With modern looping pedals, I've found it interesting to build up a drone loop myself to play over. Just something with octaves and fifths. Then you're not stuck with the same drones all the time.
Could even build up a chordal drone to improvise over for soloing.
Pitch
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Paul Pederson
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Fred Treece
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Last night I was trying to do a unison with our mandolin player, who is a very good musician. I couldn’t match his pitch to save my life. Checked my tuning afterward and it was normal. My bar placement isn’t THAT bad. I riff right along with guitars and bass okay. Maybe there is some kind of gremlin in mandos...
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Mike Beley
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Fred Treece
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Ha!
It is more likely that the mando player and I just don’t know each other’s playing and tuning well enough yet to compensate for less than pitch perfect unison lines. Truthfully, in the heat of battle I can never tell when something is sharp or flat anyway. Unless it’s way out, I just know that it’s out.
It is more likely that the mando player and I just don’t know each other’s playing and tuning well enough yet to compensate for less than pitch perfect unison lines. Truthfully, in the heat of battle I can never tell when something is sharp or flat anyway. Unless it’s way out, I just know that it’s out.
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Landon Johnson
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Maybe Fourier has the answer?
"I suppose it was the mando track that was out of tune (though I hadn't noticed it before) --- or perhaps just uses a different tempering of the tuning that I do on steel? I don't know but that's what happened."
Maybe,maybe not...sometimes I have noticed, especially with banjo for some reason, that even if the root note is intonated,the harmonics seem off and there's this sum-and-difference thing going on between them.
No matter how hard I listen, I cannot sound in tune with a banjo. I'd like to do an A-B test and see if both the banjo and PSG sound intonated alone when together they are not.
Maybe,maybe not...sometimes I have noticed, especially with banjo for some reason, that even if the root note is intonated,the harmonics seem off and there's this sum-and-difference thing going on between them.
No matter how hard I listen, I cannot sound in tune with a banjo. I'd like to do an A-B test and see if both the banjo and PSG sound intonated alone when together they are not.
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Mike Beley
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- Location: Alberta, Canada
I think Paul S and Ricky D hit it on the head in posts 2 and 3 with the keyword "Intonation".
I should have called the thread intonation instead of pitch.
One thing that's helped in the last couple of weeks is just knowing this is how it sounded and trying to correct it and listening for it while I'm playing.
The problem is more prevalent on material I'm not as comfortable with and where I'm "guessing" where the note is, rather than on parts I know really well.
I land "close" to the right spot but the lack of true confidence in being in the right spot results in a note that sounds like I'm "nnyyeeeeeeeeeaaaarrrr" the right note rather than bang on it, ha!
It's poor intonation presenting as off pitch.
I've recorded my last 2 outings, and although it's getting better, there were still a lot of notes where I cringed listening to the recording..."ooohhh, just about!"
No mandolin or banjo player to blame anything on this weekend.
Anyway, I think the best thing is just to keep practicing, keep listening, and be aware of the shortcomings.
The drone helps, not sliding (Paul S) into notes for some practice has been a real eye-opener as well.
Listening to the recordings can be painful, but it's a huge help, as it's an honest reflection of where I'm at, plus it's not all bad as there are some rare occasional signs I am improving.
(think how a football player feels watching game film after he misses a couple of tackles, but also gets to see himself making an interception)
I don't play out anywhere until November, so I've got a month and a half to really work on this.
Hopefully next time on stage I'll be a lot more on the note and not just "NNYYEEEAARR" it !!
I should have called the thread intonation instead of pitch.
One thing that's helped in the last couple of weeks is just knowing this is how it sounded and trying to correct it and listening for it while I'm playing.
The problem is more prevalent on material I'm not as comfortable with and where I'm "guessing" where the note is, rather than on parts I know really well.
I land "close" to the right spot but the lack of true confidence in being in the right spot results in a note that sounds like I'm "nnyyeeeeeeeeeaaaarrrr" the right note rather than bang on it, ha!
It's poor intonation presenting as off pitch.
I've recorded my last 2 outings, and although it's getting better, there were still a lot of notes where I cringed listening to the recording..."ooohhh, just about!"
No mandolin or banjo player to blame anything on this weekend.
Anyway, I think the best thing is just to keep practicing, keep listening, and be aware of the shortcomings.
The drone helps, not sliding (Paul S) into notes for some practice has been a real eye-opener as well.
Listening to the recordings can be painful, but it's a huge help, as it's an honest reflection of where I'm at, plus it's not all bad as there are some rare occasional signs I am improving.
(think how a football player feels watching game film after he misses a couple of tackles, but also gets to see himself making an interception)
I don't play out anywhere until November, so I've got a month and a half to really work on this.
Hopefully next time on stage I'll be a lot more on the note and not just "NNYYEEEAARR" it !!