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Author Topic:  Train sound
Allan Haley

 

From:
British Columbia, Canada
Post  Posted 4 May 2017 6:02 pm    
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Hi steelers. Does anyone know how to do a train whistle sound on E9? I want the effect for a song. What notes are in a train whistle?
Thanks
Al
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Paul Sutherland

 

From:
Placerville, California
Post  Posted 4 May 2017 6:09 pm    
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Just do a forward slant on something like strings 8 thru 6 and do roughly half step slids up, and repeat a few times. Do all this above the twelfth fret. Don't worry about the notes as it's totally dissonant. A little pumping of the volume pedal and you've got a train.
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Lane Gray


From:
Topeka, KS
Post  Posted 4 May 2017 7:03 pm    
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Therr are many approaches.
I drop the Es, choose a fret between 3 and 7 that's unrelated to the key (if you play either root or 5,itll get reinforced by the gang around you), play the chord from about string 8 to 4 with octave harmonics,, give it a bit of bar shiver, then slide a few frets down to simulate Doppler shift.
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Rick Barnhart


From:
Arizona, USA
Post  Posted 4 May 2017 7:14 pm    
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It also helps if you firmly strum the strings initially with the volume pedal off...then pump as described by Paul.
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Andy DePaule


From:
Saigon, Viet Nam & Springfield, Oregon
Post  Posted 4 May 2017 7:32 pm     Dave Hartley's Orange Blossom Special is best in my book
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Dave Hartley's Orange Blossom Special is best in my book
There are about 6 versions he does on youtube.
He uses an extreme forward slant around the 22nd fret with volume swell to get the coolest one I ever heard.
Not hard to copy that train sound, but the rest of what he does and like some whole other story! Whoa! Shocked Laughing Very Happy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6zkX_a9OQ8

If you like this then check out all his other versions of the tune too as well as just about everything he does.
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Inlaid Star Guitar 2006 by Mark Giles. SD-10 4+5 in E9th; http://luthiersupply.com/instrument-gallery.html
2017 Mullen SD-10, G2 5&5 Polished Aluminum covering. Custom Build for me. Great Steel.
Clinesmith Joaquin Murphy style Aluminum 8 String Lap Steel Short A6th.
Magnatone Jeweltone Series Lap Steel, Circa 1950? 6 String with F#minor7th Tuning.
1956 Dewey Kendrick D-8 4&3, Restoration Project.
1973 Sho~Bud Green SD-10 4&5 PSG, Restoration Project.
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Don R Brown


From:
Rochester, New York, USA
Post  Posted 4 May 2017 8:04 pm    
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Different locomotives have different whistles - some are the same but there is no ONE chord or note.

For something like Folsom Prison, in E, try 7th fret A&B down. Pick 3-4-5 together, slant your bar forward keeping 5 where it is, and then return to straight 7th fret. You can play around with it, I agree with Lane a good Doppler can be had by sliding down.

If you give a couple "blasts" of the whistle after the 8 notes on the intro to that song, in the same key, it seems to fit right in. Other songs may sound better with something different.
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Joey Ace


From:
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Post  Posted 5 May 2017 3:36 am    
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Here's mine. Not authentic, but no one ever noticed, (except here).

https://youtu.be/GxiBcs3ke1Q


I described how it's done in an older post here.

http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=296246&highlight=train
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Stu Schulman


From:
Ulster Park New Yawk (deceased)
Post  Posted 5 May 2017 3:52 am    
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Alan,I'm gonna send you an email!
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Steeltronics Z-pickup,Desert Rose S-10 4+5,Desert Rose Keyless S-10 3+5... Mullen G2 S-10 3+5,Telonics 206 pickups,Telonics volume pedal.,Blanton SD -10,Emmons GS_10...Zirctone bar,Bill Groner Bar...any amp that isn't broken.Steel Seat.Com seats...Licking paint chips off of Chinese Toys since 1952.
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Daniel Morris


From:
Westlake, Ohio, USA
Post  Posted 6 May 2017 5:45 pm    
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I sometimes use 5-6-8 around the 3d fret (E9), song in E, F lever (raising Es to Fs). An octave higher can also work. Depends on if you're shooting for horns or whistles, but these are all options here.
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