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 String bending for glissando - possible? 
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Post String bending for glissando - possible?
I'm still in the seven to nine month limbo awaiting my first Stick, so I watch a lot of Stick videos on YouTube, local Stick concerts and talk to Stick players I know locally. One thing puzzles me: Why are so few Stick players bending strings to play glissando?

I imagine it would be easy to hit at least a minor third glissando with correct pitch if bending "guitar style"; using your left hand (crossed hands, mirrored classic tuning) on the melody side and bend towards the bass side ("pushing" the string). If strings are heavy three to four fingers can be used to put force behind the bending.

Bending the other way, "pulling the string" like on the Indian Vina instrument, makes it harder to nail the pitch but you can do it faster and with a wider note range. This could be done with your left hand on the bass side, I imagine.

This is as far my guitarist experience takes my imagination regarding string bending glissando on the Stick. Without having physical access to a Stick I can't imagine how these techniques can be used with your right hand. But I would guess you could learn that too, just as we guitar players teach our left hand. Any comments?

Possible explanations I've been thinking of:
    * It is very difficult to use string bending techniques on a Stick.
    * The Free Hands Method doesn't contain string bending.
    * Stick players generally come from a "non glissando" idiom like jazz or classical (opposed to the "pro glissando idiom" that draws on the voices emanating from the delta blues; like John Lee Hooker --> Hendrix --> Cream and up to today.)

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(+ Stickup modded by Emmett 4 the PASV4 blocks).
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Thu Nov 19, 2009 5:27 am
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Post Re: String bending for glissando - possible?
Hi Per,

(First of all: congratulations for taking the step to order a Stick! I think it's safe to say that you won't be disappointed.)

I can only speak for myself, but funnily enough I rarely bend the strings of my Stick. I guess that's because of two reasons: First, I try to avoid clichéd blues bendings. They were an absolute no-no in the punk rock band I used to play in, and I still have difficulties to use them cliché-free convincingly. Second, I started out with heavy gauge strings (switched to medium in the meantime) and I found them difficult to bend, so it may also be a matter of habit.

On the other hand I love playing glissandi on my violin - despite my classical backgorund...

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Thu Nov 19, 2009 6:08 am
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Post Re: String bending for glissando - possible?
Per Boysen wrote:
I'm still in the seven to nine month limbo awaiting my first Stick, so I watch a lot of Stick videos on YouTube, local Stick concerts and talk to Stick players I know locally. One thing puzzles me: Why are so few Stick players bending strings to play glissando?

I imagine it would be easy to hit at least a minor third glissando with correct pitch if bending "guitar style"; using your left hand (crossed hands, mirrored classic tuning) on the melody side and bend towards the bass side ("pushing" the string). If strings are heavy three to four fingers can be used to put force behind the bending.

Bending the other way, "pulling the string" like on the Indian Vina instrument, makes it harder to nail the pitch but you can do it faster and with a wider note range. This could be done with your left hand on the bass side, I imagine.

This is as far my guitarist experience takes my imagination regarding string bending glissando on the Stick. Without having physical access to a Stick I can't imagine how these techniques can be used with your right hand. But I would guess you could learn that too, just as we guitar players teach our left hand. Any comments?

Possible explanations I've been thinking of:
    * It is very difficult to use string bending techniques on a Stick.
    * The Free Hands Method doesn't contain string bending.
    * Stick players generally come from a "non glissando" idiom like jazz or classical (opposed to the "pro glissando idiom" that draws on the voices emanating from the delta blues; like John Lee Hooker --> Hendrix --> Cream and up to today.)

Hi Per,

Bending is one of the things I like the most about the Stick, and together with vibrato is what convinced me I wanted to be tapping on strings instead of keys.

A minor third takes a little practice to get, but a whole step is very easy.

If you have enough room on the length of the fret, you can usually pull a minor third toward the middle of the instrument. If you don't have enough room, you can anchor the bending finger as you said.

Bending is easier with light gauge strings, and I think easier to control, too.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding your question, but there's
lots of bending in both hands on the tune "Sangre de Cristo" on my MySpace page:

http://www.myspace.com/gregplaysthestick

Bob Culbertson also does a lot of the blues oriented bending you're talking about:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTRD9sWcTUE[/youtube]


I hope that answers your question.

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Thu Nov 19, 2009 7:04 am
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Post Re: String bending for glissando - possible?
greg wrote:
Bending is easier with light gauge strings, and I think easier to control, too.
That's interesting to hear. What's the sound of light guage strings? Any drawbacks compared to medium or hard? Timbre, sustain...

If comparing to guitar one big drawback in using light guage strings is the difficulty to pluck accurately at speed with a thick pick. Now I'm thinking that since a Stick is played by tapping, rather than plucking, it won't have *that* issue with light guage strings?

greg wrote:
Maybe I'm misunderstanding your question, but there's lots of bending in both hands on the tune "Sangre de Cristo" on my MySpace page
Cool. Sorry for not mentioning that, I just didn't want to make my post too long. Thanks for spilling The Knowledge! Much appreciated. The Bob Culbertson piece is brilliant. First I thought it was a lose version of Charles Mingus Goodbye Pork Pie Hat but it seems it is an original blues improvisation. Does Bob use light guage strings?

BTW, I just saw this video interview with Emmet where he talks about playing two handed tapping might not do as good bass lines and not as good guitar lines as a bassist and a guitarist playing in a duo - but when you command both hands from the same brain things happen that are not possible in the world of ensemble playing. That must be one of the key points in playing the Stick!

Reminds me of a discussion with experimental guitarist Henry Kaiser. When he plays in ensemble or duo he likes to start talking with his musician buddies. I asked him "how the hell can you talk while playing? I would never be able to do that!". Henry answered that it's only difficult if you "try to play well" and recommended that I should forget about playing (while still playing) and concentrate on the talking. What happens then is that the brain will start relocating resources and come up with amazing new music that you would never have thought about intentionally. And this leads to the idea that maybe two handed tapping is not just a way of tapping strings but also tapping your brain?

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(+ Stickup modded by Emmett 4 the PASV4 blocks).
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Thu Nov 19, 2009 7:56 am
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Post Re: String bending for glissando - possible?
Per Boysen wrote:
If comparing to guitar one big drawback in using light guage strings is the difficulty to pluck accurately at speed with a thick pick. Now I'm thinking that since a Stick is played by tapping, rather than plucking, it won't have *that* issue with light guage strings?

Hi Per,

I think you're right about not having that issue- I've tried heavy, medium and light and I thought the tone differences are somewhat on the subtle side (especially compared to pickup choice), but the feel is very different. I think there was a bit "thicker" sound on heavier gauge strings but not necessarily "better" (particularly since I tune the bass in 4ths, with closer voiced chords the light gauge seems to "breathe" more).

I find light gauge strings on a Stick more expressive and "malleable" than guitar strings (longer, less tension), and you can do different types of things too that might not be as common on guitar (like holding down a string with an index finger and applying a super fast vibrato on a higher fret with middle or ring finger, or pushing the string in opposite directions to exaggerate the bend). I think when you get your Stick you'll be pleased with the kinds of bending/expression that are possible. I did miss a lot of the articulation varieties that come with picking, but over time other forms of expression inherent to the Stick become apparent.

BTW thanks for the Twitter mention!

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Thu Nov 19, 2009 8:58 am
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Post Re: String bending for glissando - possible?
Thanks a lot! That was exactly the kind of educational answer I needed. I think I have to change my order for light guage strings as a start. My only reason for using thicker strings with low output single coil Stratocasters is the crippled twang factor with lighter strings, but the Stick doesn't seem to be that sensible due to the longer strings.

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Thu Nov 19, 2009 9:17 am
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Post Re: String bending for glissando - possible?
I'm not sure if this is much help since I've only used light guage strings, but I find them to be incredibly vibrant and nice to play on. Wonderful full sound and quite easy vibrato and bending. I thought about going to a heavier guage, but after talking to SE about it, sticking with the light guage just seemed to make sense.


Thu Nov 19, 2009 9:55 am
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Post Re: String bending for glissando - possible?
I know it's not the topic of this post, but how did Bob do harmonics with one hand while playing bass with the other? It happens at at the beginning while the screen has the title, then at about 1:08 and 2:39.

I love harmonics and I have no idea how he did it, even though its a video where I could plainly see and hear what he did. That was awesome!


Thu Nov 19, 2009 1:06 pm
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Post Re: String bending for glissando - possible?
NewbieWanKenobi wrote:
how did Bob do harmonics with one hand while playing bass with the other?

It looks and sounds as he is using a technique I first saw used by guitar player Nils Lofgren: you hit a string while lightly touching it at a "node" with some other finger. At 1:08 it seems as he is actually creating the harmony note with one of the thinner bass side strings and the final harmony notes seems to come from the melody side. If you look carefully (at 2:39) it seems he is touching the "node" to kick the string into harmonics with the pinky or palm of his right hand while tapping the note with the same hands index finger.

@JSanta,
Regarding light gauge strings, are you using 5ths tuning on the bass side?

@robmartino,
You are using 4ths on the bass side, but doo you think 5ths would sound too "clunky" with light guage strings? (I want to play with 5ths / 4ths tuning)

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Bamboo SG12, Wenge SG12, Bamboo Grand. PASV4 on all.
(+ Stickup modded by Emmett 4 the PASV4 blocks).
Fractal Audio AxeFx-III, 2 x RCF NX-10 SMA, Apollo Twin USB

http://youtube.com/perboysen


Thu Nov 19, 2009 1:39 pm
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Post Re: String bending for glissando - possible?
Per Boysen wrote:
@robmartino,
You are using 4ths on the bass side, but doo you think 5ths would sound too "clunky" with light guage strings? (I want to play with 5ths / 4ths tuning)


I wouldn't think so- for many years I believe light gauge was the only option, so quite a few players still use light gauge in the bass I would think. I'll have to defer to them as to how 5ths in bass sounds with different gauges...

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Thu Nov 19, 2009 1:48 pm
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