Tom Bukovac picking

Sorry, what does this mean?!

Imagine playing 3 notes per string on the B and high E strings where you pick 2 notes on the B string, then 4 notes on the high E string. The 3rd note would be a hammer from nowhere in the fret hand (B string) while at the same time picking a dead note on the high E

   d u  d u d u
e|------X-5-7-8-|
B|-5-7-(8)------|

Troy calls that “pick stroke displacement”

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Funny, I cannot do this at all! Seems like a pretty clever tool, kind of along the lines of a sort of “hack” like swiping! Neat!

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Totally. I’d bet if done correctly it would be even cleaner than swiping. The mute/dead note should be happening at the same time as the hammer from nowhere, as opposed to just a hair before the target note like in swiping. Not that proper swiping is easy to hear or anything. I just think the displacement stuff is even more stealthy

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Swiping = lots of us that do it (a lot) don’t even hear it. Well, now that I know what it is and have had a chance to really see and hear it in my own playing it sticks out like a sore thumb now - not necessarily in a bad way - it’s just that I can really recognize it now. I know what to look for and listen to.Truthfully, I don’t mind it at all - honestly it sort of punctuates certain things in a way if that makes sense.

This displacement thing, I honestly never would have thought of it and i should have - my legato is pretty solid, I feel like I could have made that work as a sort of “work around”. Ah well. I can save it for when I really need it now I suppose.

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Even better, the string is energized from the prior pick stroke so it is an easier (regular) HO. Or am I missing something? Thanks for explaining, it seems clever and somehow I missed any mention of it!

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You’re right…no clue why I was referring to it as a hammer “from nowhere”. It’s just a regular hammer on.

This looks like what might be at work in the “Spanish Fly” sextuplets…although Troy pointed out all the “airballs” in that recording, I think this might be what Eddie was driving at?

I’ll have to re read that thread, it was interesting. I think at the time I wasn’t as familiar with CtC concepts as well as I am now, so aspects of that thread likely went over my head.

I know Eddie has a few different motions. My understanding is his tremolo (pure forearm rotation, no wrist) was USX but he also had a DSX wrist based technique. Spanish fly 6’s should work out perfectly with a DSX motion but if he was doing his forearm based motion I can see how that works with this pick stroke displacement stuff.

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That segment is really something else, especially after Troy analyzed it.

Since then I’ve become aware of the way that was recorded…Edward had a VERY difficult time with it. He recorded a total of 26 takes and the 25th was the one that ended up on the record. Alex was encouraging him in between takes as well. Fascinating…and I’m still trying to figure out how to play it in a coherent and repeatable way.

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Huh, I saw this while scanning the boards quicky, had the same question… and this is a great answer. Interesting. Thanks!

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@Troy @Jacklr I’m still trying but I think my tremolo is not right yet. check out my tremolo and maybe you guys can help me again

Thanks!!!

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This looks like wrist motion to me, so not what Tom Bukovac is doing but that doesn’t really matter if it’s working well :slight_smile:

So how is the motion performing? There seems to be a bit of jumpy randomness to it, do you notice that? Is this something you could for do for at least 30 seconds or does it feel like hard work and you gas out quickly? If you are doing it right it should feel effortless, like you’re just turning on a motor and forgetting about it. Personally I’d aim to be able to play at or above 115bpm sextuplets because any less than that I could do with my old inefficient motion - so if you can do that, great :grin:

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What’s up garbeaj, you and I have exchanged notes on YouTube over the years. Where did you find those nuggets about the recording of Spanish Fly? Is there an old article out there?

Cheers!

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I got that from Dweezil Zappa who has listened to all of the outtakes and alternate versions from the entire catalog. He told me that story and I thought it was amazing.

Hopefully someday more of that stuff will come out in addition to the things that I shared on the Internet which were given to me by someone I didn’t know. If you‘ve heard any of the recent hour or so of unreleased alternate takes and raw mic tracks, chances are it came from me. The guy that sent it to me gave me no stipulations on NOT sharing it, so I freely did with three people and within one day it was all over YouTube.

Beautiful SG Jr! I’m dying for one exactly like it!

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Really?! Can you attach a link?

Would love to hear whatever you got

Cheers!

Just search YouTube for recently uploaded alternate Roth era tracks. There are several different accounts that started uploading once I shared it with those few people. One user is “thunderdude…” something or other.

Will do, thanks. I was reading older posts about the six note run. You guys spent a lot of time on it. Picking each note definitely doesn’t sound right. I saw a short YouTube clip of you playing it with a “stagger” type feel. What is the picking pattern you used?

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I don’t want to de-rail this thread anymore than I already have…I’ll respond here: Van Halen "Girl Gone Bad" Drum and Guitar Riff

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