Adrian Belew - Tips & Tricks

Started by Cricket, August 26, 2012, 05:09:18 AM

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Cricket

Recently found this posted on the Tube O' You.  Remember owning this on VHS and wearing it out, and I still think it's worth watching today.  The gear is different (and will be a trip down memory lane for some [most?] of us).  Still, the basic lessons are the same.

If you have the hour to watch it, you'll probably find it worthwhile.  If you don't, I'll pass along what I learned from it:  the way I put it to myself... every piece of gear you use is an instrument, and you need to treat it that way.  You don't just play the guitar.  You play the amp.  You play the effects.  And if you want to get the most out of your gear, you really should explore it.  Cranking up each knob one at a time to really see what they can do, trying bizarre settings and seeing if you can make music with them.  As Adrian put it in the vid:  Anything you can think of... that's what the game is.

Hope you enjoy a little reminiscing with Mr. B.



Mrchevy

#1
   I think this video should be stickied. When I read statements that say " I don't think the GR55 presets are useful", I think they should be referred to this video. Are the presets useful? It depends on how you approach them. If your looking for a preset to use in a piece of music, it's a crap shot with similar odds. I like to approach it differently. Take the given preset and see what you can do with it. With this approach, I find them very useful for taking your creativity in a different direction. Are you a leader or a follower? A routine(ist) or an adventurer?
  As for Adrian, I doubt he remembers much about the 60's ;), but definitely a leader and adventurer. Thanks for posting Cricket. Going adventuring now. :)
Gibson Les Paul Custom
Epi Les Paul Standard
Gibson SG 50's prototype
Squire classic vibe 60's
Epi LP Modern
Epi SG Custom
Martin acoustic

Princeton chorus 210

GT100
GR-55
Helix LT
Waza Air Headphones
Boomerang III

And, a lot of stuff I DON'T need

Cricket

#2
Quote from: Mrchevy on August 26, 2012, 07:51:57 AMI think this video should be stickied. When I read statements that say " I don't think the GR55 presets are useful", I think they should be referred to this video. Are the presets useful? It depends on how you approach them.

Amen.  Myself, I don't think presets are designed to be useful, in the 55 or almost any programmable gadget.  They're designed to sell the toy, so they tend to be pretty over the top in terms of being drenched in effects or other crazy to get the "Oh, wow!" reaction out of someone in a music store.

That there are any usable or near-usable presets is probably more that, unlike a straight multi-effects, where the 55 can do a sax, well... that's pretty cool, so something like "Nice Tenor" is almost usable as is.  Though you're still better off creating your own patch.

I don't use any of the presets, except for fun, experimentation, or study... find an interesting one and really look at the settings to get an idea of how it does what it does.  It is cool to pick something far-removed from my usual and work with it for a while... just to see where things might go.

atonal

#3
Gr55 presets,I've been writing like crazy with them,whether I'm taking rich strings and looping a low b to c and playing over it,or the Kraftwerk patch also so cool just hitting an open low e so inspiring and and looping until the filter starts to cut off !! After all this is a guitar synth ,I don't feel it's by any means a shred machine.IMO less is more with the Gr55 partial chords sound so huge and has all these different timbres..
Belews vid talks about how inspiring his explorations into new technology has inspired him,just look at me and Adrian in my profile pic,look at the presets sideways and you might find something truly inspiring,look at the whole instrument that way and maybe create something never heard before !!!Sweetwater has some great interviews with Adrian but check out Adrian Belew Chicago part two on youtube he get's more in depth with his approaches and mindset !!!

mooncaine

#4
Mr. Belew's my favorite player, and I like lots of players. Great songwriter, too. Love his stuff.

Elantric


vanceg

Hey - I just found my VHS copy of this Belew instructional video.  I recall it being limited in terms of Adrean actually being able to explain what he is doing.  I felt like he was kind of fumbling around.  But... the best or most creative players aren't necessarily the best teachers and if it inspires, then I suppose it's awesome.
Looking back at the video - It's actually a lot better than I remember.  I also found an instructional video by Henry Kaiser, another "guitar hero" to me, and it almost cringe-worthy...interesting playing, not  compelling pedagogy.
 
I do really appreciate that Adrean gets out there and talks about his methods, though...that's really awesome.

Elantric

#7

















Elantric

#8







mooncaine

#10

vanceg

Quote from:  mooncaine on March 20, 2017, 11:07:51 PM



Hey!  I just saw Adrian and Andre in Seattle the other day.  Really nice show!  A couple of Adrian's tones were really wonderful.  Overall a good show. Band is a lot tighter than the last couple of times I saw them. 

admin

#12







admin

Review of Adrian Belew's recent show

-'
ripple wrote>

Was fantastic!

He and his quartet were at the Broadberry in Richmond last night, and the show absolutely exceeded all of my expectations (and I've been a huge AB fan since his Zappa days).

My wife got us tickets, since she knows that seeing Adrian live has been on my guitarist bucket list for years (yes, my wife is awesome). So much to rave and gush about, but I will try to put down some semi-coherent thoughts:

- First, WHAT A GREAT BAND! Julie Slick (bassist) is absolutely phenomenal... almost superhuman at times. I've seen clips of her before, but she was a monster last night. Jordan Perlson (drummer) was equally badass. His chops and dynamics were impressive and his interpretation of Bill Brufords King Crimson drum parts were excellent. They jumped around in odd time sigs and bizarre rhythmic patterns and he and Julie held it together solidly and effortlessly. The final member deserving of massive praise, was Saul Zonana (who played guitar, keys, percussion and backing vox). He has a great voice, covered Robert Fripps parts on the KC songs, and you can tell Adrian loves having him in the band. Saul was also the opening act and is a ridiculously talented musician... expect to hear more from this guy in the future.

- Secondly, the song choices were outstanding, and Adrian dug deep in his catalog. There were a few new songs, which were instantly likeable, as well as stuff from his older solo records (Lone Rhino, Twang Bar King, Mr Music Head, etc). However, the highlight for me was the surprising amount of King Crimson he played. Opened the show with a beautifully faithful version of Mate Kudesai, and closed with a badass encore of Thela Hun Ginjeet. They played a stunning medley of Three of a Perfect Pair/Frame by Frame/Neal and Jack and Me/Sleepless and AB even managed to insert his chaotic solo from Indiscipline in the midst of that medley. Julie was crushing all of Tony Levins bass/Stick parts (her playing on Thela Hun Ginjeet was epic, as was her stinkface). However, the biggest surprise for me was Zappas City of Tiny Lights. I told my wife before the show that I was hoping to hear that one, but considered it a ridiculous long shot. He started it with the middle guitar solo, which I assumed was a tease, but when he launched into the vocals, my head almost fell off.

- Third, AB has not lost a step in any way, shape or form. His vocal range is as broad and strong as ever; his guitar chops are still mind-boggling, and his command of rhythmic/percussive right hand technique still impresses me after all these years.

- And finally, I always thought the Parker Fly guitars were kinda hideous, and never even considered playing one, much less purchasing one. However, this morning I'm gassing for one in the worst way! (thanks AB, you B*stard! )
That Fly is perfectly suited for him, and he sure knows how to use it. I miss his old, beat-up Triburst Strat from days of old, but I can see why he's been using the Parker so faithfully for so long. That guitar covered everything from crystalline clean parts, to bombastic sonic chaos, and stayed in tune despite serious whammy abuse/torture, and neck bending madness. The range of sounds/tones was staggering: howling double-stops and limitless harmonics just lept out of that thing.


TL;DR version: Just do yourself a favor and go see this man and his band on this current tour - you will NOT be disappointed!

mooncaine

I'm so excited because I am seeing him perform tomorrow night!

Smash

What the hell is Variax psu doing in there!

bosetuno

His signature Parker has a variax inside

mooncaine

This month I saw him perform (he and the band played splendidly!). His rig nowadays uses a Roland GP-10 where he used to deploy a VG-99.

Axe FX rack of some sort, a Digitech two-pedal pitch shifter thingy, about 4 volume pedals AND an expression pedal... and more. That's just what I could see from the stage's edge after the show. A Macbook Pro seemed to be part of the rig; not sure. IN the recent past, I'd seen him running Ableton Live on his rig's Macbook, I think.

The guitar has Variax guts, 13-pin, piezo and magnetic pickups, and the knobs & switches you'd need for all that. I think the neck pickup is a sustainer.

Seems like it all goes through a Keely compressor, a foot pedal with 2 knobs (@ 12 o'clock and 5 o'clock, left to right).

admin

Quote from: mooncaine on March 28, 2019, 09:12:40 AM
This month I saw him perform (he and the band played splendidly!). His rig nowadays uses a Roland GP-10 where he used to deploy a VG-99.

Axe FX rack of some sort, a Digitech two-pedal pitch shifter thingy, about 4 volume pedals AND an expression pedal... and more. That's just what I could see from the stage's edge after the show. A Macbook Pro seemed to be part of the rig; not sure. IN the recent past, I'd seen him running Ableton Live on his rig's Macbook, I think.

The guitar has Variax guts, 13-pin, piezo and magnetic pickups, and the knobs & switches you'd need for all that. I think the neck pickup is a sustainer.

Seems like it all goes through a Keely compressor, a foot pedal with 2 knobs (@ 12 o'clock and 5 o'clock, left to right).

and FWIW - Henrik at Antares indicated to me on Adrian's Parker he swapped out the Variax DSP board for the Antares Internal Luthier Kit 2 years ago

same with James Hetfeld's  JTV-59 (Metallica)

mooncaine

Quote from: admin on March 28, 2019, 09:19:01 AM
.... FWIW - Henrik at Antares indicated to me on Adrian's Parker he swapped out the Variax DSP board for the Antares Internal Luthier Kit 2 years ago
Important knowledge I didn't have before! Thanks!

plexified

In his home , Adrian has a walk in closet he calls the 'Magic Closet'. Here he has an ongoing collection of every effect he has ever owned or used. Its all set up with five patch bays where he can access or play anything on demand.

He is constantly using it  to model tones he has used in the past and for reference going forward as technology advances. Its quite remarkable when you start to follow him through time and how his mindset evolves with the technology. He was born at the right time, that's for sure.

I really enjoyed visiting this material and getting in tune with his principals. I've been moving myself forward with technology and this was a really great example of an artist that every guitarist should tap into. Especially for the lineage of the technology he has grown with. What a really great guy.



jim-analog



Greetings,

Hey Adrian fans, check this out:

https://musicaficionado.blog/2020/02/20/adrian-belew-part-1-1976-1980/

Some really interesting back story that I'd not heard before.  Hope it's not been posted elsewhere that I missed. Enjoy!

Regards, Jim