Obscure title'd

So i saw malmsteen earlier this year, and as part of the set, he masturbated his guitar (naturally.) But at one point, he really made it sound like a violin, sans pedals and effects. My friend, at the time, said it was something to do with natural harmonics, and playing notes while these harmonics rang out over the top?

I dont know, but does anyone know any way to make the guitar sound interesting, say, like a violin or something? Someone else has suggested pick scratchings near the bridge on the bass strings, but that sounds like ass.

And before anyone asks, yes, I do experiment anyway, so this isnt through lack of trying. I dont expect much help anyways. its prob not possible.

edit: of course im talking straight up stuff, no effects pedals or anything. The only pedal I like to use is a whammy pedal, if that...so yeah. Im sure using a multitude of effects its very easy to get the violin type sound...

this is probaly not much of advice, ot tip or whatever, but in the end of necrophagist's only ash remains, there isthis little classical part, muhammed tryd to make it sound like a violin by sliding , i believe violins are fretless so i guess sliding might be a thing to make it sound violin-ish

then again i havent seen what ur talking bout, so i cant imagine how he makes it sound like a violin.

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im thinking tapped harmonics an octave higher might be the go, also try using the volume knob on the guitar to fade into and out of notes.

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that volume knob thing might be a good thing to try actualy, since a violin doesnt have a straight volume like a guitar usualy has, kinda

damn, i wanna see that show, i wonder if theres a vid of it.

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somone suggested to me fast distortion+hard compressor
maybe u should try it

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Augury has a song that starts with a very "violonish" intro that you can find at www.augurymetal.com (Beatus)

I've seen Augury in Rouyn this year and he looked like he was pressing his palm against the bridge after each note and sliding his finger (with his left hand) INSIDE a fret. Hope that helps.. I've tried but nothing sounded like a violin..lol

I believe what your looking for is shown in the "Hot Licks" DVD by Malmsteen. He places his pinky on the volume knob and rolls it with his picking hand while playing. It produces a violin type of sound.

Oh.. so that must've been the "palm pushing on the bridge" i saw.. he was just pushing the knob up and down.. thanks! now i'll go try that out right now...

He is swelling the notes by toggling his volume pot with his pinky.

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i think the best example of that is hetfields quiet part before kirks solo on outlaw torn. its real easy but makes for an awesome sound.

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Now this is some bloody coincidence; I was bored two weeks ago and just sat messing with everything I found on my axe and actually found something quite interesting...
I do some sort of violin type sound by combining a lot of these techniques; the volume and sliding on the fretboard first of all. I have also started trying to scrape the pick near the stall in a violinist sort of way. I get the feeling as well that certain notes and note intervalls are escpecially suitable, but I haven't really pinned them down yet.
Don't know if this helps you to get the sound you want, but I think it makes for quite nice intros, outrous and whatever those small bursts of different passages are called in English.

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you could always try a violin bow

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Now you're talking.



Would make a sensation on a concert though.

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Jimmy Page used that idea on a few songs and as part of his live set. He borrowed the idea from some mad guitarist from the 60's.

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I tought all guitarsts in the '60s were mad?

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On a POD2.0 there is an effect that does the volume swelling automatically, it's kinda cool messing around with stuff like that, but I dunno how you'd use it in a song. I guess a volume pedal would work aswell wouldn't it?

The intro to some My Dying Bride song has volume swelling, its really useful, gives you an eerie kinda sound because there isn't the attack.

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if you used a bow you would get rosin al over your strings and they would get sticky... plus the strings arent angled so everything would have to be a 6 note chord.

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Funny you should say that Leviathan, as Im using a POD 2.0. Problem is, my tone already uses one of the effects (very slight flange) sooo I cant actually add anything else to it, in terms of delay...and then theres the case of controlling it, which of course, isnt possible sans the Line 6 floorboard, which i cant afford.

The sliding advice sounds very interesting. Kind of makes me wonder. What if you were playing, then you could put your pick underneath the strings, and fret atop the pick and apply pressure, so it slides...effectively ruling out the metal frets? the only difficulty I can imagine is the physical aspect...gotta thing about doing it live, of course. Interesting theory, fail in practice. Hrmmm.

It looks like alot of people are recommending volume swells, which I already kind of knew, but its my mistake for not stating I knew it. Its good, and I use it alot, but the only problem I find is if your doing a fast passage of notes, its obviously not possible...and I swear thats what Malmsteen was doing; it was faster than youd think is achievable through that (but then, this is malmsteen...)

VEEEEEEERRY tempted by the violin bow, and if this shitty city had a fuckin music shop (what a crock of shit!) Id actually pick one up. Might do when I go back home. I hadnt thought about the resin tho on the strings...i take it its not possible to use a bow sans the resin coating? Or if it is, I guess it wears it out pretty fast...hrmm. and yeah the six string chord issue, but thats not so bad...

Amadeus, if you could tab out anything if you find anything useful, and PM me or whatever, itd be much appreciated.

Finally, Tapped harmonics +1octave sound fun. Ill try that out. Im going to try everything out later, but I cant plug in my POD right now as I have no free sockets (having to back up files.)Baaaaah! Ill post my findings, for content. Cant record tho, I only have a tiny lead

Get the Behringer FCB1010 Midi Floorboard for your POD, i did, and it makes changing patches so much easier, not forgetting the two expression pedals that can do different things, not just dedicated volume etc. At around £100 (a bit less now methinks), its sure worth it, i'd recommend it for sure!

EDIT: oh yea, and you can get it to control all your other midi gear too whilst controlling your POD

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bout that bow, u could try to raise the action on the middle strings (if u can adjust seperate action for strings, but that would fuck up ur guitar for playing anything else

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Buy one of his videos, I forget which it is, but he goes through this technique and uses "Echo Etude" to illustrate it. He does do them manually, but comfortably uses his pinky to swell whilst picking. Maverick guitars toy with 'concept rollers' that are meant to aid in this kind of effect, but due to short hands I find it a bit awkward to do fast:/

Compression, delay, reverb and distortion all help as they allow for greater definition of what otherwise may be weak sounding notes.

For a great example of a good intro with the volume swelling thing ..
click this this link:
http://www.galyrecords.com/augury/m..._beatus_192.mp3

(For another Augury song the website's www.augurymetal.com )

sorry the link doesn't work .. just go on the website and click on Beatus

I once put a bow to my bass. Guitar would be the same thing. All you need to do is one thing: mute all the strings you're not playing.

Of course, this means that unless you're playing the high or the low E, then there are strings above and below the one you're playing that need to be muted. The only way I could do it was by putting my thumb over the top of the fret board to mute the lower strings.
Needless to say this really limits the playability with the bow. It's really only fun when you play on the high or low E because you can angle the bow so that it doesn't touch any other string, then you can play like you're mad.

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I use a volume pedal as it keeps my hands free for the playing of notes, maybe add some reverb or delay.
Has anybody ever tried an E-bow?
Electric razors or vibrators(so raid mummy's secret drawer kiddies!) can give interesting drone effects, anything battery operated switched on and placed near the pick-up and strings. If it has differing speeds even better as this can vary tone.

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if u wanna get cool sounds WITHOUT effects..... pinched harmonics with a wammy and natural harmonics with a wammy. harmonics+wammy= cool! haha

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plus it'll fuck up the horse hair, i know, i've tried it.

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makes sense. Ahwell, an e-bow is cheaper than a good violin bow annyway

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yeah and bows aint cheap not for good ones anyways may be able to get a cheap shit wal mart bow but theyre better used as a home enema system

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As previously said, ebow.

A cool trick I use for volume swelling is have delay on. I have the volume knob on the guitar on 0, pick the note then turn the volume up then down again. Then I play other notes using the same method so with the delay on all the notes ring out even though the volume has been turn up and down.

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Get a volume pedal. It's doing what he's doing but in convenient pedal form.

The rosin doesnt get your strings sticky...it falls off the bow in something like a powder...you can bow the high and low E's without a problem by themselves...maybe adding in another string or so...depending on the pressure you put on it...especially if he has an archtop...