David Gilmour Plectrum Mosaic Portrait

I’m sure some of you have seen the Jimi Hendrix pick art done by Ed Chapman, which inspired me to do a similar portrait for one of my idols David Gilmour of Pink Floyd using the same method, nothing but guitar picks!

So I went ahead and bought around 2000 guitar pics, some Fender, and for the colors that Fender does not carry I went with a random choice brand. As for the canvas it’s a regular oil painting canvas. And I used a transparent glue to fix the guitar picks.

And here’s the final artwork! The whole process took months on and off, but I’m extremely pleased with the result, and I’m sure I will start working on the rest of the members very soon. Hope you enjoyed!

David Gilmour Plectrum Mosaic art by Shant Hagopian
David Gilmour Plectrum Mosaic art by Shant Hagopian

Happy New Year!

2013 has been a great year for me, surrounded with amazing people like you who know how to appreciate great music.

I hope it has been a great year for all of you too. And let’s all hope for an even more awesome year in 2014.

Happy new fucking year everyone !

-Shant

Q&A With Me

Earlier last week I asked everyone to post any questions they have for me, and I promised to answer as much as I can. So I made the video below with all the answers for you guys.

A Couple of Questions I Missed

Ken, my friend from Inhale The Heavy; I apologize. Apparently I missed the question you posted on my blog, due to the high level of spam comments I get on the blog (very frustrating). But I will answer your question right here right now.

Hey Shant, It’s Ken from Inhale the Heavy. I’m a huge fan of your work and a your band Semantic Saturation. I was wondering if there will be a follow up to the debut, ‘Solipsistic’, and are you currently working on any other projects.?
Thanks,
Ken {- -}\m/

There will definitely be a follow up, with the same musicians? perhaps not. I’m not yet working on any new material, cause we currently have plans a to make a music video for one of the tracks from Solipsistic (can’t say which one yet). I will start writing new material after the video release, and hopefully get these brilliant musicians I have in mind to feature on my next work.

Sylvain Rodrigue asked on Facebook: I have a good idea, but what is the meaning of Semantic’s album cover?

Sylvain, sorry couldn’t include the answer in the video.
Well the cover pretty much represents Solipsism, the girl is in a delusional city, where everything looks real from her point of view, but from our point of view we can see all the people working on making the city and her surroundings as real and believable as it can be. The artist Saad Fanari who designed all the artwork on the Digipak has paid attention to every little detail to complete the story and make it comprehensible, so I will not reveal everything and spoil the fun for you. (Hint: The unfolded artwork is continuous)

And below are my Axe-FX settings for the lead guitar I used on Solipsistic, I named it Crunchy Lead:

Layout
Layout
Pitch
Pitch
Drive
Drive
Amp
Amp
Cabinets
Cabinets
Graphic EQ
Graphic EQ
Delay
Delay
Reverb
Reverb
Enhancer
Enhancer

Ask Me Almost Anything

I always keep asking questions on the Facebook page. But I thought why not have you ask any questions you have this time, and I’ll try to post a video response with all the answers later this week. Think of it as a personal interview with me.

Ask away!

Press Release – Jam Tracks From Solipsistic Now Available

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

This is Your Chance to Jam with Your Favorite Musicians from ‘Solipsistic’.

Montreal, Canada (September 6, 2013) – Progressive Metal project Semantic Saturation to release isolated instrument tracks (Jam Tracks) for the entire album “Solipsistic” through their website at www.semanticsaturation.com/jam
Musicians will have access to download WAV files of both isolated instrument Stems and Backing Tracks from the original record, for all nine songs from the debut album. Additionally, guitar players may download Guitar Tabs and Guitar Pro 6 files; which are carefully transcribed by guitarist Shant Hagopian himself.

Jam Tracks of two songs “Stardust” and “Lost and Found: Insanity” are currently available through the webpage above, and more songs will become available in the very near future as soon as they are transcribed.

Musicians will have access to Stems and Backing Tracks of *all* instruments in one song by using a single KeyCode. Key Codes are obtainable through www.semanticsaturation.com/jam.
Once a Key Code is used it cannot be reused to unlock Backing Tracks of other songs. To download the Backing Tracks of additional songs you will need more Key Codes.

“Solipsistic” was released back in January 21, 2013; featuring special guest Keyboard virtuoso Derek Sherinian (ex-Dream Theater), drummer Virgil Donati, Bassist Ric Fierabracci, special guest Andy Kuntz (Vanden Plas) vocals, and guitarist (founder) Shant Hagopian. The release was followed by a plethora of positive feedback and high rated reviews from acclaimed Web ‘Zines and Magazines like “Prog Magazine” and “Prog Archives”.

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