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Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 20 2012 at 23:42
Greetings and same here. I actually was just watching Fire and Ice this evening. You'll like it for sure. Good performance. They do Shadow of the Hierophant which was really magical, and works well with a female bandmember to do the singing. I thought the selection of material in Once Above a Time was better at showcasing the band's talent, but who am I to quibble? Fire and Ice had a really good vibe with them pulling Steven Wilson and later John Wetton on stage to play a number with them.

I forgot to mention the Tokyo Tapes, although I think someone else made mention of them.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 20 2012 at 23:48
Originally posted by HackettFan HackettFan wrote:

Greetings and same here. I actually was just watching Fire and Ice this evening. You'll like it for sure. Good performance. They do Shadow of the Hierophant which was really magical, and works well with a female bandmember to do the singing. I thought the selection of material in Once Above a Time was better at showcasing the band's talent, but who am I to quibble? Fire and Ice had a really good vibe with them pulling Steven Wilson and later John Wetton on stage to play a number with them.

I forgot to mention the Tokyo Tapes, although I think someone else made mention of them.

Very cool. Thanks for the feedback. I'll have to check it out. I've recently been on a Hackett kick, I've been enjoying his later albums: Darktown, Wild Orchids, Out of the Tunnel's Mouth, Live Rails, Beyond The Shrouded Horizon, and the collaborative recording with Squire - Squackett which I've enjoyed. What do you think about Darktown? This one seems to slip through the cracks, it's a gem.


Edited by Mirror Image - July 20 2012 at 23:48
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 21 2012 at 00:25
Mmm...yes, I just listened to Beyond the Shrouded Horizon this afternoon. It's just terrific. I do think this is his best era altogether. I liked the Squackett album too. He's come a long way as a vocalist, hasn't he? Squackett is not as progressive as the other stuff, but still has lots of musical integrity. I hadn't really warmed up to darktown, but I trust your judgement about it. It's supposed to be a very personal album about his negative experience with school as a youngster, as I understand it. My copy of it unfortunately is out of state (yep, mother's house), so I don't have immediate access to it. I might need to buy another copy.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 21 2012 at 00:36
Originally posted by HackettFan HackettFan wrote:

Mmm...yes, I just listened to Beyond the Shrouded Horizon this afternoon. It's just terrific. I do think this is his best era altogether. I liked the Squackett album too. He's come a long way as a vocalist, hasn't he? Squackett is not as progressive as the other stuff, but still has lots of musical integrity. I hadn't really warmed up to darktown, but I trust your judgement about it. It's supposed to be a very personal album about his negative experience with school as a youngster, as I understand it. My copy of it unfortunately is out of state (yep, mother's house), so I don't have immediate access to it. I might need to buy another copy.

Yeah, I think Hackett's voice has gotten a lot better, but to be honest I never had a problem with it. I love all the beautiful vocal harmonizing on Beyond the Shrouded Horizon. I thought he did this incredibly well. The music itself is just first-rate Hackett. It has a great mixture of everything that's great about him. Squackett wasn't progressive like many of his other recordings, but I enjoyed it for what it was. That opening title track was a stunner! One of the best openings for an album I've heard in quite some time. The opening of that song, especially the sequencer part reminded of the sequencer part in the Yes song Endless Dream from their album Talk. Anyway, just a point of comparison. Darktown is a fantastic album. I hated the title track of the album, but skip that song and the rest is just great. In Memoriam, in particular, was just gorgeous. I would definitely listen to again if I were you.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 21 2012 at 00:59
Originally posted by Mirror Image Mirror Image wrote:


Originally posted by HackettFan HackettFan wrote:

Mmm...yes, I just listened to Beyond the Shrouded Horizon this afternoon. It's just terrific. I do think this is his best era altogether. I liked the Squackett album too. He's come a long way as a vocalist, hasn't he? Squackett is not as progressive as the other stuff, but still has lots of musical integrity. I hadn't really warmed up to darktown, but I trust your judgement about it. It's supposed to be a very personal album about his negative experience with school as a youngster, as I understand it. My copy of it unfortunately is out of state (yep, mother's house), so I don't have immediate access to it. I might need to buy another copy.

Yeah, I think Hackett's voice has gotten a lot better, but to be honest I never had a problem with it. I love all the beautiful vocal harmonizing on Beyond the Shrouded Horizon. I thought he did this incredibly well. The music itself is just first-rate Hackett. It has a great mixture of everything that's great about him. Squackett wasn't progressive like many of his other recordings, but I enjoyed it for what it was. That opening title track was a stunner! One of the best openings for an album I've heard in quite some time. The opening of that song, especially the sequencer part reminded of the sequencer part in the Yes song Endless Dream from their album Talk. Anyway, just a point of comparison. Darktown is a fantastic album. I hated the title track of the album, but skip that song and the rest is just great. In Memoriam, in particular, was just gorgeous. I would definitely listen to again if I were you.


I know what you mean. India Rubber Man, for instance, always brought out my emotions. I think it was always just him building up his own confidence with his voice, and sorting out that he got better results by and large with deeper tones. I agree also about the opening to Squackett. Strong. I'll definitely give Darktown another listen too.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 23 2012 at 00:05
Steve Hackett's electric playing with added distortion has a unique sound. He plays rock licks in minor and major keys based off the pentatonic scale, minor scales, and the "Devil's Court" (old name for it), and we've all heard it played on "Larks Tongues In Aspic" part 1. Playing these sort of intervals places his style in the realm of Bob Fripp. He also plays much ethnic scales ..modes  during his electric lead guitar solos. He also does some tapping , but with a guitar pick and sometimes during one or 2 of his melodic solos, the style and sound of Andrew Latimer will come to mind. Francis Lickerish and Stephen Stewart, guitarists with the Enid in the 70's had the electric side to Hackett's playing in their style. Even though they harmonized a bit more , their usage of effects, sliding up the neck, trills, and sometimes signature leads were reminiscent of the Steve Hackett sound and style.
On Classical Guitar he has a very sweet tone that is developed and sophisticated. He is not devoted to playing Classical guitar only. For example...Christopher Parkening, Julian Bream, Liona Boyd are all devoted to practice of the Classical guitar between 12 to 15 hours a day. I believe if Steve Hackett would have devoted his entire practice time and development to just the Classical he would rank amongst the best who are respected in the Classical world. Steve Hackett has the talent and technical ability to be a seasoned Classical player , but he chooses to play prog rock.  
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 23 2012 at 00:16
Originally posted by TODDLER TODDLER wrote:

Steve Hackett's electric playing with added distortion has a unique sound. He plays rock licks in minor and major keys based off the pentatonic scale, minor scales, and the "Devil's Court" (old name for it), and we've all heard it played on "Larks Tongues In Aspic" part 1. Playing these sort of intervals places his style in the realm of Bob Fripp. He also plays much ethnic scales ..modes  during his electric lead guitar solos. He also does some tapping , but with a guitar pick and sometimes during one or 2 of his melodic solos, the style and sound of Andrew Latimer will come to mind. Francis Lickerish and Stephen Stewart, guitarists with the Enid in the 70's had the electric side to Hackett's playing in their style. Even though they harmonized a bit more , their usage of effects, sliding up the neck, trills, and sometimes signature leads were reminiscent of the Steve Hackett sound and style.
On Classical Guitar he has a very sweet tone that is developed and sophisticated. He is not devoted to playing Classical guitar only. For example...Christopher Parkening, Julian Bream, Liona Boyd are all devoted to practice of the Classical guitar between 12 to 15 hours a day. I believe if Steve Hackett would have devoted his entire practice time and development to just the Classical he would rank amongst the best who are respected in the Classical world. Steve Hackett has the talent and technical ability to be a seasoned Classical player , but he chooses to play prog rock.  

The thing with Hackett is he doesn't want to settle with one style of guitar playing which I admire greatly. He has such wide array of interests. A lot of the beauty of Hackett's playing also comes from just being subtle. I'm instantly reminded of his guitar playing in Genesis' The Fountain of Salmacis in the quieter sections. Listen closely to the chord voicings he uses. Speaking of guitar techniques, Hackett also uses sweep picking in several solos. I believe he was using sweep picking on electric before any of the shredders like Vai and Malmsteen. 


Edited by Mirror Image - July 23 2012 at 00:17
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 23 2012 at 00:35
Mirror Image is right about the sweep picking.

Toddler, would you please tell me what the "Devil's Court" is? It's gotta be cool.

I think Steve Hackett is in a good position, producing and distributing his own material. It's allowed him to do what he wants musically more than ever before. He really no longer needs to compromise.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 23 2012 at 00:43
Originally posted by HackettFan HackettFan wrote:

Mirror Image is right about the sweep picking.

Toddler, would you please tell me what the "Devil's Court" is? It's gotta be cool.

I think Steve Hackett is in a good position, producing and distributing his own material. It's allowed him to do what he wants musically more than ever before. He really no longer needs to compromise.

He must be referring to the Devil's Interval (aka tritone).
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 23 2012 at 02:24
Originally posted by Mirror Image Mirror Image wrote:

Originally posted by HackettFan HackettFan wrote:

Mirror Image is right about the sweep picking.

Toddler, would you please tell me what the "Devil's Court" is? It's gotta be cool.

I think Steve Hackett is in a good position, producing and distributing his own material. It's allowed him to do what he wants musically more than ever before. He really no longer needs to compromise.

He must be referring to the Devil's Interval (aka tritone).
 
Yes, a series of notes fingered almost like triads except they are not always sustained as triad chords would be in a melodic piece of music in a major or minor key. They are used extremely in the music of George Crumb and Bernard Hermann. They are heard quite a lot throughout the album "Bitches Brew" by Miles Davis. They did hit the commercial world through old Sci-Fi themes such as "The Outer Limits", "The Twilight Zone" and "One Step Beyond". They have been noodled with in the world of soundtrack music for decades. They are used in "Heavy Metal" music to create a dark and heavy sound and people like Frank Zappa had other plans for them. "Devil's Court" , was a name for it which was possibly made up by jazz and classical musicians who traveled the road. The sound of it (if played creatively), invents mystery and fear to the listener's mind. Now , I am making reference as to what it can produce through Avant-Garde 20th Century compositions. Edgar Varese for example. And especially Bella Bartok's "Piano Concerto No. II. If you were a church musician and Christians heard you practicing the "Devil's Interval", they might cringe, or even take it to heart. It can set off a mysterious and hypnotic vibe to the human ear. That is the reason for it being ...in some cases taylor made and based around a concept film where the average person adapts and gets used to the feeling it gives off because it revolves around a subject or even a play. It is more adaptable that way for a majority of people. A minority of people appreciate it more for it's substance when it is incorporated into a 20th Century Avant-Garde piece. A very haunting sound can be produced with the "Devil's Interval" by stretching across 7 0r 8 frets of the guitar neck while holding down bass notes , sustaining them along with ringing out higher pitched notes around the 12th or 14th fret. a sound mostly heard on piano and haunts the mind. But I guess for some it's like daydreaming.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 23 2012 at 09:28
Gracias! This sounds intriguing. I was never any good at making anything out of the diatonic or chromatic scales which this seems to bear some relation to, but I really have to try this.

Early in his career, Steve Hackett would do a lot of things that you couldn't quite tell was a guitar and not a keyboard. It seems to me he does less of that now. In the last couple decades, I think he's gotten more into a guitar as guitar sound and a bit freer too. Do others hear this too?
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 23 2012 at 10:41
From Wikipedia..............."Tritones"

Because of that original symbolic association with the devil and it's avoidance, this interval came to heard in Western cultural convention as suggesting an "evil" connotative meaning in music. Today the interval continues to suggest an "oppressive" , "scary" or "evil" sound. However, suggestions that singers were excommunicated or otherwise punished by the Church for invoking this interval are likely fanciful.
 
The interval is used often in the music of Univers Zero and Art Zoyd. Steve Hackett has often in the past...created a dark atmospheric sound in his instrumental compositions by using tri-tones. In the music of Steve Hackett they have been sustained on keyboard and played rapidly on guitar. It creates an interesting soundscape for his music.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 23 2012 at 14:18
Originally posted by HackettFan HackettFan wrote:

Mirror Image is right about the sweep picking.

Toddler, would you please tell me what the "Devil's Court" is? It's gotta be cool.

I think Steve Hackett is in a good position, producing and distributing his own material. It's allowed him to do what he wants musically more than ever before. He really no longer needs to compromise.
 

If you are a guitarist, you should try this  tri-tone related sequence. I can't give you a visual on how they are written on manuscript paper , so I will explain the fingering and positions.
The first note of the pattern is played by placing your 4th finger on the Est string in the 12th fret. This is the E note.
 
2ND note (E flat) of the pattern is played with the middle finger and placed on the E6TH string in the 11th fret.

3rd note (d) is played with the fourth finger on the D string in the 12th fret.

4th note (d flat) is played with the index finger and placed in the 9th fret on the E1st string.

5th note (c) is played with the fourth finger and placed on the B string in the 13th fret.

6TH Note (b) is is played with the index finger and plac ed on the 9th fret on the D string.


7th Note (b flat) is played with the ring finger and placed on the 11th fret on the B string.


8TH NOTE (a) is played with the ring finger and placed on the 12th fret on the A string.


9th Note (a flat) is played with the middle finger and placed on the 11th fret on the A string


10TH NOTE (g) is played with the the ring finger and placed on the 12th fret on the G string


11th note (G flat or F #) is played with the fourth finger and placed on the 14th fret on the E1st string.
 
The next step is to place your index finger in the 9th fret on the G string ...playing the E note, slding it down a half step playing the E flat note and starting the pattern all over again a half step down and so on in the chromatic steps.
 
 
 

 


Edited by TODDLER - July 23 2012 at 14:21
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 23 2012 at 14:40
That's cool but not to be annoying how is it tritone related? It's a chromatic walk down while jumping the octaves of the notes you are hitting.
 
(Although its a great excercise for string skipping and helping people do strange chormatic runs so I would def recommend doing this as well. :-D)
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 23 2012 at 15:10
My left hand hurts just reading that.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 23 2012 at 20:15
Originally posted by Smurph Smurph wrote:

That's cool but not to be annoying how is it tritone related? It's a chromatic walk down while jumping the octaves of the notes you are hitting.
 
(Although its a great excercise for string skipping and helping people do strange chormatic runs so I would def recommend doing this as well. :-D)
If it is played with an even tempo and moderate speed
it will sound like a cluster of notes in constant rotation that resemble the tri-tone playing of Bob Fripp. The fingering is similar to the tri-tone patterns Fripp and Hackett have recorded in the past.  Repeat the pattern in 1 position instead of going down half steps. or record it and listen back and see if it doesn't create that sound.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 23 2012 at 20:50
I'm very very proud of my close dear old friend;truly talented keyboardist Nick Magnus.

Nick and Steve have been revisiting the old days lately...and they've  just recorded a new beefed-up version of "Camino Royale" for his upcoming Genesis Revisited II album.

(Nick and I became long time friends years ago via our mutual English producer friend John Acock who produced & mixed Lucerne central Switzerland's progressive rock band Flame Dream of which I was the guitarist in the band.)http://wnew.radio.com/2011/07/04/the-producers-john-acock/

Ich wönsche allne en glöckliche und sunnige July und positive sunny summer 2012

Tschüüüüsssss & ciao.



Edited by DaleHauskins - July 23 2012 at 21:05
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 23 2012 at 21:02
Originally posted by TODDLER TODDLER wrote:

Originally posted by Smurph Smurph wrote:

That's cool but not to be annoying how is it tritone related? It's a chromatic walk down while jumping the octaves of the notes you are hitting.
 

(Although its a great excercise for string skipping and helping people do strange chormatic runs so I would def recommend doing this as well. :-D)



If it is played with an even tempo and moderate speed
it will sound like a cluster of notes in constant rotation that resemble the tri-tone playing of Bob Fripp. The fingering is similar to the tri-tone patterns Fripp and Hackett have recorded in the past.  Repeat the pattern in 1 position instead of going down half steps. or record it and listen back and see if it doesn't create that sound.


I'll try it. What I gathered about it in Wikipedia, there's a strict interpretation of the tritones that includes only the tritones and a loose interpretation that includes the half steps in between, yielding essentially half of the chromatic scale. I'm guessing that the tritones in the loose interpretation are supposed to function as more important notes like the root note and perfect fifth in other scales. Is that right?

It's interesting bringIng Fripp into this because Hackett was supposed to have been influenced by him and King Crimson early on, but I have trouble hearing much of any Fripp in Hackett's playing. On rare occasion sure, but quite rare it seems to me perhaps.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 23 2012 at 21:08
Originally posted by DaleHauskins DaleHauskins wrote:

I'm very very proud of my close dear old friend;truly talented keyboardist Nick Magnus.Nick and Steve have been revisiting the old days lately...and they've  just recorded a new beefed-up version of "Camino Royale" for his upcoming Genesis Revisited II album.(Nick and I became long time friends years ago via our mutual English producer friend John Acock who produced & mixed Lucerne central Switzerland's progressive rock band Flame Dream of which I was the guitarist in the band.)<font face="Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="3">Ich wönsche allne en glöckliche und sunnige July und positive sunny summer 2012Tschüüüüsssss & ciao.



I don't quite understand. Camino Royale is from his solo work. Hmm... One thing I heard because I put myself on the Hackettsongs e-mail list is that Genesis Revisited II is supposed to be a double album.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 23 2012 at 21:10
If you want easy listening, you head over to ol' Anthony Phillips. Nearly every album of his is amazing. But regarding Steve Hackett, Spectral Mornings is the way to go. The Ballad Of The Decomposing Man is a classic and MUST HAVE.
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