Tosin Abasi

• String gauge matters more than any pedal — use .010–.074 or heavier on 8-string for tight low end
• Palm muting must be precise: too much muting kills the percussive chug, too little creates mud
• Standard 8-string tuning: F#-B-E-A-D-G-B-E for Animals as Leaders material
• High-pass filter everything below 80Hz — essential for low-string clarity at the mix level
• Amp gain at 6–7 out of 10 — tight and controlled, not fully saturated
• Thumb tapping on the neck pickup: let the natural harmonics and dynamics produce the tone
• Polyrhythm first: Abasi writes in 4/4, 7/8, 5/4 — feel the meter naturally before learning the lines
• The JP-2C lead channel is key — warm but articulate; a 5150 or Dual Rectifier won't quite get there
• The eight-string guitar's lower two strings (typically F# and B) carry bass-register riffs that in a traditional band context would be handled by the bassist — the thumb-muting technique required to control the physical ringing of these heavy strings must be built as its own independent practice priority
• Tapping with three or four right-hand fingers across different strings simultaneously creates the polyrhythmic textures — each finger independently hammers on to a different string, producing multiple simultaneous voices from a single hand. Isolate each finger's independence before combining them
• Animals as Leaders' compositional approach places technique in service of musical structure — the complex rhythms and extended techniques occur within composed sections with clear beginnings, middles, and ends. Transcribe full sections rather than individual licks to understand how technique serves music
• Muting with the right-hand palm is more critical on an 8-string than a 6-string — the additional low strings produce significantly more sympathetic vibration and string noise. Develop aggressive, consistent palm muting on the lower strings as the baseline default for all playing

Tosin Abasi plays custom 8-string Abasi Concepts guitars through a Mesa Boogie JP-2C, creating the Animals as Leaders sound — extended-range articulation, percussive thumb tapping, and polyrhythmic arrangements that sit equally in metal and fusion. His playing is as much about rhythm and composition as tone.

Tosin Abasi co-founded Animals as Leaders and pioneered a style of technically extreme progressive metal using eight-string guitars with percussive right-hand tapping and complex polyrhythms. His signature guitars and clean, precise tone influenced an entire generation of progressive metal guitarists.