Craig T. Fall
(All songs Copyright©2009 by Craig T. Fall, except "High Noon" by Dimitri Tiomkin)
Stevie Wonder, the Spinners, Dorsey and Billy Burnette, Roger Miller, Glen Campbell, the Beach Boys, Martha Reeves & the Vandellas—that’s only a partial “who’s who” list of artists that Craig has performed with as a guitarist, keyboard player and musical director. In addition to playing and touring, Craig is a skilled producer with his own commercial recording studio in California, where he helps a diverse range of musicians develop their sound. Craig’s non-musical talents include graphic design, animation, digital photography, and an array of multimedia projects.
All demos are done on a 1980's Ibanez "Artist" electric 12-string guitar. All recordings were done directly into the board using the JB2, a small amount of delay added. No extra compression or reverb were used.
High Noon Redux
(Switch off, switch on)
Bridge pickup. This is an example of how the JB2 can drastically improve the tone of an
instrument. I open this old classic using my guitar without the JB2 switched on; you can hear
that my tone is pretty unremarkable. I hit the "on" switch at about 9 seconds into the tune, and
it opens up like Chime Heaven. I added one more guitar (neck pickup) on the last refrain.
Sustenea Obligato
Open tuning here. I think the key to a good JangleTune is to find as many open strings as possible, as the JB2 loves to multiply all those harmonics! I threw in a few random
Pete Townsend style crunches at the end, and was shocked how percussive and responsive it was.
Springtail—
Improv Two
I use a combination of a Dunlop pick with two fingers for the picking technique on most of these tunes. This was more or less a picking exercise improv. If you have the luxury of three finger/thumbpicks, the brightness increases exponentially.
Mystery Trail—
Improv Three
47 seconds of as many open strings that I could get my fingers on. Bridge pickup, JangleBoost on,
as usual (It REALLY makes the difference!)
London Walk—
Improv Four
Closed my eyes on this one. The tone reminded me of the sound of the Bells at Winchester Cathedral. I have never found this sound remotely in any other part of my musical career, including a 1967 Rickenbacker through a Pultec EQ and an old Teletronix LA-2A, sitting in Terry Melcher's own studio. I mean, if HE couldn't find this tone ...
Kerry On
Inspired from a friend who came back strong after a motorcycle accident. One, then two guitars, with harmonics added. I was thinking of the sound of Irish Church bells here this time, the roots of my Celtic soul. The JB2, to my ears, brings out some of the complex harmonics that one hears in the pealing of bells.
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