meaning "music released on independently" which is what im referring to.

I was talking about the shift from "Independent" as a way of describing how music was released and music that remained out of the mainstream to "Indie" as a synonym for "alternative".

[morroben]

Originally Posted by JosephB

I was talking about the shift from "Independent" as a way of describing how music was released and music that remained out of the mainstream to "Indie" as a synonym for "alternative".

I remember the term "indie" being used before the term "alternative" to mean the same thing. I know what you're saying, but it's not a new thing. It is strange...indie isn't always independent and alternative is often more mainstream than the stuff it's supposed to be an alternative to.

[jmaul]

Originally Posted by JosephB

kind of a condescending way to correct me by pointing out my young age...but...im not saying the sound of indie...im quite aware of the godfathers and mothers of modern indie, or what we call indie...but they weren't "indie" meaning "music released on independently" which is what im referring to.

I was talking about the shift from "Independent" as a way of describing how music was released and music that remained out of the mainstream to "Indie" as a synonym for "alternative".

I wasn't trying to be condescending at all, I was pointing out that you are making incorrect statements based upon assumptions or hearsay of a time in music you did not experience first hand due to your age.

Indie music came about first as a genre and was used to describe both actual independent artists and ones signed to major labels. Alternative came later, and while there is some gray area regarding boundaries, it is (and was from the beginning) largely a separate genre.

If my attempts to express a correct and accurate version of history feels condescending, I am sorry.

[JosephB]

Originally Posted by jmaul

I wasn't trying to be condescending at all, I was pointing out that you are making incorrect statements based upon assumptions or hearsay of a time in music you did not experience first hand due to your age.

Indie music came about first as a genre and was used to describe both actual independent artists and ones signed to major labels. Alternative came later, and while there is some gray area regarding boundaries, it is (and was from the beginning) largely a separate genre.

If my attempts to express a correct and accurate version of history feels condescending, I am sorry.

i need to refrain from coming on the tdpri after a bad night...reading my previous post this morning i feel like i came across as a jacka**....sorry, man.

i guess now im curious...why did they call them "independent" if they were signed to a major label?

[RomanS]

Well, because most of them started out on independent labels.
BTW, we used to call those kinds of music "indie rock" already in the mid-80s (yeah, I'm old enough to know first-hand...)

[HenryAdams]

Can I jump in for a moment? I would say, categorically, that I dislike indie rock, though it's dawning on me that I may not know what that means. For instance, I REALLY love My Morning Jacket (which iTunes labels Indie), the Old 97s and TV on the Radio. But I really, really hate the ironic aesthetic that seems to come with all those bands which seem to channel the music from 80's commercials (I do remember 80's commercials, though not much of 80's music) or the neo-beatles thing. The band Drug Rug comes to mind. I'd also throw the Decembrists in there (not for the Beatles, but for the ironic thing).

And, because I am a giant nerd, here's a link to a New Yorker article that I totally agree with. The quick summary is that rock n' roll used to be about soul, about emotion, about swinging your hips. Contemporary indie is academic, head music. http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critic...sic_frerejones

So I guess the question is, what is the indie sound these days? Youtube clips would be very much appreciated.

[BrownsBrick]

Listen to the Butthole Surfers and The Fall

[KrazyKorean]

today I think that one thats pretty big and from around this time is Death Cab for Cutie, there classified as indie, maybe listen to long division or I will possess your heart are the two biggest of their songs.

[JosephB]

Originally Posted by HenryAdams

So I guess the question is, what is the indie sound these days? Youtube clips would be very much appreciated.

i feel like the band that i feel like envelopes "indie" qualities in spades is the shins...



they certainly are the indie as described by the new yorker...intellectual rock in a way. i suppose "indie" has just become as broad of a genre as just plain "rock"....because that article also mentioned Arcade Fire as indie, itunes says My Morning Jacket is indie as is Dr. Dog, M. Ward and Iron & Wine...and quite honestly MMJ counldnt be more different from Iron & Wine if they tried!

[jmaul]

There are just too many inherent issues with trying to label rock music. Rock music itself is such a strange tree to traverse the branches of and bands are not really exclusive to genres from album to album or even within a single album.

There are definitive indie bands- pretty much any involved in the sub indie genre of "lo-fi" is indie and cant really be labeled as anything else. Other indie bands that were indie once upon a time have been reclassified as post punk, post hardcore, alternative, stoner rock, etc. etc.

So here is what I think it pretty unarguably "indie":
Sebadoh
Dinosaur Jr.
Guided By Voices
The Grifters
Built to Spill
Pavement
The Pixies
Yo La Tengo
Archers of Loaf
Modest Mouse (but maybe not their last couple releases that clearly have had some studio polish)

Here are some bands that were mostly labeled indie at the time, but in hindsight probably need some reclassification or just dont fit that well:
- The Smiths
- Husker Du
- The Replacements
- Morphine
- Soul Coughing
- They Might Be Giants
- Fugazi
- Beck
- Shellac
- Kyuss
- Afghan Whigs
-Sleater Kinney

My friend has argued that "Alternative" as a genre never really existed beyond a pop cultural package offered by MTV. I actually tend to believe him, and if I remember correctly, MTV did manufacture that label to market the "new" sound to us tweens, teens, and 20 somethings back then. If you look at the core alternative bands you can make a pretty interesting argument against Alternative actually existing, for instance:
- Nirvana - punk band that became a pop rock band
- Sound Garden - Metal band
- Alice in Chains - Metal Band
- Pearl Jam - Pop Rock Band
- Toadies - Pop Rock
- Prez of USA - Pop Rock
- Silverchair - Pop Rock
- Weezer - Pop Rock
- Radiohead - Pop rock band that became an art rock band
- Oasis - pop rock, brit rock

So what is an alternative band? What is the alternative sound? I guess now its just sort of a generic early 90's pop rock sound. Too bad.

To me, Elliot Smith and Iron and Wine are pretty straightforward singer songwriters with a folkish bent. Nothing new there. Not Indie.

I dont know what indie is anymore, its sort of a catch all for whatever hipsters like, which is sort of a disgusting qualification for a genre. For example, here is an absolutely preposterous list:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...rock_musicians

[Kestrel]

"Indie" is nothing more than a ridiculous marketing label conjured up to appeal to self-proclaimed hipsters. Sort of like the way "Alternative" was conjured up in the 90's to categorize anything that wasn't mainstream rock, pop or heavy metal. Except that the term "indie" is now tragically being used to define a certain style of alternative rock music.

We're taking about "Indie" as in "Independent." By that definition any band that's signed to an independent record label regardless of their musical style would legitimately be an "indie" band and would continue to be one until they signed with a major record label. Therefore, how can one define what an indie band sounds like?

Call it Punk, Post-Punk, New Wave, Darkwave, Goth, Shoegaze, Dreampop, Noisepop, Twee, Post-Rock, Synthpop, Grunge, whatever.... In the end it all gets classified as Alternative anyway.

[Radspin]

"Totally Wired" by The Fall is one of the greatest songs ever--talk about perfectly capturing a feeling in music.