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

["John F. Potts" <hvyj@xxxxxxx>]

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