make a large jump without the high note being a screamer? Case in point, in Blind Mary, when I go A-e, the e really sounds loud when recorded and played back, although I can’t say I notice it when I’m playing. Whatever I’m doing, I know it ain’t right. Ideas?
What singers often do is move the mic away before hitting the high notes. Musicians often do the same, though it usually means moving themselves rather than the mic. If there is a rapid switch, it may not sound that smooth. Another alternative is to use editing software to reduce the volume on some of the high notes to get a more even volume.
- Bill
Seconded..step back a bit. I play often beside a fiddler with upper second octave allergy ( I think he was a bat in his last life…). It’s second nature to step back from the mic, sometimes even to play short and slightly late. Some whistles of course handle this sort of thing better than others.
Trisha
You might try making the leap to a note one down from the high one and then slur up to it. This works quite well in Blind Mary as Joanie Madden does it.
Not sure if this is applicable to this particular case, but I find that tonguing an isolated high note makes it clean without requiring quite as much air as simply blowing harder would. Of course, that sort of breaks the flow of notes, which might not be desirable.
Still, I think a high e will always have more volume than a low A. Maybe the answer is to play the A a bit louder, as well as trying to soften the e?
This is especially useful when jumping to E, as you can play a vented D, which won’t scream at all. This gives a good way to slide into it in slower tunes and a good pop in fast tunes.
Many thanks, Paul. That seems to be the ticket. I’m still rough with it, but it does seem to work. Which CD does she do it on? I could go read the labels, but if you know offhand you can aid and abet my natural laziness.