"Killing in the Name" is from Rage Against the Machine's 1992 debut album. Tom Morello's guitar is heavy but dry: a thick, punchy, mid-rich crunch with a low, chugging bottom end and almost no effects on the riffs. Then the solo goes somewhere else entirely, with notes leaping up an octave and back like a siren.
What was used
- Tuning: the song is in drop D, with the low E string tuned down to D.
- Whammy: the octave-jump sound in the solo is widely credited to a DigiTech Whammy, set to shift the pitch up an octave and swept with the treadle.
- Amp: Morello reportedly used a Marshall JCM800 head for his core sound.
- Other pedals: his board is reported to include a DOD EQ pedal and a Boss delay, among a few others. Exact models and roles vary between sources.
Morello is often described as keeping a small, simple setup, and he has reportedly said that he found his amp sound early and stopped tweaking it. The creativity comes from how he uses a few tools.
The rig below is an approximation: a common way to get close to this sound, not the exact original gear or settings.
Playing it
- In drop D, the low three strings give you one-finger power chords. Practice moving them cleanly, muting everything else.
- Play the riffs with strong, even downstrokes and stop the notes sharply. The silence between hits is part of the groove.
- With the Whammy, rock the treadle in time with the beat. Practice slow sweeps first, then fast ones, and make sure the toe-down position lands exactly on the octave.
- Keep the board small. Learn what three pedals can do before adding a fourth.