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Topic: Mashing pedals............................... |
Ray Montee
From:
Portland, Oregon (deceased)
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Posted 14 Nov 2008 10:32 am |
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After attending a steel players jam and watching and listening to some 30 or more players of all levels of playing skills.........
I found it interesting that some players appear to feel compelled to mash and smash their pedals for every note that is plucked. On a four note measure, some smashed/mashed at least eight times, or, more!
The older, more experienced players, the real veterans, seemed willing to depress their pedals during phrases where it actually added some musical impact to the song being played.
QUESTION: Do you imagine that the justification for this might be embodied in their deep rooted 'musical taste' and or 'sense of style' or, are they just getting really old? |
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Ray Minich
From:
Bradford, Pa. Frozen Tundra
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Posted 14 Nov 2008 1:11 pm
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| Every pedal mash is one less mash before something breaks. Methinks age leads to conservation of energy and labor. |
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Bent Romnes
From:
London,Ontario, Canada
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Posted 14 Nov 2008 1:17 pm
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I believe it is due to their deep rooted style and taste aka experience
Take Lloyd Green...he doesn't even have some of the pedals/levers there to begin with, and just listen to that sound and style. |
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John Billings
From:
Ohio, USA
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Posted 14 Nov 2008 4:16 pm
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| This brash bashing of mashing and smashing, will lead to the trashing , and tongue-lashing of many slapdash players! This clashing of styles will splash over into rash comments, and lead to the rash backlash cashiering of players who play with great panache, and to the general rehashing of the old mishmash of arguments that will never be settled in a flash. |
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Ben Jones
From:
Seattle, Washington, USA
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Posted 14 Nov 2008 4:52 pm
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guilty as charged. why do i mash A and B constantly?
Same reason i pump the volume pedal like a broken accordian. I'm just not very good yet. |
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John Billings
From:
Ohio, USA
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Posted 14 Nov 2008 5:00 pm
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| You see Ray? The backlash has already begun! Your slashing comment about mashing and smashing has opened a gash! |
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Eric West
From:
Portland, Oregon, USA, R.I.P.
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Posted 14 Nov 2008 5:17 pm
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Jeezus Ray.
Some of us just aren't as "seasoned".
EJL
Last edited by Eric West on 15 Nov 2008 2:28 am; edited 1 time in total |
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John Billings
From:
Ohio, USA
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Posted 14 Nov 2008 5:20 pm
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| Whoa! |
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Eric West
From:
Portland, Oregon, USA, R.I.P.
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Posted 14 Nov 2008 5:30 pm
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Just kidding...
Happy Friendly Little Eric.. |
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Les Anderson
From:
The Great White North
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Posted 14 Nov 2008 5:40 pm
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| I was going to post something in regards to Ray's question but, wow, Eric sort of through a can of acid into the pot. |
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Eric West
From:
Portland, Oregon, USA, R.I.P.
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Posted 14 Nov 2008 5:51 pm
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YMMV...
EJL
Last edited by Eric West on 16 Nov 2008 3:21 am; edited 1 time in total |
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John P. Phillips
From:
Folkston, Ga. U.S.A., R.I.P.
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Posted 14 Nov 2008 6:10 pm
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Well. here's a thought from a wanna be steeler.
I would think that the pedals cease to be a crutch of sorts as you gain experience
and find other ways to approach it. My thought, if you're at the stage where you need a crutch, go for it.
I surely will. 
_________________
Just remember,
You don�t stop playing cause you get older,
You get older cause you stop playing ! http://www.myspace.com/johnpphillips |
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Stu Schulman
From:
Ulster Park New Yawk (deceased)
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Posted 14 Nov 2008 6:15 pm
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Ray,I wasn't there I live too far away,Maybe it's like a prize fighter getting old...the legs are the first things to go...just can't dance like them young guys.
Eric,I appreciate you're brutal honesty and you remind me of me,you're the kind of guy that I would hang with.I figure if ya got pedals use them...Is there a pedal police that writes tickets? 
_________________
Steeltronics Z-pickup,Desert Rose S-10 4+5,Desert Rose Keyless S-10 3+5... Mullen G2 S-10 3+5,Telonics 206 pickups,Telonics volume pedal.,Blanton SD -10,Emmons GS_10...Zirctone bar,Bill Groner Bar...any amp that isn't broken.Steel Seat.Com seats...Licking paint chips off of Chinese Toys since 1952. |
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David Doggett
From:
Bawl'mer, MD (formerly of MS, Nawluns, Gnashville, Knocksville, Lost Angeles, Bahsten. and Philly)
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Posted 14 Nov 2008 8:17 pm
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Yeah, if you got 'em, use 'em. After all, there is a whole style of music based on pedal mashin'. I wasn't there to observe what Ray mentions. But I seriously doubt if the old pros use the pedals less because of any incapacity. Maybe they are more efficient, and can get what they want with less effort. Or maybe the novelty of the pedals has worn off, and they have explored other ways to get what they want. Or maybe they come from the time before pedals, and so don't depend on them as much. By analogy, I have observed that people who played pedal steel before the "chromatic" strings were added use those strings less, and instead have a more fluid style with more sliding up and down the neck; whereas newer players who started with the chromatic strings use them more and play across the strings more than moving around the neck.
Like Eric, I detect in Ray's loaded question and comments a degree of condescension toward pedal mashin', and an attempt to tie it to inexperience. But some people love that stuff - it's what attracted them to the instrument. Let 'em do it without trying to attach some stigma to it. It's a valid style.
[And BTW, ole Eric can be aggravatingly undiplomatic on line. But his tongue is in his cheek much more than you might think. He's not really mean - he just likes a good fight. He's actually a much better person off line - trust me.] |
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Alan Brookes
From:
Brummy living in Southern California
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Posted 14 Nov 2008 10:06 pm
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| I wondered what those springy footrests were for. I stopped resting my feet on them. The strings seemed to be going out of tune when my feet got tired. |
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Jim Robbins
From:
Ontario, Canada
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Posted 14 Nov 2008 10:26 pm
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| John Billings wrote: |
| You see Ray? The backlash has already begun! Your slashing comment about mashing and smashing has opened a gash! |
So? Has cashing in on a fashion gone to the ashcan? |
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Brint Hannay
From:
Maryland, USA
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Posted 14 Nov 2008 11:03 pm
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| John Billings wrote: |
| This brash bashing of mashing and smashing, will lead to the trashing , and tongue-lashing of many slapdash players! This clashing of styles will splash over into rash comments, and lead to the rash backlash cashiering of players who play with great panache, and to the general rehashing of the old mishmash of arguments that will never be settled in a flash. |
Sufferin' succotash! Is Nashville's mad dash for cash to blame?
Good night, Mrs. Calabash!
We can crash...in my Nash... |
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Alan Brookes
From:
Brummy living in Southern California
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Posted 15 Nov 2008 11:34 am Re: Mashing pedals...............................
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| Ray Montee wrote: |
| ...some players appear to feel compelled to mash and smash their pedals for every note that is plucked... |
The last time I got overenthusiastic on the pedals of my Fender I broke a cable. 
Maybe they're made to take just so much tension and then they'll fail, just like a steam valve, to disencourage that sort of behavior.  |
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Ray Montee
From:
Portland, Oregon (deceased)
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Posted 15 Nov 2008 11:43 am Say what?
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JOHN and LES..........
you noticed, eh? |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 15 Nov 2008 11:54 am
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| Quote: |
| I found it interesting that some players appear to feel compelled to mash and smash their pedals for every note that is plucked. On a four note measure, some smashed/mashed at least eight times, or, more! |
It's a different style, Ray...that's all. You don't understand it, you don't play it, and you make it quite obvious you don't like it.
Others do.
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Duncan Hodge
From:
DeLand, FL USA
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Posted 15 Nov 2008 12:14 pm
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Well Ray...Now I am so sad and blue. My pedal mushing is a result of my disability. Having untreated ADD, which causes unintended fidgeting, my feet tap unconsciously in a semi-"cokefoot" fashion. If I am stupid enough to sit behind an instrument with pedals underneath the aforementioned "cokefoot", the end result will undoubtably be nonstop mashing, stomping, squashing and smooshing of any pedal that can't get out of the way (pedals are notoriously lousy at getting out of my way). This tendency, coupled with a wildly gyrating mental status and inability to remenber what I was trying to play in the first place, leads to 3-4 mashees per note. This is a lot of fun for me, but not so much so for the poor fools who try to play with, or listen to me. Most say "Duncan, STOP IT!!!, you are driving me CRAZY!!!. My wife sez this a lot. Most days I feel very sorry for my wife.
Well, I hope that this clears up a few things.
Duncan
_________________
"The Edge... there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over." |
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Ray Montee
From:
Portland, Oregon (deceased)
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Posted 15 Nov 2008 12:21 pm WELL now......................
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Donny...........
You obviously don't know what YOUR talking about.
Your own words clearly show it. But, I'll consider the source.
I was playing pedals BEFORE EMMONS or Sho-Bud was a popular word. I guess it's quite possible, before you were born? I still play EMMONS regularly and have demonstrated the fact for many years. I love E9th tuning and play it about 50% of the time; the rest of the time C6th.
My comments had NOTHING TO DO with 'style' but rather what at times appears to be a misunder-standing of the pedal useage concept.
I don't expect anyone to AGREE with my view but was hoping some of the serious students of steel guitar might like to view the instrument with a slightly different bent. |
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Larry Bressington
From:
Nebraska
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Posted 15 Nov 2008 12:27 pm
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Long as they sound good brother, a good steel can take it!  8 times per bar would be taxing though!
_________________
A.K.A Chappy.
Last edited by Larry Bressington on 15 Nov 2008 12:58 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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Bent Romnes
From:
London,Ontario, Canada
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Posted 15 Nov 2008 12:54 pm
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Well, Ray, I sort of agreed with you, FWIW.
I guess that makes me a serious student so I thank you for the compliment |
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Eric West
From:
Portland, Oregon, USA, R.I.P.
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Posted 15 Nov 2008 1:11 pm
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It would be nice to have Ray come to the next steel guitar convention that we have and demonstrate his skills instead of just writing about them, and denigrating other players.
I guess kind of a group sorrow that we did't rise to "his standards".
I got over that myself a few thousand gigs ago...
EJL
Last edited by Eric West on 17 Nov 2008 9:44 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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