It's getting dark and it's getting cold and the nights are getting long
And I don't know if you even notice at all
That I'm long gone
And the things that keep us apart
Keep me alive
And the things that keep me alive
Keep me alone
This is the thing
I don't know if you notice anything missing
Like the leaves on the trees or my clothes all over the floor
And I don't know if you even notice at all
'Cause I was real quiet when I closed the door
And the things that keep us apart
Keep me alive
And the things that keep me alive
Keep me alone
This is the thing
And I don't know if you notice anything different
I don't know if you even notice at all
This is the thing
Fin Greenall, known professionally as Fink, is an English singer, songwriter, guitarist, producer and disc jockey born in Cornwall and currently based in Berlin and London. From 1997 to 2003, he focused on electronic music and DJ'd internationally, releasing in 2000 his debut album Fresh Produce on Ninja Tune. Since the 2006 release of his album Biscuits for Breakfast, the name Fink has also referred to the recording and touring trio fronted by Greenall himself, completed by Guy Whittaker (bass) and Tim Thornton (drums).
Most recently, he has written in collaboration with John Legend, Banks, Ximena Sarinana and Professor Green. With Amy Winehouse, he co-wrote the song "Half Time", which appears on Winehouse's posthumous collection Lioness: Hidden Treasures. In 2012, Fink collaborated and performed with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam, resulting in the live album Fink Meets The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Fink is signed to his own label, R'COUP'D Records, a subsidiary of Ninja Tune, on which he has released his latest albums.
(Expanding on Proclivities' point, and I'm pretty sure he knows this): You get that squeak on an unamplified acoustic guitar to which a microphone has been closely placed, a common practice. It happens when the fingers of the fret hand move quickly from one position to the next and drag across the ribs of the roundwound strings. It's true flatwound strings would reduce the squeaks (as another poster suggested) but they're rarely used on acoustic guitars (they're less bright tonally).
Some guitars have higher "action", a larger distance between the strings and frets, which requires increased finger pressure and leads to more and louder squeaking as do heavier gauge (thicker) strings. ...
Also, the squeak is much more pronounced when one slides movable chords (or triads) up and down the neck as opposed to changing open chord shapes from one hand position on the neck - in this recording he is doing much of the former.
"Blackbird" by The Beatles has audible string squeaking because McCartney was sliding chord shapes up and down the neck of the guitar. Most well-known acoustic guitar songs of the rock and folk genres are played with open chords within 0 to 4 frets of the headstock, and there is little movement up and down the neck, so the squeaking is not as pronounced - if at all present. Anyone who plays acoustic guitar should know that.
jt1 wrote:
perhaps a little harsh...I'd describe it as a at least a half-decent song pretty much ruined by the scraping sound.
I'm assuming that beause most guitarists don't do this (most of the time), it is deliberate?
He's a pretty skilled guitar player, and some players do leave that sound on there deliberately. Sometimes that squeak bothers me, but not so much on this tune. I'm pretty sure it is deliberate on this song, but you never know.
Also, the squeak is much more pronounced when one slides movable chords (or triads) up and down the neck as opposed to changing open chord shapes from one hand position on the neck - in this recording he is doing much of the former.
"Blackbird" by The Beatles has audible string squeaking because McCartney was sliding chord shapes up and down the neck of the guitar. Most well-known acoustic guitar songs of the rock and folk genres are played with open chords within 0 to 4 frets of the headstock, and there is little movement up and down the neck, so the squeaking is not as pronounced - if at all present. Anyone who plays acoustic guitar should know that.
I find the squeaking here pronounced to the extent it detracts from the song -- startles the ears and jolts the brain a bit ("what was that?") Regardless of the players technique, chord position, playing style or string action, the volume and "sharpness" (treble EQ) could be adjusted in the mixing to be more in the background (as it is in Blackbird). It's pronounced here intentionally -- either performer or producer liked it to be as prominent as it is. As an armchair mixer, I would have mixed it differently but they had their reasons for getting the sound they wanted.
The thing that keeps me alive
Keeps me alone.
same here
He's a pretty skilled guitar player, and some players do leave that sound on there deliberately. Sometimes that squeak bothers me, but not so much on this tune. I'm pretty sure it is deliberate on this song, but you never know.
that squeak has always appealed to me in songs. funny.
hear hear...or hopefully not to hear......
Keep on playing!
Also, the squeak is much more pronounced when one slides movable chords (or triads) up and down the neck as opposed to changing open chord shapes from one hand position on the neck - in this recording he is doing much of the former.
"Blackbird" by The Beatles has audible string squeaking because McCartney was sliding chord shapes up and down the neck of the guitar. Most well-known acoustic guitar songs of the rock and folk genres are played with open chords within 0 to 4 frets of the headstock, and there is little movement up and down the neck, so the squeaking is not as pronounced - if at all present. Anyone who plays acoustic guitar should know that.
some people just think it's 'cool' - makes it sound more 'authentic' ...
Time to lighten up!
What does such a string do? Decrease or stop the squeak and brush of playing fingers?