Vai's "Building the Church" Intro

[JohnJumper]

How does Vai get that crisp distortion sound in the begining of "Building the Church" right after the synth flurishes? Is he layering guitars or is there some type of muting technique that he uses?

[EricV]

Hi there

I might be wrong, but to me it sounds like 2-3 guitars playing that riff, with one of them using a whammy pedal for some of the notes.
Check out the TAB I attached ( and I hope I figured out the correct part you were talking about )
In the upper staff, you see the actual rhythm guitar, and I believe that this is played by 2 r 3 guitars.
In the lower staff, I put the parts that are being played with the whammy pedal being used. ( it raises the pitch up one octave in this case )
So, the stuff in the lower staff is not all of what that guitar plays. It actually plays the same riff as the one in the upper staff, but the powerchords in the lower staff are the ones affected by the whammy pedal. The tuning of Git.II is up one octave, in order to simulate the whammy pedal sound
The tuning is dropped C ( low to high: C-G-C-F-A-D ). This adds to the heavy sound, just like the actual guitar sound ( I guess Carvin amps with the mids turned down ) and some heavy overdubbing
The TAB is pretty rough, it was a quick job, but I think I came pretty close to what is going on
Hope this helps
Eric

[JohnJumper]

That sounds like you got it...I will have to mess around with it a bit more...

How did you know the tunning change? I would have never got that :( ! - Also how did you figure out there are multiple guitars. Someone said that to me but I that is why I put it in the post but I did not hear it...

[EricV]

Hi John

I am not exactly sure whether my TAB is all correct, but for a quick job, I guess I came close enough.
The tuning I figured out by figuring out the lowest note / powerchord. I was testing what that lowest one is, and initially figured out it had to be a C, but the C on the A-string was not low enough, so I knew that he prolly tuned down to C.
Also, I have looked into dropped-D riffs ( and this actually is a Dropped-D tuning, tuned down one whole step, so nothing weird actually ), and I guess I have developed a sense of recognizing riffs that use that tuning.
With the Dropped-D tuning, powerchords are easier to fret ( one finger, both notes are on adjacent strings, at the same fret, at least on the lowest 2 strings ), and it enables you to go from one chord to the next faster, slide between them easier ( since you only use one finger )
I just figured that he prolly used that tuning ( "Dropped C" ), and it worked when I tried to figure out the riff.
So I guess if I am all correct about the tuning and stuff, then it is because I have tried working with those kinda tunings, or have transcribed and / or taught other songs using it ( i.e. Highway Song by System Of A Down )
Also, I have several songs ( "Make A Noize", "Carpe Noctem" and "Riders High" ) that I recorded with a Dropped D-Tuning, and I tried several differentthings, so maybe that´s why I sometimes recognize "typical Drop-D riffs" easily.
I am not exactly sure just how many guitars you here, but for some reasons I was immediately convinced there were at least 2. I guess after a while you can tell by hearing it, especially if you have overdubbed guitars like that before.
It´s just my theory that one of them does the whammy pedal-trick, while the other one is "regular", but it makes sense to me and seems to work. I have no whammy pedal here, but I tried simulating it by fretting the powerchords above, and it sounded about right.
Anyway, hope I was able to answer your question...
Eric

[Barking Pumpkin]

You might want to read this, if you haven't already. I'm not sure if it will help you or not:

http://www.vai.com/realillusions/01buildingthechurch.html

[EricV]

Yes, I have seen that site a while ago. I looked at it yesterday, wondering whether it said how many tracks of rhythm guitar he recorded for that main riff, but it doesn´t.
I like that Real Illusions-mini site. Quite interesting to read details about each song and how it was recorded. I always enjoy reading those kind of "diaries".
Thanks
Eric

[satchboogie903]

any one tell me what software i must use to read that attached file????? the color orange box with a "P" on the center!!!!

[Madaxeman]

Those are PowerTab files, go to the link at the end for the windows software. PT is a very cool application for writing and transcribing music. On Motley Crue's website, they have PT files of many of their own stuff.
http://www.power-tab.net/downloads.php