Acoustic guitars: Difference between revisions
From Allan Holdsworth Information Center
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Allan played acoustic guitar occasionally up to around 1985. Some highlights (not complete) of his acoustic playing are: | |||
"Gone Sailing", a solo piece for (detuned) 12-string on Soft Machine's "Bundles". | |||
"Floppy Hat", "Kinder" and "Last May" on "Velvet Darkness". | |||
"Shadows Of" with Gong on "Gazeuse". | |||
"Nevermore" on UK's album. | |||
Several tracks on "The Things I See" with Gordon Beck. | |||
"Home" on "Metal Fatigue" | |||
These are quotes where Allan talks about acoustic guitar. | |||
==[[Sad scene say Softs (Melody Maker 1974)]]== | ==[[Sad scene say Softs (Melody Maker 1974)]]== | ||
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Well, I wanted something I could blow on. I wanted to be able to make a note loud or long or soft or short; play things legato or play them staccato. Whatever I felt like. But it seemed that the guitar was only capable of a few of the things that I really wanted to do at the time. I guess I fell in love with it later. I mean, I didn’t really dig electric guitar that much at first. I’ve always been more in love with music than instruments. I’m not overly concerned with what instrument. If I had been presented with another instrument at the same time as the guitar, I may have gone with that. It just happened to be the guitar. And I’ve always listened to all kinds of instruments -- I’m not just a guitar freak. I love the guitar, and there are so many fantastic players that I always get enjoyment listening to them play. But it’s the same for other instruments too. | Well, I wanted something I could blow on. I wanted to be able to make a note loud or long or soft or short; play things legato or play them staccato. Whatever I felt like. But it seemed that the guitar was only capable of a few of the things that I really wanted to do at the time. I guess I fell in love with it later. I mean, I didn’t really dig electric guitar that much at first. I’ve always been more in love with music than instruments. I’m not overly concerned with what instrument. If I had been presented with another instrument at the same time as the guitar, I may have gone with that. It just happened to be the guitar. And I’ve always listened to all kinds of instruments -- I’m not just a guitar freak. I love the guitar, and there are so many fantastic players that I always get enjoyment listening to them play. But it’s the same for other instruments too. | ||
==[[Reaching For The Uncommon Chord]]== | |||
'''FIRST TOYS | |||
''' | |||
I started out with a cheap acoustic guitar, and later my Dad bought me an f-hole cello guitar. A friend of ours put a pickup on it for me. | |||
'''ACOUSTICS''' | |||
I've never really owned a good acoustic guitar. I've got this Macaferri acoustic that's made by Ibanez. It's a lovely guitar. I'd really like an f-hole cello guitar. I don't like the sound of flat tops. The Macaferri is a half-breed. It's like a cross between a classical guitar and a flat top. It's got a bridge like that of a cello guitar, where the strings are lying on the bridge. I like the sound of it for solo work because it's really full in the mid-range, unlike flat tops which are very nasal. I'd like to play a Gibson L-7 – once in a store I played one that somebody else bought. I was completely blown away with that instrument. | |||
==[[The Unreachable Star (Guitar World 1989)]]== | ==[[The Unreachable Star (Guitar World 1989)]]== | ||
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Allan: I’ve always liked John McLaughlin’s playing, because he always sounded like an individual, a strong individual. That’s one of the things I appreciate the most. Pat Metheny, I feel the same way about him. Absolutely incredible, and I kind of thrive on the difference. The thing that makes them different is the exciting thing. I was always a big fan of John McLaughlin, I like everything he does, because there’s nobody that sounds like John McLaughlin. I see him as one of those guys whose head sticks out way above everyone. I like all the Mahavishnu albums-I loved Billy Cobham, he was absolutely unbelievable. I dug Billy Cobham before that band, when he had the band Dreams, with Michael Brecker. So when John came out with his first album, with Billy Cobham on it, it was great just to hear Billy Cobham again. An absolute monster. Actually, I have to say that my favorite stuff john McLaughlin has done is on '''acoustic''' guitar. To me, with all those musicians, it really wouldn’t matter what they played. It wo uldn’t matter to me if John McLaughlin played saxophone, he’d still be who he is, and I feel that way about all those guys. Keith Jarrett, it doesn’t matter that he plays the piano, the piano is totally unimportant. I’m not a big piano fan, and it’s not an instrument I go out and seek. I don’t just like John McLaughlin, the guitarist, I dig him as a musician because of the music that he’s written, and the things he’s played. And I do like it more when he plays '''acoustic''' guitar. He just seems unbelievably strong on that. | Allan: I’ve always liked John McLaughlin’s playing, because he always sounded like an individual, a strong individual. That’s one of the things I appreciate the most. Pat Metheny, I feel the same way about him. Absolutely incredible, and I kind of thrive on the difference. The thing that makes them different is the exciting thing. I was always a big fan of John McLaughlin, I like everything he does, because there’s nobody that sounds like John McLaughlin. I see him as one of those guys whose head sticks out way above everyone. I like all the Mahavishnu albums-I loved Billy Cobham, he was absolutely unbelievable. I dug Billy Cobham before that band, when he had the band Dreams, with Michael Brecker. So when John came out with his first album, with Billy Cobham on it, it was great just to hear Billy Cobham again. An absolute monster. Actually, I have to say that my favorite stuff john McLaughlin has done is on '''acoustic''' guitar. To me, with all those musicians, it really wouldn’t matter what they played. It wo uldn’t matter to me if John McLaughlin played saxophone, he’d still be who he is, and I feel that way about all those guys. Keith Jarrett, it doesn’t matter that he plays the piano, the piano is totally unimportant. I’m not a big piano fan, and it’s not an instrument I go out and seek. I don’t just like John McLaughlin, the guitarist, I dig him as a musician because of the music that he’s written, and the things he’s played. And I do like it more when he plays '''acoustic''' guitar. He just seems unbelievably strong on that. | ||
==[[Allan Holdsworth | ==[[Allan Holdsworth: An interview (Atavachron 1994)]]== | ||
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- I have been experimenting so much over the years. I play with a distorted sound, and then you have to see the amplifier and the guitar together as one instrument, they are inseparable. I do not use the amplifier only to raise the volume of the guitar. Put it this way; it’s not just something you add when the sound is already fully formed. The way horn instruments are able to control and shape the tone has always been my ideal, and working with distortion is my way of compensating the guitar’s deficiencies in that area. That’s why I’ve completely abandoned '''acoustic''' guitar, which has a percussive quality and little sustain. In my studio, The Brewery, I have been able to try things out, and now I think the pieces have fallen into place. | - I have been experimenting so much over the years. I play with a distorted sound, and then you have to see the amplifier and the guitar together as one instrument, they are inseparable. I do not use the amplifier only to raise the volume of the guitar. Put it this way; it’s not just something you add when the sound is already fully formed. The way horn instruments are able to control and shape the tone has always been my ideal, and working with distortion is my way of compensating the guitar’s deficiencies in that area. That’s why I’ve completely abandoned '''acoustic''' guitar, which has a percussive quality and little sustain. In my studio, The Brewery, I have been able to try things out, and now I think the pieces have fallen into place. | ||
==[[Don’t you know | ==[[Don’t you know? The Lost Words (Oneiric Moor 2003)]]== | ||
OF: And... what about an '''acoustic''' guitar album ? | OF: And... what about an '''acoustic''' guitar album ? | ||
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Allan: Yeah, well, that’s true. I love to hear other people play '''acoustic''' guitar. I’m not very fond of hearing myself play it. But I think when I really quit playing '''acoustic''' guitar was when I got the SynthAxe, because that just opened up this other door and I was like, ‘Well, I guess I can leave that other guitar behind completely.’ Because there was a period after I had been playing the SynthAxe for about a year, I was even getting frustrated with electric guitar. There was a point where I was actually close to making a decision to just play the SynthAxe and forget about the guitar. | Allan: Yeah, well, that’s true. I love to hear other people play '''acoustic''' guitar. I’m not very fond of hearing myself play it. But I think when I really quit playing '''acoustic''' guitar was when I got the SynthAxe, because that just opened up this other door and I was like, ‘Well, I guess I can leave that other guitar behind completely.’ Because there was a period after I had been playing the SynthAxe for about a year, I was even getting frustrated with electric guitar. There was a point where I was actually close to making a decision to just play the SynthAxe and forget about the guitar. | ||
==[[Interview with Allan Holdsworth (Jazz Italia 2005)]]== | |||
ALEX: "Floppy Hat" and "Kinder": do you remember these two wonderful songs? Will it be possible to hear you playing an acoustic guitar? | |||
ALLAN: Yes, it would be really nice. I'd like to do it ... but I do not have an acoustic guitar right now. There is a company in San Diego that produces replicas of Maccaferri like that of Django. I love that sound. I had a copy but I sold it. Nothing comes close to the sound of a Maccaferri. On those tracks if I was not mistaken I used an old Guild. I've owned 2-3 acoustic guitars in my life and I've normally sold them since when I need money I try to sell what I need less, namely acoustic guitars ... A person I know, who plays in a band that’s using Django Reinhardt's material, let me try his guitar and it was amazing! It sounded awesome. They do not sound like an acoustic guitar with metal strings. Flat tops play clear and full-bodied ... highs and lows, no middle. The Maccaferri is really big in the central range and also in the lower range ... it's round and regular ...Taylor, another company in San Diego, has produced a new and nice electrified acoustic guitar. It sounds very different from the flat tops. Yes ... I would like to do something with an acoustic guitar but I just have to figure out how to get one since they are very expensive. [Machine back translated.] | |||
[[Category:guitars]] | [[Category:guitars]] | ||
