GUITAR
THERE ARE NO RULES | James Duke
I’ve spent a lot of time playing guitar and exper- them in a song has been a big part of my suc- and in the moment, regardless of if I use any of
imenting with effects pedals. I’ve been fascinat- cess as a musician. them. I might plug a bit crusher pedal in, only to
ed with ways to alter the sound of my guitar
realize that it wasn’t at all what I wanted. That
ever since my friend, Joe, gave me his DOD I should also state, for the record, that I have a still served a purpose. It kept the wheels turn-
delay pedal back in 1994 (thanks, Joe). I had lot of guitars. Guitars are just as important and ing, and that’s the important thing.
heard delay before, but I didn’t know what it fun to experiment with. Part of the reason to was until I plugged into that pedal. I had found collect guitars is for that very thing. So, it’s also When I am in the studio and creating guitar
a whole new world. okay to buy a lot of guitars (don’t tell your sig- parts, I don’t edit myself. I don’t let myself be-
nificant other I said that. I’ll deny it if you do.) lieve that there are rules to the music. I don’t
We didn’t have the world wide web in the old
allow the creative process to be stifled just be-
days. We couldn’t Google our favorite guitar Back to guitar pedals. I often get asked how cause I heard someone say that I can’t use a
players and their pedalboards. We had to listen I use a certain pedal, and how do I make it certain tone or playing style in this type of mu-
to their albums and figure it out. We had to go work in a specific genre of music. I am always sic. A musician’s ability to express themselves
to an actual guitar shop (go visit your local gui- confused by the question, because I didn’t is of the utmost importance.
tar shop) and ask the guy behind the counter if know there were certain sounds that can’t be we could please try out that pedal in the glass used in a specific genre of music. Some guitar My favorite guitar players all sound complete-
display case. We needed our friends to bring players shy away from ultra-saturated distort- ly different from each other. They couldn’t be
their gear to our house, and we played guitar ed guitar sounds because they think of them more diverse in their playing, but that’s what
together. In our rooms. Yes, we hosted jam as too heavy for the music they play, but they makes them my favorites. It wasn’t any different
sessions with our friends, in our rooms, in our don’t realize a lot of gospel albums have the for them. They all have the same variety in their
parent’s house. That’s actually what inspired exact same guitar tones. They might think that influences and they all dealt with the same feel-
YouTube. There’s a little factoid from ol’ James. a clean sound with chorus and verb is only for ings and insecurities. The difference was they
I can’t prove that last statement, and I digress. bands like The Police and The 1975, but they trusted their gut. They all paved their own path.
forget about every guitar player on any Integ- Just like the GOAT’s (we all know what GOAT
I love guitar effects. Those little pedals provide rity Hosanna album released from 1986-1995 means, right?), the sounds you hear in your
so many options. If a guitar is my voice, the ef- sounded exactly like that. You can find a use head are there for a reason. Don’t let made up
fects are the punctuation marks. It’s not always for any tone. rules limit your creative process. There are no
what you say, it’s how you say it. It’s the same
rules. Now go play guitar.
thing with guitar. So I’m grateful to have access I love to have different and crazy sounding
to all of these options to get my point across. options on my pedalboard because I need to
know that I have options. When I go to a re-
One of my favorites things about my job is cording session, I show up with all of my gear
that I have been able to experiment, sonically, and a case full of extra guitar pedals. I need
on hundreds of albums. Learning what all my them. I need to know that I have a variety of
stomp boxes do, and finding places to use sounds at my disposal. It keeps me creative
138
February 2020
James Duke
James is a musician, songwriter, and producer from
Jacksonville Beach, Florida. Most known for playing
guitar alongside artists like John Mark McMillan, Matt
Redman, Johnnyswim, and Steven Curtis Chapman,
James also records his own music under the name
All The Bright Lights. He currently lives in Nashville,
Tennessee with his wife and 3 kids..
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