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Topic: I Need To Make A Train Whistle Sound in F# |
Tim Heidner
From:
Groves, TX
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Posted 29 Aug 2012 4:01 pm |
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| What y'all got? |
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John Swain
From:
Winchester, Va
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Posted 29 Aug 2012 4:32 pm
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| I like 5th fret, "F" lever, strings 5,6,+8 with a drop off!! |
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Rick Myrland
From:
New Orleans
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Posted 29 Aug 2012 5:22 pm
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14th fret, strings 9, 6 and 5 (basically a 7th chord), with an aggressive volume pedal.
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Mullen G2; Fender Tone Master Twin Reverb; Goodrich L-120 |
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Dave Grafe
From:
Hudson River Valley NY
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Posted 29 Aug 2012 5:32 pm
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Whatever Ray Montee was doing on his 6-string Rick last night, that's the one  |
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Paul Sutherland
From:
Placerville, California
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Posted 29 Aug 2012 6:17 pm
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| I just slant the bar somewhere above the 12th fret, hit 3 adjacent strings (usually lower strings), and slide up til it sounds right. A little VP pumping can help. Does it really have to be F#? |
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Bill Terry
From:
Bastrop, TX
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Lane Gray
From:
Topeka, KS
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Posted 29 Aug 2012 7:15 pm
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I either drop my Es or use the back neck, strike a *6th chord, strings 6-2 on C6 or 8-4 on E9, but I try to avoid the key the song is in.
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2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects |
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Bo Legg
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Posted 29 Aug 2012 8:31 pm
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| On the E9 at the 10th or 22nd fret with the Es lowered a half step, slide into it a little. This makes an F#m7 chord which is a good train whistle for an F# major chord. |
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Joe Savage
From:
St. Paul, MN
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Dave Grafe
From:
Hudson River Valley NY
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Posted 29 Aug 2012 9:37 pm
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| Great links, Joe, thanks for posting! |
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Will Cowell
From:
Cambridgeshire, UK
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Posted 30 Aug 2012 5:24 am
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Hard to beat Dave Hartley's in "Orange Blossom Special".
Bar across the lowest 4 strings, slant it if you want, about 15th fret or higher. As you rake the thumb pick across, low to high, slide the bar up gently and fade the pedal up fast.
Stabilise the bar, then fade down again, sliding the bar back a little as you do it, then repeat to former pitch before rolling it right back down, and off the pedal as you do.
Killer.
_________________
Williams 700 series keyless U12,
Sierra keyless U14, Eezzee-Slide & BJS bars
Moth-eaten old Marshall 150 combo
Roland Cube 80XL, Peterson Strobo+HD,
EarthQuaker Despatch Master for reverb / delay |
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Norman Evans
From:
Tennessee
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Don R Brown
From:
Rochester, New York, USA
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Larry Bressington
From:
Nebraska
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Posted 31 Aug 2012 2:57 pm
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Dave hartley method, easy and works anywhere!
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A.K.A Chappy. |
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Jerry Kippola
From:
UP Michigan, USA
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Posted 31 Aug 2012 4:41 pm
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| I use an augmented triad 1-3-#5 ped A+B+ f raise strings 654 slide up and fade in the volume |
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Dennis Manuel
From:
Quesnel, B.C., Canada
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Posted 1 Sep 2012 12:07 am
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| I was watching a TV program and they were interviewing the guy who was responsible for the air horn sound on the diesel trains. According to him the tuning is a Cdim. |
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john widgren
From:
Wilton CT
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Posted 1 Sep 2012 6:55 am train whistle
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You could just get a boiler and an F# whistle...you don't need to buy the whole train....
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Steel Guitar Services:
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Jim Bates
From:
Alvin, Texas, USA
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Posted 1 Sep 2012 3:55 pm
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I do a reverse slant at about 15th fret, volume off, pick three strings, volume on, then slide down to 13th or so fret, while pumping the volume (to give the Doppler to the whistle passing by). No, I do not know which strings I play, just grab some and practice it.
I did this on a couple of songs at an opry last night.
Thanx,
Jim |
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Tony Williamson
From:
North Carolina, USA
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Posted 2 Sep 2012 3:24 pm
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my son blows this wooden whistle that sounds just like one. you can stick this in your mouth during the guitar break and still play with both hands! 
_________________
stelling banjos . shobud ldg and superpro/ martin hd28v weber mandolin, session 400, danelectro delay, korg d3200, bose L1 x2 |
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b0b
From:
Cloverdale, CA, USA
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Tony Williamson
From:
North Carolina, USA
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Posted 2 Sep 2012 6:44 pm
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Bob youre right ...kinda...i think that with a dissonant (sp) sound like that there actually is a certain pitch that would seem to sound better...probly somewhere around the fifth note of the scale, just guessing. but if you played around with the key and different pitches, there would be be a spot where it would "blend" yet remain dissonant enough to produce the desired effect. 
now i dont mean that any of the train whistle notes would be in the chord, they wont,, but there will be a spot i promise, that seems to be the only one that is the right one.
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stelling banjos . shobud ldg and superpro/ martin hd28v weber mandolin, session 400, danelectro delay, korg d3200, bose L1 x2 |
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Joe Savage
From:
St. Paul, MN
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b0b
From:
Cloverdale, CA, USA
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Posted 3 Sep 2012 7:45 am
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I used to think a 9th chord would always work, but then I realized that Don Helms just played the relative minor of I on his top 3 strings in "Lonesome Whistle". That's when I came to the conclusion that it's not the notes - it's the technique.
Slant the bar a little bit and start about half a fret below your target chord. Simulate the Doppler effect with the volume pedal. As the train approaches, volume and pitch both rise. Pitch increases about 1/2 a fret total. When it reaches full volume, the engine passes and pitch starts to drop because it's moving away from you. Fade it out.
Almost all real train horns are dissonant. They are deliberately unmusical to catch people's attention. That's why I slant the bar a bit to make it out of tune, whatever notes I pick.
To answer the original question, try the X lever at the 12th fret (F#9 chord).
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Stephen Cowell
From:
Round Rock, Texas, USA
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Posted 3 Sep 2012 9:25 am Re: I Need To Make A Train Whistle Sound in F#
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| Tim Heidner wrote: |
| What y'all got? |
Do you want an air horn (diesel) or steam train? Different techniques to both... I do a decent diesel, you have to slant the bar to get the detuning, that's the key, b0b's right. Crank the treble down some. Pick it, don't fade into it, that's the valve cracking open. As the volume increases the pitch goes down a little... most important for the technique. Passenger trains have more notes in them than freights.
For a steam train Lee Jeffriess is the best I've heard... you need a volume/tone pedal and lots of technique, this one you *do* swell into. Tube distortion is probably required... the water in the steam really changes the sound, lots of white noise and much softer attack. Normally only one or two notes in a steam whistle, so that makes it even harder to do... I don't even attempt it.
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Jim Bates
From:
Alvin, Texas, USA
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Posted 3 Sep 2012 3:24 pm
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I agree, train whistles are not in any key. I never have changed my 'steam train whistle' to any other sound because of the key of a tune / song. This way it sticks out and is heard; the atonal the better.
Sorry, I don't do diesels - too many variations, and they aren't as lonesome sounding as the old steams.
Everyone should experiment, experiment until they get their own. Who of us haven't tried making bird calls, or other various noises? That's part of the fun of the steel!
Thanx,
Jim
ps- who can do a good horse 'whinney'? |
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