ZERO SIGNAL
-------------------------------------------------------------
Artist:  Fear Factory
Song:  "Zero Signal"
Album:  Demanufacture
Label:  Roadrunner Records, copyright 1995, (The All-Blacks B.V.)

Dry Lung Vocal Martyr:  Burton C. Bell
Heavy Duty Scarifier:  Dino Cazares
Total Harmonic Distortion:  Christian Olde Wolbers
Maximum Effective Pulse Generator:  Raymond Herrera

Thanks a lot to Yani and Ray for giving me the opportunity to do this.

My name is Dimitrije Kostic and any questions about this tab or any
others in the Fear Factory Tablature Archive can be emailed to me at
                martyr@fearfactory.com
I will gladly investigate any possible errors in any tablature on this site.

-------------------------------------------------------------

This, I suppose, could be considered one of Fear Factory's "hit songs" 
as it appeared on the Mortal Kombat Soundtrack and won them some 
mainstream attention (I was among the converted =) ).

It is one of my personal favorite tracks on "Demanufacture." It's eerie 
intro, upbeat midsection, and glistening keyboard usage make it a very 
powerful and memorable song.  If your band lacks a keyboard player, you 
can perhaps compensate by using a second guitarist to focus on the 
melody line which the keyboard repeats throughout the song.  It can be 
played on a guitar like this...

|-----------------------------------|
|-----------------------------------|
|-----------------------------------|
|--(9)---------(7)-(9)-(7)-(6)-(7)--|
|---7--(9)-(7)--5---7---5---4---5---|
|-------7---5-----------------------|

...if your guitar is tuned down a perfect fourth (B, E, A, D, F#, B).  

A practical problem with playing so low is the low string tension, which 
may make it difficult to move at the necessary speed without the 
de-tuning the strings further.  There are two main ways to address this 
problem.  The first is to use heavier string gauges (I use .11's but if 
you use this tuning often, I would recommend something heavier, .12's or 
.13's).  They tend to stay in tune a little longer and are easier to 
tremolo-pick on.  From my experience, they also tend to last longer and 
give the guitar a thicker, more vibrant tone.  The second (and probably 
more effective) option is to use a guitar with a locking bridge and 
"nutscrews" as I've heard them called.  Floyd Rose makes a lot of these.

For amp settings, use a lot of treble, but keep the bass close behind, 
and drain all midrange.  This will give you the "scooped" sound 
responsible for that heavy crunch Dino gets.  I might also recommmend a 
distortion pedal for extra gain, specifically the Boss MT-2 Metal Zone.

All guitars tune down a perfect fourth (B, E, A, D, F#, B)

LEGEND:
        
        *    -- palm-mute 
        H    -- hit-on
        P    -- pull-off
        ~~~~ -- vibrato
        A.H. -- Artificial Harmonic
        N.H. -- Natural Harmonic

Intro with wind-like studio noises, and then the guitars crash in with 
this

Riff A:

This rhythm follows the snare hits of the drums

|---------------------------|
|---------------------------|
|---------------------------|
|--2-------(2)----(2)-(2)---|
|--2-------(2)----(2)-(2)---|
|--0-------(0)----(0)-(0)---|
   
Riff B:

Natural Harmonics throughout, rapid trill picking
(Note: those are not "22"'s down there, they are "2"'s)

|------------|
|------------|
|------------|
|------------|
|------------|
|--22222222--|
   
Riff C:

(Note: As before, those are not "11"'s or "10"'s down there; they are 
"1"'s and "0"'s.

|--------------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------------|
|-11101110-0-0-0-11101110-0-0-0-11101110-0-0-0-11101110--|
  ******** * * * ******** * * * ******** * * * ********

Riff D:

|--------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------|
|-55555-55555-55555-55555-55555-55555-55555-55555--|
  ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Riff E:

|---------------------------------------------------------------|
|---------------------------------------------------------------|
|---------------------------------------------------------------|
|---------------------------------------------------------------|
|---------------7---------------7---------------7---------------|
|-0-11111-1-1-1-5-0-11111-1-1-1-5-0-11111-1-1-1-5-0-1111111111--|
  * ***** * * * * * ***** * * * * * ***** * * * * * **********

Riff F:

Let all chords ring out clearly

|---------------------------------------------|
|---------------------------------------------|
|---------------------------------------------|
|-9-------------------------------------------|
|-7----------9--------------------5555555555--|
|------------7----------5555555555------------|
                        ********************

|---------------------------------------------|
|---------------------------------------------|
|---------------------------------------------|
|-9----------7----------6---------7-----------|
|-7----------5----------4---------5-----------|
|---------------------------------------------|

Riff G:

The section that is separated in the second line of tablature should be 
replaced with a rest on the second repeat of this riff.  If you don't 
understand, listen to the recording and you'll hear what I'm talking 
about.

|--------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------|
|-4-4-77777-4-66666-4-55555-4-4-5-4-4--|
  * * ***** * ***** * ***** * * * * *

|-------------------------|------------|
|-------------------------|------------|
|-------------------------|------------|
|-------------------------|------------|
|-------------------------|------------|
|-3-66666-3-55555-3-44444-|-3-3-4-3-3--|
  * ***** * ***** * *****   * * * * *

Riff H

Let chords ring

|------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------|
|-6----------5----------6----------2-----4-------|
|-4----------3----------4----------0-----2-------|

Riff I

Let last two chords ring out

|----------------------------------------------------------------|
|----------------------------------------------------------------|
|----------------------------------------------------------------|
|-----6-----6---6-----6--------------5-----5---5-----5-----------|
|-----6-----6---6-----6-66666666-----5-----5---5-----5-55555555--|
|-4-4---4-4---4---4-4------------3-3---3-3---3---3-3-------------|
  * *   * *   *   * *   ******** * *   * *   *   * *   ********

|----------------------------------------------------------------|
|----------------------------------------------------------------|
|----------------------------------------------------------------|
|-----6-----6---6-----6--------------2-----2---4-----4-----------|
|-----6-----6---6-----6-66666666-----2-----2---4-----4-44444444--|
|-4-4---4-4---4---4-4------------0-0---0-0---2---2-2-------------|
  * *   * *   *   * *   ******** * *   * *   *   * *   ********

|----------------------------------------------------------------|
|----------------------------------------------------------------|
|----------------------------------------------------------------|
|-----6-----6---6-----6--------------5-----5---5-----5-----------|
|-----6-----6---6-----6-66666666-----5-----5---5-----5-55555555--|
|-4-4---4-4---4---4-4------------3-3---3-3---3---3-3-------------|
  * *   * *   *   * *   ******** * *   * *   *   * *   ********

|----------------------------------------------------------------|
|----------------------------------------------------------------|
|----------------------------------------------------------------|
|-----6-----6---6-----6------------------------------------------|
|-----6-----6---6-----6-66666666--2----------4-------------------|
|-4-4---4-4---4---4-4-------------0----------2-------------------|
  * *   * *   *   * *   ******** 

Riff J

|----------------------------------------------------------------|
|----------------------------------------------------------------|
|-9-----------------7-----9-----7-----6-----7--------------------|
|-9-----9-----7-----7-----9-----7-----6-----7--------------------|
|-7-----9-----7-----5-----7-----5-----4-----5--------------------|
|-------7-----5--------------------------------------------------|

Riff K

The first chord in this riff is actually played by the guitar.  The 
other notes are the piano outro transcribed to the guitar (for those of 
you who don't have a keyboard player).

|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-9------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-9----------------------------------------------------5---7---------|
|-7------------5---7---5---4---5---7-----------5---7-----------9-----|
|-0----7---5---------------------------7---5-----------------------0-|

Song Structure:

Intro-about 24 seconds of studio effects
Riff A 4 times 
Riff B repeat as necessary
Riff C 4 times
Riff D 2 times
Riff E 2 times
Riff B repeat as necessary
Riff E 2 times
Riff F 2 times
Riff G 6 times (after 2nd repeat, remember to omit the barred off 
section and replace it with a rest)
Riff H 1 time
Riff I 1 time
Riff E 4 times
Riff F 4 times
Riff J 4 times
Riff K 1 time and hold final note and fade out


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