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markwitz
`Olu`olu
USA
841 Posts |
 Posted - 03/20/2010 : 07:07:45 AM
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I'm not a musician so pardon the dumb question. I was looking at a video today of someone playing a slack key song. He was doing a good job except for the fact that he had lots of very loud string squeaks. I have noticed that some guitar players seem to have a lot while others have virtually none. Someone please educate me on this.
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"The music of the Hawaiians, the most fascinating in the world, is still in my ears and
haunts me sleeping and waking."
Mark Twain |
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slipry1
Ha`aha`a
USA
1511 Posts |
Posted - 03/20/2010 : 07:35:52 AM
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| Wound strings are often the culprit. That's why round wounds were invented for electric guitars. Also mike placement. |
keaka |
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LikaNui
Aloha
40 Posts |
Posted - 03/20/2010 : 08:23:16 AM
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| I keep a small (4 oz.) container of Johnson's Baby Powder in my guitar case to combat humidity and squeaks. Before each gig starts I sprinkle a little in my palm, rub my palms together, then wipe them across the back of the bass neck and also across the strings. |
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Hookani
Lokahi
232 Posts |
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Mark
Ha`aha`a
USA
1628 Posts |
Posted - 03/20/2010 : 09:17:25 AM
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Squeaks are part of playing the guitar. Along with knocks, taps, bumps, the thump of fingers on the fretboard, pick slaps, the clanging of metal finger-picks, and, in my case, occasional drooling.
Although there are techniques for minimizing squeaks, for the most part they are just part of the great holy racket attached to real music. One reason you don't hear 'em on many recordings is that... well, the engineers takes 'em out. (How is a fascinating subject we'll leave for another day.)
Many folks now use strings coated with gore tex or some other plastic (Elixers, many other brands) to cut down on the squeakage.
Some folks grease up their fingers with nose grease-- best lubricant there is--to cut the squeaks. People like me with big noses have a lot of it.
Some folks develop a complex fretting technique of subtly relaxing as the hand moves up or down the neck.
Hand chemistry is also a big factor. The baby powder trick is good for some folks; other buy a lubricant to spray on the strings.
And some just figure, what the heck. Let 'em squawk. |
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markwitz
`Olu`olu
USA
841 Posts |
Posted - 03/20/2010 : 09:57:38 AM
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| Fascinating. So it's an art form just like everything else associated with music. |
"The music of the Hawaiians, the most fascinating in the world, is still in my ears and
haunts me sleeping and waking."
Mark Twain |
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salmonella
Lokahi
240 Posts |
Posted - 03/20/2010 : 10:30:47 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by slipry1
Also mike placement.
Does this imply that placing it further toward the headstock picks up more squeaks and further toward the bridge picks up less squeaks?
Or is it distance from the guitar?
Dave |
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Haolenuke
Lokahi
USA
117 Posts |
Posted - 03/20/2010 : 11:48:20 AM
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Aloha,
Are there any good coated strings for classical guitars or ukuleles?
For me squeaky strings are almost as distracting as fingernails on a chalkboard, or the noisy jewelry on Miles Davis' otherwise extraordinary recordings.
Is it possible to drool with syncopation? |
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rendesvous1840
Ha`aha`a
USA
1055 Posts |
Posted - 03/21/2010 : 05:22:53 AM
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You can tell the floor is level when the banjo player drools from both sides of his mouth. Does that help any?
Some of the squeeking can be rediced by slightly lifting your hands when sliding up or down the fingerboard. But if the greasy sound of a sliding note is desired, you have to keep the pressure on the string, and the squeek occurs. I mostly just live with some of it. The baby powder idea sounds worth a try. Not sure I want my instruments to smell like a freshly washed baby, though. I like the wood smells of 'em. Especially the one dulcimer. It's made of sassafrass, and smells like root beer.
Unko Paul |
"A master banjo player isn't the person who can pick the most notes.It's the person who can touch the most hearts." Patrick Costello |
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Retro
Ahonui
USA
2368 Posts |
Posted - 03/21/2010 : 07:02:59 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Mark
Squeaks are part of playing the guitar. Along with knocks, taps, bumps, the thump of fingers on the fretboard, pick slaps, the clanging of metal finger-picks, and, in my case, occasional drooling.
Although there are techniques for minimizing squeaks, for the most part they are just part of the great holy racket attached to real music. One reason you don't hear 'em on many recordings is that... well, the engineers takes 'em out.
This relates well to a section of a book I'm reading at present, "Hallelujah Junction" by contemporary American composer John Adams.
He talks about how, in the past century of recorded music, the act of capturing "perfect" takes or "definitive" versions of music has led to listeners and musicians expecting similar perfection in live performance, something that wasn't such an issue over the centuries prior. |
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markwitz
`Olu`olu
USA
841 Posts |
Posted - 03/21/2010 : 07:23:36 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by rendesvous1840
It's made of sassafrass, and smells like root beer.
Unko Paul
Ohhh, one of the things I miss about living on the east coast is the smell of sassafrass wood. Small price to pay. |
"The music of the Hawaiians, the most fascinating in the world, is still in my ears and
haunts me sleeping and waking."
Mark Twain |
Edited by - markwitz on 03/21/2010 07:41:03 AM |
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slipry1
Ha`aha`a
USA
1511 Posts |
Posted - 03/21/2010 : 07:42:31 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Retro
[quote]
He talks about how, in the past century of recorded music, the act of capturing "perfect" takes or "definitive" versions of music has led to listeners and musicians expecting similar perfection in live performance, something that wasn't such an issue over the centuries prior.
one of the weirder experiences I've had with digitally recorded music was listening on headphones to an early CD of the Amadeus Quartet playing Haydn's "Emperor Concerto". The microphone must have been placed in the middle of the group, and ALL of the string and bowing noise from all 4 instruments was combined in the middle of my head. Although the music was beautiful, it was not natural. |
keaka |
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thumbstruck
Ahonui
USA
2176 Posts |
Posted - 03/21/2010 : 09:26:49 AM
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| I've heard Ray Kane breathing on some of his recordings. We're human, we come with attendant noises. Ever listen to yourself chew? String squeaks are your assurance that a real person is playing a real instrument, unless Mark has something about engineering that I don't know. |
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salmonella
Lokahi
240 Posts |
Posted - 03/21/2010 : 09:41:48 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by thumbstruck
String squeaks are your assurance that a real person is playing a real instrument,
The link below will take you to the video, or one of them,that led to this question being posted. I must have done something unusually wrong since the squeaks can be quite intrusive. Makes it hard to pay attention to the real instrument and even more obvious that there is a real person there. I suspect microphone quality and/or placement, plus new strings, plus a guitar I am not quite used to.... but whatever, I am trying to cut down on them some. When another day comes, maybe Mark will explain how the "engineers takes em out". In the mean time, I am noting all the good suggetions here. Keep them coming. No baby powder for me, especially not in combination with nose grease... what a mess that would be. Talk about "coated strings"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMOswL_hW58 |
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Retro
Ahonui
USA
2368 Posts |
Posted - 03/21/2010 : 09:59:16 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by salmonella
When another day comes, maybe Mark will explain how the "engineers takes em out".
It's easy to spot 'em in the digital waveform, and then create a profile to find and remove 'em. |
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rendesvous1840
Ha`aha`a
USA
1055 Posts |
Posted - 03/21/2010 : 12:31:59 PM
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quote:
We're human, we come with attendant noises.
Let's don't open that can of worms. Some of the noises ain't sqeaks!
Unko Paul |
"A master banjo player isn't the person who can pick the most notes.It's the person who can touch the most hearts." Patrick Costello |
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Topic |
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String Squeaks
