06 July 09
It Might Get Loud
Back in my previous life I was an axeman. I won’t get into it just now why I put down my axe, but I’m happy to say that recently I’ve picked it back up. For a time, I quite seriously pursued music as a career.
In my early days of being in a band, guitar virtuosos reigned. At the time it was all about the flare — the faster and flashier the guitar solos, the better. It was hard not to get caught up in it all. Unfortunately for me, I wasn’t really good at it. I lacked the chops.
Rather than let that get me down, I intuitively worked within my limitations. This led to hours and hours of experimentation with tone and effects. These limitation pushed me to create a unique and signature sound, and ultimately find my voice.
So it’s no surprise that the documentary It Might Get Loud has me pretty darn excited. White Stripes guitarist Jack White pushes The Edge and Jimmy Page to reveal the secrets behind some of the classic sounds they’ve managed to birth out of their gear.
While Jimmy Page ranks up there as one of the original virtuosos, The Edge certainly doesn’t. He’s consistently downplayed his chops in interviews. I would say that he was the guitarist that I most related to back in my day.
For me, those days were my earliest lessons of transforming limitations into innovations. The results were encouraging and indelible.
Adrian Belew was another one of my guitar effect heroes. Check out some of the bizarre tones he creates with King Crimson.