Boo Wah and "Quaking"

Parr Bryan · From: Nacogdoches,Texas

Who coined the phrase "Boo Wah"in describing the C6 p8 on D10 (or p4 on U12)?

I call the 6&7p chord when used as a 7th chord to move from the 1 to the 4 chord the
"Curly Chalker chord" for my admiration for him.

I read that Mr. Chalker introduced "Quaking".
Is this when you shake the bar to make a big vibrato sound when playing a big jazz chord???

------------------

Donny Hinson · From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.

Don't forget "gutting"!

That was another one of Curly's trademark techniques.

Bob Blair · From: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

I think Tom Bradshaw coined the terms "quaking" and "gutting" to decribe those aspects of Curly's technique.

Dave White · From: Fullerton, California USA

Quaking is what I will be doing when I get up on a bandstand to play my steel in public for the first time.----Dave (A Newbie)

Gary Walker · From: Morro Bay, CA

Shoot, quaking is something I do everytime I try to show another player anything I can do. I can remember Jeff Newman telling of the time Hal Rugg and Curly Chalker walked in while he was playing. He got the shakey foot and they were walking around his amp trying to figure out how to turn off the tremelo.
Boowah was made famous by Speedy West in the late 40s and 50s by crashing his bar on the strings while moving the tone control back and forth.

[This message was edited by Gary Walker on 26 April 2006 at 11:09 PM.]

Leslie Ehrlich · From: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

Yeah, what is 'boo-wah'? I've monkeyed around with the C6th pedals and I can't find a 'boo-wah' sound anywhere. Now if I had a wah-wah pedal, I could probably make the steel go booo-wahhh!

Dave Potter · From: Texas

CrowBear Schmitt · From: Ariege, - PairO'knees, - France

string 10 - 0 position (C) = Boo !
string 10 - 0 position w: P8 (A) = Wah !
not to be considered a Wah Wah now....

Speedy's Boo Wah technique was somethin' else & not as easy as P8

John Sluszny · From: Brussels, Belgium

Right CB,but don't forget to hit strings 7,5 and 3 right after the "Wah"!

Larry Strawn · From: Golden Valley, Arizona, R.I.P.

Hey,, I got that change on my U12 on P-8,, except every time I've messed with it I've called it "Boo Boo",,,, While rehearsing the other night my wife wasn't so nice,, She called it a "What the H*%$ was that???? lol..

------------------
"Fessy" S/D 12, 8/6 Hilton Pedal, Sessions 400 Ltd. Home Grown E/F Rack
"ROCKIN COUNTRY"

Roger Rettig · From: Naples, FL

I always thought it was the 'Bar-room' (emphasis on the second syllable) pedal - 'E' called it that at a seminar I saw once, anyway.

David Wren · From: Placerville, California, USA

Several tunes on the BE Steel Guitar Jazz album include this move (Boo Wah), Preacher coming to mind as one. Here's where your single 12 inch speaker will sounds lacking

...

and I beleive that was one of the criticism's by BE on this session (that he had to use a single 12" speaker).

Now if you want to hear the "Boo Who" pedal, come hear me playing with Amee

------------------
Dave Wren
'96 Carter S12-E9/B6,7X7; Twin Session 500s; Hilton Pedal; Black Box
www.ameechapman.com

Tom Bradshaw · From: Walnut Creek, California, USA

"Boo Wah" was originally coined (not by me, nor do I know by whom) to describe what Jerry Byrd would do with his tone control on his Rickenbacker steel. He would either pick a chord while his tone control was on full bass, then quickly turn it to full treble. I can't recall Jerry ever using his boo wah on a tuning other than his C6 (he didn't have a G on his first string incidentally). His "Boo Wah" was perfection, and he would lengthen or double it depending on what the tune seemed to require. The doubling would turn into “Boo Wah-oo-Wah. He might cause the last Wah to begin returning to the Boo, before moving on to the next note (or chord) he would voice.

Speedy West used the "crash bar" technique which took the “boo wah” to another level. He would hit his strings with his bar (the tone control on full bass or full treble), pick up the bar and re-"crash" it on the strings after he had moved his tone control to full treble (or bass). I suspect that Speedy used a Fender Volume/Tone foot pedal for this technique other than the tone control on his guitar, but I’m not certain. However, he was the master of this technique and it is surely his trademark lick. I've heard many steel players try to mimic him, and some are pretty good, but no one I ever heard could take it to the heights that Speedy did. He could go all the way up the guitar's neck repeating this at each fret.

"Quaking" is a term I did coin (along with "shiver"). I was looking for words that might describe the movement of the bar (off of the main fret chord) being voiced by Curly. For “quaking” he would pick a grip (3, 4 or more) of strings (in any chord) that needed resolution to the next chord. Instead of employing a typical 7th chord or augmented chord (as would be typical to emphasize that a chord change was about to occur), he would move his bar up two then down two frets from his "home base" chord. This would put the listener on notice that a change was looming for transition to the next chord. It created anxiety and tension, demanding that the change be made. This was employed typically when moving from the 1 chord to the 4 chord or from the 5 chord back to a 1 chord. So, I just selected "quaking" as best describing this barring technique.

"Gutting" was something that Curly did a lot. He didn’t invent the technique, nor did I coin the word. I suspect that some organ player coined the word, because organists employ it all the time. Organists were the first musicians to need a volume pedal, so surely caught on to this impressive sound (and most likely labeled it). “Gutting” was probably Curly’s signature lick. He simply picked a group of strings (always a chord) with the pedal volume backed off. Once he picked the strings (with gusto incidentally), he would quickly increase the volume well beyond what might be considered reasonable, then as quickly back off the volume (with his volume pedal). That gave a chord an explosive sound. He loved this sound and sprinkled it liberally all over his recordings.

“Shiver” was another term I had to coin in order to describe Curly’s playing style. This is just a slightly exaggerated form of tremolo (slow bar roll over a fret). Curly would move (not roll) the bar very fast above and below a fret, the same as is done to create the bar tremolo effect. He changed this effect because of the fast sliding movement of the bar. Curly seemed to prefer his brand of tremolo to the Hawaiian style so typical of his day.

I hope this is helpful. ...Tom

CrowBear Schmitt · From: Ariege, - PairO'knees, - France

the tune "Hold it" by the main man has a good example of the BooWha w: P8

wow ! after readin' all this i'm gonna have too learn the BooHooHoo & the BooBoo too

Thanx Tom B

more homework.....

Parr Bryan · From: Nacogdoches,Texas

Thanks All, I learned alot!

David Wren · From: Placerville, California, USA

So.... I'm confused. Is Boo Wah bass-> treble switching, or pedal eight on the C6th?

Maybe the tone one is "wah wah", and the pedal change is "boo boo"

Forum Index > Pedal Steel		Next oldest topic :: Next newest topic

All times are GMT - 8 Hours	Jump to: