Cape Cod Acoustics
  • Home
  • Your Lessons
  • Performance services offered
  • About Gene
  • Contact
  • Guitars, Ukes & Accessories
  • Acoustic Guitar Blog
  • Tips for guitarists
  • Guitar Gallery
  • More...

Sound quality: Beauty is in the ear of the beholder?

4/8/2011

0 Comments

 
Just returned from a 10-day Caribbean cruise, which is why I haven't posted here for a while - sorry about that! This was something like our 16th cruise and I'm always interested in the live music that is available on the ships, the guitarists in particular of course. I've heard quite a few good ones and couple who were excellent and I've spoken with a couple at length about what it is to play on a cruise ship. Very interesting indeed - of all the people who work on the ships, the musicians seem to have it somewhat easy. Yes, they play a couple times (or more) a day but as one guitarist told me, "It's like they're paying me to practice!"  If you have no daily obligations on shore it seems like a pretty cool way to spend a few months.

One guitarist on board this time was in the "show band" that does everything from accompanying the singers at the big production shows, to playing jazz quintet stuff in one of the lounges. He was a guy in his mid to late 20s and he was a very good player, both rhythm and lead. But there was a problem. For some reason, he chose to employ a very nasal, thin tone out of his guitar, which was a double cutaway solid body with humbuckers. To my ear anyway, that thin annoying tone totally destroyed his technical facility. I was almost tempted to ask him just why he did it but it would have served no purpose.

But wait. Who says jazz and arranged big band music has to be played by a guitarist who uses a big hollow body with mellower (some might say, dull....) tone? It's always been done that way in traditional settings, although players like Pat Metheny and John Scofield shook the jazz guitar world up in the 1970s by using chorusing - and no one would accuse them of being anything but superb jazzers.

I guess it's what you're used to and what you expect. The audience didn't seem to mind and his playing and the rest of the band were excellent. So I guess it's my problem, not his!

Later in the week however, one of the big shows was one of those Beatles tribute bands and I have to say they were great! Note-for-note perfect and although the vocals were not quite as 100% they were more than good enough. The audience went crazy and I loved it. One reason beyond the musical perfection was their use of absolutely correct guitars - Gretsch Country Gentleman for "George" (and a Les Paul for the later Beatles stuff); Epiphone Casino and even the Gibson acoustic with the old school magnetic pick-up for "Hide Your Love Away" by "John." "Paul" used the required Hofner violin-shaped bass, followed by the correct Rickenbacker.

I love the Beatles and in this case, in terms of overall tone and sound, those guitars and basses were an absolute requirement as far as I was concerned. For some reason they didn't use Vox amps (or Fenders for the later stuff) but the amps they used were passably good sounding.

Now there was a case of doing the right thing, sound-wise, no doubt added immensely to the enjoyment the audience got from the performance. That's my opinion, anyway. Although I'm guessing no more that a handful would be able to define why the sound was "off" if other guitars had been used. Anyway, it was a great show.

Does any of this matter, really? I guess not. Not in these days of karaoke and "American Idol" where a loose approximation of an original musical sound is good enough.

But damn it, give me that great jazz guitar sound that you hear on Kenny Burrell, Joe Pass and my hero, Martin Taylor songs. For me at least, tonality and tradition DO matter.

Peace & good music,
Gene

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Gene Bourque

    Archives

    November 2024
    September 2024
    July 2024
    June 2022
    May 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed