The guitar is actually his signature guitar from Ibanez. Apparently they originally made it years ago and it was a flop. Tim (the tattooed guitarist) found it in a shop somewhere and fell in love with it. He used this song as a way to convince Ibanez to make them again. Since it's been rereleased it's done very well. It's the TOD10 btw, an electric guitar with nylon strings. And the drummer (Clay Aeschliman) basically does Trap drums and plays every single note. He used this same drum set for recording, they just probably processed it a bit post production. There are playthroughs of him playing this song and every single beat is there. And I've seen them live, they sound the exact same. There's a video on their channel of one of their concerts which has this song just before the encore. 🩷 Other great songs of theirs are Ego Death, Neurotica, 40oz, and G.O.A.T. which is basically required listening.
The SC500n was the model tim found in a shop (I believe in Europe) he loved the sound but the guitar was awkward to play (probably why it failed) the TOD10n was Tim making the SC500n better, so not necessarily re-released. But the TOD was 100% inspired by the SC500n. He actually used the playing god riff to convince Ibanez to give him the sig, Ibanez turned down Tosin Abasi years ago for an SC500n sig. so Tim didn’t think he’d get it, but Playing God convinced the guys at Ibanez. I love Polyphia a little too much, I can’t stop listening to them.
@@sheldorthememegod4573The guitar wasn't awkward to play, Tim actually states that it was super easy to play in his interview with Rick Beato. He just wanted a signature of it. I suppose it flopped because there just wasn't a market for it back then.
So its actually technically set up as an electric guitar but with nylon strings and instead of a piezo it actually has a fishman Sonicore pick up, which is similar to a piezo but its set up more for shreddy style playing
@@sean_mccadden The Sonicore is an undersaddle piezo pickup, it's just the preamp is an Ibanez so it's been engineered to sound a little different than you might normally get from the Sonicore. It's actually a pretty low-end acoustic pickup. Lots of people don't like how it sounds. The only thing about the guitar that's like a traditional electric is the neck, but even that isn't built like a modern Ibanez. The string spacing is wider and the neck itself is wider at the nut and 14th, it's a 22 fret neck instead of 24, the scale length is only 25.5 inches, and it's much flatter than most typical electrics you'd see. The guitar is far closer to an acoustic than an electric.
There's a woman on youtube called Moyun, and she did a cover of this song on a Chinese guzheng. One of the most wild and impressive things I've seen. Absolutely worth checking out in your off time.
This band started in 2010 and has been through a few member changes, but has been in it's current state since 2016. They are super-well trained and practiced musicians. They started out playing classical guitar covers on TH-cam, but now consider themselves a prog-rock band. From their wiki: The name of the band comes from the word "polyphony", meaning music whose texture is defined by the interweaving of several melodic lines.
Seeing them live is always a treat. The way you wanted to sing along is exactly what they want people to do live, and when it happens it's glorious. When the crowd sings the riffs with them, when you're surrounded in it... Chills.
Polyphia first time reactions are my favorite reactions because they're so unique and mind blowingly talented, and I thoroughly enjoy vicariously experiencing it for the first time over and over again 😅
If you heard that "Call me Senorita" reference, Tim probably snuck it in there on purpose LOL. He's a classically trained violinist and will often take modern pop song chords, deconstruct them, and then record arpeggiations on Omnisphere which he then transfers BACK to the guitar and he teaches himself how to make those arpeggios happen.
Took my daughter and her friend to see them a few months ago…they were excellent live, but they definitely sound like a more regular live band, with the drummer just playing a standard acoustic kit. They do have some tracks playing to mimic some of the stuff Tim does in production, but way less than I expected…it’s a very different listening experience. Not better or worse…just different! And random fact: Tim’s unique playing style comes to some degree from his writing process. He tends to write parts in the DAW first…using a keyboard for input and then moving things around until it sounds the way he wants…deconstructing and reconstructing parts of other pop songs (including Kanye and Taylor Swift). He then has to figure out how to play them…which can force you to do unnatural things (to a guitar player), especially with his fretting hand. It’s cool because the parts that come out of it don’t end up sounding like any other guitar player…and sometimes don’t even sound like guitar.
The funny thing is a lot of us fans already knew how to play the opening/chorus of this song 2 years prior. Because of a teaser he released. Once it finally dropped. It was insane. Definitely worth the wait.
If you’re interested in exploring more “Spanish” guitar, I would suggest Rodrigo Y Gabriela (Tamacun) and Al Di Meola & Paco De Lucia (Mediterranean Sundance). And, when you finally getting around to venturing into the Foxhole🦊, Tim and Scott of Polyphia were guest musicians on Babymetal’s Brand New Day.
I fully agree with the Rodrigo Y Gabriella recommendation, but please for the love of god not Tamacun or Diablo Rojo. They have so many better songs and performances.
Just as a pro tip, a quick way to tell between a nylon string acoustic and a steel string acoustic is most generally done by looking at the headstock of the instrument. If the headstock is a flat piece of wood with metal tuning pegs protruding out of the top face, it's a steel string. Whereas nylon strings are typically retained by cylindrical tuners that run parallel to the frets, and typically have some amount of a gap between them which enables you to partially see through the headstock. So to summarize, if you can see through the headstock, it's most likely nylon. If you can't, and there are metal tuning pegs protruding from the face of the headstock, it's most likely steel.
This is instantly one of my favorite Polyphia reactions ever. From the jaw on the floor initial reaction, to the "OMG, THIS IS BEAUTIFUL", it felt like I was hearing the song for the first time all over again. That in itself is beautiful thing and something only reaction videos can do for you.
Polyphia are masters of their craft. Yes, they're doing tons of hammer-ons and pull-offs. It's quite common in guitar playing, they just do them on another level. If you notice, they also are hybrid picking like mad where they'll use a pick and their fingers at the same time. The pick hits bass notes and the fingers kind of do a claw picking action at higher strings at the same time. Another technique they'll do is call thumping (not in this song), where the thumb will do a double pick action kind of thing. It's hard to explain, but it's another one of those master level things they picked up from Tosin Abasi of the band Animals as Leaders. Tim asked Tosin to teach him. Again, they're not doing it in this song (I think), but they'll also do a finger tap where you hit a note with your strumming hand on the fretboard that's out of reach of your fretting hand.
Great Pick! This is my favorite American band playing today. And this piece was one of my three picks for Instrumental of the Year in 2022. (The other two were pieces by Band-Maid and Asterism). Polyphia are an instrumental quartet from Texas, formed in 2010. They have gradually built a large following including a lot of fellow musicians, based on their beautiful, unusual compositions and their extraordinary skills. They’ve had a couple of pieces make it high on the charts, but they still don’t get radio play, which is probably just fine with them. Their music has evolved from straight-up metal through experimental rock and even into mashups based on jazz and hip-hop, and they collaborate with a wide range of artists to enable them to pursue new sounds and styles. Polyphia consist of: Tim Henson, Guitar Scott LePage, Guitar Clay Gober, Bass Clay Aeschliman, Drums In an quirk that is likely of interest only to gear nerds, all three of the guitarists are sponsored by, and have signature models with, Ibanez, the Japanese luthier now favored by a lot of elite guitarists. “Playing God” combines lush, almost romantic melodies and harmonies, with flamenco influences and splashes of funk and metal. The guys love lightning-fast harmonies and syncopated runs. The bass is forward in the mix, which almost makes it danceable. Thank you for featuriung them!
The drummer Clay doesnt play electric drums. He plays aucustic, but many of the drum sounds on the recordings are with a drum machine to get the EDM, hip-hop, trap sound but live he does it all aucustic. They have a live show on their youtube channel from thier home town of Dallas. So if you want to hear themmlive this is the best way. The recording is really high quality.
Tim Henson describes that guitar as semi-acoustic classical style electric guitar. It has the pick up under the bridge and controls on the top with a small soundhole up towards the player. The neck is a compromise between electric guitar and true classical guitar, making it easier to adapt for electric guitar player. They also used real violins, real vocal harmonies and real whistling on this piece instead of samplers or synths. To hear them in elecric phase, please react to "Neurotica" studio live playtrough. I believe you might like a piece from band Return To Forever called "Romantic Warrior" . Another might be "Endless Night". Polyphia carries a lot of similar elements along them.
Nitt picc the guitars used in this video are electric-acoustic nylon string guitars made by Ibanez. The company tried launching a model several yrs ago that didn't sell well so they discontinued making it. The first guitarist you see in the video with the shorter black hair is Tim Henson. He came across one of the discontinued guitars and contacted Ibanez about making a signature model for him as they were already doing electric guitars for him. The second guitar player you see , Scott LePage is playing a guitar similar to the discontinued model. Tim's signature model is in matte black with the vine of death inlays on the fretboard as seen in the video. Because of the bands popularity Tim's model nylon string has had strong sales. The section of the song where it changes keys , the father of a friend of Tim's suggested the bossa nova rhythm you hear. Also Tim paid a guy $32 to do the whistling part you hear near the end of the song. They sound just as good live.
That ending part doesn’t get enough credit. Not only is he using hammer ons and pull offs, but he’s also hybrid picking and including harmonics mid arpeggio scale. It’s one of the craziest guitar parts I’ve ever heard or seen
A lot of the stuff you're hearing from the drums is still acoustic. He just has a lot of really trashy cymbals to get all those effects. Though I think the kicks are triggered for samples because they have a few different kick sounds they use. And to be fair, almost all drummers use triggers on their kicks now-a-days. It's just so much easier from a set-up/production stand point, but triggers do also make it more difficult to actually play. Gotta be perfectly precise. Also, please don't sleep on their second album. Most people are gonna request stuff from their last 2 albums, but their second album, "Renaissance" is big slept on in the react scene, and it's still their best album in my opinion. Definitely them at their most melodic. "Nightmare", "Crush", "Euphoria", and "Amour" are all really good, with "Amour" being my personal favorite because that song is the embodiment of sexy guitar.
Clay Aeschliman is one of my favorite drummers ever. He could easily just lay a simple beat down for Tim and Scott to shred over, but he's so masterful at tastefully filling up every bit of space left by the guitars. They fit together so perfectly like a rhythmic puzzle.
Such a throwback to atmospheric movie music for spaghetti westerns with the whistling section. Incredible homage to flamenco music. All pushed thru the ricer of modernity Sounds European. Great review as always
Recently happened upon your site. Love your reactions especially as a trained musician. Your reaction to "Pisces" by Jinjer was utterly priceless!! Polyphia is an amazing band. Tim Henson is one of those virtuosic players that make most of us want to take our guitars and just chuck them in the bin! Of course, I also believe that it makes most of us immediately retrieve them from the bin, then get right back to practicing and striving to get better! For grins, you may want to check out similar artists such as The Omnific ("Wax & Wane" is a wonderful introduction to the band), Jason Richardson, especially his collaberations with drummer Luke Holland. An amazing introductory track is "Sparrow" with the esteemed cellist / erhuist Tina Guo. In the same vein as Tim Henson is one of his musical collarorators, Plini. Again, simply stunning guitar work. A personal fav is the live version of "Kind" from 2020. While we're at it...I frakking love Band-Maid!!!!! Discovered them a few years ago and fell absolutely in love with them! While I grew up emulating the likes of Geddy Lee, Chris Squire, Jeff Berlin, and Tony Levin, Misa (...I know...MISA!!!) is hands down my most favourite bassist ever! Cheers and keep up with the awesome reaction videos!
Polymer wasn’t wrong - Nylon is a polymer. In fact, it was the first commercially successful polymer ever invented, in the form of lady’s stockings, which is where the whole plastics industry was born in the first place. Nylon guitar strings came out just a few years later.
i loved your breakdown! i've watched a bunch of polyphia reactions and you had some stuff in there that no one else has mentioned. like the part about the major and minor chords coinciding with the change of scenery. or the history with minor chords being darker and major chords being of a lighter nature. you got my sub! anyways, wonderful breakdown! if i had to recommend songs to listen to from polyphia i'd prolly have to say G.O.A.T.(which btw, not an acronym for greatest of all time but rather go out and try), O.D. or Ego death. i'd get a kick out of your analysis =)
Fun fact, it never changes to mayor key; it stays the same, in E minor. The difference is that in the bossa nova section it adds seventh and nineth to the E minor chord, and also add more chords to it, when the first section has just three chords. And thats how you can feel the song so different, without changing the key, or the third grade of the chord
Rick Beato did an interview with Tim Henson of Polyphia quite recently, and they spent a lot of time talking about the origins of this guitar they're using. Also, this isn't the first time a nylon-stringed guitar has been built with an electric guitar-style body: Yngwie Malmsteen, the famous guitar virtuoso from Sweden, had a signature Fender Stratocaster with no visible pickups, a wider neck and a piezo-electric pickup in the bridge (I believe -- slightly unsure of the details).
Love the content! Ive been listening to Polyphia since the days of "Impassion" and they have evolved so much. If by chance you ever want to delve into some heavier stuff check out Berried Alive, just a dude and his wife making some absolutely tasty metal instrumentals. Glad i found your channel, keep it up!
This makes me thing about Wagakki Band - one of them play Sakurachi (the Japanese flute). It blends traditional instruments and voice to ocidental rock instruments. Give it a try.
Tim Hensons Ibanez nylon string acoustic guitar is really awesome. It has the tree of life mother of pearl inlays on the fretboard but it’s so expensive.
Classical strings both. Scot and Tim both have long fingers to say the least and have been together since 2010. Probably the best guitar duo in my 74 years listening. Listen to Crush and then Ego Death with Steve Vai.
I am shocked nobody suggested NittPicc to react to Jethro Tull band with their lead singer Ian Anderson playing flute on most tracks - he was claimed as best flute players in rock (because he was the single one)!
ive never heard them play live but ive watched live recordings and i think they are usually pretty spot on to the recording. its obviously insanely challenging music to play so its not perfect everytime
Hi, great to see you are eager to see and hear more of Polyphia. I suggest their must watch song G.O.A.T. you will not regret it. Keep up the great reactions! I also saw you have discovered Dirty Loops as well
So Tim henson, the shorter haired, tattooed guitarist, is actually the main writer of the band. Unlike a lot of other progressive bands, he will initially write songs using midi and make it more electronic sounding and then he and Scott Lepage (the other guitarist) and the other members Clay Gober (bassist) and Clay Aeschliman (drummer) (yes they're both named Clay 😂) will record their parts with primarily live instruments adding their own flare with midi drums and samples added in to give it that hip-hop/trap esque beat. Tim has stated that while being a progressive band the main goal is to have the central melody singable and the rhythm easily understandable to the average listener so a lot of songs are written in pop format and generally in 4/4. You should really chevk out their song "ABC" after this
The percussion is actually a combination of physical drums and trap beat 808. If you want to hear the bassist cut loose a bit more, check out G.O.A.T. If you want to hear a collab with another famous guitarist, Steve Vai, then check out Ego Death. Ego Death has a great surprise at the end that I think you'll really dig. Their style is all over the place to be honest. As they have evolved, they have run from metal to prog, to funk and hip hop, and math rock (the segments of Ego Death are 15 and 30 seconds long). So don't think they just play acoustical, Spanish style guitar all the time, though it is frequently incorporated. G.O.A.T. - th-cam.com/video/9_gkpYORQLU/w-d-xo.html Ego Death - th-cam.com/video/1JNmz17gnMw/w-d-xo.html
If you want to see a better view of the guitar techniques look up Tim Henson Playing God Unplugged. That is just Tim (the anime character guy) doing a solo play along performing both main guitar parts and you can see everything he is doing. It is mind blowing.
People thinks its standard flamenco or finger style playing until they actually try to play the song. to find out they need to use multiple very highly technical techniques to play sections of the song. the hardest being the final solo that Tim (neck tattoo guy) plays. And it takes a lot of practice to even play the song full speed after learning those new techniques lol
Nylon strings. I think it's still possible to get gut strings for guitar, but I've never known anyone who did. That's mostly just classical string players going for the Baroque sound. Tim Henson played violin from a pretty early age, and gave it up at around 15 if I am remembering the interview correctly. He attributes that mostly to abusive teachers, but I suspect a good portion of his skill on the guitar has to do with habits formed on the violin.
You don't have to be sorry for saying that the bassline is simple. That's actually what makes Polyphia so listenable. The chord progression and timings are pretty standard and yes, simple, but then they turn the virtuosity to 11. Even Tim Hansen (The one who looks like an Anime protagonist) laughed about that he only knows how to play in 4/4 :P
Subbing for more Polyphia! Also if you happened to dig into Ren too that would be awesome 😝 Polyphia are 🔥 this is my fave song of theirs too, you should check out EGO DEATH, O.D, G.O.A.T and more. Tim Henson is the beautiful dark haired guitarist, he’s playing his signature Ibanez TOD10N which is an electric acoustic with nylon strings, I’m not sure what Scott Lepage (other guitarist) model is but it’s another electric acoustic with nylon strings, the other two are Clay Grober on Bass and Clay Aeschliman on drums 🖤
Tim is Playing guitar since the age of 16 but he Played Violin since the age of 9 or so so he knows how to Play, he s like 25 or 27 now and a Virtuoso allready
There is a Video of Tim were He plays the Guitar Drunk age 18. And he was allready better then 90 % of Players of the 1980 ies, And he just Played Random Appreggio kind of Stuff
Trust me when i tell you that the jazz fusion artist have been playing infused music since the late 60's & 70s, all the way up to now. I don't consider them prog rock but more jazz fusion because of the proliferation of many jazz scales and phrasings. Prog rock is more dream theater, Yes, syphony x, and many other bands i haven't named. I consider these guys as more modern day Herbie Hancock or al di meola. .
Keep doing what you're doing. I'm going to suggest someone to you to check out. This is more in line with your primary music background. There's a singer out of S Korea named Sohyang. One of the best vocalist alive today. I suggest checking out her cover of You Raise Me Up. Do the one with millions of views, she's in a white dress/wrap. Should be first result on YT. You won't regret it. Just be careful of copyright. KBS can be trifling sometimes. Make sure you stop periodically
I love their music. I am not a musician but I can hear the effort and talent. I like the point of view of actual musicians. My best briend plays bass he calls it music for music nerds, lol. We lovd it.
The guitar is actually his signature guitar from Ibanez. Apparently they originally made it years ago and it was a flop. Tim (the tattooed guitarist) found it in a shop somewhere and fell in love with it. He used this song as a way to convince Ibanez to make them again. Since it's been rereleased it's done very well. It's the TOD10 btw, an electric guitar with nylon strings.
And the drummer (Clay Aeschliman) basically does Trap drums and plays every single note. He used this same drum set for recording, they just probably processed it a bit post production. There are playthroughs of him playing this song and every single beat is there.
And I've seen them live, they sound the exact same. There's a video on their channel of one of their concerts which has this song just before the encore. 🩷
Other great songs of theirs are Ego Death, Neurotica, 40oz, and G.O.A.T. which is basically required listening.
The SC500n was the model tim found in a shop (I believe in Europe) he loved the sound but the guitar was awkward to play (probably why it failed) the TOD10n was Tim making the SC500n better, so not necessarily re-released. But the TOD was 100% inspired by the SC500n. He actually used the playing god riff to convince Ibanez to give him the sig, Ibanez turned down Tosin Abasi years ago for an SC500n sig. so Tim didn’t think he’d get it, but Playing God convinced the guys at Ibanez. I love Polyphia a little too much, I can’t stop listening to them.
40oz is an eternal banger
@@sheldorthememegod4573 He was in Japan when he found the SC500N
The TOD10N is the nylon-string model. The regular TOD10 is just the grey electric guitar
@@sheldorthememegod4573The guitar wasn't awkward to play, Tim actually states that it was super easy to play in his interview with Rick Beato. He just wanted a signature of it. I suppose it flopped because there just wasn't a market for it back then.
It is an electro-acoustic, his signature Ibanez. It's using nylon strings and a piezo electric pickup, so you get that great flamenco sound.
So its actually technically set up as an electric guitar but with nylon strings and instead of a piezo it actually has a fishman Sonicore pick up, which is similar to a piezo but its set up more for shreddy style playing
@@sean_mccadden The Sonicore is an undersaddle piezo pickup, it's just the preamp is an Ibanez so it's been engineered to sound a little different than you might normally get from the Sonicore. It's actually a pretty low-end acoustic pickup. Lots of people don't like how it sounds.
The only thing about the guitar that's like a traditional electric is the neck, but even that isn't built like a modern Ibanez. The string spacing is wider and the neck itself is wider at the nut and 14th, it's a 22 fret neck instead of 24, the scale length is only 25.5 inches, and it's much flatter than most typical electrics you'd see. The guitar is far closer to an acoustic than an electric.
@Fez135 Oh okay, I appreciate the correction. I guess I misunderstood when I was looking it up originally.
@@Nulli_Di Is it? I thought it might be a semi-hollow. But that makes sense
@@Nulli_Di It's a hollow body, but the sound hole is on the top side so from the front it looks solid.
There's a woman on youtube called Moyun, and she did a cover of this song on a Chinese guzheng. One of the most wild and impressive things I've seen. Absolutely worth checking out in your off time.
Her covers are fire. The algorithm randomly blessed me with her stuff a year or so ago. Cheers.
This band started in 2010 and has been through a few member changes, but has been in it's current state since 2016. They are super-well trained and practiced musicians. They started out playing classical guitar covers on TH-cam, but now consider themselves a prog-rock band. From their wiki: The name of the band comes from the word "polyphony", meaning music whose texture is defined by the interweaving of several melodic lines.
Seeing them live is always a treat. The way you wanted to sing along is exactly what they want people to do live, and when it happens it's glorious. When the crowd sings the riffs with them, when you're surrounded in it... Chills.
Polyphia first time reactions are my favorite reactions because they're so unique and mind blowingly talented, and I thoroughly enjoy vicariously experiencing it for the first time over and over again 😅
If you heard that "Call me Senorita" reference, Tim probably snuck it in there on purpose LOL. He's a classically trained violinist and will often take modern pop song chords, deconstruct them, and then record arpeggiations on Omnisphere which he then transfers BACK to the guitar and he teaches himself how to make those arpeggios happen.
Took my daughter and her friend to see them a few months ago…they were excellent live, but they definitely sound like a more regular live band, with the drummer just playing a standard acoustic kit. They do have some tracks playing to mimic some of the stuff Tim does in production, but way less than I expected…it’s a very different listening experience. Not better or worse…just different!
And random fact: Tim’s unique playing style comes to some degree from his writing process. He tends to write parts in the DAW first…using a keyboard for input and then moving things around until it sounds the way he wants…deconstructing and reconstructing parts of other pop songs (including Kanye and Taylor Swift). He then has to figure out how to play them…which can force you to do unnatural things (to a guitar player), especially with his fretting hand. It’s cool because the parts that come out of it don’t end up sounding like any other guitar player…and sometimes don’t even sound like guitar.
The drummer is on fire!
Listening to much to Polyphia at once will melt your brain.
The funny thing is a lot of us fans already knew how to play the opening/chorus of this song 2 years prior. Because of a teaser he released. Once it finally dropped. It was insane. Definitely worth the wait.
If you’re interested in exploring more “Spanish” guitar, I would suggest Rodrigo Y Gabriela (Tamacun) and Al Di Meola & Paco De Lucia (Mediterranean Sundance).
And, when you finally getting around to venturing into the Foxhole🦊, Tim and Scott of Polyphia were guest musicians on Babymetal’s Brand New Day.
Love the "Brand New Day" collab. There is a couple live version's that are crazy good.
I fully agree with the Rodrigo Y Gabriella recommendation, but please for the love of god not Tamacun or Diablo Rojo. They have so many better songs and performances.
"Call me Senorita", now I can't unhear it , thank you. 🤣🤣 Lovely reaction by the way
GOAT and GOOSE are 2 great compositions by this band. They're up there with Jinjer as my favorite musicians. 😉👍❤️
Just as a pro tip, a quick way to tell between a nylon string acoustic and a steel string acoustic is most generally done by looking at the headstock of the instrument. If the headstock is a flat piece of wood with metal tuning pegs protruding out of the top face, it's a steel string. Whereas nylon strings are typically retained by cylindrical tuners that run parallel to the frets, and typically have some amount of a gap between them which enables you to partially see through the headstock. So to summarize, if you can see through the headstock, it's most likely nylon. If you can't, and there are metal tuning pegs protruding from the face of the headstock, it's most likely steel.
And then they did their masterpiece..."Ego Death" which is on the same album as this song. And your in for a super treat.
Thissss
I'd love to hear your reaction to Crush. Earlier work. I love how it sounds.
The way Steve comes into that track is just... PERFECTION
G.O.A.T --- each member gets to solo, so you see the bassist and drummers talent as well.
@@PBRatLordit really is a masterful blend between guitar rock god eras
This is instantly one of my favorite Polyphia reactions ever. From the jaw on the floor initial reaction, to the "OMG, THIS IS BEAUTIFUL", it felt like I was hearing the song for the first time all over again. That in itself is beautiful thing and something only reaction videos can do for you.
fun fact: Tim Henson paid somebody on Fiverrr to record the whistling and he auto tuned it after to make it sound how you hear it
Polyphia are masters of their craft. Yes, they're doing tons of hammer-ons and pull-offs. It's quite common in guitar playing, they just do them on another level. If you notice, they also are hybrid picking like mad where they'll use a pick and their fingers at the same time. The pick hits bass notes and the fingers kind of do a claw picking action at higher strings at the same time. Another technique they'll do is call thumping (not in this song), where the thumb will do a double pick action kind of thing. It's hard to explain, but it's another one of those master level things they picked up from Tosin Abasi of the band Animals as Leaders. Tim asked Tosin to teach him. Again, they're not doing it in this song (I think), but they'll also do a finger tap where you hit a note with your strumming hand on the fretboard that's out of reach of your fretting hand.
Great Pick! This is my favorite American band playing today. And this piece was one of my three picks for Instrumental of the Year in 2022. (The other two were pieces by Band-Maid and Asterism). Polyphia are an instrumental quartet from Texas, formed in 2010. They have gradually built a large following including a lot of fellow musicians, based on their beautiful, unusual compositions and their extraordinary skills. They’ve had a couple of pieces make it high on the charts, but they still don’t get radio play, which is probably just fine with them. Their music has evolved from straight-up metal through experimental rock and even into mashups based on jazz and hip-hop, and they collaborate with a wide range of artists to enable them to pursue new sounds and styles.
Polyphia consist of:
Tim Henson, Guitar
Scott LePage, Guitar
Clay Gober, Bass
Clay Aeschliman, Drums
In an quirk that is likely of interest only to gear nerds, all three of the guitarists are sponsored by, and have signature models with, Ibanez, the Japanese luthier now favored by a lot of elite guitarists.
“Playing God” combines lush, almost romantic melodies and harmonies, with flamenco influences and splashes of funk and metal. The guys love lightning-fast harmonies and syncopated runs. The bass is forward in the mix, which almost makes it danceable. Thank you for featuriung them!
The drummer Clay doesnt play electric drums. He plays aucustic, but many of the drum sounds on the recordings are with a drum machine to get the EDM, hip-hop, trap sound but live he does it all aucustic. They have a live show on their youtube channel from thier home town of Dallas. So if you want to hear themmlive this is the best way. The recording is really high quality.
Tim Henson describes that guitar as semi-acoustic classical style electric guitar. It has the pick up under the bridge and controls on the top with a small soundhole up towards the player.
The neck is a compromise between electric guitar and true classical guitar, making it easier to adapt for electric guitar player.
They also used real violins, real vocal harmonies and real whistling on this piece instead of samplers or synths. To hear them in elecric phase, please react to "Neurotica" studio live playtrough.
I believe you might like a piece from band Return To Forever called "Romantic Warrior" . Another might be "Endless Night". Polyphia carries a lot of similar elements along them.
I always enjoy watching people do their first reaction on these guys. Your face from the beginning all the way to a bit after the first drop…..😂😂😂😂
Nitt picc the guitars used in this video are electric-acoustic nylon string guitars made by Ibanez. The company tried launching a model several yrs ago that didn't sell well so they discontinued making it. The first guitarist you see in the video with the shorter black hair is Tim Henson. He came across one of the discontinued guitars and contacted Ibanez about making a signature model for him as they were already doing electric guitars for him. The second guitar player you see , Scott LePage is playing a guitar similar to the discontinued model. Tim's signature model is in matte black with the vine of death inlays on the fretboard as seen in the video. Because of the bands popularity Tim's model nylon string has had strong sales. The section of the song where it changes keys , the father of a friend of Tim's suggested the bossa nova rhythm you hear. Also Tim paid a guy $32 to do the whistling part you hear near the end of the song. They sound just as good live.
That ending part doesn’t get enough credit. Not only is he using hammer ons and pull offs, but he’s also hybrid picking and including harmonics mid arpeggio scale. It’s one of the craziest guitar parts I’ve ever heard or seen
A lot of the stuff you're hearing from the drums is still acoustic. He just has a lot of really trashy cymbals to get all those effects.
Though I think the kicks are triggered for samples because they have a few different kick sounds they use. And to be fair, almost all drummers use triggers on their kicks now-a-days. It's just so much easier from a set-up/production stand point, but triggers do also make it more difficult to actually play. Gotta be perfectly precise.
Also, please don't sleep on their second album. Most people are gonna request stuff from their last 2 albums, but their second album, "Renaissance" is big slept on in the react scene, and it's still their best album in my opinion. Definitely them at their most melodic. "Nightmare", "Crush", "Euphoria", and "Amour" are all really good, with "Amour" being my personal favorite because that song is the embodiment of sexy guitar.
Yes, it's a nylon string guitar rather than metal based on the 3 high strings. It can be played unplugged, but it does plug in to amplify.
Clay Aeschliman is one of my favorite drummers ever. He could easily just lay a simple beat down for Tim and Scott to shred over, but he's so masterful at tastefully filling up every bit of space left by the guitars. They fit together so perfectly like a rhythmic puzzle.
Such a throwback to atmospheric movie music for spaghetti westerns with the whistling section. Incredible homage to flamenco music. All pushed thru the ricer of modernity Sounds European. Great review as always
Recently happened upon your site. Love your reactions especially as a trained musician. Your reaction to "Pisces" by Jinjer was utterly priceless!!
Polyphia is an amazing band. Tim Henson is one of those virtuosic players that make most of us want to take our guitars and just chuck them in the bin! Of course, I also believe that it makes most of us immediately retrieve them from the bin, then get right back to practicing and striving to get better!
For grins, you may want to check out similar artists such as The Omnific ("Wax & Wane" is a wonderful introduction to the band), Jason Richardson, especially his collaberations with drummer Luke Holland. An amazing introductory track is "Sparrow" with the esteemed cellist / erhuist Tina Guo.
In the same vein as Tim Henson is one of his musical collarorators, Plini. Again, simply stunning guitar work. A personal fav is the live version of "Kind" from 2020.
While we're at it...I frakking love Band-Maid!!!!! Discovered them a few years ago and fell absolutely in love with them! While I grew up emulating the likes of Geddy Lee, Chris Squire, Jeff Berlin, and Tony Levin, Misa (...I know...MISA!!!) is hands down my most favourite bassist ever!
Cheers and keep up with the awesome reaction videos!
Polymer wasn’t wrong - Nylon is a polymer. In fact, it was the first commercially successful polymer ever invented, in the form of lady’s stockings, which is where the whole plastics industry was born in the first place. Nylon guitar strings came out just a few years later.
‘The bass line, super simple’.. you have no clue how hard this shit is to play fr 😂😂. Clays something else
Meaning the chord progression is simple. Not the actual technique.
@@NittPicc lol makes no sense.
Right on, dude.
i loved your breakdown! i've watched a bunch of polyphia reactions and you had some stuff in there that no one else has mentioned. like the part about the major and minor chords coinciding with the change of scenery. or the history with minor chords being darker and major chords being of a lighter nature. you got my sub! anyways, wonderful breakdown!
if i had to recommend songs to listen to from polyphia i'd prolly have to say G.O.A.T.(which btw, not an acronym for greatest of all time but rather go out and try), O.D. or Ego death. i'd get a kick out of your analysis =)
You've got to hear "BLOODBATH" featuting Chino Moreno on vocals. Ultra deep field sounds. Chino doesnt scream. He sings like an evil Angel.
Glad you picked up on the strings. Apparently more difficult to play but a different tone. Now a days, mainly nylon.
Fun fact, it never changes to mayor key; it stays the same, in E minor. The difference is that in the bossa nova section it adds seventh and nineth to the E minor chord, and also add more chords to it, when the first section has just three chords. And thats how you can feel the song so different, without changing the key, or the third grade of the chord
“I think there’s hammer-ons” babe it’s probably 50% hammer-ons. The guitar is Tim Hensons signature Ibanez with nylon strings.
The guitars they are playing are electric acoustic with nylon strings. Fantastic guitars. I have the TOD10N and it sounds and plays amazing.
The tone quality is just absolutely gorgeous. 🥹
Rick Beato did an interview with Tim Henson of Polyphia quite recently, and they spent a lot of time talking about the origins of this guitar they're using.
Also, this isn't the first time a nylon-stringed guitar has been built with an electric guitar-style body: Yngwie Malmsteen, the famous guitar virtuoso from Sweden, had a signature Fender Stratocaster with no visible pickups, a wider neck and a piezo-electric pickup in the bridge (I believe -- slightly unsure of the details).
If you like this, you'll love Sokoninaru. Please consider reacting to their song "Tenohira de Odoru"
Sokoninaru absolutely amazes me.
Your analysis was amazing!! Made me realize stuff I didn't consider. The band's name for example!
Love the content! Ive been listening to Polyphia since the days of "Impassion" and they have evolved so much. If by chance you ever want to delve into some heavier stuff check out Berried Alive, just a dude and his wife making some absolutely tasty metal instrumentals. Glad i found your channel, keep it up!
They fucking shred live. Saw them twice and got my brain exploded
This makes me thing about Wagakki Band - one of them play Sakurachi (the Japanese flute). It blends traditional instruments and voice to ocidental rock instruments. Give it a try.
You can watch both Tim (black guitar) and Clay (Drummer) play their part of this song solo on their channel.
Tim Hensons Ibanez nylon string acoustic guitar is really awesome. It has the tree of life mother of pearl inlays on the fretboard but it’s so expensive.
Classical strings both. Scot and Tim both have long fingers to say the least and have been together since 2010. Probably the best guitar duo in my 74 years listening. Listen to Crush and then Ego Death with Steve Vai.
Its the TOD10 thin-line acoustic electric strung with nylon strings. I bought it as soon as it was available. Its a beautiful guitar. 😊
It truly is gorgeous 🥹
tim henson's guitar is an electric one with nylon strings (ibanez tod10n)
If you liked their music, you can also try listening to 'Awakening' by Ichika Nito
I am shocked nobody suggested NittPicc to react to Jethro Tull band with their lead singer Ian Anderson playing flute on most tracks - he was claimed as best flute players in rock (because he was the single one)!
G.O.A.T ... imo
Tim "I make this look easy" Henson.
The W3rst is their best song imo. That main riff is ear candy.
ive never heard them play live but ive watched live recordings and i think they are usually pretty spot on to the recording. its obviously insanely challenging music to play so its not perfect everytime
Oh yeah, more of this. May I suggest a two'fer, G.O.A.T official video and G.O.A.T live soundcheck. Chef's kiss.
Hi,
great to see you are eager to see and hear more of Polyphia. I suggest their must watch song G.O.A.T.
you will not regret it. Keep up the great reactions!
I also saw you have discovered Dirty Loops as well
So Tim henson, the shorter haired, tattooed guitarist, is actually the main writer of the band. Unlike a lot of other progressive bands, he will initially write songs using midi and make it more electronic sounding and then he and Scott Lepage (the other guitarist) and the other members Clay Gober (bassist) and Clay Aeschliman (drummer) (yes they're both named Clay 😂) will record their parts with primarily live instruments adding their own flare with midi drums and samples added in to give it that hip-hop/trap esque beat. Tim has stated that while being a progressive band the main goal is to have the central melody singable and the rhythm easily understandable to the average listener so a lot of songs are written in pop format and generally in 4/4. You should really chevk out their song "ABC" after this
the drummer definitely has a lot of trappy qualities
nylon strings vs steel strings
The 3 thickest strings in a nylon string set is still wound in metal (often silver)
You should watch Tim Henson play this alone, and then watch Clay Aeschliman (drummer) play this alone. Takes the appreciation to a whole new level!
The percussion is actually a combination of physical drums and trap beat 808. If you want to hear the bassist cut loose a bit more, check out G.O.A.T. If you want to hear a collab with another famous guitarist, Steve Vai, then check out Ego Death. Ego Death has a great surprise at the end that I think you'll really dig. Their style is all over the place to be honest. As they have evolved, they have run from metal to prog, to funk and hip hop, and math rock (the segments of Ego Death are 15 and 30 seconds long). So don't think they just play acoustical, Spanish style guitar all the time, though it is frequently incorporated.
G.O.A.T. - th-cam.com/video/9_gkpYORQLU/w-d-xo.html
Ego Death - th-cam.com/video/1JNmz17gnMw/w-d-xo.html
If you want to see a better view of the guitar techniques look up Tim Henson Playing God Unplugged. That is just Tim (the anime character guy) doing a solo play along performing both main guitar parts and you can see everything he is doing. It is mind blowing.
They sound awesome live btw
Oh honey, he was doin so much more than hammer ons lol
Imagine just being in a room with these dudes while they jam
What’s your favorite style of guitar playing (if you can name one)?
Polyphia, they're my spirit animal. Hit so many different genres and all of the harmonics. Lol
People thinks its standard flamenco or finger style playing until they actually try to play the song. to find out they need to use multiple very highly technical techniques to play sections of the song. the hardest being the final solo that Tim (neck tattoo guy) plays. And it takes a lot of practice to even play the song full speed after learning those new techniques lol
Talent beyond talent
you were right first time Nylon is a trade name for a polymer
Nylon is a polymer so the term is correct. Almost all plastics are polymers (carbon or silicone based)
Nylon strings. I think it's still possible to get gut strings for guitar, but I've never known anyone who did. That's mostly just classical string players going for the Baroque sound. Tim Henson played violin from a pretty early age, and gave it up at around 15 if I am remembering the interview correctly. He attributes that mostly to abusive teachers, but I suspect a good portion of his skill on the guitar has to do with habits formed on the violin.
May I suggest the next song be Ego Death, by them. Also checkout out ABC, both really good songs.
Fortunate to see them twice (in Detroit) and they jammed just as hard
Speechless about says it all with Polyphia really, doesn't it.
You don't have to be sorry for saying that the bassline is simple. That's actually what makes Polyphia so listenable. The chord progression and timings are pretty standard and yes, simple, but then they turn the virtuosity to 11. Even Tim Hansen (The one who looks like an Anime protagonist) laughed about that he only knows how to play in 4/4 :P
Tim henson rhe frontman at thw beginning did a unplugged playthrough of his part. Looks almost fake its so clean.
Subbing for more Polyphia! Also if you happened to dig into Ren too that would be awesome 😝 Polyphia are 🔥 this is my fave song of theirs too, you should check out EGO DEATH, O.D, G.O.A.T and more. Tim Henson is the beautiful dark haired guitarist, he’s playing his signature Ibanez TOD10N which is an electric acoustic with nylon strings, I’m not sure what Scott Lepage (other guitarist) model is but it’s another electric acoustic with nylon strings, the other two are Clay Grober on Bass and Clay Aeschliman on drums 🖤
I've always maintained that anyone can PLAY bass for Polyphia, but almost no one could write the bass he does
Tim is Playing guitar since the age of 16 but he Played Violin since the age of 9 or so so he knows how to Play, he s like 25 or 27 now and a Virtuoso allready
There is a Video of Tim were He plays the Guitar Drunk age 18. And he was allready better then 90 % of Players of the 1980 ies, And he just Played Random Appreggio kind of Stuff
Gotta check our ego death now lol.
If you were to re-watch the video you might notice that every band member spends the entire video with their eyes closed.
You should watch Tim Henson (tattoo guy) 1 take this on guitar. Its actually gross how perfect his playing is
Trust me when i tell you that the jazz fusion artist have been playing infused music since the late 60's & 70s, all the way up to now. I don't consider them prog rock but more jazz fusion because of the proliferation of many jazz scales and phrasings. Prog rock is more dream theater, Yes, syphony x, and many other bands i haven't named. I consider these guys as more modern day Herbie Hancock or al di meola. .
There's a cool making of video of this song you might appreciate
Keep doing what you're doing. I'm going to suggest someone to you to check out. This is more in line with your primary music background. There's a singer out of S Korea named Sohyang. One of the best vocalist alive today. I suggest checking out her cover of You Raise Me Up. Do the one with millions of views, she's in a white dress/wrap. Should be first result on YT. You won't regret it. Just be careful of copyright. KBS can be trifling sometimes. Make sure you stop periodically
The best part is they found the guy wistling on the internet for $35.
Best Christian band ever.
Why Christian Band¿
Best band ever
Not everything is about christianity
😂😂
K
ポリフィアのギタリストが参加したBABYMETALの”Brand New Day” を聴いてみてください。
You 100% need to react to Ego-death by Polyphia, same album!!
Check Polyphia | G.O.A.T. (Live Soundcheck) ;)
It's like if Marco Pierre White ran a McDonald's.
😅the last part is like classical techno
I love their music. I am not a musician but I can hear the effort and talent. I like the point of view of actual musicians. My best briend plays bass he calls it music for music nerds, lol. We lovd it.
Electric guitar with nylon strings
No one expects the Spanish Inquisition. ...or Polyphia. 😁😁😁🤘🤘🤘❤️❤️❤️
Nice reaction- very nice. You got a new sub and I’m interested in checking out earlier and future posts!! 🤘🏼🎧 🤟🏼
Thank you! 🙏🏽
Like it? Ego Death feat: Steve Vai will blow you away.
if you think this was cool you should check out his playing god unplugged it’s him playing just him in his studio it’s actually insane
ChatGPT sure won’t ever come for these guy liver ever ⚜️⚜️⚜️
Next alip bata shallow