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The following is a guest post by Kevin Ian Common. If you are interested in guest posting, please contact me!

Hello Everyone!

This is a quick column and experiment. I wanted to try to add video so you can real-time applications of what I write about.

We’ll take the idea of droning/pedal tones and alternate fingerings of chords to the next level–actual use! Because while reading playing chord charts is fun, actually using them in your songwriting is where the fun and inspiration begins.

I took a very simple chord progression:

C#m, A, C#m, B

From here, I took the main dyads of each chord and use them against an open B and E string.

C#m – C# E

A – A C#

B – B D#

The chords operate in the key of E major, so adding a droning E and B string adds much character, especially when you have a non-chord tone in each chord strummed.

After playing the basic positions of the chords… I take it to the next level:

Low to High: E A D G B E

C#m – X X 11 9 0 0          A – X X 7 6 0 0          B – X X 9 8 0 0

After playing around here… I add the octave of the third of each chord in the high E string:

C#m – X X 11 9 0 12          A – X X 7 6 0 9          B – X X 9 8 0 11

What you will notice is the richness in high-end and the lush sounds you can get BEFORE you add any effects!

I take it a whole other level by adding the low E string. This is a bit tricky, but with some practice, you will find the end result to be rewarding!

I added some delay to the proceedings later. You can even add a little overdrive or full-on distortion. Adding effects give such progressions and droning notes a different kind of character… some work… some don’t.

Go ahead and play these progressions. If these finger positions are new to you, take your time. The benefits are priceless.

Here is the link to a modest demo video of what I did to those three chords:

I hope you have found this column interesting and educational!

Kevin Ian Common recently used a power drill for sound contrast and paid for it in blood. He plays guitar and sings in The Common Men, a Post-Punk trio from Northern California. They are on Facebook and Twitter, but you can find them @ www.myspace.com/thecommonmen for all updated information and sound files.

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Hello Everyone!

I received my Devi Ever LP in the mail. I know many of you are familiar with Devi Ever. I have fallen in love with these pedals. I discovered Devi Ever whilst looking for noise pedals and interesting pedals to add to my rig.

You can look up www.deviever.com to read the full description about the LP. I thought I would give you my own take:

The Devi Ever LP is an overdrive with a broken record skipping effect. It’s skipping effect is pretty random, but it gets more intense when you mess with the “control” knob. Then again, this pedal only has two knobs: volume and control.

Most of the demos on DeviEver’s YouTube seem to be done direct, with no amp. This is a problem to me because I know direct-in recording is completely different compared to speakers. I kind of bought this one out of faith, but I was not disappointed

The thing you notice right away is the overdrive. It’s a very unique sounding overdrive. I haven’t really heard it before, so I cannot compare it to anything. If anyone can, by all means, comment! It’s not too fuzzy, but it’s not one-dimensional like so many other overdrives I’ve heard before. It has a unique body… almost like it relies on texture to make it’s point.

However, if you are like me, and you turn your controls all the way up before striking a single note, you would have noticed the skipping first. The effect really is like that of a broken record. I’ve also noticed that along with the control knob, the skipping effect is very touch-sensitive. I lightly picked a few chords without hearing anything, but as soon as I layed into an open chord, you immediately hear skipping and glitches thrown into the mix. It’s delicious.

Devi Ever recommends you play around with it until you find a setting you like. I personally have found every setting wonderful.

Writing this review has finally given me the perfect analogy of the Devi Ever LP–and quite possibly ever Devi Ever pedal ever made: these pedals are the equivalent of putting potato chips in sandwiches. Sure, you have your meat (or meatless patties), tomatoes, lettuce, pickles, and condiments, but ever now and then you want to throw in some real contrast when it comes to texture. The crunch of the potato chip perfectly compliments everything. The LP is a pedal of overdrive texture and texture by way of a skipping signal.

I have included a modest video demo, but a search on YouTube can yield Devi Ever’s demo as well.

I love it, and you should too

Kevin Ian Common recently used a power drill for sound contrast and paid for it in blood. He plays guitar and sings in The Common Men, a Post-Punk trio from Northern California. They are on Facebook and Twitter, but you can find them @ www.myspace.com/thecommonmen for all updated information and sound files.

You can pick up the Devi Ever LP at Tone Factor for $97.50

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The following is a guest post by Kevin Ian Common. If you are interested in guest posting, please contact me!

Greetings! In this second installment, I’ll talk about drones and interesting ways to use them in constructing guitar parts. I will also include some tips, tricks, and quick fixes when it comes to improving your tone.

The concept of using drones–also known as pedal tones–involves using one note and building chords around it. This is a common method of composition, particularly in Art Music (what is generally referred to as Classical Music) and songwriters who use pianos. The possibility of ten fingers on a keyboard offer a great amount of lush chords with complex harmonies. Guitarists who exercise a little savvy can achieve the same thing.

The easiest way to build a pedal tone would involve an open string.

We’ll take the lowest string, E. I’ll give you some basic chord charts, then I’ll examine further to show you how the chords work off each other.

From low to high: E A D G B E

Em (ver 1): 0 7 5 X X X     (ver 2): 0 10 9 X X X

These are two versions of Em. Version 1 has The root (E) and 3rd (G). Version 2 has the full harmony with the 5th (B)

Em7: 0 14 12 X X X

The minor 7th (D) makes this chord a minor 7th. There is no 3rd, but you can leave the G string open if you wish. I think it sounds great as-is.

F#m7: 0 9 7 X X X

The minor 7th (E) makes this F#m7.

Am: 0 12 10 X X X

This is a full Am chord with the 5th (E) in the lowest register.

C: 0 15 14 X X X

This is a full C chord with the 3rd (E) in the lowest register.

Dsus2: 0 5 4 X X X

This is D major with the suspended 2nd (E) in the lowest register. You COULD make the argument that it is an Em7add9–root (E) minor 7th (D) 9th (F#), but for the sake of this installment, we’ll take the D name.

Now, take these shapes and perhaps play them in this order:

Em (ver 1) – Dsus2 – F#m7 – Em (ver 2) – C – Em7 – Am – Em (ver 2)

Notice how interesting that sounds? You get a low E droning the entire progression, but you still have a sense of movement in terms of harmony.

To build upon it (those of you with multiple guitars, a bassist, or multi-track capabilities), try this:

1) Take the original progression:

Em (ver 1) – Dsus2 – F#m7 – Em (ver 2) – C – Em7 – Am – Em (ver 2)

2) Now, have a bass play the following notes (changing in the same order as the above progression):

E – D – F# – G – C – B – A – G

The bass follows the progression of the notes you play on the A string. You’ll get interesting harmonies when the notes stray from the droning E.

3) Have a second guitar play these open position chords (once again in the same order as the original progression):

Em – D – F#m – G – C – C/B ( X 2 0 0 1 0) – Am – G

Or, to spice things up, you could do this instead

Emadd9 – Dsus4 – D – G – Cadd9 – Bm – Am – Am7

By keep certain chords static over other moving harmonies, you create a sense of independence between instruments, making it even more interesting.

Moving on, I wanted to talk a little bit about tone. The quest for tone is about as on-going as life itself and also a huge headache as it is totally subjective. Everyone has their own idea of what “ideal tone” is all about. This is merely a set of observations I’ve made in my time in live and local music scenes. Whether or not you decide to try or keep these tips is ultimately up to you. But, like I’ve said before, this column is meant to encourage experimentation. Have fun with it

Most of these tips are either free or inexpensive.

1) Use your neck pickup.

Obviously this one is impossible if you ONLY have a bridge pickup, but take a break and flip it to the neck pickup. Notice how full and well-rounded your tone sounds already? If anything, use combined pickups if you MUST use the bridge pickup (most strats have 5 way switching which offer great tonal possibilities, and even two-pickup models have a both-pickup position).

2) Scoop your mids if you just, but use restraint.

Ever been to a local show where a metal band is playing? How about listening to them do a sound check and remembering the wonderful crunch of their tone? What happens next? Generally what happens is… once the drums kick-in, you lose the guitars. Even Kirk Hammet has preached the glories of the mids Use just a little, and you will go a long way.

3) Roll off the gain.

Rolling off a little gain yields two very important things: 1) A distortion that reacts better to your picking technique, style, dynamics, etc and 2) Gives you way more definition. Great riffs are one thing… being able to hear each note clearly without a wall of gain behind it makes it far more enjoyable.

Granted, there are elements of shoegaze, hard rock, metal and noise that benefit from tons of gain. I kick on extra gain–sometimes I run ALL THREE of my distortions at once!–at times, but more often than not, I use little to mild distortion as my one-size-fits-all starter tone.

4) Use heavier strings.

Most guitarists I know use 9′s. Try 10′s, or even 9.5′s. You will notice a difference, especially in your clean tones. Heavier strings = heavier tone. I used to use 8′s until I tried out a guitar that was strung with 11′s. It sounded massive, and I never looked back. All of my guitars are set-up and strung with 11′s.

Thanks for taking the time to read!

I’m hoping to make this a regular column, so if anyone has suggestions for future columns, please feel free to comment me or contact me. I have some ideas, but who knows what ideas you may have for me!

- Kevin Ian Common

thecommonmenmusicgmailcom

Kevin Ian Common is a multi-instrumentalist who has been involved with live music for a little over a decade. He studied music theory and composition at a local university. He has played guitar, bass, and drums for various bands. He is currently the vocalist/guitarist for The Common Men, a post-punk band from Northern California. You can check them out on Myspace, Facebook, or Twitter. Their main page is on Myspace: www.myspace.com/thecommonmen

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The following is a guest post by Kevin Ian Common. If you are interested in guest posting, please contact me!

Growing up a guitar player was tough in the early years. I picked up a guitar a few years later than many of my friends, so when I tried out for bands, most of my friends in bands already had guitarists. This prompted me to think differently about playing guitar and how to play the guitar.

While most of these techniques are tried, true, and probably printed in many magazines before me, chances are you might have a small flash of inspiration. Maybe I will mention something you’ve never thought about. It’s also come to my attention–being in various bands in various cities for the past 10 years–that many bands have guitarists who simply strum power chords or basic open-position chords. Even the simplest variation can make a two-guitar texture sound full, or even a single guitar part sound distinctive.

Hopefully I will be able to continue this series which will include techniques, tricks, tips, and even ideas concerning effects pedals.

Let’s get on with it, shall we?

We’ll start with chords. Chords are the building blocks of any great song. Let’s take a simple progression:

A     D     E     A

You already have the building blocks of a great song. A typical guitarist would simply strum open position chords and call it a day. Let’s look at some alternative ways to play these three chords.

The following charts will be from left to right: E A D G B E

A:

X 0 2 2 2 5     X 0 7 6 5 0     X 0 11 9 10 0     X 0 7 9 10 0     X X X 9 10 9

D:

X 0 0 2 3 5     X 0 0 7 7 5      X X 0 11 10 X     X 0 7 7 10 X     X X 7 7 7 10

E:

0 2 2 4 5 X     X X 6 4 5 0     X X 9 9 12 X      0 7 9 9 0 0     X X X 9 9 7

If you have two guitarists, try having one play the open chord positions and have another play one of these alternatives. You notice that the sound is fuller because different positions/octaves now have a voice in the overall texture. Also, if you are a single guitarist, 9 times out of 10 you have a bassist in the band, why not play an alternate voicing of chords and let the bass form the foundation? Even if the bassist is walking, you will create interesting harmonic movement while keeping everything simple.

Also, try these:

Another easy way to thicken a double-guitar texture is adding a capo to the proceedings. With a capo at the 2nd fret, A D E becomes G C D. At the 7th fret, A D E becomes D G A.

Try playing A D E octaves while letting the high B and E strings ring.

Have one guitarist isolate the third of each chord (A D E is C# F# G#) and play them in octaves. This is a popular technique in modern rock music, but that is because it’s very effective at achieving fuller sounds.

Better yet, for more linear harmonic motion, have a guitarist play E F# E over A D E ( the 5th of A, 3rd of D, Root of E) or C# D B over A D E (the 3rd of A, root of D, 5th of E) for even more interesting results.

Have one guitar distorted and one clean. Japanese rock band Luna Sea used this technique to great effect. You can find various videos on YouTube.

I hope you have found this interesting!

- Kevin Ian Common

The Common Men
www.myspace.com/thecommonmen

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