In my mind I try to move my hand, maybe I need to exaggerate it more. I'll revisit the DVD once Rob Gellner gives it back (he lifted it from my house when my back was turned...eheh). Seriously...I am a typer, and I realize it.
As for the Skype, sheesh....Facetime would work nice but at what cost.....
I had a Skype meeting with Scott (jayeskerr) a month or so ago and it was 3 seconds of fluidity followed by 2 minutes of his face frozen into an ugly grimace, in an endless loop.....eheh.
I have no friends.....

cheers,
Slo Ryde

ps,
currently I think I hide behind verb and delay to accomplish legato......my bad.

Both disgustingly good videos.

I've always found the Stick to be fairly brutal in the sense of staccato notes being almost too easy to play.

I've leaned towards a legato style ever since I heard Bob talk about it and play it. It's easy enough to shorten the length of notes from there.

So we have two ways to make the sound more legato. The obvious one is using hammer-ons and pull-off's as much as possible. The problem with relying on this exclusively is that you can't hammer-on or pull off when you are transitioning from string to string, so those notes will sound different.

I've found the best way to get a consistent articulation, regardless of whether you are playing notes on the same string or transitioning from string to string is to make sure to use hand movement for every note.

Starting from baseline of consistency is the only way to really be in control of the music you are playing.

From "The Quotable Greg Howard". (Above)

Over-emphasizing (or just emphasizing) expression of individual phrases on a tune (e.g. Bouree) has helped me realize a more legato sound.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks, Dave,

It's a privilege to share your musical journey.... music is so much more than "notes". See you soon.

I have been waiting for my Railboard to be completed, midi is holding it up, however I am doing a lot of listening to everything stick related I can find. I have not yet picked up a stick to play a lick (uh oh, limerick brewing) yet but, as a pianist/keyboardist I intend to approach learning the stick using the same books and music I would the piano. The midi part of my stick will not be just to trigger the sounds of other instruments, but to find/create sounds that will blend with and become a part of the stick sound, married together. The notes attack and sustain will be explored and this processing will hopefully allow me to vary the response of the attack (swells) of notes and release (staccato, rubato, legato) of the notes. Control pedals can be used to shape those parameters in real time. I approach music as pulling the notes out of the instrument and the resulting sound as then being sculpted, shaped in real time. It is an approach to music I came to as having played analog synthesizers since the 70's.
I greatly admire Greg's playing, among others and I know that a great part of ones sound comes from the hand (technique). I think of the Stick as more akin to the Hapsicord rather than the piano and if you approach your playing of Bach (and Baroque music in general) in the terms of the harpsichord mechanics, you may have a better mental mindset to what the outcome of your performance should sound like.
If you listen to harpsichord recordings, listen also to the space they are recorded in, a small chamber or large church. You will hear the harpsichordist adapt to the acoustics of the environment. We can use that to our advantage since we can use reverb processing to create any virtual space we desire. The key hear is to listen to recordings of classical music with an ear for the context of the performance space. Some pieces work better in larger cathedrals, others perhaps in an outdoor bandshell, whatever. The acoustic "space" you process your stick playing in will influence how you play the notes (staccato, legato, rubato), the actual piece chosen, and dynamics as well as tempo. This listening also helps you to be a better player in a group context since now your approach to voicing your notes will depend on the context of the other players around you.
Play on and play well.
ABsound

Great post ABSound. Lately I've been enjoying the Lexicon reverb emulation by Universal Audio. It allows me to create some really nice "acoustic spaces". Like in this video (not a classical piece, but it shows the reverb nicely):

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EtrE9Bf2OM[/youtube]

As electric musicians, our amplifiers and effects are a real part of our instrument, and are "played" as well.

I also have to work hard on hammer on and pull off.

Alain, I can show you very easily how to employ hand movement to make this much more effective, in case you are interested.

Skype is wonderful...