My sound

Obviously in a metal tune, the emphasis is largely on the rhythm guitars, so to generate the necessary density of sound I use plenty of layers. My main sound comes from either my Washburn N2 Nuno Bettencourt signature model for 6 string work, or my Jackson DX7 for 7 string things, bridge pickup on both for rhythm parts.

From the guitar I run straight into a TLA Fatman Fat1 stereo valve compressor. This evens out the spikes and boosts the overall level - plus gives a load of warmth courtesy of the valve inside - before the signal reaches my Korg AX1500G. As far as multi fx stompboxes go, the AX1500G works perfectly for me - it's compact, easy to use and has a huge range of sounds and options, plus the footpedal for expression/pitchshift/volume, and it wasn't expensive either. Anyway, for rhythm guitars it's set to high gain running through a 4 x 12 cabinet simulation, with a fairly scooped sound although I favour a touch of middle to cut through the mix (unlike Dimebag for instance, who tended to completely remove all the mid eq). I do four separate rhythm guitar tracks, panned hard left, mid left, mid right and hard right which are then bounced to one stereo track and compressed and eq'd (Waves C4 and Q10 Paragraphic EQ).

Bass is very simple - Once again through the Fatman and the Korg, either clean tone or sometimes a bit of distortion, not so much that it muddles the notes but just enough to give it that low rumble. Once again, this gets compressed and eq'd.

Drums all come from Toontrack's excellent Drumkit From Hell (the original version, running in Native Instruments Battery 2). I usually use one of the Sensitone kits as I like the sound of the snare and program the initial midi track using the close miked sample set. When I'm happy with the composition of the drum track I add a second midi track and load the room miked version of the same kit into it. It's usually about 70:30 (close:room) that works, although it's not always the same - I use my ears rather than the numbers. Both of these tracks get converted to audio separately and then individually compressed (Waves C1) before being bounced to one stereo track. I don't use a lot of eq on the drums as the sample quality is so good, but occassionally I might cut a tiny bit of top end if I've used a lot of fully open hi hat in the drum track.

And that's the basis of a track! Now it's time to get creative with sound design to produce some unique sounding melodies and textures.

Projects past and present.....

Office Experiments was my first full length record. Recorded entirely live, direct to minidisc (!) using only a guitar (Washburn N2) and an effects pedal (Korg AX1500G) over a two week period in February 2005. A little trimming in Wavelab tidied up the ends, but other than that it's essentially a live recording. Three tracks are available here to give you an idea of what it's about.

Test Card followed later in 2005, under the pseudonym 'Knucklechild'. A mixture of guitars, synths, real and virtual instruments and a melting pot of styles ranging from thrash metal to lounge music, this was me indulging myself and reworking a number of my favourite TV theme tunes. Titles include 'Dallas', 'Jim'll Fit It', 'Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em' and 'Miss Marple'. I only ever posted 'Dallas' on youtube but that was removed at the request of Warner Bros as I had also recut Madonna's video for 'Hung Up' as it went really well with it - BUSTED! I'm fully intending to repost with the original titles, and hopefully it will stay up for a while longer, and I shall also post some of the tunes at some point - watch this space.

The Resonant Frequency Of Flesh was my first full length metal album, something which had been in the pipeline for many years. Recorded over about 8 months (work commitments reduce recording time) it was finally finished in October 2006. 13 tracks, fairly progressive in intent with a sprinkling of electronica which I decided to release through CDBaby. I've sold a few, and general response was positive although I'm becoming less happy with the overall sound of the record now that my production and recording techniques have become more refined - thoughts of a partial re-record are beginning to enter my head. Audio samples and a couple of reviews are available here.

Since then my wife and I have moved house twice, had a son, and generally been very busy doing parent stuff. Musical output has remained steady, but rather than creating a specific body of work I have been attempting to develop a more consistent sound across a range of individual tracks. I've moved towards a totally guitar driven sound, preferring to create synthy type textures from my guitar and using layering to give extra depth and a wider range of tonal qualities. The simply stunning Drumkit Fom Hell has become more prominent in recent recordings too, mostly because I've now worked how to use it properly! I run it in Native Instruments Battery 2 (I have the original DFH), but I think it now runs exclusively in EZDrummer.

Content wise, my original material is largely progressive math metal style work with a heavy emphasis on technical rhythm guitar playing and mind twisting grooves, whilst attempting to maintain melody and structure within the piece. I'm also still reworking theme tunes - movie & TV. All of it is available for free online (protected under the Creative Commons Music Sharing License so it can be downloaded and broadcast, but not altered or used for any other commercial purposes) at Szleppard's page on muzic.com.




Night's Dawn: In 2004 I randomly picked up a book in a charity shop in Ross On Wye. I only picked it up because I wanted a long sci fi epic to sink my teeth into (at the time I had a pretty lengthy work journey). That book was 'The Reality Dysfunction' by Peter F. Hamilton and it weighs in with over 1000 pages of full on sci fi action - part 1 of a trilogy, and British. They are 3 novels of mammoth scope, expertly written with enough ideas and situations to fill countless others. I have since become a devotee of his work, but the Night's Dawn trilogy has inspired me like no other and I have begun work on a full length album in tribute to this literary monster. I'm currently three tracks in, with another 4 in progress, although work has slowed lately due to a variety of things. I shall write further on this subject in due course.

Aconbury Studios up and running

The new studio almost totally works! Studio relocation is always a nightmare, and I've done it more times than I care to imagine - at least my current setup is largely pc based (with the exception of guitars and 'real' instruments) so it wasn't the ordeal it has been in the past. Rackmounted synths and samplers are not the things to be carted around too much. I am however having epic fail with my midi controller keyboard - whether it's a software or hardware issue remains to be seen, but for now I have good old point and click.