That's where we were at after our record release. Couldn't find the right 4rth so we played as a trio.

http://www.facebook.com/CrazyAcesMusic
http://www.youtube.com/user/crazyacesrock
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I think, play surf in trio, is a great challenge, and there's a contradiction in this situation: surf/instro (instrumental beat music of th 60's) has a strong 'nature' : the solo guitar player plays a simple, unequivocal, strong melodie, it's not jazz, or classical music, it's rock - or beat, or whatever.. (i know, there are exceptions, and everyone has got little tricks, or personal playing technic, etc..)

But: if you delete the rhythm guitar from this music, it sounds empty, a little bit. You have to solve the problem. As I see: there are two ways: more power - kill the audience, and who cares the music? Or 'more notes' - develope your playing, and leave this 'play just the main melody' stuff, learn from other styles, or develope your own

Anyway, it can be good, or bad, it depends on the musicians. For me the music without chords (or a "chord instrument") was exciting since I'm listening music (drum-bass-sax jazz trios , for example), so I think It can be great, but we have to work more

original compositions (low-level demo stuff /out of tune, etc) myStuff not my best, but i don't like to be in a musician community without anything to show

Last edited: Mar 17, 2013 16:32:09

simoncoil wrote:

Las_Barracudas wrote:

I find that even the best Surf trios sound a bit lacking to my ears. I always say to myself "wow that's a great song but wouldn't it sound even better with another guitar part."

To be honest: When I hear a four piece surf band I occassionally ask myself: "What do they need that second guitar player for?"

Furthermore the question could be endlessly prolonged:
"Wouldn't that sound even better with a bit of piano or organ?"
"What about a horn section?"
"Why don't we add some percussion?"
"Some string arrangements maybe..."

You can add all that stuff to make the sound fuller or the arrangement more variable, but in the end the question that matters (at least to me) is: "Do I actually need to add anything to make it work?" And the answer to it depends on if the tune is good (whatever that means) and if the arrangement suits the tune and the group of people you want to perform it with. I have spend the last months re-arranging songs from my first trio for my second trio, just because different guys play different stuff and so the songs that worked great with one trio all off a sudden need a lot of tweaking to make them work at all with another one.

Togergo and NoisyDad are totally right: Playing in a trio is a creative challenge. And it can be a lot of fun.

you forgot the most important question: why don't you have a singer?

Ok, seriously: I understand what Las_Barracudas said.
I met Slacktone just few months ago, and I need 2-3 re-listenings before I started to really like it, I think Dave Wronski (or the band - I don't know how they write the songs / make the arrangments) really learnt to use the silences in the music, and Dave made an excellent work with the guitar lines, it's really complicated, more-layered stuff, but easy to listen - based on surf tradition, but mixed with more genres.

Anyway: The listener have to 'find the music' in this new situation. Few years ago I was in a singer-songwriter festival, and after a quartet (guitar-singer, guitar, bass, drum) a solo guy sang, he was really good, but we need 1-2 songs, to start to 'hear' him - actually we heard him, but his music didn't affect us, we had to 'find the line' in this poorer, lower musical ambience.

Or the surf trio have to be good (every band has to be good ), fast, loud, and it will work

original compositions (low-level demo stuff /out of tune, etc) myStuff not my best, but i don't like to be in a musician community without anything to show

Well, you can put Aloha Screwdriver on the list. Also, last time we played with The Deadbeats they played as a trio and sounded great.

Whenever I feel inadequate for not having another guitarist in the band, I think about how Flat Duo Jets or The White Stripes were able to pull off a monster sound with just two people.

I also try to channel my inner Link Wray.

I love trios. We're a trio, I've always kind of preferred trios in most styles of music. I like Rush, the Jam, the Police, the Minutemen; and the quartets where the fourth is just a singer (love saying "just a singer") REM, Zepplin, etc--I just kind of dig how each instrument has a really defined space.
FWIW here's a little of us:

Matt Heaton & the Electric Heaters
Boston's Premier Surf/Noir Combo
http://www.heatonsurf.com

Chris
The Tritons
6topher

Last edited: Apr 08, 2013 06:12:31

+1 (Matt^) on The Who, The Minutemen and The Police...

I really dig The Dick Dale Trio: the power, the glory!

The Turbosonics are happy with the surf power trio line-up. It is challenging when we tackle some of the more traditional surf tunes with just the one guitar. I've been in trios for 30 years so I'm comfortable with the added pressure to carry the melody, fill the space, etc. There are some things you can't do, but as it was mentioned above, it's fun trying to work out arrangements for songs that typically have more instruments.

We held true to the 3-piece line up when we went into the studio. There's a few doubled notes here and there, but we were happy with the raw arrangements, akin to the old days when they tracked it all live around one microphone. Our live shows are pretty loud, with a bit overdrive on some songs, which suits the trio well. Turn it up and let 'er rip!

Jason
the Turbosonics
"Playin' Surf at Maximum Impact"
Website
Twitter
Bandcamp

We're a trio and the surf band I was in before was a trio (The Dragstrip Bros.). I never really thought about too much. And yeah, we're definitely more garage/punk influenced than most.

charlie

http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Really-Rottens/114360845302326?sk=app_2405167945
http://garagepunk.ning.com/profile/TheReallyRottens
http://www.reverbnation.com/thereallyrottens

our band worked just fine as a 3 piece
our lead guitar player wanted to do more lead stuff though and harmonies live so we added a second.
to my ears, it has helped a lot and really beefed stuff out.
but you can do it!
as stated already before a 3 piece means everyone really has to pull their own weight. but i do like that approach.
this isn't a surf band but it's a great example i think of how a 3 person band should work
only 3 and it still sounds so thick. as well maybe my favorite bass tone/playing ever.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgdv5JVJhHY