TomEHarp@xxxxxxx writes:
i think most of little walter is without effects.but on juke,sad hours,blue
midnight,and you better watch your self. he had bomthing on.its a delay or an
echo plex. what do you people thing???
_____________
(from "Little Walter / Big Walter Licks" book):
Little Walter's Effects
Mainly echo and/or reverb. The recordings Little Walter made as a leader
are somewhat more heavily effects-laden than his work accompanying Muddy
Waters and others, but there is echo/reverb present to some degree on
almost every session after 1951. At the earliest sessions, this would
have necessarily originated from the studio - there were no outboard units
or amps with built-in reverb yet available.
A lot of research has been conducted (by Scott Dirks and others) into
Chess Records' early recording techniques, and as a result we now have a
clearer picture of how these recordings were produced. In response to a
recent request for info, Scott filled me in with the following details:
"Contrary to popular belief, most of the classic Chess blues sides weren't
recorded at Chess Studios, which didn't come into being until around
1955. Universal Studios was the premiere recording studio in Chicago for
years, and to his credit, Leonard Chess used Universal exclusively until
his own studio was up and running.
"Universal owner/chief engineer Bill Putnam built his own tape delay
machine using a reel-to-reel....(and they basically) used three different
methods to get delay and/or reverb: (1) An empty tiled room with a speaker
at one end and a mic at the other (the classic 'echo chamber,') (2) a
massive plate reverb unit, and (3) the slave reel-to-reel that was used
solely for tape delay."
At least one harmonica book has stated that Little Walter used an
Echoplex, an outboard unit made up of an endless tape-loop cartridge. That
book goes so far as to say that the Echoplex can be clearly heard on
"Juke," "Mean Old World," "Sad Hours," etc. Problem with that analysis is
that the Echoplex wasn't yet invented or available (nor were it's
predecessors the EccoFonic or EchoSonic) in 1952 when those songs were
recorded. The effect we're hearing on them is no doubt the aforementioned
reel-to-reel device built by Putnam.
Nevertheless, the Echoplex is a handy unit for today's harp player. If
you're in the market for one, keep in mind there are two versions: the
earlier tube variety and the later solid-state model. Some folks claim
there's little difference; to my ears, though, the more fragile tube model
is richer sounding. The "echo" aspect may not be that much different, but
when used with a high-gain instrument (like harp through a mic,) the tube
unit breaks up into a warmer distortion. Unfortunately in today's market,
the vintage tube model commands more than twice the price of the
solid-state version.
Occasionally Jacobs used other effects. On the recently issued session
from January of '53 that included an alternate of "Fast Boogie,"
"Drifting Blues," and "Don't Need No Horse" you can hear added
tremolo/vibrato on the harp. And it's also audible on later sessions
('58-'59) that produced "The Toddle," and the Le Roi du Blues bootleg
version of "Goin' Down Slow." At those points in his career he must have
been using an amp that had this built-in feature.
When asked about effects in the previously mentioned Living Blues
interview, Walter denied using anything at all in the studio, saying he
was "doin' it with my hand." But Louis Myers then contradicted him,
saying that the studio had used "viberation."
cheers,
Tom Ball
Santa Babs
.
_______________________________________________
Harp-L is sponsored by SPAH, http://www.spah.org
Harp-L@xxxxxxxxxx
http://harp-l.org/mailman/listinfo/harp-l