JohnKenn
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Practice dry...
Appropriate for the software forum, because about the use of no software...
Have started to practice with some brainless 3 chord mp3 on one channel, and my guitar on another channel, dry with no nothing applied. Makes me naked to the world and to truth.
Found that practice with no effects really really highlights limitations in ability. Easy to acid square wave my signal before a flange and delay into obscurity, but practicing dry really is a painful, objective way to force you to get your act together.
Sounds terrible from here, but making progress without hiding behind a chain of vst crutches.
John
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bapu
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Re: Practice dry...
2016/04/30 03:03:12
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Fleer
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Re: Practice dry...
2016/04/30 06:28:05
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Lead us away from temptation.
"We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl" (Wish You Were Here)
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BassDaddy
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Re: Practice dry...
2016/04/30 08:32:13
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I sometimes play with no amp for the same reason. Still no real explanation for the Mesh, no pants method, though.
It's Bass, not Bass. i7 2700K, 16GB DDR3, 2 SSD sample drives and OS drive, HDD SATAIII for projects, 2 24" monitors Focusrite Saffire Pro 24, Focusrite VRM Box, LAVA Lamp, SONAR Platinum 64 bit, Mackie MCU and 1 MCU XT, Akai Advance 49, Windows 10, Komplete 9 Ultimate, Cakewalk, Toontrack, IK, AAS, XLN, UVI, Air Music Tech, Waves Factory, Sample Tek and Sonivox VSTi's. Overloud, T-Racks, Audio Damage, D16, Nomad Factory, Waves Gold FX
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JohnKenn
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Re: Practice dry...
2016/04/30 10:31:48
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Yes, revolutionary for sure. Pure genius on my part.
Only problem with the approach is that as bad as I sounded yesterday, I still sound as bad today.
Maybe a touch of compression and a slight flange. Just a bit of delay and some eq to take down the bass end. Then with a little overdrive, I can practice dry and it will improve the sound. Could use some stereo widening the more I think about it.
I forgot about the Valhalla stuff. Got to get some use out of the investment. Should also check to see if S-Gear is still authorized.
There...I sound better already.
Practice dry.
John
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Fleer
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Re: Practice dry...
2016/04/30 11:41:05
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BassDaddy
I sometimes play with no amp for the same reason. Still no real explanation for the Mesh, no pants method, though.
I kinda like that lofty approach. It's the missus that doesn't let me do it when she's in da house.
"We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl" (Wish You Were Here)
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sharke
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Re: Practice dry...
2016/04/30 17:18:18
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Playing unamplified without effects to improve technique is as old as the hills, I'm pretty sure the likes of Steve Vai and Yngwie Douchesteen honed their playing skills like this. Distortion gives you a natural compression and softens the attack which helps cover up picking and fretting inconsistencies. Personally I've always played lead with my thumb and 2nd finger which is more difficult to get an even tone out of, so I've always practiced either unamplified or on a steel string acoustic. But let's not forget that, at the end of the day, it's your fuzz box that brings the girls to the yard 
JamesWindows 10, Sonar SPlat (64-bit), Intel i7-4930K, 32GB RAM, RME Babyface, AKAI MPK Mini, Roland A-800 Pro, Focusrite VRM Box, Komplete 10 Ultimate, 2012 American Telecaster!
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JohnKenn
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Re: Practice dry...
2016/04/30 18:21:47
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Sharke, Whada you mean, concept older than the hills. Everyone here will completely agree that I'm the first sentient life form across the star fields to figure this out. However, your point about the fuzz box and the girls over rules everything. John (edit) on more curious note, playing with a thumb and other finger (?). Watched some old Fleetwood Mac YouTubes and saw the guy playing with no pick. Excellent tones and control. Dire Straits guy the same. Read something years ago about some guy going to a guru guitar teacher to learn and the teacher told him the first thing he had to do if he really wanted to learn guitar was to throw the pick away.
post edited by JohnKenn - 2016/04/30 18:46:23
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yorolpal
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Re: Practice dry...
2016/04/30 19:31:08
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This is truly what separates the men from the boys. The ability to sing or play with absolutely no audiological help and still pass muster. While my faves are still Robben Ford and Larry Carlton on guitar, the sheer jaw-dropping virtuosity of Chuck Loeb, Lenny Breau or Tommy Emmanuel puts them on a "whole 'nother level"!!
I regularly make myself record guitar parts dry. It, as was alluded above, is a VERY humbling experience.
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bapu
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Re: Practice dry...
2016/04/30 19:50:40
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The only time I get dry is when I get out of the shower.
HTH.
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sharke
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Re: Practice dry...
2016/04/30 20:14:55
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For me, playing with fingers instead of a pick makes me feel closer to the guitar and results in a freer expression.
Studying classical, particularly Bach where you have 2 or 3 separate parts going at once (or ragtime) is also a great technique builder. When you're playing multiple lines together it really encourages you to strive for consistency of tone because the parts have to sound balanced with each other.
JamesWindows 10, Sonar SPlat (64-bit), Intel i7-4930K, 32GB RAM, RME Babyface, AKAI MPK Mini, Roland A-800 Pro, Focusrite VRM Box, Komplete 10 Ultimate, 2012 American Telecaster!
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BassDaddy
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Re: Practice dry...
2016/05/01 10:30:48
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I played very (very!) little guitar for about 22 years and when I came back I couldn't hold on to the pick. Didn't have young, moist hands anymore. I had always finger picked acoustic so I thought I could do it electric but for the single note runs I had to come up with something so I went to thumb and second finger too. Thumb for down, second finger for up. First and forth get in there too but seems to be without my permission. That Dire Straits guy seems to do it with no problem; how hard can it be? Clean, on a Strat= nowhere to hide. Watch Derek Trucks and tell me how he picks. His hands are flapping around like Joe Cocker. He plays pretty clean and you can't hammer on with a slide. Practicing clean can show you some work you need to do on your guitar too. Intonation and fret buzz. For me, Ive found recently, pick-up adjustment and pole pieces set up right add a lot of consistency to the sound. Way more than I would have thought a few years ago. Anyway, back to software discussion or lack of it.
It's Bass, not Bass. i7 2700K, 16GB DDR3, 2 SSD sample drives and OS drive, HDD SATAIII for projects, 2 24" monitors Focusrite Saffire Pro 24, Focusrite VRM Box, LAVA Lamp, SONAR Platinum 64 bit, Mackie MCU and 1 MCU XT, Akai Advance 49, Windows 10, Komplete 9 Ultimate, Cakewalk, Toontrack, IK, AAS, XLN, UVI, Air Music Tech, Waves Factory, Sample Tek and Sonivox VSTi's. Overloud, T-Racks, Audio Damage, D16, Nomad Factory, Waves Gold FX
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Dave76
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Re: Practice dry...
2016/05/01 13:12:57
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My advice after a couple o' decades experimenting with stuff like this is do plenty of both clean/dry and gain/effects along with all sorts of other combinations.
Gain/effects hide a lot of flaws compared to clean/dry but clean/dry hides a different set of flaws compare to gain/effects. For example, you can get away with sweeping an Em arpeggio at the 12th fret on a clean guitar with sloppy muting technique. Try the same with high gain and the 12th fret harmonics will ring out. Another example is a big, spacey David Gilmour style solo with a ton of delay. Hit a sour note with clean/dry and it might go unnoticed. Hit a sour note with a loud, long delay and all you can do is stand there and grit your teeth while you wait for the delay trail to stop repeating your mistake. String noise from sliding your hand around is another example where clean will tend to hide it compared to the compression and harmonics from a setup with some gain.
As a general rule, if I'm doing warmups, technique work, noodling, etc., I'll mix it up. If I'm working on a written part, I'll usually practice it as near as possible to the performance setup.
The worst for me (and thus probably how I should practice the most) is crunchy mid-gain ala Jimmy Page. Not enough gain to cover up mistakes but just enough that any mistakes stand out like a sore thumb.
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sharke
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Re: Practice dry...
2016/05/01 13:46:12
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Dave76
My advice after a couple o' decades experimenting with stuff like this is do plenty of both clean/dry and gain/effects along with all sorts of other combinations.
Gain/effects hide a lot of flaws compared to clean/dry but clean/dry hides a different set of flaws compare to gain/effects. For example, you can get away with sweeping an Em arpeggio at the 12th fret on a clean guitar with sloppy muting technique. Try the same with high gain and the 12th fret harmonics will ring out. Another example is a big, spacey David Gilmour style solo with a ton of delay. Hit a sour note with clean/dry and it might go unnoticed. Hit a sour note with a loud, long delay and all you can do is stand there and grit your teeth while you wait for the delay trail to stop repeating your mistake. String noise from sliding your hand around is another example where clean will tend to hide it compared to the compression and harmonics from a setup with some gain.
As a general rule, if I'm doing warmups, technique work, noodling, etc., I'll mix it up. If I'm working on a written part, I'll usually practice it as near as possible to the performance setup.
The worst for me (and thus probably how I should practice the most) is crunchy mid-gain ala Jimmy Page. Not enough gain to cover up mistakes but just enough that any mistakes stand out like a sore thumb.
Good points re: the high gain. Mistakes are magnified and sustained....ouch! I think a lot of people have trouble with that "mid gain" crunch sound. It does feel like you have to work extra hard with it.
JamesWindows 10, Sonar SPlat (64-bit), Intel i7-4930K, 32GB RAM, RME Babyface, AKAI MPK Mini, Roland A-800 Pro, Focusrite VRM Box, Komplete 10 Ultimate, 2012 American Telecaster!
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mixmkr
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Re: Practice dry...
2016/05/01 13:58:41
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BassDaddy
I played very (very!) little ......[snip]..... Didn't have young, moist hands anymore.
It amazes me how threads in Sonarville always veer off topic....
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TheSteven
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Re: Practice dry...
2016/05/01 14:53:56
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For the last year or so I've been trying to live by the adage - own every note.
Whether acoustic or high gain metal I strive to make sure that every note heard is how I meant it to be played.
It's really forced me to revamp my playing style and address some long standing technique issues.
I've been focusing on acoustic guitar lately because, at least for the moment, it makes my flaws are more visible.
I find that if I can't play a lick cleanly on acoustic, I'm not really playing it clean on electric.
"Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately it kills all its pupils" Loius-Hector Berlioz  www.AgitatedState.com MenuMagic - plug-in management powertools! My Tunes
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mixmkr
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Re: Practice dry...
2016/05/01 16:22:28
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Fleer
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Re: Practice dry...
2016/05/01 22:32:13
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mixmkr
BassDaddy
I played very (very!) little ......[snip]..... Didn't have young, moist hands anymore.
It amazes me how threads in Sonarville always veer off topic....
Off topic? The father of bass never strays!
"We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl" (Wish You Were Here)
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