Mike Oldfield Interview

You have one of the most immediately recognizable guitar tones in history. I haven’t heard it reproduced by anyone else. How do you achieve your sound?

It comes from the way I learned to play electric guitar, which is through fingerpicking on acoustic. It’s a very pure sound, because I play with my fingernails. Any string that isn’t ringing is dampened by my other fingers. Most guitarists who play with a plectrum let the other strings ring a bit, messing up the purity of the sound. That’s the secret. Also, I use a violinist’s vibrato, rather than a rock guitarist’s vibrato. My vibrato is from side to side, whereas the typical rock guitarist goes up and down. My sound is a mixture of all of that and the very Celtic style I use, with lots of little grace notes like on the bagpipes. I put a lot of power and emotion into every note. I can play one note or three notes with such passion, conviction and authority. I don’t have to impress by playing very fast. I can play something very simple, too. I also use electronics to get the right sound. I used to have all sorts of strange, weird boxes to help me achieve my sound. At one point, I even bought the very original Manor desk. I took two modules from it and used them as part of my guitar rig. But now, I can have everything in a simple box like the Eleven by Avid and plug in and go