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Topic: A serious discussion of the Morrell tuning |
Bill McCloskey
From:
Nanuet, NY
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Posted 15 Feb 2013 1:32 pm |
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Hey all.
I recently picked up a 10 string superslide and I put the Tom Morrell tuning on it and have been playing with it for the last few days.
As I research this tuning on the forum archives, there is little information and some of the information available is often contradictory.
In all my research, I've found a few people who have played with it, others that have substituted out the bottom E, but no one that uses the Morroll tuning in its original form as their main tuning, if at all.
I've heard that this was the tuning that Tom used primarily and on the other hand, that no, he used C6 mainly and this tuning was a gimmick he used for the CD's.
I've heard it said that Tom himself didn't know why he used the bottom E string, that he used it all the time, that he never used it.
My favorite quote I've heard was Tom saying: basically, just stick with it. It reveals itself over time.
After playing with this for a few days, I'm finding all sorts of cool things in it and I really like the low E since I come from a tradition of alternate thumb picking style on guitar and with the two E's I can get some of that piedmont style going on this tuning.
I thought I'd see if there was interest in starting a serious discussion on the tuning, why no one uses it, why nevertheless it is deemed so powerful by many. |
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Bill McCloskey
From:
Nanuet, NY
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Posted 15 Feb 2013 1:42 pm
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Let me start by giving my first impressions.
I immediately wanted to restring the guitar. 
People keep saying you can make all these chords with it but there is not a great minor triad except on strings 1 3 and 4 which are kind of a high voicing for my taste. How am I going to use a tuning without a strong minor triad?
But I was drawn into how everything you want, single string wise, lines up on one fret. I could see how lead lines might really be facilitated using this tuning.
Then today, as the quote said, it started to reveal itself, I found it was easy to suggest a deep minor chord and those melody notes are all right there under your fingertips. It's mysteries started to open ever so slightly. |
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Jerome Hawkes
From:
Fayetteville, North Carolina, USA
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Posted 15 Feb 2013 2:15 pm
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i've used it on 8 string (dont own a 10) - no doubt the first thing you realize is how fast you can get around on it because of the close intervals. (my fast aint very fast, so every little bit helps) if i was in a 'burning' band, like he often was, this would be the obvious choice...otherwise, i didnt think it was any better or worse than 1/2 doz other good tunings.. a good double or triple neck option.
the interesting thing revealed to me was the tetrachord layout...its been a while since i messed with it, but they laid out real straightforward on it, so you could really work thru the changes without a lot of 2 fret jumps, which kill your phrasing and speed.
_________________
'65 Sho-Bud D-10 Permanent • '54 Fender Dual-8 • Clinesmith T-8 • '38 Ric Bakelite • '92 Emmons D-10 Legrande II |
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Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
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Brad Bechtel
From:
San Francisco, CA
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Posted 15 Feb 2013 3:57 pm
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For reference, I believe this is the tuning you're discussing:
Tom Morrell E13th tuning
.011 G#
.014 F#
.015 E
.017 C#
.020 B
.024W G#
.026 F#
.030 (E) omit for 8 string
.034 D
.038 (B) omit for 8 string
Carry on.
_________________
Brad’s Page of Steel
A web site devoted to acoustic & electric lap steel guitars |
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Bill McCloskey
From:
Nanuet, NY
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Posted 15 Feb 2013 5:06 pm
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Brad,
I believe Tom's tuning had an E on the bottom. |
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Mike Neer
From:
NJ
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Posted 15 Feb 2013 6:16 pm
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No one really knows exactly why Tom liked that low E.
Maybe it was just the guitarist in him that couldn't let it go....
I was going to experiment with that tuning on the second neck of my D-10 when it arrives, but I decided that I don't like the high pitch of it. I found it to be much nicer for me to keep the F# as string 1 and use the extra slot for a B or G# in the bass.
I had started working on some Tommy Morrell transcriptions, but I ran out of gas. Maybe one rainy day....
_________________
Links to streaming music, websites, YouTube: Links |
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Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
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ebb
From:
nj
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Posted 15 Feb 2013 9:52 pm
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| he found a use for it on "the things i might have been" for one |
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Ulrich Sinn
From:
California, USA
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Posted 15 Feb 2013 10:38 pm
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Enjoy! |
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Bill McCloskey
From:
Nanuet, NY
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Posted 16 Feb 2013 5:45 am
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| Quote: |
| Someone here on the Forum said he asked Tom about that low E, and Tom said he was still trying to find a use for it. |
I never really bought the idea that Tom either had no use for the lower E or didn't use it. I don't think anyone of Tom's level of musical genius did anything that there wasn't a reason for. I aways figured he was pulling people's legs or purposefully trying to downplay what he was doing to throw people off. |
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Andy Volk
From:
Boston, MA
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Posted 16 Feb 2013 5:47 am
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| I don't understand why he wouldn't want a low root in an E-based tuning. |
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David Mason
From:
Cambridge, MD, USA
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Posted 16 Feb 2013 6:28 am
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When I first got my MSA SuperSlide, it was set up for 12 strings (though the 10-string parts were included). That was very close to the first tuning I put on there, I do remember duplicate 1-2-3's, middle and high, and I think I doubled the 6 too. But there were two problems I personally had with it. One was the string spacing, it was just too tight for even a modern-PSG-trained guy; and the other was all those close intervals low down make for mud unless you're skipping, and blocking, low strings on every stroke. Those "problems" are related, of course.
It looks like it's the keys to the kingdom, if you chart it out and see what happens with minors as rooted on the 2, 3 and 6 - whoopie! And clearly some people can pick that spacing, on some guitars - beside Reese I think Bobbe Seymour can get around on it (though my MSA started as Tommy White's, and he played it as a 10). I would take another swipe at it if I had an entirely "spare" twelve-string around that I wasn't try to get up to speed on to play SONGS with and, preferably, if I could have the strings spaced like 12 on 12, not 12 on 10. Everything I tried to play on it sounded like bad Vangelis harp music.
Unless you're dedicated to the re-entrant (chromatic? backassward?) strings, you actually do run into the issue of low 0.070" strings flubbing around and high 0.010"s with no volume when trying to match 12 strings or even 10 strings to 22" - 24" scales. You can put anything you want in there, but you can't get it back out. I need to have... room in the bottom end, if you know what mean. Slants turn to nightmares pretty easy, (or put a beret on and call it "art music"). 
Last edited by David Mason on 16 Feb 2013 6:36 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Jerome Hawkes
From:
Fayetteville, North Carolina, USA
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Posted 16 Feb 2013 6:31 am
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The simple explanation for the low E is that there are certain western swing standards like Boot Heel Drag where you need that low E. you might use it on 1 tune a set. People seem to enjoy a solo where you end with that low E too, more as an effect, than a musical note. The low E has been around since the first steel turnings, so he knew how to use it when called for.
Anyone who has spent some time listening to Tom can plainly hear the reason he used that tuning - you just can not pull off the lines he did without the benefit of those close intervals. You can play fast on other turnings like C6, but you are limited in the way you can phrase a line because of the interval stack - even Joaquin stuck to common steel-friendly phrasing. Tom, on the other hand was totally freed from this - endless flowing lines that could turn any direction. This also allowed him to play complex uptempo note-for-note twin lines with the fiddle or lead....not so easy to pull off on C6
everyone should have the Tophand's Live at Scotty's as a reference. His ride on 7 come 11 is just amazing.
_________________
'65 Sho-Bud D-10 Permanent • '54 Fender Dual-8 • Clinesmith T-8 • '38 Ric Bakelite • '92 Emmons D-10 Legrande II
Last edited by Jerome Hawkes on 16 Feb 2013 6:42 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Mike Neer
From:
NJ
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Posted 16 Feb 2013 6:35 am
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| Jerome Hawkes wrote: |
| The simple explanation for the low E is that there are certain western swing standards like Boot Heel Drag where you need that low E. |
I was going to say that. If you watch the video I posted of Tom playing Boot Heel Drag, you can hear it. I don't recall hearing too many other examples of him using it, but I'm sure there are a few that I'm forgetting.
_________________
Links to streaming music, websites, YouTube: Links |
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Bill McCloskey
From:
Nanuet, NY
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Posted 16 Feb 2013 7:13 am
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| Quote: |
| everyone should have the Tophand's Live at Scotty's as a reference. |
Speaking of which, I ordered one of his CD's from the western swing site. Does anyone know how quickly they ship? |
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Mike Neer
From:
NJ
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Bill McCloskey
From:
Nanuet, NY
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Posted 16 Feb 2013 9:07 am
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| Nice work Mike. |
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John Wilson
From:
Coeur d' Alene, Idaho
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Posted 17 Feb 2013 8:13 pm This parallel thread sort of fits in here
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E13 8 string tuning tuning:suggestion for the bottom 3 strings.
http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=241115
J.
_________________
Customer: "Waiter, how do you prepare your chicken?"
Waiter: "We usually tell them they're not going to make it." |
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