[Harp-L] Butterfield, technology, tone and emotion



Stephen Schneider writes:

with some models of wand mic, there may be a possibility of
exploiting some higher mids than usual, and different distortion
characteristics to the mic diaphragm, that can yield a
characteristicallyclear, intense sound.

***
And another thing, as someone reminded me offlist--the use of clarity
to the tone and its impact on vibrato are definitely related to the
need to cut through the louder band mixes that were developing in the
early 1960s.  I think that's part of the affinity with Junior Wells
that John Potts remarked.  They treated a sonic obstacle as a musical
opportunity.

I think these are very interesting observations. Cotton also was playing through a wand mic during this period and the resulting clarity of tone may explain why some compare Cotton and Butterfield when, in fact, I don't find their styles all that similar (although i really like both of them). PB had a deep diaphragmatic technique that is, to my ear, somewhat reminiscent of Junior Wells' playing in certain respects. Also. as we have already discussed, PB and JW each played with a sense of economy that helped create an expression of emotional intensity, IMHO.

i have always considered harp friendly wand mics to be more expressive that most bullet style mics since they usually pic up subtle nuances better and create what i think is a more expressive tone. Everyone seemed to agree that PB, JW and Howlin' Wolf each express powerfully intense emotion in their playing. It is interesting to observe that each of them usually played through wand style mics. Maybe this is just a coincidence, but, IMHO equipment selection (or availability) has always had an effect on the creative expression of musicians who platy electrically amplified instruments. For example, would U2 sound the same if there were no digital delay? Or would Stevie Wonder have been as funky without a clavinet? To a certain extent the aesthetics of electric music of a particular era are shaped by the audio technology of that era.

Just a few random thoughts that occurred to me....FWIW

JP



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