I’m happy when readers send me questions about topics they are wrestling with, especially if the answers might interest other folks as well. Long-time Bay Area musician Tomás Enguídanos wants to know about combining acoustic and electric instruments for a project he’s working on.
He wrote, “I want to make a record that sounds like… country-bluegrass or Western swing that combines electric and acoustic instruments… I tried both mandolin and fiddle on this song I’m co-writing but couldn’t find a way to blend the acoustic instruments with the electric ones in a way that pleased my ear.”
I mentioned to Tomás two very popular singers who were at the top of the national charts in the 1980s, a time when “trad country” brought acoustic-flavored arrangements back into wide-spread airplay: Ricky Skaggs and George Strait. Tomás replied that he really liked both of these examples, so I’ll continue with them.
These musicians had access to top-flight producers and players. Those assets, combined with the requirements of pop radio airplay (danciness, simplicity, and a generally accessible sound) helped their producers sculpt palettes that successfully combined the acoustic roots of each (bluegrass for Ricky Skaggs and Texas honky-tonk for George Strait) with the electric rhythm section that the mainstream audience likes to dance to.
Ricky Skaggs
Let’s look at Ricky Skaggs first, and see how the instruments and arranging work together. (I’ll consider George Strait in a future column.) Skaggs’ cover of Larry Cordle’s “Highway 40 Blues” is a two-step, or medium-tempo dance. The primary element for the public is Ricky’s lead vocal. The medium tempo of the two-step allows the voice to articulate all the words with nuance and feeling, and Ricky, a magnificent singer, takes full advantage of this.
The rhythm section of small drum kit and electric bass, with acoustic and electric guitars, is used as a driving unit for the arrangement. The instruments provide a common pulse for the dance, while sometimes venturing harmonically into themes (called “hooks”) that work with the song’s melody as well as with its development into a three-minute adventure. The electric guitar sometimes doubles the bass to provide more definition, and the bass sometimes doubles the electric guitar on thematic statements, giving them more authority.
The acoustic guitars punctuate the rhythm lightly, and their high-end sparkle (probably captured with good old tube mics, fast pre-amps, and neck-position location) adds rhythmic interest without being lost in cymbal noise.
Drums and Brushes
Let’s look at how the drums in Ricky’s recordings allow the acoustic guitar and additional back-up instruments (mandolin, fiddle, and more acoustic guitars) to have acoustic space:
The small drum kit (almost exclusively kick, snare, and minimal hat) establishes the dance by using the kick on beats 1 and 3, while the snare, played with brushes, defines beats 2 and 4 (the back-beats, where mando chops go in bluegrass). The use of brushes, or on some tunes, the side-stick, makes the snare drum much more contained and easy to mix than when it’s playing full-open, as in a rock setting. The lower pitched “thunk” of the snare when hit with the brushes allows more open space in the upper mids for the sounds of the acoustic instruments to be heard. The almost complete absence of cymbals helps the same way. In some tunes, the drummer may change to the higher pitched side-stick when the arrangement needs it (for example, in a chorus) and then drop back to the original, lower-pitched groove when the tune returns to a verse.
Getting a drummer to contribute this type of sound in a studio setting under the direction of an informed and articulate producer is quite different from telling a drummer in a live setting to lay off the cymbals and just use brushes. Studio players are accustomed to working with direction, and when they understand their role, cooperate with the producer to make it happen.
The Guiding Rule: It’s the Roles
Underlying much of the sound of “Hiway 40 Blues” (and many of Ricky’s other 1980’s country hits) is a tacit understanding that the arrangement dictates the use, style, and placement of instruments. In commercially released music, this sense of a purposeful role for each of the instruments dominates the structure. In contrast, bluegrass musicians usually play in service to long-standing tradition, in which there is much room for individual creativity, individual expression, and improvisation. This freedom works great in a live bluegrass setting, and is sometimes the basis for bluegrass arrangements on recordings. The roles of the instruments are clearly established in the ears and expectations of players and listeners alike. But bluegrass is very much a niche part of the national music market. Much of that individual freedom is carved away from players and singers when they work with a commercial record company that is appealing to a wider music audience. This audience demands focus and simplicity.
As the arrangement of “Highway 40 Blues” progresses into the hot and spontaneous-sounding instrumental solos, the production keeps these instruments panned to the center, the same place that Ricky’s voice occupies in the rest of the tune. There is no shift in image or change in stereo panorama as the mandolin solo segues into banjo, which segues into electric guitar, which gives way to pedal steel. Each of these instruments get a full section of a verse to improvise, while staying intently locked to the groove.
I’ll write some pointers about getting good recorded sounds from these instruments in my next column. But much more important to the success of these recordings and their sound is the use of a dedicated and professional rhythm section, solo players who clearly like to work successfully with that rhythm, and a producer who directs and assembles these pieces. For many players, it can be very difficult to fulfill a role that’s so different from that in their world of bluegrass. A similar thing happens when working with jazz players; the strengths of great soloists are often built from spontaneity, nuance, and individual direction; working with a producer who is focusing more on the overall package may seem limiting and constraining.
I was blown away the first time I heard the Incredible String Dusters perform live (in Redwood City, CA). Those fine musicians had the discipline to shape their playing to the groove and personality of the tune, and their arrangements worked to direct their energies towards a common goal. Their years of studio experience clearly helped the band. They knew the sum of their playing was much greater than anybody’s unique hot licks.
Copyright © 2018 by Joe Weed
Joe Weed records acoustic music at his Highland Studios near Los Gatos, California. He has released seven albums of his own, produced many projects for independent artists and labels, and does scores for film, TV and museums. Joe’s composition “Hymn to the Big Sky” was heard in “The Dust Bowl,” a film by Ken Burns, which premiered nationally on PBS. Joe recently produced and released “Two Steps West of the Mississippi,” a collection of his original instrumental music based on American fiddle roots. Reach Joe by email at joe@joeweed.com, or by visiting joeweed.com.