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----- Original Message -----
As a classical trained pianist, I can understand the matter of things
Kris is talking about. It has nothing to do with musical taste, audience
reaction or absolute judgements about this or that "final result".
Thank you, Fabio! You understand
what I was trying to say. Sometimes, it just takes more examples from others
to clarify it. And because of your profession, I think you also avoided
the fallacies of jumping to the topic of judgment, final result, artistic
merit, value, etc.
Kris
When I was young and started playing music with friends I noticed
that was easy for guitarists using high gain and distortion get good
results, what that make me notice how different it was to get the same "final
result" for me, as a pianist playing keyboards...
The point is that when those guitarists and I sat down with just a piano
and an acoustic guitar they didn't seems to have the same ability in
"expression". So I can see the point: it depends by your ability in
articulation, as Kris said, and at the end, by the control of your body and
"domination" you have on your instrument.
In analogy, talking about "clean sound" I could say that that's the same
different between playing fast and playing slow.
This is something I learnt studying Bach and that everyone here has
personally tested, I think: that is more easy to "look" like a good player
when playing fast, but we all know how more difficult is playing a slow piece
of music giving "honour" and the right presence to each single note.
Articulation and control...again.
Fabio
If I well understand he's talking about
When I got speed and fluidity in playing classical music I was
amazed
Yeah, but you probably also can't play your articulate clean ideas
with much heavier strings and higher action than you're currently
using
Yes, I also can't articulate my clean
ideas as well with a bass guitar or a lute. What is the
point? Pick any electric guitar that is setup the way you
like. Play it clean, play it with lots of gain. That is the context I am
working with here. Test it. Test others. See how often the
hypothesis is true.
--does that mean that your current instrument setup (whatever it
might be) is generating an illusion of technique? I don't think so.
No. In the case you bring up, the unusual string gauge
and action is just hindering me. Use the strings and action you are
comfortable with, then let the tests begin. Technique is technique. Create
a level playing field, and then you can either play the notes
fluidly and with accuracy, or you can't. A lot of distortion
may in fact conceal this on some cases, but it doesn't change the
fact. I can pickup an electric with high gain and race up and down
the neck with arpeggios, in that classic Malmsteen or Paul Gilbert
fashion. I can do this as fast as I can and it sounds fairly fluid, but I
can't turn around and do it on the electric with a clean tone. I have to
slow down and maintain more control over my instrument. The high
gain, compression, and ultra sensitivity allows a lot of things that one
couldn't ordinarily do with a clean tone while sounding just as controlled
and articulate. I'm really not saying much more than that here.
Whatever tools make it easiest to produce your desired end result, by
all means, use those, but the whole "make the young bucks play through a
clean amp" thing doesn't make sense to me. Is anyone surprised when
that sort of playing doesn't sound great through the wrong amp
settings?
Wrong amp settings? What does that mean? I am not talking
about what sounds "great" or "good", or what is "wrong" or "right". This
is purely a matter of technicality, and I dare not introduce what "sounds
good" into the conversation, because that is an entirely different and
subjective matter regarding taste. I am talking about pure physical
technicality and the raw ability to create notes with accuracy and
fluidity with a clean vs. high gain tone. You can perform the test
with any guitar or amp. Doesn't matter to me. And the easiest test
to perform is to have someone (could be yourself as well) who is very good
at playing fast and seemingly articulate on an electric with high gain,
and then see if they can do it with a clean tone. And it can be the clean
tone of their preference, with the guitar and amp of their preference. It
is a basic test. I performed it on myself, and could not play
the same thing with a clean tone. There is nothing wrong with that. It
just means that I am taking advantage of the high gain to do things I
can't do on with a clean tone. It does not mean I am a bad player, though
I can say that I have aspired now to be able to play only things that I
"can" play with a clean tone, and that has made me a better player.
Now when I go back to the electric, I am even more articulate. So, the
crutch proved to be a useful tool. It forced me to sit down for
years with a clean tone and really gain control over my
instrument....though I am still working on this and it is a lifelong
process.
K-
On Fri, Dec 19, 2008 at 2:58 PM, Krispen Hartung
<info@krispenhartung.com>
wrote:
Yes, I understand where you are coming
from, and they seem like valid points. Though the points I
made still stand true to my own evolution as a guitarist. High
gain generated an elusion of technicality that could not be re-produced
with clean tone, regardless of who it touched, whether it was
miced, or any of the separate skills required to play the electric with
high gain (which I fully understand, having played the electric for
almost 30 years). And I am sure I can sit down with 10 young bucks
walking on the streat who play screamin' licks on the electric, and
test my theory with a clean tone.
/K
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