Periphery's Mark Holcomb - Building Chords Into Single-Note Riff Ideas

[@AlexStarbard]

Pretty much anything Mark plays just sounds fucking amazing, love his style

[@terran236]

+Alex Starbard agreed ten-fold

[@ItzRoger]

It sounds like an insanely driven tone but in reality it's really just moderate gain at a loud volume and god tier EQ for rich beautiful clarity. i could listen to his chords forever

[@JTwatchesyoutube]

Those are some great pickups. They maintain a lot of clarity under distortion.

[@JTwatchesyoutube]

***** I think they are the seymour duncan alpha and omega pickups (his signature set)

[@blackjackmcgack]

***** Nazgul and Sentient or go home

[@serendipititieshq1748]

Your profile picture is the same as my background

[@MarkToast99]

It took me a long time to figure out what was so special about these pickups, and it finally hit me that even playing a single note on these pickups sounds like its clashing with itself and gives that filthy snarling tone. These are THE metal pickups

[@Ivel307]

Well its a 5000 dollar guitar it better sound good haha

[@rigorhead01]

That's a killer heavy tone he's got there. I'm usually not a fan of super high gain, but this sounds great. It tight and refined, not noisey or out of control. Nice!

[@Dannylopezproductions]

AXE FX! \M/

[@MFKR696]

Hollis Prince It's actually not super-high gain. They run through clean overdrives into amp models (AxeFX II) that are driven just enough to get the harmonics singin. Super high gain is not the way to go if you want people to actually be able to hear what you're playing.

[@RX120D]

There's really not all that much gain in his tone. The amp itself is pushing maybe half OR LESS of what it's gain channel can produce. It's all about how hot the input signal from the guitar is. I know nothing about his pickups, but I'll assume they are mid to high range on the output scale. The pickups themselves obviously have a significant impact on the end result, but for a tone like this I'd say the majority of the tone itself is generated by what he puts in front of his amp (along with the amp's settings of course, but that's basic so I'll pass over that for now). If you have a tube amp (or AxeFX/Kemper/Amp Sim), a simple way to add clarity can be achieved in at least two ways. 1.) An overdrive pedal. (Tube Screamer, FATRAT...) 2.) A parametric EQ. (The same can be achieved with a graphic EQ but it's overly complicated for our application) BEFORE I GET INTO THIS - TURN YOUR FUCKING AMP GAIN DOWN. Set preamp gain at half/noon while you experiment with this. These methods boost the hell out of your preamp. Setting amp gain too high will make a nasty over saturated sound. In many cases, the mud in your tone is coming from the power amp. Keep the Master Volume low unless you're rocking out on something British. ;) Just roll it back, trust me. OD PEDALS: Overdrive pedals have been a staple of gain heavy guitar tones for decades. They are very simple. An overdrive pedal will simply boost the level of your incoming guitar signal (simply making it 'louder/hotter' in terms of line db) before it gets sent to the amplifier. Boosting this signal (ie. adding GAIN, not distortion) will push the amplifier's preamp and power section into clipping much easier. With tube amps/sims, clipping is your friend! This is how thick tone and spongy pick attack is achieved. The peak transients of your picking are smashed by the pre-amp which gives you the oh so lovely CHUG or DJENT that you love. Add that hot signal from the combination of the OD and the preamp to the power section and you get massive amounts of tube saturation. You're literally pushing your tubes to their limit. In other words, you're compressing your signal to be as 'loud' as possible before it hits the amp to coax more natural gain and harmonic content from your amplifier. So when you see a Tube Screamer before the input jack on an amp with GAIN at 0 and LEVEL at 10, you know that the signal is being boosted like a motherfucker so the nectar of the distortion gods can be squeezed from every last bit of your amp's electronics. The GAIN is at 0 because you don't want to add artificial clipping. The LEVEL is boosted to encourage the amplifier itself to clip, providing you with the uber chugga tone of your dreams while maintaining a high level of clarity. (The clarity is achieved because you specifically altered your tone to emphasize natural clipping from your amp and not by adding 'artificial distortion'. DISTORTION BAD - OVERDRIVE GOOD! As for the Tone knob, most people like it maxed, but it usually sounds best around 2:30-3:00 o'clock. A PARAMETRIC EQ: The Parametric EQ method does exactly the same thing BUT it allows you to sculpt the signal from your guitar to complement the amplifier you are playing through. Basic Setup: Starting off, throw a PEQ pedal/unit between your guitar and your amp. A high-pass filter is ESSENTIAL here. High-pass is how you keep things TIGHT. Cut your low end with a High-Pass at around 150hz with a strong Q to pull all the muddy garbage out of your signal (your guitar's natural frequency range is strongest around 900hz/2khz. This is why anything below 100/150hz can be cut with no repercussions). Now use the LEVEL knob/slider and boost the FUCK out of it. Hear all that saturation going on? Yeah, that's right. There is the distortion you want with the clarity you need! Sculpt your tone further by accentuating different frequencies in the tonal spectrum. 1400hz is a nice sweet spot on most guitars if you're trying to achieve that metallic 'djent' sound. So set a tight Q around 1400hz and boost it by a few db. Feel it out. Feel free to cut some of the really high pitched noise with a low pass. Don't set it too low or your tone will DIE. Flat as a pancake. A little bit of fizz is crucial to having a cutting tone. I wouldn't cut anything at all under 10kHz. If you ask me, the PEQ method is best for achieving clarity. It adds little to no tonal coloration to your tone. It's my go-to for heavy tones and sharp Thrash tones alike. The really important part is this: EXPERIMENT as much as possible! These two methods will change your tone drastically. If you experiment, you might find another avenue to uncharted tone territory. Just play around; boost this, cut that! Don't be shy! Most importantly... Find your own sound! A unique tone is always an ear-catcher! Build upon your influences and try to break new tonal ground! Have fun!

[@robertmarcellino7939]

Wow, thanks for that! I feel like I just learned a lot.

[@sevazakharenko8176]

I didn't even come here for a lesson but got damn you just inspired me! Thank you!

[@proculusjulius7035]

I really love your story... Its so emotional. 😂😂

[@RX120D]

@@robertmarcellino7939 You're welcome, Robert. :)

[@RX120D]

@@sevazakharenko8176 Hope you've got a badass tone now, Vsevolod. \m/

[@lorenzocafferata6826]

90% of those chords are playable in standard tuning as well. They're just chord clusters, add9, sus2, sus4 chords from jazz/fusion derivation. Using them in hi-gain contest and metal songs is freakin awesome and absolutely innovative

[@uthumb1]

Shit man people have been using these chords in metal for ages. Its not some new innovative' thing.

[@aldoorozco7978]

Thanks for the info. Im a standard tuning player but I love djent

[@ac1dbassdistortion]

I used to be all bass and peripherys chords made me want to learn guitar alongside it to expand my riffing through creative chords.

[@wakjob961]

I've been listening and following this style of disjointed/schizophrantic single note riffing for 7-8 years now, and I just started to rap my head around it. Then comes along Mark Holcomb and humbles me back to square one.

[@mitchcoull6290]

The intonation on that guitar is INSANE!

[@bodomguitar91]

Such an underrated guitarist...

[@andrewt248]

Wow, them's some close intervals for metal/high-gain. Love it!

[@KillerShark73]

Amazingly beautiful guitar!

[@kerrytaylor4643]

Man, I love Mark Holcomb. That Am7add2 in Pale Aura (5:35) is tough as balls.

[@JamesRumas3DArtist]

I physically can't barre the 6 and 5th strings with my thumb while maintaining a 5 fret stretch with the rest of my fingers I have no idea how he is doing that.

[@uj5436]

Kerry Taylor we’re all very impressed with your knowledge of chord names

[@AaronWelchMusic]

How the shit is there so much gain without losing clarity?!!?!?

[@heathbarnhart1092]

Aaron Welch Not sure what he is doing, but I believe part of it is a good tube amp and an overdrive with the volume up and gain off. Misha has a video were he does it with a mesa boogie (dual rec I think) and a bulb OD. I won't say I understand what's happening to the signal, but it adds clarity without sucking the gain out. I tried on my rig, which is an Orange Crush Pro 60 (solid state) and a Hotone Grass Overdrive and it works.

[@guitarworld]

Aaron Welch Fractal Axe-FX II is the answer!

[@brianloughlin2340]

Aaron Welch There's a combination of factors, but the biggest would be the pickup set he has in his guitars: the Seymour Duncan Alpha/Omega set. It's an aggressive-sounding set, but it has more moderate output so it can clean up well and is specially voiced so that you can hear all of the notes in a chord voicing with as much clarity as possible. The other factor would be his Axe-FX II.

[@SWicKLives]

Aaron Welch Axe-FX II-XL, not Tube.

[@jameshewitt891]

Aaron Welch His pickups are designed to have ridiculous clarity as well

[@dougcronkhite2113]

Mark is one of the most inventive guitarists today with his chord voicings.. reminds me of Jim Matheos in many ways.

[@brandonlam1477]

Literally one of the most talented humans on Earth. Love this dude.

[@metalbyku]

4:23 is simply impossilbe. period.

[@tigerstripe3820]

He's insane, I like to relax not stress my hands with that hellish chords.

[@modestorosado1338]

There's no way in hell I can fret that chord the way he does, but I found that I can fret the two lower notes using my middle finger while using the other fingers to fret the remaining notes. It's still very uncomfortable and I would find it very hard to switch in and out of that chord quickly. But hey, at least I can do it.

[@ossibossi100]

He certainly knows alot of cool chords without knowing theory. That's pretty cool actually. Cool.

[@CosmicDiamond999]

he still might have know some since he should make adjustments time to time for staying in the same key.

[@nosaurus4316]

Cool.

[@cowboygeorge5056]

Cool

[@_Moody_1502]

Cool

[@jaredt3985]

Cool. I’ve actually been learning theory lately and to be honest, it’s really not hard to grasp, at least on paper. Applying it to the fretboard, and knowing where to go with it is the challenge. It also seems much more useful to someone trying to play lead over a chord progression, than someone who’s just riffing around. Metal is full of riffs that are atonal, dissonant, and chromatic in nature, and they sound awesome. Tons of awesome bands write killer songs with next to no theory knowledge. When it comes to chord tone targeting or using arpeggiated notes in a solo though, theory is only going to help you. Probably why most guys that teach theory or understand it the most are predominantly lead players. Edit: also wanted to say that 99% of the people I see that are teaching theory aren’t nearly as good or creative at guitar as Mark Holcomb. Not trying to make a point, just an observation.

[@rjsmith452]

He has no idea about what the chords are lol. But it really does not matter as long as it sounds good IN MY OPINION.

[@tonykratos]

Exactly,if sounds good,it sounds good,fuck theory.

[@deemontv7643]

Indeed ... I often do Some of that.. Then my friends asks me and illl just say "i dunno what im fucking doing " but it sounds good .. Lols

[@rjsmith452]

punkprince lann exactly

[@rjsmith452]

tonykratos good is good

[@und9r]

***** It's because you won't learn chords like that in books, they're too complex harmonically, these are not even jazz chords. I think i've heard Misha say that they usually noodle with intervals until they find chords that sound huge and intricate. Mark is certainly more than able to tell you the name of the chords by spelling their intervals but that wouldn't be of any use

[@Rooz247]

such a rediculously gifted musician his voicing is phenominal

[@JustAGuy247]

OMG! Mark on GuitarWorld. My life is complete.

[@paulbuerger1792]

It's like Mark was made by the gods to play guitar. Everything he does sounds sounds and looks amazingly natural, like he was just born with this skill.

[@MiraaagePenguin]

I'd love to hear his riffs in a clean version, especially with those crispy chords of his!

[@Juventud2222]

I've been waiting for a lesson like this for some time. I get stuck on chord transitions and single notes into chords. Thanks Mark

[@brandongordon123]

Wouldnt it make more sense if the title of the video is "Building Chords Using Single Note Ideas"? not into

[@kreepthedestroyer]

I was thinking the same thing.lol.

[@jette2001]

Brandon Gordon yea i kinda thought the same..........

[@alexserafini5205]

Brandon Gordon Nah, because he's implementing the chords into an already existing single note riff

[@jette2001]

Alex Serafini nope brandon gordon is right.

[@wtfareyousmoking]

+Brandon Gordon I think the title is using "building" in the sense that he's "integrating" or "adding" the chords to the riff instead of "building" the chords into the riffs. I originally interpreted it as the former, too.

[@Eduardosidcardoso]

It feels for me, a bit, that is like a metal jimi hendrix, cause it's big cool chords, with nice phrases that both connect rhythmically and outline them chords. Really awesome and full of dynamcics

[@shintarotachibana9578]

Mark. Thanks for the knowledge. I'll apply these ideas of yours.

[@WildWildWeasel]

Gotta love how he snuck up abit the Pale Aura riff in there

[@godwinbssdd]

i do this kind of stuff too, every lick ive ever came up with i figure out as many ways as i can to play it and mix that together to get the best sound

[@crls.0]

It's about Mrakie, opens with a riff by Nollie...

So true what he said about chords in metal nowadays

[@Stonewall380]

Gave me some ideas. Thanks for this video! I really enjoyed it.

[@marstopia8992]

5:35 Amazing Riff Button

[@austinbuell6438]

Please upload the patch for this amazing tone!

[@saintidiot]

I wish I could understand Mark and Misha's approach to writing, its genius imo

[@Novembrine616]

I'm not into Periphery stuff but....dude, that tone...so clear. Damn

[@steeledavis79]

Anyone know what that jacket is he's wearing? I want one.

[@coryjuba]

steeledavis79 FIND THAT JACKET.

[@soloking2141]

steeledavis79 i got ao lucky on this but if you google the tt/957-872 you will come across a clothing brand called Tom Tailor...thats the brand...i couldnt track down the jacket for you though

[@mrmimeguy]

IT IS A BKE South Fork Jacket from Tom Tailer

[@jhar9022]

No joke - how did I know that the name of his column was going to be some exceptionally fabricated pun? Love this guy's playing.

[@Right_in2]

Absolute fucking legends for getting him on

[@CodyGudmundsen]

Oh, holy shit. I just wrote a riff the other day with that exact same chord shape at 1:24. Rooted on the 8th fret and everything.

[@sexy350Zowner]

Mark's signature Custom 24 is one of the most gorgeous instruments I've ever seen.... but it doesn't seem to be available anywhere

[@metalheadblues]

It's a custom . Just get the SE

[@citrus7115]

@@metalheadblues He has a signature model

[@DarkSagebeast]

Fuck yes! New chords to memorize! Glad to finally see mark on guitar world

[@kermheat]

Great Guitar Lesson !!! Periphery rules!!! Mââââ!!!!

[@Limitsofinfinity]

Cool technique. Would try it. Nice Matte finish on that guitar too

[@luigi1mario]

whats the song at figure 2 0:56

[@jayseb]

Monster sound, great artistic feel. Thanks!

[@TieDyeFTW]

Man, that jacket is really noice. Also, godly riffs.

[@comedykennedys5791]

Just one word...tone, tone, tone

[@Yord_Music]

Mark is such a talented guitar player and a cool dude. It would be nice to see him in a different project.

[@flips220]

dropless2002 There's possibly a new Haunted Shores album on the way, but that's not too far removed from Periphery, as Misha Mansoor is also involved in that project as well.

[@rickybooby2221]

a really great tone! anyone know what kind of amp this guy uses?? and what tuneing?

[@TheRealFoxeR]

Ricky Booby He's using an Axe FX 2 XL (I think. Whatever the newest one is). I would guess he's using either the Peavey 5150 sim, or the Friedman HBE sim. He's also tuned to Drop C (CGCFAD)

[@rickybooby2221]

+Yeon Ji Sung actualy he has his own crazy tuneing. it is drop c but with an a at the top. he says this in one video later on

[@TheRealFoxeR]

Ricky Booby Not in this video.

[@leonmaster5182]

What are you tuned to? would this work in drop C? and would this work on my 7 string.

[@coastcoretv1265]

anyone know what tuning he's using in this video?

[@kylelee5183]

CoastCore TV drop c

[@mopheadthe3rd]

Im glad people are starting to realise the music is the theory and not the other way around.......only took us the entire history of the universe.

[@sethmarquez6076]

Fat Milky hardly. Ever listen to classical piano? The greats had the fundamentals perfected, but still demanded that the art express emotion in the purest way possible. Theory is important, but good musicians understand that it’s only the art explained in an academic sense. Check out the Baroque era of music. One of the main goals of composers of that era was to convey emotions, and paint musical pictures for the listener to enjoy, and interpret.

[@uj5436]

Fat Milky mark doesn’t even know theory

[@NaTe422pEck]

My complete inspiration for the way i play

[@Emm_R_Guitar]

I love these kinda riffs and full chords. but they sound goddamn awful if you've got a shit distortion or unlevel pickups as you dont get the right voicing and loose notes. idk if that makes sense to anyone else.

[@rblyle382]

Emm Rouse true. Pups make a massive difference in this style music.

[@tunjet1707]

Emm Rouse i'm kinda late here but there are a few key things you can do to get a tone that works perfectly with both chords and single notes: -try using as low gain as possible, the distortion should be produced exclusively by whatever you put in front of the amp(distortion/OD pedal), this gives you a much more controlled sound. -a high and low pass filter, remove the top and bottom signal that is mostly residual noise, to get a clear image of your chords. -if you use a VST like bias FX, you can also learn to set up a compressor so you have a similar output regardless of if you are playing a chord or a single note, which also helps getting a more balanced tone. I hope this helps you!

[@bparsons1239]

Yeah. It's those pickups. I have that guitar. They have amazing clarity. I can't put this guitar down because of them.

[@Brian.A.Simmons]

As I've mentioned in other videos, these are jazz chords. It's nothing new, just jazz chord variations with distortion. I use them all the time myself. Love the guitar pattern by the way. I'm not a PRS fan, but that guitar looks like a nice hot cup of joe!

[@davidjenson1570]

Great video!

[@langy8525]

Awesome awesome guitar!

[@leonmaster5182]

Mark please make videos to help dudes like me. There are not enough vids that teach riff and chord ideas on drop tunning.

[@tofolcano9639]

05:34 name of the song pls?

[@joonamustonen3128]

Pale Aura

[@SecretEyeSpot]

i took this dude for granted, dope sht

[@jedimastergarcia87]

I'm ore of a rhythm player so this really helps =]

[@guitarbassist95]

I have that exact same Shining shirt yay.

[@mstringer90]

what tuning is he in???

[@JackMorris916]

Drop C

[@calebevans3690]

can anyone play the chord at the beginning of figure 9, i really want to play that riff, but can't play the first chord

[@kaosfairy99]

I would love to know which chords are so I can play with them differently.

[@d4j3b]

Hey Guys, this is Mark from Periphery working his nuts off in a series of technical videos getting more and more tired as the videos go on in the same seat for what seems hours on end. Yeah, they are paying me for it but as you can see the reason why I'm still wearing my jacket isn't because its cold, I just want to get back home and chill....... Thanks Mark for your time though, you're amazing. Cheers.

[@uzzwickg3415]

Uh, what was the song at the beginning?

[@EpicAttack]

Omega

[@uzzwickg3415]

EpicAttack thanks

[@EpicAttack]

Uzzwick G No problem :)

[@No1WillMakeItOutAlive]

5:35 holy shit that's a dope riff

[@TheBballboy99]

Anybody know any pickups that are similar to his set then??

[@daidiary4748]

I'm new to chord theory but is there any names for those chords?

[@Brian.A.Simmons]

To answer this simply, they are jazz chords.

[@adusparx]

Mark tremonti's black bird signature prs?

[@berkekaan2808]

+Adith Dinesh no this is his own signature model

[@jaapmeijaard6106]

Dude the single note riff sounds so much better played with the chords

[@alphablood13ross59]

Who does the opening for this? That riff is killer. Is it for the channel, or Periphery? New to the channel, so don't judge lol 🤘

[@Dark_Aves]

So I know this comment is hella old but the song is Omega by Periphery

[@avogaster]

Drop C? In that tuning what that chords are?

[@invisiblegraveyard4742]

is this a drop tuning????

[@vejichan]

What string gauges, picks, tuning?

[@j0eb0t0]

that sounds so clear. what kinda amp is that? or solely on pickups?

[@kevincasals2008]

Can someone tell me what tuning he is using

[@bocik2854]

Im probably late, but its drop C

[@saxonwolf88]

Tones sound awesome! Haunted Shores this all of this awesomeness. But when I first listened to Haunted Shores I had no idea how attractive Mark was... But damn.

[@sebastiansantana1947]

those pickups sound so pissed. i love it

[@logika5135]

whats opening song?

[@dustinsims9873]

what guitar is he using and what pick ups does he have on it?

[@TamerlanRespawn]

He's using his signature PRS with his, again, signature Seymour Duncan Alpha and Omega pickups.

[@NaPsTeR_YT]

What's the tuning he's in. Open Cadd9 ?

[@judsonchristudas]

What a tone... Omg!

[@KeannuReevezzz03]

nice and big \m/ mark holcomb

[@MrGolden43]

Is it just me or when someone else uses the same chord or something and your trying to make your own shit up it makes you feel weird? Like your copying them because your using the same chord as that person??

[@zachhays9974]

"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources." -Albert Einstein

[@dickblackbeard5752]

All good music is a mimic of the players favorite music.

[@joshuamurphy2476]

@@zachhays9974 "Why do people in the future keep citing me for stuff I never said?" -Albert Einstein

[@hruiz93]

guitar model?

[@SweetTsilence]

What tuning is he in?

[@taufikrenaldipasha2239]

and how about tune..?

[@JokerCat9]

Drop C

[@vejichan]

What string gauge...tuning?

[@JunkieMonkey321]

drop C, 11-56 daddarios

[@prashuryagoswami6122]

what tune is that

[@mimimorlan]

Yes!!!! Figure 1 and 2 are ear candy!!! I’ve always wondered what it would sound like in a song.... *plays immaterial by haunted shores* EUREKA!!!! Awesome video! Awesome guitarists! Awesome column. Thanks guys!

[@inkaseofanemergencyofficia3657]

2:30 Sorry to flip you off with this finger I dont mean to as he sticks it up. I dig it guitar language

[@zacksbh7424]

The opening song ?

[@LucasCaetanoGuitar]

Awesome!

[@justinsobczynski1762]

What is his tuning?

[@JEZLIVE2010]

3:42 to finish off

[@SamDiazProducer]

Never realized how much Mark sounds like Dave Weckl in this video.

[@riohutomo7509]

what tuning is this?

[@IanRWC43]

oir not entirely sure but it's most likely drop C