Its been awhile since i posted on this forum but I was pondering a couple of days ago about this question. How do you get that chicago blues sound? How do you get the kind of style little walter Jacobs had?
I hope someone can help!! ;)
Hopefully i will post two topics once i get this one sorted out(hopefully sorted out)
There are loads of people on this forum that have forgotten more than I'll ever know about amps and mics and what have you, and they can get you part of the way there. (Hopefully someone will dish out a few tips below this message.) But on the subject of the Big Walter Sound in particular, here's a caveat from Jerry Portnoy in this interview on harpsurgery.com:
"I was really close to Big Walter... I used to go to his rooming home with a bottle of VO whisky folded under my jacket like a gun because it was a rough neighbourhood. To hear him natural just in a room is irreplaceable.
... There are chat rooms that talk about tubes, mics and so on he may have used. The whole thing is ridiculous. Learn how to play the thing - dynamics, big tone. Play it properly and it won’t matter what equipment you play it on. I heard Big Walter play on cheap amps, tape recorder mics, big amps, little amps."
I may be over simplifying things here, but just by virtue of playing through a bullet or something similar you're going to get a Chicago sound. ---------- 'If it sounds GOOD to you, it's bitchen; if it sounds BAD to YOU, it's shitty' - Frank Zappa
Just speaking amp and mic tone, you are going to need some kind of bullet or astatic or similar mic with a nice tube amp.
You also need great unamped tone. Those guys were mostly tongue blockers, which is almost impossible to imitate lip pursed. That is part of the sound that goes with it. ---------- Michael
I completely agree that fundamental tone production is the first necessity.
In my short 2 years of experience, I would say getting an airtight (or damn close) seal around the mic and harp (and against your face) is the next part of the critical path to a big chicago tone.
I say the most important aspect is tounge blocking. (at least that what Joe Filisko taught us) Yes, the overdriven, crunchy amp is part of the sound. Yes, you get a good sound from a good seal. But it's the occasional chord slap and the tone from the deep set harp that marks the style. Tongue blocking was the main technique associated with that sound.
Tone is everything and you do not need a Bullet to get it. There are so many varied mics out there not one single can be attributed to a certain style or region or artist. This is what I was trying to (partially) explain to Ryan when he was asking about amps. The combination is endless. any one of 5 of us could use Little Waters exact rig, if anyone finally definitively decides what that was (there are many theories) and we would not sound the same. YES your own tone is most important, it's the one thing everyone agrees on. From there you have to try different mics with different amps and decide what "YOUR" sound is going to be. Thats why I threw out the offer to any of you guys who are close enough to get to Baltimore and want to try some rigs out let me know. I have 4 different amps and 6 different mics and have friends we could probably talk to to get more variables into the equation.
There was someone that was considering putting together the Ultimate Amp Taste Test in NYC I don't think it ever worked out, Shame.
Tongue blocking with a good acoustic tone is the main element of the Chicago harp technique. It doesn't make any difference if you play amped or not to the style.
An amp will give you a more overdriven sound in general. But is not essential to "the sound".
"How do you get the kind of style little walter Jacobs had?"
Well firstly listen to lots of Louis Jordan and of course to Little Walter himself. Then try to emulate what you're hearing them play.
If you want to emulate his "amped sound" then get a good mic (JT30,520D, 545, etc), a small tube amp (HarpGear HG2, Epiphone Valve Jr, etc) and a delay pedal for some echo in there.
I think a lot of the chicago style has that insistent swing ,more so that others , but it's all about timiing and each of the artists had their own backgrounds from the south , eg if you hear junior wells , he learnT a great deal from sonny boy williamson2 as did howlin' wolf as he was related. also listen to little walet when he backed Muddy and the way he played 40 days forty nights , he played over the top of what the band was playing but never overcooked it! also james cotton and jerry portnoy , the phrasing has a certain feel that sort of defines that chicago arp sound . I don't know when somebody decided that the classic set up of a green bullet and a bassman came in as a lot of early footage shows that they didn't have that rig , as above it's down to the players tone more than anything . Junior wells and james cotton could get a great tone out of what is seen as a standard vocal mic or whatever was available . i could be very wrong in all this ,but that's the fun of finding out through researching it and experimenting , best of all have fun!
A very good point you make there about the insistent swing timing and playing over the top. It's something lots of people just don't get. Like they say "if ain't got that swing it don't mean a thing!"
"other then acoustic tone, to get a vintage sound you need vintage equipment. plain an simple."
Sorry Jon, but I disagree.
If you use the proper technique into any good valve (for harp) amp, then you will get "that sound".
However of course the main thing is, has and always will be the technique used. If you want to get a truly authentic Chicago sound, then you gotta tongue block, at least some of the time!
Last Edited by on Aug 13, 2009 2:27 AM
I would love to hear someone like Musselwhite or Kim playing through a modern Bluesblaster into a small solid state amp. I bet they would still get tone that would put us all to shame. Gear is important, but it's a small part of the equation.
And don't forget all the B&W footage of Sonny Boy II, Big Walter and Little Walter playing the 60s European folk Blues Festival tour. Pretty much all are just acoustic into a clean vocal mic.
It also really depends on what you define as the sound as the 50's /60's chess blues or similar , or the modern blues sound i suppose 70's to today , I don't think you have to spend a huge amount of money on vintage gear if you think it will improve your playing, I get a lot of people saying i got this lead or mic that has the most expensive gold plated copper oxygen free cable that will give a pure tone etc etc Or a custom mic that has a black label CR element that costs a fortune , yeah it will sound great in the right hands . ampwise :- for me i seem to get on with valve amps that have 2x10 or 4x10 speaker con fig' as they sound tighter compared with 12's , 8 inch also sound great for harp ,but can sound boxy if in the wrong size cab. One great harp sound and general band groove that has the old sound is Paul Butterfield )Ist album, it has that swing i was on about. another pointer is , if your trying to get a big sound , don't crank up too much preamp ,, like good guitar tone it's more about power amp drive , good technique , and most importantly , use your EARS, and play the song not just tootle and play all your licks into one song. The way i play harp is like i play guitar , only what's needed , Keep it simple but punchy and to the point, I'm sure MR Gussow will say the same thing!
