Sultans Of Swing - rehearsal recording (Warmoth roasted maple neck)

[wolbai]

Well the first rehearsal recording of the song this week was a desaster. It just was not my best day ...

I then re-recorded the outro solo part the day after within 3 Takes and 30 minutes ...

To achieve a nice clean, singing and sparkling lead tone is more challenging to me than any crunch/high gain lead tone.

It seems to me a fiddling art to adjust a compressor, a clean booster, the EQ-ing of the amp and the guitar.

My new/old duo partner and I are "Old Socks on fire". And I am very happy that the way of our lifes have crossed again.

We just want to have some fun by celebrating the songs we used to hear (and play) when we where younger.
It is somehow a time journey into the past ...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2KFICIXNy0&feature=youtu.be


Any feedback is welcome - relaxed sunday greetings  :icon_thumright:

wolbai

 

[Verne Bunsen]

Well done! Thats a tough song to pull off, in terms of both the tone and the playing. I think you pretty well nailed both.

 

[Rick]

To get it so close the original is really hard, very nice. 

 

[rgand]

Outrstanding! What a great job on that one. And one of my favorite songs, too.

 

[Cagey]

I agree. Great job!

 

[wolbai]

Many thanks for your encouraging feedbacks  :icon_thumright:

Yes, that tune is a real challenge for every ambitious guitar player.

And it is all worth to do the detailed work on it. And it is of course not only the note by note exercise, it is also the study of the chord progression with the corresponding licks which is very beneficial for the own playing style and songwriting.

Doing cover songs, I always decide on a song base whether to be as close as possible to the original or to play it in the style of XYZ. This song has so many signature licks and phrases, It is nearly impossible for my understanding to improvise on it.
The listeners just want to hear those licks, because they are so used to!

Some players claim that a note by note playing of a tune is a stupid monkey job. I see it pretty different.
A certain amount of them make a virtue out of necessity: they are just not capable to do it.
And there is another reason. It is just the work on details which I have found to be pretty important at a certain level of the own guitar journey to make more progress.

The last 10-15 % of the skills takes at least as long as the 80-85% you have already reached. And this means working on details ...

Having that said: I have tried to come as close as possible to the original tune (notes and sound). But I know, it is still not 100%, because I am not a real great finger picking player. So, I only can do the outro part with my pick.

But all in all, that recording is a good one of us.


wolbai

 

[bagman67]

Tremendous job.  Really a solid performance.  I see you opted for a plectrum for the outro solo.  Was that a choice that facilitated more accurate tracking of the speedy repetitive rolls?  Or was it just happenstance?

 

[dmraco]

Very nice job.  I always struggled with that song remembering all the fill sequences!!  I like your tone and outro solo!

I used this video is assist me.  I cannot help but laugh at the guys face at 1:23.

[youtube]ikUBr-7svb4[/youtube]

 

[mayfly]

I've always liked that song.  Back in the day when it came out I tried to play it but quickly came to the conclusion that it was impossible!  I left it for, ahem, several years but then just this summer I had an epiphany:  every lick that he plays has it's harmonic center on the chord that's being played the time.  Yep, call me Captain Obvious, but it was a breakthrough moment for me.  From that I managed to figure out the entire song from memory and just knowing that "well, it's a F chord, so maybe this is what he's doing - hey it is!!" 

Now I can impress the hell out of people at parties  :icon_jokercolor:

 

[wolbai]

@Bagman67: Thx for your nice feedback - I appreciate a lot!

The reason for me to use a plectrum for the outro part is pretty simple: I just can not play the triplets at the very end with my fingers  :sad1:

May be I could, if I would exercise more the finger picking style.
The flipside is that the tone is changing using a plectrum: it gets louder, more percussive and a bit more highs to my ears.

wolbai

 

[wolbai]

@DMRACO: Thx for the kind words!

Yeah, it is a bit of a challenge to memorize all the fill ins, in the right order. But that helps to keep my old brain somehow working.

I am honest: If I don't play that song, say 6 months, I have to refresh the sequences a bit by listening to original tune.

wolbai

 

[wolbai]

@Mayfly: congrats being a party tiger  :icon_jokercolor:

"every lick that he plays has it's harmonic center on the chord that's being played the time":
That song can really be an eye opener for playing solos close to the underlying chord progression (compared to playing along a scale). And he does it very smart and with a lot of musicality.

When I first heard Dire Straits at the end of the 70s I think, that clean tone was so unusual in the rock world and therefore so amazing. But I am not really a good finger picker. That is just not my "home".

Another guy who is a genius on finger picking and slide guitar is Derek Truck. I think, he is an alien - not from that world :icon_biggrin:

His Band together with his wife Susan Tedeschi (Tedeschi Trucks Band) is also not from that world somehow. A bit fallen out of the time in many aspects. I love to hear them on YouTube. Great Live-combo and very soulful feeling. There is a Live-Recording at a radio station. The song is called "Midnight at Harlem". Brilant, soulful. I am out of words to explain it, the way I feel. Every time I hear that song, I tend to start crying during the solo ...

In case of interest, here is the link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GkdCiqsFUI


wolbai

 

[stratamania]

That is always a fun song to play.

With regard to the faster parts over Dm Bb C of the outro solo a lot of folks mention them as triplets, whereas they are actually sixteenths. Try this for example over the Dm 1st string 13th fret right-hand thumb pulls off to 10th fret, 2nd string 10th fret right-hand thumb, then 1st string 10 right-hand index finger. That pull off gives you the time to achieve the speed and time for the thumb to move into position for the down thumbstroke of the third note. Hope that is useful.

Other than that one thing to try to get with this or most Mark Knopfler stuff is the left-hand mutes and pops.

 

[Rick]

I saw Dire Straits in 1979 and it was an epiphany.  What a great sound, it's still in my head.  Besides us in the west, one of the more curious receivers of Knopfler's style is Turaeg music.

https://africasacountry.com/2015/03/the-unexpected-popularity-of-dire-straits-in-north-african-tuareg-communities/

It goes to the root ... get to the guitar solo and you'll hear the connection.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztjS6R4uQ8Q[/youtube]

 

[wolbai]

@Rick: Thx, interesting article and sound example  :icon_thumright:

I always knew (expected) that Dire Straits (Mark Knopfler) have influenced other musicians worldwide.
But wasn't aware that this also means, that they were capable to jump over high cultural boundaries of sub-cultures in Africa.

wolbai

 

[wolbai]

@stratamania: Thx for your infos and support :icon_thumright:

I have parrot the outro part being triplets, without thinking. Checking it out during playing, they are clearly 16th notes.

Before deciding to use a plectrum for the outro part, I have exercised different picking patterns with the thumb and index finger (I think yours too). But I just couldn't get it up to the necessary speed of 148 bpm.
I guess, if I would have exercised enough, I would have managed it one day ...

I will not encourage others to use a plectrum, as long as they can do it with finger picking. It just sounds most original by using the fingers.

But at the end of the day, for me, the result counts. And there are often more ways lead to Rom ...

wolbai

 

[stratamania]

No worries, indeed whatever way gets the job done.  ccasion14: