#3711  by sarraqum
 
Does anyone have GD movie soundtrack album? If the answer is yes (and I am positive it will be) can you then tell me how does Bobby do that strum thing? You know the thing, the quirky little strums that pop up every now and again, they also did them on some Friend Of The Devil versions of it....

 #3712  by sarraqum
 
I think he mutes the strings when he does it but I just can't pull it off

 #3713  by strumminsix
 
I have no idea what you are talking about and would love to help out! Please explain it differntly or mayb tell us which part of the song.

 #3714  by sarraqum
 
I think I figured it out, he plays a G on maybe a 9th fret, mutes the strings and picks the root string at the end of the strum...or maybe he doesn't mute the strings? Who knows.... Somehow he manages to get more than one strums in there...

Does that even make sense?

 #3719  by spilly
 
i believe your talking about that mexican muting technique he picked up after a few years of playing mexican music.

you'll want to very lighly mute the strings with you strum hand palm, almost right at the bridge. this way the pickups still register the tone and it doesn't completley block the sound. then move your pick finger down the stings slow enough so you play them one at a time.

hope this helps

 #3722  by sarraqum
 
Yeah man thats it! I figured he was muting the strings but couldn't pull it off myself. Thanks.

 #3723  by ch0ke
 
Can this muting technique be pulled off on acoustic or nah?
 #3738  by phreaker
 
sarraqum wrote:You know the thing
indeed. i do know the thing.

Bobby has some (what sounds to be) tricky strum patterns. whenever i think i got em down, i play along with a recording, and realize im totally off.

sometimes it works best to match his quirky little strums by light/quic palm mutes. i even throw in a few extra upstrokes.

unfortunantly, i dont have the GDM soundtrack. i have a couple of the most hard to find LP's and live recordings, and that damn soundtrack is in the corner shelf of hastings, boasting its $25 price tag in my face.

as i was saying, i dont know the exact recording youre speaking of, but i think i know what kind of "thing" youre talkin bout.

 #3756  by spilly
 
actually choke, I beliueve this technique sounds best on an acoustic. It's based off a mexican type, flamanco sound, and is ment for an acoustic, but don't tell Bobby that.

 #3758  by ch0ke
 
haha cool spilly im trying to pull off this technique but i cant seem to pull it off on my fender the action is high as as hell ;P

 #3760  by tigerstrat
 
That particular UJB was taken from 10/19/1974 if you want to look it up by date.

Higher action can actually help for these kind of techniques. Bobby played an ES-335 from fall 1973 to these retirement shows, so this is possibly his second-to-last time performing on it or any Gibson (unless he played one at the subsequent Kingfish shows, but I always associate the beginning of the Ibanez phase with them)- after about 5 years of the 335, the SG Std of early-mid 1973, and the long stint from 68-72 of mostly playing the red ES-345.

 #3764  by ch0ke
 
OH yea high action can help? i cant seem to pull this technique off do you only do it on the downstroke or can u do it on the upstroke too i cant seem to get it heh...

 #3766  by spilly
 
upstokes just fine too. Bobby does a full circular stoke with this technique on the Friend of the Devil off the closing of winterland.

it's not a particularly easy thing to pick up on as it involves changing the standard placement of you stumming hand, but when you start to get it right you'll know, it's almost a harmonic in nature.

good luck and keep practicing, I'm sure you'll get it. just remember to keep your palm near the bridge

 #3769  by ch0ke
 
yea hopefully i do get it one day it seems harder to do a full circular then just a downstroke heh :( maybe one day..

 #3773  by spilly
 
no need for dispare man, it took me at least 3 weeks to get it to sound good at all, muting techniques are a suttle art to master, but if you get it right it will open up a whole new realm of possibilities