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Looper's Delight
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Hi Chris- cant think of a better purchase for the money!I got my first ebow
in 1984 & have burned out 2 since buying the plus(nifty blue light
model).At first I did emulate alot of the the heroes of the ebow,but after
alot of chemical intake I realized the potential of this device & ive used
it in practically every musical endeavor for 15 yrs I once asked a local
hotshot gtr shop owner how it was possible to play more than one string at
a time with it ,his reply was to rake it across the strings really fast!
Knowing full well he was Bs ing me as usual I dismissed it as more useless
advice from the asshole for the file...I went home that night & discoved he
was right.a It has an enduring sustaining (forgive me!) quality that I
return to.Ive \mastered alot of the advanced techniques & honestly have
about 20 different approaches of my own.Yes you can do a sax,oboe
,clarinet etc also that amazing flock-of birds bowing sound that is
totally unique to the ebow.I find its important to realize the full
potential of this device is often found while combinig it with other
instuments(not ness gtr)&effects concepts etc.It really is a great ideas
tool& it always stimulates something new for me.For xample if you have a
Zvex fuzz factory(& who amoung us being of unsound mind wouldnt?)then you
have an amazing range of beautiful & abrasive osscilating ,horn like &
radio wave surfer sounds used in conjunction with an ebow.Yes this device
is essentialy a controllable electromagnet but designed for making music
with.Ive come up with many techniques
based on the physical limitation of having this thing in my hand & using
the extraneous 'noises ' it makes while not doing its real job ,sustaining
a string BTW Ive recorded some amazing drone based music using the ebow
on a fender bass-it can be done!Great on acoustic insruments-Just played a
show in a art gallery using 2 ebowed acoustic guitars with micotonal slide
& tambora ..no electric sound & every one could here it .buzzing & humming
away.Looping with an ebow ......well..space doesnt allow for the
possibilties..
Most important reason to have an ebow it gives instant acsess to the DRONE
and dont we need that in all our lives?
only a short list of people who have used the ebow as a real tool to
achieve great music: David First .Elliot Sharp. Fred Frith. Arnold
Dreyblatt.-Roger Kleier -BJ Cole
Just my 2 cents -----------Keenan
>>Also - could someone explain to me what kinds of things an E-bow does,
and is
>>it worth the purchase.
>
>An E-Bow generates a small electromagnetic field which you can focus on a
>guitar string to keep it vibrating without picking. It's useful for
>legato,
>single-string playing. The lack of a sharp, percussive attack, and the
>infinite sustain are well suited to slide, and work particularly well with
>a lot of delay. The manufacturer claims that one can use the E-Bow to
>mimic
>conventional instruments like horns and synths, but I've never really
>found
>this to be true. It is only suited for monophonic playing, one string at a
>time, although many players have developed proficiency at jumping the
>device from string to string to arpeggiate. (I've not found this technique
>all that useful, since with the amount of delay I like to use with the
>E-Bow, any squawks, clicks or other unintentional noises which happen to
>occur when jumping strings come back to haunt me, and this is even more
>true when looping!) You CAN get a deep, throaty squeal out of your low E
>using an E-Bow that's pretty cool, kind of like a rhinoceros on steroids,
>but not every player would find a use for the sounds of large, angry,
>chemically-enhanced African wildlife! The newest version of the E-Bow
>features a switch that is said to emphasize higher harmonics, but mine is
>the older model, so I can't tell you how well the switch works. The E-Bow
>IS a neat effect, but it's really not all that versatile (despite
>exaggerated claims of the E-Bow's usefulness on bass and acoustic guitars
>which I've found to be rather a stretch). You can get pretty much the same
>sound with distortion and controlled feedback, although in low-volume
>situations and when using an amp emulator, the E-Bow can be useful. It
>might be a good idea to see if you can borrow one from someone to try it
>out before spending $70-100 for one... You'll know fairly soon if it's
>something you'll use a lot, in which case it's probably worth it. I know a
>lot of people who've bought them and hardly ever take 'em out of their
>guitar cases, though... I sort of fall in the middle of the road on that
>one; I like my E-Bow well enough, but I really don't use it all that
>often.
>You might be better off filling in any vacant spots in your pedalboard
>first with stuff you're more certain you'll use often.
>
>Tim
>