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Hey Brian and crew...
First, I want to thank Brian for getting this list going and keeping it
fresh. Ivan made a lot of great points, so I'm going to build off of some of
the things he said. A little background on my approach to playing rhythm: I
was a drummer for 17 years before I ever picked up a guitar. A lot of the
rhythms I play are based on basic drum rudiments and timing. Nothing crazy
like a double-paradiddle-diddle, but a lot of triplet action where it fits,
what I feel is the guitar-version of the falam, and mostly 8th notes. The
key to playing rhythm is knowing how to COUNT! (But I think thats the key to
almost all music...)
On to the good stuff:
"I just remembered, too - by the end of these songs, my wrist would be
KILLING me! Very demanding and painful!"
ABSOLUTELY. This couldn't be spoken more true. Sometimes you can get away
with up and down picking while muting, but to keep consistency in the
'beats", its mostly downstroking. "Surf Party' is a perfect example of this.
To torture me The Nebulas will play "Surf Party" and then seque right into
"Morpheus". By the time we're done, the look on my face is more indicative
of getting a bullet removed from my inner thigh than finishing up a song.
>
>Mel already explained the basics of 'chunkin'' quite well. 8th
>notes, with occasional syncopation. The greatest influence on me as
>far as 'chunkin'' goes were obviously the Astronauts, but also the
>Fathoms. I thought they did it so incredibly well (it was after I
>saw the Fathoms play that I went out and bought a Jazzmaster, though
>I'm a dedicated Strat guy - they just completely turned my head
>around). The Nebulas do it extremely well, too. Looking forward to
>hearing it live in person in Indy in July! ;)
Thanks Ivan! The Astronauts are absolutely the ultimate chunkers as far as
I'm concerned, and they're the benchmark by which all other are measured.
>
>The secrets to 'chunkin'' are: 1) Jag or Jazzmaster on the middle
>pickup setting (I always used a Jazzmaster) - Strats don't work well
>for this sound; 2) obviously, reverb turned up high - I used 6-6-6;
>3) this is what Evan Foster of the Boss Martians taught me: MUST turn
>up the treble on the amp, since that's where the 'ping' (the
>waterwell-like sound) lives - of course, you can easily overdo it,
>and you can't really use this same sound to play DD-like double-
>picking parts, because with all that treble, you WILL bore into
>people's eardrums in a very unpleasant way; 4) palm muting - the
>muting will diminish the attack of all that treble, making the part
>stand out as well as let the reverb ring - it has to be just right,
>where the note has enough 'body', but no sustain. Must use your
>ears! 5) an absolutely impeccable sense of rhythm, and a wrist to
>pull it off - neither of these is optional. Your wrist must have the
>precision of a swiss clock, or it's going to be a mess. As a surf
>guitarist you don't have to have the ability to play fast scales or
>fancy chords, but you MUST have great timing and a perfect right
>hand. As Rip of the Penetrators noted many times, it's not an
>accident that it's almost all men that play surf lead guitar -
>certain single guy, ahem, "recreational activities" improve the wrist
>strength. :)
>
These are beautiful words. They too are all right on for the most part.
The way I do it is with my Jag is to keep both pickups on, and my tank on
7-7-5. I can't say for sure what the settings on my Showman are as far as
bass/mid/treble go, because it's moodier than Anna Nicole Smith on an
"off-day". It has to be "recalibrated" as I call it every time the barometer
jumps. (Not exactly but you get the picture...One of these days I'll get it
looked at, but it just sounds so damn good when its dialled in)
The timing is key, and thats where the 17 years of drumming comes in (and
keeping a steady regiment of that "other" recreational activity Rip speaks
of). The intricacies of it come in with "type" of chunk. There's the single
string dribble (a la Astronauts), the two-string power-chord chunk (most
popular) and then theres the full-chord chunk, which is basic syncopation
between the lead and drums using the E-A-D-G strings all muted down. Thats
where that really full chunk sound comes from. It requires a lot of volume
awareness and discipline, because if those chords become unmuted and you
really lay into them and let it ring out, it can be lethal.
From there its ALL in right-hand technique. The physical difficulty I
found hardest to overcome was being able to keep the chunking going and
being able to modulate the amount of mute at the same time.
Expect some serious burn in your right forearm. SERIOUS burn.
There's definitely a free-form feel to it. You have to feel when it's
right to pour on the juice, and when to lay back because you don't want to
crowd the lead. You must be aware that you're basically an alternate form of
the Maraca. You're a support instrument and you should try to augment the
drums and bridge the gap between the lead and the bass. Thats my mindset
anyways.
The song I think emphasizes this in the most incredible way is Solaris
Stomp by The Space Cossacks. To me that rhythm part at the beginning is just
unbelievable. JUST the right amount of subtlety but the right amount of
"sack" to drive the song. AWESOME!
That's my take on rhythm guitar. We now return you to our regularly
scheduled programming...
-Dano
-=The Nebulas=-
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