Is Masters Of Mechanics Moving Away From Metal?

Masters in Mechanics
#1

@Troy I can tell you exactly what made me subscribe to Masters of Mechanics. The CTC company announced they were going to put cameras on the electric guitars of Michael Angelo Batio and Rusty Cooley so that finally people could see exactly how these guys pick that results in them being so fas and clean. It was a groundbreaking, pioneering movement in teaching heavy metal guitar and I wanted to see exactly what those two guys were doing. I’d seen MAB in concert with Nitro and had seen a Rusty Cooley instructional video which showed he was also extremely impressive. I’ve enjoyed both MAB interviews immensely and learned from them. Good job on those!

Well, I’m still waiting to see the interview with Rusty Cooley. My whole menu of Masters of Mechanics doesn’t even list his name in a single section. Is there some type of computer glitch with my account? This was promised 2 years ago! At least I’d estimate it’s been 2 years, possibly more.

Since then, what true heavy metal guitar heroes have we seen interviewed that are of the stature of those two guys, especially Rusty Cooley? Just a handful. Off the top of my head, Marty Friedman is the only other one who has been interviewed who plays metal and has had worldwide fame on a level of and actually exceeding MAB.

besides Marty Friedman and one or two metal guitarists that I had never even heard of and don;t know if they have ever even toured the United States, which is every foreign band’s dream (it even was Led Zeppelin’s first priority ahead of touring England), the rest of the guys seem to be drawn predominantly from areas outside of metal as well as rock in general. I see new interviews with “a bop jazz guy”, another jazz guy, we’ve seen interviews with numerous bluegrass players fairly recently, and as for rock? The one guy I know of who has an interview coming up plays for a fictional heavy metal band on a cartoon. That’s not exactly an accolade on par with being the lead guitarist on Megadeth’s most successful albums, or the man who is often considered one of the most technically accomplished heavy metal guitarists ever, to the point he can play two guitars at the same time and play left or right handed!

IIs this shift away from the elite level stars of heavy metal just a fluke, or a conscious shift away from interviewing players from heavy metal?

#2

Hey! I think the short answer is that we’re not intentionally shifting away from rock/metal. We have pretty diverse interests, and we’re driven more by looking at amazing playing and understanding technique than by wanting to focus on any one genre in particular.

Our bluegrass interviews, for example, came about largely due to our interest in figuring out crosspicking, which feels like an untapped technical frontier. Many/most of the techniques we look at can be applied musically in a wide variety of ways, so I think it’s definitely possible to learn useful stuff from our interviews with players even in genres outside what you’re personally interested in playing.

I should also note that interviewing the most famous guitarists possible isn’t necessarily a top priority for us. (Not to mention it’s not always easy to get those players on board!) One thing we find super rewarding is working with up and coming players who may not have achieved worldwide renown yet but are clearly at the top of their game and already starting to make waves as the next generation of elite guitarists.

We hear you though, we can probably stand to get some more rock / metal back in the mix. I know many of our viewers are particularly interested in those genres…we’ll see what we can do to keep a good balance of genres, styles, etc. going forward!

6 Likes
#3

Honestly, spin a couple Metalocalypse tunes. It’s not like you can understand the lyrics anyway, and while the whole show is a bit tongue in cheek, the music itself is actually surprisingly really good.

Speaking personally, I’m glad that the CtC focus isn’t exclusively on metal, but rather on cutting edge picking technique in general. I can definitely understand how you might feel differently though.

3 Likes
#4

I’m sure it’s not always easy to get interviews with those guys because there is such a great overall demand for those players because of their popularity. That popularity that makes them hard to get is also a reason why I think their continued presence in the Masters Of Mechanics is good not only for subscribers who are mainly interested in that style but also good for increasing your total number of subscribers. It stands to reason that new interviews with very popular, in-demand players will stimulate more growth in your number of new subscribers, than interviews with players who are less in-demand in general.

I shared my own experience as an example. The name MAB immediately interested me because I had always been interested in what it was about his technique that enabled him to play as fast and as clean as he does.

2 Likes
#5

I’ve knew even before I subscribed that they don’t exclusively cover rock/metal guitarists. It was when it seemed to me that they might be shifting away from that style and possibly even phasing it out that I became concerned. If you make a look at the Antigravity section, for example, besides Al DiMeola and John McLaughlin, every guitarist they covered was a rock/metal guitarist. Their focus wasn’t exclusively on metal but it was primarily on metal at the time the Antigravity series was made. Since the release of the Antigravity series, the ratio of coverage of metal guitarists to other styles has clearly changed.

#6

Buahahahahahahaha

:bear:

#7

I’m pretty sure that Metalocalypse is the biggest thing to happen in metal since Rust in Peace.

1 Like
#8

I guess CtC has to suit all audiences. It would get stale very quickly if they covered only metal players and rock players.

I see where you’re coming from though and I agree with you on some of your points.

1 Like
#9

I’m a rock guy, but personally I enjoy seeing all of these players from different genres. Sometimes we have to step outside of our normal listening preferences to find new approaches to similar problems.
The interview with Molly (I can’t remember her last name) was pretty cool, I thought. Her style of music isn’t something I would normally listen to but her incredible technique is undeniable. There is VALUE there for all players regardless of style/genre.

1 Like