In this, the concluding part of our series on the genius Les Paul, we are going to be looking at his contribution to the world of effects. For a modern guitarist, effects pedals are an integral part of their sound. There are a dizzying array of boxes available to feed the contemporary guitar slinger’s G.A.S. (“Gear Aquision Syndrome”), but in Les Paul’s day an amplifier was a pretty far out concept, let alone tone-bending stomp boxes! As usual Les broke out his tool kit and did some inventing…

We’re going to see how Les moved from capturing sounds to creating new ones, with Delay Effects, Vari-Speed, Special Vocal Effects – and a distinctive playing style to boot.

Les Paul’s Delay Effects

The effects most commonly associated with Les Paul are ‘delay’ or ‘echo’ effects. Many Les Paul recordings feature some kind of echo on the main guitar.

In the previous part we talked about Les’ involvement in the development of tape recording. Tape recorders have:

• a record head, which copies the sound onto the tape, and
• a play head which plays the sound back again

Les realised that if you position the play head after the record head and feed the signal coming from the play head back into the record head it creates a repeat or echo on the tape.

At first it might be confusing to understand why this works, but it’s much easier to get your head around it if you consider an example:

(For more on tape delay, see Hearing Effects: Echo… (echo… echo…))

The most common type of delay you will hear on Les’ records is a short delay often referred to as a “slapback”. This slapback delay has become synonymous with the rockabilly guitar sound.

Les Paul & Mary Ford – How High The Moon

How High The Moon (in 26 parts!)

Soon guitarists wanted to produce these amazing sounds when playing live, and Click to read the rest…

With over 150 articles here at EasyEarTraining.com it would be easy to miss out on some that might be useful for your aural skills training.

Today we’re going to take a look at the 9 Training Series we have here on the site, and what each of them can offer you as a musician or audio professional.

Pitch & Harmony

Pitch & Harmony by Thomas Evdokimoff introduces some fundamental concepts in musical ear training, teaching you to recognise and sing intervals and chords. You’ll learn about the solfege system for ear training, and how major and minor scales can be used as the basis for all relative pitch skills.

Listen Close

Brad T. Bush chooses stand-out examples of songs to examine how they’re put together and what can make a track amazing instead of run-of-the-mill. Along the way he’ll point out the techniques used by song-writers, musicians and producers which you need to know for your own music. If you’re keen to hear and understand more in the music you love, Listen Close is a great place to start.

Music & Life

Sabrina Peña Young takes a broad look at all the wonderful ways music influences our lives at every age, and how specific ear training can benefit us, as musicians and simply as people. Of particular interest for parents, Music & Life teaches you how best to nurture a child’s inner musician.

Open Your Ears

Looking for some new musical avenues to explore? Part of being a great musician is having wide experience of musical styles and techniques, and being open to new sounds. Open Your Ears provides some interesting and unusual pointers to new musical experiences.

Bass Tone

If you’re a bass player, or (inspired by Open Your Ears) simply want to expand your knowledge of that low-down instrument, check out Nick Long‘s series Bass Tone. The series covers the different types of bass, from the original double bass through to modern electric bass, and all the other essential topics for crafting (or appreciating) a unique bass tone, including amplifiers and effects. There’s also a free 6-part Bass Tone Podcast if you prefer to learn by listening.

Frequency Fundamentals

Professional audio engineer and studio-owner Fotios Koulakos takes you from zero knowledge to being a master of the audio spectrum with his series Frequency Fundamentals. If you’ve ever wondered what “kilohertz” are, how studio engineers know which knobs to tweak, or struggled to get your recordings to sound professional, get stuck into this series on all things frequency.

Hearing Effects

Picking up where Frequency Fundamentals left off, Hearing Effects dives into the wild world of audio effects, covering all the essential types of sound-processor, including delay, compression and modulation effects. All you guitarists and audio pros should not miss this one!

Wired for Sound

Sometimes ear training can be hard work, and if your sound system’s not up to scratch you’re only making life harder for yourself! Don’t make silly mistakes with your hi-fi setup, learn the right way with Nick Long‘s Wired for Sound.

Listen to Les

Of all the musicians who’ve furthered the art of recorded music, probably none has contributed as much as Les Paul. From his iconic guitar, the Gibson Les Paul, to his innovation in recording techniques, to the audio effects he pioneered, Les Paul’s gift to the world of music has been remarkable, and the Listen to Les series will help you understand why.

Well, did any of those whet your appetite? Hopefully you’ve found something new to dive into. Remember, a topic doesn’t have to be central to your musical world for it to help open your eyes (and ears) to new possibilities, so don’t be afraid to branch out – especially from the music side to the audio side, or vice-versa.

We’re always keen to hear from our readers, so if there are any topics not covered above, or you have a great idea for a new series please do get in touch by email or leave a comment below.

Time to continue your bass effects education! Following on from the last part, Episode 6 of the Bass Tone podcast covers some more innovative effects, including modulation and pitch-shift.

In this week’s podcast you’ll learn all about:

• What modulation effects are and how they work
• The Chorus and Flanger effects and how they impact your tone
• The sound of Wah-Wah effects, and why they combine well with distortion effects
• Pitch-shifter effects (including octaver effects)

http://www.EasyEarTraining.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/6_-_Bass_FX_2.m4a

You can subscribe to the Bass Tone podcast in iTunes, or your favourite podcasting program using the feeds below:

	Bass Tone Podcast (iTunes)
	Bass Tone Podcast (RSS feed for other clients)

You can also download this episode directly:

Download Bass Tone Podcast – Part 6 (right-click and “Save as…”)

The podcast is an M4A (AAC) file, which should play back on most modern audio software and portable music players. If you have any problems downloading or playing the file please let us know.

Have you crafted your distinctive personal bass tone yet? Found a bass effect that really sets you apart? Share your experience in the comments below!



This is the last podcast in the Bass Tone podcast series. If you’ve enjoyed it, please let Nick know!