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Subject: 03/19/92 - The National Midnight Star #452 ** Special Edition **
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
The National Midnight Star, Number 452
Thursday, 19 March 1992
Today's Topics:
Guitar Player magazine interview with Geddy & Alex
----------------------------------------------------------
From: gimper@leland.Stanford.EDU
[ Trying to get un-backed-up, here's another transcription that's waited
in the wings quite a while... :rush-mgr ]
Taken without permission from the November 1991 edition of
_Guitar Player_ magazine.
RUSH Redefined
By Andy Widders-Ellis
You can tell from the banter that the guys are feeling good:
"PRS, that's a *guitar*?" "No, Ged, women have that." "Oh, I thought
it was that Penis Reduction System you use." "Well, Ged, I tried it,
but it didn't work."
As we cluster around a table in the management's Toronto
office, I can't help but notice how relaxed and downright healthy the
two bandmates look. It's obvious that Alex -- tan and buff in a
yellow muscle shirt -- has been working out. Geddy, his hair
cascading below his shoulders, is looking _tres_ cool and collected in
a pair of Lennon shades. Despite having already endured several
hours of local media interviews, the musicians seem mellow and
eager to talk. They've just completed their new album, _Roll The
Bones_, and the experience is fresh in their minds.
Even offstage, the guitarist and bassist work together, bouncing
ideas back and forth and often completing each other's thoughts.
Above all, they don't take themselves too seriously. Wow -- still
frisky after all these years...
New Grooves, New Sounds
GP: _Roll The Bones_ hits me a lot lower than most of your
previous records.
Geddy: Gut level?
GP: Precisely.
Geddy: Oh, I like that. That's a positive reaction.
GP: What did you do differently to punch the music down?
Alex: We planned the direction before we started writing. We
wanted to bring the guitars up a bit more, compared to previous
albums.
Geddy: It's a combination of things: Number one is how we
write these days. This began with _Presto_, our last record. Alex
and I start the songs together -- just guitar, bass, and vocals -- the
way we used to long ago. It's a more organic approach. And Rupert
[Hine, _Presto_ and _Roll The Bones_ producer] has helped us get a
slightly looser feel. Also, on this record I made a conscious decision
to depart from my normal tone. I play with a little less top end and
more bottom. I think all these things contribute to your response.
GP: What caused you to change your bass tone?
Geddy: I got a new Wal bass, a red one. When I ordered it, I
didn't expect it to sound any different than my black one. The
difference is fairly subtle, but it *is* warmer. This may be because it
has a slightly bigger horn. It's a hornier bass...it's a red, *horny*
bass.
GP: Hmm. Now that you mention it...
Geddy: Deeper. [To Alex] There's an undertone to this
interview. It started with the intestinal thing. Now we're into
biology!
GP: Are the tempos a bit slower? The backbeats seem more
pronounced.
Alex: My son pointed out the same thing: There are no fast
songs on this record.
Geddy: It *is* more mid-tempo. That's intentional.
GP: Are the keys any different? Your vocals seem a bit lower.
Geddy: I think most of these songs are in "A" or "E". Slightly
lower on the neck from a bass perspective.
Alex: It's funny, we sort of lock ourselves into a particular key
for an album. Each record is a little different.
GP: On songs like "Dreamline" and "Bravado" you get a pretty
tough, chunky sound when you settle into those eighth-note grooves,
Geddy. Are you using a pick?
Geddy: I always use my fingers, but sometimes I grow my
nails. Primarily this one [shows right-hand middle finger]. As a
child, I was fortunate to have it almost chopped off.
GP: Whoa!
Geddy: When the nail grew back, it was extraordinarily tough.
It doesn't break if I use it as a pick.
GP: The guitars sound more transparent -- lot of bright,
sparkling parts with only an occasional fat solo. The audio spread's
wider.
Geddy: That's right. Again, deciding to move the bass down a
little closer to the bass drum range actually freed up some space. I
usually play with a lot of midrange twank. With that gone, or
decreased, there's more room for guitar.
Alex: Downplaying the keyboards also opens up space for the
guitars and vocals.
Geddy: Stephen Tayler, our engineer, has a great ear for
slotting frequencies. Everything has its area. He hears if a keyboard
is going to mask something. Now we realize something that we didn't
a few records ago: Just 'cause you can overdub a thousand great
ideas doesn't mean you *should*. It's a question of developing taste
and having the confidence to say, "If these ideas are clouding up the
fundamental parts, pull 'em out. Let's just keep the ones that serve
the song best." There will be plenty of room in another song for an
idea. And there's always another idea, so don't worry about it.
GP: They're not precious.
Geddy: Yeah...that "not precious" philosophy really helps.
GP: When does this weeding out occur?
Geddy: We make a lot of decisions in...
Alex: The writing stage.
Geddy: The guitar parts are far more developed in the writing
stage than they used to be when there were lots of keyboards.
Alex: To be fair to me [laughs], with a couple of those records -
_Power Windows_ and _Hold Your Fire_, for example -- the
keyboards went on *before* the guitars. They were just piled on
there, and it was very difficult to weave guitar parts around them.
Geddy: In response, to be fair to the keyboards [more
laughter], Alex didn't have his parts together at that stage. Now
when we write a song, his parts are *very* defined. It's like, "We
don't need to put a bunch of stuff here because the guitar has
priority." The keyboards take a textural role, whereas before there
was kind of an ambiguity as to who would take the lead. That's
where the guitar suffered.
Songwriting Summer Camp
GP: Where do you write?
Geddy: In a studio outside Toronto -- kind of a farm. It's a
great location because we can go home on the weekends.
GP: You live there? Like going to camp?
Geddy: During the week. We stayed there about two-and-a-
half months.
Alex: Everyone's up around 9:00, 9:30. Breakfast, watch the
war for a bit. About elevenish...
Geddy: We get to work. At least *I'd* start. Alex would have
to finish lifting weights. I'd get half the stuff written before he came
in [laughs]. We write on and off all day, break for dinner, and go
back in the evening. Usually that's when Neil gets involved. He'll
offer opinions on what we've done during the day.
GP: As band lyricist, does he write lyrics in response to the
tracks you've recorded or does he already have them in the can?
Geddy: Both. We often write with finished lyrics in front of us.
I prefer that when I'm writing vocal melodies, because there's a
certain feeling to a lyric that you try to emulate musically.
Sometimes Alex and I are dying to write in a particular style. If Neil
like what we've come up with, he'll take a tape and write lyrics to
suit that.
Alex: Lyrically, if things don't feel right, Ged will change the
order of bridges or choruses. There's a lot of movement in the lyrics.
Geddy: Alex and I act as editors for Neil, and he edits us. We
produce each other at this stage. I'm really happy at how well this
process has worked for the last couple of records. There are very
few changes between the demo and the record. This time, in fact, so
little changed in the fundamental arrangements that we were able to
use our demos as guide tracks for the final recordings. We'd just
transfer them to 24-track and redo each part as we went along.
Having our egos properly in place -- being able to take criticism from
each other and not view it as an attack -- results from our long-term
relationship. Alex and I have a lot of fun during pre-production --
it's a special time. We get off on experimenting, writing, and arguing.
You know, all those things that make a great partnership.
Alex: We don't argue nearly as much as we used to.
Geddy: No? I don't agree.
GP: Describe the writing process.
Geddy: We start by jamming -- just the two of us -- with a
cassette running. When we hit a great little moment, it's on tape.
The first stages are very spontaneous. It's exciting: A vocal line will
pop out while we're jamming and it [snaps fingers] suddenly leads to
something else. The next thing you know, you've got this
momentum, and the whole song comes together in what seems like a
short period of time.
GP: You then make a demo?
Alex: Right. I've got a Tascam 388, an integrated mixer and 8-
track reel-to-reel...
Geddy: That's synced to my sequencer.
Alex: All the keyboards and MIDI stuff run off SMPTE. That
leaves seven tracks for guitar, bass, and vocals.
Geddy: I assemble the arrangements with a basic drum
pattern on my computer.
GP: While Alex is lifting weights?
Geddy: Actually, when he finishes lifting, he comes in for 10
minutes and then has to go watch his soap operas while I'm pulling
my hair out with the assembling.
Alex: He's going, "Shit. *Stupid* computer."
Geddy: Once we get a basic melody, we start adding
instruments. We spend a lot of time working on the arrangement,
trying to make it more interesting and achieve some progression.
GP: What computer and sequencing software are you using?
Geddy: For _Roll The Bones_, I used C-Lab Notator software. It
came with an Atari computer. Previously, I was using [Mark Of The
Unicorn's] Performer and a Mac. I like the Notator software better,
but I prefer to work on a Mac. The Atari is a real pain in the ass.
Alex: They've updated Performer; it's great now.
GP: Soon Performer will offer direct-to-hard-disk digital audio
recording as well as MIDI sequencing.
Geddy: That's definitely the direction we're headed in. Our
next writing session will be digital.
Alex: Yeah, I've already got the computer upgraded.
GP: What guitars do you take to camp?
Alex: I primarily use a Tele.
Geddy: But he brings about 18 guitars.
Alex: Yeah. I love recording with my PRS, but the active
pickups require batteries, so I can't leave it plugged in when I'm not
around. The Tele is a comfortable guitar to play all day long.
Roll The Tape
GP: Okay. At camp, you produce a complete demo for each
song. What happens when you go into the studio to cut the real
thing?
Geddy: We transfer the 8-track demo to 24-track. This gives
Neil a guide version of the song. He plays to a click track while
listening to the other instruments. He rehearses so well before he
goes in that he knows *exactly* what he's gonna play. On this album,
nine times out of ten it took only one pass for him to nail it.
GP: The drums sound phenomenal.
Geddy: Neil's parts are complex, too. Listen to the end of
"Bravado." There's an example of limb independence that rivals any
drummer, anywhere. The fact that he nailed that in one take blows
my mind. In only four days, Neil and I had all the drums and bass
parts down. When you record that quickly, you wonder if maybe
some ugliness will rear its head two weeks down the road. There
were only a couple of little moments that sounded a tad unsteady
over all that work; we're able to live with them. Alex did almost all
the guitars in about eight days.
Alex: In the past, it took three to five weeks.
GP: When do the bass and guitars go down?
Alex: After Neil has done a few songs, Ged goes in to give him
a break. Ged does some basses, then Neil goes back in. As Ged said,
the guide tracks are on there, so there are vocal and keyboards when
I go in.
Geddy: [To Alex] To a large degree your parts are worked out,
because you've done all the pre-production and rehearsal. With the
exception of some subtleties, the parts are cemented in you head.
It's just a matter of getting a good performance. You have confidence
in your part, you've lived with it. Now when you record, you're just
looking for a groove. That really helped this time. Speaking as a
bass player, having a solid drum track to play over and having
confidence in my parts made all the difference. I could just lock in.
GP: When did you work out your guitar parts?
Alex: I would take a stereo 1/4" mix of the final drum and
bass tracks -- plus the guide keyboards and stuff -- and bounce it to
my 8-track. This would leave me six tracks to experiment with ideas
and sounds. With Neil and Ged knocking off four tracks a day, I
really had to cram. I'd work till 1:00 in the morning, building things
up, double- and triple-tracking. I'd work out some solo things, too.
GP: Did the others get involved?
Alex: I'd play my demo for Rupert. Ged is always in the
control room as well, so we all know what the guitar is gonna do and
can approach the final recording logically.
GP: How do you determine which guitar parts to put down
first?
Alex: I usually put the strongest part down first -- anything
that provides basic reinforcing power. I'll do the more articulated
sounds afterwards, usually with the single-coil PRS or maybe the
Tele.
GP: Your acoustic and electric guitars are very integrated. On
some songs it's hard to tell where one starts and the other leaves off.
Alex: Those active single-coil pickups produce such a *clear*
electric sound. They almost sound acoustic, like an Ovation that's
miked rather than plugged in.
Geddy: Yeah, I like that light electric sound a lot.
Alex: My goal is to create one *big* guitar sound. To achieve
that, I often double-track the same phrase with a slightly different
sound or different instrument.
GP: The opening guitar riff in "Ghost Of A Chance" is very
twangy -- almost rockabilly.
Geddy: Yeah, the *spy* part.
Alex: I used my PRS for that.
Geddy: I think you strengthened the riffs. Originally it was a
straight double-track. You went back and put on a third, slightly
heavier track.
GP: I hear a whiff of funk in "Roll The Bones" and "Where's My
Thing".
Alex: I've never been an accomplished funk player; I've never
*felt* it. I tried a little bit on _Presto_. I wanted to get better at it,
so I took a chance with this record.
GP: What amps did you record with?
Alex: For probably 80% of my parts, I used a Gallien-Krueger
setup. I also used a couple of Marshall 100-watt 2x12 combos, and a
Marshall 100-watt 4x12 half-stack.
GP: You've used GK for a long time.
Alex: Six years now.
GP: People into tube mythology claim you can't get righteous
tone from solid-state gear such as GK. Do you buy this?
Alex: Solid-state has come so far from when it was first
introduced in the late '60s. Some people are purists, but it doesn't
matter to me. The sound is what counts. Tube or transistor, who
cares?
Geddy: There are two definite schools. In America there's a
real tendency to hold the natural approach -- tube amps with
minimal processing -- in very high esteem. Conversely, the English
seem quite ready to grab gobs of EQ. They don't care what you do, as
long as you get the sound. We're more aligned with the second
school.
Alex: A lot of people feel the same way about guitars. "Oh, my
'52 blah blah blah is the *only* guitar I can play 'cause it's go the
greatest sound." I've heard a lot of crappy old guitars [makes farty
mouth noises], and I've played some new guitars that are just
brilliant -- absolutely quiet. I own some older instruments that I
cherish, but when it comes down to playing, I much prefer my PRS
guitars.
GP: Are those Marshalls tube or solid-state?
Alex: Tube. I used the combos about 10 years ago on a couple
of tours. The half-stack is a rental. We were going for a big, loud
Marshall sound; the older the amp and cabinet, the more fun it is.
The Magic Of The Moment
GP: Do you assemble composite solos from various takes?
Alex: The solos in "Ghost Of A Chance", "Bravado", and "Roll The
Bones" are basically one- or two-take solos played all the way
through. When we're developing the arrangement in the writing
stages, I toss a solo on tape so we have something to listen to. It's
late at night, the lights are down low, and I'm by myself. These were
supposed to be throwaway solos, but when it was time to do the
"real" solos, Neil had already adjusted his parts to fit what I'd played.
So it came down to me trying to recreate everything -- which doesn't
work. You might improve the sound, but even if you play *exactly*
the same notes you'll never capture that magic feel. The solos in
"Ghost Of A Chance" and "Bravado" are certainly my favorites on the
record, if not among my favorite solos ever. When I listen to them, I
hear the way I felt at that time. That's really the key.
GP: "Bravado" sounds very spontaneous.
Alex: I think it was a first take. I played my Tele through the
GK preamp direct to tape. The solo has a particular character and
personality that's uncommon for me. If I'd erased that and gone
with something else, then it would have been just another solo I put
together in the studio, rather than something that happened at a
special moment.
The Lifeson Sound
GP: What's the secret to getting a big guitar sound in a three-
piece group?
Alex: I've tried to develop a style that combines broad
arpeggios and suspended chords. They've been my two main target
areas. Suspensions have been my little trick for many, many years.
GP: Are effects critical to your sound?
Alex: I've always been interested in outboard gear, and I've
tried to be on the leading edge of whatever is new. When chorus
became available, I was the first on my block to have one. I overdid
it, I think, for a lot of years. It wasn't until fairly recently that I got
into pure guitar tone again. I didn't find it very appealing for some
reason. Now I love the power of straight sound. You know, a little
pull on the neck here and there when you're double-tracking gives
you a slightly shimmering, random sort of chorus that I find more
appealing that a constant *whoosh*.
GP: Is that why you like bolt-ons -- because the necks are
easier to yank?
Alex: I just think a bolt-on sounds better.The sustain works
differently, the low end is different. I've tried a couple of straight-
through necks, but they didn't sound particularly good or feel
comfortable. Again, it's what you're used to. I'm sure if I was forced
at gunpoint to use those guitars, I would grow to like them.
GP: In the early days you played semi-hollow ES-series
Gibsons: a 335, 345, and 355.
Alex: Yeah, all three. It was a different sound, and liked the
idea of using a hollow-body when everyone was using Les Pauls or
Strats. There were problems with the bodies resonating like crazy.
We filled them up with cotton and did all sorts of things to keep the
feedback down. I really enjoyed playing those guitars during that
period, but I found I wanted to get a little more clarity without going
to a complete Fender setup. That's when I stuck a couple of
humbuckers on a Strat. Though it felt alien, the guitar sounded
really good: It had the warmth of my Gibsons with a Strat top end.
Plus I still had a Strat pickup in the middle for any arpeggios or
clean stuff.
GP: Was that when you started to integrate the whammy bar
into your playing?
Alex: Actually, I had a vibrato arm on the 355. It was
effective, but it would *not* stay in tune. I started using it around
_A Farewell To Kings_, but it was so unreliable I was afraid of it. The
Floyd Rose came out around the same time I got that Strat
happening, so I put one of those on.
GP: But you weren't locking your nut.
Alex: Right. On the modified Strats, I'd occasionally put some
graphite or WD-40 in the nut; that was enough. If a string went out
of tune, I'd just give it a little pull. I wasn't locking nuts until I
started using Signature guitars. Locking nuts are *such* a headache.
It always bugged me to feel all that metal down there when I was
playing in a lower position. Visually, it bothered me too. Now that
I'm playing PRS guitars there's no need for that anymore. The
strings go straight up the headstock; they stay in tune just fine,
though I don't do dive bombing or anything.
GP: On the new album you do some chunky muting along with
Geddy's bass. Do you find the PRS bridge more accommodating than
a Floyd for this?
Alex: Yeah, I have the tailpiece set up flat. You don't have all
that fine-tuning hardware, so it is a lot easier to get you hand down.
Also, I can manipulate the whole tailpiece with my palm to get a
little vibrato. On my Signatures there was a lot more floating action
in the tailpiece. They were very funny guitars to set up, and I was
never really happy. They required continual alignment and
maintenance, something I don't need to worry about the the PRS
guitars
GP: So you're using a combination of finger vibrato, whammy
bar, palm/bridge manipulation, and neck pulling. Whew.
Alex: I only move the neck around in the studio, unless I'm
playing with a fairly long delay. You need to be working against a
straight version of what you're playing. If you play a chord with a
long echo and then move the neck around, you'll get that random
shifting. In the studio it's easy to do when you're overdubbing.
GP: Despite all this pitch shifting, your intonation is always
dead accurate.
Alex: It drives me crazy when something is out of tune -- it's
like a curse. Unfortunately, I don't hear my vocals the same way
[laughs]. But I can really hear the instruments. In the studio Ged is
always asking, "Is this perfectly in tune here?"
Occasionally, we do things that are slightly out just to give a
particular character to the music. On "Heresy" [_Roll The Bones_] I'm
playing my acoustics in the chorus -- especially the second chorus --
to get a 12-string, Byrds kind of sound. We wanted to create the
effect of a bunch of guys sitting around playing who aren't quite in
tune. You can hear it in the acoustic -- particularly the [Gibson] J-55,
which has a Nashville tuning. Of course you're gonna get that kind of
fluctuation anyway when you're playing high up the neck, because
the strings are so light.
GP: Do you have perfect pitch, or are you simply very
discriminating?
Alex: Discriminating. When you zero in on the frequencies and
how they move, it's easy to tell when something's not in tune.
GP: Do you add effects to your guitar during remix, or do you
print them to tape when tracking?
Alex: I much prefer to print to tape. On "Scars" [_Presto_], for
instance, I got free rein on all atmospheric guitar stuff. Some
producers we worked with in the past would have said, "No, let's
print your guitar perfectly clean and experiment later," but it's never
the same. I say do it and live with it.
GP: In "You Bet Your Life" the delay is synced to the tempo.
Did you or the engineer do that?
Alex: I did it originally, then Stephen added a little bit more
DDL to one of the other cleaner guitars to give it more energy. The
song seemed quite samey as we went through different sections --
something was lacking. We wanted to get the first verse seesawing a
little more. Edge, from U2, is a pro at that.
Rush In Concert
GP: Do you play loud onstage?
Geddy: Neil is probably the loudest.
Alex: I gauge my volume so I can hear myself slightly over the
drums.
Geddy: I don't play very loud -- just enough to feel it. Alex
doesn't *think* he plays very loud, but when I walk in front of his
amps it's like somebody took a hammer and whacked me on the side
of the head.
Alex: Well, the top end moves out, so you're just hearing the
highs as they sail by. I tend to stand midstage, so I get a much
broader sound spectrum.
Geddy: I would guess that our onstage level is significantly
lower than most hard rock or heavy metal bands. It's pretty much in
control. We use a lot of sidefill monitors to feed us different things; I
don't think we could be very subtle with those if our level was much
higher. We've toned down a little onstage over the years.
GP: To protect your hearing?
Geddy: Our stage level went down at the request of our house
mixer. It has really helped control the upfront sound.
Alex: [Yells] What?!
Geddy: I have experienced some loss. My doctor tells me that
my hearing is perfect except for a little dip around 4kHz. I blame
that on a particular monitor guy I had for a couple of years. One too
many feedback bursts.
Alex: It's no Pete Townshend thing, that's for sure.
Geddy: I know a lot of musicians who have been playing for 20
years or more, and their hearing is fine.
GP: The band's sound seems to have clarified over the years.
Alex: P.A. systems have come a long way. On the last tour, we
had a spectacular house mixer, Robert Scovill. It was his idea to do
the "doghouses," these big lead-lined plywood isolation boxes that
we keep offstage. Each one contains a 2x12 cabinet and a mike. It
makes the guitar sound so clear -- no leakage from the bass and
drums. My onstage cabinets are simply monitors; I don't mike them.
Geddy: [To Alex] Psst -- we're probably giving away a major
trade secret.
Alex: Uh...but they don't work. They were in a fire.
Remember? And then the lava from the volcano...
Geddy: Swept them into the river. Terrible, you should never
use one. *Bad* idea.
Aural Gratification
GP: What do you listen to for enjoyment?
Geddy: Alex likes Zamfir a lot.
Alex: I get most of my influences from Zamfir [starts
whistling]. I think Eric Johnson's _Ah Via Musicom_ is a great record.
Normally I'm not big on solo guitar records. They're showcases for
someone's playing ability -- interesting to hear once or twice. But I
really love Eric's style and songwriting.
Geddy: I listen to a lot of things -- Billie Holiday, Louis
Armstrong, even old country music -- that have little to do with
what I play. I don't analyze the snare or guitar sounds, I just enjoy
the singing and songwriting. In terms of contemporary bands, I
listen to the Cure, Simple Minds, and I'm really into Talk Talk's remix
CD -- what a good compilation. I listen to Metallica from time to
time, just to crank it up. A lot of ethnic music, too, stuff or Peter
Gabriel's label [Real World]. I put the discs on and let it soak in. I
recently got a compilation of Haitian music assembled by [film
director] Jonathan Demme [_Konbit! Burning Rhythms of Haiti_,
A&M]. That's a great, *great* record.
GP: When you're not recording or touring, do you practice
instruments or harmony?
Geddy: At home I play for diversion. I'll tinkle on the
keyboards. Every once in a while I'll find a sound that really
inspires me and put something on tape, but it's usually an accident.
Maybe once a week I'll pink up the bass just to goof around a bit.
Alex: I don't play very much at all, not nearly as much as I
used to. Back then our schedule was quite different; we didn't have
much time off and there was always a guitar around. Now when I
come home, especially after an intense period of recording, I like to
get away from it completely. I have other interests. I'm trying to
recapture the athletic youth that I missed.
Geddy: Likewise.
Alex: I love playing tennis of golf or throwing a baseball
around. I like to swim -- I train three days a week. I wish I'd taken
it up when I was younger, but it didn't suit me. I try to make up for
it now. I live out in the country; I garden and do things around the
property.
Geddy: In our break times -- especially before a tour and after
an album -- music takes a back seat to the other things. I think
that's healthy. It may not be the musician's creed, but when you've
been in the same band for so many years, you have to develop
different rules, rules that fit your lifestyle. Our work periods are
*so* intense, so concentrated. To keep it fresh, you have to explore
other interests.
Alex: I might not play guitar for a couple of months. Five or
ten years ago, I never went beyond a couple of days. But when I
know we're going to start rehearsals, I'll start preparing six weeks in
advance. For a couple of weeks, I'll spend three hours a day playing
in my studio -- eyes closed, lots of reverb, lights down low. I *love*
it. Once we've established the set list, three to four weeks before the
rehearsals start, I try to practice six to eight hours a day. I make a
commitment to getting back into shape. By the time we're
rehearsing, it's part of my life again.
Geddy: It's a function of the kind of band we're in. If we were
freelance musicians, our regimen would be entirely different. We'd
be practicing. You have to stay fresh, because you never know when
you're gonna get a call. It's a combination of necessity and desire
that drives you to practice. And I bet for most musicians, rehearsal
is more necessity than desire.
GP: What would you tell a young player who's considering a
career in music?
Geddy: Number one, it's not easy. Be prepared for a lot of
work. Number two, be determined and stick to your vision. Stay
optimistic.
Team Players
GP: At times you two sound like one big instrument. You've
been playing together how long now?
Alex: About 24 years. We played together for a year before
the band started.
Geddy: We know each other as players. We're comfortable
saying just about anything to each other and pushing ourselves in
any direction. The main drawback is the fear of short-changing your
education by staying with the same people. I guess that's the reason
we keep switching producers every couple of years. The three of us
don't want to change, because we enjoy working together and still
have a lot of surprisingly common musical goals. It's such a satisfying
musical situation that, whenever push comes to shove, we always
count our blessings. It's something you appreciate more the older
you get.
Alex: Occasionally, I'll get an opportunity to work with other
people. I'll do a session for a couple of days, a few songs for a friend
on the same label. That's fun; it's enough to satisfy those outside
interests.
GP: Like the Grateful Dead, you have a core group of followers
who've been into your music all along, and neither you nor the Dead
seems particularly concerned about Top-40 radio. Pursuing your
own vision has allowed you to survive all these years.
Geddy: That's a good comparison. We've always considered
Rush our *career*. Maybe when we were teenagers we said, "Yeah,
start a band, get rich and famous." But when you realize you're not
getting any chicks and you're not making a lot of money, you re-
examine your motives. I remember saying, "Look at Alfred
Hitchcock. He had a long career, made about 80 films. Some were
real popular, other not, but he kept going. He had enough confidence
in his ability to know that he was not going to disappear overnight.
He saw it as a long-term thing, which allowed him to experiment.
Whether or not a project was accepted by the masses, he always had
a core following." It's a weird analogy, but it's always made sense to
me.
Alex: But Ged, where is he today?
Geddy: Scary thought.
The Alexander Technique
GP: You play with an open right-hand picking grip rather than
a closed fist. Does this help you stay relaxed?
Alex: Yeah. It's a habit I developed from playing Gibsons so
long. On my ES guitars, the ring around the bridge pickup was high
enough that I could anchor a couple of fingers against it. This was a
very relaxed position. As guitars changed and that profile dropped,
my picking hand naturally evolved into the position I use now. I
couldn't imagine playing with a closed hand, it feels so odd.
GP: You hold the pick between your extended forefinger and
thumb -- the scalpel technique.
Alex: That's right, the pick is just an extension of my finger. I
generally pick with a fairly light action. I like to pull-off quite a bit -
- - I'm not much of a back and forth stroker. Mostly downstrokes with
pulls.
GP: Do you sweep at all?
Alex: Not a great deal. The most important thing for me is to
keep a light tension on the pick, unless I'm going for something
tough.
GP: And if you're hitting right-hand harmonics?
Alex: I just roll over onto the edge of the pick so I catch the
string with the side of my thumb.
GP: Do you let the whammy bar swing free, or do you keep it
fixed?
Alex: On my PRS guitars, the vibrato arm does not interfere
with my picking the way the Floyd did, so now I can position the bar
and leave it. I rest my baby finger on it while playing. The tremolo
springs are set fairly tight, so as long as I maintain a light contact, I
don't have to worry about going flat.
Geddy's Gear
Geddy gets his massive concert sound by combining signals
from a direct P.A. feed and an onstage mike: "My stage setup is
basically a monitor system. The D.I. provides 75% of what people
hear out front. I mike the amp a little to add some grunge." The
bass whiz likes the sound of 15" Electo-Voice speakers, which he's
used for years.
In the studio, however, the setup changes. "I use a small
Gallien-Krueger bass amp for recording. We take a D.I., too.
Surprisingly, we use the amp for the bottom end, to get a bit of air
movement so the bass doesn't sound too sterile." Geddy strings his
Wal basses with Rotosound Funkmaster strings; he changes sets
every two or three shows. "They're very light gauge," he says,
"especially the "G" string. I like to pull the strings, twang 'em."
Alex Talks Tech
For years Alex played Canadian-built Signature guitars. These
days, however, he's into his two Paul Reed Smiths. "They're bolt-
ons," says Lifeson, "medium-priced models. One has Evans active
single-coil pickups. The other has a pair of standard PRS
humbuckers and a three-way switch. The instruments feel
fantastic." Lifeson plays Dean Markley strings -- gauged .009, .011,
> .014, .028, .038, and .048 -- with medium-light nylon picks.
He's not fussy about tuners. "It doesn't really matter," shrugs
Alex. "Once I get my "A", I prefer to tune manually -- it's much
quicker. Also, the guitar is funny: Certain things need to be a little
sharp or flat, and tuners don't compensate for such idiosyncrasies.
You never get the intonation absolutely perfect, although you can get
pretty close with the PRS." When tuning manually, Lifeson matches
harmonics at the 5th and 7th frets.
Alex favors Gallien-Krueger preamps. "I'm still using the GK
2000GPL into a Crown Macro-series power amp," he details. "This
drives two 2x12 GK cabinets with 75-watt G12M70 Celestion
speakers. And I'm fiddling around with the 100MPL, their newest
preamp. It's *super* flexible." Alex estimates that it will take him a
week or so just to get a handle on the MIDI functions.
Lifeson owns several acoustics: a Gibson Dove, which he's had
for about 15 years, a Washburn, and a Gibson J-55. "I have the J-55
in a Nashville tuning," he explains [strings three through six are
tuned up an octave and gauged accordingly]. "It has a big, loud,
crazy sound, but the Nashville tuning gives an almost 12-string
effect. It adds that extra sparkle on the top end." To produce the
rich, ringing rhythm tracks on _Roll The Bones_ Alex layered the J-
55 over the Washburn. "That's my basic acoustic sound," he
discloses.
Alex plays through a stereo rig: "I've got four cabinets behind
me -- an A and a B system. On the last tour, I ran my 2000GPL into
the Crown. We'd split the signal with a Rane mixer; the sound went
to the doghouse iso cabinets and to my top two onstage cabinets. My
Roland GP-16 would feed the bottom onstage cabinets and the two
other doghouse enclosures. Again I split my signal with a Rane.
>From the pedalboard, I could switch to the B system to beef up the
sound or to introduce a particular effect." Doghouse mikes are
Sennheiser 421s.
The guitarist's effects are all rack mounted. "I have a
Bradshaw switching system," enthuses Alex. "*Man*, that stuff is so
well built. Everything is beautifully laid out inside the controller. He
must be backlogged 15 years, his work is so spectacular." Alex's rack
contains T.C. Electronic TC2290s and TC1210s and an old Roland
Dimension D. "The 1210 is a spatial expander; I use it for a beautiful,
broad chorus," he states. "The T.C. stuff is excellent -- really quiet,
very well made." The Dimension D serves as a secondary chorus unit.
"It's pretty cool. Even today people hunt around for them."
On the new record, Alex uses a Digi-Tech IPS-33B for pitch-
shifting. "In the third verse of 'You Bet Your Life,' for example, I tap
chords at different harmonic points. You can hear a bit of the 33B's
12-string program mixed into that." He also uses the unit in the
middle section of "Face Up" for the "little atmospheric movements."
Lifeson prefers to keep home recording simple: "I have a 24-track
studio that is a bunch of garbage. All you need is a good little 8-
track Tascam."
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End of The National Midnight Star Number 452
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