I saw Daevid at a show in Worcester, MA back in the early 80's where he performed using his "glissando" technique. I was kinda far back and couldn't tell what device he was using to strum the strings, but I swear it was a #2 pencil with cloth electrical tape wrapped around it. Can you use pretty much anything, or are there special devices specifically manufactured for this purpose?
What a cool technique.
I've done it, and you can use almost anything. The trick is that it must be rough enough to excite the strings, but smooth enough to slide easily. Wood will do, or plain unchromed steel. The real trick is the tuning or muting - the guitar needs to be in an open tuning, or restrung with all strings the same or in octaves, or you need to mute some strings so you don't get constant minor 7th sus 4 chords.Originally Posted by wiz_d_kidd
It, in fact, sounds like a Creme/Godley Gizmo!
I used to use an old clay pipe which I had sandpapered to a rougher edge. When I played an acoustic 12-string guitar tuned to an open chord, And “applied” the pipe, it sounded like a monstrous cast-iron hurdy-gurdy.
Even though this back and forthing between two notes is technically a glissando, THIS is what I think of as a "real" gliss:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2PLZp8aujg
I remember reading an interview with Daevid where he recommended “surgical quality steel.” I remember using an iron bar that was probably a by-product of my dad’s railroad engine restoration jobs and the handle of a stainless steel butter knife, among other things. Those two things worked best, but I remember you had to turn the gain up pretty high for the effect to be audible, so you had to beware feedback. I had an Ibanez digital delay pedal, which definitely boosted the effect.
Confirmed Bachelors: the dramedy hit of 1883...
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All the times I saw Daevid Allen perform, when he did gliss guitar, he used the whammy bar on his Hohner Steinberger copy.
Personally I like to use a ceramic slide, originally designed for playing slide guitar, but you have to have some type of signal boost, like a preamp on the guitar or a "clean boost" pedal, because the ceramic against metal doesn't make much sound. Most players use some type of metal. David Gilmour uses, the same type of slide he uses when playing lap steel. I remember a Guitar Player article on him back in 1984, where the interviewer basically asked about his glissando guitar playing, though he didn't call it that. He simply referred to Gilmour holding a slide in his right hand. Gilmour said somethign like "That wasn't really slide guitar, that was more like making spaceship noises" or something like that.
When I saw him about 20 years ago he was using an antique gynecological tool:
https://images.app.goo.gl/hWcL7428Zi12jpFR7
A couple of times I saw (latter day ) Gong it looked like an allen wrench.
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I used the technique a lot in my own band during the mid-90s, mostly with a slide-fingerpin in clean steel, and just like a distorted organ it's highly simple and almost always effective, particularly if you add chorus reverb, slight delay and a phaser (or even a flanger) to create "swirl" dimensions and vibes.
Syd Barrett used it before Deavid A., of course, but arguably not as proficient.
"Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
"[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM
It's not only the device but also the technique and the way it is used. I think Kavus Torabi (also active on this board) would be into the best position to give you some useful and circumstantiate informations.
Last edited by Mr.Krautman; 06-06-2020 at 01:39 PM.
I've heard him mention that in various live recordings of his.. something to the effect of "I think this is a much better use for this"..
Nope that was the Steinberger whammy
So I got confused with another time I saw him?
I have this memory of him telling that in one of the shows that I saw... I need to visit the recording of the show (or was it mentioned in the masterclass? So long ago...)
I think he mentions this in the workshop he did in April 99 in Jaffa
But he wasn’t really using it
He found Those surgery instruments in Paris flea market in the 60’s
I feel deceived
The gynecological tool was what he used initially. I'm not sure how long he continued using that, but I'm reasonably certain once he started playing the Hohner Steinberger, he'd just use the guitar's whammy bar. He'd literally remove it from the bridge and use that, then when he was ready to go back to normal guitar, he'd put the whammy bar back into the bridge.
I didn't know about Gong, but I used to do something like it in the 70's and early 80's, using a "Bib" LP record cleaner! The brush came in a metal case, with smooth, rounded edges and had just enough texture to bow the strings perfectly. I'd hold it in my right (picking) hand and move it vertically up and down to bow the strings, and fret with the left normally. If you listen to this track recorded in 1980 (starting at 3:45 especially) all of the string-like and choral sorts of chords are me playing an electric 12-string with the Bib case: https://bdstudio.bandcamp.com/track/...on-orchestar-3
One day I'll have a listen to some Gong!
Bob
Bob, you will need to rename it the Gonglion Orchestar. Sorry, could not resist...
I'm not lazy. I just work so fast I'm always done.
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