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Posts: 1770
Joined: Jul. 11 2003
From: The Netherlands
Playin with muted strings "open...
Hi all,
In the evening hours I often practice with muted strings. (I put some polyurethan foam just before the bridge)
The guitar sounds always a bit better after this.....is it an idée-fixe, and is it just because my ears are used to the muted sound, Or could it be possible, the top vibrates on a different way (higher or lower frequence) and it opens up on a different level?
Any of you have experianced this, or have thoughts about this?
RE: Playin with muted strings "... (in reply to gerundino63)
Yeah I get the same impression after playing with muted strings for a while. Always thought it was just some sort of auditory illusion.
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RE: Playin with muted strings "... (in reply to gerundino63)
I loved studying like that and aside of the ear thing i tend to believe there is another aspect to take into account. Obviously when playing one has to divide ones attention between various aspects of playing and monitoring the sound quality obviously is one of them. By cutting off the sound the brain will fully shift it's attention to other aspects of playing (like rhythm and technique) and personally i noticed that playing with tempered strings made me play more rhythmical and more relaxed/natural compared to normal playing. I know from experience that a more relaxed technique generates a better sound so like me the effect you experience might very well be the result of both re-tuning your ears as well as adapting a more relaxed/natural way of playing in which case it is not your guitar that opens up to a different level but your way of playing.
Annoyingly, as soon as i added sound again i tended to fall back in old playing habits again (playing with less relaxed fingers) so at first the effect was only very short running. Later on when i started to practice all aspects of playing separately and playing with completely relaxed fingers (temporary) became part of my normal playing my level of playing and the quality of my sound raised accordingly. This also is the idea behind my signature "the smaller the object of your focus, the bigger the result" :-).
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RE: Playin with muted strings "... (in reply to gerundino63)
I've noticed similiar changes I was never sure if it was the guitar or more precise finger movements due to the staccato nature of practicing with a mute ..
This weekend just gone I played a couple of festival gigs There were two percussionists I was placed near plus a 'Rock' mix through the foldback My guitar definitely has even more bite in the mid range going on since then ( an 86 media Luna ) Not sure why this occured ...or just my ears have opened up 😳
Posts: 15725
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC
RE: Playin with muted strings "... (in reply to gerundino63)
This is an auditory illusion of course. Like swinging two baseball bats makes using just one feel nice and easy. Here is an extreme one I deal with every skype class. Put on those big headphones that totally cover your ears and play several pieces. When you take em off and play your guitar, it sounds HORRIBLE! Bright and glassy, brittle, disgusting.
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