How to Write, Play, & Record (1960s) Garage Rock Guitar
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 มิ.ย. 2024
- / mariodisanto
mariodisanto.bandcamp.com/music
0:00 - Introduction
1:08 - Definition
5:55 - Getting the Sound
9:18 - Riff Examples
12:06 - In the Recording Studio
14:45 - Microphone and Pre-amps
18:45 - Musical Examples
31:30 - Conclusion
What's yer guys' favorite 60s "Garage Rock" Track?
Garage Rock Drums: th-cam.com/video/HAgV5rnspAs/w-d-xo.htmlsi=uKuoGQLkuG2KCnWh
Garage Rock Vocals: th-cam.com/video/IrjwtsuyJJE/w-d-xo.htmlsi=aAt5CpMVT6mUPuwi
Garage Rock Bass: th-cam.com/video/5QGzaQkzm-U/w-d-xo.html
Garage Rock Playlist: th-cam.com/play/PL4DVR4t48JwEcKfORlrf_e5BZP_kGIJ9J.html
th-cam.com/video/ceoobqfhg4c/w-d-xo.html
@@sp-vd4lz This is the garage punk mix that started it all for me back in highschool. Love every track on their.
Cant Seem To Make You Mine - The Seeds! Definitely a slower one but the moan singing is just too perfect
Most of the 13th Floor Elevators. Bull of the Woods is actually my favorite album
Anything from the Monks
I’m glad garage rock is coming back it’s one of my favorite genres. It is the base and the precursor to punk.
Very true thanks for watching
its really cool that there’s a boom of garage rock after covid. a lot of kids playing music after being locked up for two years. it’s interesting that the circumstances that lead to the boom in the 60s are present today. easier access to recording technology, cheap instruments available and a huge emphasis on creativity
lmao, you've actually got some point
haha last year i started to predict that 202X would be related in some ways to the 60s, just like 90s
I think there’s more bedroom pop than garage rock because of covid
Garage rock was booming way more before covid, it’s all indie dream pop bullshit now to get tik tok / reel views.
Nobody was "locked away", at least not in the United States. There was no attempt to curb the spread, millions died needlessly
Holy reverb! I was a kid in the 60s, and this is the closest I've ever heard anyone come to capturing what it really sounded like. "Hollywood" ALWAYS gets it wrong. Always. You're completely right: recreating a sound requires putting yourself in the shoes of the people who were there. Most of these "garage" bands in the 60s were made up of guys you knew from around the neighborhood or maybe from school - many of whom weren't terribly proficient at their instruments. I like that you purposely made some of your drum parts sound a bit uneven and the fills a bit hurried which is exactly how some of those records sounded. Great job. I'm jealous 😁
Bob, your comment about this being the closest you have ever heard may have made me blush a little!
Also, I refuse to use any click tracks on my recordings as I really enjoy the natural feel of a song that ebbs and flows. I also have a lot of tempo changes in my song writing. All of this attributes to the uneven and rushed sound, which I think makes it sound like a live band. This is not an easy effect to replicate by yourself as you need a really good internal clock when recording your tracks. Being a drummer helps me a lot in this sense.
Thank you,
Mario
@@Mario_DiSanto I think it's worth mentioning also that most pop music back then was mixed for optimum listening on AM radio Once again - great job. I've done this sort of thing myself many years ago, and you make it look easy. It ain't
Ty Segall’s early stuff sounds quite authentic too.
I love the 'wrong Hollywood' stuff- it's ridiculously funny!
Yes! And also that's why white people will never be able to play like BB King, Elmore James, etc, or any black musician from the 50s and earlier! It's impossible to put yourself in their shoes, even young black people today can't relate to the racism they endured through those times and that's why we will never hear soulful music that good ever again with that kind of emotion through an instrument when it comes to blues. Not saying blues today is bad, but it's just not the same IMO.
Bro, I want to sound like The Yardbirds in Havin' a Rave Up album so bad 😔
Been there, done that. Was in a garage band in the 60's, for three years, with High School friends. As they say..."Me and some guys from school
Had a band and we tried real hard, Jimmy quit and Jody got married, I should've known we'd never get far".
Like 99.9% of garage bands, I ended up getting married, and finally selling all my stuff.
On the bright side, I retired a few years ago, bought an amp and a few guitars, and started playing again.
Never too old to rock Bill.
This series is going to become the Bible for a new generation of kids who catch the punk bug. I would have killed to have a guide like this when I was getting into recording during the early 2000s.
Hey I played garage rock during the 1960's. I had five of those Silvertone guitars, and a Silvertone amp which was quite good. Then we graduated to garage free jazz.
Garage free jazz sounds like what happens when the teenagers grow up a bit and 'discover' psychedelics haha. Thanks for commenting.
Mario
I started playing in a garage band in the early 60's. Every teenage boy loved the music, you were ion a group of guys being "cool." And paraphrasing Graham Nash, " You're lying if you say you didn't get into a band to get laid." Rock on.
Haha ain't that the truth!
Only a minute in and you are cranking out we the people my brother the man. Cool!
Trust me, you're nailing that old crunchy sound - even at times giving me a contact high. In 1965 I formed a band with 3 friends, practiced in my dad's service station garage. I started on a Silvertone type guitar then a slick but cheap Japanese Teisco, then a nice German Klyra. Our influences were Them, the Seeds & the Blues Magoos. We did parties & talent shows, small stuff because we couldn't afford the big amps True about the unending energy, girl attraction & angst! Today I build guitars as a hobby - including my first Strat.
Very cool Daniel! The 60s must have been a rocking time for a kid. I couldn't even find kids who played instruments when I was in highschool! Different eras. I've never heard of Geam Klyra guitars I am going to check that out. You should post some of your guitar builds.
Cheers
Mario
@Daniel Them, The Seeds, and Blues Magoos. Literally three of the greatest garage rock bands
I've been deep in the modern california garage rock scene since I was in high school. ty segall, osees, meatbodies, wand, fidlar, the frights, michael cronin, white fence and all that. Playing in bands like this has always felt so good and natural to me. It's really cool to see some of this represented on youtube
Thanks Brian, all of those artists are big influences on me. Some especially so.
Mario
@@Mario_DiSanto The first show I ever played about ten years ago, we opened with an absolutely awful cover of ty segall's I bought my eyes and I was instantly hooked from there. Such a big influence on me and im still kinda riding that wave of ty segall inspiration as career musician. you did such a good job explaining the ethos and attitude behind the style and it was neat to hear about some of the earlier bands behind this sound that I missed. Thanks for making this, you're awesome
@@Juiceboxbrian Ty's music has that effect on people. I've had mainly musical influences in my life, but Ty was the one that made me start songwriting. Before that I was just a lowly drummer.
- Hello, Quentin. How're you doing, man?
- Good, good. Feeling good. What's up?
- I've got some awesome music for your next film.
- Cool. Tell me more...
😎
About half way through and heres what I got.
Step 1: have cheap ass guitar
Step 2: don't get caught up in this whole 'tuning' bullshit too much
Step 3: nothing fancier than open chords and single notes
Love it man, keep it coming.
And a shit ton of reverb and/or fuzz to mask sloppy playing!
You forgot a name beginning with “The”
good summary, I think the Residents once said something about how actually knowing how to play your instrument only gets in the way of true creativity.
Also, a Gibson 335 hardly counts a s a cheap-ass guitar these days, and even Strats are getting pretty pricy (and I have a career).
That's one style I'm just lazy enough to try out lol
Well I WAS there in the 60's and you did a nice job of capturing the essence. And seeing the photo of the Silvertone all-in-one guitar amp / case brought back sweet memories. They didn't provide ground or polarity options so if you guessed wrong plugging it in, you were in for a shock (I speak from experience).
Thanks Mike! Nothing like a good shock before the next take!
Ah yes, the ole microphone ground loop shock...
Just watched the Drums video. Still picking my jaw up off the floor. I know you said watch this one first bur I need no refresher course. Ladies & gentlemen, this is how it's DONE right here !!
Wow! A Bogen amp! I remember when ALL bands in Houston in the 1960's used a Bogen amp for their PA system (I had a 35-watt Bogen Challenger), and they all drove Allen speaker boxes. Allen is still in business, re-coning speakers just like they did in the 1960's (they re-coned Jimi Hendrix's speakers routinely - only one guy, Ronnie runs things now, and he's getting up there in age). Bogen PA systems were common in churches and schools back then. Great video!
Those Bogen amps are strong and reliable in my experience. I have to keep the gain knob on 1.5 out of 10. Any higher than that and I blow a hole in my wall!
Mario
I didn't live through that era, but I have listened to a lot of garage rock and I think you nailed the aesthetic.
Thanks Malcom
The midwestern garage punk scene that existed in the 90s was awesome. The book We Never Learn is a great documentation of the bands of the time.
As someone about the same age as you who also is heavenly into 60s music, it's the drums for me that nails it. That's the number one way to tell if a recording is either authentically old, or authentically replicated. The guitar, vocals, bass, keyboard, and whatever else they might have used is easy to replicate. The drums, that's hard! Most folks make them sound too good. It's all about capturing the drums, not each drum! You nailed this. Now I want to go listen to the Mystic Tide on FULL VOLUME!
I think my next video will be getting a dirty garage drum sound.
Cheers,
Mario
You right about those Nuggets compilations. They came as a revelation and it changed the course of indie/alt rock. Lenny Kaye from Patti smith group did it I think. His personal 45 collection.
I’m only a third of the way through and this is already my all time best favorite video. Well done. Bill (born March 1952)
Thanks Bill that means a lot!
Mario
Your channel is like pr0n for audio nerds! Love it! You've inspired me to take up vintage recording. I'd love to see some videos about mixing and mastering back in the day. It'd also be cool to see how modern and vintage techniques and gear can coexist
All great ideas for videos Taylor! Glad I inspired you to take up vintage recording. It is a lot of fun. Thanks for watching and subscribing.
Mario
Wow more of this please. Love this style of rock. Never knew how killer it is and I’m 58 70’s radio stations shielded me from it. Thank god for the internet music scene!
The internet is amazing for sharing music. I am very grateful.
Mario
great playing! In 1966 the manager of a local garage band lived across the street from me. He had a kid my age (I was 5) and I was at their house a lot when they rehearsed there. I started playing guitar the next year and have always loved garage rock. Great to see it continued so well.
Thanks for sharing Dave!
Some of the GREATEST ROCK MUZIK was derived from GARAGE ROCK!! Keep it going, Mario!!!
This is bananas! Incredible job capturing that essence, really expected this to be more along the lines of The Caesars, Electric 6 and White Stripes. This was so much more in depth and stronger than expected
This is probably the fastest I’ve ever clicked on a video. My favorite genre by a long shot.
Mario... U got it man!! The simplicity, the out of tune sound, the teenage angst, the energy- THIS REALLY IS THE COOLEST TYPE OF MUZIK- "GARAGE ROCK" speaks volumes 4 TEENAGE TRIALS & TRIBULATIONS! The FENDER TWIN sounds is PERFECT 4 this. I just wrote a tune entitled, "I MAGNESIUM BALLON" - GARAGE ROCK all the WAY! I'm older than U, but I hear and feel what Ur doing... and it's GREAT!!
Thanks Harry I appreciate what you have to say! Is your tune on TH-cam?
Mario
@@Mario_DiSanto NOT yet.
It's amazing to start recording the rehearsal just like a a true novice with one or two single mics threw an old K7 recorder!!
this channel is so underrated
Oh, man, this is great! Reading comments before watching? No, just play the video.
Simply mentioning the 13th Floor Elevators gets a like from me!
Your dedication to your craft is admirable.
This is great! Good concept, information and lesson. Don’t stop!
ABSOLUTELY nailed the sound!!
I was in 7th grade then. Every neighborhood had their own band that literrally practiced in the garage or basement. It's really some of the best music ever. Just a lot of snotty fun.
this video is sooooo good thank you for this indepth look at 1960's music! i love this style
You absolutely crushed it!
For anyone who wants another modern example of someone doing this setup right, check out the early Ty Segall albums. Specifically, Lemons.
Lemons/Melted era Ty is my absolute jam.
Allah Las ain’t bad either
Love your videos - great to see someone thst is putting the FUN back in the music!
Great video, such an important musical epoch… wonderful, timeless tones…
My dad was around and playing in this era so I asked him about it...
Players mostly plugged straight into the amp, maybe going through a single pedal at most probably a wah, mostly because pedals were really hard to get back then. Most stores didn't stock any at all, no rangemasters, no fuzz or OD, nothing. That's why built-in amp effects were so popular. Some people would cut up or stab their speakers with a screwdriver to get more distortion instead, cause that was easier than getting pedals
Tuners also basically didn't exist, so tuning by ear, often to the voice of the singer or even better to the piano / keyboard player is correct. That's how he learned to do it in school.
These bands were mostly just dudes who knew each other who hung out and played together like people do with videogames now so part of the attitude was literally just them not taking it seriously because they actually didn't, it was mostly a hobby.
Strats were the coolest guitars, that didn't change until the 70s. My dad's also biased cause he's a strat guy
I love the sound of a guitar plugged straight into the amp. That's how I play 90% of the time. Occasionally the treble booster on a lead part.
Thanks to you and your dad for sharing.
The tuning by ear bit is great advice. Great videos, man. Too many people rely on plugins to get the vintage sounds, but truth is it all starts at the source.
my fave garage rock compilation would have to be "Now How This! Garage & Beat from the Norman Petty Vaults"
This is sick, good info, solid examples, perfect closing remarks.
Incredible video, the intention and execution of the sounds are top notch thank you so much! Some of these principles can be applied to any recording.
Absolutely, these methods should by know means be limited to trying to sound "like the 60s". Thanks for watching.
Mario
I love 60s garage and you nailed all the essential ingredients thanks for the great video
You're welcome Thomas!
Dude, I love your vibe!
Your chanel is a goldmine
I was looking for answers on how to get in that realm of sounds with some recordings I'm going to make. You just did an awesome job. This Shure box (I have an equivalent that I use on everything, but on drums buses mostly) is just a great tool, I can't wait to get to use it again. Thank you for sharing all this knowledge. You really nailed it.
Early gizz is total garage rock but new gizz is all over the place got to love them. I’ve been loving the videos you’ve put out recently man keep it up
Thanks Walter 😀 I like how you delivered the news. loved this video! Thank you for sharing this.
Very inspiring Mario this is amazing. Keep rocking man
literally been looking for something exactly like this, it's almost divine intervention that you uploaded this so recently
More to come too!
This is a Master Class. I'm going to use all of these techniques! Thank you!
You're welcome! Rock on Mutt!
I just had to get back to this video again. I see very distinct punk roots here. It's the same with every generation, recycling gear and methods from the previous one. As the garage recordings shifted into home recordings.
Thank you for spending so much time on this. It is an amazing video! Beautiful sounds.
Thank you very much!
This is really well presented! Granted, I'll be using the info in order to figure out how to make raw black metal, but learning from other genre production styles has actually taught me a lot so far
Thoroughly enjoyed this! Great job!
Don't think I didn't notice, "Piper at the Gates od Dawn." Garage Rock and beginning of Punk rolled into one. I just listened that album the other day!
such a great album
Well done on getting even more of the attention you deserve!
Loved this! My favorite kind of music. I grew up with this stuff during the 60's!
I could listen to 60s garage punk all day every day. There's so much out there, and more still being discovered! The little stories you read about these local bands are icing on the cake too.
Mario
@@Mario_DiSanto I grew bored of rock during the 70's until I discovered punk rock. One day I realized I liked punk rock so much (at the time) because it had all the elements of 60's garage rock. I also loved the wave of garage rock that emerged sometime between 2000 and 2010....Same kind of music but brought it'a own sound! There has been nothing I liked as much since then. When music gets boring, take it back to it's simplicity!
The intro song kicks ass. Really enjoy these!
Thanks Phillip!
Mega Like right from the intro. Even traditional grip on the drum sticks... Sweet! That's classy.
dude this is awesome, you nailed it-don't need expensive gear-use what you've got, don't overthink it, just rock out..Garage Rock forever!
The best gear is the gear you have!
Bro you are a hidden gem
He did it! Thank you so much! I'm looking forward to the 70s video
Here for round two listening. SPOT ON!!!!
if you "truly" want that sound. Sit in a room with some other folks who play different instruments. (a garage is a good place to start) Put away the modelers, the digital filters and editors (I love my DAW, but...) and just play music together. THAT is where that energy/sound comes from.
It does feel a little sacrilegious to not play a lot of this live in a band. Reliable musicians are not easy to find these days unfortunately lol.
Mario
@@Mario_DiSanto I can truly appreciate the lack of dependable players. I haven't had a band since the early 90's and boy do I miss those guys.
dude this is top notch. would love to see a video like this for every decade. 80s pop/rock/synth would be a great video. 90s grunge, 90s florida death metal would also be choice. bitchin paisley shirt. i gotta get me one of those.
Excellent video. Gave me a lot of inspo, thank you Mario!
Man you’re one of the hardest working TH-camrs I’ve ever seen. Great video. I watched the whole thing even though I never really had an interest in garage rock before. Subbed!
I appreciate that Kyle.
@@Mario_DiSanto no problem buddy 👍 you’re awesome
The correct attire, you say - I want to send you a less anachronistic tie! Look at the the Beatles poster behind you: thin sharp woollen black ties, relatively short. None of those broad bulky shiny ties from the 80’s and 90’s.
Apart from the tie - awesome video all around!:)
Hey if you could find me that tie I would be MORE than happy to wear it! Not easy to find a thin tie these days.
@@Mario_DiSanto Give me some sort of adress or post box and I’ll see what I can do. A good tie is a cheap price to pay for such lovely videos.
@@artonion420 I should set up a PO box...
Man, you absolutely NAILED IT!
Thank you for watching!
In my garage band days starting in the mid 70s we used what ever we could find for a guitar amp. As an example, i rewired the family phonograph so i could plug in our guitars and play. Thinking back now i can only imagine how rough that must've sounded. But we latched onto anything to make a noise.
That's awesome. Probably sounded like crap but that's the best part ha!
Mario
@@Mario_DiSanto Oh yeah. I'm sure it was rough but we didn't care. We beat the crap out of that poor thing but we had a blast. I still have that phonograph/amplifier. I could never get rid of it. Too many memories.
A great cheap alternative to an actual mic preamp is 90s and 00’s classroom cassette decks. You can pick ‘em up for $20 on eBay. Also you can grab a lot of old 60’s tape machine mics for 40-60 a pair. I got a couple of 60’s akai m-8’s for $50 which is probably a mic some of these bands were using considering it came with the home 2 track machines
By classroom cassette decks, do you mean "shoebox" recorders?
Mario
Do some dedicated and persistent shopping at garage sales and flea markets , not just for rhe equipment , but for the spirit and joy of pursuit !!!
I love your first shirt dude
Another amazing subject, I like the way you tell the story!!!
I’m diggin your space and gear. Definitely pulling some vibes and mojo tracking in there.
Cool video. Enjoyed it quite a bit. I played drums in the Mystic Eyes, part of the 80s wave of garage revival. I'm an old fart now and am glad to see stuff like this still going on.
That's super cool Scott. Mystic Eyes is good stuff 🤙
Hey my friend: you got it fairly well nailed (coming from a dude who played in band at age 15 in 1965... tho we were basement band, not garage...) For tuning we had pitch pipes (3 aside with plastic in center) for tuning. Or better, Farfisa organ. Your tele is maybe too good, ditto for sure the Fender Twin: I was taking lessons in '65 & store had all Fender gits and amps... would lust after that twin. Plus Vox, Gretsch etc. Maybe the crap Fender Mustang student guitar or better one of the Japanese junkers sold at department stores... Yeah, the Twin... hard to make a sow's ear out of a silk purse... but I digress
Yeah, so I was skeptical but you have pretty much the right attitude, sounds goodly bad... well done.
now a geezer of 73 play with similar age friends on beach in Thailand. Just today decided with bass player that we should just focus on that garage sound... what the hell, the Chinese and Russians like it.... peace out
It's a cheap squire tele so it somewhat fits the "cheap guitar" aesthetic. And yeah the twin....can't really deny that one. I still lust over the thing and I own it! Love that amp to death.
If I'm still rocking in my 70s like you I'll know I did something right. Thanks for commenting!
Cheers
Mario
Damn thank you so much for the Bolt24 Hot Sounds share !!! Sick content, love it and thanks too for this great introspection into the Garage dude, great job ! Peace
Thank you. It was a revelation to me. I always loved this sound but never could pinpoint why. It's also what I like I later indie rock bands from 90', 00'.
Even when I use a digital tuner for my guitar, I often find myself making minute adjustments afterward, sometimes because I'm using something weird like a Mellotron in the track, but most often just because it winds up sounding nicer anyway. Lately my music has wound up being a few cents off from concert pitch.
This deserves a couple of watches, so much info. In the 80's I got my hands on a Shure Vocalmaster, it had the best guitar tone, and it would fuzz out a bass at low volumes, great for miking. It was huge and noisy but man I want another one now. My garage rock experience is from more modern lo-fi like The Oblivion's (Live the life) or The Makers (Angry young man), different but there's a common thread.
Great Video! Thanks!
Shane, I haven't heard of The Oblivions or The Makers. I will listen to them right away.
Cheers,
Mario
@@Mario_DiSanto The Oblivions are awesome, seconding this!!
MAKE ONE ON RECORDING BASS!! YOU ARE A HERO!
I love how you get down to the nitty gritty of how everything was recorded.. Job well done.. and I thought it was all about the pre amps (hehe on me) 👍👍👍
My favorite garage rock tracks are probably both from The Enfeilds "I'm for things you do" and "she already has somebody"
LW, the snare sound on "I'm for Things You Do" is absolute perfection. I try to match this sound all the time but always fail! Thanks for sharing.
Mario
Outstanding. You've really captured the essence of that sound and how to get it, and the examples are killer. This is going on repeat while I grab my guitar.
Great job man - Loved this!
He'll yah, garage/psycher here, dug the video.
Great Video.
Killer vid. I've been a garage rock fan since 1980. Your jam in the beginning was spot on. Thanks!
Appreciate your comment Marc. Thanks for watching!
Bro you gotta drop Little Yellow Bird on TH-cam as its own single
Lukas, I know I know! There's a lot of songs I want to post but I am waiting to as they are on my debut LP. Don't wanna spoil the surprise too soon!
Mario
@@Mario_DiSanto The organ on that clip sounded sick - what was it?
@@_floeter Its a DX27, (The DX7's less fun brother). It's an FM synth so not a "real" organ. However, I am in the process of picking up an authentic 60s travel organ so I am super excited about that.
@@Mario_DiSanto Nice! I love old FM, I've got a tx81z. Which travel organ?
I've got an early 70s Conn console organ that I've slowly gotten from 50% to 75% working in the last year. Also, keep your eyes out for a Lowrey Microgenie - my favorite 80s portable organ.
I'm so glad that I found this channel. Thank you so much
Rock on Jack!
I have no clue about like 90% of the things you talk about but it's strangely still very interesting and entertaining, great stuff.
cool!!!!
some questions;
What volume do you put the Fender in the song Black Clouds? 19:15
What reverb or something like that do you use for vocals?
I usually have my input volume at three and my master volume at 10.
I use various different reverbs for my vocals. Sometimes my fostex 3180, sometimes my space Echo, sometimes my guitar amp, it depends on what side of the bed I wake up on that day.
Mario
You’ve caught some really authentic gnarled garage guitar tones there, love it! ❤
Thank you! Kind words as always.
Kinks - You Really Got Me
This is absolutley brilliant! super informative and very well put together! Thanks Mario!
Thanks Corey, if you haven't seen the other two in the "garage" series I recommend it.
@@Mario_DiSanto I have them bookmarked to watch tonight! Looking forward to it!
Man you are a wealth of knowledge and inspiration, this was even cooler than the 50's video! I love how you used some of the gear in unconventional ways like on the bass parts. I sometimes use my Airline solid state reel to reel machine as a little guitar amp since it doesn't currently function as a tape recorder. I just dime the volume and it fuzzes up nice and I mic it up with the original mic the machine came with and it sounds surprisingly good. Eventually if I get it working I want to use it for stuff like this. Look forward to whatever you do next, I loved the simplicity of the riffs and raw energy you created and all the techniques you share!
That Airline tape trick you got going on sounds sick! You gotta get that tape machine working.