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What strings do you use on your guitar?
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Yes Jung, you ar certainly becoming the go to guru on all things Beethoven and maybe Einstein too! I don’t know where you get them from but keep them coming! As for your poem and the question of ‘Time’, I’m really embarrassed I forgot to mention MLTs ‘One More Time’. I’ll have to remedy that in another Topic about ‘Time’!
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For all the guitarists here, one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever heard came from guitar strings, this song from a sound track of To Sir With Love. I think the solo guitar melody is just sublime here. It reminds me of the dueling guitars in “Deliverence”, but for one guitar and more mellow and beautiful. Someone commented on Youtube this piece is a masterpiece. This album my dad bought for the family back in the 60’s after seeing this movie in the theaters and this album was really the intro for the whole family to the 60’s rock and roll.
Anyway, what do you think? The guitar is a truly incredible instrument, and as Beethoven said, it is a mini orchestra in itself.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pNIN4-iiTk
What string was used in this song? 🙂
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Jung – I’m curious, do you know what was used for the solo? After a bit of research, the guy who wrote the piece (Ron Grainer) was known for his use of strange instruments, including a clavichord which is what this sounds like. So piano strings sort of. If it has to be a guitar, I’d say some sort of resonator (which would be really heavy strings compared to a normal guitar).
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Hi Jim. I always assumed it was guitar, but I don’t know of anything definitive stating what instrument was used. I have the actual LP, and it just states the song is instrumental. In other sources it mentions Ron Grainer has used harpsichord in other scores, so perhaps that is what it is. Boy, I thought it was guitar all this time. I suppose it can be done on guitar quite beautifully too?
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It does have a familiar clavichord and harpsichord sound to me now that you’ve mentioned it. Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones also liked experimenting with different instruments and you can find similar sounds on their ‘Aftermath’ and ‘Between The Buttons’ albums in particular.
Lulu’s ‘To Sir With Love’ is a favourite 60’s song of mine. She sings it with such passion, the type of passion that only Mona and Lisa could do justice to with a cover today! So many songs I’d love MLT to cover and so little time. We definitely need to clone them!
I’ve just listened to Lulu sing this again and I’m able to imagine the awesome Lisa sing this song in her ‘Still A Friend Of Mine’ style.
Thanks for sharing Jung.
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I agree with you there Howard. For a cover idea after their orig song writing and album are done, I think To Sir With Love would be a great one. Lisa would do this song incredible justice! I can just imagine too.
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Hi Howard. I love that song “To Sir With Love” too. It is a powerful kind of a good by song to a friend, in the case of the movie to the teacher character played by Sidney Poitier by the whole class to whom he made a profound impact turning the bratty teenagers into mature young adults. Love the lyrics and melody; a profoundly moving song itself. When I was 8 or 9 I remember the whole family around the record player listening to this album and my sister singing “To Sir With Love” whenever it came on. This is a 60’s classic for me.
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I think Jim’s right it does sound like a clavichord, possibly an unfretted clavichord. We had that LP in my house too, my mom loved it, both the Lulu song and the movie. I think she was a bit infatuated with Sidney Poitier…
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Wow Tomas, that’s unbelievable, my mom too and the whole family loved that album and Lulu’s singing. ???? I still have that original LP from 1967 and listen to it. One of a very few family treasure from those days I was able to keep.
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Copied fromWikipedia.
The clavichord is a European stringed rectangular keyboard instrument that was used largely in the Late Middle Ages, through the Renaissance, Baroque and Classical eras. Historically, it was mostly used as a practice instrument and as an aid to composition, not being loud enough for larger performances. The clavichord produces sound by striking brass or iron strings with small metal blades called tangents. Vibrations are transmitted through the bridge(s) to the soundboard.
The clavichord was invented in the early fourteenth century. In 1404, the German poem “Der Minne Regeln” mentions the terms clavicimbalum (a term used mainly for the harpsichord) and clavichordium, designating them as the best instruments to accompany melodies.I’ll be Bach and you can be Beethoven, Jung!
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That’s a beautiful instrument Howard. The pre-cursor to the harpsichord and piano. It sounded great in that song “Thackery Meets the Faculty, Then Alone”. Perhaps when MLT have a need for an exotic instrument to include in one of their songs, a Clavichord could be an idea 🙂
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Yes, there are lots of interesting classical musical instruments out there. The dulcimer also comes to mind (and another Brian Jones instrument). I have no doubt Mona and Lisa would love to have a go at some of these more exotic instruments. Unfortunately though, I guess that with all their writing, video production and practicing of their main instruments, they wouldn’t have much time for experimentation. I figure Mona is probably still coming to grips with the flute and Lisa with the Cello, unless they just leave instruments like these for when a song requires it.
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Agree. For Mona and Lisa, when it comes to their music and creating something special, I think any new instrument would be game if it would give them the effect they were after. They seem to just learn it and adapt it into their song as needed. They carry on the creative tradition of the great groups from the past.
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Well, you can certainly tell I’m not a musician. I read the title of this post, and the only possible answer I could think of was “all six of them”.
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Ron Grainer from Australia is listed as the composer and it says it was a Harpsichord.
All the information on guitars is quite interesting. About the same time I was reading this I came across a video of a “Gibson and Fender Duel” of “Layla” on YouTube that was really enjoyable. It would be wonderful to see Mona and Lisa do something similar.
I love all their videos, but especially when they are rocking the live performances and their incredible skills.
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