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Scales for Chords

Putting the Scales in the Chords

This is an old lesson, but I think it's good. The audio is down at the bottom of the text.

So think of the scales this way. The chord tones and the notes between the chord tones are the scales. For example:

Mic Wars, Episode II Neumann KM184 vs Chameleon Labs TS-1

So, in the first episode, I used two mics I considered substantially different. Tony and I discussed it a bit and we agree... as different as they are, there are a lot more similarities than differences and the differences are not in quality but rather character. Of course, assisting the musicians have exactly the correct character to their sound is what defines great recording engineers like the late Rudy Van Gelder.

A moment for the microphone geeks in the gang.

Those of you who know me know I love microphones and the different colors they generate. Years ago, I was looking for a great vibes mic and a good friend of mine who is an audio engineer recommended the Earthworks SR69. They were still a new company, so I bought two of them at a reasonable price and LOVED them for many years. Eventually one broke down and, when I went to replace it, I found out they were both not made any more and that the new model was VERY expensive.

Vibraphonics: The PiperCussion Damper Pad or "Gel Pad"

Vibraphonics: The PiperCussion Damper Pad aka, the gel pad

In mid to late 1980’s I was trying to learn to play solo vibraphone. It was so difficult and so frustrating! For one, I felt that my instrument (Musser M55 Pro Vibe) wasn’t working correctly and needed repairs. At that time, I didn’t know other vibraphonists who I could compare my instrument with so I just thought mine didn’t work. So I drove to the Ludwig/Musser factory in Chicago with my vibraphone to get the needed repairs. (I lived in Los Angeles at the time so it was quite a trip).

Listen to This

Check this out. Especially the beginning of the bass solo.

Do you hear the tune? Kurt is just playing a line through the beginning. then he comps 5ths and sparsely but we here the tune.

I often listen to guitar players and imagine what they are playing is on the vibes. I love it and I learn a lot. You can't do that with piano players. they're doing way more than we can handle. We CAN handle most of what guitar players are doing, which is why I think this instrument is more like a guitar than a piano :-) IMHO