The Steel Guitar Forum

So played a Sunday afternoon gig, and the sound guy had me really hot in my monitor mix. I noticed two things. 1. I’m getting lazy and resting my hand on the bass strings hence muting them prematurely. 2. I’m not using the volume pedal correctly. Basically not swelling into notes and hearing a lot of pick attack.


Things to work on!

Mack

The group I work with does county fairs and festivals primarily. 90% of the time we have a good sound man. The other 10% has a lot to be desired.

Being lazy us OK sometimes. Don't be too hard on yourself. You're getting out there and playing, that's definitely NOT being lazy.

As for the pick attack, I thought you're not supposed to use the volume pedal to hide the attack but only for sustain (unless you're trying to sound "atmospheric").

On a lark, I spent a whole year, gigs and everything without a volume pedal. I had to pick in differing places for certain tones or volume and had to really watch the pick attack for volume adjustment. It was really odd at first. It was hard to be subtle. I had to use very soft, rolling vibrato for sustain.

I use a VP, but I prefer the tone of not having one. I have had the bad luck of my pedal dying while setting up for a gig. No biggie! I just played without.

It's hard to use a VP in a way that is transparent, that is, so it doesn't sound like volume swells or chopping off the front of a note. But, those can sound right too!

It's hard to use a VP in a way that is transparent, that is, so it doesn't sound like volume swells or chopping off the front of a note. But, those can sound right too!

Absolutely, listen to any of the masters. When it's the right place, they use the volume pedal to build the 'envelope' around the note. I think being able to do that is integral to developing what most folks call 'touch'.. My 0.02.

Having a bad mix is as bad as having bad tone. It’s frustrating, constricts your style, and you focus on technique, like a practice session, instead of performing and playing music with the band and for your audience. Maybe the bigger lesson from your experience is to get more control over your stage sound. Or get a new sound guy...

It was a house PA with the house running the sound. I asked him to turn the steel down in the mix for the second set which they did. The point of the original post was that the mix was loud enough for me to identify some mistakes in my playing. Normally I’m buried in the mix, so this was unique in that I could hear my mistakes. I got nothing but good comments from out front, but that mix is different than a monitor mix.

Regarding the volume pedal I like to back off and swell into the note after I pick it. I found myself being lazy with that approach. Seems I read that was a good approach from one of the big dogs here on the forum.

Thanks for everyone’s response!

Mack

Mack Quinney wrote:
Regarding the volume pedal I like to back off and swell into the note after I pick it. I found myself being lazy with that approach. Seems I read that was a good approach from one of the big dogs here on the forum.

Mack

That is the technique. I have kind of set my normal position for my foot at the "3" on a scale of 1-10 and use the pedal to hold that volume by moving towards "10" as I need sustain. Basically, the actual volume stays in the 3-5 range unless I'm taking a ride, where I run from 5-10. I only have it off when I'm not playing...like off the bandstand, or realize I'm not able to play in a civilized manner and kill it for the sake of my pride.

About 20 years ago I did steel on a CD project for a local singer. It was old school recording, all the musicians were in the same room and low volume and recorded with an 8 track tape recorder. I set the steel volume with my Goodrich VP and never touched it through the 6 songs we laid down the first day. Same with the 4 songs the next day. There is a mix of slow ballads and fast songs and even one that I used my MatchBro on (and fooled some Bluegrass pickers). Can't tell that I wasn't using the volume pedal on any of the songs.

I try to use the volume pedal more as a way of making the notes/chords "blossom" as I play them. I like hearinging the pick attack (generally, with exceptions), but that attack is only at full volume if I'm playing a solo or interlude that has me coming to the front.

You'll figure out the best way to use that pedal by listening to yourself (and others). Some players like to swell more, some like that snappy picking, some like all of the above, right? You'll find out as you evolve as a player.

I prefer the term expression pedal. It's a small semantic difference, but describes the musical function more accurately. In my mind the term volume control (pedal or knob) implies level control. Thinking in terms of expression reminds us to use the pedal to add an extra layer of emotion to our playing. I'm going to wax a bit philosophical and say if that's not how you view it, you might be better off not using a pedal at all. There are many ways I've heard to use an expression pedal to create emotion, one technique does not fit all, but ALL of the great players that use a pedal use it to enhance the feel and/or impact of their musical statements.

Kudos for Expression Pedal terminology Reece Anderson and, if I remember correctly, Paul Franklin and Jay Dee Maness too.