Voda La Void  I find that hand movement creates slop, and that keeping it in place while the fingers work makes it tighter and cleaner. 

Great tip...
 

Thanks Kenny,
 
Doing most of this already but not nearly as elegant. 3 and 4 finger hammering simultaneous notes or a country twang holding the pick with thumb and first finger. Already got the guy's routine down. Trouble for me is just to throw out the pick entirely.
 
Friend came by today to receive his guitar repair. Demonstration was there for the guy to listen to, but required a pick to deliver the message. Knee jerk reaction still. Got to get past the mind set that a pick is needed for anything. So many more technical horizons out there if the damnable plastic triangle can be cast away as an obstructive thing of the past. Problem is that old habits die hard.
 
John

Hey Kenny,
 
Think you interpreted me wrong. Not putting myself in the same league with the kid.  I’m not that good a player by today’s standard. Can hold my own in a studio but mediocre at best (self analysis). Meant that I’m proficient enough with the clawing third and fourth finger while holding a pick, and want to get that comfortable with no pick.
 
But yeah, would be honored to upload a couple mp3’s I’m working on. Wanted to finish some info on arthritis first. One song with a pick and some finger flips and twirls in the late lead section. Can’t pull it off or get the guitar tones without a pick. Will upload a second song done entirely without a pick, and that something I can’t do with a pick. Goal is to get comfortable with either approach.  Lemme know what you think and any suggestions are appreciated..
 
John

I'm sorry John , there is a lot too much going on there in your clip regardless of pick vs no pick for me to comment .
 
Kenny

Cool song John, lots of potential.  I like the vocal effect on it, too, fits nicely.  

Voda, Starise,
 
Appreciate your feedback. I haven’t figured out if the vocal effects are a blessing or a curse. Over the years, good musicians have told me some tune is okay but could I cut back on the flanger on the vocals, which I overdo in every song. Problem is there is no flanger on the vocals, it’s a built in artifact. Think I inherited it when the Bee Gees came out and I was inspired by their vocal style. Up til then, singers did vibrato on the voice. These guys did tremolo. Practiced as hard as I could until the tremolo became second nature and lost the vibrato ability. Double tracking a voice for me now injects a flange that I can’t take out. Got to practice to get back in tune though.
 
Starise, your Celtic clip is excellent. Took me awhile to recognize something familiar there in the style, and got to wonder now if you are the reincarnation of Harry Chapin.
 
Said I’d post a finger pick tune. Chords are simple. Pick style is simple, uncomplicated, but a major right hand burn out to keep it going for over 4 minutes without mistakes that are overly obvious.
 
Just to share some crazy techniques used in “Spinnet”
 
There is a young kid in Portland, brilliant audio engineer with a 150k ProTools based studio. State of the art everything. He does the recordings and the final mix is to take the pristine digital session and render it onto a 1970’s Revox half track tape machine.
 
I got inspired to see if the opposite approach would work.
 
Spinnet was recorded on a Teac 4-track to get real analog warmth. Did a temp background of nature sounds taken from a genuine 33 vinyl record mixing several sequences. Everything old school. Then mixed into Reaper, noise floor extracted with FIR, then harmonics added back in. Analog to digital. Plan to replace the LP sounds with digital real sounds and see how that comes out.
 
4 tracks for the guitar. Two Ebows for the drone. Two for the finger picking. Used a badly mutated old Gibson single coil SG.
 
https://ufile.io/r2kb1
 
John

JohnKenn
Voda, Starise,
 
Appreciate your feedback. I haven’t figured out if the vocal effects are a blessing or a curse. Over the years, good musicians have told me some tune is okay but could I cut back on the flanger on the vocals, which I overdo in every song. Problem is there is no flanger on the vocals, it’s a built in artifact. Think I inherited it when the Bee Gees came out and I was inspired by their vocal style. Up til then, singers did vibrato on the voice. These guys did tremolo. Practiced as hard as I could until the tremolo became second nature and lost the vibrato ability. Double tracking a voice for me now injects a flange that I can’t take out. Got to practice to get back in tune though.
 

You know, I wondered about that.  As I was listening I thought I was hearing close mic singing with a lot of vibrato, or tremelo, I guess.  But I wasn't sure and decided it was some effect you were adding.  
 
That's actually a pretty cool technique.  I know what you mean though, you don't want it on everything, but it's cool that you can do that.  It makes it kind of signature for you.  I'd roll with it.  But maybe add the skill of a cleaner style too, for when it's not appropriate to use the John Kenn vox technique.