Quick update on this Universal Mind thing I’ve been working on:
What’s most apparent (apart from the fact that I’m off beat) is that I mostly skip that middle string, sometimes hitting it, but mostly not. I’ll drop this to 140ish and see if I can get it up to at least 50% accuracy.
Looks great man!
So sorry for the ultra dumb, probably 100000 times already asked question, but despite seaching the site and the forum I couldn’t find an answer: How to get the magnet?
@Tallano thank you!
Not a dumb question, no worries! From what I understand, @Troy and the team are fulfilling all the orders for the Kickstarter backers first (which is why I have one), and then I think they will begin selling the remainder.
That’s correct, thanks for answering. What we might do is put a dummy product in the store with a note that says it’s not available yet. This way at least if people are searching in the store they’ll see it. We’ll take a crack at that shortly.
Nice playing! Yes, you are displacing the middle string pickstroke to the top string, if I’m seeing this correctly.
Sometimes this is connected to using single escape motion. You can see that you are USX-ing the top string via two-way pickslanting, even though this is not really a USX lick. The problem is, ironically, that it actually sounds good. It’s hard to hear the displacement (i.e. unpicked note), so the hand learns that this is “ok”. It just plays the top string instead because it’s mechanically simpler. Every repetition just reinforces this tendency to use the simpler USX motion over the DBX motion.
My hypothesis on this is that it’s due to form. I think the flatness of the arm position and grip makes the wrist motion closer to deviation, which is not as good at mixing escapes. This forces the forearm to rotate to get the escapes instead of letting the wrist do it. This is why the arm always wants to go back to USX instead of doing DBX like it should.
If this is true, going slower won’t fix it. The 2wps will just come back when you speed up again, and so will the tendency toward displacement. So one thing you can try instead to encourage DBX is three-finger grip and staying in a more supinated arm position all the time. Or, you can try using a more extended grip than the closed up one you use currently. Either one of these might permit the arm to be more supinated, and give the wrist more DBX capability. When you look at three-finger supinated players, you see a lot less arm flip flopping, and I think it’s basically because they don’t need it.
All just a hypothesis, but you can give that shot if you like, and maybe that will help.
This has been the motto for my time with the magnet so far!
I love having really detailed information about my playing, but it’s sometimes jarring to see how something can sound good while being far from perfect. I’m sure playing like this live would be (at least for my standards) just fine, but is it good enough to be a “legit take” in a recording? Totally depends on the artist of course, but I feel like that last push to perfection is the really hard, time-intensive effort.
I always think of the solo in “Purple Rain”, and how memorable it is, despite not being “flawless” technique.
There is a qualititative difference between:
the correct technique, with a good hit rate, with only occasional mistakes, very often which are not even audible, and
mistakes that occur systematically, because something fundamental is happening in the technique that is not what you want
I don’t worry about category 1, and you probably wouldn’t either. But when it’s category 2, I don’t think fixing it means you’re a “perfectionist”. I hate that. It just means you’re trying to do the technique right. Once I can do a thing the way it’s supposed to be done, I care a lot less about occasional errors, especially if they’re not even detectable without slow-motion wizardry.
I’m suggesting with this clip is that it’s category 2. Not a judgment! It’s the story of my life. In my experience, trying to fix individual wrong notes doesn’t work when the issue is technique or form. i.e. It is not fundamentally an accuracy issue. Instead, sometimes an overall form change fixes all the notes, and puts you in category 1 with only occasional errors.
Reworked the fingering in the descending 4’s, also added the ascending bit so I can loop in groups of 8:
Testing out a new pedal too, hope it sounds good!