LAMB OF GOD’s MARK MORTON: ‘I Never Had The Metronome. That’s Why My Tips Probably Don’t Count…’

Mark Morton Lamb of God

Lamb of God’s guitarist Mark Morton had a very interesting conversation with Music Radar about a subject that is very controvertial among Metal musicians: technique versus practice, Take a look on what he said (as transcribed by Ultimate Guitar).

Morton said:

“I never had the metronome. That’s why my tips probably don’t count… I’m not really a technical player. I’m more into the emotional and visceral reaction; I’ve never been disciplined with practice.

“I’ve always just played guitar. I would burn up cassette tapes just from all the fast-forwarding and rewinding to learn songs…

“But I’ve never been one to sit there, learn a lick, put on the metronome and speed it up slowly. God bless people that can do that, but I started playing guitar for fun… and that’s just not fun to me.

“That’s why I’m not a shred-fest guy. When it comes to playing the solo, I will play some blues s**t!”

During the rest of the interview, Mark also shared a notion that “cleaner guitars sound heavier,” saying:

“I have learned over the years that less gain and cleaner tends to feel heavier sonically. Even the ‘Black Album,’ a really heavy album for its time, doesn’t have super-distorted guitar tones.

“I have learned through experience that dialing the gain back for cleaner tones, especially if you double up guitars in the studio, seems to have more mass and a broader spectrum.

“If you rely on any piece of gear to execute your part, you probably aren’t playing it well. If you can’t play your lead without a certain pedal or setting or whatever, you should probably practice it a bit more.

“We all need gain and sustain to a certain degree, I get it, but sometimes people get a little too caught up in all that stuff. It’s important to remember the sound is mainly in your hands and in your guitar.

“I feel like each amp has its own attitude and personality. You could put five Mesa/Boogie Mark Vs in front of me and they’ll all sound like a Mark V, but there will be different idiosyncrasies to how each sounds. You need to dial your amp to the room.

“A lot of times I will try to get the amp to respond how I would like through basic EQ stuff. Learn to dial your amp in for each part when recording, in a way that compliments that specific part.

“Make it respond right and keep as much clarity as you can. Look, it’s real basic stuff, man… make s**t sound cool and stop turning the knobs all the way up! [Laughs]”