Pentatonic scale playing

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Here is a picture of my playing an A minor pentatonic scale with forearm rotation elbow technique. So that’s two notes per string other than the turnaround with 3 notes per string on the high E string.

I’m much louder on the wound strings than on the plain ones. And you can see on the graph where the volume increases in the middle of the run where I am changing the angle of the pick slightly to come back through the scale.

While I love a wave graph, I think it could be misleading, because low/high frequencies may be perceived differently by the ear! Can you really notice the volume difference when you listen to it?

As usual the suggestion would be to post a clip in technique critique :slight_smile:

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Can someone make like ten or twenty of these for classic solos and we can decide which one “looks” the best

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Auxiliary question: is this the DI or the processed signal - alternatively, how was this recorded?

I used the guitar cable with an adaptor straight into the microphone socket.

Aside from the facetious response above by Prlgmnr which is unhelpful, Tommo I’m using this to try to get an even picking sound for the whole scale. I know its fast, as you can see on the graph its all done in about 2.5 seconds, but I want it to be accurate in tone, no fading of notes on certain strings. If I use effects I’m processing the sound, but this way its the guitar straight into the computer. But that still might alter the sound. What do you think?

Thanks for the info!

It’s very difficult to assess whether there is really a problem only based on the graph -> this is why I’m very curious to hear what it sounds like.

Depending on the interface/adapter you are using, it may be that higher frequencies are being cut (this may be for example if your audio interface is not “High-Z” - i.e. instrument type).

Even with a perfect DI (Direct Input - ideally a 1-to-1 representation of the pickup signal), I have the impression that low strings tend to give a visually “bigger” wave, and high strings a smaller one. I’m sure a sound engineer would know if/why this actually the case, but I am not one unfortunately!

Here it is, as nude as its gets.

Wow, very fast!

Yes, the higher notes sound slightly quieter, but I think it would become barely noticeable with some gain. Counter-intuitively, the gain might also make the open string noise less noticeable!

I have no idea what the reason for this might be - even assuming a super-even picking attack, on electric you could still have this effect due to a million factors (the high-Z thing mentioned above, pickup characteristics etc.).

The next step would be to ask you to post a video in technique critique :slight_smile:

It will have open string noise because I use no muting with this technique, which is part of why its fast. I’ve never owned a video phone so that’s not practical, but as this was my first go at recording I might try some other attempts and see if they look and sound the same.

Just for reference, here is a snippet of my Erotomania solo from while back. This is a mainly-ascending run that starts on the bottom strings and ends up on the top two strings, and you can see that also in my case the wave gets (on average) skinnier there:

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I’m not trying to fan any flames here (and I don’t record with a DAW, so my audio engineering chops are basically zero), but I do find it interesting that you would look to the sound wave for something you already know is happening by listening. What does it sound like through an amp? Like in the room? My paltry advice to offer is simple - use a bit of compression when playing with a clean tone, especially if you are not playing loud, at low volumes I often find clean tones sound thin and almost too dynamic…

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I dragged my big amp out of the wardrobe, put a new set of strings on my guitar, and playing that scale is fine, no ringing out from the other strings. It’s nice to know that I can practice without the amp and then get the correct sound when I’ve got the amp up and running.

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