Scott Henderson Discussion

[dizzy]

Hey Scott
Do you do all of your comping and editing of parts on your current albums?
I have been recording and sometimes it is hard to comp takes together and get it to sound natural. Do you have any tips on this?
Thanks Scott

[Scott Henderson]

Yes, and I'd be happy to give that job to someone else, but nobody wants it. Computers have given us the ability to sound better than we really are - the down side is that we spend more time editing than playing, and it's very easy to make it sound sterile and un-natural. I'm not saying I don't comp stuff together, but I'm extremely careful about it, and I pay a lot of attention to what the rhythm section is playing. Even if my original solo sucked, they reacted to it, and their accompaniment is still a valid and important part of the music. I learn where the accents are, even if I have to write a little chart. I use the original solo as a reference, and play the same rhythms they reacted to - it should never sound like they're playing stuff for no reason.

After playing a bunch of new solos (could be 10, could be 100 depending on my mood), I wait a couple days and then go back and pick my favorite. Hopefully there's one I don't have to mess with, but if there are crappy phrases in it, I cut them out and go hunting for phrases from other solos which are close in length. I can usually find something that fits, especially if I played a lot of solos. I find this method better than punching in, which I almost never do. Some guys are good at it, but my time feel is always better when I'm playing a take all the way through.

I use comping more for tone reasons. Because of the nature of distortion and picking technique, every performance of a melody can sound different, especially if they’re chord melodies - sometimes I hit the strings a little too hard and the chord gets muddy, or too soft and it sounds wimpy. Sometimes I pick on the wrong area of the strings and the tone just doesn’t fit the part. Of course there are phrases which aren’t that important and a first take is fine, but if it’s the main melody and I want it to sound killer, I play it five or six times and then comp the best tones from all the takes.

This is my process from a technical view - take #1 is on a play-enabled track, and the other takes are on muted tracks below it. I listen to the first phrase of #1, and then drag the others on top and listen to them - the winning take of that phrase stays there, and that section on the other takes is group edge-edited away - then it’s on to the next phrase. No wonder nobody wants this job! Editing is a pain in the ass and it’s tedious work, but the results are worth it. I’m not looking for perfection, but for a vibe. Sometimes I’ll hear a note or chord that’s a little fucked up, but in a cool way. Thats the kind of stuff I always keep.

I’d love to keep my solos from the basic tracks, but I’m in love with the tone of a 100 watt ’71 Marshall cranked up really loud. I tried that in the studio, and even from 3 rooms away, there was tons of guitar in the drum mics. I ended up having to turn the amp down to 1, and it sounded pretty thin. I played some cool solos, and if I really like them, I’ll kinda learn the best parts and play them again with a fat tone.

As long as we’re talking about this, I’d like to give a personal fuck you to all the jazz purists who have a problem with this approach. They think they have “integrity” because they only use shit they played on the basic tracks, but in reality they’re just fucking lazy and don’t have enough work ethic to put together an artistic project which transcends anything they could accomplish on a gig. I have projects with “integrity” too - a live record and a YouTube channel. Anyone who wants to hear my average playing, mistakes, and worst tones is welcome to check them out, but I definitely don’t want my studio efforts to sound like that.

[dizzy]

Thanks Scott that was informative.

Yeah....I send the "funk you" out to jazz purists with you. What a bunch of close minded idiots.

[dizzy]

I meant "fuck" not "funk"

[bigscottfan]

"Anyone who wants to hear my average playing, mistakes, and worst tones is welcome to check them out, ..."

Well, Mr. Henderson.
I have to say that that average playing of yours you are referring to, is in my opinion still the greatest guitar playing on the planet.
Every time I listen to your Live-CD I find myself wondering how anyone can be that innovative and imaginitive improviser on guitar. And your tone and pharasing is among the very best I have ever heard from any guitarist ever.
And your studio albums are just as über-magnificient as well.

So keep up the good work.

All the best.

[Scott Henderson]

Thanks for the kind words - much appreciated. My last statement came off a little too harsh... I don't hate everything I play on stage or on first takes in the studio. I just like to use the modern tools at my disposal to help me make better music. I have no problem with purists who choose not to use those tools, but I do have a problem with them putting people like me down for using them. They're like those religious barbarians who's kids get sick but they refuse to give them modern medicine.

I appreciate good records which are live gigs in the studio and nothing more - that's basically what the VTT records are, and most of the jazz records of the past. However, thank goodness for modern musicians like Wayne Shorter who use the studio for more than just recording a gig. There are musicians who are capable of doing more with their music but are just lazy or stuck in the rut of the past. It's like spending their whole career in theatre and never making a movie.