Conference napalm::guitar

    flanger: a signal modification device most usually digital (nowadays)
    that is essentially a comb filter. Ie: it filters different frequency
    bands and sweeps them causing a pseudo-leslie effect, sort of. It
    sweeps and generates alot of bizarre harmonics. Slightly useful (IMO).
    Flanging gets it's name from the original which was to take two
    seperate decks and while playing the same signal (ie: duplicates of a
    single track) and causing the effect by pressing on the flange of one
    of the decks to make it slow down. I think it was Phil Spector who
    originally did this.
    
    Digital delay: the big brother of the old tape echo units. Most
    digital delays do echo, flanging and chorus. Real useful tool.
    
    Chorus: similar to flanging but uses a different length of delay.
    Again it sweeps the signal creating a pseudo-leslie effect, lots
    of harmonics. more useful to me than flanging.
    
    Distortion: the process of making your guitar scream it's guts out. 
    the fuzz tone of modern times...almost everybody uses it at some
    point.
    
    Compressors: compressors work on the dynamic range of music, ie:how
    much difference there is in db (decibels, or sound pressure levels)
    between soft and loud parts of the music. In practice compressors
    are used on guitars to increase sustain but they take the bite,
    punch or whatever you'd call it out and make notes picked softly
    sound as loud or nearly so as those picked hard. Useful in rock
    for those Santanna like note holds, useful in studios for everything
    as tape can't reproduce the dynamics in live music, due to a lack
    of headroom (typically tape has a dynamic range of 65 db or so and
    most music uses closer to 100db).
    
    Octave dividers: Allow you to take the note down an octave
    electrically. Jeff Beck used on on Wired, I forget which song. Useful
    but limited in application. 
    
    Harmonizers: Allows you to generate a harmony (front panel selectable)
    to the note your playing. The ones that work well are usually quite
    expensive. The others are difficult to adjust and don't track well.
    
    Digital reverb: The digital version of the old spring standby. More
    flexable than a spring, with better frequency response. Also won't
    go boom when your stack falls over backwards :-)...alas gone are
    the days of pounding on the my amp head for special effects. 
    
    dbii

    The first effect you will probabally need is a distortion pedal.
    I would suggest the "RATT" distortion pedal. It is right about in
    the middle of the price range for this effect. It is a really good
    effect. You can get a good deal on the "RATT" distortion pedal at
    mr.c's music on main st. in Marlboro, Ma., or at almost any other
    music store.
    
                                          -laurie

    Well I played an electric for the first time yesterday and I thoroughly
    enjoyed myself!  I took a Les Paul Studio for a test drive on a
    Peavey stereo amp with Chorus and Distortion built-in.  I lost myself
    in that demo room for about an hour :-).
    
    One question though, the distortion sounded kind of fuzzy and/or
    dirty.  Kind of like distortion I heard on recordings in the '60s.
    How do modern-day artists achieve that clean distortion sound on
    recordings?  Anything from today's hard rock to metal is a lot 
    clearer than I experienced.
    
    Mike

    You might consider a PAIA Quadrafuzz rackmount distortion system. These
    can be bought as a kit (I don't know if you can buy them assembled).
    You can adjust the distortion to sound like practically anything that
    you want it to. It's a pain to build (who ever layed out the PC board
    should be shot, you must require 30 feet of sheilded cable) but it
    sounds nice. Most 60's type distortion relates to having a tube type
    amplifier as well as a stomp box for it. Most stomp boxes use this type
    of curcuit:

		       +------>|-------------+	( -|<- & ->|- are diodes or
		       |		     |	  LED's - LED's work better)
		       +-----------|<--------+
		       |		     |
		       |   100K     1 Meg    |	(1 Meg Pot - adjusts 
		       +---\/\/\----/\/\/\-+-+     distortion level)
		       |	       ^   | |
		       |   |\          +---+ |
    In    10uf  100K   |   | \               |	(10 K pot adjust's general
    ---+--||--/\/\/\---+---|- \		     |     output level)
       | +                 |   >-------------+
       \	     ------|+ /              |
       / 1 meg	     |	   | /               \     10 uf     Out
       \	     |	   |/            10K /<-----||---+---- 
       /             |                   pot \     +     |
       |             |                       /           \
      gnd           gnd                      |           / 1 Meg
					    gnd          \
							 /
							 |
							gnd

	Pretty simple & clean.

    Craig Anderton suggests even a simpler & possibly warmer sounding
    solution using a single CMOS digital inverter (remember to connect
    all unused inputs to gnd!!!) This works because the FET's inside of
    a CMOS chip are actually linear devices, and are not really optimised
    for audio work, however, the goal was distortion & this actually sounds
    pretty good (I built one of these also):
					 +---+
				  10 K   V   |  (100 K pot adjusts the
			      +---\/\/-/\/\--+	    distortion level)
		 	      |        100K  |
       in     10 uf   10 K    |  |\          |  
       ----+---||--+--/\/\----+--| >O--------+	(2nd 100K pot adjusts output
           |  +	   | 		 |/          |       level)
           \	   \			     \  10 uf  out	     
	   / 1     / 1 Meg	       100 K /<--||--+---	     
	   \ Meg   \			     \	+    |
	   /       /			     /	     /
	   |       |			     |	     \ 1 Meg
	  gnd     gnd			    gnd      /
						     \
						     |
						    gnd


	The second one may ne closer to what you want. I'm not sure how
	exact that all of the values that I listed are, but they should
	work for you (it's been a while since I built either of these
	circuits).

							    Jens

>    < Note 817.4 by TYFYS::MOLLER "Halloween the 13th on Elm Street #7" >
>                  -< Distortion is subject to personal taste >-
>
>    You might consider a PAIA Quadrafuzz rackmount distortion system.

    Thanks for all the effort you put into entering the schematics!
    
    For illustration purposes, let's use someone most people are familiar
    with.  How about Eddie Van Halen?  What kind of processing does
    his sound have to go through to get his guitar work to sound like
    it does (rhythmn? & lead)?  My experience last week was a definite eye 
    opener.  Obviously there is a lot more to distortion!
    
    Mike

    I see MIDI mentioned a lot in this conference.  Maybe I don't quite
    understand the technology but, I thought MIDI was mainly for keyboards.
    Am I wrong?  What does MIDI for guitar buy you?
    
    Thanks,
    Mike

    
    MIDI is simply a computer interconnect designed for musical
    applications, i.e. the protocl allows for messages like "note-on"
    and note-off", etc.
    
    For guitar there are two main applications:
    
    1.  Using a special pickup or guitar, to drive synths from a guitar
    rather than a keyboard.
    
    2.  Using MIDI controllable effects to simplify switching between
    sound presets.
    
    An example of #2: Let's say you have a couple of MIDI devices, like
    a reverb, a delay and a distortion/compress/etc. box.  You can hook
    up all three via MIDI to a foot controller so you can hit one
    footswitch and have all three devices switch to the preset effect
    you want.   
    
    You can even buy devices like mixers and lights that respond to
    MIDI so that you can create some dynamite synchronized sound and
    light effects that would require about eight hands and six feet
    to accomplish otherwise.

    If this sounds like science fiction, go down to your local dealer
    for a few hours and have him demonstrate some MIDI-connected effects
    devices operating together.  The first time you see it work, you'll
    wonder how you ever did without it before!

    How do the PC's play into this?  My guess would be writing songs
    using musical notation software, right?
    
    Mike

    I've been trying to decipher a songbook that doesn't contain tab. 
    Could one of you theory gurus explain to me what these
    terms/abbreviations mean?
    
    Thanks,
    Mike
    
fermata
mf
f
8va
mp
ritard
D.S. al Coda
l.h. opt. 8va to end
Coda
NC
loco
a tempo
crescendo
ligato
ad lib
ten.
slightly detached
free cadenza
2nd time D.S.
simile

    fermata - Hold a note (usually til conductor cuts it off, etc.)
    mf - meduim loud
    f - loud
    8va - octave above
    mp - meduim soft
    ritard - slower
    D.S. al Coda - go back to the coda sign
    l.h. opt. 8va to end - ?? Looks like piano notation.  My best guess is
                              "left hand optional.  octave above to the end"
    Coda - section, usualy at the end of a piece, which is a mark to go to
           after one goes back to D.S. Al coda
    NC - No chord
    loco - faster
    a tempo - resume normal tempo (like, this may come after a ritard)
    crescendo - gradually louder
    ligato - Legato...smooth and even...usu. refers to phrasing
    ad lib - Solo, dude!
    ten. - Tenor range (?? best guess without seeing it in context)
    slightly detached - ???
    free cadenza - usually an improvisational section, near the end of a piece
    2nd time D.S. - a piece can have 1 or more d.s. al coda's (i've seen 3)
    simile - same
    
    

    Thanks Buck!
    
>    l.h. opt. 8va to end - ?? Looks like piano notation.  My best guess is
>                              "left hand optional.  octave above to the end"
    
    This is a guitar songbook (specifically says so).  The section that has
    that term on it is where the guitarists does some left hand hammers
    (ala Hedges) while playing the melody with the right hand.
    
    They didn't do the tab, but have different measures marked for each
    hand where appropriate.  Go figure...
    
    Mike

>    D.S. al Coda - go back to the coda sign
>   Coda - section, usualy at the end of a piece, which is a mark to go to
>           after one goes back to D.S. Al coda

	Slight correction.  The translation is literally, Dal Segno al Coda.  It
means go back to the first sign (wish I could draw one on the terminal, its like
a tilted "S" with a line and a coupl of dots) and play until the Coda (another 
sign, similar to the first but instead of an "S", its more like an "O").  When
you reach the Coda skip over to the special coda section (usually an ending).

Dan

    We were always told D.S. was "da sign"; never forgot it %-)
    
    Ten. may mean tenuto, i.e., give the notes their full value (very
    little separation between one note and the next).
    
    Charlie

    RE-Coda;- I saw a TV program about a guy who had developed a serious
    medical condition where his memory span was about 10-20 seconds.It was
    really scary,as he couldn't remember things like whether he'd just had
    a sleep,brushed his teeth,etc.He burst into tears every time he saw his
    wife,as it seemed he hadn't seen her for years.
    	Anyways,he was also a brilliant classical organist,and he could
    still play by reading the sheet music....the only problem was,when he
    came to a section with Coda notated,he played it,repeated it,
    came to the end of that section,forgot he'd already played it,and repeated
     it AGAIN..and again and again!
    
    	This was a true documentary,by the way.Not meant to be in the least
    bit funny.

    
    Buck correctly demonstrates his education. My 2 cents - ritard usually
    placed at some spot where either the conductor or yourself adds a
    slowed down pace, not neccesarily constant to provide a special
    phrasing.
    
    Conductors are often found raving to themselves after arriving at a
    ritard in the score, looking up to get the orchestra's attention only
    to find all eyes buried in the score. A Jr. High conductor was telling
    me how his kids REHEARSED ritards in the score, told them they would
    play them, but come concert time, conveniently forget them as each time
    he looked up, he could find no watching eyes.
    
    	bob

    How about D.C. al Fine?

    I believe D.C. al fine means go back to the first sign (looks kinda
    like " % ", then proceed to the end (al fine .. the end).

    I think you got the al fine part right, but D.C. means da capo, i.e.,
    "the head", so it's "take it back to the head, then proceed to the
    end".  the "%"-kinda sign may or may not be there.
    
    Charlie

    Can someone puleeze define "Double-Stop" for me, I can't for the life
    of me, remember what it is...  I recall playing them a few years ago in
    jazz, but since have forgotten everything 'bout 'em...
    
    Chad

    A double stop means you are playing two notes instead of one.  I hear
    the term more often when talking about *bass lines* since we four
    stringers never learned how to play more than one note at a time 8^)
    
    A good example is many Chuck Berry/Keith Richards licks.
    
    						Winston O'Boogie

.20 is correct about double stops.  I believe the term originates from
the violin family (viola, cello, etc.).

    Since I'm in a educational type mood, what exactly is a down-stemmed
    note and how does one play it...   I've seen them indicated as follows
    
    */*   *  *  */*  etc..
    

    RE: double stop... 
    
    Does that mean it's a chord?  I think I'm confused...

    Two notes don't make a chord, dude.  It's just a couple of notes,
    usually on adjacent strings.  
    
    Here's an example of a little double-stop blues thing in G:
    
    ---3---------6--3----
    ---3---------6--3----
    -----5--3--5---------
    -----5--3--5---------
    ---------------------
    ---------------------
               Bend
    
    Greg

Is it true that two notes only define an interval, but are not themselves a 
chord?  I mean, I know the argument about needing a root, some kind of third,
and some kind of fifth, but I play root and five, third and dom seven, or root 
and third all the time.  These certainly suggest a chord.

    Two notes played at once can suggest a chord in context, but they are
    called an interval.  A chord requires three notes.
    
    Dave

  A "chord" does require three notes.  This is a triad.

  Two notes, as mentioned, can "suggest" a chord.  This is a double stop.
  You call it that since you can't have a "two note chord".

  -- Sam

    I always learned that a root-fifth grouping  (a.k.a power *chord*) was
    a chord...  that's only 2 notes...  

   "Power chord"?  That's heavy metal stuff.  I thought we were talking
   about *music*.  :-)  (Just kidding - really!  Ask Greg!  :-))

   Back when I was a pup, we played power chords as a full barre.  A "two
   note chord" (if you insist on calling it that) is still just a double
   stop, even if you've got the Big Muff turned on.

   -- Sam

    what about downstemmed stuff?  anybody  got any ideas?
    
    one example off the top o' my head is the acoustic intro to S.A.T.O.
    with R. Rhoads.. there're "downstemmed" notes all over the place...

re  > Since I'm in a educational type mood, what exactly is a down-stemmed
    > note and how does one play it...   I've seen them indicated as follows
    
    > */*   *  *  */*  etc..
    
	I thought down stems were used to indicate (optional) two parts on the
same staff,  i.e. pianists (the ones with LOTS of fingers) play both if they're
playing "EVERYTHING"  -  alternatively a small group can split the same score,
"you take the up-stems, I'll take the down stems"   errr, I think this is how
four part harmony gets itself represented on two staff lines  ???  (-:

	Reg	{guessing mostly, but there's some connection to reality}

    I always thought down stems/up stems were simply used to keep the page
    pretty, rather than having stems pointing up into the stratosphere, or
    down into the nether regions....
    
    Edd

    I always thought the stems were the part you threw away before rolling
    up the joint?
    
    					Apollo C. Vermouth

    In treble clef, musical stems below the B mid-staff are suppoed to go
    up.  Stems above the mid-staff B are supposed to go down.  The actual
    note "B" in the middle of the staff can have either an up or down
    staff.

    re a few back
    
    The */* ....does it mean one note of normal size and preceeding it 
    a note of a different pitch drawn much smaller and connected by a
    line that looks like ( rotated 90 degrees left?
     If so then it could be a grace note, my understanding is if you
    really want to do the music full on then play it,but it is optional.
    
    Re 2 note chords
    	What about A5 or A no 3rd? ( Eg "all fired up" by Pat Benatar)
    P.K.
    

    Actually what I saw in the tab was like this:
    
    think of this *  as  yer typical quarter note with stem
    
    the tab had this   *'/*  

    
    817.22 - A tab book I have notes that the downstemmed notes should be
    played with the thumb and the upstemmed with the fingers. Tab is
    notoriously non-standard though but they usually give you a symbol
    translation table somewhere.
    
    	Ray Hayes

There are two formal names for the root-fifth pair:  naked fifth and open fifth.
In formal terminology, two notes do not make a chord.  It takes three distinct
notes (e.g. C-E-G).  Thus, C-E-C' (two Cs an octave apart) is *not* a chord.

This is just one of many places where the formal terminology is in conflict with 
popular usage.  Dominant seventh chords and suspended chords are others.

When I was studying all this a couple years ago, I put a paper togther covering
these topics and more (intervals, scales, key signatures, all the basics).  It's 
on line but too long to post in here.  If anyone wants it, let me know.


								John

    Root-five-interval is not a chord ??? 
    
    Yikes !  Don't tell us metal dudes that !!
    :)
    
    But please - I'd be very interested in seeing your paper !!
    Send to KDX200::Cooper !!
    
    
    
    
    jc