How does Greg Leisz do it?

Jim Palenscar · Post by **Jim Palenscar** » 6 Dec 2012 6:18 pm

All I can tell you about Greg is that he tunes a lot

.

chas smith R.I.P. · Post by **chas smith R.I.P.** » 6 Dec 2012 6:28 pm

Well, I feel sad for all those other notes that didn't get played, and they're just sitting there all over the fret board...

Alex Cattaneo · Post by **Alex Cattaneo** » 6 Dec 2012 7:27 pm

The Frisell disfarmer clip posted earlier is beautiful. I'm getting both the Cd and DVD right now!
Most of the gigs I get are in non-country settings, mostly folky singer songwriter stuff, and I really need to hear more of that type of playing.

Marc Jenkins · Post by **Marc Jenkins** » 6 Dec 2012 9:10 pm

Greg's work on the self-titled Bon Iver record is some of my favourite accompaniment, ever.

Kevin Milner · Post by **Kevin Milner** » 6 Dec 2012 11:19 pm

I've said it before and I'll say it again, you need the self titled Sara Watkins album. His solo on Pony alone is worth it!

chas smith R.I.P. · Post by **chas smith R.I.P.** » 7 Dec 2012 5:10 pm

When you listen to those clips that are posted, it's a confirmation of how important the single note is.

He tends to leave the 3rd out of chords. Opting for sus's or seconds. I don't want to say 9 because there are a lot of close second harmonies. Like playing C,D, and G together over a C chord.

Leaving out the 3rd of the chord keeps the chord "neutral". It could be this or it could be that and it can tie things together. When you play a chord with a 3rd in it, you make a statement of where you are, which murders all the places you could be.

Alex Cattaneo · Post by **Alex Cattaneo** » 7 Dec 2012 8:17 pm

Ha ha ha, Chas, great way of putting it. How about you, I know you do a lot of sessions where you're asked to avoid sounding "nashville", how do you approach it? Whenever I do studio work for film scores or TV, it's often about mood and avoiding resolution, a lot of loopy stuff or short phrases that the composer can edit and move around. If I want to make sure not to sound country, I might use my D8 Stringmaster to avoid any kind of pedal action altogether.

Kevin, I bought that Sara Watkins album on Itunes today, great stuff, thanks for the tip.

Tim Heidner · Post by **Tim Heidner** » 7 Dec 2012 9:26 pm

Wow, there's quite a few more videos on there with Greg and Bill Frisell playing John Lennon songs! Some nice stuff going on.

http://www.youtube.com/user/bathoshue/videos

chas smith R.I.P. · Post by **chas smith R.I.P.** » 7 Dec 2012 9:43 pm

Alex, given that I live and work in LA, if they call me, they're probably looking for something "floaty". There are a number of local players who can play circles around me, JD, Doug, Greg, Skip and so on. If I get a call from Mutato, I can show up with a pedal guitar and my bass steel into a Rev pre, a Demeter reverb and an Eventide H8000. If I don't know what they want, I have to bring everything.

Greg and I ended up on a film score for a documentary on Howard Zinn, a few years back and it was like the "old days" with a studio full of musicians and no idea of what we're going to do next. I had 2 set ups and 3 different guitars, which means 6 different tunings. Greg was in the other room with at least 2 different pedal guitars and a bunch of other stuff. At one point, they wanted the 2 of us to do something like Amazing Grace. He's great at the lead and I like chords and "support", plus I had my D-11 Emmons with the low E. You know things are going good when everyone, in the control room, stops talking. It was a great moment.

It never made it into the film, as well as most of what we did, because the music director was a "tinkly piano guy". Baerwald, the composer, has it somewhere in his files and I would love to get a copy for myself.

Jonathan Lam · Post by **Jonathan Lam** » 7 Dec 2012 10:14 pm

Todd Pertll wrote: He tends to leave the 3rd out of chords. Opting for sus's or seconds. I don't want to say 9 because there are a lot of close second harmonies. Like playing C,D, and G together over a C chord.

He definitely LOVES using the open sounds of 2nds.
It's theory semantics but i think it's important. Extensions above 7ths only exist with a 7th. The D in a C E G chord is a 2nd, unless its the bass.
The D in a C E G B chord is called a 9th because the 7th is there.

My favorite solo of his is the ENTIRE track of "This was then" by Frisell on "Good Dog Happy Man" record.

Alex Cattaneo · Post by **Alex Cattaneo** » 7 Dec 2012 11:20 pm

Jonathan Lam wrote:
He definitely LOVES using the open sounds of 2nds.
It's theory semantics but i think it's important. Extensions above 7ths only exist with a 7th. The D in a C E G chord is a 2nd, unless its the bass.
The D in a C E G B chord is called a 9th because the 7th is there.

Not necessarily. Add9, to me anyway, means add a 9th to a triad (C-E-G-D). Maj9 means add a 9th to a Maj7 chord (C-E-G-B-D), while 9 is a dominant chord (C-E-G-Bb-D). Sus2 would mean replace the 3rd with 2nd (C-D-G). You can put any note on any chord in any octave you want. We might just choose to call it differently, but "a rose by any other name"...

Alex Cattaneo · Post by **Alex Cattaneo** » 7 Dec 2012 11:23 pm

Chas: Tinkly piano and weepy cello are definitely the alpha dogs in the current scoring soundscape.

A D-11 Emmons???

Ben Jones · Post by **Ben Jones** » 8 Dec 2012 7:39 am

Threads like this are why I still occasionally check in here.

pardon my butting in and asking a question after such an extended absence but:

I'm curious about the complete absence of attack on some of those things Greg is doing. I was wondering if his volume pedal is completely silent in the up position? does he use a pot pedal?

when instaliing a new pot in a pot pedal, one is instructed to not have the pedal be completely silent in the up position, the intent being to not slam the wiper into the pot stop when the pedal is maxed one way or the other, so my VP is not completely silent when in the off position and I still hear some attack no matter how I pick it.

really inetersting thread, thanks

Marc Jenkins · Post by **Marc Jenkins** » 8 Dec 2012 8:17 am

Ben Jones wrote:Threads like this are why I still occasionally check in here.

pardon my butting in and asking a question after such an extended absence but:

I'm curious about the complete absence of attack on some of those things Greg is doing. I was wondering if his volume pedal is completely silent in the up position? does he use a pot pedal?

when instaliing a new pot in a pot pedal, one is instructed to not have the pedal be completely silent in the up position, the intent being to not slam the wiper into the pot stop when the pedal is maxed one way or the other, so my VP is not completely silent when in the off position and I still hear some attack no matter how I pick it.

really inetersting thread, thanks

I just rewired my Goodrich yesterday because of this thread. I once again have zero volume at heel down, and I don't care. The pot will be fine.

Ben Jones · Post by **Ben Jones** » 8 Dec 2012 8:26 am

Marc Jenkins wrote:
Ben Jones wrote:Threads like this are why I still occasionally check in here.

pardon my butting in and asking a question after such an extended absence but:

I'm curious about the complete absence of attack on some of those things Greg is doing. I was wondering if his volume pedal is completely silent in the up position? does he use a pot pedal?

when instaliing a new pot in a pot pedal, one is instructed to not have the pedal be completely silent in the up position, the intent being to not slam the wiper into the pot stop when the pedal is maxed one way or the other, so my VP is not completely silent when in the off position and I still hear some attack no matter how I pick it.

really inetersting thread, thanks
I just rewired my Goodrich yesterday because of this thread. I once again have zero volume at heel down, and I don't care. The pot will be fine.

I'm starting to think I should do the same. the pots arent that expensive anyway and its not like im playing for hours a day

Alex Cattaneo · Post by **Alex Cattaneo** » 8 Dec 2012 8:35 am

Not that I would want to encourage gear acquisition syndrome, but have you considered a Hilton volume pedal? They don't suck tone the way the Ernie Ball or others do, and they have a lot more headroom. In any case, I would definitely want my pedal to be dead quiet when the heel is down.

Ariel Lobos · Post by **Ariel Lobos** » 8 Dec 2012 8:45 am

There´s a Joni Mitchell album from the 90 's , Turbulent indigo , Greg Leisz plays this kind of steel , that was the first time i heard him and his amazing approach.

Ben Jones · Post by **Ben Jones** » 8 Dec 2012 8:48 am

I hadnt considered the Hilton pedal but perhaps I should.

I didnt want a VP that plugged in before, because I was gigging in rock clubs and it seemed like an extra setup and tear down pain, but I dont gig on this instrument anymore so ....maybe i should.

David Mason · Post by **David Mason** » 8 Dec 2012 9:08 am

Trying to make solder stick to those Dunlop pots and trying to remember which pot needed which setup quirks and which pot is "really" a good one and which pot is only wishfully a good one is a bigger pain.

Ben Jones · Post by **Ben Jones** » 8 Dec 2012 9:17 am

good point david

Jim Palenscar · Post by **Jim Palenscar** » 8 Dec 2012 11:48 am

Greg uses a Telonics pedal as well as others. You can have a standard pedal be totally quiet with the heel down and still not be jamming the wiper as there is some "wiggle room" at the start of the throw- you just need to be careful when setting it up.

Ben Jones · Post by **Ben Jones** » 8 Dec 2012 12:24 pm

well I adjusted my VP and still dont sound like Greg.

I am SHOCKED that a minor adjustment and ten seconds worth of trying cannot make me sound like a pro.

Thanks Jim, that Telonics looks like a very serious pedal!

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 8 Dec 2012 4:03 pm

when instaliing a new pot in a pot pedal, one is instructed to not have the pedal be completely silent in the up position, the intent being to not slam the wiper into the pot stop ...

I don't know where you heard that.

I don't think any pro would tell you not to set the pedal so it doesn't have an "OFF". Of course, you don't want to "slam the stop", but you don't need a lot of clearance. It's usually possible to have the pot wiper near enough to the stop to have a complete "OFF" without damaging the pot by banging its stop.

Most of the players I've known who want some sound with the pedal up are newer players who are somewhat unsure of what they are doing, and need a little "audio preview" so they can hear a clam before they kick the pedal down to where everyone can hear it.

The Steel Guitar Forum

How does Greg Leisz do it?

quick question

Re: quick question

Re: quick question