Play 5 Angine de Poitrine Guitar Extracts and Discover Their Gear [Free Guitar Pro Files Included]

Angine de Poitrine is coming to mySongBook! Let’s explore five extracts from the album Vol. II, all now available on mySongBook.
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The Angine de Poitrine Formula

Angine de Poitrine is made up of two musicians: Klek on drums and Khn on guitar and bass. The Quebec duo relies on a very specific set of tools to compose their music, so let’s take a closer look at the concepts and gear Khn uses.

The Ingredients Behind Khn’s Sound

Microtonality

Microtonality is a concept widely used in Eastern music traditions, based on playing notes outside the 12-tone equal temperament system commonly used in Western music.

C – C#/Db – D – D#/Eb – E – F – F#/Gb – G – G#/Ab – A – A#/Bb – B – C

Let’s explore the most common form of microtonality used in the West: quarter tones. A key element of Angine de Poitrine’s sound, the concept was notably brought back into the spotlight by King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard with their 2017 album Flying Microtonal Banana. 

In practical terms, a whole tone is divided into two semitones, and a semitone can itself be divided into two quarter tones. These quarter tones are what our ears are generally not used to hearing, at least not in this form. In fact, many guitarists already play them without even realizing it, through quarter-tone bends marked “¼”, which is also how quarter tones are notated in Guitar Pro.

The Double-Neck Guitar

Designed by Canadian luthier Raphaël Le Breton, Khn’s guitar/bass is a double-neck instrument, with the guitar on top and the bass below. The guitar features 36 frets, with an additional fret inserted between each standard fret position to allow quarter-tone playing up to the 15th conventional fret. The same applies to the 32-fret bass, which remains microtonal up to the 12th conventional fret.

Paradoxically, the pickup configurations are fairly standard: three Fender Stratocaster-style single-coil pickups for the guitar, and a Fender Precision-style split-coil pickup for the bass.

The Pedalboard

Khn’s pedalboard is divided into two sections. The first includes a Boss RC-600 looper, a Boss FS-7 Dual Footswitch A/B box, a Radial BigShot A/B/Y box, a Boss DD-8 delay, a Mad Professor Supreme overdrive, a ProCo RAT 2 distortion, an MXR Bass Octave Deluxe octaver, a Fender Engager boost, a Boss TU-3 tuner, and a Boss FV-50 volume pedal.

The second section consists of a Warm Audio RingerBringer ring modulator and four M-Audio EX-P expression pedals, most likely used to control the pedal’s parameters.

The Looper

You may have noticed that the looper takes up a lot of space on the first section of Khn’s pedalboard, and that’s because it also plays a major role in Angine de Poitrine’s music. It’s an essential tool for layering two guitar parts, as well as recording and looping bass lines.

The Ring Modulator

As its name suggests, a ring modulator is a modulation effect pedal that processes the guitar and/or bass signal through oscillators, generating frequencies that can be dissonant and often evoke sci-fi sounds. Combined with Khn’s microtonal playing, it forms the very essence of Angine de Poitrine’s sound.

The Mystery Pedal from Infect FX

We still know very little about this pedal. What we do know is that it was handmade in Quebec by Francis Malo of Infect FX, but no one really knows what kind of sound it produces. Some rumors suggest it could be a gain pedal with experimental tones, somewhere between an overdrive and a ring modulator, but no official information has been released so far.

Amplification

As for the amplification setup, the foundation is fairly straightforward: first, a Roland Jazz Chorus for the guitar. Known for its clean tone and built-in chorus, it pairs perfectly with the various effects on Khn’s pedalboard. For the bass sound, Khn uses a Hartke HA2500 head paired with an Acoustic 4×10 cabinet. In other words, an ultra-transparent rig that brings out the distortion and modulation effects beautifully.

We can assume that these two amps are switched via the Boss FS-7 Dual Footswitch A/B box located at the top left of the first pedalboard.

5 Extracts from Vol. II

You now know almost all the secrets behind Angine de Poitrine’s sound… almost, because your fingers remain the ultimate ingredient. So, I invite you to work through five extracts from the album Vol. II, which will help you improve your playing and get familiar with microtonal techniques.

As a reminder, quarter tones are indicated in Guitar Pro with “¼” pre-bends, making it possible to play the songs without a microtonal guitar, an instrument that is still relatively uncommon.

Fabienk

This section from Fabienk is taken from the famous Live on KEXP performance, which skyrocketed Angine de Poitrine’s popularity after reaching 14 million views on YouTube. The song is written in 7/8, so I recommend practicing with a metronome to get comfortable with this time signature, which can take some getting used to.

The real challenge lies in these staccato notes, which require precise and perfectly controlled bends. This is followed by a fairly fast phrase that reappears in the fourth and eighth bars, and is best practiced very slowly in order to play it cleanly and fully grasp its subtleties.

Fabienk is available in full on mySongBook.

Mata Zyklek

This song is written in 5/8: a time signature that, much like Fabienk, can be tricky to get comfortable with. It’s also worth noting the speed of both the song and this riff, which is made up entirely of sixteenth notes and thirty-second notes. The key here is consistency, as this fairly repetitive riff can be difficult to play in a loop without a proper warm-up.

Mata Zyklek is available in full on mySongBook.

Sarniezz

The 12/8 time signature already feels a bit more familiar to our ears. As with many Angine de Poitrine tracks, the biggest challenge is maintaining consistency throughout the repetition. This repetitive aspect, combined with the quarter tones, which in 99% of cases you’ll have to play using bends, can feel quite disorienting at first. Especially since Sarniezz introduces another element into the mix: slides. So, just like with the previous two songs, it’s once again essential to practice slowly with a metronome at first.

Sarniezz is available in full on mySongBook.

Utzp

Finally, a song in 4/4!

Here’s a concrete example of how the looper is used: Khn records the Guitar I riff into the looper, which allows him to play the E minor chord on the offbeats with Guitar II. This layering technique made possible by the looper enables Angine de Poitrine to write and sound like a band made up of four or five musicians.

Utzp is available in full on mySongBook.

Yor Zarad

In my opinion, this last track is more approachable for less experienced guitarists looking to dive into the world of Angine de Poitrine. The bends are easier to incorporate into the riff, and the pace is slightly slower than in the previous songs (except for Mata Zyklek), despite the 7/8 time signature, which is not always easy to handle.

The main challenge may be hitting the open G note on the fourth string without accidentally touching the other strings along the way. As always, it’s best to practice this very slowly at first.

Yor Zarad is available in full on mySongBook.

△ Your Turn to Play ▲

Let us know in the comments which Angine de Poitrine songs are your favorites.

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