Aien

20 minutes ago, TheSlashrose said:

Sorry, I really don't like the songs you re-recorded. They suck, I hope the band sue you for recording this shit 

That's ok. I don't like them either, I recorded all the stuff when I was 17-18, and I strive to make something 10x better than what I recorded before every time I create something new, so at this point whatever I put out even in 2020 is way below my standards today.

You people are definitely overthinking this. There is lots of metadata ingrained in Spotify and it is entirely possible that if enough people have the Guns version of Atlas in their playlists or include a song frequently covered by GN'R like Wichita, the algorithm recognizes a connection.
If it were up to me, I'd keep fueling the fire on this because I'm getting lots of streams at the moment, but you're definitely going overboard trying to read a complicated system like this. This constant expectation of new music is really going to gnaw at you and really take away from the enjoyment when the songs inevitably drop at some point.

Just my 2 cents.

14 minutes ago, Blackstar said:

Thanks for clarifying.

I'm curious about the writing credits in the description of your videos. For example, on your version of Hard Skool, all members of the 1999 lineup are credited as writers. Were those according to your best guess? Because it seems some media relied on your credits to their reports about the song, and then there was a press release from the band saying that it was written by Axl.

Keep in mind that I released this in November 2020, so I didn't have much to work with. The only source that would tell me anything about the songwriting credits of HS was Genius and it made sense to me. After all, the version I worked off of sounded like a lot of people had contributed to it, so I went with it. That being said, I should definitely update the songwriting credits of "Silkworms" (but I'm not too sure about HS yet, so I'll wait for a PRO to certify the specific songwriters, because the credits listed on most streaming platforms refer to "Guns N' Roses" being the songwriter, which I cannot work with).

EDIT: Actually, there's quite a few songs that would need their credits altered 

Really enjoyed this & "Crawling Back". Highly recommend both songs to anyone reading this!

19 minutes ago, Voodoochild said:

Amazing job. I'm recording all the Chinese Democracy songs (and OMG) and sometimes I bump on some of the stuff you already did.

I'm curious about any possible copyright issues with YouTube on those Village stuff though. 

Thanks a lot! So far, only I.R.S. has been copyright-claimed (for obvious reasons).

14 hours ago, Chris 55 said:

I used easy CD extractor to rip cd's/audio convert normally but it's kinda pricey. What do you guys use?

If you really want to ensure the perfect quality CD ripping, I recommend EAC: http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/en/index.php/resources/download/, but for some reason it sometimes crashes for me, so I instead use the free version of dBpoweramp: https://www.dbpoweramp.com/cd-ripper.htm

TL;DR FLAC-HD/ALAC-HD is unnecessary, FLAC/ALAC is perfect, 256kbps AAC (as all music on iTunes is) is good enough for listening.

Technically, yes: Hi-res (FLAC-HD) music has more fidelity. Hi-res music is everything above a bit depth of 16 bits (so 24 all the way to 64 bits) and a higher sample rate than 44.1kHz (48kHz, 96kHz, 192kHz, etc.), so if you look at a spectogram (http://spek.cc/), you will (hopefully, if the audio was recorded at that frequency) see frequencies going above and beyond superhuman levels. A lot of people claim that it sounds better.

BUT

1) You can't hear anything above 20kHz, so 44.1kHz (CD quality) is more than enough due to the nyquist theorem, therefore putting 44.1kHz FLAC files at a cap of approx. 22kHz.

2) 24-bit is not necessary for playback: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/24bit-vs-16bit-the-myth-exploded.415361/.

Higher frequencies and bit depths are really useful if you're recording/mixing/mastering music, but not so much for listening to it. I, too, have had the chance to listen to Metallica's albums in FLAC-HD and can tell you that I cannot hear a difference, even though I own a sound card that works for audio up to 24-bit/192kHz. The only reason I even own some hi-res music is because some albums have better mastering that is only available for download as a higher resolution (see the HDTracks versions of: Yes - 90125, Green Day - American Idiot & 21st Century Breakdown).

What I suggest is the following: Get music, if you can as 16-bit/44.1kHz FLAC (buying CDs & ripping them is the cheapest way) and convert it to whatever format you choose, whether it's MP3, AAC, WMA, OGG, whatever or just keep it as FLAC. If you can't afford CDs or FLAC downloads or can't be bothered to convert formats I highly recommend 256kbps AAC (iTunes standard), as it delivers higher frequencies than a 320kbps MP3 and is more compact in size, so a way more efficient format and can be cheaply downloaded off of iTunes with the added bonus of getting a digital PDF booklet (which is the case with a lot of Metallica albums on that store) and videos.

Fore Metallica specifically I recommend the following downloads:

Master of Puppets 2016 remaster (not available in digital stores anymore)

And Justice for All 2018 remaster: https://www.metallica.com/store/and-justice-for-all-remastered-digital/REAJFADS.html

Death Magnetic 2015 remaster: https://www.metallica.com/death-magnetic/death-magnetic-digital-download/9422.html

Download as FLAC-HD if you really feel the need to, but scientifically, FLAC is enough.

On July 4th, I had the opportunity to play Dub Suplex (which I renamed to A Recurring Puncture) and Going Down (acoustically) at a tiny concert in Vienna. Here are the vids:

For "Puncture", the footage starts at 00:42, since the camera that was meant to initially film me ran out of battery.

Hope you enjoy!

If you enjoy these so much that you want to have them as MP3s or FLACs, you can get them on my bandcamp (https://aienofficial.bandcamp.com/album/few-and-far-apart-live-at-the-kaisersaal-vienna), where you can name your price / download for free.

"War" by Joe Satriani from his 1992 album, "The Extremist". An amazing song, you should definitely check it out.

3 hours ago, OmarBradley said:

Really cool. You should have done this around 06/07 based on the leaks and said, "Fuck GNR, the fans want Chinese Democracy? Well here it is!" 

Interesting changes you've made to some of the songs. I like how Sorry sounds without the drums, really lets the bass set the tone.

What recording/instrument gear did you use?

Unfortunately, I was only 5 years old back in 06/07, so that wouldn't have been possible.  

But in terms of gear:

• Guitars:
  1. American Fender Stratocaster HSS
  2. Custom-made DoubleBFoot knock-off
  3. Camps NAC-4 acoustic guitar
• Bass:
  1. Harley Benton PB-50 SB Vintage Series
• Sound (Guitars & Bass):
  1. Digitech RP1000 effects pedal
  2. Mad Doctor stutter pedal
  3. E-Bow E-Bow Plus
• Microphones:
  1. Tonor BM 700
  2. Shure SM7B (with Millenium IP 3 preamp)
• Mixer:
  1. Behringer Xenyx Q802USB
• Keyboards & digital instruments:
  1. Kawai CA63
  2. Steinberg Groove Agent SE
  3. Steinberg HALion Sonic SE

I have recently released an album to honor the album "Chinese Democracy", named "10 Years of Democracy", featuring unreleased tracks "Silkworms", "The General", and fake GNR song "Blood In the Water", after more than a year of recording and re-recording. I hope I can do this often disliked album justice.

If you would like to buy or stream the album, here's a smartlink to Spotify, Google Play Music, iTunes, Soundcloud, etc.: https://ampl.ink/7aBRb

If you go to Bandcamp at https://aienofficial.bandcamp.com/album/10-years-of-democracy, you can pay what you want.

Please let me know what you think of it!

P.S. If you listen to the album on YouTube or Soundcloud or download the album on Bandcamp, you can listen to the samples from various movies from the song "Madagascar", in case you're interested.

Follow me on Twitter and Instagram! @aienmetal

10 minutes ago, ZoSoRose said:

Not a screamo guy but I liked the leads. What are you playing through?

It was not intended to be screamo, just nu metal. The only thing I'm using is a Digitech RP1000 pedal, simulating an amp. I don't know which one, though.

I'm planning on releasing an album to commemorate the 10 year anniversary of Chinese Democracy. Here's a cover of Shackler's Revenge: