What kind of technique does Calum Graham use to NOT get a sound from leaving string

[Znerken]

In the following video, what kind of technique is Calum using at the last hammer on 2nd fret to not get the hammer off sound he has on the rest? Other than moving the finger slowly off the string, I find it hard not to get the sound of the finger leaving the string, especially since it's tuned one step down. The songs intro is hammer on 2nd, hammer off, repeated, but on the last one, there clearly is no hammer off when the harmonics at the highest string comes in to place. Tips?



(at 0:26, watch in half speed)

Here is another clip where it's perhaps easier to watch, same time

[ljguitar]

Hi Z…

Hammer 'off' come in more than one flavor. The main two are either a push/pull off where the fingertip activates the string as the finger lifts which rearticulates the note.

The other is a simple lift-off where the finger tip is simply lifted straight up. This is 'cleaner'. If you make it a matter of practicing slowly to produce the clean 'lift' you will get it eventually.

Callum uses both techniques (and a host of others) on the videos I've seen where he's actually playing (as opposed to syncing it with a recording like the first one you posted).

Hope this helps...

[ManyMartinMan]

Originally Posted by ljguitar

...where he's actually playing (as opposed to syncing it with a recording like the first one you posted).

Yes. It would be hard to tell what technique he used in the recording that he is playing to. I certainly don't play the same song, note for note, every time I play it.

[Znerken]

Originally Posted by ljguitar

Hi Z…

Hammer 'off' come in more than one flavor. The main two are either a push/pull off where the fingertip activates the string as the finger lifts which rearticulates the note.

The other is a simple lift-off where the finger tip is simply lifted straight up. This is 'cleaner'. If you make it a matter of practicing slowly to produce the clean 'lift' you will get it eventually.

Callum uses both techniques (and a host of others) on the videos I've seen where he's actually playing (as opposed to syncing it with a recording like the first one you posted).

Hope this helps...

I didn’t quite catch that. I understand the hammer ons/off, but his last time leaving the string on the second fret, before the harmonic, does not make a sound of leaving the string. Do you mean that’s a clean lift?So a clean lift does not make the open string sound when you leave the string?

[erhino41]

The recordings are also wet with effects so any slight noise coming off of the string will be covered by the reverb and delay and what else is there. leaving the string a touch slow should dampen enough. You could also try to dampen the string with the right hand.

[ManyMartinMan]

Originally Posted by Znerken

...Do you mean that’s a clean lift?So a clean lift does not make the open string sound when you leave the string?

No. You're not watching what you're listening to. You are hearing a pre-recorded version of the song. What you are watching is him "guitar-synching" (think lip-synching) to the music. You are not actually watching what you are hearing. In addition to that, as erhino stated, there is lots of processing in the recording.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by Znerken

I didn’t quite catch that. I understand the hammer ons/off, but his last time leaving the string on the second fret, before the harmonic, does not make a sound of leaving the string. Do you mean that’s a clean lift?So a clean lift does not make the open string sound when you leave the string?

Hi Z
Not if you lift and keep the finger-tip touching the string (or the palm of the picking hand). There are enough videos of him playing this piece to work out the different techniques he uses, if he plays it identically every time.

I have not closely followed the body of his work enough to know how identically he plays his arrangements. I first saw him with Don Ross, who is whom I have followed more closely.

I know that some parts of my own arrangements I play the same every time. Other parts I spontaneously mix things around, and change notes, the strings I play passages on.

It sounds like the precise technique Calum's using is specifically important to you. If you can identify other passages in this or others pieces with similar techniques, and experiment with your own versions of them, you may 'discover' a technique which duplicates the sound of his whether you duplicate his specific technique or not.

You are dealing with a genre of fingerstyle which is not dominated by the same 'rules' or 'principles' that classical guitar technique often demands. There is a lot of freedom and flexibility in Calum's styling.