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Tetrafusion



Last Updated: 12/22/2009

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Status: Single
City: Shreveport
Country: US
Signup Date: 10/28/2006

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Friday, November 27, 2009 

Current mood:  stoked
Category: Music
TETRAFUSION, the Louisiana-based progressive metal quartet, have unveiled the artwork and track listing for their sophomore effort entitled Altered State.

Altered State track listing:

1. Collage of the Present
2. Monologue
3. Last Chance
4. The Deserter
5. Altered State (instrumental)
6. Shadows
7. Tears of the Past

The album artwork can be viewed below:




Altered State is the follow-up to TETRAFUSION’s self-financed, full-length debut, Absolute Zero. The debut was released to critical acclaim, and was also declared as “one of the best instrumental releases of 2009” by Ultimate-Guitar.Com. Altered State will be the band's first time to feature vocals in their work; duties taken by keyboardist/vocalist Gary Tubbs. Stay tuned at the group's MySpace page to receive future updates and news as the release approaches next year. The album is scheduled for an early 2010 release.


11:25 PM 
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Friday, August 07, 2009 

Current mood:  stoked
Category: Music
Hey guys! We're just beginning to get the new album underway, and couldn't be more excited to share the experience with all of you. We are absolutely stoked to be working with QueenSix Productions once again, as we know they'll do an amazing job as always. This blog will be updated week by week to show our progress in the studio, so keep checking back, as we will continue to post pictures and videos regularly. We are recording the album in two sessions; the first half will be recorded throughout the rest of August, then we will take a month off, and resume the second half toward the end of September and then throughout October/November. We'll only be doing a blog for session one...don't want to spill out too much of the new material before we release it. Expect an early-mid 2010 release...we can't wait for you guys to hear the final product. Enjoy reading!

Monday, August 3rd - Friday, August 7th:

Monday, we spent the afternoon preparing scratch tracks, click tracks, MIDI exports, and worked on a few other pre-production necessities so that we can get the ball rolling later on in the week. Originally planning to have started Wednesday, the studio had some new equipment being shipped in from Dallas, so we needed to wait until it arrived on Thursday to begin.

Wednesday, we arrived very early to begin setting up the drums, which takes absolutely FOREVER with as picky as we are about getting things sounding right. We worked non-stop throughout the day to get everything setup how we wanted, experimented with a few mic setups, and got the drums sounding absolutely AMAZING after we finished up some basic EQ'ing. I can't wait to hear what these sound like after mixing!

Pictures: Getting the drums setup, getting levels set, and EQ'ing!







Thursday, we began recording in the early afternoon after we picked up the new microphones that were being shipped in, and after making some minor adjustments, got straight to it! After today, we manged to get one full song finished and started another that we'll continue tomorrow.

GEAR USED: Mapex Orion series kit, Sabian cymbals, Pearl rack/pedals

TOMS: 10", 12", 14", 16"
BASS DRUM: 22"
SNARE DRUMS: 12" Mapex Black Panther, 14" Mapex Orion, 8" Toca Timbale

Picture: J.C. recording!



Friday, we finished up the drums entirely for session one (four songs), and they are sounding excellent. As stated earlier, we will head back into the studio at the end of September to finish the remaining drum tracks for the album. Check out the video below for a drum wrap up!

Video: STUDIO UPDATE #1 (DRUMS: SESSION ONE)




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Saturday, August 8th - Tuesday, August 11th

Saturday, we showed up after lunch to begin setting up for guitar tracking. For you gear heads out there, we used:

GUITARS: EBMM John Petrucci 7-String BFR, Gibson acoustic
EFFECTS: Boss GT-8 (wah, phasers, flangers, etc.)
AMP/CAB: MESA Dual Rectifier amp, Orange 4x12 cab, and a Fender DeVille combo tube amp for cleans

Picture: Setting up the guitar rig...



Microphones used: Audix I5 on the grill, Shure SM-57 about 8" away



Room mic used: AKG414



We got the cab set up in the live room, mic'd, then brought the amp back in the control room to keep them separate for obvious reasons. Experimented with different mic setups for a few hours and managed to get things sounding GREAT. We went over to the control room to begin to record and suddenly noticed no sound coming from the amp except an odd, faint, crackling noise. Brooks's head is somewhat old and sometimes the volume knobs cut out if accidentally bumped or something. We began fiddling with cables, knobs, and got nothing. We flicked the amp on standby and changed to another channel, requiring me to stick my head between the wall and the back of the amp. Seconds after switching channels and turning the amp back on, the tubes lit up bright orange like a Christmas tree and exploded in my face, but I managed to jerk my head up quick enough to avoid most of it. We all sort of sat around in sheer shock and confusion as to what caused the firework display coming from the amp. Turns out that the loud volume of the cab in the other room was causing the speaker cable to rattle out of the back, leaving it halfway hanging out while being in contact with the metal surrounding the input, resulting in that loud crackling sound -- (you know, THAT noise). We couldn't hear it because the rooms are pretty much completely soundproofed and we had briefly turned off the monitors in the control room, so it was just sitting there like that for almost a full minute. Turning it to another channel (that happened to be at a higher gain for tracking the leads) resulted in the overall drive of the amp completely blowing the tubes, and the fuse too.

No problem, we went and picked up a few spare tubes/fuses, and fixed it up. Came back a few hours later, and continued setting up. We duct taped the cable into the back of the cab to prevent this from happening furthermore, as it continued to rattle out again a few times later in the day. However, we felt the day was too eventful to record officially, and that we'd just get an early start the next day. We left on a note of EXTREME relief that nothing got severely damaged. It happens!

Sunday, we started extremely early as we had planned, and got straight to work. We wanted to continue to try a few different mic setups one last time before we officially recorded anything, so spent a little while doing this. Soon after, we began recording and didn't stop until the early evening. Managed to get all the rhythms done for all the standard-tuned songs, and tomorrow we'll be working on finishing up the leads and begin recording all of our cleans and acoustic overdubs after that. Planning on getting all the guitars for session one out of the way by Tuesday or Wednesday so we can move onto bass as the weekend rolls in...(I'm looking forward to this part!)

Pictures: Brooks recording!







Monday, we arrived after lunch to finish tracking where we left off. Got the tones dialed in again, started recording, and managed to get most of the cleans done by the early evening. Tomorrow will mostly consist of acoustic overdubs and a few touch-ups all around.

Picture: Old Gibson acoustic that the studio let us use...sounds great!



Tuesday, we got straight to it a little after 8AM and went non-stop until about 7PM, managing to get ALL guitars done for session one (again, just four songs). Taking the rest of the week off to let our engineer do some editing and early mixing, and then we'll begin tracking the bass parts Friday evening. Looking forward!

Video: STUDIO UPDATE #3 (GUITARS: SESSION ONE)!




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Friday, August 14th - Sunday, August 16th

Friday, we went out to our engineer's home studio to track bass, as it wasn't necessary to drive an hour out to the actual studio to do such a simple thing (doesn't require much setup at all to record bass). First, we got the fretless song out of the way, as that thing is a beast to play. On top of being critical and nit-picky while recording like anyone would be, it took even longer to get things just right. You have to be SO exact with a fretless or it will sound awful, so I really had to practice my ASS off just to play it decently. Spent an hour or two getting the fretless tone sounding very retro/vintage, and recorded the first half of one of our slower songs...you guys are going to be quite surprised with this one!

Picture: Fretless EQ on GK head...



AMP: Gallien-Krueger 1001-RB Mark II
BASSES: Conklin GTBD 7-String, 1988 MIJ Fretless Fender Jazz

Picture: The gear listed above!



Saturday, we finished up the fretless song, but the bass solo took a REALLY long time to get perfect. After that, we got to working on the other songs with my 7-string...got two of them knocked out by about 4:30PM. Managed to get the most punchy, fat bass tone out of my head. VERY impressed with Gallien-Krueger products...lightyears better than the Ampeg I had before.

Sunday, finished up the bass completely for session one...which again, was four songs. Really not much to write for tracking bass...show up, record, leave, haha. Everything's sounding great though. The song we recorded today uses nothing bass harmonics for the entire verse along with acoustic guitar, which gives it a really cool atmosphere. Again, we're experimental with a lot of things (experimental metal?), so we love going down those avenues. So yeah, after today...all drum/guitar/bass recording done! We'll start recording vocals this Friday, then keyboards after that. Looking forward!

Video: STUDIO UPDATE #2 (BASS: SESSION ONE)!




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Friday, August 21st - Tuesday, August 25th

Friday, we got an early start to begin setting up for vocals! Sang through all the songs and got a few rough takes, and then started recording soon after. Basically he just sang five or six takes of each section, and when mixing time comes we'll go through and take the best parts from each take (most common way to do it). So, he managed to get one song fully done before we left for the day. Planning to get a lot of work done tomorrow!

Pictures: Gary recording VOCALS!





Saturday, we wrapped up all the vocals for session one...didn't take as long as we thought! Everything's sounding great and spot on...all of us including our engineer worked a lot on tone, emotion, and lyrics with Gary, and it's turning out fantastic. Got some cool lyrics stuff we've worked on, and it's great to hear it in the mix now. Still have to do backup vocals with the rest of the band, but as far as lead vocals and harmony overdubs...that's a wrap! I guess Saturdays are just productive days in the studio?

Monday, we started tracking keys...this is usually my favorite part because it REALLY makes the songs come together. We don't have two guitarists, so this would be the equivalent of the second guitarist recording and hearing the results. It's sounding great so far...the keys add so many embellishments and lots of texture. Out of these four songs, there are only keys in two of them. The other two, Gary only sings...we didn't want the arrangements to be TOO busy all the time, and it'll give the live performances a bit of variety so he isn't behind the piano the entire time. The two with keys sound a bit more on the classic progressive/rock side, and the keyboard-less ones are a bit more on the metal side. Can't wait to post the track-listing and the cover-art...still working on it! A lot of the songs still have "working" titles, and we're just waiting for lyrics to get done before we can name them. Some of the working titles are like Cookie Monster, Vocal/Acoustic Song, Broofwheezel...so you can understand why we're waiting. Tomorrow Gary will be finishing up the keys...I think one song left? Almost DONE!

Tuesday, we finished up all keys. Listening to rough mixes throughout the week to see if we want to change, remove, or add any parts...layering, embellishments, etc...and we'll do the backup vocals sometime soon along with any other final touches as far as recording goes before we start mixing. Vocal video coming soon I believe...stay tuned!

Video: STUDIO UPDATE #4 (LEAD VOCALS: SESSION ONE)!




--------------------------------------------------------------


Tuesday, September 1st - FINISH!

Tuesday, I went in for a quick session to do some backup vocals, which is simply harmonies on a few parts as well as some layering and texture-type stuff. Sounding great...Brooks will be doing his this Saturday, and Gary will be finishing up a few keyboard parts next Tuesday. After this...we'll be 100% done with session one. We will post a fourth studio video update soon, which will include footage of vocals and keys. After this video, the studio blog will be concluded! No blog or anything for session two, as we really don't have too much left to record. A few songs at the most!

Truly, truly appreciate everyone who took the time to read this and check out all the videos...we hope YOU'RE as pumped for the new album as we are, and can't wait to get it finished, and out to your ears. As the Fall months roll in, we will continue to prepare more and more for the release. Album artwork is almost done, and it's looking quite unique, and very awesome. We will be doing album pre-orders about 4-6 weeks before the release sometime in early 2010, as well as many other promotional things such as layouts and banners, so PLEASE stick around, because we DO NOT want you to miss out.

Follow us on either of these to stay updated as well:

Twitter: http://twitter.com/Tetrafusion
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tetrafusion/34092867013

Thanks again guys; hope you have enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing it!

-Mark
3:29 AM 
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Sunday, January 11, 2009 

Current mood:  accomplished
Category: Music
Absolute Zero is a concept album based on cosmology, along with the associated theorems and laws behind it. The album depicts the life of the universe from beginning to end via the form of instrumental music. Below is a detailed explanation of the thematic concept behind each track from the album, which can also be found in the physical album's liner notes:


1. "The Beginning" (10:14)
     i. The Big Bang
     ii. The First Star
     iii. The First Galaxy
     iv. As We Know It

The opening track, appropriately named "The Beginning", represents the beginning of the universe how the “Big Bang Theory” explains it to have begun, and what it has come to today. Divided into four movements, "i. The Big Bang" is represented by a long silence after the “coming together” of such pre-universal matters [ambience/sound effects during intro] followed by a powerful chord [The Big Bang]. The song continues to build up, or expand, until the next movement. "ii. The First Star" suddenly changes pace, beginning with a mystical "star dust" sounding melody accompanied by a majestic guitar lead. In the third movement, "iii. The First Galaxy", the forming of the first galaxy is much like the forming of the first star with some subtle changes to represent a new and different form being created in the universe, much like before ["star dust" keyboard melody reprise]. The final movement, "iv. As We Know It", is constantly building tension, both tonally and rhythmically, to resemble the chaotic world we know today as Earth.


2. "Dark Matter" (8:26)

According to modern cosmological theory, dark matter is matter that does not emit or reflect enough electromagnetic radiation to be detected directly. According to several theories, after the "Big Bang" took place, an abundance of dark matter was created. To this day, the composition of dark matter is practically unknown, and remains a mystery to many who are still conducting research on it. This track begins with a piano and cello duet using many odd harmonies and key modulations, and remainder of the track advances through many obscure chord progressions and arrangements in conjunction with one another to serve as an indirect and confusing correspondence to the mystery that dark matter still presents today.


3. "Energy" (3:32)
     i. Potential
     ii. Kinetic

"Energy" is divided into two sections, "i. Potential" and "ii. Kinetic". According to the Law of Conservation of Energy, one cannot get more energy out of something than was put into it, thus both track movements are exactly equal in length. While listening to "i. Potential", one can imagine the build-up of energy as if an object were being hoisted higher and higher into the air. When the music instantly changes pace and becomes quite frantic, "ii. Kinetic" begins. One can then imagine the hoisted object being dropped from its highest point, causing the forces of gravity pull it straight to the ground as it gradually gains velocity. The track's abrupt ending depicts the object's instant loss of velocity as it slams into the ground.


4. "Gravity" (4:28)

"Gravity" is one of the more thematically involved tracks on the album. Melodically, the song establishes a continuous pattern of ascending then descending. When the melody ascends, it immediately descends afterward. Rhythmically, this same pattern is portrayed. Gravity’s rate of acceleration on Earth is 9.8 meters per second, which is symbolized by the track’s opening riff being in the 9/8 time signature. As the song progresses into the Latin breakdown, the melody constantly loses one beat as the section progresses. The time signatures "fall", beginning with 9/8. After the melody repeats, the time signature then shifts to 4/4, or, 8/8, losing one eighth note value. After repeating twice, the time signature changes to 7/8, losing yet another eighth note. During this Latin break, the key signature also "falls", modulating after the solo section from G Minor to F# Minor. After the Latin break, a piano melody is introduced containing many melodic runs that simply, once again, travel upward, then immediately "fall down”. As this melody continues to repeat, additional melodies are added until finally everyone is playing their own individual part. These melodies are later accompanied by a drum fill which transitions the track into the next descending melody toward the end of the song, and from that point the tempo continues to steadily "fall", as the object would after it has been dropped.


5. "Inertia" (6:15)

Newton's First Law of Motion states: "In an isolated system, a body at rest will remain at rest and a body moving with constant velocity will continue to do so, unless disturbed by an unbalanced force".  In this song, once one is comfortable from a listening standpoint, something suddenly changes within the song. "Inertia" is constantly changing direction, giving a slight vibe of randomness within the melodies while maintaining a steady pace.


6. "Momentum" (5:43)

"Momentum" begins at a steady pace with basic rhythms and simple melodic figures symbolizing an object moving at a steady pace. As the track progresses, the melodies begin to gradually increase in tempo andpace, as an object would behave as it gains momentum. During the first half of the track, momentum is constantly building and building until a massive drum solo is played over a steady melodic line. This symbolizes the sound of an object's collision with an outside force. As the collision dissipates, the song returns to a slower, steadier pace, obtaining its former state of motion similar to the beginning of the song as it first began.


7. "Time Lapse" (2:59)

"Time Lapse" is a bass and drum jam. The song title is also a play on words. Its intended meaning is to represent time passing between the creation of the universe and the death of the universe, but the real meaning of the title comes from the many polyrhythms and hemiolas throughout the song. Finding the time is difficult, and by the time you finally figure out the rhythm and can establish some type of groove, much time might have lapsed...


8. "The End" (15:00)
     i. Expansion
     ii. The Big Freeze
     iii. Absolute Zero

The album closer, appropriately named "The End", depicts the death of the universe as explained by the "Heat Death Theory". In a rapidly expanding universe, thermal energy becomes spread too thin, causing the distribution of heat to be too widespread to sustain any form of life. In the first movement, "i. Expansion", melodies are constantly growing, or "expanding", from a rhythmic/time signature standpoint until movement two, "ii. The Big Freeze", begins. This movement begins by portraying a very tragic feel to the listener, while suddenly becoming quite chaotic to symbolize mankind's ideal reaction to such a worldwide/universal catastrophe. The final movement of the track, "iii. Absolute Zero", summarizes the entire album, or life of the universe, in a piano-based medley to retrospectively "look back" on the life of the universe from beginning to end. The ambience toward the end depicts the gradual freezing of the universe, and the "whooshing" freeze sound is the moment in which all terrestrial life forms finally die, and, at this point, the universe theoretically has ended.


DISCLAIMER: In no way do any of the members of Tetrafusion or associated personnel endorse or promote any of the previously mentioned theories or explanations to be true, fictional, or possible. Presented topics were solely chosen for artistic purpose and musical expression and are not to be associated with any religious beliefs, lifestyles, or principles within the band.
8:24 AM 
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Wednesday, December 24, 2008 

Category: Music
"Absolute Zero" Reviews:

Online:
Review at Ultimate-Guitar - (9.3 out of 10!!!)
Review at All Metal Resource
Review at Amazon.Com
Review at Sea Of Tranquility
Review at USA Progressive Music - (8.5 out of 10)
Review at Metal To Infinity - (8.2 out of 10)
Review at Grinding The Apparatus - (8.0 out of 10)
Review at Magic Starlight 'Zine - (review on our EP pre-release)
Review at Wicked Tickle Entertainment - (second to last post toward the bottom)
Review at Subba-Cultcha
Review at Music Waves - (in French)
Review at Magic Fire Music - (in French)
Review at Dagheisha - (in Italian)
Review at Progressive Rose Promotions
Review by Kyle Brady (Metal Band of the Week)

Magazine/Print:
Review in Progression Magazine - (Issue #57 / June 2009)
Review in Rock Hard Magazine - (Issue #267 / August 2009)
Review in Decibel Magazine (Issue #59 / September 2009)
Upcoming review in MUEN Magazine (Fall 2009)



(Commercial) Radio / Airplay: Tracks from "Absolute Zero" have been played on the following commercial radio stations:

National:
KNDS - 105.9 FM (Fargo, ND)
WEOS - 89.7 FM (Waterloo, NY)
WKGB - 92.5 FM (Binghamton, NY)
WZMR - 104.9 FM (Albany, NY)
KZZE - 106.3 FM (Medford, OR)
WVBR - 93.5 FM (Ithaca, NY)
WBGU - 88.1 FM (Bowling Green, OH)
WCHZ - 95.1 FM (Augusta, GA)
KKFI - 90.1 FM (Kansas City, MO)
WYBB - 98.1 FM (Charleston, SC)
KPFT - 90.1 FM (Houston, TX)
KYRS - 89.9 FM (Spokane, WA)
WSCA - 106.1 FM (Portsmouth, NH)
KTUX - 98.9 FM (Shreveport, LA)
KSCL - 91.3 FM (Shreveport, LA)
KLPI - 89.1 FM (Ruston, LA)

International:
Heritage - 103.7 FM (Perth, Australia)
Radio Mercure - 93.0 FM (Oise, France)
Radio Centrum - 98.2 FM (Lublin, Poland)

(Online/Independent) Radio / Airplay: Tracks from "Absolute Zero" have been played on the following online radio stations/programs:

LG73 - Online (Canada)
HGRNJ - Online (Worldwide)
PRM (Prog Rock & Metal) Radio - Online
MePertenece Radio - Online (Argentina)
Many More Radio - Online
RoboBomb - Online
Beauty From Ashes Radio - Online
PROG.FM Radio - Online
Prog Palace Radio - Online
Aural Moon Radio - Online
Mothpod Radio Podcast - Online
Progressive Positivity Radio - Online
Music World Radio - Online
Total Rock Radio - Online (London)
NWL Radio - United Kingdom
TLP Radio Show - Online
Phoenix Radio - Online
The Metal Deli - Online
Braingell Radio - Online
Ultra Rock Radio - Online (France)
Full Metal Radio - Online
Maximum Ink Radio - Online
Pro Radio - Online (Poland)
The Metal Mad Man - Online
Wake Up Dead - Online
Jango Radio - Online



Tetrafusion Interviews:

Text/Print:
Interview with Sea of Tranquility - Q&A with Mark
Interview with All Metal Resource - Q&A with J.C.
Interview with Darkland Webzine - Brief interview on our album pre-release, "Absolute Zero EP"

Audio/Video:
Interview with ABC News 33/40 - with Brooks (includes performance of "Gravity")
Interview with KTUX 98.9 FM (Shreveport, LA) - Part 1
Interview with KTUX 98.9 FM (Shreveport, LA) - Part 2
Interview with Music World Radio (London, UK) - with Gary & Mark
"Absolute Zero" EPK - Mini-documentary/electronic press-kit for our debut record, "Absolute Zero"



This is an ongoing list!!

-TF
12:40 AM 
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