Alternative styles of playing normal instruments.

Lets be creative! Do you have an instrument that you play in a less than ordinary manner? I play the banjo. I drive the bluegrass pickers around here completely crazy, 'cause I play rock music with it. I don't tune it in a standard bluegrass tuning, and I don't fingerpick like the bluegrass folks do. They seem to think it's all "wrong". But it sounds GREAT, especially with a little guitar backup. Anybody else?

 

Well, I play fretless bass, which I suppose is a variation on a common instrument, but I use it as a lead, in mostly experimental stuff I do. I use standard tuning, but often use cords and half-tones and all kinds of odd rhythmic, harmonic and melodic patterns that, as far as I know, aren't used in much else. Needless to say, I'm not in a band, considering no one else plays this kind of stuff.
However, I recently taught myself to actually... play bass lines on my bass (there's a concept to mull over for ya), so I guess I could play accompaniment now, if I found the right kind of band.
I'd like to hear some of that banjo. Sounds neat!

 

I play some Black Sabbath on the piano.

 

i use my guitar to create textures and pad layers so my bass player (who is les claypool jr) can rock out like a son-bitch...

 

not me exactly but some1 i know plays electriv violin, but never studied music, only animals, and with his violin can talk to whales n shit

so i guess electric violin and a blue whale on lead..lol

sounds amazin with a good drum circle

 

talks to whales? crazy shit.

 

Be careful who you share your tricks with!

I play a couple different/strange things on guitar and sitar, but am hesitant to talk about them after having some of my best tricks stolen by fairly notable players who get fawned over for their original concepts.

I will say that using a mandolin pick gives a nice warm fuzzy sound similar to flatwound strings.

National Geographic put out a flexi-disc in the early 80s with the songs of the humpback whale, and I learned most of it. Since then I have run across a slew of musicans who were also fascinated with that very disc, and lots of players of many different instruments use whale songs in their work.

I have used a bong as a musical instrument, I call it acoustic waterpipe. By removing the stem and using it like a native flute, you can get a spooky howl or earthy low resonance tone. I'll leave it to you to figure out how to change pitch and different notes!

Since electric guitar pickups hear any vibration, there are lots of options for applications there, and I enjoy them for recording. Not so viable for live material.

I also enjoy using the vibrations from electric guitar on natural items, and turn a basic wooden table or tree stump into an amplifier. Takes practise, but can be impressive to do a lead in the woods without an amp around!

Finally, my last trick that I will talk about is more of a gizmo than actual riff. Its called a "surface mount transducer" and is basically an acoustic pickup that when applied to a surface hears whatever noise it makes. Its fun and viable for music, both live and studio.


btw, forum regular Gregonzo has a great tune in which he uses a guitar to play all the riffs a la Steve Vai or Les Paul. You would swear the song has bass and drums, and several other instruments layered on the track, but is all done on one acoustic guitar. Very cool stuff!

 

oh my goodness.... a week ago i saw the most fascinating drummer i've ever seen.....tatsuya nakatani

he came to my jazz band from japan and was giving us a demo of how he plays.... this man is amazing!!!

first of all, he has a drumset that he made by himself, there are no cymbals, only a gong..... he uses pieces of metal he finds on the street, old cymbals, and really anything else he can use to create these insane psychedelic feedback type noises.... i was in awe when i saw him.... you should check him out for sure if you are into stuff that's pretty trippy

 

Ah, ya got me thinkin' now. We took some heavy cardboard tubing, the kind that linoleum comes rolled around, cut it into different lengths and laid it out on cushions in a V shape. Put a mike at the end where the V came together and used drum sticks on them. Cool sound.

I have a dear friend who SHOULD be incredibly famous, probably would be if he wasn't so darned NUTS. He is the best bassist I have EVER heard, bar none. He mostly plays solo for this reason. He developed a style in which he can play several different riffs at the same time. He gets the bass line, the tune, and the percussion going all at once. Or sometimes two different parts of the same tune. His hands get moving so fast sometimes that they become a blur. When he "links up" to the cosmic forces of music, he gives one the distinct impression that his instrument actually does not have enough to give him... As if he could literally blow it up into a million pieces with his energy. I don't think anyone has created a bass guitar, or regular guitar for that matter, that can keep up with HIM. Terry DooHammer. If ya ever stumble across him, be prepared to be blown away.