OT: Shameless plug for Ottawa Bluesfest

[Gilles C]

Merci Mark! Tu n'as plus d'eau dans le sous-sol, j'espere...  :wink:

I think that I will try to be on vacation for the Ottawa Blues Festival next year. It seems to be bigger than the Carleton Blues Fest I went many years in a row.

...I knew many bluesmen who were playing in Carleton, and I was invited by a Blueswoman to play in a bar the last time I went there. That's another nice side to the Blues...

But Ottawa would have been my choice this year, for sure.

Last month, I had a surgery that will keep me from traveling or walking for too long for a few more weeks.  But next year, I'll be ok.

BTW, what would you suggest to a slide player like me to sound a little bit like Sonny Landreth. Beside more talent I mean...

I am wondering if he uses some delay, or just some sort of distortion.

Kirk Lorange is another slide guitarist that have a sound that I like.

http://www.soundclick.com/pro/default.cfm?BandID=156391&content=music

Gilles

Added: I think I had a flash from the past. A Proco Rat is what I was once suggested and had decided to build to get that kind of sound.

[Mark Hammer]

Merci Mark! Tu n'as plus d'eau dans le sous-sol, j'espere...  :wink:

Non, juste un petit lapin. :lol:  Heureusement, maintenant nous avons une vraie chambre à coucher pour les invitées.

Last month, I had a surgery that will keep me from traveling or walking for too long for a few more weeks.  But next year, I'll be ok.

Sorry to hear you had some problems.  I hope you have a speedy recovery.

BTW, what would you suggest to a slide player like me to sound a little bit like Sonny Landreth. Beside more talent I mean...

I am wondering if he uses some delay, or just some sort of distortion.

I couldn't see the floor but he used a combination of amplifiers and cabinets.  Actually, the description of his gear at his website seems to be accurate, although I never really saw him step on anything.  Three of his essential components seem to be: a glass slide, a 2-Tek bridge on his Strats, and his Dumble amp.  A fourth is obviously volume.  

The 2-Tek bridges are interesting and provide a lot more mass for a Strat string than the tremolo block normally does.  They also keep the strings independent from each other in an interesting way.  They certainly looked good in the ads but after hearing one in action I am sold on the principle.  Great sustain and note definition.

I had also heard Dumble amps on record, but his live sound was amazing.  I can see and hear why people wait 3 years for these things.  But it is partly the volume that helps him to find notes that don't really exist and tones that come from other places than the top of the guitar.  He uses harmonics a lot, and between the "bloom" of the Dumble, and the volume that produces it, he has more notes to work with.

He uses fingerpicks, and one of the techniques I noticed him using a lot was muting of the lower 5 strings with some of his fingers, while his ring finger would pluck the high E for the slide.  He is quite clever in the way he selectively mutes the unused strings with his right hand, while using his slide and fret fingers.