From Toots

[dcav]

It's been awhile. Hope everyone is having a great summer. Busy here.

dc

[fox]

Nice to see you back Dave.

[dcav]

Thx Fox. I didn't get my Pennsylvania Didgeridoo patched up yet, but when I do, I'll see if I can get some noise out of it, and post to see what you think.

[Cornfield]

That is soothing. Very good to listen to in this morning of terrible world news.

[Dolamon]

Thanks Dave, great interpretation on Thielmann's classic. A playing question now that you've resurfaced. Can you describe the different right hand technique between T Banjo and T guitar? I realize that the TG's you play are electric ... so the sound output is colored by electronics ... but do you use different pick or a different right hand attack on each of your instruments?

Good seeing you back here ... Dion

[dcav]

Thanks you guys. Dion, I do use different flat picks for TG and TB. I've experimented with lots of picks to find the best tone that I like for each. Although my right hand technique is about the same, the difference is in the sustain between TB/TG. With TB, not much sustain, so I find myself "trying" to use tremolo. I'm not that proficient with it yet, but it's definetly needed with TB. Other than that, both are identical.

[John Kelly]

Lovely relaxed playing and a great interpretation of that classic tune.

[Dolamon]

Dave, re tremolo ... many, if not most of this thread have arrived at TG's from a mandolin background. Tremolo or a variation of it is something we have to work at from the start. Now for a banjo, not so much. The ITM guys however, have worked on 6/8 rhythm pieces (primarily Jigs) and start out perfecting a DUD DUD for the significant Jig rhythm. This can be applied in a faster form, either Cut time, 4/4 or even 2/4 if you look at any quarter note as a triplet. Same over all structure of DUD or any three note variation which would leave the pick ready for a following downstroke.

One of the things I discovered is that the strokes don't have to be level in the attack. IE. if I strike the string with a heavy first beat, then lighten the stroke with the second part of the triplet and then barely touch the string with the third part of the triplet, it sounds almost like an electronic decay. For me this requires a triangular pick with a rounder shape to one of the points and a lot of polishing of the bevel. The scritching tone of the string just evaporates. It took awhile to get this to work and now, I find that actual long duration tremolos will have a pulse to them rather than just a fill noise / sound. The long duration I referred to is anything over a half note. Once I got this method under my right thumb, it starts to come naturally and makes a lot of ballads from the 30's and 40's a much more melodic and almost satiny.

I really hope this makes sense.