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 Playing "naked" 
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Post Playing "naked"
One of the things I enjoy about The Stick is the sound of the instrument without processing at all. I find when I give lessons, and I have all my effects turned off, the fullness and immediacy of the instrument is really inspiring and connecting.

The key is to have an amp that can deliver the sound in a way you like to hear it. For me that means an acoustic guitar or bass amp with a full-range speaker, or for the melody side through my Fender Deluxe reverb.

All of the different pickups have distinct characters, and the new Railboard has an amazing sound on its own without being equalised* at all.

Playing the new Railboard fully clad on Granville Island (photo by Jim Meyer)

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*Using British spellings makes you sound smarter....

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Thu Jun 13, 2013 5:16 am
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Post Re: Playing "naked"
A reproduction of this Totem on your stick would be amazing...

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Thu Jun 13, 2013 6:10 am
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Post Re: Playing "naked"
Great post Greg. Still getting used to the look of reversed pickup placement.

Emmett let me know my Blue Full Baritone is ready to be picked up. Schweet. :D

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Thu Jun 13, 2013 6:17 am
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Post Re: Playing "naked"
I played a gig on Tuesday. No effects, one good amp ACTV2 run in mono....nothing else was needed. Sometimes the veil is lifted when you leave off the effects. I counldn't agree more Greg.

Brett


Thu Jun 13, 2013 6:22 am
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Post Re: Playing "naked"
Every now and then a venue serves as your own processor.

Some rooms I remember playing in where I basically had to turn my effects of because of the string ambience in the space:

The Atrium space at the Complex Desjardins, Montreal Jazz Festival
The Unity Church in Washington DC
The Atrium Lobby at the L.A. Convention Center, where we gave NAMM concerts
Old Cabell Hall in Charlottesville
The Mural Room at the Detroit Institute of the Arts (pictured below)

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Thu Jun 13, 2013 6:58 am
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Post Re: Playing "naked"
I've been thinking A LOT about this lately.

For a year now, I've been listening to a lot of music played on the Stick. I bought some albums from different artists, watched some youtube, listened to stuff on soundcloud, etc.

When I play the Stick, I use no effects at all. Because I'm learning, I want to listen to what I play without any processing. But I have noticed that most recorded music on Stick is left that way. Very natural, and don't get me wrong, I *LOVE* the tone of the Stick, but... when I listen to this large playlist I made with all that Stick music, I have no idea who I'm listening to; it all sounds so similar, and after a while it can even get boring (yes, there, I said it). The only sound I can easily distinguish is Per's and that's because it doesn't even sound like a Stick.

And then I get to thinking: is it really important to make it sound like a Stick? Or is the music itself more important? It's an instrument, so to most listeners it shouldn't even matter what instrument is being played. But then I think about piano music. Some people like listening to piano, any song, any kind of music, as long as it's played on a piano. Maybe this is what's going on with all this Stick music I've been listening to. But there's gotta be something else, right? Music that doesn't necessarily reveal that it's being played on a Stick. Like drfroth's metal stuff on the NS/Stick, Per's ambient stuff, Mike Bernier's proggy stuff, etc...

I'm still figuring out what to do, and I guess the result will be to just go with whatever the music suggests; sometimes a plain, clear, unprocessed sound will be best, sometimes a good dose of sound processing will make it more lively or whatever.


Thu Jun 13, 2013 8:59 am
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Post Re: Playing "naked"
I think that practising without effects is a wise thing to do.
Performing : even with effects and processing, you still have the choice to not use them. Some songs soundd best with no effects and other really benefit from effects. Using effects brings more diversity to ones performance, preventing songs from soundings the same after a couple of songs.
But again, practising without is good practise :-)


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Bas


Thu Jun 13, 2013 9:31 am
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Post Re: Playing "naked"
I tried playing naked, everybody usually laughs...and then walks away.... :o


Thu Jun 13, 2013 9:50 am
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Post Re: Playing "naked"
It always comes down to the music. How do "Stick" cd's rank in your hierarchy of favorite music?

Or HOW MANY "stick cd's" do you listen to over and over again because the music moves you soooooo much?

I plan on documenting my current playing this summer with video and recording. In these recordings I will challenge myself to express "myself" if I do that, then you should be able to tell who is playing.

I can always tell Emmett , Greg,Bob and Steve (and there are others). Finding your own voice is a challenge on any instrument. Naked or not.

I'm gonna listen to "Ether Ore" by greg Howard on my way home tonight love that cd.

Brett


Thu Jun 13, 2013 10:14 am
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Post Re: Playing "naked"
enrique wrote:
I guess the result will be to just go with whatever the music suggests; sometimes a plain, clear, unprocessed sound will be best, sometimes a good dose of sound processing will make it more lively or whatever.
That's pretty sound advice right there and is generally the way I look at it.

Like most people I would guess, I go through phases. But there's another thing to consider as well which leads me to ...

BasV wrote:
I think that practicing without effects is a wise thing to do.
Yes I tend to agree but you also have to consider that working with your effects effectively (pardon the word play) is a skill and needs to be practiced as well.

Last year I took a guitar workshop with Billy McLaughlin and was surprised that he dedicated a short talk to the beauty and wonders of reverb and the things he does to give his reverb room to breath (as he put it). It was a good example of a guy who put a lot of thought an effort into the processing he uses and how he applies it.

In the end, if you think something sounds too "effecty", then it probably is. If it's applied well, the only thing you should walk away with is a feeling that you just heard some nice music.

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Thu Jun 13, 2013 10:15 am
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