Scott Henderson Discussion

[TopDog]

Hey Scott,

I really dig that melody in Vibe Station around the 4:57 mark. I transcribed it, its just so cool. Great phrasing.....

Can you tell how its recorded, what effects, doubling, ect.? It's so huge sounding.

Thanks,

[Scott Henderson]

It's just a double in octaves, one on the left, one on the right. RC Booster, Marshall amp, 4x12 cab with Greenbacks, and some reverb & delay.

Doubling a melody in octaves always sounds big - I love the sound but I have to be careful not to do it too much.

[peter_heijnen]

[Scott Henderson]

Yes, a 1971 Marshall has been my main recording amp for the last 15 years.

[peter_heijnen]

Thx, nice to know, i assumed that was your Suhr.

[Scott Henderson]

The Suhr SH-100 sounds almost identical to the '71 Marshall, but it's my live amp and I don't want to burn out the tubes. Finding a good matched set of reliable tubes is getting harder to do.

[peter_heijnen]

[Scott Henderson]

John Suhr uses JJ's and says they're the most reliable, but I don't know much about different brands of tubes. I've never had a problem with JJ's so far and I really work them hard, so I guess that's also why John likes them.

[peter_heijnen]

Funny, my amp man doesn't like the JJ's in his/my amp. He thinks they are too stiff. I use that amp since a year now and only used the EHX' that came with it so i wouldn't know the difference.

[Thanasis]

Loving that as time passes, the more I hear the album, cause personally I listen to it every day, plus the guitar tracks alone, so many little details start rising from where they are intelligently "hidden" in a way. Having wired my AUX jack in a wrong way helped too haha

Love the hammond-like sounds in the Cm(b9) sections, which I assume it is a guitar?
Also , just before that Cm section at the improvised 3 bars of Gm I love how the two guitars play together..

The comping in the bass solo is a lesson itself and just makes me go nuts in the car alone haha I cannot believe this is expressed just as two chords on the chart. Strangely enough, this part of the tune is what touched me the most recently.

First guitar solo is the most interesting thing I've heard on simple (or single) chord vamps along with Rituals (new versions including live and the Well to the bone version) Still looking forward to be amazed by Tavaglione, but you kinda get in his way through the speakers everyday

Just before the high melody, the F13 to Bbm1113 chords sound so clear for their complexity, must be the great guitar and amp doing their thing. For some reason it sounds to me that it has a faint rotary - chorus effect, but I guess that this is not the case cause I don't trust my ears.

Also the clean guitars at the high melody work so well with the overall mix, this part of the tune is really bright (not just soundwise, emotionwise too)

At the second solo, which is another favourite for different reasons, if I hadn't looked at the papers I could never have guessed it has a C7. Don't remember what the bass does but I'm still busy with the guitars at the moment. Ah there's so much to find out listening to this it is frightening. I have to stop every second and listen to every bit again.

Anyways, it is a great tune. Had no one else to share my thoughts and here I am bombarding you guys again...Take care

[Scott Henderson]

Wow, you've really listened closely to that one! Well, I really appreciate it because it's people like you that I'm making this rather complex, layered music for. I can't take credit for the technique because it's inspired by Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, Jimmy Page, Mike Landau, Donald Fagen - musicians who know that great music isn't just about what's on the surface. Most people hear it on a subliminal level and are attracted to the density without even knowing why, but others like you listen analytically and discover the layers. I'm not saying that a simple song isn't enough, because a lot of my favorite music is totally simple, but I really appreciate the dedication it takes to add layers and make a song more than it's basic components. Joe Zawinul told me "always have things in the music which are buried in the mix so you can barely hear them - it draws the people in." The more I listen to Led Zeppelin, the more I'm convinced that Jimmy felt the same way. I'm always hearing stuff I never noticed before on those records.

No problem answering your questions about what's going on in Vibe Station. The hammond sounds are from an Arion chorus with the speed turned way up - that's what that pedal does the best. It's plugged into a Korg Pandora on a very unusual patch I came up with (no idea how), but that's why it doesn't sound like a guitar into a traditional amp - because it isn't. The doubling on the G section is what I played on the basic tracks, along with the same part overdubbed, which is totally a Jimmy Page thing. Many Zep melodies are doubled, and not very precisely, which is what makes them sound fucked up and great.

The comping on the bass solo is the most fun to play live, because it'll all about finding nice melodies and good voice leading within two simple chords.

It's cool that you noticed the "complexity" of the chords before the high melody, because there are overdubbed notes within those chords which make the voicings more dense - they actually can't be played on a guitar. Bruce Forman immediately noticed it when he first heard it and said "how are you gonna play that live?" which I thought was funny because it's so typical of a straight-ahead jazz musician to think everything in the studio has to be a genuine live performance. I told him I won't play it that way live and nobody will even notice. You're right, there's Arion chorus on the chords, with the depth turned way down.

The clean guitar during the high melody was the hardest tone to get on the song. I tried EQ, pedals, and lots of other things before I found the best solution, which was to go directly into my Fender Bandmaster with the treble turned almost all the way up. It's really bright, but nothing else worked with the melody since it's doubled in octaves and takes up a lot of space in the mix.

The solo at the end is a bit disappointing for me because we've been playing the song on the road for a long time and now I'm playing much better ones, but that's usually the case. I can't play songs for two years on the road before recording them. ha ha

Thanks again for listening so closely.

[Kevin Thomas]

Scott, if you ever sell only one copy of your next album, you'll know Thanasis bought it.

[Thanasis]

Thank you for the music. My pleasure.

You already know what a privilege it is to talk about music you like with the one who made it, so I won't go into much depth with that. I'll just quote Bruce and say that there are people that have changed the face of the earth to us and others wouldn't even understand.

It is pretty cool to hear the isolated guitar mixes too. Another cool feature I wish I had for every album I liked. Even your tapping of the right hand on the strings to keep the feel is a liberating thought. I was never allowed to do that in other peoples music or they'd edit that out..
Hope you do that for the next album too. I'll buy for sure and whoever guitarist doesn't find pleasure in listening to guitar tracks is weird....

I found the All along the watchtower track about a year ago. What a gem!! I am the sort of person who would buy it just to hear him flick his switch from the neck to the bridge position after he sings "Who feel that life is but a joke".

Thanks again,
Hope I get the chance to say hello in Athens.

All the best

[dizzy]

Thanasis

I listen to Scott’s music carefully but you take it to another level.
It is really cool to read what you wrote because it gives me stuff to listen for and check out.
So thanks for posting that analysis!

[Thanasis]

Hey Dizzy!

Thanks man, my pleasure to talk about this stuff all day.

There is more things, like the line that Scott plays in the end that gives away the overdubs, which I find fascinating.. The notes are Gb, F, Cb, Db, Eb, Ab. Just over the Ebm13 chord in the end... Correct me if I'm wrong
Anything else I can think of... For some reason I like all the Fm7 chords in the track but I haven't figured out why yet, cause I haven't picked up the guitar to learn it yet. Takes a long time. I definitely plan to do it though..

Another thing that fascinates me so much is why the Bb13sus chord on the second page 10th bar gives me shivers down the spine.. Why this and not the chord next to it? I don't know I might need a psychotherapist.Wish me luck haha


I have had the isolated tracks for more than a year and I am still through the third track so it really is a hard job..

I am now getting the idea of how hard the application of the ass to the chair can be.. I can't be brave enough to even look at the chair so I resort to being a sideman and a salesman on agricultural products haha

Edit: Crap , I forgot to mention: On the bar which the second solo starts, there is a "slide" or glissando or whatever it is called. It goes from a C# note to an E note. Can't tell if it is the comping guitar or another overdub, but it is another cool thing too!!! It opens it up after the comping and gives way for the guitar solo in the most clever way possible. It is just little things that make so much difference being there.