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Post by Michael Messer on Nov 12, 2004 19:15:47 GMT
All you Hawaiian Steel Guitar fanatics should go to the ITN Archive - British Pathe - www.itnarchive.com/britishpathe/ You will have to log in as a member, which is pretty simple and then search for Hawaiian Guitar. There are dozens of clips of old footage of Hawaiian Steel Guitar bands! Rudy Starita, for example, with his cast aluminium National lap steel & early National amplifier....wonderful stuff! Also - Basil - "Waggers & Jokers" is a fantastic piece of National Guitar film! Certainly this is one for Colin Brooks & Colin McCubbin. I haven't spent much time on their site yet, but I am sure with time & patience we can find some real gems - it's a great site. Keep us posted what else you find on the ITN Archive site. Aloha & Shine On, Michael.
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Post by Colin McCubbin on Nov 13, 2004 15:46:20 GMT
;D Michael! What a find! Watching some of these is like a time warp. and brings an instant question to mind. Although I have seen the ocasional prewar picture of folk playing Hawaiian guitar with the neck sloping away from them towards the floor, I thought that was just a pose and not how they played, but I seen in these clips that it was the way. I don't know anyone who holds the Hawaiian guitar that way now, certainly none of 'us' do, so what happened? Are our left arms shorter than the arms of that generation? <smile> Also while we are on the subject of then and now, most prewar tuning was in A now it is all in G. Is it just a case of old guitars imploding when tuned that high or is it because the Dobroists chose G and in the resurgenge of Hawaiian no one noticed? Aloha Colin
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Post by Michael Messer on Nov 13, 2004 23:19:31 GMT
Hi Colin, Those are two very good points you have raised. I do not have difinitive answers to either, but I do have my theories. Tuning National guitars to open G, rather than open A like they did back in the 20s & 30s. The diaphrams in National Tricones have become fragile with age & we have become cowards living in a nanny state where interviews, DVDs and books tell us what to do!!!! I would not recomend tuning a 1920s Tricone up to open A with old cones, I have done so and after a week or so the back bass cone starts to collapse. I suggest a set of new NatRes cones, which are tough & easily replaceable, and try it out. It sounds wonderful & was the standard way to tune for slide playing back in the old days (15 to 56 or lighter). Check out the picture of Unknown Triolian Man with the two girls...here it is.... ....they are definitely all playing an F chord and the lap-steel lady is barring at the 8th fret, so she is tuned to A. Usually back then it was high bass A = AC#EAC#E. Even the early Dobro players used this tuning, Bashful Brother Oswald, Clell Summey.... they played in A tuning, not G. I blame Nashville & BB for a lot of these pre-conceptions! Too many rules!!!! Your other comment about tilting the guitar to play lap style is to do with projection of sound without microphones. These days professional & semi professional musicians all rely on microphones to project the sound. Even in a small bar or cafe the musicians amplify through a little PA system. Playing slide guitar with it flat on ones lap sends most of the sound straight up the player's nose and not towards the audience! I cut my lap-steel teeth doing folk clubs and pubs without PA systems and the only way to be heard was to throw your head back & let 'em have it! I can remember tilting my guitar towards the audience to play a solo, but possibly not as much as those guys in the old films. I still do in an unamplified situation. Also, if you are playing lap slide on a regular acoustic, say a Gibson J45 or something, the shape of it makes it sit at that angle. I remember talking with an old time singer a few years ago who commented to me that most modern singers are performing to their microphone and not to their audience. There is a lot of truth in that comment. Also a very important point to remember is that in the 1920s & 30s all Hawaiian guitarists left arms were approximately three inches longer than their right. I don't know how or why this phenomenom occured, but it did Glad you like the Pathe Archives, it is a fantastic website. I am surprized they don't have all the wonderful old footage of Roy Smeck that we have seen. The 'Basil' with his Tricone is WICKED!!! and so is Rudy Starita with his electric! The Hallum Entertainers clip was shown about ten years ago on a BBC series that I watched about British music-hall artists. Stunning stuff!!!! Shine On, Michael.
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Post by Richard on Nov 18, 2004 16:12:22 GMT
A really excellent site. Whilst on the subject of Briitish prewar Hawaiian players I came across this tutor book some time ago which has the E A E A C# E tuning - would that be a low bass A tuning? Some pages of the book are dated 1929 and others 1939 so it does not look as though much changed teaching material wise! Sorry about the size of the scans and despite following the posting destructions to the letter the scans are the correct size on my site but come here as just a little large, but it's the thought that counts!
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Post by Michael Messer on Nov 18, 2004 17:14:19 GMT
Hi Richard,
Yes that is low bass tuning EAEAC#E. High bass A is AC#EAC#E. These are the same as G but up a step/tone.
I have a few of these books myself, they are wonderful, but yours is unquestionably the largest copy I have ever seen! How do you fit it into your house?
Take care, Aloha & Shine On, Michael.
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Post by Richard on Nov 18, 2004 17:59:50 GMT
It's not the housing problem that is the question as I've built a special shed for it out of old resonator cones, very noisy when it rains, particulary if the rain is in F#. The real problem is that I have to employ someone to carry for me when I go out to lessons
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