After lesson yesterday , I got to thinking....what sorts of "tricks" or "Techniques" have you all come up with to emulate other instruments on the stick?
Yes..I'm a huge fan of make the Stick sound like the stick, but sometimes, emulating a specific sound of a song is preferred.
The big thing I was struggling with was trying to get pedal steel type bends out of the stick, or even decent sounding guitar bends ( or a country type pre bend for that matter). Yes...we all know how to do the "stick" bend version ...but lets face it...it sounds just a little off...and the bent string can't be attacked again without losing the bend. Bent strings and then hitting the neighboring string (or strings) is a staple of guitar playing...and frankly is lost on the stick using "conventional" methods.
Anyway...just in conversation during lesson yesterday, trying to get a good pedal steel pre-bend sound out of the Grand, I reached over with the left hand, pressed on the second string behind the nut, hit the 8th fret and released the left hand and VIOLA...prebend steel guitar sound. Started doing it with multiple strings (chords), guitar bends, etc...and surprisingly enough...it sounded great. Granted...I lose the left hand for a bit, but some creative RH positioning may allow the thumb to root on the bass side.
So...what have you guys come up with? Let's get a collection of cool stuff and see what we got here.
Thanks
TP
Tue May 30, 2017 10:11 am
rclere
Multiple Donor
Joined: Sat Mar 29, 2008 8:53 am Posts: 1518 Location: Seattle, WAq
Re: Other Techniques
Good Topic!! Well, with my love of African music, and particularly the gut stringed instrument called the Kamelon Ngoni (used by Issa Bagayogo), I have sought ways to dampen the strings, and EQ this sound. My beloved wife is felting me a mute that will slip on and off of the bridge to dampen the strings. And.... I just ordered EHX Piano9 pedal that has the Mallet setting. I am hoping to get the Ngoni sound and the Mbira as well.
_________________ #404 Stick - (1978) Angico hard wood. #6460 Railboard - Black with glow inlays.
Tue May 30, 2017 4:09 pm
Jayesskerr
Elite Contributor
Joined: Sun May 18, 2014 9:43 am Posts: 4039
Re: Other Techniques
Fun topic.
I love a muted sound, like on guitar. I get that by "fretting" right on the rails. Greg Howard taught me that, although he doesn't know it. Also, I like a true legato, hammeron-pulloff like Satriani, EVH, Lynch or Vai. Particularly when playing with distortion, those are two really important things to me. One other thing that's important, in my opinion, and criminally overlooked is vibrato. I can identify most guitarists just by how they shake a note...
Something I am doing that not many do is work on sight-reading, and instead of using a solely geometric/intervallic shape driven method to navigate the instrument, I use the notes and my ears. Chords, scales, Arpeggios, everything. I identify via notes or solfege (same as guitar) I have always hated tabulature, and despite my best efforts I could not learn effectively via geometry - believe me I tried! I Paid a lot of money and invested a lot of effort into a methodology that was very time consuming and ineffective for me. Very worthwhile, though. I learned a lot, and if nothing else, I know what doesn't work for me, and what I don't want to play on this instrument. The Free Hands book is a never ending source of ideas, I find myself coming back to that a lot. Anyways, I ended up tuning differently also, which means that I'll get a bit of a different sound and a few different techniques at my disposal. I also play in RMR on my Railboard.
I do a lot of pedal steel emulation on guitar, I am a big fan of country music - Brent Mason, the Hellecasters and Greg Koch immediately come to mind! Danny Gatton, Albert Lee and Chet Atkins have a lot of music that is a big influence on that sort of thing. The It's goes on, there are a ton of actual pedal steel guys out there that are beyond awesome. I play lap Steel also, C6 tuning. I want a pedal steel too, they are really cool...
I do a lot of pedal steel emulation on guitar, I am a big fan of country music - Brent Mason, the Hellecasters and Greg Koch immediately come to mind! Danny Gatton, Albert Lee and Chet Atkins have a lot of music that is a big influence on that sort of thing.
Funny you mention Greg Koch...I took lessons with him in the mid 90's when I was living in Milwaukee. He's the one who taught me the pedal steel type bends on guitar. The next trick on the stick is to figure out how to port his "chicken picking" over. I can do it on guitar, but the string spacing on the stick makes it hard to pull off his technique. He used to make cassette tapes from his extensive record collection for learning materials. Great teacher and so much fun to try to talk to. If you've ever heard him speak, it's like his own language. Hard to believe his son is playing drums for him now...I remember when the kid was born and Greg referred to him as the "Future Emperor or Western Civilization".
Anyway...I digress....The Pedal steel Bends of Greg Koch (minus the B Bender he has in that blue tele) are what I figured out with the method I described above.
TP
Tue May 30, 2017 5:42 pm
Jayesskerr
Elite Contributor
Joined: Sun May 18, 2014 9:43 am Posts: 4039
Re: Other Techniques
Greg Koch is a beast! Monster player, and a very respected author (Lotsa Hal Leonard books, easy stuff all the way through to extremely difficult!) I love how he plays, unexpected, off-kilter, and fun.
Anyways, I made a quick video of some messing around maybe it illustrates an idea of where my interests are going? Don't judge too harshly, I'm well aware of the shortcomings of my playing on this instrument. Hopefully y'all can see through the clams and crashes and burns and see the hopeful glimmer of musical light in there. Terrible, I know, but I am light years ahead of where I was. I might just be too ambitious at times I think. Anyways, I hope you can hear the vibrato, the attempt at two things at once, the avoidance of Stick Cliches, zipping around the neck, lots of different interval stacks, single string playing, etc etc... At the end of it, just trying to rock out and have some fun.
As far as my reading practice goes, here is an example of a chunk of a Bach 2 part invention. First 4 measures. (This is practice, so again, please don't judge too harshly) I share this sort of thing because while it's nice and awesome to see a polished performance, I am hoping someone might see it and say "hey dude, try this..." And then I might try it and see if it helps my playing out. I made the video a couple of weeks ago, if nothing else I hope you laugh your ass off at it hahah
New techniques, not so sure. New to me I guess? Anyways... Like I said, cool thread.
Thomas, this is one of my all time favorite topics. My band, GEPH, is a huge working example of every sound and technique stickist John Tyler Kent and I have figured figured out so far, and with our album heading steadily towards release, we'll have even more sounds to show.
I also have a number of youtube lesson videos dedicated to this very topic. Here's one I just recently released based on the different stances, or positions, your two hands can take in relation to one another on the fretboard.
I also used to mess around with some slide stuff by putting a slide ring around the thumb of my right hand and plucking the strings with the pointer and middle fingers. I was getting some cool stuff out of it until I lost the ring and never really got around to grabbing another. You can hear a few examples on my solo album at http://www.theafrocircus.bandcamp.com, specifically on "Gnarsissus" and "Transuranium."
Please post a video of whatever discoveries you happen to make!
Joined: Wed Aug 12, 2015 7:40 am Posts: 2884 Location: Detroit, MI
Re: Other Techniques
The_Afro_Circus wrote:
Thomas, this is one of my all time favorite topics. My band, GEPH, is a huge working example of every sound and technique stickist John Tyler Kent and I have figured figured out so far, and with our album heading steadily towards release, we'll have even more sounds to show.
I also have a number of youtube lesson videos dedicated to this very topic. Here's one I just recently released based on the different stances, or positions, your two hands can take in relation to one another on the fretboard.
I also used to mess around with some slide stuff by putting a slide ring around the thumb of my right hand and plucking the strings with the pointer and middle fingers. I was getting some cool stuff out of it until I lost the ring and never really got around to grabbing another. You can hear a few examples on my solo album at http://www.theafrocircus.bandcamp.com, specifically on "Gnarsissus" and "Transuranium."
Please post a video of whatever discoveries you happen to make!
Josh rules! I love your tricks and techniques and pointers, and this is one of my favorite topics as well. I learn every time I see you play! And Scott rules! Thomas--also ruling. Werkspace and Randy--more ruley ruley Mac Rule-Rule! This thread rules! Lots of ruling going on around here!
I love to see this kind of stuff. Sticks can do more than just tappy-tappy (which they do so well!). I'm working on some 2-handed pedal-tone stuff all the time which I've shared. I don't have as much to share as I have to learn, but I enjoy doing both!
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