Symphony X - Smoke And Mirrors

[WowzaGuy]

Really, really awesome. Not even looking at the fretboard: "Man, this is so boring, I wish Romeo came up with something more challenging." This guy's fingers and movements remind me quite a bit of Satriani.

[mad00002]

@usfguy85 It can be played in two ways. Personally I use them both: When I play the five string shape, I use my middle finger on the second string, but if I play the three string shape, I use my ring finger.

[DietGrape]

@ariadrabi

I would suggest to practice the basic sweep arppeggio shapes. these are just the basic major and minor shapes with a few finger rolls. sweeping is one of the main things I've been practicing since I started playing guitar 1 and a half years ago and I learned the intro sweeps in about half an hour. just start slow and build speed

[ariadarabi]

lol i can't even do the beginning arpeggios and I've been practising them for a year. My arpegios don't even sound liek that, they sound like some classical music type D:

[mad00002]

@ariadarabi Those arpeggios are really hard. If you have not practised guitar for a lot of years, it's no wonder they take time. Try something easier to avoid total frustration. :)

[ariadarabi]

@mad00002 lol thnx for the advice but i gotta play those arpeggios because ive beenn playing guitar for 4 years and i wanna advance from intermediate to expert =P

[ironwolg]

nice cover and thank you for using your wrist to pick! lol i get so tired of seeing people using their whole arms. nice arpeggios at the beginning :D hope to see you do the solo soon

[mad00002]

Thanks! We'll see. I'm getting there little by little. :)

[diogotomediogo]

awesome

[HastOsth]

Where is the solo? If u can do the arps u should be able to do the solo. It aint that hard!

[mad00002]

Oh really? :D How come it ain't hard? I have not seen anyone play it well here on Tube. The solo itself is composed of pretty tricky tapping and picking parts, which I can now play at a reduced tempo. Perhaps I will do a full cover some day.

[ironwolg]

@mad00002 you have inspired me to learn the solo by saying you haven't seen anyone on youtube play it lol

[mkarmam]

Let's see a vid of you playing it then. No? Then keep your trap shut.

[NovembersDooom]

if its so easy then why dont you do a cover and post it on here? Nice playin man...5*

[mad00002]

Thanks!

[NSonne]

Grats, nice playing :) tricky arpeggios.

[mad00002]

Thanks!

Boy, did I spend a lot of time on those arps.. They practically taught me to sweep!

[NSonne]

Yeah man, i've been there! They are actually some nice sweep learners :D check out my Damnation game. :)

[scarromeo]

OMG!!!! duuuuuuuuuuude! thats perfect 7 stars :) that was awsome!!! nice! clean n fast =O

[mad00002]

Thanks! It sure ain't perfect, though. ;) I have come a long way, so I think I will post a full cover sometime in the future.

[ArcaneLifeforce666]

how many hours a day do u practice?

[mad00002]

Currently I do not practise that much, got so many other things to do. But when I mean business, I practise about 2-4 hours a day. There was one summer when I practised sweep picking from dawn to dusk.

But it's important to remember that quality matters more than quantity. A player must focus on his weaknesses to get most out of practise.

[Ramwen]

i've searched and don't find anybody who play this song as well like you. Great

[mad00002]

Thanks! A guy here called neoloromeo80 has done this with solo - the version is not perfect, but he's a good guitarist.

[renderedflesh]

your fucking sick are you in a band!?

[mad00002]

Thanks! Nope, not in any band. I make my own music, though.

[Ingislingi]

Well played, please check out my video for the solo. It's not that good but I will try to put in a better one later!

[mad00002]

Thanks! The solo is hard, no doubt about that. I´ve practised it quite a lot, but some parts are still not up to my standards. ;) I plan to cover it some day.

[borizh]

great concentration bro... holy shit, you got the damn thing down!!

5/5!

[mad00002]

Thanks! I really appreciate it coming from you. I hope I´ll get the solo down soon so I can do this as a totally full version.

[IronShred]

May be a little mistake here and there, in the sweep and melodic part... but we the ones who play guitar know how hard it is :(... so in the whole... 5 stars!! :D This rythmics are quite difficult, so congratulations, keep it up!

PD: You should have improvised something in the guitar solo part, to give it more color ;), but great anyway!

[mad00002]

Oh yeah, plenty of mistakes everywhere. :) Live performances always come with some and I still don´t have everything down perfectly.

Thank you! Good to have feedback from a fellow guitarist.

[rexatar]

amazing! what tuning are you in?

[mad00002]

Same as in the original; D standard (DGCFAD). Thanks!

[proyabun]

what tabs did you use? i am trying to use some gp5 tabs that dont quite match yours i guess.

[mad00002]

There are a couple of tabs at ultimate-guitar(dot)com. I´m pretty sure you can find mine there. It´s close to being totally correct, I think.

[izual00985]

well done!!!

[1337s933k]

Awesome cover for an awesome song. Great job, man. 5 stars.

[skasdm2010]

very good work but if i may same comment your sweeps are good also palm mute is nice but u need 2 work it out just a little at the corus and the thing i just notice is that u got far away from the timing at tthe pre-solo then u got back again u could have done it better i think but generaly its 5* u deserve it its a hard song it took me over a year 2 learn it all :D

[Letstakethemic]

how is that possible? ;o lol thats great, keep it up

[mad00002]

With an amount of practise that borders on stupidity. ;D

[Maurody]

Yes you will you are young and  talented. keep practicing.

[Maurody]

noooooo man you did the intro and didn do the guitar solo?? what the hell happened to you? You are super!!

[mad00002]

The hell happened; I cannot tap as well as I can sweep. =) However, I will nail it one day.

[theviolator23]

great playing this song is a bitch and u really nailed it well

[TheFishMastuh]

you look like a killer ahaha

[rhyumavampire]

great playing! keep up the good work! on a side note, the guitar tone could definitely use some work. your timing is also pretty good but not QUITE perfect yet...

[mad00002]

Yeah, you are right - I haven´t paid much attention to my tone. It´s just a general, very distorted metal tone and that´s it for me. =) My timing´s not perfect either, that I know for sure. ;) Thanks for the comment!

[RabidxPanda]

amazing, ive heard a bunch of song requests but the next one u should try is definitely the turning :) its fun to play!

[mad00002]

I have actually tabbed the previously missing parts (ultimate-guitar(dot)com) of The Turning and learned most of it! :D I can´t play it well enough to do a proper cover, though.

[individuomiseria]

nice!

brutal riffs

[etftw]

That was top notch, good job :-)

On a side note, I kept feeling as if you were going to jump out and try to stab me, you got the most evil look ever there lol

[mad00002]

Haha, thanks! :D I can look pretty serious, yeah.

[norseindian]

i second that. Good playin though, you have done well.

The N.I.

[Kirby751]

dude seriously maaaad props. sounds amazing! keep up the amazing work man. hope to see some more vids!

[mad00002]

Thanks!

[FipTheRoflman]

WOW! i'm giving it my best to learn this song, but i don't even touch the arppegios at the beginning! awesome skill dude!

[mad00002]

They are real hard if you have little experience with sweeping. I actually started with them, playing lower than 0,5 tempo at first. =) All it takes is lots of dedication.

[RAPh1945]

very nice^^

try sea of lies next time!!

5*

[mad00002]

Thanks man! Sea of lies is a great song too, but a bit too over-covered here on YouTube, eh? :D

[thedamnationgame]

Hey dude your face its like de evil robot from Terminator.. =D

[mad00002]

You mean T-1000? I like that face, thanks! :D

[boogerboysmell]

dude where did you get tabs for this song?? last time i checked on ultimate-guitar i couldnt find them!

[mad00002]

There are three Guitar Pro tabs there. I wonder how you managed not to find them. =) The first one seems to be the one I´ve used.

[mad00002]

Depends on how long you´ve been playing. This one has great challenges to a guitarist. =) I still can´t play most of the solos, meaning very fast tapping and picking.

[TrollAcademy]

great cover, very good technique

i just think that you sound is too agressive,

but your playing is great,

i love SX and michael romeo, :a

[mad00002]

Thanks a lot! You are right about the sound - it might be a bit too aggressive for Symphony X. You see, I play all sorts of metal and do not bother to change my tone for different genres/songs. =) Same with tuning - all my covers are in D, no matter what the original is.

[pilserum]

amazing

[Amehnophis]

Yeahhhhhhhh!!!!!! Very very nice!!!!!!!!

[mad00002]

Thanks man!

[Ph0enix57]

wow nice job, i wish i can play this song, but i don't want to spend so much time tuning down one step =(

[mad00002]

Just uptune the song! You can either get a plugin for Winamp (PaceMaker, for example) or get Guitar Pro (a tabbing program), get the tab for it and change the tuning of the virtual guitars.

[Josh18955]

very good!

[mad00002]

Thank you!

[Guitarsuperviln]

I am thinking about getting an ESP LTD JH-200 Jeff Hanneman Signature Model Electric Guitar off of muscicans friend. Is this a guitar that is able to play stuff like this?

[mad00002]

Well, it seems like a good average priced guitar. Should be good enough to not hinder your playing - in other words, can´t blame the guitar. ;) I think the guitar I used in this video (ESP LTD F-100) is worse than JH-200. I own a JH-600 now, which I can really recommend. The active EMG mics are great.

[Guitarsuperviln]

Thx.That looks like an awesome guitar! Too bad I am only 17 and I can't afford it with my check from my job. Most of my money is going to college so I can only afford from what is left over, which isn't much. When I get older though and have a better job I will start to collect guitars and hopefully upgrade to the JH-600;)

[Guitarsuperviln]

How much does it cost to put in EMG 81's?

[mad00002]

Well, I think EMG 81 costs something under 100 dollars. You need someone to install it, of course. That might be extra if you don´t know anyone who can do it. Or learn yourself. ;)

[NAThan9871]

not bad at all !

some little rythm mistake but it's sounds good

[mad00002]

Thanks! I hope someone else would make a full cover too, everyone else do the intro here. ;)

[NAThan9871]

if you want i have a full cover of megadeth's "tornado of souls" with the fucking solo ^^ but i have to encode it, 400Mo... too heavy

[mad00002]

Can´t have enough of good covers - bring it on! ^_^

[NAThan9871]

you can nox take a look to my other covers ^^

[drmikej21]

nice job dude

[mad00002]

Thanks!

[robibm2003]

So dude, do you play in a band? You are obviously ready for it with the skills you have. I would also suggest you grow your hair out if your job will allow it. Really nice job here.

[mad00002]

Thanks! I do not play in a band at the moment. I am, however, growing my hair as you can see in my newer videos! =D

[ivanptr]

wow!you're great!!and great song!5

Up the SX

[mad00002]

Thank you!

[tannermittan]

Nice job mate, first person ive ever seen play this cover as good as you. Nice job.

[mad00002]

Thanks man! It so happens no one else has done the whole song yet here on Youtube - they all focus on the intro! It´s a great song and I´d like to see more covers of it.

[DC2394]

I personally have learned the entire song and have known it for awhile. Like you know though getting it clean and perfect takes AWHILLLLE and I started this song wayyy wayyy back. Maybe I'll get a video up, but covering the whole song is pretty pointless being so much of it is just repeats beside the intro, slow part and solo.

[mad00002]

Yeah. I like to practise songs way beyond my current skill level - as long as one practises slow enough, anything can be learned. It´s just a matter of how many months/years you put into it. Eventually you´ll be able to play it at the actual tempo. There is the risk of getting frustrated though, which is why one should practise easier songs as well.

[DC2394]

Well besides the intro everything on the song is up to speed, it's just I have to work on my picking technique, too much attack and it sounds awful on an amp. Would've been smart to learn and practice on an amp more previously but whatever. Old COB (not the new stuff where's they're complete sellouts) like red light in my eyes is what I learn when I get frustrated with nevermore and all that.

[artosane]

good job ^^.

[mad00002]

Thanks!

[FiJo7]

nice man

[mad00002]

Thank you!

[joshzz24]

GrEat Hands MAte!!GrEat HanDs...

[mad00002]

Thanks! =D

[sagim9]

great job!

I'm just trying to learn this song..

Too bad my sweeps suck..

Either then this i think i could play the whole song (except for the solo of course =])

[mad00002]

Thanks! Good luck with the sweeps - just practice em month after month and you´ll do fine!

[TungstenIHC]

amazing

how many times did it take to get it right? lol

[mad00002]

Thanks! Maybe a couple of takes.

[demon190]

thank u a million and i bet u will be able to tab like him with out a doubt cuz the way u sweeping is crazy. did u get the tabs from ultimate-guitar ?

[mad00002]

I think I got it from mysongbook originally. You might find the same tab via ultimate-guitar or gprotab(dot)net. You´ll recognize it easily - very good quality, even the solo.

[demon190]

dude ure like a god right now. wat tuning do u use??

[mad00002]

Thanks! I wish I was a god because then I could tap the way only Michael Romeo can! The tuning is D standard (DGCFAD), the same tuning as in the original song.

[mad00002]

Thanks!

[DC2394]

...This is how I am supposed to learn to sweep. Sweeping is god damn hard. niiiiiiice job, I'm going to see Symphony X in May so that's gonna be SOOOO sick too.

[mad00002]

It´s damn hard at first, but damn hard things tend to get easier if you do them day and night for a couple of months! Oh, and have fun - I envy you!

[DC2394]

It's weird, my guitar teacher(aka guitargod as I see it)pointed out like 3 things and I got a LOT faster in 1 day than I have in a week. But I'll have fun and maybe one day I'll have a video response to this.

[mad00002]

Yes, proper technique is very, very important. But once you have it in place, only hard practise can make you better. Besides, many of the top players have clear flaws in their technique. The point is, one can be great with a crappy technique - it´s just a lot harder to achieve than with a good technique (economic, well thought technique).

[DC2394]

Hey all I can do is agree, I practice an average of 5 or 6 hours a day and try to work my warm up and some playing a very painstaking work. Ex. stuff like playing very slowly and holding each finger not down barely above the string at equal height and then the second the next is down the previous is lifted to that same height, ETC. I think anyone can learn anything without a teacher, but assistance and guidance (especially with techniques like sweeping) is important.

[mad00002]

Yes, it´s hard work. Assistance and guidance can give you lots of shortcuts, agreed. I´ve never had a teacher though except for myself. I´ve read, watched and listened and then I´ve sat down and practised. I have been very critical about my technique too, especially with sweep picking. If you watch my Smoke and Mirrors video at Google, you can see I sweeped a bit differently back then.

[DC2394]

My guitar teacher is pretty much the same, and says he's gotten five "lessons" probably in his entire life. He's great and everything but he says I've managed to do in 3 1/2 months(or so)what he'd done in about 2 years so getting taught is just a must faster way to get to where you want to be.

[Shad0w121]

I'm trying to learn the intro sweeps, do you happen to have a link to the tab you used? Yours seem pretty damn good!

[mad00002]

I used the GP one at gprotab (dot) net - it´s pretty accurate.

[DvdMaiden]

amazing¡

[mad00002]

Thanks!

[IMHOLUKE]

Great. Just Great. how old are you like 17? That is really good. I love Symphony X and this is the best cover Ive heard. But I have a question, when they go to the part were it goes "touched by the kiss of the sunrise" is that Michael Romeo?

[mad00002]

Thanks! I´m 23.

As to answer your question, I have no idea. ;)

[OriginalAtomicSheep]

Is that romeo what?

[mad00002]

I guess he meant the voice.

[PizzashaX]

Great stuff

[mad00002]

Thanks PizzashaX!

[Varmz]

i can nail it 3/4 etc. i'm just not good enough to get it full speed yet. i need to work on guitaring in general before attempting it. Have you tried MR's betcha can't play this?

[mad00002]

Nah, looks hard tho. I have not done much tapping, not enough to play that sort of things. ;)

[Varmz]

very good. i've never quite managed the last lot of arpeggios in the intro and my rhythm is really messy.

[mad00002]

It took me ages to get that intro into what it is now and it´s still far from being perfect! My advice is take it slow (yeah, we´ve all heard that before) and gain accuracy before speed. Then little my little increase speed till you are up there where you want to be.

[RedSGShredder]

Nice arpeggios!

[mad00002]

Thank you! I like your CoB covers!

[mad00002]

Thanks! I see plenty of flaws in it, but that´s the best I can do at the moment. I hope I will be able to play the solo in an year or two, once I get good enough. ;)

[Filoz]

Amazing mad, really nice work :D

[mad00002]

Thanks Filoz! =D