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Topic: Sleepwalk Vibrato |
Tim Whitlock
From:
Colorado, USA
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Posted 23 Jul 2003 5:41 am |
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"Sleepwalk" is a deceptively simple sounding song to learn. The melody is easily found in C6th. The aspect of this song that has eluded me is the deep, haunting, Hawaiian-like vibrato that Santo Farina uses on nearly every sustained note. It's very emotive, but I can't seem to duplicate the wide vibrato without creating a lot of string noise. Any suggestions?
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Tim Whitlock
'58 Fender 1000, '56 Fender Stringmaster, '65 Twin Reissue
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Rick Aiello
From:
Berryville, VA USA
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Posted 23 Jul 2003 6:30 am
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Have you tried a Red Rajah/Phoenix bar ... they virtually eliminate string noise.
Having one around comes in handy when a particular tune calls for a more aggressive style.
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www.horseshoemagnets.com [This message was edited by Rick Aiello on 23 July 2003 at 07:34 AM.] |
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Tony LaCroix
From:
Austin, Texas, USA
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Posted 23 Jul 2003 6:55 am
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| Anybody have tab for this tune on E9? |
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Jody Carver
From:
KNIGHT OF FENDER TWEED
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Posted 23 Jul 2003 7:05 am
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Santo used a standard steel bar. He was a
fan of Hawaiian style music and his vibrato
was "An Italian Thing"  |
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nick allen
From:
France
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Ray Montee
From:
Portland, Oregon (deceased)
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Posted 23 Jul 2003 7:40 am
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Tim: If I recall accurately, there is audible string noise on the record to which you refer.
Why not hit the left knee lever and whatever other one it takes and bring C6th over to your E9th neck in that way. Plays the same and is now in your E9th tuning, so to speak.
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Tony LaCroix
From:
Austin, Texas, USA
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Posted 23 Jul 2003 8:13 am
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| Thank you Nick! And Ricky Davis. |
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George Keoki Lake
From:
Edmonton, AB., Canada
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Posted 23 Jul 2003 8:31 am
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"Sleepwalk" can be played effectively in most any tuning. It's a great steel tune. Hey Ray, I thought this was a "NO PEDDLER'S" thread ???? What's with all this knee lever jazz ?  |
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Ray Montee
From:
Portland, Oregon (deceased)
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Posted 23 Jul 2003 8:40 am
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S-O-R-R-Y 'bout that Keoki. Once again you're absolutely correct. My apologies to all Forumites who have had to endure this lapse of ettiquette on my part.
Just had one of those old age mental phaaarts. It happens now and then.
Perhaps you might be kind enough to expand on that topic for the benefit of the younger set here on the Forum...Keoki, since it's been rumored that you have considerably more experience with that kind of personal thing than most of the rest of us. |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 23 Jul 2003 12:09 pm
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If you are interested in the different tunings and arrangements for "Sleepwalk", you should pull up Herb Steiners web site. He has a CD with tab for the song in three different tunings. The whole CD is just devoted to Sleepwalk!
Erv |
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Joey Ace
From:
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
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Posted 23 Jul 2003 3:05 pm
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It's interesting to note that Santo (and now Johnny) does not use a volume pedal.
The volume changes but it's all done with the picking hand. That has a big effect on the feel of the tune. |
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Rick Dempster
From:
Preston, Victoria, Australia
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Posted 23 Jul 2003 5:25 pm
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Jody;You hit the nail right on the head as far as I can see. As soon as I saw this topic I thought '..it's an Italian thing'..and scrolled down to see your identical response. In a similar vein, it has always amazed me that what I like to think of as the 'Gallic flourish' can still be observed in Cajun music.A couple of decades back I spent a very pleasant Sunday afternoon in the Triangle Club, in Scott, Louisiana, watching a comparatively 'modern' Cajun band (electric bass, drums & pedal steel etc.) The music and body language of the steel player, who sported a Stetson with a large feather in the band, suggested one of the Three Musketeers engaged in a fencing duel. It was a 'French thing', even though this bloke's ancestors probably left the old country three or four hundred years ago.
Both the 'French' and 'Italian' 'thing' come down to the word that describes their language group: 'Romance'.
Cheers.
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Jesse Pearson
From:
San Diego , CA
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Posted 23 Jul 2003 6:07 pm
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| Now what was the original tuning used on Sleepwalk anyways? Was it C#m7 or A6 ? |
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Jody Carver
From:
KNIGHT OF FENDER TWEED
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Posted 23 Jul 2003 7:02 pm
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Rick
That Italian "Olive Oil"helps the vibrato,one slice of pizza and dont wash your hands and there it is...the Italian
Vibrato.
Jesse.......................................
A6th was the tuning Santo used on Sleepwalk
I know, we did a few gigs together before the recording hit the charts. Santo used A6th
most all the time.
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Tim Whitlock
From:
Colorado, USA
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Posted 24 Jul 2003 4:44 am
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Joey, that's a good point about the absence of the volume pedal. Santo's touch on this song is remarkable, especially considering his age at the time it was recorded. I'd swear I hear volume swells, but it's all done with the hands and bar somehow. Although Sleepwalk is probably one of the most overplayed steel numbers, it's a great exercise in technique if you listen to the fine points. I'll keep trying, and thanks to everyone for their two cents.
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Tim Whitlock
'58 Fender 1000, '56 Fender Stringmaster, '65 Twin Reissue
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Jesse Pearson
From:
San Diego , CA
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Posted 24 Jul 2003 8:20 am
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Thanks Jody, I've heard steel players who played it first in A6 and then tried C#m7 and swore that C#m7 had to be the right tuning. CC Johnson I think says it's A6 too, says Santo told him thats what he used to record it. I learned it in C6 on a 6 string and haven't learned it in the other tunings yet, but C6 sounds like I'm missing a few notes in some of the voicings that I haven't been able to over come. I don't have an A6 steel yet, but when I do get one, I'll compare the tunings over Sleep Walk. I think Santo used A6, C#m7 (Sol Hoppii) and E7 on his fender triple neck. Does any one know what instrument he used on the original recording of Sleep Walk? I also was curious about their sister, who I heard wrote Sleep Walk on the piano plus some other hits of theirs. Santo and Johnny look like they were real big in Italy. I remember the days when I would get kinda jealous that I couldn't get that cool steel sound out of my guitar, same with Hank W songs. Now I can play those tunes on non pedal no problem and
love the look on my guitar buddies faces when I do! Trips them right out, still trips me out too!! [This message was edited by Jesse Pearson on 26 July 2003 at 01:34 PM.] |
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Jody Carver
From:
KNIGHT OF FENDER TWEED
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Posted 24 Jul 2003 12:27 pm
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Jesse
Santo used a Triple Neck Stringmaster on the Canadien/American recording of Sleepwalk.
His amp was a Fender Twin no Reverb.
Anne is Johnnys wife and the three wrote the tune.
Johnny works on occasion with Johnny Maestro
and "The Brooklyn Bridge" and resides on Long
Island. I am in touch with Johnnys uncle Mike
who played drums on Sleep Walk.
I'll pass your post on to Mike. |
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George Rout
From:
St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada
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Posted 28 Jul 2003 4:16 am
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Hey Jody: Re Santo's A6th tuning, is it E C# A F% E C% A (high to low) for six string steel?????
George |
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George Keoki Lake
From:
Edmonton, AB., Canada
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Posted 28 Jul 2003 5:33 am
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| What the heck is a F% and a C% ??? |
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Herb Steiner
From:
Spicewood TX 78669
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Posted 28 Jul 2003 7:21 am
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Erv, thanks for mentioning my Sleepwalk CD!
I too learned it originally on C6, but I was requested to tab it out "in the original tuning," which the fellow said was C#m. I went to the Sleepwalk website (yes, there is one ), and a guy in the chat room there (yes, there is one) said the tuning was C#m (E C# G# E C# B G# E). Okay so far.
I always thought the recording was in C, but when I played to the original track as runs on the website, I found it was in C#!
Finally at ISGC last year, I talked to Johnny Farina, who admittedly was not the steel player at the time of the recording. I asked him what tuning the tune was recorded in and he replied "E13th, right?" Which translates to C#m7, but I was hoping he'd be a little more confirming in his answer. I mentioned the key discrepancy, and he said "We did it in C. If it's in Db now, the speed of the recording was messed with."
I do have a talk lesson CD with me playing the tune in C#m, C6, and E9. There's a tab book with the arrangements included. Info is on my website, with the link below. Go to "Rhythm Tracks and Tab" and scroll down.
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Herb's Steel Guitar Pages
Texas Steel Guitar Association
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George Rout
From:
St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada
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Posted 28 Jul 2003 8:22 am
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Hey Keoki, if you're not nice to me, I'm going to bequeath my eyes to you. I don't do too badly for a blind guy. Next time I see you, I'm going to hit you with my white cane. My question should have read, did Santo use E C# A F# C# A from high to low for the A6 tuning?
Geo
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Jesse Pearson
From:
San Diego , CA
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Posted 28 Jul 2003 9:52 am
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I guess us new guys gotta remember that there is a noticeable difference in the overall voicings one can get out of a 6 string and an 8 string steel. Man, that just slipped my mind all together when it came to learning Sleep Walk. My first 8 string is in the process of slowly being built and will use Rick Aiello's great Ricky shoes. Can't wait for that to take off, look out Jr. Brown, you really started something with that C13 tuning! I love Jr's Hillbilly hula gal as much as Sleepwalk and are 2 of my favorite non pedal steel tunes.
Herb, you have a great web site. I think you are the only teacher that I have found on the net who really took "Sleep Walk" out concerning possible tunings. I would like to study your lessons when I get my 8 string up and running. [This message was edited by Jesse Pearson on 28 July 2003 at 10:54 AM.] |
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Vincent Martini
From:
Shingle Springs, California, USA
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Posted 29 Jul 2003 4:12 pm
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Believe it or not..... there is a tune by Santo and Johnny that gives SleepWalk a run for it's money...
It is called, "The Long Walk Home"
Very very haunting melody..... great playing... cool 6/8 time....... I used to think SleepWalk was the best instrumental.... until I heard The Long Walk Home.
Check it out.... |
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J D Sauser
From:
Wellington, Florida
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Posted 5 Aug 2003 7:54 am
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A lever is not a peddle and neither is a pedal ... now this ought'a bail you out, Ray.
Sleepwalk was my first steel experiment... I thought I was doing well at it back then... I couldn't play anything but that for a while but I felt pretty cool, the girlies liked it... the movie had just come out and they thought I was sooo romantic .
But I can't really play it now that I know my tunings and too much theory. Maybe a good oportunity to mess around with that C#m7 tuning.
... J-D. |
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