Nov 4, 04 09:48 AM
Training. And, Making It New, Beyond the Whoomy Sound.
I've been running scales in the morning. Something I rarely do.
I've always just sort of let my guitar sound grow and change organically, as I needed it, for new songs that required new things. These few years touring solo, I've developed a big, whoomy, low-endy sound. I tell the front of house sound guy at every soundcheck: Pretend the guitar is a bass drum.
The gangadank has worked fine for me for years. Some say I'm samey; I don't mind. I've always loved artists like Sam Cooke, the Velvet Underground, John Coltrane, who write new songs over similar changes and rhythms, and you can track their very gradual evolution album-to-album.
I discovered on the band tour in June that I needed to change my guitar sound. Scary and refreshing to discover that. The whoomy sound is swallowed up by drums, bass, and piano. So I have to make it sharper, leadier, more trebly. I've been practicing with a pick--I haven't used a pick for years--it feels weird to have this extension on my picking-finger.
Whatever the band that I put together to support this upcoming record sounds like, I have to find a new role in its midst. It's a pain in the ass to lay the groundwork, but ultimately I'm thankful to the universe for putting me in a position where I have the choice of embracing growth.
Posted by Mike at November 4, 2004 9:48 AM
