Impossible buzz

[tracey-kjonegaard]

Hi, this might be kind of a stupid question but I feel like no matter what, I always have replacement buzz when ever I replace my fingers on strings. I’ve been trying to focus on placing more firmly cause thats how you stop it, right? I don’t imagine theres anything more to it but has anyone else had an annoying habit like this? I’m trying to record this harp track for my song and I feel like I can constantly hear it, everytime I record it. Am I maybe being to critical because I know its there and can’t “unhear” it lol?

[tracey-kjonegaard]

I should add that I feel like I’m really tense when I’m trying to focus on firm placement and I don’t think thats how I should be playing lol. I know I should be relaxed but I don’t know, maybe I’m just getting frustrated.

[Loonatik]

there are many ways to stop a buzz… i encounter this problem myself once in a while and it seems not only you can work on placements, but also vary the hand position, or shape, or muffle in a couple of ways, or just change of fingering.

maybe you want to post a clip of that section and see if anyone can help find a solution to it?

[tracey-kjonegaard]

Hi,

I know this is a few weeks overdue but I recently put up a video on youtube for a song I’m working on. Its just a rough idea that i recorded for reference and to see what other people thought of it but I listened to it and realized how you can hear the replacement buzzing on almost every chord I play. If anyone wants to take a look I’ll post the link. I’m not sure if maybe I’m not placing my fingers aggressively enough?? But also, if you go to my youtube page (www.youtube.com/user/traceykjonegaard), and watch the “Untitled harp song, finished” video, this is another piece I wrote and recorded but you’ll notice a lot of buzz there too. I know I was a lot more confident playing in this video and probably more aggressive in my placement, which is why I don’t understand why I’m getting so much replacement buzz :/

Heres the fist video I mentioned:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrzoonmHpIE

Thanks!
Tracey

[Tacye]

It is hard to comment without knowing exactly what sound you are aiming for, but in the video of the work in progress you are placing on the half beats – muffling the previous chord, getting a slight buzz and sounding stacatto or even slap bass (though not bass). Very effective, but only if that is what you want. Have you tried placing later on repeated notes to let the previous chord sound and the replacement buzz blend into the next note? If you want stacatto, perhaps replace earlier so the buzz is more covered by the start of the note. The medium long notes you have at the moment are particularly hard to play without buzz.

[tracey-kjonegaard]

Yeah I guess maybe I should place faster so they’re more staccato. I can see what you mean though about waiting longer to place (sorta like letting it ring out more so that the strings are vibrating less and the replacement isn’t as noticeable, I would imagine?). So this has nothing to do with how aggressively or how hard I’m (not) placing my fingers on the strings?

[Sam Karlinski]

Try to contact the string with the fleshiest part of your finger (i.e. right in the middle of the pad). If you need to move your position slightly after, that’s fine and it probably won’t be that far off.

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