The idea for this video came from a comment by a viewer yesterday who, having watched my previous Torn and Frayed video, said I was using too much reverb and treble on the pedals steel.
So I thought, why not do a video demonstrating the results of adding in reverb effect from zero to ten for pedal steel guitar?
For this video, I recorded myself playing the pedal steel solo on Logic Pro X. The pedal steel is plugged in direct via a digital audio interface. I then selected one of the built-in amps in Logic Pro, the Chicken Picken’ one, since it looked Fender Twin-ish and made various adjustments to the amp settings and other plug-ins as follows:
Noise Gate - on
Pedalboard - off
Amp - as below
Gain - 4
Bass - 4
Mids - 6
Treble - 7
Reverb - on (at 0, then 2, then 4, 6, 8 and finally 10)
Effects - off
Presence - 6
Master - 7
Channel EQ - off
Compressor - off
Since the treble was said to be too high on the previous video, I reduced the treble to a lower level at 7.
The solo was recorded once only with no reverb and exported as a sound file. I then turned up the reverb knob to 2 and exported another sound file using the same sound recording. This process is repeated for reverb settings of 4, 6, 8 and 10.
Doing it this way, allowed me apply the reverb effect to the same recording to ensure only one variable was changed and to save effort so I don't have to play the solo six times.
All the other amp settings remained unchanged. I took several screen shots of the Logic Pro X window for each reverb setting and these are shown in the video.
No EQ was applied nor was a compressor used on the audio track in Logic Pro X.
As such, the final sound comes from that generated only by the built-in amp.
Pedal steel is normally played with a “wet” setting for reverb, meaning quite a bit of reverb.
Sequence in video:
Reverb at zero
Reverb at 2
Reverb at 4
Reverb at 6
Reverb at 8
Reverb at 10
How much reverb would be too much?
Well, you can decide for yourself after watching this video. I suppose it’s a very subjective thing. Some people prefer less reverb and some people prefer more reverb.
Other interested parties such as the sound guy at a gig or a record producer will have their own preferences on how much reverb should be applied. Having reviewed this video, I find myself liking the reverb setting at 6.
In defence of the original Torn and Frayed video, the intention was not to put out a video with the correct amount of reverb and EQ on the pedal steel nor emulate the tone of Al Perkin's pedal steel. It was to simply demonstrate the positions to play notes for the solo.
The sound on the video was captured using the on-board mic on my Ricoh GX200 camera, which is not exactly conducive to getting great audio for a video.
I was playing through a Boss Fender Bassman FBM-1 pedal, a Boss Fender ’63 Reverb FRV-1 pedal and a Ampeg Micro-CL bass amp. I knew pedal steel is played with a lot of reverb so I guess I turned up the reverb on that video. I suppose the sound bounced around a bit before reaching the camera mic.
For this video, recording direct ensures that the only reverb effect detected comes from the amp setting.
IMPORTANT NOTICE
Great care and effort has been expended on trying to ensure that the steel part is accurate. However there is always a risk that what I am demonstrating could be wrong in terms of note, in terms of position of the steel bar, in terms of which strings are plucked. I could have been suffering from slight deafness on the day of recording or I was feeling off because the wife was nagging me again. This video represents the best that I could do after researching the original recording and any available footage. Unless I was standing right next to the player and videotaping the performance, there’s no way I can accurately say for certain that what I play is perfectly accurate to what the original player did. Do not assume my demonstration as the final word, cast in stone-like. I could be wrong. Nobody is perfect, least of all me. Viewers should exercise caution when watching the video and they would be well advised to check for themselves against the original recording and any associated footage. I may be playing it wrong but you may be playing it right. Isn’t this fun, learning things together?
