[jasn]

with the evolution of the guitar and the incursion of african rythms in music and the facility to obtain sheets of classical music, has made that a lot of people are doing covers of classical music pieces in rock/metal style, what do you think about them? do you like them? do you hate it? do you think is better to play them in a purism way? do you think electric guitar can be some day an orchestral instrument?

i let you toccata and fugue in D minor metal style, did you hate it or like it?

 

[norman bates]

I have nothing against the idea of the electric guitar used in classical music but certainly not like it's used by Malmsteen and all his imitators. That version is made in poor taste, and there the guitar is the minor problem.

 

[Piwikiwi]

I think it is simply awful, I dislike most transcriptions with the notable exception of piano transcriptions of orchestral scored.

 

[apricissimus]

No thanks.

I have a hard time seeing an electric guitar as an "orchestral" instrument in general. I think it would too easily overpower the rest of the orchestra. (But perhaps I'm biased. After a lifetime of being inundated with guitar-based music, I'm sick of it.)

 

[Guest]

I have nothing against the idea of the electric guitar used in classical music but certainly not like it's used by Malmsteen and all his imitators. That version is made in poor taste, and there the guitar is the minor problem.

This. Some electric guitar covers are kinda cute, but the people trying to write "neoclassical metal" these days are butchering the stuff to no end.

 

[EdwardBast]

That was truly wretched.

No thanks.

I have a hard time seeing an electric guitar as an "orchestral" instrument in general. I think it would too easily overpower the rest of the orchestra. (But perhaps I'm biased. After a lifetime of being inundated with guitar-based music, I'm sick of it.)

Overpowering shouldn't be an issue as volume is readily and finely controlled. An orchestral instrument? No. But solo concertos could work very well.

 

[Weston]

I think most of it is juvenile at worst, kind of silly at best. Nothing wrong with silly. But sometimes it does work well. Ian Anderson's jazzy setting of Bach's Bourree from one of the lute suites is timeless! Of interest to me too are oddities that go the other direction. I once heard a number of Black Sabbath songs transcribed to "Gregorian" chant. Since they are mostly modal to begin with, it worked amazingly well. Usually hard rock pieces in an orchestral setting though are wretched. An orchestra simply cannot rock.

 

[Morimur]

Richard Barrett: Dark Matter

That was truly wretched.

Overpowering shouldn't be an issue as volume is readily and finely controlled. An orchestral instrument? No. But solo concertos could work very well.

Have a listen to this and tell me that the electric guitar cannot or shouldn't be used as an orchestral instrument...

View attachment 37492

 

[Morimur]

An orchestra simply cannot rock.

Do you mean to say that an orchestra cannot convey ferocity and/or power? You must be joking.

 

[Piwikiwi]

No thanks.

I have a hard time seeing an electric guitar as an "orchestral" instrument in general. I think it would too easily overpower the rest of the orchestra. (But perhaps I'm biased. After a lifetime of being inundated with guitar-based music, I'm sick of it.)

I agree with this completely. I'm so sick of the guitar as an instrument that I actively try to avoid it.

 

[PetrB]

Uninteresting in the extreme.

1.) I don't, generally, care for transcriptions.

2.) I have a basic dislike for the timbre(s) of the electric guitar, just as some find the flute annoying, regardless of any general consensus as to how beautiful that sound is.

I would -- maybe -- be more interested in original contemporary classical pieces written directly for the instrument.

ADD: Now that I've read many of these renderings are stylized ala rock, my lack of interest is that much more extreme

 

[neoshredder]

I love it when done well. The guitar is an awesome instrument.

 

[Serge]

Do you mean to say that an orchestra cannot convey ferocity and/or power? You must be joking.

Funny. I was just listening to the Beethoven's 3rd the other night and this morning too, and a little thought happened to occur to me: was it the first time that the music actually rocked?

 

[Serge]

I love it when done well. The guitar is an awesome instrument.

I love guitar too, even with less reservations.

 

[SilenceIsGolden]

I find the idea tacky. Attempts to "rock-ify" classical music always sound silly and over-the-top.

 

[millionrainbows]

I'd rather hear classical arrangements of metal/rock, like the String Quartet version of Nine Inch Nails and that series.

 

[Morimur]

I'd rather hear classical arrangements of metal/rock, like the String Quartet version of Nine Inch Nails and that series.

Unfortunately, I don't think classical arrangements would elevate Reznor's video-game sound effects to something that they are not; worthwhile music. If that seems harsh, it's only because I was big NIN fan in my teens and now, as an adult, I must bear the shame of my teenage transgressions. Woe is me.

 

[Weston]

Do you mean to say that an orchestra cannot convey ferocity and/or power? You must be joking.

I find rock music can have a certain expressive timing that does not translate well to 80 musicians and a conductor. They often seem to have trouble finding the groove. I admit this might be more a clash of cultures than a physical impossibility.

 

[Whistler Fred]

Just yesterday, I watched Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem performing Chopin. At least it had the virtue of not taking itself seriously.

I've heard both attempts to "rock" the classics (Joe Walsh doing Ravel's "Bolero" comes to mind) and classic-ize (okay, bad word) rock ala Kronos's "Purple Haze." I found them and similar efforts somewhat novel but essentially unconvincing. I wonder the genres are simply too different to be compatible.

 

[Morimur]

I find rock music can have a certain expressive timing that does not translate well to 80 musicians and a conductor. They often seem to have trouble finding the groove. I admit this might be more a clash of cultures than a physical impossibility.

Have you listened to Penderecki's "Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima", Messiaen's "Saint François d'Assise", Nono's "Al gran sole carico d'amore" or Stravinsky's "Le Sacre du printemps"? These are but a few among many examples of that certain 'expressive timing' and 'groove' you speak of. Hell, even if they aren't, Rock music as a genre cannot compete with the said pieces' expressive power (among other things). If that doesn't do it for you, try the violin concertos of Beethoven, Bartók or Shostakovich. And let's not forget Xenakis!