Over in the introductions item, Jovan requested that I set this item up. Over to you, Jovan!40 responses total.
Yes, do tell Jovan-- I'd love to say something, but I'm not really a functional musician. I guess I have my formal piano training to thank for that. Even with my music studies, chord progressions and such didn't really start clicking until I taught myself how to play the guitar. (I'll bet that's why it's such a popular instrument.)
Thanks Ken... I have always been amazed with music especially the musicians who play them. Although I have been exposed to Jazz musicians, I still appreciate those musicians that come from heavy metal bands like metalicca, pearl jam, collective soul, and the rest. I'm sorry if I misclassified their type of music but I do admire their style and creativity. Since I'm a bass player, I'll discuss now my favorite bassists. First, I like Nathan East who is a session player who also plays for the band "Fourplay" with Lee Rite***(guitar), Harvey Mason(drums), and Bob James(piano and KB). He is a very versatile bass player and likes the "thumpin sound". I know you are familiar with Mark King (bass player of Level 42) who won 1994 Bass Player of the year. I'm just amazed how he plays complex strokes and sing at the same time during concerts. I think I'm gonna stop here. If you want to discuss your favorite musicians, please write them here. I'll be glad to share my thoughts on them too. Bye for now. Hope you write.
I will be going back to music studies sometime soon and hopefully I will write more as I become more inspired. You'd be suprised that so many rockers love the genres of their instrument, and not so much the capability of their specialist genre. I knew a guy who pklayed a mean rhythm guitar and yet said he'd taught himself flamenco style. I hope to learn that sometime soon; my classical guitar skills are very basic, at best. I'm still at an intermediate stage of folk, which I'm sure millions of players could claim-- never saved up enough for an electric. I also enjoy the bluesy rhythm guitar that used to be popular in the early eighties (it's still used today from time to time-- the Cardigan's "Lovefools" is one example I can think of). I love synth and I will just briefly mention some of my fave musicians here since I blab about them everywhere else. Alan Wilder of DM, Vince Clarke of Erasure, Walter/Wendy Carlos, and Pete Byrne and Rob Fisher of Naked Eyes are some. I also thought The Human League's last effort (can't remember their names?) was very good-- it was "When Can I See You Again?" I also enjoy Martin Gore of DM, but I have more faith in him as a composer than as a synth performer. Boy, do I miss Alan-- I should have explained he just recently left Depeche Mode. You may have guessed that I'm a keyboardist, with all my references to synth. I'm not really a percussionist (and I'm sure many would pooh-pooh drum machines), so I'll mention some of my favorite pianists. Pianists are tougher to define because so many are classically trained and are merely performance artists. Not as many are composers. Billy Joel is one pianist I admire-- he's been able to give that instrument a working-class, average joe image. Not that he's average-- he's a fine musician-- but he's not as stuffy. "This Is My Life" is one song, I think, that really showcases some of his abilities on the 88 keys. Jackson Berkey is another pianist I admire, but he doesn't play his own music. He's the keyboardist of Mannheim Steamroller, so he either plays Chip Davis's compositions, or established works. But oh..how the man can play Debussy and Rachmaninoff. I admire that-- Debussy is an Impressionist, his pieces being tonal paintings. I can play but little of his work because they are so thick which monstrous, rich chords. Most pieces are slow, but the chords are so big that they remain unwieldly for me. I haven't played Rachimaninoff yet-- he's a late Romantic composer-- but some of his pieces are equally technically challenging. David Lanz gives the piano such a free, easy-going feel. "Christophori's Dream" is a tribute to Bartolomeo Chistophori, the inventor of the modern piano. I've played it. It's pretty typical of the heavenly sound Lanz thinks the piano has. I should also mention Ray Lynch, although I should have done so earlier as he is a synth artist (New Age, particularly). He is one of the few New Age artists who really does have a New Age mindset. His music is easy to meditate to. In the same vein, I think Enya's music possesses a depth and complexity the world has never known. Her influences are Celtic, but the music is complex enough that it has been classifed as New Age. She doesn't use much synth implementation; most of her music is several tracks of instruments she plays alone and then layers together. I think she is a phenonemon-- never have I seen a musician command such a wide audience. People I know that wouldn't agree on two kinds of music listen to her and love her work. People that listen to so many radically different genres of music seem to agree she is wonderful. Her song "Orinoco Flow (Sail Away)" was an international smash hit in 1988. And yet, she avoids the limelight like the plague. She seems to be terribly camera-shy and rarely grants interviews (I can only recall one television one, and that was recent).
While I think Enya's music is pretty good (and *very* well produced..) I wonder if perhaps "a depth and complexity the world has never known" is stretching things a wee bit..
Hmm...as much as I tend to distrust much of the stuff labeled 'new age', I realize I've never heard much of enya's stuff other than Orinoco Flow.
Hrm, wrong choice of words, I guess, Mike. But I can't deny that when she has created, so much of the world has stopped and listened.
Heard some of "the Memory of Trees" the other night...actually kind of liked it.
I should have mentioned Bruce Hornsby. He's a very talented pop pianist, but he never did seem to break out of the adult contemporary mold that made him popular. But he does rank up there with Billy Joel. I'm also a tuba player (or was, rather), so I had to study some recordings. I mentioned Roger Bobo in another item. He was the tuba player for the L.A. orchestra at the time the recordings were made; they're old enough that I'm not sure if he's still there. His style is bold and straight-forward; he played fusion for an album called "New Perspectives." He posesses polyphonic talent: he can play two notes at the same time. Basically, your lips play one note while your throat sings another. In layman's terms, this is like practicing ventriloquism while drinking a glass of milk. The range and depth of playing is very limited with that style, and there is a lot of buzz in the sound. Charles Dallenbach of the Canadian Brass is probably best known for a phenomenal feat of playing a transcription of "Flight of The Bumble Bee" in under 33 seconds. But he is a good, solid player; and the quintet in general usually perform standing up, in their tuxes and white sneakers. I'm surprised Jovan hasn't said more about guitar styles. The guitar world is such a competitive one that players are actually ranked in their ability of playing. Eddie Van Halen is one example of a top-ranked lead guitarist. Now, piano players face equal or greater competition than that of guitarists; but their world is so elite and high society that it is not as popular as that of guitarists. (I speak of classical pianists-- keyboard musicians are another matter entirely. Their competition is usually a technological one.) I'll mention an obvious player: Jimi Hendrix. He expanded guitar frontiers because he experimented so much. He was metal before its time, but yet he was so graceful. I forget the music event, but Pete Townshend of the Who was battling him for the crowd's attention. (Jimi had stolen Pete's act of destroying the stage.) Although both were smashing things, Jimi was described as making love to the music, while the Who were described as raping it, almost. Pete started the idea to smash his guitar, but it was Jimi who lit his on fire. Jimi Hendrix was left-handed and I'll never figure out how he learned to play by playing his guitar upside down. I mean, Paul McCartney had a left-handed guitar made especially for him. Definitely, he was trying things guitarists hadn't tried at the time.
You also forgot Stevie Ray Vaughan, who was right up there with Hendrix and Van Halen, and I have seen SRV play the guitar behind his back. I am still a big fan of his cover of Hendrix's "Little Wing"
(I was about to mentions SRV... :)
It's not hard, jon.. He strung it backwards. It's a fairly standard practice.
Besides, I can play guitar left handed not strung backwards. (Not well, I admit, but I can play recognizably, and could get good with practice)
Oh geez.. I am always constantly reminded just how competitive guitarists are. But then, since it is such a popular instrument, I don't see why not. I was reminded of where the polyphonic technique that brass musicians use came from. It comes from the Tibetan monks, and the style is taken from their manner of playing. Of course, I'm sure the monks have it perfected to a science, whereas I would bet that few outsiders have really mastered it. As for electronic instruments, I suppose there isn't much to say-- often, technology makes up for technique. See the electronic music item if you're interested.
Hello everyone ! Do you still remember me ? Im jovan, the one who wrote the 2nd item in this topic. Well I've really been busy with work so I was not able to write a lot of things. I'll try to share some today if you'd like. I listen to a lot of music. All types. But my favorite has always been pop and jazz. I've learned to like new age as well particularly Yanni, David Lanz, Enya and some others I could not remember. There is this band that I like too. The band is Montreux, a band composed of a bass,piano,guitar,violin and drums. Well, their music is kinda mixture of folk ,new age, and a jazzy feel. The reason ewhy I like the band is that the bassist is Michael Manring. I think he is really one of the best bass players there is in the world. Speaking of bassists, Michael Manring plays alot of fretlesses. He plays the bass detuned. Meaning the strings are not tuned conventionally. He makes his own tuning to create the sound that he likes. If you have heard some of his songs, sometimes, you will be confused if the sound is a bass or a keyboard since he plays a lot of harmonics (You guitarists out there shoulkd know about this.) If you get to buy one, choose the "Drastic Measure" album. I hope you will like it. If you are a bassist out there, you should try listening to his music so your mind widens what you can do to the bass. I think I've had enough. Please do share your favorite musicians and their
Hey! I was just checking out all the items. Is this item frozen too? I would very much like to revive this one as I have learnt about so many things today. May be lumen is good enough to do that.
No, this item is not frozen. If it was you would have seen a message telling you that response was not possible. This item might be a little old, and there are others that are older, but it is not frozen. Have fun, respond all you like.
Heh, no, Fun, I know next to nothing. Glad to hear from you again, Jovanne. Nice to hear you mentioned harmonics. Eddie Van Halen, for example, played a song entirely in harmonics on the Van Halen III album (the group's latest offering). He explained it to Matt Pinfield on the Matt Rock show and tried to play it. He couldn't. Harmonics can really be a bitch to play since you're isolating a partial. Anyone that knows about the overtone series knows that a string, although it will sound one note in particular, there are many other tones that vibrate along it. So a harmonic is an isolation of one of these tones. Except for lowering the sixth string from an E to D (often called drop-D tuning), detuning, or alternate tunings, is not standard practice among guitarists. Those that play Celtic music (often including a lute) and Eastern styles frequently tune their guitars differently-- for example, a fourth apart. Would someone please tell me the name of the metal guitarist who took a bass violin bow and used it to play his electric guitar? One thing I forgot to mention about harmonics is that electronic mediums often delete overtones. This is why violins, trumpets, and electric guitar modules sound really funny on many electronic pianos. Analog (electric) synths don't do this, but the sound is often very dirty and you have to make patch kits to manipulate them by MIDI, I believe (I don't know if converters are still available). However, pitch benders, digital reverb/flanging machines, specific synth envelopes, mixing boards, etc. can overcome or compensate for these problems. Now, would someone who really knows what they are talking about please speak up? Oh yeah-- then we could probably go on for days about acoustic guitar styles-- playing on the fingertips, playing on the nails, flamenco styles, classical styles, folk styles, etc., etc., etc. *This* I could go look up.
Jimmy Page of Led Zepplin is the guitarist who used a violin bow on his electric guitar (and was also parodied well in "This Is Spinal Tap"). Harmonics on bass are much easier to play than on guitar, due to the longer strings, as the "nodes" are farther apart. There is also a technique for playing harmonics with the right (picking) hand as well that I have learned. Percy Jones, of Brand X was one of the first to truly perfect harmonic techniques, particularly picking hand ones. Another early pioneer, the late Jaco Pastorius, also recorded an amazing song called "Portrait of Tracy" (dedicated to his wife) that combines harmonic and normally plucked notes, with the harmonics dominating. The song also involves a lot of chords. I have been learning this song for years and can play some parts quite well. It is almost always guaranteed to make someone's jaw drop when they haven't heard this song played before. I once got an engineer in a local studio to come out of the sound booth and just stare in awe when I started playing it as part of a sound check. Also, FWIW, it should be noted that the palette of harmonics available was expanded significantly when guitars and basses were electrified (a shameless plug for the pickup item). This is because acoustic instruments can usually only generate a decent volume for the first couple of overtones in the series. However, the use of pickups and amps permits the weaker overtones to be boosted to make appreciable sounds.
hey! That was cool :)
No kidding-- I'd like to hear this "Portrait of Tracy." Basses are so expensive for me right now that I can't test any of these theories, either, alas. How do you play harmonics with the right hand?
Basses are cheaper and better than ever, thanks to high-quality mass production. I'm a bass player too. I never got that interested in all the fancy basses, and I'm still playing the '69 P-bass I got used in high school. Not much flash, but it can punch thru almost any type of music (I do best in R&B, funk, and worldbeat).
Re right hand harmonics: Use your left hand to fret a note normally. This becomes your "baseline", much as the open E,A,D, or G would be the "baseline" note from which the overtone series begins when you play left hand harmonics. Next, with your right hand place the side of your thumb (the part that falls natuarlly on the strings) gently on the string at a point halfway between the the bridge and the note your are fretting with your left hand. This is the octave harmonic node for the note you are fretting. While your thumb rests lightly on the string, pluck the string with the index or middle finger of your right hand. If you pluck hard, while the thumb rests *lightly* on the string, you will get a big fat harmonic. As you get better, you can also rest your thumb on other nodes to get other harmonic notes in the overtone series. You can also learn to fret different notes with your left hand while adjusting the location of your right hand accordingly. Doing this I have learned to play entire scales or melodies using right-hand harmonics. There are other right hand techniques, but this is the easiest . . .
Hey cyklone, want to do a bass meeting some time?
Sure. I'm busy the next couple of weekends (recording this weekend, helping out with the family cottage next) but suggest some times after that.
I used to play bass, but I find mackerel keep their tun-a longer. <I just had to say that>
(woa...a bass duo? That's be wacky...)
re: #22: I'd probably have to have someone show me.
hi all.... Nice to see lumen and funnie herer again... I was herer checking in ...... will be back..... see ya....
Welcome, shyam. I guess, I came across a phrase called "Celtic Muisc" somewhere. Is that a muisc style or just the music associated with a group of people?
Browse through item #67 to get some ideas. Generally associated with folk/ traditional music of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany (France). Of course you don't have to be Celtic to play or enjoy the music! :-)
Thanks Kevin. I will check out the item.
Here's something you might find interesting. I'm not sure if I've discussed it in here before, but oh well. I play recorder (I own a soprano, alto, and tenor), and jam on a semi-regular basis with two different groups of people. One group is acoustic: two guitarists, another recorder player, and a tabla player. The second group is electric: guitar, bass, drums (well, ok, the drums aren't electric, but they're really loud, and that's the difference between the 2 groups I was trying to convey). I love playing with each group very much, but in different ways. Now with the electric group, it was fine at first, but as the weeks went on, these guys got louder and louder, to the point where I couldn't hear myself, so what I did was take a small clip-on microphone you might have seen attached to the bell of a saxophone, and I removed the clip. I then put the head of the mike right up against the hole on the top of the recorder, where the air passes (and the sound), and tied it on. I then just simply plugged into an amp the same way a guitar or bass would. It sounds great!! And its so much better than what we tried originally, which was me leaning over and trying to play into a stationary microphone. The sound wasn't that bad, but that's only if I held my recorder in just the right way, and didn't move at all. Now I have great sound and unlimited movement. About a week after I got the clip on mike, one of my friends in the acoustic group, between songs, looked at me, shook his head, and said, "You know what Dave?.....I just realized you've gone electric." More head shaking. Hey! They laughed at Dylan when *he* went electric. Who's laughing now, hmmmm?
Sweet! Sure, you just patched a mic on-- that's not unusual, except that it's convenient enough to do all the time. If you could build it into the instrument, then it would be truly electric.
True, and it would solve the only remaining inconvenience I have, which is that I have three recorders, and one amplification system. I enjoy playing all three equally, and sometimes play all three in sucession, but if I'm in the middle of a jam, and have to take the time to untie the mic from one, and retie it to another recorder....well, you get the point. The thing is, that recorders, especially sopranos, are so small, that any kind of electronics required to accomplish what I'm looking for is probably out of my price range.
so portable mics would be cheaper, then? Anyway, you might prefer the sound-- electronics tend to strip the hair off an instrument's sound wave pattern
I'm not sure what kind of modification you mean. Do you mean (in #33) the equivalent of a portable mic, but just wireless (not unlike a lot of guitarists have today), or are you thinking of something electronic I could put in the recorder that would amplify the sound itself, eliminating the need for an amp?
I don't know because even synths and electronic pianos are often hooked up to amps, I believe. Can't remember. I was assuming you were talking about a wireless mic.
I'm sorry, Jon...the last bit of your response (#37) was chopped off. All I got was " I was assuming you were talking about..".
a wireless mic.
I just started classical guitar lessons last week, and my next lesson is tomorrow. I'm so excited. One technique I learned-- just a small one-- that I liked was a three-finger Spanish strum-- I have no idea what it's called. While strumming, you just roll from the index, to the middle, and to the ring finger. If you do it right, you'll probably recognize the effect.
You have several choices: