grockvt Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 what is it? A distorted sax? Organ? Electronic keyboard set to oboe setting? a combination of sax and organ all distorted? this bugs me every time I hear the tune... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonglow Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 Our sax man played it when my band did this song. "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonysounds Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 I think it's the horn. Hitting "Play" does NOT constitute live performance. -Me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S_Gould Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 It's an Ondioline or an Ondes Martenot, or maybe a Clavioline - I've heard stories about all 3, and don't know which to believe, though it sounds an awful lot like the Clavioline that the Beatles used on "Baby You're a Rich Man" to my ears. Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Changearound Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 It sounds a bit like a pungi aka snake charmer's instrument but take a look here: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVlbgqmxXNY The solo kicks in at about 7.20 and is Chris Wood on tenor sax but going through some effect or other. You can see him adjusting the setting on his fx box of tricks. He also throws in a bit of wah later on which was a favourite trick of his (Tragic Magic anyone?) One of my favourite Traffic songs, thanks for the reminder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Nightime Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 I always thought is was a highly distorted Hammond. Yes, I could agree to the sax, but how does he get the extremely disonent, extended minor 2nd that ends the solo? "In the beginning, Adam had the blues, 'cause he was lonesome. So God helped him and created woman. Now everybody's got the blues." Willie Dixon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Changearound Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 Good question Mr.N. It had occurred to me too and it's pretty annoying that the YouTube clip cuts out before that point. Maybe it's just an overdub or another effect or even another instrument playing the lower line. The main solo IMHO just has to be sax. It's Chris Wood to the core. Thanks to the original poster I've had a very pleasant couple of hours grooving away to Traffic. Graveyard People is playing even as I write this and I'm in a good place right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legatoboy Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 Chris Wood used a early sax synth module, it could have been that set up for a rude sound but it really does sound like a B3 run straight with a few tubes missing to my ears also. I think Chris Wood used a early Roland sax synth if I recall with the Roland pastel colored switches, late 60's vintage . SP6, CP-50, FP-80, PX5-S, NE-5d61, XK-3, CX-3, Yamaha YUX Upright, '66 B3/Leslie 145/122 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tusker Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 Love synthspotting. Sounds like the sax is slightly high pass filtered (eq-ed) for the pungi/nagasaram tone on the record. I'd guess a Bode frequency shifter or similar for the squa-r-r-rks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edgar Summers Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 Love that song! I've wondered about that solo. "Music should never be harmless." Robbie Robertson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WWW Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 I think it is an overdriven Hammond M3 with Leslie on STOP and no Chorus or Vibrato. That is what SW played. Hammond C3, Leslie 122, Steinway B, Wurlitzer 200A, Rhodes 73, D6 Clav Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linwood Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 Love Traffic. Whenever I need to tune my guitar or grab a G# away from the piano, I can usually do it 'cause I can still hear Empty Pages at the right pitch in my head. Weird.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musicale Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 Big Fan myself. I've seen the Low Spark played probably 20 times. It was always Sax. CW always seemed to play a electronically modified sax. The piano solo in MT Pages is unbelievably funky, as is the whole song ! Regards, Musicale Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b3keys Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 It was a Nord My vote for heavily processed sax. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acidolem Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 starts with CW on sax but the solo is played by SW on Hammond organ with distortion box. but,I think I'd like to buy a vowel. "The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench; a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. ............ There's also a negative side" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Nathan Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 I assume we're talking about the original recording. It's obviously sax in the live version (how great to see young Roger Hawkins on drums). On the record, my vote is for Hammond, straight through a distortion pedal of some sort with lots of verb. In fact the verb level seems to rise and fall throughout the solo. Not sure exactly when or where it was cut, but back in the pre-automation days, we had to grab the knob and turn it while mixing with every pass. (unable to find an "Old Man" emoticon) Don't rush me. I'm playing as slowly as I can! www.stevenathanmusic.com https://apple.co/2EGpYXK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musicale Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 I have to agree with Steve, after listening to the original. I have quite a few versions of this tune, some live etc., and also fond memories of live shows. I think it is Hammond due to the attack as well as the general scope of the improvisation. Winwood as opposed to Wood used completely different notes, runs scales etc. Wood was really quite jazzy, almost BeBop in some of his improv's. This the is a unusual "modification" of the Hammond sound by Winwood, I think the only example that I can think of where he used "effects" on the Hammond. Regards, Musicale Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Changearound Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 I asked the question over at the Yahoo Traffic forum and somebody has replied that they've read an interview with Steve Winwood where he says it's a Hammond played through a fuzzbox. So there you go, I was wrong. What a concept For anybody still unconvinced, have a close listen at 8.24 and you'll hear a little keyboard lick with 2 notes at once. The rest of the time,(apart from the end), it's all monophonic which was enough to fool me. Anyway, during my travels in Yahoo-Traffic-land, I was asked what the good people of MusicPlayer thought of Steve Winwood's keyboard skills. Any opinions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Nightime Posted January 13, 2009 Share Posted January 13, 2009 Steve's a major influence for me. My dad gave me the Last Exit album, and I wore it out. And his newest, Nine Lives, is supurb. "In the beginning, Adam had the blues, 'cause he was lonesome. So God helped him and created woman. Now everybody's got the blues." Willie Dixon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krellmusician Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 The device Chris Wood is using in the video is a Maestro Sound System for Woodwinds, probably a model W3 with the footswitch unit. It was manufactured in the 60's by Maestro, a subsidiary of Norlin Music (the company that bought out Moog Music in the 70's). It was essentially a glorified octave divider with organ-stop style color tabs that changed the timbre of the octave-related sounds. Tenor sax player Eddie Harris (among others) used the unit on several Atlantic albums in the late 60's. When I listen to the studio version of LSOHHB I hear Wood's sax being played through this device for a short solo and then an extended solo. What I'm still trying to figure out is how he produces that excruciatingly and wonderfully ugly sound at the end of the piece. The only thing I can come up with is sax played through the Maestro unit (with several of the stops activated) and Wood singing another note at the same time to cause nonlinear multiphonic effects. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StartRun Posted February 16, 2009 Share Posted February 16, 2009 ...the time I saw Traffic (originals + Voorhman/Kwaku-Bah, etc) in '71(?), Wood used the Maestro/Sax. Winwood played his piano solo on "Low Spark of HHB" on a Wurlitzer. His B-3 was Leslied. However-in '70-I saw them as a trio, Winwood amped his C-3, played bass pedals, and used effects on his C during an extended solo on "Feelin' Good" from "Last Exit". No electric bass guitar was used in that show. But-it still sounded great. Aside from hearing "Gimme Some Lovin'" performed live by Winwood in '71, I preferred the '70 show for seeing each member play hard... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phnymiboy Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 I saw Traffic as a trio a few times. Amazing what those three guys could do. A friend said it perfectly when he said they were pulling music out of the air. And that is Winwood playing the solo towards the end of Wood's solo then taking over only as he can. It has his signature style all over it. http://bigfun3.bandcamp.com www.facebook.com/BigFunThree Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymysterio Posted November 30, 2014 Share Posted November 30, 2014 It's simply an oboe. No keyboard could make that sound. It's the real thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffLearman Posted November 30, 2014 Share Posted November 30, 2014 I always thought is was a highly distorted Hammond. Me too, without actually thinking about it. It's simply an oboe. No keyboard could make that sound. It's the real thing. I bet you're right, based on my mind's ear. One playing through a distorted amp. Now I'll go listen to the original and see if I still think so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffLearman Posted November 30, 2014 Share Posted November 30, 2014 I assume we're talking about what starts around 5:45 here, and then again around 7:45, and finally at 10:50: [video:youtube] I was dead wrong about the oboe. I'm gonna have to get a new mind's ear. The articulation sounds like a keyboard instrument, not a woodwind, and there's a note cluster at the end, impossible on a woodwind. (Evidently that's what Mr Nighttime meant above.) If I were covering it, I'd just use lots of drive on Hammond on the Electro and it'd work just fine. With long/soft percussion, probably 2nd harmonic. And just a TINY bit of reverb. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaky Bacon Posted November 30, 2014 Share Posted November 30, 2014 From an interview in Contemporary Keyboard June 1981: Bob Doerschuk: One of your earliest synthesizer solos was on the title cut of The Low Spark Of High-Heeled Boys, with that buzzy tone. Or was that a saxophone going through a fuzz-tone? Steve Winwood: Actually, it was an organ through a fuzz-box. BD: Fooled me twice! SW: Yes! but I think that was the idea. We had been looking for something like synths for a long time, I suppose. I wish they had been around ten years ago. I suppose they were, actually. Steve doesn't specify what kind of organ it was. However, he does talk about playing sax with Chris Wood on Rock & Roll Stew (he plays one note and holds it), and using a Roland CR-78 and Yamaha CS-80 on Arc Of A Diver. Great interview, and very informative. Looking back, interviews in those days were so much more in depth. Sigh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hurricane hugo Posted November 30, 2014 Share Posted November 30, 2014 I always thought it was a distorted sax, too. Learn something new every day. http://blip.fm/invite/WorkRelease Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyS Posted November 30, 2014 Share Posted November 30, 2014 Would sound better thru a Vent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jr. Deluxe Posted November 30, 2014 Share Posted November 30, 2014 Maybe it was a gun that didn't make any noise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shamanczarek Posted November 30, 2014 Share Posted November 30, 2014 Winwood used a Hammond M102 with Spencer Davis and on some Traffic records before switching to a B3. He probably played the M102 through some type of guitar amp which would make it a likely candidate for the Fuzz effect. C3/122, M102A, Vox V301H, Farfisa Compact, Gibson G101, GEM P, RMI 300A, Piano Bass, Pianet , Prophet 5 rev. 2, Pro-One, Matrix 12, OB8, Korg MS20, Jupiter 6, Juno 60, PX-5S, Nord Stage 3 Compact Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.