Schism by Tool

[arabassist]

Hey,

I'm sure a lot of you have heard this line, i love it, but i cant seem to play the main riff properly! i play it against the track and im always ending up a beat off after a couple of bars. theres also a variation during the riff that i know how to play but cant seem to hear it on the track when im playing to it. playing the riff alone without the track ends up in disaster.

i have a feeling im playing the riff wrong as well. for example, i play open D, then pluck 10th, hammer on 12th, pull off the D and pluck the 10th on G...then so on...is that not right?

also, when it the riff all drops by 5 semitones, does the time signature change or am i just hallucinating lol?




advice appreciated!

Ahmed

[Adrenochrome]

Hi Ahmed.
I've never gigged this song but I have played the intro and opening riff during one of those "introduce the band" moments.
I played it from the open D and hammered on at both the 10th and 12th frets. When the riff drops down a string the time sig is the same but there may be a little pause/rest in there. I've never worked it out to be honest!

[lateralus462]

it's in 12/8 but split into measures of 7/8 & 5/8 - I think where you think the time signature changes it goes into a standard 12/8

Edited August 15, 2009 by lateralus462

[arabassist]

[quote name='Adrenochrome' post='569828' date='Aug 15 2009, 12:14 PM']Hi Ahmed.
I've never gigged this song but I have played the intro and opening riff during one of those "introduce the band" moments.
I played it from the open D and hammered on at both the 10th and 12th frets. When the riff drops down a string the time sig is the same but there may be a little pause/rest in there. I've never worked it out to be honest![/quote]

hammer on both eh? no pull off too?

yeh i guess the pause is when u play the open A.

[TDM]

Schism is one of those pretentious prog riffs that insists on changing time signature every bar (like Dream Theater!)

Personally I just think of it as the riff in 5/8 except a G and D are added every two bars. I hammer on both the C and the D when I play it, you might find that easier, I don't know. Another way to cheat at it would be just to follow the vocal line, or at least remember what it goes like in your head that way you shouldn't forget the rhythm. Most of the words coincide with the notes on the G string.

Edited August 15, 2009 by thedonutman

[Bassmingo]

heres the actual bass track from the song on its own.

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7BzVXSqzT8"]Link[/url]


and heres a [url="http://rapidshare.de/files/48123303/Schism_side_Bass.pdf.html"]link[/url] to the most accurate tab of the song i've found.

i've played this song millions of times. here's a few tips.

1. play it with a pick (you really do have to, to get it close to sounding like Justin)

2. the 10 - 12 hammer ons are key to getting the riff sounding right

3. try and get plenty of mid to mimic justins wal (tough i know)

4. the bass and vocals follow each other very closely for a lot of this song, esp the verses.

The video you linked to is by brad of tooltabs.net, a site i frequent. they take the piss out of noobs something fierce, but if you need any help with tool related stuff , i'm your man. brads videos are normally very accurate (a lot of times i give him sh*t if i disagree with what he plays, but its respectful )

[RhysP]

[quote name='Bassmingo' post='569946' date='Aug 15 2009, 02:25 PM']The video you linked to is by brad of tooltabs.net[/quote]
Is that actually Justin Chancellors gear he's using, or is he just a serious fanboy?
Lovely tone.

[Sibob]

Yeah he nails the sound doesn't he, especially that overdriven volume-swell part.
Justin Chancellor is a bit of a genius....very under-appreciated I think, very creative with the instrument!

Just listening to Vicarious from '10,000 Days'....absolute stunner!

Si

[jmesa]

[quote name='Sibob' post='569995' date='Aug 15 2009, 03:36 PM']Justin Chancellor is a genius[/quote]

+1000000

[RhysP]

[quote name='Sibob' post='569995' date='Aug 15 2009, 03:36 PM']Yeah he nails the sound doesn't he, especially that overdriven volume-swell part.
Justin Chancellor is a bit of a genius....very under-appreciated I think, very creative with the instrument!

Just listening to Vicarious from '10,000 Days'....absolute stunner!

Si[/quote]
Yes, he's one of my favourite players. I think Tool took an enormous leap forward when he joined.
It takes a British bass player to make a good American band great...........

[Kev]

listening to this should solve any questions [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7BzVXSqzT8"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7BzVXSqzT8[/url]. A usual, most tabs are off. Brilliant song to play once you have mastered it Has to be played with a pick with mids turned right up to sound like Justin

[Bassmingo]

[quote name='RhysP' post='569982' date='Aug 15 2009, 03:20 PM']Is that actually Justin Chancellors gear he's using, or is he just a serious fanboy?
Lovely tone. [/quote]


he's a serious fanboy. he's replicated all of justins gear

[quote name='sibob']Just listening to Vicarious from '10,000 Days'....absolute stunner![/quote]

the actual song, or just the bass track, cos i've got the bass on its own, the tone is immense!

[steve-soar]

[quote name='Bassmingo' post='570024' date='Aug 15 2009, 04:09 PM']he's a serious fanboy. he's replicated all of justins gear



the actual song, or just the bass track, cos i've got the bass on its own, the tone is immense![/quote]I love these fanboy vids, especially when they are bad, this one is pretty spot on though.
Marks deducted for the shorts.

[arabassist]

hey thanks for your advice. i think ive got the main riff now. just more practice i suppose.