I play guitar under the moniker "Aanin" (he / him /his).

“ProgTones” is my creative outlet for electric-guitar led musical pursuits across the progressive rock / progressive metal genres.

I live in New York City and play in a couple of bands - Nullius (progressive metal) and Damn Glad (rock) while building my own sound, a mix of percussive palm-muted riffage and ambient passages.

At home, I love making time for my YouTube channel where I chronicle live guitar looping jams, prog guitar covers, and my discoveries in sound design as I experiment with guitars, amplifiers, effect pedals and digital plug-ins.

Thanks for checking this out, if you’re a musician or visual artist - let’s connect and collaborate!

- AANIN (Anand Gupta)

NYC Summer Shows with Nullius

I’ve loved guitar looping ever since my first Line 6 POD, which developed into an ambient guitar looping series on YouTube. These live sessions have me manipulate the sound of the guitar and record/overdub layers of ambient passages - each adding to the instrumental piece, often with a theme or mood in mind.

“#include”

In 2012, a 22-year old me set forth to record and release my sounds from a four year exploration into progressive metal / ambient rock.

The EP titled “Demo Tapes” was my first ever exploration into sound design. All guitar tracks were recorded using PRS guitars (SE Mikael Akerfeldt, ‘97 CE 22), and effects from Line 6 (POD HD500). Drums were sampled using Toontrack samples (EZ Drummer 2, Superior Drummer).

My approach to recording guitar covers has evolved over the years, I like to rely on live takes of a play-through, makes life easier when I’m editing. I’ve also incorporated a visual element in my videos - the intro usually starts with a time-lapse or slow-motion video with a self-brewed soundtrack with me manipulating my guitar to sound like lo-fi synth pads.

The intro to my cover of Porcupine Tree’s Fear of a Blank Planet is particularly neat (or so I think!) with footage of a desolated New York City a week after COVID-19 lockdowns in March 2020, and an eerie soundtrack to match.

Porcupine Tree / Steven Wilson 

Opeth

PINK FLOYD

TooL, Meshuggah, Deftones, Others…

- - GUITAR GEAR - -

Newly inspired by guitar gear (pedals, amps and of course, guitars), my newest sonic exploration is gear reviews, guitar tone vlogs and the like!

@prog.tones