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...that is, if you're an orchestral conductor you can create them at will, but for a lonely guitar player it's pretty hard if you're primarily an acoustic player. Electric players can do that stratocaster pinky thing or buy a volume pedal.

For example - love the swells in the Batman movie them, and also that ominous Jaws theme.

Do you like them to - and if so, how do you create them and where do you use them ?

What are your favorite uses of volume pedals / guitar pinky volume swells ?

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I play trombone, they come naturally smile


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I guess that's why I always loved the trombone. Now what good trombone music artists and albums can you recommend ? Dixieland has always been my favorite genre for the trombone - but I'm open to others. Also maybe in some pop music - Chicago (giving my age away again - have any more modern trombone music to share ? LOL )

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An eclectic, and only partial, list...:

Trombone Shorty
JJ Johnson
Kai winding
James Pankow
"Kid" Ory
Miff Mole
Al Grey
Bill Watrous
Bob Brookmeyer
Carl Fontana
Conrad Herwig
David Baker
Delfeayo Marsalis
Dennis Rollins
Frank Rosolino
George Roberts
Glenn Miller
Jack Teagarden
James Morrison
Jiggs Whigham
Juan Tizol
Mark Nightingale
Rene Laanen
Sammy Nestico
Ed Wilson
Slide Hampton
Tommy Dorsey
Urbie green
Wycliffe Gordon
Doug Yeo


--=-- My credo: If it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing - just ask my missus, she'll tell ya laugh --=--
You're only paranoid if you're wrong!
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thanks for the list - going to start sampling and acquiring a few new albums : )

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What about trombonist Dick Nash? I fell in love with his playing when I was a kid and bought a couple of "Music From Peter Gunn" LPs (I now have them on CD). Very melodic, great dynamics and wonderful expressive use of the slide.

BTW, they are great examples of Cool School jazz done right (except for the Peter Gunn song itself which is actually Rock And Roll).

I've never heard Dick Nash do a solo album, but I've heard his session work with Mancini and other jazz bands of the era and think he is quite under-noticed.

I play sax, flute, wind synth, and like all wind instruments it can do swells. --- On MIDI instruments I use Continuous Controller 11 or if enabled cc2. --- Bowed strings use speed/intensity of the bow. --- Snare drummers a double stroke roll. --- Tympani players a single stroke roll. --- As you mentioned electric guitar players can use a potentiometer either on their guitar or a pedal.

On acoustic guitar, like acoustic piano, there is no real way to do that. I would think the closest you could come would be changing the volume while tremolo picking.

A favorite quote of mine comes from the great alto sax player Charlie Parker, "You don't play the sax, you let it play you."

And the way I interpret it, it can apply to any instrument. Each instrument has it's own voice. It has it's own sounds, capabilities and limitations. For example, you can do portamento on trombones, bowed strings, synths, and if you are real good at it, clarinet. That becomes an expressive device. You can't do that on a sax, trumpet, oboe, flute, and others, but you can do a glissando. Example 2: Acoustic pianos and guitars can play harmony with themselves but can't increase the volume of a note after attacked. Most wind instruments can only play one note at a time, but can manipulate the volume. The list goes on and on.

So the trick is to find out what the instrument in your hands is capable of doing, and focus on getting the full range of expression out of the instrument and not at what it cannot do. In other words, you let the instrument play you.

Insights and incites by Notes


Bob "Notes" Norton smile Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com

100% MIDI Super-Styles recorded by live, pro, studio musicians for a live groove
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