reverbbb
04-10-2007, 06:13 PM
At the risk of seeming further off the edge, I finally bought a Heil Talkbox. It is one of the modern production models.
I'm sure the first thing that comes to mind is, 'Oh yeah, that Joe Walsh, Peter Frampton, Jeff Beck noise'. Yes, you are absolutely correct. I LOVE that noise. I have heard this toy used in many different songs over the years - including rap, R&B and hard rock. Even this morning, I discovered that it was used in the song "Chest Fever" by The Band.
So, what is the first lick I tried to play? . . . You guessed it. "Do you feel like I do." Even though it is dead on sounding in tone, it is not easy to articulate the vowels and constanants exactly as your natural habbits tend to direct your muscles. You have to be very specific at what words that you want to form. You also have to become very exagerated in your mouth formation.
I also discovered two 'don't do' aspects. 1) Keep your tongue away from the tube opening. It dramaticly squelches the sound if you stick your tongue in the tube. This seems like common sense, but in practice, it is not natural to keep your tongue from wondering into the tube. 2) Open your throat WIDE open. I kept my throat closed like I was trying to keep water out while swimming. But I discovered a MUCH better tone if I dropped my tongue away from my throat and let the sound travel into my chest.
But seriously folks. I did not buy this device so that I can do PF, JW & JB cover tunes. I really feel like I can enter a new horizon of creativity with this toy. It is a lot like a wah-wah pedal except more expressive and more colorful.
I built one of these when I was a teenager. But I knew NOTHING about power and ohms. I used a tiny 2" Radio Shack speaker. I blew it out on the first try :hmm: . About 3 years ago, I bought one but it was damaged, you I took it back. I am delighted with this awesome new toy. I promise to use it creatively and sparingly.
I'm sure the first thing that comes to mind is, 'Oh yeah, that Joe Walsh, Peter Frampton, Jeff Beck noise'. Yes, you are absolutely correct. I LOVE that noise. I have heard this toy used in many different songs over the years - including rap, R&B and hard rock. Even this morning, I discovered that it was used in the song "Chest Fever" by The Band.
So, what is the first lick I tried to play? . . . You guessed it. "Do you feel like I do." Even though it is dead on sounding in tone, it is not easy to articulate the vowels and constanants exactly as your natural habbits tend to direct your muscles. You have to be very specific at what words that you want to form. You also have to become very exagerated in your mouth formation.
I also discovered two 'don't do' aspects. 1) Keep your tongue away from the tube opening. It dramaticly squelches the sound if you stick your tongue in the tube. This seems like common sense, but in practice, it is not natural to keep your tongue from wondering into the tube. 2) Open your throat WIDE open. I kept my throat closed like I was trying to keep water out while swimming. But I discovered a MUCH better tone if I dropped my tongue away from my throat and let the sound travel into my chest.
But seriously folks. I did not buy this device so that I can do PF, JW & JB cover tunes. I really feel like I can enter a new horizon of creativity with this toy. It is a lot like a wah-wah pedal except more expressive and more colorful.
I built one of these when I was a teenager. But I knew NOTHING about power and ohms. I used a tiny 2" Radio Shack speaker. I blew it out on the first try :hmm: . About 3 years ago, I bought one but it was damaged, you I took it back. I am delighted with this awesome new toy. I promise to use it creatively and sparingly.