Philosophical question.. "Tone is in your fingers"

[Alexi7]

Re: Philosophical question.. "Tone is in your fingers"

"Obviously, I'm going to sound different if I'm playing through a Fender Twin versus a Dual Rec." YEP, end of topic....exactly what i've been saying...The question has been asnwered....

"so I have to belive that some if not almost all tone comes from your hands, The rest just shapes it and fills it out" You've got to be kidding me right?
I think the problem here is that you arent recognising the difference between a guitarist's note articulation, and Tone...Are you saying that if i have fat fingers, i will have a fatter tone? or if i do a heavy vibrato that ill get more crunch?
Each to their own i guesss...but let me just repeat "Obviously, I'm going to sound different if I'm playing through a Fender Twin versus a Dual Rec."
[img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]
cheers

[ December 28, 2002, 09:47 AM: Message edited by: Alexi7 ]

[skidd]

Re: Philosophical question.. "Tone is in your fingers"

"You've got to be kidding me right?"

No you read it right.

"I think the problem here is that you aren't recognizing the difference between a guitarist's note articulation, and Tone...Are you saying that if i have fat fingers, i will have a fatter tone? or if i do a heavy vibrato that ill get more crunch?"

I see your point, but you WILL sound the same on any rig. No a heavy vibrato won't get you more crunch, more dates maybe not more crunch. [img]graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

Can you show any examples of your point? Look at George Lynch, he had god knows how many rigs over the years, Eddie VanHalen as well,they still sound like themselves to me.

[ December 28, 2002, 10:00 AM: Message edited by: skidd ]

[Shawn Lutz]

Re: Philosophical question.. "Tone is in your fingers"

I think most of your 'sound' has a more to do with your hands than anything else. As long as you are using an amp that will produce desired tones of the style of music you play....I sound like myself when I play with a variety of amps or no amp for that matter. I used to practice w/o an amp and told myself if I can make the guitar sound how I want it w/o an amp it will only sound better when I do play through one [img]graemlins/band.gif[/img]

[ December 28, 2002, 07:32 PM: Message edited by: Shawn Lutz ]

[777SteveVai777]

Re: Philosophical question.. "Tone is in your fingers"

A perfect example of "tone is in your fingers" is Steve Vai. I have 2 video clips of him playing with Frank Zappa in 1982 and he still sounds like Vai and he was playing the Stratocaster his Mother bought him in the 70s through Carvin amps. Over the years Steve has played many guitars through many different amps and still sounds like Steve Vai to me no matter what rig he is playing through.

Jason Becker is another great example. He has played through so much stuff that I don't remember what it is, all I know is that Jason sounds like Jason through a Fender practice amp just as much as Jason sounds like Jason through a Carvin amp. Jason sounds like Jason using a Fender strat just as much as Jason sounds like Jason using a Hurricane guitar.

An amplifier, effect, or guitar can only shape that tone a certain way by making the tone more pleasing to the ears or more harsh and unpleasant, but no matter how the tone is shaped, the tone remains exactly what it is. The shape and way it vibrates in our ear may be different, but the tone itself of the individual producing the sound remains unchanged.

It's hard to explain, but I hope you guys can understand what I'm saying and not look at me like a total goof who doesn't know what he's talking about... then again I probably don't! [img]graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[ December 29, 2002, 12:48 AM: Message edited by: Word ]

[LinaV]

Re: Philosophical question.. "Tone is in your fingers"

"music" is in your fingers. not tone. Tone is from your equipment. Tone is the sound that you want, in order to satisfy your needs to create your music with your brain, which transmits to your fingers... *hides*

[Gazman]

Re: Philosophical question.. "Tone is in your fingers"

i'd be hiding too if I posted something that made as little sense as that did...

Gareth [img]graemlins/band.gif[/img]

[777SteveVai777]

Re: Philosophical question.. "Tone is in your fingers"

Agreed... even though mine probably didn't make much sense either! [img]graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[nor]

Re: Philosophical question.. "Tone is in your fingers"

'Tone' is the cumulative total of every variable involved in the sound wave generating process at the precise moment it is experienced by the listener.

Left-hand articulation, Right-hand velocity, Wood density and mass, plectrum type and angle of attack, string guage and age, pickup selection and condition, potentiometer oxidation and position, amount of solder used, quality of ground, cable length and construction, amount of usable 9-volt battery life in the pedals, preamp wiring, A/D and D/A converters in the processors, the big-ass spider that fryed itself on the circuit-board, tube type and position, listening-angle from the speaker cones, air-pressure, humidity, sunspots affecting the ambient RF levels, the idiot that hit a powerline with a backhoe and ever-so-slightly reduced the available AC feeding the amp, listeners' health, what you ingested yesterday clearing through your sweat glands and on to the strings, the Earth's magnetic field and your relative positioning within it, yadda, yadda, yadda...

Tone just 'is'.

It's not 'in the fingers' - that's technique.
It's not 'in the gear' - that's timbre.
It's how the combination of the two interact with their environment to create sound individually experienced as 'Tone'.
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I have no idea where I come up with this stuff, sometimes [img]graemlins/scratchhead.gif[/img] - so don't bother asking! [img]graemlins/bs.gif[/img]

[Alexi7]

Re: Philosophical question.. "Tone is in your fingers"

NO!!! WORD!! LINAV made perfect sense..she's EXACTLY right....Here is another quote:

"As long as you are using an amp that will produce desired tones of the style of music you play.."

well once again, im proven right...What these guys are saying is that you can play anything on any amp, and you'll sound the same...its Crazy...Ok, so why dont you try using those little minature amps, see if you can sound the same as if you used a mark IV...pfft, seriously, this is pointless

My proof is myself....When im playing on my friend's amp, i get a tonne of fat ass sound...I get back on my amp and i sound like ass...nothing else changes as in, my vibrato is stil the same, my technique is still the same, but my sound is 100 times fatter
Cheers

[buckethead bungler]

Re: Philosophical question.. "Tone is in your fingers"

"well once again, im proven right..."

only one word fills my mind when i read a post as complacent as that: conceited.

While the sound of your notes may differ, especially in a distorted sense (due to EQ), i still believe that the fundamental sound that you make when you pick, tap or slide into notes is unique to each individual. The best way to distinguish players would be compare their tones through a clean channel unaffected by processors such as distortion that are designed to alter the original signal the guitar sends to the amp.

[1979Charvel]

Re: Philosophical question.. "Tone is in your fingers"

Look at it from a different perspective, If you SUCK with a CRATE, You're still gonna SUCK on a SOLDANO or BOGNER. Why? TONE IS IN THE FINGERS! [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img]

[nor]

Re: Philosophical question.. "Tone is in your fingers"

The music is in the fingers.

Tone is in the Ear. Two people listening to the same player at the same time might have two wildly differing opinions as to the quality of the tone, no? Same playing, gear, environment - different Tones.

[Bruce Weaver]

Re: Philosophical question.. "Tone is in your fingers"

I gotta agree with LinaV. The sound comes from your equipment, but the music comes from your brain. And the brain tells your fingers what to do.

But this is part of the beauty of music. There are infinite combinations of equipment, style, talent, and creativity. You can never run out of things to say musically. This is what keeps me in awe - and it keeps me motivated to learn more and play better....Too bad I still suck.

[nor]

Re: Philosophical question.. "Tone is in your fingers"

If you SUCK with a CRATE, You're still gonna SUCK on a SOLDANO or BOGNER.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Yea, but it'd be a more defined, detailed, and harmonicly-rich 'sucking'. [img]graemlins/band.gif[/img]

And you could trade it for a 79 Camaro - straight across!! [img]graemlins/headbang.gif[/img]

[VitaminG]

Re: Philosophical question.. &quot;Tone is in your fingers&quot;

so can anyone tell me what sort of big-ass spider Kirk used to get his tone on Justice? Obviously certain species of spiders are found only in specific locations across the planet, so can you recognise a guitarist's country of origin from his/her tone & the type of spiders residing in their amps? Is this why when an Aussie band records their debut album in a suburban studio in Sydney, and then records the follow-up album in a flashy studio in LA or London, their tone is often markedly different? Is it because London spiders sound better than Sydney spiders?