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RE: What's the deal with steel string guitars?
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estebanana
Posts: 9351
Joined: Oct. 16 2009
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 RE: What's the deal with steel strin... (in reply to Paul Magnussen)
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quote:
James I of England put the matter in a nutshell, when some juggler was presented to him by his courtiers as “a marvellous fellow”.
The King watched for a while, and said:
“What this man does may be very difficult, but it is not pleasing.”
Said of Narvaez the vihuelist: ( who jammed on gut strung boxes )
“There was in Valladolid in my youth, a vihuelist named Narvaez, of such extraordinary musical skill, that upon four parts in mensural music in a book, he improvised on the vihuela another four, a thing miraculous to those who did not understand music, and to those who understood it, most miraculous” Zapata de Chavez, 1592
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https://www.stephenfaulkguitars.com
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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date Jun. 15 2013 0:57:53
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rletson
Posts: 8
Joined: May 25 2013
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RE: What's the deal with steel strin... (in reply to ralexander)
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Assuming that this is a serious rather than mischievous question (and arriving a day late and a dollar short)--
Duh.
I admit to being a bit of a dabbler, but at least I'm a long-distance dabbler, and over fifty-plus years have played steel-string flat-tops, classicals, and acoustic archtops. Each class of instrument has its charms and strengths and associated musical traditions (many of which I have visited, however touristically), and I would not identify any of them as the "true" guitar. Even an historical view fails to locate the One True Guitar beyond identifying a family tree with spreading branches.
Of course, there's no accounting for taste, particularly in primal matters such as what sounds (or flavors or colors or shapes) one finds immediately satisfying. Myself, I can't abide melon of any kind. My wife loves 'em. There it is. And a jazz guitarist of my acquaintance finds much violin playing too harsh-sounding--including that of Stephane Grappelli. Go figure. But they're his ears. I feel the same way about Rob Zombie.
That said, many people find sensual satisfaction in, say, slack key guitar, a primarily steel-string tradition. (Listen to Ray Kane or Sonny Chillingworth or Led Kaapana). Or in the work of Michael Hedges (whose sound was often heavily processed). Or Ry Cooder. Or Django Reinhardt (even through the bandpass filter of 78 recordings). And so on into the night.
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Date Jun. 18 2013 18:57:00
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FlamencoD
Posts: 113
Joined: Apr. 7 2012
From: Portland, OR
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RE: What's the deal with steel strin... (in reply to ralexander)
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I didn't read more than the first couple of posts, but here's my take: I played electric and steel string acoustic for 15 years before beginning flamenco. I never even really considered nylon string guitars before I decided to learn Flamenco. Steel string guitars are far more popular due to their popularity in popular music. Popular music rarely uses nylon string guitars, which is unfortunate. That said, I prefer by far a nylon string guitar sound, but there are some nice steel string guitars. Nylon string guitars, IMO, are much more dynamic than steel string guitars. After falling in love with a flamenco blanca, I think steel strings sound tinny and thin, generally. I also feel like nylon strings may be more sensitive to their build quality than steel strings, but that's just my opinion. There are nice sounding steel string acoustics, but I prefer nylon.
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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date Jul. 3 2013 5:28:33
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