I keep wondering how best to transfer electric guitar hard rock to acoustic instruments. How to bring out the essentials of a hard rock song without all the screaming effects and power chord crunching. It would be easier for the rhythm guitarist than the lead guitarist, since there’s less difference in the rhythm parts. You can still power chord when acoustic. The gulf between what’s possible in acoustic lead playing and electric lead playing is huge. What about the bass? Do some unplugged bands cheat by plugging in a bass? Or is a doghouse bass ever substituted? Personally, if I were an unplugged bass player I would find a guitarrón. Or could we just skip the bass?
Perhaps there is a sort of acoustic guitar vocabulary that can translate a given electric guitar technique A into a corresponding acoustic substitute B. Often though the substitutes are not even close, still there should be enough resemblance to allow for a “translation” of guitar vocabularies.
If anyone has experience transfering a hard rock song from electric to acoustic, I’d be interested in hearing your tips.
Some rock has been successfully “translated” to acoustic, it’s a mainstay. Clapton did an acoustic version of Layla, and there is/was MTV Unplugged. Some songs already sound better played acoustic vs any electric version. Beatles songs are a good example (Blackbird e.g.)
With no amp distortion and no effects, stick to the more melodic stuff. Instead of “screaming” leads and “crunchy power chords”, go for decent chord changes and harmonies. If you can fingerpick, do so also. Listen for the counterpoints. Look for subtlety. Here Comes The Sun sounds good. Beatles, Stones, some Clapton, etc will work fine. Even Kiss stuff may work (Beth). Led Zeppelein, Hendrix etc problaby will not work (although Hendrix’s Red House will since it is way more blues than rock anyway).
Some of our better known rock “heroes” have a blues background… blues players play electric and acoustic, and can seemingly change back and forth at will.
I do this all the time - the key is technique. Playing electric - especially hard rock - requires somewhat different techniques, such as a lot of muffing (palm muting with your picking hand), hard-attack downstrokes, pinching (squeezing down on the pick to have the flesh of your thumb brush the strings, which mutes the main string tone and emphasizes harmonics. If someone accomplished with these types of techniques, you can adapt them to acoustic - of course it doesn’t emphasize the basic qualities of an acoustic guitar - which is typically put to best advantage with big ringing chords - so expect a lower volume unless you are amplifying the guitar.
As for leads - the biggest issue is whether a player’s technique depends on distortion. Squeeling harmonics and some right-hand tapping is simply best done on an electric. Otherwise, acoustic remains the way that a guitarist should “put up or shut up” you can either pull it off on acoustic, or not…
Bass - my bassist says that pretty much every guitar-like acoustic bass is shit and he just plays his '62 Precision (custom color, the lucky bastard) with an amp at low volume…
which was no longer hard rock when he did so, but straight blues. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
Actually I’d think lots of Zep tracks would work fine as acoustic songs, esp. if you give the same range of leeway as to Clapton on “Layla”. The entirety of Led Zep IV would be pretty easy with few changes, as would most of Physical Graffiti. To a deceptive extent, I think Led Zep achieved their “heavy” sound more through vocals than through amplified instruments. Now, take Van Halen or Styx or Yes and I think you’ve got a very different situation.
Meanwhile — generally speaking — if you wanted to take a hard-driving hard rock piece that depended on amplified guitar work to drive it, and recreate that kind of feel on acoustic instruments (perhaps even acoustic instruments without even microphone amplification?), one way is to use a couple of grand pianos. You can get the volume, the rich density of sound, and the expressiveness from a piano that will allow you do produce that effect.
A trumpet for replicating the lead pitch off lead guitar might work well, too.
I really like the sound of an acoustic bass, myself. But if you want a thicker sound, have you considered a twelve-string guitar?
One tip I’d give is that your lead guitarist needs to play fewer notes while soloing - I think ‘acoustifying’ a song encourages simplicity.
Ever heard of Days of the New? I always felt like their first record was an excellent marriage of acoustic and hard rock. In fact, almost the entire record is acoustic (the only exceptions being one, maybe two electric guitar parts). As a testament to how “hard rock” they were, those guys did a tour with Metallica and Alice in Chains once.
Of course, they may be too grunge for your taste. The album I’m talking about came out in '97. It couldn’t hurt to take a peek at it, though.
Actually, Marley23, I’m playing a Fender 12-string already. I elected myself to play rhythm because I have the 12-string. Thinking of hiring a lead player. I have a funny habit of always playing unplugged, don’t know what it is about me. As a drummer I move in the world of hand drums like djembé that often work better in unplugged arrangements. Of all hand drums, I think djembé is best suited to basic rock.
The specific song that made me ask is “Giant” by Melissa Etheridge, whose music is predominantly electric guitar-based. The music of this song sounds like an imitation of AC/DC: loud, simple power chord crunches with a blistering distorted lead. (I never cared for AC/DC at all, though I like “Giant”.) I wanted to include it in my summer repertoire for when I’ll be in the woods and maybe without electricity. I felt the 12-string was capable of replicating the rhythm guitar track. I just feel sorry for whoever I convince to play lead on it.
I saw Coheed and Cambria playing unplugged on TV and I thought they sounded great.
I played a National resonator bass at a guitar shop here that I really liked. It had nice full-bodied tone. I’d buy it if I had 1300 to spare. I generally agree that acoustic bass guitars have weak-ass tone. If I were to play in an acoustic group I think I would like to have an upright - really nothing comes close to that tone, in the right hands (not mine.)
Well, at least now I know it was a good idea. Hung Mung mentioned Alice in Chains, and maybe you’d want to give their MTV Unplugged album a listen. They were successful as a hard rock/metal band, but oddly enough they did some very good acoustic EPs. They didn’t change the arrangements or anything very much on the MTV album, but they did keep the edge on their songs while using acoustic instruments.
Hung Mung mentioned Alice in Chains, and maybe you’d want to give their MTV Unplugged album a listen. They were successful as a hard rock/metal band, but oddly enough they did some very good acoustic EPs. They didn’t change the arrangements or anything very much on the MTV album, but they did keep the edge on their songs while using acoustic instruments.