Aristotle Dreher
Encyclopedia
Aristotle Dreher is an American
artist, songwriter, musician, and occasional actor from Bay Shore, New York
. He is known as a founding member and bass player of the band Vaeda
. His unique musical techniques stem from his artistic ingenuity. Drawing from childhood influences like Les Claypool
, Jeff Ament
, and Justin Chancellor
, Aristotle has created his own signature sound and a physically dominating, energetic performance style.
Along with performing in a band, Dreher is also a highly skilled visual artist and filmmaker. He has also made several acting appearances in films and television. Aristotle also has an unusual affinity for Cheez Waffles and will often reference them.
, he uses a delay and flanger and a two hand tapping
technique to create a sound more like a keyboard.
In the verses of the song "Fake the Moment," Dreher uses distortion, chorus, flanger and delay along with a melodic pattern of tap harmonics which creates a unique sound similar to that of bells chiming.
The main riff of "The Bystander Effect" is bass with distortion, overdrive, wah and delay which also creates a guitar-like solo in the bridge section.
He also uses the Digitech whammy pedal in conjunction with tremolo in several spots throughout his live performances to create a disorienting chaotic ambient feeling.
His sense of timing, odd signatures and complex rhythms while working with drummer Oliver Williams
creates a stark and identifiable rhythm section.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
artist, songwriter, musician, and occasional actor from Bay Shore, New York
Bay Shore, New York
Bay Shore is a hamlet and a census-designated place located in the Town of Islip, Suffolk County, New York, USA. It is situated on the south shore of Long Island, adjoining the Great South Bay. Bay Shore celebrated its 300th anniversary in 2008. The population of the CDP was 23,852 at the time of...
. He is known as a founding member and bass player of the band Vaeda
Vaeda
Vaeda is an American three-piece alternative rock band formed in Brooklyn, New York in 2003. In September–October 2005 Vaeda was the Number 1 unsigned artist on the Myspace music charts and has since been featured in films, television and national tours including the Vans Warped Tour and Rockstar...
. His unique musical techniques stem from his artistic ingenuity. Drawing from childhood influences like Les Claypool
Les Claypool
Leslie Edward "Les" Claypool is an American musician and writer, best known as the lead vocalist and bassist in the band Primus. Claypool's playing style on the electric bass mixes tapping, flamenco-like strumming, whammy bar bends and slapping.Claypool has also self produced and engineered his...
, Jeff Ament
Jeff Ament
Jeffrey Allen Ament is an American musician who serves as the bassist for the American rock band Pearl Jam. Along with Stone Gossard, Mike McCready, and Eddie Vedder, he is one of the founding members of Pearl Jam...
, and Justin Chancellor
Justin Chancellor
Justin Gunnar Walter Chancellor is an English musician formerly in the band Peach but best known as the bass player for Grammy Award-winning rock band Tool. Chancellor is of Norwegian and English descent...
, Aristotle has created his own signature sound and a physically dominating, energetic performance style.
Along with performing in a band, Dreher is also a highly skilled visual artist and filmmaker. He has also made several acting appearances in films and television. Aristotle also has an unusual affinity for Cheez Waffles and will often reference them.
Basses
- Ernie Ball Music Man StingrayMusic Man StingRayMusic Man StingRay is an electric bass guitar by Music Man, introduced in 1976.- History :In 1971, Fender employees Forrest White and Tom Walker, unhappy with the way CBS was managing the company, left their positions with Fender to start their own venture. First known as Tri-Sonic and then later...
- Dreher’s main bass for performance and recording is the EBMM 5-string Stingray he traded his Les PaulLes PaulLester William Polsfuss —known as Les Paul—was an American jazz and country guitarist, songwriter and inventor. He was a pioneer in the development of the solid-body electric guitar which made the sound of rock and roll possible. He is credited with many recording innovations...
Standard for before recording State of NatureState of natureState of nature is a term in political philosophy used in social contract theories to describe the hypothetical condition that preceded governments...
. The bass’s woods and electronics help create the midrange cut and punch for which he is known. Dreher has been known to use a SchecterSchecterSchecter may refer to:* Schecter Guitar Research, an American guitar manufacturer* Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States, a landmark Supreme Court decision regarding the Commerce Clause...
Omen-8 string bass (used on the track "All For You" on the album Unsafe at any Speed) Aristotle normally plays a hybrid set of Ernie BallErnie BallErnie Ball was an American entrepreneur, musician, and innovator, widely acclaimed as a revolutionary in the development of guitar-related products. He began as a club and local television musician and small business entrepreneur, building an international business in guitars and accessories that...
strings (.045, .065, .085, .105, .120) - When performing or recording with his Music Man StingrayMusic Man StingRayMusic Man StingRay is an electric bass guitar by Music Man, introduced in 1976.- History :In 1971, Fender employees Forrest White and Tom Walker, unhappy with the way CBS was managing the company, left their positions with Fender to start their own venture. First known as Tri-Sonic and then later...
, Dreher gets his various tones through his playing style - Tap Harmonics (used in the verse sections of "Fake the Moment"), TappingTappingTapping is a guitar playing technique, where a string is fretted and set into vibration as part of a single motion of being pushed onto the fretboard, as opposed to the standard technique being fretted with one hand and picked with the other...
(used in the verse sections of "Asleep at the Wheel"), and Lead GuitarLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
techniques (used in parts of "The Bystander Effect") as well as a creative use of a myriad of effects. - Aristotle has also used a 4 string Fender Jazz BassFender Jazz BassThe Jazz Bass was the second model of electric bass created by Leo Fender. The bass is distinct from the Precision Bass in that its tone is brighter and richer in the midrange and treble with less emphasis on the fundamental harmonic...
in his previous band The Bastard Kings of Rock.
Effects
- Digitech Bass Whammy
- Digitech Synth Wah / Envelope Filter
- BossBoss CorporationBoss is a manufacturer of effects pedals for electric guitar and bass guitar. It is a division of the Roland Corporation, a Japanese manufacturer that specializes in musical equipment and accessories...
BF-2 Flanger - Boss DD-3 Digital Delay
- Boss TR-2 Tremolo
- Boss PH-2 Super Phaser
- Boss PH-3 Phase Shifter
- Boss ODB-3 Overdrive
- Boss Dynamic AW-3 Wah
- Boss V-Wah
- Visual Sound H2O - Liquid Chorus and Echo
- Electro-Harmonix Big MuffBig MuffThe Big Muff is a fuzzbox produced in New York City by the Electro-Harmonix company, along with their Russian sister company Sovtek, primarily for use with the electric guitar...
- Electro-Harmonix Graphic Fuzz
- Line 6Line 6Line 6 is a manufacturer of digital modeling guitars, amplifiers and related electronic equipment. Their product lines include electric and acoustic guitars, basses, guitar and bass amplifiers, effects processors, USB audio interfaces and guitar/bass wireless systems...
Bass Pod - Multi-Effects Processor
Playing style
Aristotle uses many guitar techniques which include using a pick, chords, harmonics, effects, and hammer ons and pull offs. He uses his many effects to create guitar like and often synthesizer types of sonic textures. For example, in the song Asleep at the WheelAsleep at the Wheel
Asleep at the Wheel is a American country music group that was formed in Paw Paw, West Virginia, but based in Austin, Texas. Altogether, they have won nine Grammy Awards since their 1970 inception. In their career, they have released more than twenty studio albums, and have charted more than twenty...
, he uses a delay and flanger and a two hand tapping
Tapping
Tapping is a guitar playing technique, where a string is fretted and set into vibration as part of a single motion of being pushed onto the fretboard, as opposed to the standard technique being fretted with one hand and picked with the other...
technique to create a sound more like a keyboard.
In the verses of the song "Fake the Moment," Dreher uses distortion, chorus, flanger and delay along with a melodic pattern of tap harmonics which creates a unique sound similar to that of bells chiming.
The main riff of "The Bystander Effect" is bass with distortion, overdrive, wah and delay which also creates a guitar-like solo in the bridge section.
He also uses the Digitech whammy pedal in conjunction with tremolo in several spots throughout his live performances to create a disorienting chaotic ambient feeling.
His sense of timing, odd signatures and complex rhythms while working with drummer Oliver Williams
Oliver Williams
Oliver Charles W Williams is an English cricketer. Williams is a right-handed batsman. He was born in Northampton, Northamptonshire....
creates a stark and identifiable rhythm section.
Influences
Dreher borrows and combines many of the playing techniques and performance styles of the following notable musicians.- Justin ChancellorJustin ChancellorJustin Gunnar Walter Chancellor is an English musician formerly in the band Peach but best known as the bass player for Grammy Award-winning rock band Tool. Chancellor is of Norwegian and English descent...
- Tool - Les ClaypoolLes ClaypoolLeslie Edward "Les" Claypool is an American musician and writer, best known as the lead vocalist and bassist in the band Primus. Claypool's playing style on the electric bass mixes tapping, flamenco-like strumming, whammy bar bends and slapping.Claypool has also self produced and engineered his...
- Primus - The EdgeThe EdgeDavid Howell Evans , more widely known by his stage name The Edge , is a musician best known as the guitarist, backing vocalist, and keyboardist of the Irish rock band U2. A member of the group since its inception, he has recorded 12 studio albums with the band and has released one solo record...
- U2 - Jeff AmentJeff AmentJeffrey Allen Ament is an American musician who serves as the bassist for the American rock band Pearl Jam. Along with Stone Gossard, Mike McCready, and Eddie Vedder, he is one of the founding members of Pearl Jam...
- Pearl Jam - Mike DirntMike DirntMichael Ryan Pritchard is an American musician, best known as the bassist, backing vocalist and co-founder of the American Rock band Green Day. While at school, he would play "air-bass." While pretending to pluck the strings, he made the noise, "dirnt, dirnt, dirnt"...
- Green Day - FleaFlea (musician)Michael Peter Balzary , better known by his stage name Flea, is an Australian-American musician and occasional actor. He is best known as the bassist, co-founding member, and one of the composers of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers...
- Red Hot Chili Peppers - Caleb ScofieldCaleb ScofieldCaleb Scofield is a bassist and singer mostly known for playing bass & contributing vocals in the alternative metal band Cave In, and is now most active with his own sludge metal band Zozobra. Caleb is also a part of the sludge band Old Man Gloom. He currently lives in Boston with his wife and...
- Cave in - Mike Berardicelli - The Dills