For years I have been listening to U2 songs and I’ve noticed something I’ve never really noticed before. That most of their songs don’t have real complicated guitar parts. It’s cool sounding, but I never paid attention to the details.
So I started researching The Edge’s guitar playing and why he likes simplicity so much.
He says he loves a sound that typifies a low-key playing style that consists of ringing, chiming, shimmering and echo sounds that he achieves with extensive use of digital delay effects and reverb.
The Edge has stated that he views musical notes as "expensive", in that he prefers to play as few notes as possible. I found this fascinating!
He said in a 1982 interview of his style:
“Notes actually do mean something. They have power. I think of notes as being expensive. You don't just throw them around. I find the ones that do the best job and that's what I use. I suppose I'm a minimalist instinctively. I don't like to be inefficient if I can get away with it. Like on the end of 'With or Without You'. My instinct was to go with something very simple. Everyone else said, 'Nah, you can't do that.' I won the argument and I still think it's sort of brave, because the end of 'With or Without You' could’ve been so much bigger, so much more of a climax, but there's this power to it which I think is even more potent because it's held back... ultimately I'm interested in music. I'm a musician. I'm not a gunslinger. That's the difference between what I do and what a lot of guitar heroes do."
Next time you hear a U2 song, listen closely to the guitar. Even with its simplicity. It’s still..Pure Talent!
No comments:
Post a Comment