Juke Box Hero
October 31, 2007 12:26 PM Subscribe
What makes Allan Holdsworth's guitar sound so strange when he is playing the song "Metal Fatigue"?
I have wondered about this song for many years, but there is a YouTube video of it (see below) and it doesn't look like he is playing any unusually strange chords. So, I assume it is an effect box of some kind (hope my terminology is correct.) So what is he using to get that, metallic, for lackofabetterword, sound?
I have wondered about this song for many years, but there is a YouTube video of it (see below) and it doesn't look like he is playing any unusually strange chords. So, I assume it is an effect box of some kind (hope my terminology is correct.) So what is he using to get that, metallic, for lackofabetterword, sound?
You bet there's a pedal or ten in there. Probably a modeling processor or something. Not sure what it is exactly.
posted by Ironmouth at 12:36 PM on October 31, 2007
posted by Ironmouth at 12:36 PM on October 31, 2007
It sounds like he's using, among other effects, a pitch shifter to produce multiple tones for each single note played. The parallel intervals running up and down the guitar line have a really unsettling effect that may be what you're hearing as "metallic" (or maybe "robotic", in a b-movie sci-fi sense?).
Aside from that, it sounds pretty heavily compressed, and there's some EQ filtering at least giving it a bit tinnier a tone than you'd usually hear from a stock guitar/amp setup. Can't suss out the details there, though.
posted by cortex at 12:37 PM on October 31, 2007
Aside from that, it sounds pretty heavily compressed, and there's some EQ filtering at least giving it a bit tinnier a tone than you'd usually hear from a stock guitar/amp setup. Can't suss out the details there, though.
posted by cortex at 12:37 PM on October 31, 2007
Sounds to my unprofessional ear like some sort of note-splitter. The original note ('O') and a note that is (n*O) Hz are output at the same time.
posted by not_on_display at 12:37 PM on October 31, 2007
posted by not_on_display at 12:37 PM on October 31, 2007
He's playing a single-note line on the guitar but using a harmonizer (the Eventide is a popular one but I don't know if it's what AH uses) that's duplicating the line at (several different, apparently) parallel pitches. It's an effect that's used by lots of twentieth century composers (although generally not via electronics) precisely for that weird, thick, otherworldly effect.
A relevant google search that should back up what I'm saying.
posted by Wolfdog at 12:40 PM on October 31, 2007
A relevant google search that should back up what I'm saying.
posted by Wolfdog at 12:40 PM on October 31, 2007
He's using a harmonizer of some sort, that takes the original note, and combines it with one (or more) versions of the same note, pitch shifted up and/or down.
The effect is quite strange, especially if the shift is constant, like say, a minor third, because if you play, say, a major scale with a minor third added to each note, not all of the added notes will be in the key.
They might have had intelligent pitch shifters in 1984, not sure, but they probably sucked if they did exist. An intelligent pitch shifter chooses the harmonically correct note, to harmonize within the key.
posted by RustyBrooks at 12:41 PM on October 31, 2007
The effect is quite strange, especially if the shift is constant, like say, a minor third, because if you play, say, a major scale with a minor third added to each note, not all of the added notes will be in the key.
They might have had intelligent pitch shifters in 1984, not sure, but they probably sucked if they did exist. An intelligent pitch shifter chooses the harmonically correct note, to harmonize within the key.
posted by RustyBrooks at 12:41 PM on October 31, 2007
Right, exactly, parallel harmonization sounds particularly weird because the harmonizing notes inevitably go out of key - they tend, in fact, to erase our sense of key entirely. Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra is the canonical sampler plate of the different possibilities - in the second movement, different instruments are characteristically heard in parallel pairs (trumpets doubled in major 2nds, clarinets in 7ths, flutes in 5ths, and so on).
posted by Wolfdog at 12:44 PM on October 31, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by Wolfdog at 12:44 PM on October 31, 2007 [1 favorite]
Boss was making decent pitch shifters by at least '86; there certainly must have been something similar two years earlier.
In any case, there's that ubiquitous 80's distortion going into it.
posted by Reggie Digest at 12:56 PM on October 31, 2007
In any case, there's that ubiquitous 80's distortion going into it.
posted by Reggie Digest at 12:56 PM on October 31, 2007
I agree with everyone else. In that particular clip it sounds like he's using the following:
- Distortion/overdrive (either from the amp or from an effect box - gives it that slightly dirty tone)
- Compression and/or a noise gate (gives it that "clipped" quality)
- Pitch shifting and/or harmonizer (as others have stated above).
This page isn't a whole lot of help, but does list some of the specific effect processors he uses.
Also, Robert Fripp, among others, got similar kinds of sounds during the eighties (here's a more recent clip).
posted by googly at 1:01 PM on October 31, 2007
- Distortion/overdrive (either from the amp or from an effect box - gives it that slightly dirty tone)
- Compression and/or a noise gate (gives it that "clipped" quality)
- Pitch shifting and/or harmonizer (as others have stated above).
This page isn't a whole lot of help, but does list some of the specific effect processors he uses.
Also, Robert Fripp, among others, got similar kinds of sounds during the eighties (here's a more recent clip).
posted by googly at 1:01 PM on October 31, 2007
If I recall correctly, he's harmonizing the guitar part up a step.
posted by alikins at 1:01 PM on October 31, 2007
posted by alikins at 1:01 PM on October 31, 2007
I was going to say it was a 5th and another 5th above that (giving a 9th above the root). But the comments say, and they're right, that it's a step above and a 4th below - I had the right scale steps but I was hearing them an octave higher.
posted by Wolfdog at 1:08 PM on October 31, 2007
posted by Wolfdog at 1:08 PM on October 31, 2007
(FWIW, googly's Fripp clip sounds more like an octaver than a proper pitch shifter; not what you're looking for.)
Sounds a bit like an Electro-Harmonix Frequency Analyzer, maybe?
posted by Reggie Digest at 1:16 PM on October 31, 2007
Sounds a bit like an Electro-Harmonix Frequency Analyzer, maybe?
posted by Reggie Digest at 1:16 PM on October 31, 2007
In other words, maybe not a pitch shifter (though I still think that's more likely the culprit), but a ring modulator.
posted by Reggie Digest at 1:20 PM on October 31, 2007
posted by Reggie Digest at 1:20 PM on October 31, 2007
The process of shifting pitch digitally (and realtime...and in the 80's) leads to all sorts of artifacting, which I also attributed to their desire for a 'metallic' sound. I wonder which came first: the lyric/title or the decision to use the pitch effect.
posted by Monstrous Moonshine at 1:25 PM on October 31, 2007
posted by Monstrous Moonshine at 1:25 PM on October 31, 2007
It's a guitar synthesizer (mixed with his guitar). Here is an article where he talks about it (specifically mentions Metal Fatigue). The early synthesizers did pitch to Midi conversion, which is somewhat slow, but can work with any guitar. Later came guitars designed to be synth controllers that were more responsive.
posted by cosmac at 2:56 PM on October 31, 2007
posted by cosmac at 2:56 PM on October 31, 2007
Response by poster: I think Cosmac wins for finding the actual article, but thanks to everyone who took the time to answer. I feel I now understand this tune a bit better. (and here, all these years, I assumed he was playing some bizarre jazz chords to get that sound.)
posted by wittgenstein at 5:32 PM on October 31, 2007
posted by wittgenstein at 5:32 PM on October 31, 2007
I disagree about the guitar synth. The article states "I had used a Stratocaster with a Roland hex pickup and a MIDI interface to play some background chords on a track on Metal Fatigue".
Holdsworth is prone to humbleness, but I don't think even he would call the opening signature riff to the opening and title track of the album "some background chords". Holdsworth did make very extensive use of guitar synth (well, the Synthaxe) on later albums, but as the article mentions, it was very minor role on Metal Fatigue.
Also, the clip of it being performed live didn't give any hint to usage of a guitar synth (no synth pickup or controllers visible).
As mentioned before, I've read that it was just a distorted guitar harmonized up a step (and maybe down a 4th) and recall playing with effects processors with a "metal fatigue"[1] setting that was just that.
[1] probably something like "Tired Metal" or other name as was the style at the time.
posted by alikins at 11:44 PM on October 31, 2007
Holdsworth is prone to humbleness, but I don't think even he would call the opening signature riff to the opening and title track of the album "some background chords". Holdsworth did make very extensive use of guitar synth (well, the Synthaxe) on later albums, but as the article mentions, it was very minor role on Metal Fatigue.
Also, the clip of it being performed live didn't give any hint to usage of a guitar synth (no synth pickup or controllers visible).
As mentioned before, I've read that it was just a distorted guitar harmonized up a step (and maybe down a 4th) and recall playing with effects processors with a "metal fatigue"[1] setting that was just that.
[1] probably something like "Tired Metal" or other name as was the style at the time.
posted by alikins at 11:44 PM on October 31, 2007
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by wittgenstein at 12:29 PM on October 31, 2007