Members Sheepdog81 Posted November 20, 2015 Members Share Posted November 20, 2015 Specifically I'm trying to play the same style of the electric guitar in the video I have linked (skip to 1:25), rather than say a steely-blues type of slide... (Wicked Games would also be a good example). I ask, as I am recording a song which would benefit nicely with that sound. I am not much more than a mediocre acoustic guitar player, but I have tried different methods on my electric guitar and really got nowhere close. Is it a technique or is it down to equipment, amp settings or what? I have the following equipment... Guitar - Yamaha Pacifica 212 Amp - Vox Valvetronix ADV30VT Software - NI Komplete 9 - (Loads of VST amps and effects) Mixer - Xenyx X1222fx I have no amp mics atm, so am just recording to mixing desk via a DI box. Thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tomm Williams Posted November 20, 2015 Members Share Posted November 20, 2015 IMO there's nothing special going on there but a good player and some reverb or delay. Slide is one of those techniques that's easy to learn the basics and potentially quite difficult to really stand out. It's very much a "touch" technique. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sheepdog81 Posted November 20, 2015 Author Members Share Posted November 20, 2015 IMO there's nothing special going on there but a good player and some reverb or delay. Slide is one of those techniques that's easy to learn the basics and potentially quite difficult to really stand out. It's very much a "touch" technique. Ah ok, thanks for taking the time to look at the clip. For some reason I'm just not getting the same full sound and slide doesn't sustain itself over the frets. I'm going to give it another go though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted November 20, 2015 Members Share Posted November 20, 2015 There are a couple of brief shots of his sliding - nothing too special except for being damn good. He is using the whammy bar a bit and good dampening, looks like a brass slide. It is possible that he is in a steel guitar tuning like C6 but I doubt it since he seems to be doing a fair bit of fretted work so I would say its standard. I would be guessing at the effects - most of my slide playing is on acoustics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Grant Harding Posted November 20, 2015 Members Share Posted November 20, 2015 You really want a good compressor. That makes a big difference to the sustain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WRGKMC Posted November 20, 2015 Members Share Posted November 20, 2015 Its a slide and a Volume pedal being used to get that pedal steel effect. You pick the strings, begin the slide, then ramp the volume up to create a violin effect. A compressor into an echo can be used to even up the notes and sustain the clean notes much longer. If you know how to play slide the technique is pretty simple. It just takes a bit of practice. If you haven't played slide before then its a whole different story. Slide requires a good understanding of the box system and note intervals. You don't use frets and you need a good ear to get notes properly pitched. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members onelife Posted November 20, 2015 Members Share Posted November 20, 2015 It sounds like a pedal steel. To get that sound on a regular it usually requires a heavy slide, heavier than normal strings and high action (so the strings are free to vibrate and the weight of the slide doesn't push them out of tune or on to the frets). A volume pedal or compressor is required to soften the attack of the notes. The compressor, along with some subtle delay/reverb adds some of that sustain that fills it out so nicely in the clip. Add a dose of musicianship and season to taste. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mikeo Posted November 20, 2015 Members Share Posted November 20, 2015 What I think you want to do is: Guitar and slide, followed by a nice volume pedal and a compressor, then right into a Fender clean style amp with some decent reverb. The volume pedal will be the key to the swells and the compressor will take off some of the edge and give you a smoother flow and sustain into the notes you are playing. If you do not have a compressor you can still do it, ut it's not as smooth or nor will the notes last as long. Watch Chris's lead player work the volume pedal for some nice swells. [video=youtube;mOjTweUPt3Q] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sheepdog81 Posted November 20, 2015 Author Members Share Posted November 20, 2015 Ah, this is all great advice, thank you very much people. Its starting to make sense to me now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sheepdog81 Posted November 20, 2015 Author Members Share Posted November 20, 2015 Mikeo thanks for that. I think there should be enough on my software to be able to execute these effects you mention, thank you. (maybe not as authentic as the physical equipment, but still). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members onelife Posted November 21, 2015 Members Share Posted November 21, 2015 Another important but often overlooked factor is to use your left foot on the volume pedal. It's a left-brain right-brain thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mrbrown49 Posted November 22, 2015 Members Share Posted November 22, 2015 Another important but often overlooked factor is to use your left foot on the volume pedal. It's a left-brain right-brain thing. Interesting. I find it much easier to use a wah pedal with my right foot, but I suppose that's more timed with the rhythm (right hand). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members onelife Posted November 22, 2015 Members Share Posted November 22, 2015 Interesting. I find it much easier to use a wah pedal with my right foot' date=' but I suppose that's more timed with the rhythm (right hand).[/quote'] I use both feet (not at the same time) depending on the context of the music. I noticed Hendrix sculpted each note with his left foot on the pedal and Clapton uses it much more rhythmically with his right foot. Think of "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" compared to "White Room". I experimented and found that I use the effect differently with each foot. Give it a try. See if it's the same for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sheepdog81 Posted December 2, 2015 Author Members Share Posted December 2, 2015 Sm57 problem, please help! Hi, last time I was here I took the advice of you people and with thanks to onelife who PM'd me too, I went away to see if I could master this slide guitar. I quickly realised that recording straight in to a mixer was most likely the problem. So I ordered a long overdue Shure sm57 which arrived today, but now I'm scratching my head as to whether this works right. I already have 2 mics - a Rode NT1A and a AKG P170 which, with phantom power in my mixer, both work fine. However, with my amp on medium volume, the sound is really, really low when on the 57. I thought that it must be like this because it is used to going in font of very loud amps and kick drums, but then I remembered that it also records acoustic guitar decently - so I played acoustic to it, but again it registered extremely low. I'm a bit of a dimwit with technology, is there something I'm missing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sheepdog81 Posted December 2, 2015 Author Members Share Posted December 2, 2015 ...I should include my equipment - The 57 is going in to a Xenyx 1202 mixer which connects to my laptop via a Behringer UCA202 interface. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WRGKMC Posted December 2, 2015 Members Share Posted December 2, 2015 The SM57 is a dynamic mic with a lower output then many Condensers. That mixer should have a trim knob for the mic channels to gain it up. Use it and the channel gain to boost the SM57 up and you'll be fine. A 57 has a bass roll off below 100hz and above 12K. Its also got a peak between 4~5Khz. If you have good settings dialed up on the amp, the mics natural frequency response will make the tracks sit in a mix where guitars normally reside. You shouldn't need to add allot of additional EQing from the Mixer or when mixing the tracks. The most I may need to add mixing is a little 5K boost on leads and a little 4K cut for rhythm guitars. If the rest of your mix, Vocals, Drums and Bass are sitting right in the mix the guitars should fit in without allot of tweaking. If you had been using Condensers, you probably had way too much high and low end on the tracks and would up masking other tracks. With the Shure your mic's natural response handles that. You can set your mixer EQ for 12:00 and maybe add a little high mid boost or cut depending on what kind of music you're playing. Don't try to match what the condensers did. First off, you wont be able to do that with a Dynamic mic, and second you'll only need to remove what you add if you're mixing properly. When monitoring the 57 tracking its going to sound very plain. No bass or treble boost like you had with a condenser. This is normal. Just set the mixer EQ's to center, get enough mic gain, then use your amps EQ and volume to get the tone you want. If its a smaller amp, raising it up off the floor to avoid bass reflection off the floor helps immensely too. The rest is simply experimentation. you can try the mic a different angles and distances from the speaker. You can also use the condenser mics at a distance to capture room reflection. Be sure to do this in mono so you can hear whether the mics are in phase. If you leave the first mic set then move the second you'll hear a tubular flanging effect when you move the mic (when you're playing. You will get a null when the two are out of phase and the mains volume will dip to a minimum. When they are in phase that peak the mains meter. It takes a little practice but its not that hard if you use good headphones. You can even use partial cancellation between the peak and null to EQ the response. The guitar chords on the Dire Straits tune MTV is a perfect example of mics that were accidentally out of phase and when the two tracks were blended it made for a hit sound no one else was getting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tonyb300 Posted December 3, 2015 Members Share Posted December 3, 2015 The volume pedal is the key to getting the swell sound on the slide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members onelife Posted December 3, 2015 Members Share Posted December 3, 2015 It can be done with the volume control on a strat but it takes practice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tonyb300 Posted December 3, 2015 Members Share Posted December 3, 2015 Yes onelife you're right, I knew a cat that would go speed knob with his pinky and blow peoples minds but that was single note stuff, remarkable though.I noticed that slide sound to be a chord with several notes, probably a bit harder to do with the knob, more suited for pedal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sheepdog81 Posted December 4, 2015 Author Members Share Posted December 4, 2015 Thank you WRGKMC I am biting at the bit to try out these methods, very detailed response there. I only get a couple of nights to record, tonight is one of them! Will report back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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