To Shredders / Fast pickers (resonance and noise)

[silentrage]

Just something I've always wondered about while working on my picking.


If I play on a string and leave the rest completely open, they would start to resonate with whatever notes I'm playing.

like if I hit the high E 15th position hard the G string would vibrate (no pun intended, no no), so I'd end up palming any string I'm not playing.


Also if I change strings during a fast passage I can't leave the string I'm on silent when I move up a string, so I have to palm mute this too.

So the result, tons of palm muting, and it just slows down my picking.

And the weird thing is I've at least seen a few fast and clean guitarists do multi-string passages at high speeds without ever palm muting. MAB comes to mind.


one thing worth mentioning is I was told by ROBOT that the proper way to sweep is after you pick a note, leave your finger touching the string but not fret it when you change strings, this completely eliminates noise

(which I still have problems with positions that would produce harmonics, ie. 2nd, 5th, 7th.)

so I thought maybe I should apply this to alternate/economy picking multi string licks, but it's even slower than palm muting, so I'm not sure.


So I'm wondering, what is the "proper" way to deal with the resonance and string noise when you leave a string and moveup to the next?


sorry for the wall of text!

[noodleplugerine]

Can't help you with your resonance problem, try changing the action maybe? I don't get that issue.

But the sweeping is correct to a certain point, I mute with my palm is I go down, and then mute with my left hand as I go up.

[WezV]

some guitars are just more resonant.  Its generally seen as a good thing but can be a real bane for some styles

I might try raising the pickups a little closer which might kill some of it off (again - usually a bad thing) - but other than that you need to sort out technique to control it or sacrifice open notes and use a mute in front of the nut - an old sock can work wonders for lazy players like me  

[il˙ti]

The resonance is natural. It's just the nature of notes and overtones. This is one of the reasons you often see people wrap a piece of cloth (or an actual dampener) on the strings at one of the low frets, when they play up higher. When you play live, it's usually not noticeable because there are other instruments drowning out most of the noise. You'll notice that you perceive your tone with a lot less noise and fuzz when you hear it in a mix.

Going between strings without the open string sounding is just something you have to practice. Sometimes, muting with a finger on the left hand is easiest, sometimes PMing. And another trick is to use the ring or pinky of the picking hand. And again, generally, if you play it cleanly enough, muting isn't necesary.

[silentrage]

The resonance is natural. It's just the nature of notes and overtones. This is one of the reasons you often see people wrap a piece of cloth (or an actual dampener) on the strings at one of the low frets, when they play up higher. When you play live, it's usually not noticeable because there are other instruments drowning out most of the noise. You'll notice that you perceive your tone with a lot less noise and fuzz when you hear it in a mix.

Going between strings without the open string sounding is just something you have to practice. Sometimes, muting with a finger on the left hand is easiest, sometimes PMing. And another trick is to use the ring or pinky of the picking hand. And again, generally, if you play it cleanly enough, muting isn't necesary.

 I kind of suspected that the resonance is just a property of the guitar, so the only way to not hear it is to not leave strings open.
I would like to avoid PMing for the other situation though, on multi-string licks.

I tried to play super slow and clean and make sure to lift my finger off without any extra motion whatsoever, and it will still make a sound.

And I'd like to play like some of the virtuosos where even if it's just them shredding with no accompaniment, you still won't hear any noiso whatsoever.

I guess the only way to do that is to mute it how you would with your left hand when sweeping up?
I think PMing is probably more sensable for sweeping down motions.

And I could try laying my picking hand's un-used fingers on the string to mute but I suspect when you move across the strings like that it might do the opposite of what was intended.

I'm on vacation and unfortunately ddin't bring my geetar so I'll have to theorize for now and try later. :p

[MDV]

15th fret on the E is a G.

Of course it will resonate with a G.

It just means you have a fairly resonant guitar and its well intonated.

Practice your muting.

[lepersmeesa]

Well the advice I would give is practice muting with your hands. When you palm mute, you don't have to make the strings sound palm muted. Move your hand so it rests on different part of the strings. At a certain point you will realise that it is cleaning up your playing while not palm muting.

The other thing is to use the index finger on your left hand to mute the string above your playing. It becomes second nature with all the muting, and hopefully your playing will get much cleaner in no time.

[silentrage]

MDV, yes I know that but I was wondering if it's a "problem" with my guitar, apparently it's a good thing so... yay? :)

Leper, hey thanks for the advice, I do that a lot of the times, but it's just a nagging feeling from the back of my head not knowing if this is how the Virtuoso shredders do it or more like a shortcut that won't help my playing in the long run. Or is it just a whatever works for you kinda thing?
To your knowledge do a lot of people do this or do any virtuos do it?
Thanks again. :)

[il˙ti]

To your knowledge do a lot of people do this or do any virtuos do it?

It's the "correct" way of doing it, so yeah I assume so.

[lepersmeesa]

Yeah, watch some videos you will see a lot of players doing it, especially in tutorial videos when they play slow.

[silentrage]

alright, thanks fellas :)