Page 10 - looplibraryfullbook13092018

PART THREE
an Introduction to Percussion

Now we have the low bassline and our two overdubs consisting of our two
accompanying medium and high melodies - we will now be moving onto our fourth
part and final overdub for 'Shape of You', which is the percussion.

In this section we will be exploring how to make your guitar imitate drums and
percussive instruments using techniques suitable for the guitar you own. Whether it is an
entry or professional level electro-acoustic.

So before we start, there are some things to consider to get the best out of your
instrument. You can use any electro-acoustic guitar to create a beat for your loop, but

some techniques are more effective than others depending on the way your guitar is
enabled to be amplified. We'll split this into two categories - the 'mic'd method' and
'peizo method', and w'ell look into the differences here.

MIC'D METHOD

Many high-end guitar manufacturers, particularly the USA brands use transducers*,
undersaddle piezo pickups**, small internal microphones, or a combination of all three to
replicate the natural sound and characteristics of the guitar through an amplifier. In the
studio, 'mic'ing up' an acoustic guitar is the preferred method for recording, as this
captures the guitar's sound and 'personality'. This involves placing normally one
(sometimes two) external microphones near the guitar's soundhole. As good as the end
result may be in the studio, this is pretty impractical when playing live, especially with a
looper pedal.

So various manufacturers have released their own ways of getting around this, by
fitting a small microphone(s) inside the actual body of the guitar, enabling it to be
plugged in and giving the live player a more reliable and consistent sound,whilst retaining
most or all of the guitar's natural characteristics amplified.

This not only means that the guitar being strummed or picked can be heard through an
amp, the mic or transducer will also pick up any hand tapping on the guitar body. And
depending on where you tap will give you different results. Typically the largest
surface area on the guitar gives the lowest, 'bassiest' sound, and the smaller the area,
the higher and 'tighter' the sound. This is the same rule as is for drums and percussion,
so bearing that in mind, let's take a look at the guitar and then apply this principal..