REQ: Michael Hedges
C HANVEY
Does does anyone have/ know about Michael Hedges?
Anybody ever seen him play?
Im really interested in getting a load of his gear on tab,
because its abserlutely fernickinly imperskible to do!
If you dont know or want to listen to this acoustic guitarist, with
a very personal and original style, try the albums that i have heard:
Strings of Steel
Aerial Boundaries
also has another i havnt heard, Live on the Double Planet.
If anybody else is keen to help me work out stuff, just fizzle my line
Show me yours and ill show you minE!
Frum ---> C.Ha...@bradford.ac.uk
looking forward to anyone who knows what im on about.....
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derek roth larson
>
>Does does anyone have/ know about Michael Hedges?
>Anybody ever seen him play?
(snip)
>If you dont know or want to listen to this acoustic guitarist, with
>a very personal and original style, try the albums that i have heard:
>Strings of Steel
>Aerial Boundaries
>also has another i havnt heard, Live on the Double Planet.
I've wondered why Hedges doesn't get more bandwidth here. I last caught
him in August of '92, when he was touring with CS&N. Great opener; Hedges is
incredibly energetic, almost frantic at times, and does a lot of "gee
whiz" stuff that had Stills looking like a dinosaur. Don't get me
wrong; it was basically Stills and Neil Young that started me playing,
but when I was turned on to Hedges in college (with the release of
_Watching My Life Go By_) my conception of the instrument changed for
the better.
Regarding his recordings, I like 'em all. I have the "Taproot" cd on
right now in fact. "Live on the double planet" provides a good sample
of his stuff, but fails to capture the bonzai style of his stage
presence adequatly. "Watching my life go by" is, I believe, his only
record with substantial vocal tracks; his voice is very distinctive and
lends itself well to his playing style. He did an amazing version of
"Gimme Shelter" last time I saw him. "Aerial Boundaries" is probably
required listening as well; it contains things like "Rickover's Dream,"
one of his better harp guitar pieces. He also appears on most of the
Windam Hill "samplers" for the mid-late 1980's, the "Evening with Windam
Hill" series, and the seasonal recordings as well. All of these
recordings are digitally mastered originals, very clean and they capture
his sound well.
As far as TAB and such, there were several articles in Frets, Guitar
Player, and Acoustic Guitar (?) mags back around '86-87 that tabbed out some of
his stuff and outlined his gear. Hedges uses some pretty weird
techniques and outboard gear at times. One thing I remember is that he
uses slices of ping pong balls to replace worn nails. There are probably
more recent things as well, but I don't read guitar mags anymore.
Hedges brings to mind Tuck Andress. Anybody listen to him?
--
Derek R. Larson
Indiana University
"The Pacific Northwest is one of my favorite spots in this world."
-Woody Guthrie c.1942
marxhausen paul
to reproduce what he's doing) that he changes the tuning on his guitar
between almost every song. I don't think (as some people do) that this is
"cheating" that makes amazing playing in any way "easy" - alternate tunings
work as much against you as for you. But Hedges does make free and excellent
use of vastly different tunings. I seem to have stumbled on some of his
chords when working out a song of mine where the low E is dropped to D, a
tuning I use frequently.
He also sings quite well.
--
paul marxhausen .... ....... ............. ............ ............ ..........
.. . . . . . university of nebraska - lincoln . . . .. . . .. . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . grace . . . .
. . . . . . . . happens .
marxhausen paul
>incredibly energetic, almost frantic at times, and does a lot of "gee
>whiz" stuff that had Stills looking like a dinosaur. Don't get me
>wrong; it was basically Stills and Neil Young that started me playing,
>but when I was turned on to Hedges in college (with the release of
>_Watching My Life Go By_) my conception of the instrument changed for
>the better.
I've caught Stephen Stills' doing a solo guitar/vocal set both live and on
the tube through the years, and in some ways he reminds me of Hedges....his
technical chops aren't anywhere near Hedges, however, they both use a very
powerful rhythmic groove, and have taught me that if you can get that kind
of drive rolling on the acoustic, you don't _have_ to fill up all the space
with sound. (Compare their stuff to, oh, say, Alex di Grassi, who does some
really cool stuff, and really fills up the sound spectrum....but after about
three of his songs I get tired and it starts to fade out on me.)
>Hedges brings to mind Tuck Andress. Anybody listen to him?
Staggering stuff, him and his wife do. Anybody into traditional jazz guitar
has to give his stuff a spin....
greg dunn
> Does does anyone have/ know about Michael Hedges?
> Anybody ever seen him play?
Man, all this time and I *still* haven't seen him live! :'(
> Strings of Steel
> Aerial Boundaries
> also has another i havnt heard, Live on the Double Planet.
Don't forget Breakfast In the Field...
Hedges made a *huge* impact on me when I first started playing.
My friend put on this tape saying 'listen to this man- this is one dude,
with no overdubs...' It was 'Hot Type,' and I was floored. After that
my cheapie guitar got thrashed as I tried (emphasize tried!) to
play that killer tune.
My first 'complete' Hedges tune was 'Layover,' which was in Frets. That
ending is so cool! I next figgerd out 'Eleven Small Cockroaches' (or Bears,
depending on which album). Aerial Boundaries is semi-do-able, but still
tough. It helps to have the Windham Hill in Concert video tape to watch
how he plays it.
Speaking of Windham Hill, how many of you finger-stylists have heard
Alex DeGrassi and David Qualey?
Now, anyone out there got a harp guitar I could borrow? ;)
Chris Larsen
He uses thick chords and alternate tunings that are very difficult to pick out. As far as I know, this is the complete discography...
Santabear's first christmas
Watching my life go by
Aerial boundaries
Live on the double planet
taproot
breakfast on the field
Also, I was lucky enough to get his recording of a cello suite. It was on an offer from Cheerios for a tape called "Music for the season" and also had the modern mandolin Quartet.
He is on the Windham hill samplers as well.
Does anyone have a copy of Santabear's first Christmas? Its an accompanyment to the narration of a Childrens play/skit/book. I'm told its out of print? Please help!
I recommend all of the above heartily for those who wan't to hear someone chime, tap, beat, stroke and finesse the entire instrument.
Carpal Guy Larsen
Steve Silverman
>Hedges is one of the most entertaining and unique artists I have ever seen. Last year in Atlanta, he played the Halloween show in drag!!
>He uses thick chords and alternate tunings that are very difficult to pick out. As far as I know, this is the complete discography...
>
>Santabear's first christmas
>Watching my life go by
>Aerial boundaries
>Live on the double planet
>taproot
>breakfast on the field
I have "Live on the Double Planet" but I am interested in hearing
some of his stricktly instrumental work. Which do you suggest?
Thanks, Steve
JWA...@delphi.com
It is alt.fan.frank-zappa
flan...@crd.ge.com
First choice: Aerial Boundaries (my favorite by far)
Second choice: Breakfast in the Field
-Bill
Chris Larsen
ODE TO ZAPPA.
WE LOVED YOU AND KNEW YOU WELL
slin...@hamp.hampshire.edu
Look for Michael's technique book coming out any day now, which includes
tab to six of his tunes (including Aerial Boundaries).
There is a Michael Hedges mailing list called "taproot" that just
started out; If people are interested I can look for the address, or
maybe someone else can post it.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
|Steven F. Linberg | I think that I think, therefore I think |
| | that I am. |
|slin...@hamp.hampshire.edu | |
|slin...@aol.com | (Watch this space for something clever...) |
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Eiji Maeda
>>Newsgroups: rec.music.makers.guitar.acoustic
>>Path: yagi!sakunami!wnoc-snd-ss2!sh.wide!wnoc-tyo-news!nec-tyo!nec-gw!sgiblab!swrinde!cs.utexas.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!usenet.ucs.indiana.edu!bronze.ucs.indiana.edu!drlarson
>>From: drla...@bronze.ucs.indiana.edu (derek roth larson)
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>>References: <1993Dec8.1...@bradford.ac.uk>
>>Date: Wed, 8 Dec 1993 14:37:06 GMT
>>Lines: 49
>>
>>In article <1993Dec8.1...@bradford.ac.uk> C.Ha...@bradford.ac.uk (C HANVEY) writes:
>>>
>>>Does does anyone have/ know about Michael Hedges?
>>>Anybody ever seen him play?
>>
>>(snip)
>>>If you dont know or want to listen to this acoustic guitarist, with
>>>a very personal and original style, try the albums that i have heard:
>>>Strings of Steel
>>>Aerial Boundaries
>>>also has another i havnt heard, Live on the Double Planet.
>>
>>
>>As far as TAB and such, there were several articles in Frets, Guitar
>>Player, and Acoustic Guitar (?) mags back around '86-87 that tabbed out some of
>>his stuff and outlined his gear. Hedges uses some pretty weird
>>techniques and outboard gear at times. One thing I remember is that he
>>uses slices of ping pong balls to replace worn nails. There are probably
>>more recent things as well, but I don't read guitar mags anymore.
>>
In Japan, there was TAB's of Michael Hedges transcripted by Isato Nakagawa ,
Japanese top fingerpicker. There are about 10 or 12 songs in it.
(I can't remember exactly,it is in my house now.)
I think it is an almost perfect transcription.
But very very difficult to play.For example,you must trill ,i.e. repeat pull-offs
and hammer-ons fast alternately ,in almost all of Aerial Boundaries.
Or you must drop the 6th string to low C in some tune.
So you have to determine the position of briidge seriously
or you get poor pitch on high position.
(Michel changed his bridge of '60's martin D-28 thicker one
which is shaped like zig-zag on top to keep the right pitch on high position.
I think he only use it in playing the tune of dropped tunings
because it can't keep right pitch on standard tuning!!)
So I have the TABs but I don't have been trying.
I will report more about him in next time, if you need.
Eiji maeda
Eric Lambert
in the Field.
My 2cents.
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