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Topic: Three double stop notes... |
Kay Das
From:
Los Angeles CA
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Posted 25 Aug 2008 10:24 pm |
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I recently visited my guitarist and musician par excellence friend Chick Holland in a lovely part of England to participate in a recording session for one of his forthcoming CDs. Chick is a stickler for detail and has an acute sense of tone. And he is a perfectionist if ever I met one; knows exactly what he wants, hears things normal mortals do not. And is infinitely patient. He can also write a good tune. "Windsong of Tahiti", available elsewhere on this forum, is one of them.
During one part of the recording, Chick wished me to play three double stop harmony notes (double note triplets). We got on to maybe eighty takes (no one was counting) well into the early hours of the morning before he got just the sound he wanted. I discovered, during this highly educational session for me, just how many ways there are to play three double notes on lap steel: different pick attacks, different vibrato frequencies and depths of modulation, different glissando styles, different entries and exits with timing granulaties of upto 32nd and maybe even 64th notes....
I am quite sure there could have been be more, the limits were my own. At the end I did feel that I learnt a whole lot more about steel guitar that I did not know existed before...from just three notes.
We are players of one of the most expressive instruments in the world... |
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Fontaine Burnett
From:
Germany
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Posted 26 Aug 2008 1:41 am
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Hi Kay! Thanks for sharing that experience. I had a teacher who always said, "There is an entire universe in one note." so as logic dictates: three notes, three universes (universae). 12 notes... you get the picture. And this is all before we realize how those universes converge and interact with one another. Needless to say, for the average musician there will always be something new to discover, explore and learn.
FB
_________________
www.fontaine-burnett.de
www.myspace.com/fontaineburnett
"...when it hits, you feel no pain!" |
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Stephan Miller
From:
Silver Spring, Maryland, USA
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Posted 26 Aug 2008 2:59 pm
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The capacity for deep listening just might be the most important element in musical creativity. That's where it all starts. You were lucky, Kay-- deep listening drills don't come along every day!
I think I'm clear about everything you said except for the term "depths of modulation"-- could you illustrate or explain that?
--Steve |
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Kay Das
From:
Los Angeles CA
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Posted 26 Aug 2008 10:13 pm Modulation and other topics
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Fontaine,
Hank Marvin has another way of putting words to what you said, he says, "treat every note like a symphony"...and I suppose you can take the analogy further with combining symphonies! Another comment: there are really thirteen notes to an octave....silence is also a note.... you may agree. Thanks for your letter!
Stephan,
Yes, I was lucky, and felt very humble too!
I was referring to the left hand vibrato. There are a few variables here. One variable is the frequency at which you can create the vibrato by oscillating the steel. Different styles: some of the classic Hawaiian players favored a "rub" along the string much like a tremble. A lot of the early players did this. The other technique is to roll the steel along the string once you have arrived at the note. Also, the time at which you begin the roll is a variable: you can arrive at your note and then wait a bit before you "tremble" or "roll". L.T.Zinn is a great exponent of the "wait before you tremble or roll" style of playing. There is no rule, it is a matter of style and also the tune you are playing.
Modulation refers to the distance on the fretboard along which you allow the steel to tremble or roll. Slow Hawaiian tunes like "Hawaiian Wedding Song" can sound prettier with a deeper "modulation". And there is more to it: you can make the role at a frequency which is synchronous with the time value of the note or you can make it asynchronous. Then there are the more dynamic vibratos where you combine any of the above with the glissando. This can have the effect of a "surf-like" sound. You will find an example in "Kapiolani Park Blues".
If I have been as clear as mud, let me know!
Kay |
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Fontaine Burnett
From:
Germany
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Posted 27 Aug 2008 4:16 am
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| Quote: |
| ...silence is also a note.... you may agree. |
Yes, I definitely do! Silence is the greatest of all notes and the most vast of all universes. If you think you have enough to keep you busy with note articulation, modulation and dynamics, then try applying all that to silence!  Music starts looking like a Zen koan...
Stephan said:
| Quote: |
| The capacity for deep listening just might be the most important element in musical creativity. |
That's the closest thing to absolute truth that I've heard all day...yep!
Thanks fellas!
FB
_________________
www.fontaine-burnett.de
www.myspace.com/fontaineburnett
"...when it hits, you feel no pain!" |
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Carroll Hale
From:
EastTexas, USA
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Posted 27 Aug 2008 8:47 am
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I did not know that such a thing was possible...I cannot wait to read all the comments and expounding on this thread..........man, never knew such a complicated system of sounds could come from a bunch of good old boys......just pickin & grinnin.....I have led a sheltered life down here in the sloughs and baygalls of the east texas piney woods....  ............
and I just thought I knew how to play a steel/dobro or any stringed instrument...guess all those nites of playing and filling the dancefloor have all been for nought...........maybe I should just take up some other form of entertainment...  |
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Kay Das
From:
Los Angeles CA
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Posted 28 Aug 2008 10:07 pm Learning....
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Carroll,
We never stop learning to play the steel guitar...and the more we know the more there is to learn... 
Kay |
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Kay Das
From:
Los Angeles CA
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Posted 30 Aug 2008 10:37 pm Video of roll style vibrato
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Here is a close study of the "rolling" style of vibrato from about [0:50] to about [1:15], the famous steel break in "Together Again". I think the artiste is Jay Dee Manness on pedal steel.
Also note Jay Dee's blocking style with his little finger. That is an effective style of blocking as it gives almost immediate control, although it does not work well for me for the faster tunes (you may conclude differently).
<http>
Kay |
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Kay Das
From:
Los Angeles CA
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Terry Farmer
From:
Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
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Posted 31 Aug 2008 8:02 am
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| Quote: |
| "There is an entire universe in one note." |
| Quote: |
| "treat every note like a symphony"... |
| Quote: |
| Silence is the greatest of all notes and the most vast of all universes. |
This is great stuff. I once saw BB King trading licks with a young blues player. It got to where the young gun would play a flurry of notes and B.B. would answer with only one note. He said more with that one note than 50 of the other guy's. Another example, similiar situation, Buddy Guy and a young hot shot. When the song was done Buddy asked him if he found the note he was searching for.
This instrument of ours is boundless. Notation is but a loose guideline. I believe that when we reach a certain level of technical proficiency our minds can take a rest and our hearts can guide our hands. In this state, we may be blessed to come upon a place in that musical universe that is very special indeed! |
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