From tsellers@knology.net Tue Apr 26 10:20:40 2011
Subject:Re: HUSH - change of pace-JL solos

There has always been a continual debate about playing solos "as recorded" or doing partial to full improvisation. I have left bands because they wanted every thing "note for note" and would spend hours arguing over the most nit picky nuances of note selection or tone for some (IMO) stupid cover tune. As a player whose primary background is jazz, and also a suspect memory, I am firmly in the improv camp, and can count the solos I have actually attempted to comp lick for lick on one hand. However I do have a real knack for improvisation. I know other players who could not improvise a decent sounding solo if their gig depended on it, but can master playing other musicians solos within minutes, and replay them months later. The players I admire the most are those gifted individuals who can do both. We all play as well as we can with the tools that we have. C'est la vie!!

Tom
----- Original Message -----
From: tonysounds
To: CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, April 26, 2011 8:45 AM
Subject: Re: [CWSG] Re: HUSH - change of pace-JL solos


I think one of the things about Jon Lord's soloing is that they're always improvised. He talks about this a bit in the "Machine Head" dvd: he says he/they always end up using his first solo; otherwise, every time he retakes a solo he keeps the bits he likes from the previous solo, and then they start getting less interesting, and then the repeated parts never sound as good as the original, and it becomes a case of diminishing returns. So he prefers the "warts" versions because at least they have energy.

That said, Hush is a great example: towards the end of the solo, you can actually hear a punch point; he finishes the solo take early, there's a pause in the solo and then the next line quite audibly was not performed at the same time, has a very strange cadence to it. So he must have taken a solo, didn't like it, did it again, but didn't remember the exact length, and when the engineer stopped punching in at the end, they discovered "whoops, 4 more bars!", but damage was done. And for that reason, I try to duplicate that in my solo on that song.

I'm with CC: I only note-for-note solos I really like or are really iconic (you know, the type that non-musicians can hum in their heads), otherwise, I hit the landmarks and do my own thing, or if I am not enamored with the solo, totally do something different.

T

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