Jack here, jbf music and guitar lessons,
back with some quick guitar tricks for you! Specifically this one-
Alright, so I’m sighting Micheal Schenker and Brian May here- they’re the guys that
pop out to me the most. But loads of players have used this trick,
if you can think of other examples or tweaks on this trick fire them
down below in the comments. It gives a really cool vocal sound, that I doubt I’d
ever have stumbled across myself had it not been for these guitar icons leading the way!
Here, we’re looking at what late 70s, early 80s rock and dance music have in common.
Well… sort of. By the end of this you should have an understanding of why I
made that rather brash statement as well as some cool wah-wah pedal tricks. Oh,
and if you’re appreciating the content I’ve been putting out please don’t forget
to leave a like and a comment; both really are huge helps to the channel.
That build up you just heard is using an EQ sweep essentially;
boosting or cutting certain frequencies; there going from lower ones to the higher.
And in a nutshell that’s what a wah-wah pedal is doing. Creating a sort of narrow EQ band,
moving the wah pedal shifts this EQ band. Most standard units will accentuate the
lower frequencies when open and higher when the pedal is rocked all the way forward.
Ok, now that’s out of the way, other than the typical funk use,
we can also take advantage of this EQ sweep. If you’ve ever wondered how Schenker or May
get those really resonant tones, this is how. You rock the wah forwards until it reaches a
frequency that you like, leave it in that position and you’ve got not necessarily a solo boost;
but you are honing in on the range which human hearing excels in; so it can often seem louder,
without the drastic dB boost. You’ll also find certain notes sustain of feedback more here-
just something to watch out for, or indeed take advantage of! Most of the
time around the half way mark is a good place to aim for, then adjust to taste.
Now, two things! First off, if you’re playing by yourself; without a live band; it might not
sound as good because you’re not competing for audio real-estate in the same way. Secondly,
this particular Wah automatically turns on when I push on it, it’s spring loaded so it returns to
it’s resting point. The advantage is you don’t get that pop from turning it on, the downside
is you can’t just leave it in one position; your foot needs to keep the pressure applied.
This trick works really well for helping a solo cut through and if you find a lead
part in a song doesn’t quite have that edge to make it pop in a mix,
this is well worth a go. It can be pretty subtle, or over the top-
again both totally usable, depending on your context, or desired outcome. I used
this for Adrian Smith’s solo in the wickerman; you can hear that with the I up there;
arguably a bit overboard without the full band, but just gave that teethy vibe I was looking for.
There are also 2 other solutions for achieving this type of sound, that I can think of are- 1.
just use an EQ pedal. This is something I’ve done for years. It’s the most boring effect; if you can
even call it that; on the pedal board, but can really help out. In this context I’d usually cut
the lows, some of the highs, and boost these ones mid here. Then adjust to taste, some times more
highs are good, in other venues of practice rooms they just add too much of a thin ice-pick tone.
The
other method is using an auto-wah. This trick I’ve only found out about recently-
huge shout out to Chris. From my Marty Friedman Critique video; link to that with the I up there;
There was a mysterious yellow pedal in the video I was watching,
no clue what it was so fired the question out to you guys, turns out it’s a Maxon AF-9. The way
Marty sets this is really subtle, so you get that sort of auto wah shift, but without being an over
the top wonderful slippery thing type novelty sound. The end result is that May, Schenker
sort of focused sound, with a bit more movement producing an arguably even more vocal sound.
If you’re want some more ways of getting a wah sound without even using a wah-wah pedal;
what sorcery is this?!?!?; then check out that video. This has been quick guitar tricks,
that’s the playlist there. But yeah, hit subscribe to keep up to date with the channel,
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