Guest Blog: Dan Reed
At recent shows I've been approached by guitarists and songwriters who comment on the depth of sound from my guitar, and the emotional subtleties of my playing style. There are a few things I attribute that to, which may be helpful if you're looking to broaden the overall emotional impact of your live performance.
To inspire the audience a performer needs to feel inspired. A clean, warm full-bodied sound that retains crisp mids and highs is essential in freeing the performer to perform - instead of getting caught up in sacrficing tone to prevent feedback, or backing off certain frequencies so others can be heard.
So it's important to start with a well-fashioned guitar, with great pick-ups that were either built in to the instrument or added later. If the guitar fits in to the fret hand like a glove, and the amplified sound is what you envision for your music, then you are liberated to connect to the song, and therefore connect to the audience.
In other words: if you want to create an emotional response, invest in your dream guitar - your dream sound. It will serve you on stage and in writing.
If you can't afford the dream machine, look at what luxuries you can do without for a time... Going to the movies? Drinking with friends? Even riding a bike instead of buying petrol can help put a very nice guitar whin reach.
Sacrificing unnecessary expenses allowed me to purchase my first Taylor 714 acoustic guitar - and it has made a major impact on not only my playing, but also my desire to pick up the guitar every day. I'm playing a Taylor 814 now, but the 414, 714 and 814 series are all excellent choices for achieving a great foundation to live and studio sound.
My depth of sound primarily comes from tuning deeper - that is, lower - while also picking or strumming with a softer touch rather than harder. Most of my new songs' chordal beginnings started while I was living in Northern India a few years back. I didn't have access to a tuner, or new strings for that matter, and as the months passed my guitar's tuning drifted lower and lower, eventually reaching a C tuning - two whole steps lower than the norm.
Players usually follow a set of rules that were engrained in to our heads the moment we picked up our first guitar: E, A, D, G, B, E. Many heavy rock bands have been "drop-D tuning" for years, but I've found the acoustic guitar likes to be tuned to a lower register as much if not more so than an electric.
Part 2
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