Unwanted distortion with two strings sounding

[Bill S]

Like many others, I play an acoustic and an electric mandolin. My main style is Celtic jigs and reels, and when played acoustically, it is common to let open strings ring out whilst playing another string (fretted or open). In the acoustic world this sounds great.

When I enter the electric world however, I like to play with distortion and basically pretend I am a rock god with only four strings. Some tunes translate well from acoustic to a 100W Marshall stack (OK the software equivalent...), but it is impossible to play a string whilst another is still ringing out without horrible unmusical distortion.

I realise that by carefully damping open strings before hitting the next one, this problem can be overcome, but this is tricky to say the least. Is there any other way that this can be addressed, or do I just have to practice?

[journeybear]

What is so horrible about distortion? Embrace the noise!

OK, kidding aside (Oh, who am I kidding? Love the atonality - I live in it as much as I can!), I am not sure if this is happening live through your Marshall (or equivalent) or while recording through your software.

Are you playing Celtic or rock with your electric? How much distortion are you using? If you could, dial down that setting some and see how it goes. My understanding is that clean tones are preferred for Celtic, unless you are in one of those bands that likes to play loud and brashly, in which case distortion might actually be favored.

Try resting the heel of your hand lightly right on the bridge, lightly enough that the strings still ring, but closely enough that a slight roll forward will dampen the strings. Varying that effect might help, and as with all new techniques, practice makes perfect.

Good luck!

[Tom Wright]

Essential to control unwanted ringing, since what you call distortion is the inter-modulation of two pitches not necessarily harmonic to each other. The difference in frequencies, called difference pitch, is a low note. So you hear three pitches, in no particular chord relationship, all clipping, making a mess. Very occasionally it is a cool special effect, but pros always manage this issue.

My approach on guitar was to damp the upper (plain) strings with the left hand fingers when reaching over them, and the lower strings with heel of right hand, and/or left hand thumb. So when on the lowest string, it is all left hand damping; when only on the highest string, all right hand damping.

[rico mando]

Like many others, I play an acoustic and an electric mandolin. My main style is Celtic jigs and reels, and when played acoustically, it is common to let open strings ring out whilst playing another string (fretted or open). In the acoustic world this sounds great.

When I enter the electric world however, I like to play with distortion and basically pretend I am a rock god with only four strings. Some tunes translate well from acoustic to a 100W Marshall stack (OK the software equivalent...), but it is impossible to play a string whilst another is still ringing out without horrible unmusical distortion.

I realise that by carefully damping open strings before hitting the next one, this problem can be overcome, but this is tricky to say the least. Is there any other way that this can be addressed, or do I just have to practice?

if your goal is to play on one string while letting another drone on then you should be able to do this and have it sound musical (if it is musical ). i would say your having a software issue . but if it is a accidental string ringing out then yes you need to alter your technique through practice . lightly touching a string will give you lots of sound which is great for finger picking, so its the nature of the beast . when you play acoustic you can be more sloppy as you have to really pluck a string to get any volume .

[Bill S]

Essential to control unwanted ringing, since what you call distortion is the inter-modulation of two pitches not necessarily harmonic to each other. The difference in frequencies, called difference pitch, is a low note. So you hear three pitches, in no particular chord relationship, all clipping, making a mess. Very occasionally it is a cool special effect, but pros always manage this issue.

My approach on guitar was to damp the upper (plain) strings with the left hand fingers when reaching over them, and the lower strings with heel of right hand, and/or left hand thumb. So when on the lowest string, it is all left hand damping; when only on the highest string, all right hand damping.

Yes, this the issue exactly - I suspect it is all about careful damping. Thanks for all your replies.