Another Original Progressive Rock/Metal Song by Steven DeMartini, "Dynamic Spasticity" Playthrough

The full album "One Sound from Many" (released July 2017) features a remastered version of this song, along with six others!
Download now! Guitar Pro tabs included! stevendemartin...
Say hi: / stevendemartinimusic
I love hearing feedback, and please like and subscribe if you enjoyed!
I wrote this song junior year of high school (so around 2007 or 2008), and I have performed it three or four times with a few different musicians. I've gotta thank Josef Kay for helping to write some of the bass parts back then and influencing how this song turned out. Also, these drum parts are somewhat based on what Nico Spence played when we performed.
I have updated riffs and changed a few things, but the song is generally the same as it was when it was written. If you're wondering why it's not quite as technical as my first original KZbin upload, it's because I wrote the song a while ago. But I hope you still enjoy it regardless.
I recorded the song using Reaper as my DAW. The guitar and bass were recorded by me, direct into the computer with no microphones or amps. I used Guitar Rig 3 for the guitar tones. I wrote out the drum parts and ran the midi file through a virtual instrument for the realistic sound because I had no way of miking and recording my own live drums.
As with my last KZbin upload, this song is still untitled. I am planning on putting up an EP in the not-too-distant future after I get a couple more songs finished, and by then I will come up with names for all of my songs at last haha.
My guitar on the recording and in this video is a Schecter Hellraiser C-1 FR, and the bass is an old Squier P-Bass. Both are tuned standard.
Copyright 2010 Steven DeMartini

[@justinryan4150]

This guy creates more creative music than most famous bands I listen..just wow.

[@JoelMeOff]

Dude I found this like 3-4 years ago and I still come back and watch it every couple months. How come u haven't posted anything in so long?

[@sjdemartini]

Hey Joel, I appreciate the comment. That's awesome that you still come back to listen to my music. I have been somewhat busy and have only been writing off and on; I haven't recorded anything since my last KZbin video. But I'm trying to change that now, and I'm partway through writing my next song. Hopefully I'll finish that soon and you'll be able to hear it in the not too distant future. Thanks again!

[@sanmateocoalition]

Steven DeMartini Music Same here, i like your style dude very fantastic

[@bergerarcana]

+Steven DeMartini Music Yes. If you do not return, we will send ninjas... Countdown begins now.

[@sjdemartini]

I've returned! My album is coming out July 17 (stevendemartini.bandcamp.com/). Check out the teaser for it on my channel :) New single from the album coming very soon! Stay tuned on facebook.com/StevenDeMartiniMusic/ for updates

[@sjdemartini]

@Jazzertron888 Thanks for the comment. I really wish I could collaborate with other musicians online and whatnot, but I just don't have the time for it. I honestly hardly get to play guitar myself! But I appreciate the feedback, and I'm happy to know you liked the style. Again, thanks

[@sjdemartini]

@DeanMKH Thanks for the feedback. I'm glad you enjoyed the music. I haven't put out any tabs for this and don't really plan to; instead I'm working on getting some more music recorded. It's cool that you dig the music enough to want to learn it, though. I appreciate the comment.

[@sjdemartini]

@Yuniti Well I'm glad you enjoyed the music. Just because the song is untitled does not mean that there was no feeling behind it when I wrote it. That's part of the beauty of instrumental music, I think. Words aren't altogether necessary. Anyway, it will have a title when I release my EP later this year. Thanks for commenting, and stay tuned.

[@sjdemartini]

@chazdaspazman Glad you liked the music! The way I did this was actually record all the audio before I made the video. I wanted to be able to upload the song in full HD quality for the audio track. If I'd taken the live sound from my point-and-shoot camera, it would have turned out much much worse in terms of clarity, tone, etc etc. I'd recommend recording audio completely, then film your playing of the song. Lay the footage on top of the higher quality audio recording. Thanks for commenting!

[@rexhunter406]

I love it when metal songs show off some actual musicianship, and soft guitar parts. This is really cool man

[@sjdemartini]

@lankeysob Thanks for the comment and the feedback! Next song I record I'm gonna try to dial in a more solid tone, but I'm not the greatest at that sorta thing. Anyway, I appreciate hearing what you have to say

[@sjdemartini]

@NoaOno Haha that would be awesome! Thanks for the support, and feel free to pass on the video to people you know or post a link on your FB or whatever to get my music out there. Help me make it to the 50k mark haha. I appreciate the comment!

[@sjdemartini]

@darkshyne69 Thanks. I really appreciate your support. Glad to hear you liked the music. You should be hearing a new song from me soon! I hope to have my next song fully recorded by the end of the week. Gonna get back to recording in a couple minutes! Stay tuned... thanks for commenting and subscribing!

[@sjdemartini]

@AQWakj93 Thanks for the feedback. I'm happy you enjoyed it. And sorry, I don't have plans at the moment to get out any tabs for these songs. Instead, I've been working hard to finish my next original song and get that posted. I hope to have an EP out later this year, so I'm pushing myself to get that done in the free time I have. I really appreciate the support, and I'm glad you enjoyed the song.

[@sjdemartini]

@JWXendra Wow awesome! I love hearing when people really enjoy my songs. I appreciate the detailed feedback, and I'm really happy you like the music I've put together. More on the way! I wrote a bunch today, and I have 2-4 songs in the works right now. Planning to get my next one done by January. Thanks for subscribing!

[@sjdemartini]

@billythebrainsoftain Awesome! I really appreciate your supportive words. And yeah, I would be getting songs done more quickly except that I'm super busy with school and whatnot. Writing this music is an extremely slow process since I don't get many chances to sit down and play. Anyway, glad you liked the music. You should maybe subscribe if you haven't so you can get updates when I put up new videos. And as for drums, I programmed all the parts since I had no way to record em myself.

[@sjdemartini]

@elementdude77 Thanks for the comment! Glad you'er interested, and sorry for the lagging response. I've been busy the past month, including finishing up my newest song. Just posted two days ago. Go take a listen if you haven't! Anyway, I don't yet have these songs up for download. I'm planning on releasing an EP later this year after I finish a fourth song. Stay tuned! Thanks!

[@sjdemartini]

@jhonymelaslavo1 Haha well I'm glad you enjoyed the song. Sorry though, I don't have this song posted for download as of right now. I plan on releasing my EP later this year, so stay tuned for that! Thanks for the comment

[@sjdemartini]

@truly11967 Thanks! I'm working on getting another song finished now. I hope to have it done some time in January. Glad you liked it! I'd recommend subscribing if you haven't so that you get updates when I post new material.

[@sjdemartini]

@BlikeNave Yeah feel free to PM me and ask whatever questions you have on recording audio and editing and whatnot. I'm new to this myself, but I'll definitely share what I know. It really didn't take much to get the quality in this recording, so anyone can do it. And I know what you mean about playing the bass parts instead of just tabbing. Always a good way to do it, I think. Thanks for the comment man

[@zaidahmed3282]

This one should reach all metalheads around the globe, massive work \m/

[@sjdemartini]

@homer0428 Thanks for your comment. Glad you appreciate the instrumental music. More to come! Subscribe if you haven't so that you can get updates when I post more! Thanks.

[@sjdemartini]

@PickleWeasel4321 Awesome. I really appreciate your comment. Your specific feedback (the positive and negative) is really helpful, and I'll definitely take your points into consideration. I'm glad you enjoyed the song as a whole. Thanks a lot!

[@sjdemartini]

@AOMCmusic I really appreciate all your kind words. I'm happy you liked my music. As for the song naming, I agree that "real names" would be better. I am actually planning on self-releasing an EP later this year. The songs will certainly have names I feel fit them by that time. If you haven't already, you should subscribe so that you get updates when I post more original music. Again, thanks very much for the comment. I'm glad to have support like yours.

[@sjdemartini]

@Deadmo Haha thanks a lot. Glad you enjoyed it. I really appreciate your comment. I plan on self-releasing my own EP later this year after I get four songs finished. I'm ALMOST done with my third. Have barely any left to record, but I just haven't found the time, busy with school. Stay tuned, more music on the way!

[@sjdemartini]

@kolyo2588 I get asked this quite a bit, so instead of sending individual people my songs upon request, I'm planning on putting up an EP after I get a couple more songs recorded. So stay tuned for that. Thanks for the comment, and glad you're interested!

[@sjdemartini]

@steveyo182 Haha I'll keep that in mind. I have a complete song written from a few years back that I'm gonna mess around with and change up some parts, and there's somewhat of a breakdown in that song. So at some point in the not-too-distant future you'll get that I guess. Stay tuned. Thanks for the ideas, and I appreciate the feedback

[@sjdemartini]

@ArikRattlehead Yeah it's all a home recording done by just me with nothing fancy whatsoever. Please check out the description for some more info on that. If you still have questions, let me know! Thanks for the comment

[@sjdemartini]

@TheHoodedOne23 Thanks for the feedback and criticism. I liked the intro with the guitars by themselves and made the decision to have it sound that way intentionally, but I appreciate hearing what people have to say about my songs! Glad you like my music, and thanks for sub'ing. Hopefully I'll be getting some songs finished in the not-too-distant future

[@sjdemartini]

@001mrmatt Haha thanks a lot! No new demos at the moment. I've got three originals on KZbin right now, so if you haven't seen all of those yet, check them out. I hope to have another song out next year. Stay tuned.

[@sjdemartini]

@PerditionofWisdom Thanks! Definitely not stopping. In fact, I'm more than halfway done recording my next song! Gotta finish up the guitar parts, but shouldn't be too much longer! Thanks for the comment

[@Zorack10]

This is exactly the tone I want to hear when I begin to learn to play guitar,excellent progressive metal guitar playing....

[@jimm5245]

its been well over 10 years since you posted this and I still listen to it a few times a week.

[@sjdemartini]

@boomimosh Read the description for some more info. For drums, I wrote out the drum parts in Guitar Pro 5, and then I exported that as a MIDI file. I ran the MIDI file in my digital audio workstation and used Drumkit From Hell for the somewhat realistic sounds.

[@sjdemartini]

@Mea23Culpa Thanks! At the time that I uploaded this video, I think I'd only heard a couple BTBAM songs. Now I've gone back and listened to more of their music because a few people have told me a similar thing. So now I consider myself a fan. Anyway, thanks for the feedback! Glad you liked the song.

[@sjdemartini]

@heresjonnylawl Fair enough. I'm not the best at mixing, EQing, dialing in guitar tones, mastering, etc. I was satisfied with how it turned out. Thanks for the feedback, and for the next song, maybe I'll try to beef up the guitar tone a bit. I can't promise I can do much better haha. Anyway, I hope you still liked the music, regardless!

[@sjdemartini]

@kaputmonkey The comp? Are you referring to the programmed drums or something? Anyway thanks for the feedback. I appreciate hearing that you liked the production of the song as well as the music itself. Thanks!

[@sjdemartini]

@TheMusic1206 Thanks for the comment! There's definitely no formula to it. Sorta just play around with riffs and come up with stuff that to me sounds good and flows. Anyway, I appreciate your feedback!

[@sjdemartini]

@OneBanMand The drums are written by me. The MIDI files are "played" using Drumkit From Hell, which is a virtual instrument that provides the semi-realistic sounds. I never went to music school. Took a few guitar lessons, but writing music is all about making tunes that sound good to YOU.

[@sjdemartini]

@guitarman069 Haha well I'm glad you like the music. I don't yet have my music available, though I'm trying to get a couple more songs done so that I can release an EP. I will let you know when that comes out. I'll try to up the quality for that. Thanks for commenting

[@sjdemartini]

@VicMurray88 Glad to hear you liked this one. In fact, I wrote this song a year or two before the song in the first original song I uploaded, actually. Anyway, I appreciate your comment!

[@StyL0s_]

The overall song is just awesome but the solo is so Godlike!!! It blew my mind how complex, good sounding and smooth it was. You have a great skill in composition keep that up

[@sjdemartini]

@MrDarkPage Thanks for the comment. I really appreciate it. So far, KZbin is my only website. I have no Facebook, myspace, or anything else. I plan to release an EP via Bandcamp later this year, so stay tuned if you wanna get that. Again, thanks.

[@OgradyPromotions]

I'm one of your 15 monthly spotify listeners. I've been listening to your tracks since 2011. I honestly dont know how toy never got noticed, cause this is some god teir writing. I would LOVE to hear some new stuff some day.

[@sjdemartini]

Thanks so much for the comment and kind words. I have a few more tracks I've been working on periodically, so it might happen if I can find the time. It's motivating to me to hear you'd be interested!

[@kaputmonkey]

I really like the comp in this. Great recording and mix to go with the chops. It's interesting music that kept my attention throughout. Well done..

[@jseebold100]

Steven, this song is AWESOME!!!:) You used so many techniques, very interesting to watch and to listen to! Beautiful melody and nice changes! VERY nicely done+++!!!

[@sjdemartini]

@ridgehype Nope, not on iTunes unfortunately. After I get a couple more songs recorded, I'm going to self-release my own EP. So stay tuned for that. Hopefully I'll get that done in the not-too-distant future. Thanks for the comment, and I'm glad you liked the music and you're interested!

[@fireglow2012]

DUDE well done! very inventive composition, great transitions and very well played. Excellent stuff, very listenable.

[@Niksi88]

Ive been watching this once a day for quite some time now, Love it man.

[@TurnFullCircle]

superb......how i wish i could play anything like this....you have a gift...

[@BioHazardMotionz]

You play so goddamn clean, just found your channel and it looks like I'm gonna have quite the time watching all your videos lol

[@sjdemartini]

@BoyMeetsDrum I appreciate the reply. That's awesome that you're looking forward to the EP. I'll be sure to let you know as soon as I make it happen. Made a lot of progress on my next song yesterday and hope to have it done by mid-January. Anyway, I'm not currently with a band. I've been jamming with some old friends who I played with in high school since I'm home from school right now, but not a serious band commitment. All the music I'm working on is solo stuff. Thanks

[@marcuswhitfield7706]

that bass tapping made this go from awesome to epic

[@MrJr01]

Damn! Can't imagine how proud you must be of your songs. I can't sit still listening to this. At least I have to tap along or bang my head a little :p

[@GuiltyGearRockYou]

very very very nice my friend! keep up the good work!

[@sjdemartini]

@P3313 Thanks a lot! It means a lot to me to hear such positive words and feedback of this sort. Glad you liked my music. I'm working on getting a few more songs done, so stay tuned!

[@JustinCo0per]

Man, A+, gotta give credit to yeah, good tunes. Iove the fact that you did all the work on the track, keep it real and keep rockin.

[@foxxyytofficial]

Its been so many years since i first heard this music on an animation It is still amazing!

[@ZacKeefe]

Hey question for ya, man, how do you get the split screen thing going on? What program do you use? Just a brief response would be nice, thanks. And nice job, this rocks!

[@sjdemartini]

@LlamaTheory Haha awesome! Glad KZbin led you to this song and you enjoyed it! Thank you!

[@sjdemartini]

@RCpkAveiro Haha thanks so much for the nice comment. It's awesome to hear that you were stoked about my music. And for the EP, it'll probably be download-only, so don't worry about shipping! Stay tuned, and thanks again for listening.

[@sjdemartini]

@Cooliossman Awesome, I'm happy you enjoyed it. I'm not planning on posting up any tabs for this at the moment. Instead I'm working on getting a couple more songs written and recorded so that I can release an EP with my original music. But I'm stoked you like my music enough to want to learn it. Thanks for commenting

[@sjdemartini]

@TacoBot5000 Thanks a lot. I really appreciate getting feedback of this sort, and I'm stoked you like the song. It definitely motivates me to work harder to get my other songs written and recorded. I hope to have an EP out some time later this year. Working on recording my next song at the moment. Again, thanks for the support.

[@camilofranco07]

Excellent work, keep going on this!!! You will be one of the greatest!

[@hareloren]

You are a fantastic artist! Keep up the good work. I love your music! I'm a big fan! Long live prog!

[@lostvolt]

Dame that was one of the best composition i have every heard ....

[@Asphyx123]

Awesome playing Steven. Not only the composition is great but this is also an impressive demonstration of skills. Very clean playing and I really like your tone. You mentioned you used to play drums in highschool. So I am guessing the drums on this track are not just programmed but you also played those? You have great talent - keep up the great work! Seb

[@sjdemartini]

@Lovemetallica93 Thanks man! It's awesome to hear such support. Glad you liked the guitar and bass solos. And Cynic is amazing, so it's cool to be compared to them.

[@sjdemartini]

@C0DYMCALISTER Cool! Thanks a lot for subscribing and for giving me feedback on my playing. Glad you liked the music. I'll work on getting some more videos up!

[@albooher1]

That's a very cool original man!! I really like the flow and the tempo changes!! And your fretboard skills are outstanding....guitar and bass!! Great job!

[@sjdemartini]

@odessy8 Thanks for the comment! I appreciate it. Some of my influences: Progressive: Jakub Zytecki, Scale the Summit, Cynic, Animals As Leaders, Cloudkicker, Opeth, Disperse, Gordian Knot, Devin Townsend, Exivious, Spastic Ink, Canvas Solaris, Liquid Tension Experiment, Jeff Loomis, CHON Death Metal: Quo Vadis, Death, Obscura, Gorod, The Faceless, Necrophagist, Blotted Science, Son Of Aurelius Other: Guthrie Govan, Antoine Dufour, Incubus, Jason Becker, Jean Baudin, Marco Sfogli

[@martintesinsky2598]

Still one of the most tasteful and epic instrumental songs I´ve ever heard :-)

[@sjdemartini]

Thanks Martin, really appreciate that! It's motivating for me, since I've actually got some new tunes in the works again finally

[@martintesinsky2598]

@@sjdemartini you´re welcome :) I´m glad you´re still playing Steven. I can´t wait to hear your new stuff! :)

[@Alexander4751]

WOW! that is awesome...thanks for sharing your musical creativity! Yep, you got subbed.

[@Hearthebrontide]

Again another song by you that does not disappoint me, You have great style and you are fluent with your riffs. I will subscribe now.

[@shawn2point0]

yea dude this is another masterpiece dude good job. very good quality. you're going places man take the internet by storm

[@Katzmusic112]

@sjdemartini i have a diamond series but i have always loved the hellraiser. i saw you said u have been playing for about 5 years. the bass really sounds good too, how long have you been playing bass? or do you just mess around?

[@sjdemartini]

@Pu2Fast4Last Haha, not exactly my end goal. But it'd definitely be cool to have more people hear my music. Thanks for commenting!

[@VictorMurrayvm88]

This is a huge improvement from the first. I like the righteous chord progression and technicality in the solos. Good stuff.

[@sjdemartini]

@Transistor97 Awesome, thanks for posting the comment. I will work hard to make sure the mix is better on the next song I record. I appreciate the feedback and criticism. I'm happy you liked the music

[@sjdemartini]

@vc8redtails Sweet! Thanks a lot for your kind words. I really appreciate the comment, and I'm happy you liked the music. I definitely do love playing and writing this stuff

[@SeanLain]

I this one is so awesome! Personally i like it better that the first one, but they are both awesome! I love the bass work in this song, not to mention the stunning guitar work. Keep these coming, they're so epic sounding!

[@ProtonMotiveForce]

Dude, I really dig this song. Awesome playing! Its getting hard to find music that holds my interest so keep it up.

[@sjdemartini]

@MnstH Thanks man! Glad you're stoked for the EP. Hearing feedback is motivation for me to get to more writing and recording. So thanks!

[@sjdemartini]

@Hellbrigade88 I really appreciate hearing that man. Awesome to know people enjoy the music I write. Stay tuned. More on the way!!!

[@sjdemartini]

@GregoryFortwhip Wow! Thanks a lot! It really means a lot to me to hear that. Great to know I've got support and that people dig my music. Hopefully I'll get an EP out there in the not-too-distant future. Gotta finish recording a couple more songs. Again, thanks

[@sjdemartini]

@CheIseaSmiIe Awesome! That's great to hear that you enjoyed it that much. I appreciate the comment. Hopefully I'll be able to put out some new music in the not-too-distant future. Working on writing right now, actually

[@sjdemartini]

@FiraaKeitake Awesome! Glad to hear it. And yeah, those EMGs are pretty sweet. My 7-string (the guitar in my other original prog metal video on KZbin) has active EMGs as well. For my next guitar, though, I'm thinking I'll get some passive pickups so I can experiment with some different sounds. Thanks for the comment.

[@johnfotus716]

Oh my god. I thought this was a cover as I was listening. Man, you're amazing bro.

[@schugowski]

Great song I listen to for ages always like to thank you for Upload produce more of it. Is a song and it's been covered by certain bands? If so, which?

[@Death8498]

God, watching you makes me feel like i play like complete dog shit haha. I love every single section of this. This stuff is so badass dude. Good job!!

[@sjdemartini]

@NailsForDinner Sorry for the huge delay! Anyway, I'd recommend any of the nicer video editing software: Apple's Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premiere Pro, or Sony Vegas Pro. Those programs will let you do split screen really easily. Hope that helps!

[@FiraaKeitake]

I'm really impressed. Keep them coming dude, you're my inspirations. EMG all the way!

[@sjdemartini]

@OfAllTheyHad Cool, glad you liked that part. Thanks for the comment. It's nice to get specific feedback like that

[@m3nt4l173]

Unbelievably awesome songs man!! This is true progressive metal!! Cant stop listening to your songs! Keep up the good work and consider going into the studio, i'd definetely buy studio quality songs!

[@terran1849]

Would you recommend this guitar? I've heard the neck is pretty fat. Btw love the song, i'm a huge fan.

[@sjdemartini]

@he2he I appreciate the feedback. Glad you enjoyed them. And that's definitely very helpful criticism. I will be using a compressor for my next song, which I'm in the process of recording right now. Thanks!!

[@Lemonbrah]

@sjdemartini It's good to know that you're planning on releasing one sometime in the future, I'll definitely be keeping my eyes open for that. Good luck!

[@140358]

Great composition man! I really wish I could write stuff HALF as good as this! Keep it up man! You're very talented!

[@MrDreamsAlot]

Sorry to send u a dumb question coment but i was wondering??? When u r righting music do u start out with a key? Or scale? Or choard? Or wut is th formula u use if there is any? I`m strugling righting my own guitar instermentals and i jus don`t know how to bring the music to a whole so everything works together. It just sounds like a bunch of cool guitar parts, but they sound like i`m skiping threw a bunch of difrent traks.

[@sjdemartini]

@BoyMeetsDrum Haha thanks for the comment. Glad you're stoked for more music. I'm in the process of writing more right now, hoping to get another song (maybe two if I really buckle down) done by mid-January. The drum parts are written out (i.e. programmed) by me, played through Drumkit From Hell, software that has fairly realistic sounding drums. Hope that answers your question.

[@blacklabelmansociety]

Which programm do you used to mix the two videos? Could somebody suggest me one?

[@beammeupscotty1955]

Wow! Very nice work! I have been listening to Prog Rock for over 40 years now and though I am not and have never been a fan of metal, I am a fan of good work and this is truly excellent work. You play with machine like precision and I mean that in a good way, ala Robert Fripp. I will certainly check out your other videos. Keep up the magnificent work. High School? I can hardly believe it.

[@sjdemartini]

@MarvinMoshaka Oh nice. The Blackjack is pretty awesome. I was looking into it actually, but I want a guitar with some passive pickups and a fixed bridge next time so that I can get some new sounds. I was looking at the Jackson SLS3 Soloist (one can dream, right?). A PRS or Carvin would be awesome for sure. Maybe someday... haha