Sultan of Swing solos

[Myaccount876]

Re: Sultan of Swing solos

That was great, and I'd respectfully disagree on it sounding "too safe/clean". I thought it had plenty of feeling - it's not 100% Knopfler, and it doesn't have to be; there's only one Mark Knopfler.

Hope you post more stuff here in the future.

[daenius]

Re: Sultan of Swing solos

Hey daenius, I never did get you rig info down? It looks as though you're using a Tom Anderson guitar but after that how is the signal dealt with?

I think what I'm driving at is a tone issue. But just beware that the tone thing manifests itself as a physical playing thing. I definitely play groovier when my guitar is plugged into my 1974 quad reverb vs. directly into the mixer. When it's plugged directly into the mixer (in my studio) the notes just behave totally differently and then I do as well.

Totally agree with you on the tone thing! Here's how I like to describe "tone" as it appears to the player vs the audience:
Think of the audience as the audience at a NASCAR event, and they're all looking at race cars... What do they think? "Damn, those cars are fast!" Of course they're fast, and they are all damn fast to the audience. What if you asked the DRIVERS? They'll tell you "oh this car handles like this, accelerates like that, and cornering with it feels this way and that way". Now that's something only the DRIVER will feel, the audience will just see a fast car zipping by.

The same with tone, really. We've all heard amp demos and guitar demos recording professionally by professional players and they all sound damn good, regardless of the price point or anything objective about the product. However, when you play through that product, that's when you notice how it reacts to your playing, and how that inspires or hinders your playing. The listener will never know nor feel that, other than the fact that it may potentially cause you to play better or worse, but only you the driver will know how the race car accelerates when you floor that pedal.

My rig in that video was this:

Tom Anderson Short Scale Classic with SF2 noiseless single coils and an HN3+ humbucer. I used strictly the middle pickup for the recording.
Zinky Blue Velvet 25 Watt combo amp with the clean channel, gain at about 12 o'clock. Great amp with such a fat, punchy, yet clear and articulate clean channel that has tremendous amount of head room. This is why I was able to have the gain up fairly high for that saturation and slight compression without losing clarity or causing the amp to get too dirty.
SM57 mic to the amp, placed just a tad off the dead center.
Small amount of reverb and delay were added later through Guitar Rig 5
I did apply a small amount of EQ to cut out anything below 60Hz in my DAW as well.

That's about all I could remember! Hope it helps

[NothingHappens]

Re: Sultan of Swing solos

Hey daenius, I never did get you rig info down? It looks as though you're using a Tom Anderson guitar but after that how is the signal dealt with?

I think what I'm driving at is a tone issue. But just beware that the tone thing manifests itself as a physical playing thing. I definitely play groovier when my guitar is plugged into my 1974 quad reverb vs. directly into the mixer. When it's plugged directly into the mixer (in my studio) the notes just behave totally differently and then I do as well.

[EAProwlerB]

Re: Sultan of Swing solos

Actually I'm not feeling the solo here so much. I think your playing is technically very good. But what's missing is some muscle/aggression. Perhaps what I'm hearing is that your amp isn't "popping" enough or something. It sounds too safe/clean. But that's not a big problem to overcome. Like I said your playing is technically very good.

You don't muscle Knopfler. If you want muscle and aggression you go to Beck, he is the most angry player on the planet and muscle and aggression happens:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B16vFLHhpubXNFFMNlZ2YjlmNjg/view?usp=sharing

[daenius]

Re: Sultan of Swing solos

Actually I'm not feeling the solo here so much. I think your playing is technically very good. But what's missing is some muscle/aggression. Perhaps what I'm hearing is that your amp isn't "popping" enough or something. It sounds too safe/clean. But that's not a big problem to overcome. Like I said your playing is technically very good.

Thanks for the constructive feedback! I do agree with you on that one! I'm not usually much of a finger picker so I do notice that I don't quite make the strings pop/cry/sing the same way Mark could. I would also say that the subtle vibratos and micro bends that Mark throws in are a huge part of how he makes every note speak with weight. Back to practicing!

[Aceman]

Re: Sultan of Swing solos

Actually I'm not feeling the solo here so much. I think your playing is technically very good. But what's missing is some muscle/aggression. Perhaps what I'm hearing is that your amp isn't "popping" enough or something. It sounds too safe/clean. But that's not a big problem to overcome. Like I said your playing is technically very good.

I hear you there. But I still maintain the major feat is learning the damn thing! Minor issues to address once you have it down. Well, maybe not minor, MK is pretty damn nuanced on the string English and dynamics there....still.

[NothingHappens]

Re: Sultan of Swing solos

Actually I'm not feeling the solo here so much. I think your playing is technically very good. But what's missing is some muscle/aggression. Perhaps what I'm hearing is that your amp isn't "popping" enough or something. It sounds too safe/clean. But that's not a big problem to overcome. Like I said your playing is technically very good.

[BriGuy1968]

Re: Sultan of Swing solos

Very, VERY good playing! I always have wanted to learn all those little licks, but have always known it would just frustrate the hell out of me. Good job!

[daenius]

Re: Sultan of Swing solos

AWESOME!


Man - I love, but hate that solo. The entire song is nothing but fills, riffs, and stream of consciousness playing from Knopfler. Never had the patience to learn that!!!!

Bravo!

Thanks!! And dude I KNOW right! Learning the riffs and fills in that song is a whole experience in itself. It's like zooming in on every little note choice of Knopfler, given a very simple key and scale. The hope is that it'd help me play more melodically... haha

[Aceman]

Re: Sultan of Swing solos

AWESOME!


Man - I love, but hate that solo. The entire song is nothing but fills, riffs, and stream of consciousness playing from Knopfler. Never had the patience to learn that!!!!

Bravo!

[daenius]

Re: Sultan of Swing solos

Thanks for the kind words guys! It means a whole lot to me that you guys enjoyed it!

And Kamanda, yes, that is Steam, ahahahaha!

[Crane]

Re: Sultan of Swing solos

Very good !

Enjoyed listening to that.

[Wattage]

Re: Sultan of Swing solos

First rate playing, great job

[Mincer]

Re: Sultan of Swing solos

Man! That was awesome! I was groovin' right along with you!

[Kamanda~SD]

Re: Sultan of Swing solos

very well done...is that Steam I see open on the right monitor? haha