I have a question for you strummers....

It is acceptable? desirable? tacky? or what? to have that scratchy noise in between notes?

You know, when your fingers slide up and down the strings, you get that noise?

Whats the go there?

I know, I ask bimbo questions :)

i like it. makes it sound real. its just fingers sliding up or down the strings to the next spot.

I'd say it's generally just part of playing guitar...you hear it in pretty much any genre. Doing so makes it easier to form the next chord or note, not to mention, it helps you keep hold of the neck.

If it's distracting to the song, it doesn't belong and the player should use a technique to avoid it.

Avoiding the noise is a large part of being a good bass player, since the winding on bass strings is larger and heavier. One way is to turn the treble down on the bass until the sound is just a bunch of mud. The other way is to use strings that haven't been changed in 20 years and eat greasy fried chicken just before every gig. James Jamerson, maybe the most important bass player in history, used that second technique.

James Jamerson

aka "the hook" ... because he played with one finger
__________________

btw: I read "scratchy noise" as "scratchy nose in between notes"
...because I'm always fiddling about with one hand while holding it's stick under my arm and playing the time and accents with the other one.

Undertoad;395125 wrote:

Avoiding the noise is a large part of being a good bass player, since the winding on bass strings is larger and heavier. One way is to turn the treble down on the bass until the sound is just a bunch of mud. The other way is to use strings that haven't been changed in 20 years and eat greasy fried chicken just before every gig. James Jamerson, maybe the most important bass player in history, used that second technique.

You didn't mention which method you prefer.

SteveDallas;395161 wrote:

You didn't mention which method you prefer.

Oh good golly miss molly, the "things-you-mentioned-in-your-post" Police are here.

Oh I use the unmentioned third method... proper muting with good right-hand techniques. There's a "wandering thumb method" which seemed so sensible from the outset that I just learned to do it normally. My thumb is normally anchored on the string above where I'm plucking. That provides a mute for that string and a very strong hand position to get whatever sound I want, plucking soft or hard, fast or slow.

Yeah...I bet you have an excellent right-hand technique.

Oh I'm the mother of all pluckers.

With my last band I always ordered a pizza for the guys before every gig.
Not to grease their strings with, but to make sure that nobody would be playing on an empty stomach.

btw: never washing the caked on spilled beer and accumulated dust etc. off, is also a great "EQ" for your cymbals.

I must be more of a bimbo than you Clod, because I've said it before and I'll say it again...There is nothing I like better than a strong, authentic sounding male-vocalist, with dirty guitar. Strum, distort, tap, slide, whatever you want.....I prefer musicians that don't sound too manufactured, contrived to be just like x band or songwriter, and can appreciate the small imperfections as much as I can. Then again I like most music to be very "raw". I like cohesive, tight, music.....but there's nothing wrong with a little dirty guitar.

On that note, I will also take this opportunity to say:

Thurston (Sonic Youth)....I love you. Oh and my husband knows. So it's ok to call. He'll understand. We can still be friends.

:)

Cicero wrote:

I must be more of a bimbo than you Clod,

Er, you mean Ducks? :)

lets not get into bimbo ranking here, ladies.

ok....let's

Clodfobble;395368 wrote:

Er, you mean Ducks? :)

Oooh. Ooops. Holy .....! Ducks...! wow. I meant Ducks!
:D

Wow. That was so screwed up.

Sorry.

:o

I dont know whether to be insulted that Clod was so quick to point out the error.....or flattered that Cic thought I was Clod to start off with.

Undertoad;395125 wrote:

Avoiding the noise is a large part of being a good bass player, since the winding on bass strings is larger and heavier. One way is to turn the treble down on the bass until the sound is just a bunch of mud. The other way is to use strings that haven't been changed in 20 years and eat greasy fried chicken just before every gig. James Jamerson, maybe the most important bass player in history, used that second technique.

...and died relatively young. Of course, the booze and drugs may have contributed somewhat.

What a killer bassist he was. If you haven't seen it, you must watch "Standing in the Shadows of Motown", the documentary about the Funk Brothers, the studio musicians who backed most of the great music to come out of Detroit in the golden era.

Re: finger squeaks - I posted a rough mix of a track Lane and I have done that is absolutely *ruined* by the squeaking of my fingers on the guitar as I slide up to a chord. The slide is necessary, the squeak makes it all but unusable.

For a good, likely deliberate, use of the slide-sound, listen to the opening bars of the live version of Smoke On The Water on Made In Japan. They put them on the backbeat. The lead guitar, I think, and on the wrapped strings.

i love the bands that deliberately and prominently use the finger sound as part of a riff, not always appropriate, but for for any "balls to the wall" music (i don't know where that one came from), it can be extremely complimentary specially when honed into a fine art.. ie: zakk wilde
probably not so useful with say, i dunno... kenny burrell
haha

I second that motion: my favorite example of "playing dirty" is Zakk Wilde, song "Speedball".

Playing an instrument is an art, and art is defined as "it's all good, unless it isn't." If it sounds good, keep it; if not, practice harder.

I'm a newbie player myself, so my playing is always unintentionally messy. Sometimes it sounds OK, but when I'm practicing, I try to play precisely. If I can get that down, then I'll be able to re-insert some dirt with some degree of reliability and "art".

Trivia - there is a midi patch in the GM spec called "fret noise" 121? which you could use to make a midi with guitar parts sound more realistic. So at least someone considers them part of the art.

Of course now that we don't care about the size of data storage or transmission anymore, midi is pretty much a dinosaur.