Toxicity
A riff in 6/4 that breaks into a heavy hemiola.
What is the Toxicity guitar tone?
The Toxicity guitar tone is a riff in 6/4 that breaks into a heavy hemiola, heard on System of a Down's 2000s alt metal recording. It is a distorted riff tone, and System of a Down reportedly tracked it with Daron Malakian's rig for Toxicity as engineer Dave Schiffman describes it: no effects pedals, since Malakian does not like playing through them, and a blend of Marshall and Mesa/Boogie heads and cabinets, the Mesa giving 'the teeth' and the Marshall 'the body', each cabinet miked with a Shure SM57 and a Neumann 87 into a pair of black-faced 1176 compressors; Malakian layered his parts, 'a muddy guitar over a rock guitar over a real heavy metal guitar', playing a song about 50 times until each layer was right; which guitar he played on this song is not documented, and most of the album is in drop C; the verse guitar plays in 6/4 with a 2+2+2 phrasing, and in the heavy part it switches to a 3+3+3+3 hemiola while the drums stay in compound duple time until the bridge; Shavo Odadjian brought the song in as Version 7.0, it nearly fell through the cracks among some 44 songs until Malakian revisited it, and John Dolmayan says the beat came from mocking Odadjian's arm movements; it was recorded at Cello Studios in Hollywood with Rick Rubin and Malakian producing, and came out in 2002 as the album's second single. Detuned parts need the bass control pulled back further than feels right, or the low strings turn to mud as soon as the gain rises.
You do not need that exact gear to land in the same place. What carries this sound is the gain structure, the EQ curve, the pickup choice and the order of the effects, and all four can be rebuilt on equipment that costs a fraction of the original. The numbers change from amp to amp, because a high-gain head and a small practice amp reach the same voicing from different knob positions. That translation is what Tonelify works out for the rig you actually own.
Toxicity amp settings: a starting point
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 7, Bass 4, Middle 5, Treble 6, Presence 5, Reverb 2, with the bridge pickup.
- Gain 7
- Bass 4
- Middle 5
- Treble 6
- Presence 5
- Reverb 2
- Signal chain
- No pedals: Marshall and Mesa/Boogie amps blended
- The control that matters most
- Low end and timing. Malakian layered a muddy, a rock and a heavy metal guitar on each part, so on one amp aim for a tight, saturated blend with the mids in, and with most of Toxicity in drop C keep the bass down further than feels right; the 6/4 and hemiola sections need tight, even picking more than extra gain.
These positions are free and they are a starting point. A Katana, a Spark and a valve head reach this voicing from different knob positions, so Tonelify rewrites every value above for the amp and guitar you own. A first plan starts with 7 days free, $0 today.
Adapt these to my amp- Pickup
- Bridge pickup
These are positions on a generic five-knob amp with gain, bass, middle, treble and presence, each running 0 to 10. They are a starting point, not the settings used on the record, and they will not transfer unchanged to an amp with a different gain structure or EQ voicing. If you tell Tonelify which amp you own, it rewrites every value above for the controls that amp actually has.
Does the Toxicity tone sound off on your amp?
Pick what you hear. You get the knobs to turn from the starting point above, and how far.
What gear did System of a Down use on Toxicity?
Daron Malakian's rig for Toxicity as engineer Dave Schiffman describes it: no effects pedals, since Malakian does not like playing through them, and a blend of Marshall and Mesa/Boogie heads and cabinets, the Mesa giving 'the teeth' and the Marshall 'the body', each cabinet miked with a Shure SM57 and a Neumann 87 into a pair of black-faced 1176 compressors; Malakian layered his parts, 'a muddy guitar over a rock guitar over a real heavy metal guitar', playing a song about 50 times until each layer was right; which guitar he played on this song is not documented, and most of the album is in drop C; the verse guitar plays in 6/4 with a 2+2+2 phrasing, and in the heavy part it switches to a 3+3+3+3 hemiola while the drums stay in compound duple time until the bridge; Shavo Odadjian brought the song in as Version 7.0, it nearly fell through the cracks among some 44 songs until Malakian revisited it, and John Dolmayan says the beat came from mocking Odadjian's arm movements; it was recorded at Cello Studios in Hollywood with Rick Rubin and Malakian producing, and came out in 2002 as the album's second single.
Sources: Mix: System of a Down's Toxicity, with Dave Schiffman and Rick Rubin, Wikipedia: Toxicity (song), Wikipedia: Toxicity (album)
Tonelify's tone matcher reads that chain and translates it to the amp and guitar you already own, returning gain, bass, mids, treble and presence values along with a pickup position.
How do you get the Toxicity tone on your own amp?
Tell us your guitar, amp, and pedals
AI researches the original tone of Toxicity
Get exact knob settings adapted to your rig
Toxicity tone questions
What amp settings do you need for Toxicity?
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 7, Bass 4, Middle 5, Treble 6, Presence 5, Reverb 2, with the bridge pickup. These are positions on a generic five-knob amp with gain, bass, middle, treble and presence, each running 0 to 10. They are a starting point, not the settings used on the record, and they will not transfer unchanged to an amp with a different gain structure or EQ voicing. Tonelify rewrites the same values for the specific amp and guitar you own, because a high-gain head and a small solid-state combo reach the same riff in 6/4 that breaks into a heavy hemiola from different positions.
What amp did Daron Malakian use on Toxicity?
Amp: Marshall and Mesa/Boogie heads and cabinets, blended (album rig). Guitar: Not documented (Malakian's Toxicity guitars vary by account). Sources: Mix and Wikipedia.
What were Daron Malakian's amp settings on Toxicity?
None of the sources cited on this page gives Daron Malakian's full amp settings on Toxicity. The numbers here are a starting point for that kind of part, not the settings from the session, and Tonelify rewrites them for the amp and guitar you own.
How do you get Daron Malakian's tone on Toxicity?
Low end and timing. Malakian layered a muddy, a rock and a heavy metal guitar on each part, so on one amp aim for a tight, saturated blend with the mids in, and with most of Toxicity in drop C keep the bass down further than feels right; the 6/4 and hemiola sections need tight, even picking more than extra gain. Play it with the bridge pickup.
Can you get the Toxicity tone without the original gear?
Yes. The parts that define the sound are the gain structure, the EQ curve, the pickup position and the effects order, and those translate to other equipment. Tonelify's adaptation step works them out for the amp and guitar you own.
Does Tonelify cost anything to try?
A match for your own gear takes a plan, and a first plan starts with 7 days free with nothing charged that day: Stage is $6.99 a month for 20 matches, Headliner is $10.99 a month for unlimited matching within a fair use limit of 150 new matches a day, and yearly billing works out cheaper on both. Reading this page and the rest of the library costs nothing and needs no account.
