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Author
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Topic: Pinky Volume Swells
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Jeff Au Hoy
Member From: Honolulu, Hawai'i
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posted 04 December 2003 07:57 AM
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I do my "violining" and other volume work by hand, and have abstained from ever using a volume pedal for a number of reasons:1. I'm too cheap to buy one.
2. There was never one around for me to try.
3. "Real Hawaiian players don't use one." (i.e., "That's the way the legends did it, so that's good enough for me.")
4. If I suffer more, then what I accomplish is somehow worth more.
5. It's simpler and therefore cooler. Ignorance probably has a lot to do with it, but that's the thinking in my head. Please don't lose your pants over reason number three... it was just a tongue-in-cheek thought. I saw you reach for your pistol. The question: In your opinion...granted that a pedal can allow a person to do many things that a pinky curled around a volume knob can't...is there something that "doing it by hand" can offer that "doing it by foot" cannot? |
Steinar Gregertsen
Member From: Arendal, Norway
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posted 04 December 2003 08:08 AM
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Technically, probably not.
But I would say that focusing all your energy towards your hands plays a (positive) role, and it 'feels' better, at least to me.Steinar ------------------
www.gregertsen.com
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Bill Leff
Member From: Santa Cruz, CA, USA
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posted 04 December 2003 08:30 AM
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Jeff:I'm glad you brought this up. I was really admiring the volume swells that you did on the cuts that you posted here. For some reason, I *cannot* get the hang of this technique at all. I have a postwar Bakelite. I even raised the knobs higher (I noticed in a picture of Feet Rogers' bakelite that the knobs looked higher so I gave that a shot). Any tips you can give on learning this technique would be much appreciated! Mahalo,
Bill |
Andy Volk
Member From: Boston, MA
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posted 04 December 2003 10:37 AM
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Bill, super glue your pinky to the volume knob and do 300 forward & reverse swells every morning.I'm a klutz at both the volume knob AND the foot pedal methods. I bought and sold a couple of pedals but it never took. I now own a Fender pedal but my right foot always wants to keep the beat - swingin' & swellin' sounds pretty bad. |
basilh
Member From: United Kingdom
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posted 04 December 2003 11:04 AM
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Hi Jeff.... the answer to your question is ....yes there is something the hand can do that the foot cannot..... the INITIAL part of the swell from ZERO sound to audible sound is quite diferent with the two techniques... it seems to me that most players when they use a foot volume, don't quite take it to fully off and you hear a little of the picking, whereas with the "Pinkie" swell it most definitely is off at the picking point just because the same hand is doing both things. (I think !)
BTW Glad you like the mag. Eho’opomaikai’ia ‘oe e na makana kamaha’o o keia kau.Me ke aloha e.
May the Wonderous Gifts of the Season be yours. Greetings of Aloha! ------------------
quote:
Steel players do it without fretting
http://www.waikiki-islanders.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk |
Jeff Strouse
Member From: Jacksonville, Florida, USA
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posted 04 December 2003 08:16 PM
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I have trouble getting it in sync with the pinky, so the volume pedal works better for me. I've just started messing around with it pretty recently. |
Mike D
Member From: Phx, Az
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posted 06 December 2003 05:04 AM
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Hey, I thought this was the no peddlers section!  |
Jesse Pearson
Member From: San Diego , CA
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posted 06 December 2003 05:54 AM
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If I was just playing steel for a country gig, I would use a volume pedal so I could grab wide chords grips like Don Helms does and not worry about my pinky when trying to get a slight violin bow effect. On single line stuff it doesn't matter because the pinky can do it, but wide chord grips are a different story. I thought Jeff's volume swell was perfect for what he was doing. Doing Rockabilly guitar and steel together on the same song, I gotta use touch only on the strings to control the volume level. |
Al Marcus
Member From: Cedar Springs,MI USA
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posted 07 December 2003 09:45 AM
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I used my "Pinky" finger for Volume and tone controls for those many early years of my playing life...............al  . ------------------
My Website..... www.cmedic.net/~almarcus/ |
Jeff Au Hoy
Member From: Honolulu, Hawai'i
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posted 09 December 2003 01:25 PM
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Bill, I almost had an aneurism trying to learn the technique myself. I suppose if I had to break it down, I'd recommend practicing opening and closing the volume ("wah"!) to a certain meter. For example... set the metronome to a very slow "1...2...3...4..." and play a corresponding "wah...wah...wah...wah..." Or maybe play every 2 beats:
"wah......wah......" Then maybe try playing simple melodies like "Three Blind Mice" or "Hot Cross Buns" or "Mary Had a Little Lamb" on the top string. Every individual note should get a "wah". You can include some of the sliding sound in the "wah", at your discretion. It's all a matter of taste. Bobby Ingano's violin sounds way more Carl Stalling Looney Toonie than mine. I think that might help you get the hang of controlling it. But I'll have to admit that I haven't actually used this method to teach anyone so I could be full of it. By the way, I was reading some the old posts... You're right! "King of the Hill" rocks! |
Bill Leff
Member From: Santa Cruz, CA, USA
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posted 09 December 2003 03:29 PM
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Jeff:Thanks for the reply. I will try that. Another question regarding this technique - do you restrict yourself to playing only the first and second strings, and mainly using the thumb or maybe thumb and first finger? Or are you able to do it with thumb, first and second fingers equally well along with the other lower strings, etc? What little I can manage with this techique is mainly on the first string, using the thumb.
Bill
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George Keoki Lake
Member From: Edmonton, AB., Canada
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posted 10 December 2003 09:33 AM
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Being the olde phart that I am, when it comes to pinky volume vs pedal volume, one only has to listen to some of the DICK McINTIRE gems to realize what REAL expression is all about. Volume pedals, (if they were around back in the thirty/forties), were usually home made. Dick was never known to use a volume pedal, 'nor do I think any pics exist showing him using one. Am I wrong ? If so, please post the pic showing him using a foot volume...I'd love to see it!Many guitar manufacturers place the volume control in the most awkward places on the body thus making the pinky technic an impossibility. Gibson EH-150 are a prime example, as are some Rickenbackers. |
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