#1682553 - 06/27/05 02:52 PM
That African Pop guitar sound
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Lee Knight
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Registered: 10/19/01
Posts: 1077
Loc: Encinitas,CA,UNITED STATES
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I'm working with a band that uses a lot of African Pop style guitar. By that, I mean, clean, not overly bright, single note melodic lines. Hard to describe, but if you've heard it, you know what I'm talking about.
I tried something this weekend that worked incredibly well for this application. He used a Strat into Blues Jr.
I put his amp in the adjacent bathroom while tracking the drums in the main room. A 609 about 2" off the grill, 2/3's of the way toward the cones edge for a fairly mellow, close sound.
Then... a GT33 condensor pointed into the farthest corner of the room, away from the amp. This makes the reflection's path around 8 feet and quite diffuse yet bright, like only a downstairs bathroom can be  . The refections end up brighter than the close mic. Sort of the reverse of what usually happens.
Trial mix placement was 50% to the left for the close mic and 100% to the right for the far, refelctive mic. Equal volume. Real cool sounding.
I've done things almost exactly like this but for this style, it brought something entirely new. The Afro Pop records sound like there are 20 people in a room together, hence the guitars have a real live vibe...
... that's what I got!
Just sharing...
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#1682554 - 06/27/05 03:08 PM
Re: That African Pop guitar sound
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d gauss
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Registered: 02/15/01
Posts: 3231
Loc: Somewhere in the Swamps of Jer...
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it don't get much more african pop than king sunny adae (i can't remember how to spell it)...
every time i've seen him all three guitar players and the pedal steel guy had fender twins...
-d. gauss
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#1682555 - 06/27/05 03:22 PM
Re: That African Pop guitar sound
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Lee Knight
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Registered: 10/19/01
Posts: 1077
Loc: Encinitas,CA,UNITED STATES
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Yeah, Fender Twins for sure. I saw him in the 70's. They get that plunky, dinky sound I used to hate.
Now... I dig it and respect it. It takes balls to play guitar with that tone. One miscalculation and... doink.
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#1682556 - 06/27/05 06:43 PM
Re: That African Pop guitar sound
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Philip O'Keefe
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Registered: 12/17/00
Posts: 17674
Loc: Riverside,CA,UNITED STATES
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I have not done a lot of African guitar type stuff, and only a bit of Reggae, but to me, the two tones share a lot of characteristics... I'd probably go for either a clean Fender type amp tone, with a single coil guitar (think "strat"), and / or go direct with the guitar. The idea is to get a "clean clean clean" tone, without TOO much brightness. A touch of compression can help the notes "pop out" a bit if that's what you're after.
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#1682557 - 06/28/05 07:50 AM
Re: That African Pop guitar sound
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Billster
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Registered: 04/16/04
Posts: 5546
Loc: Wilmington, MA
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Yeah yeah yeah 
King Sunny Ade is the root of that style, and he was a Strat/Twin guy. I remember reading that he felt since they were both made by Fender, it was like they were made for each other. He also used Fender strings.
That West African style is like a party in your speakers when its done right. You can really hear the joy of the performers.
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#1682558 - 06/28/05 01:34 PM
Re: That African Pop guitar sound
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theblue1
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Registered: 02/06/04
Posts: 4537
Loc: Long Beach, CA
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Thanks for sharing your technique on that, Lee.
I was a huge fan of African music in the 80s (well, I still am, but I just don't get out like I used to when I, well, drank  ) and saw King Sunny a couple times, Fela Kuti, Manu Dibango, Papa Wembe, and others. A lot of different guitar sounds... but almost all of them funky as funk can be.
On the domestic front, I've been quite taken lately with the Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra (from Brooklyn, I think). For a bunch of guys mostly from the US, they groove pretty damn hard. For sure.
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#1682559 - 06/28/05 01:54 PM
Re: That African Pop guitar sound
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blackfish
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Registered: 04/28/04
Posts: 443
Loc: philadelphia
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check out Oliver Mtukudzi. awesome sound, awesome show.
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