Conventional wisdom about warble technique makes you boring, not badass.
“It’s all in the wrist, man.”
This old adage about “good” vibrato has been tossed off so often and so casually that I can’t help imagining “Dude” from The Big Lebowski uttering it through a stoned haze for the thousandth time—a 6-string twist on his most sagacious bowling advice.
You hear this mantra from players who’ve been at it for years on end. You read it in interviews with well-meaning guitar heroes. And you see it in countless videos of guitar gods mesmerizing crowds with a fretting hand pivoting back and forth like a perfectly tuned BMW piston. That’s all well and good—to each their own. But sometimes I think fluid vibrato is a rote technique we employ to protect our egos.
Like most epiphanies, this one came unexpectedly and via a pretty winding route. My 17-year-old son—a great visual artist, budding bassist and drummer, and crazy-smart kid—is a huge gamer. He’s especially into the Metal Gear series, an action-adventure game whose plot extends from the Cold War until the not-too-distant future, and whose themes deal with political intrigue, ethics of conflict, and the costs of war. He’s so into it that he dressed as the main character, Solid Snake, for the last two Halloweens. Naturally, he stays abreast of new series developments, too. That’s how he got our family hooked on a song by Mike Oldfield called “Nuclear” after hearing it in the trailer for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain last summer.
Though I’ve known of Oldfield for a long time, I really didn’t know his music. Initially, I got into “Nuclear” simply because it’s a great song—bleakly beautiful. The post-apocalyptic tale begins with mellow acoustic strumming, subtle tremolo throbbing on a barely audible electric 6-string, and a plaintive vocal performance by Luke Spiller from the Struts. The lyrics were inspired by Oldfield’s grandfather, a World War I vet. “I never knew him,” Oldfield told U.K. newspaper The Telegraph last March, “So I hired a company to find out about him. It turned out he was a great character before the war but came home a very different man.”
After I’d listened to “Nuclear” a number of times purely as a music lover, I started to analyze it from a musician’s standpoint. Two things stood out (I’m sure you can see where this is going): At many points, Spiller’s vocals have a frenetic, nervous vibrato that almost communicates more raw emotion than the lyrics themselves. If he’d sung it with a hard-ass vocal coach’s view of “proper” delivery, the lines would’ve been rendered trite and empty. Meanwhile, Oldfield’s melodic leads from the midsection onward echo the frazzled vibe. Where a fluid, smoothly executed wrist vibrato would’ve rung hollow and egotistical, Oldfield’s fluttering approach is awash in anguish and trepidation that perfectly complement the harrowing theme.
Recently I’ve been experimenting with “incorrect” vibrato. It’s still new to me—it takes time to unlearn silly rules we teach ourselves—but I know it’s good for much more than tortured vibes. I know I should be consternating over this aspect of playing as much as note choice and tone. I should be stopping to consider whether up-and-down finger movements, exaggerated ovals, nervous trills, or asymmetrical spasmodic moves will offer more than orthodox wrist vibrato. Creative vibrato can impart an unsettling, Leslie-on-the-blitz vibe for isolated notes, or it can be employed at varying extremes—even on chords—to completely transform the definition of “your sound.” No outboard effect can do that quite like your hands. And in my book, anything that powerful is worth exploring.
One of the biggest lessons all this pounded home for me yet again is that we’ve got to be open-minded on a lot of fronts if we want to keep learning and growing. And I’m increasingly convinced that defying adages is the surest way to invigorate your music. So next time you hear someone tell you “It’s all in the wrist,” even if it’s your own OCD conscience, just respond with the Dude’s best comeback: “That’s just, like, your opinion, man.”
Stompboxtober Day 29 is live! Enter today to win a pedal from StewMac—more chances to win tomorrow!
StewMac International House of Overdrive Pedal Kit, With Bare Enclosure
The IHOO is based on the Crowther Hot Cake, an overdrive that became available around 1976. It was one of the earliest hand-made boutique effects pedals available. The circuit was designed to be what is now referred to as a “transparent” overdrive. An effect that enhances the player's sound while keeping the original tone intact.
This circuit has undergone many changes since its inception, and we have further expanded on the design by returning to an earlier version most revered by players and removing the buffer, which resulted in a reworked circuit that is true bypass but still retains the charm of the design.
We also include the original LM741 IC chip found in the originals, as well as the TL071 that is found in later versions so you can experiment with which IC best suits your playing style.
A 1000-watt speaker cabinet crafted for musicians who demand power and precision. Sunn Amps intends to reinvent the standard 4x12 configuration with the introduction of this new cabinet.
The Sunn Amps DoomBox is built to accommodate both guitar and bass, offering an impressive 1000-watt handling capacity—making it the first commercially available 4x12 cabinet with such high power handling. With four specially designed 12” drivers rated at 250 watts each, this cabinet provides clean, unrestrained sound levels that can maintain power integrity across all frequencies, ideal for high-volume performances.
Inspired and developed using feedback from artists and bands who rely on the depth of lower tunings and high volume genres, the DoomBox was engineered to meet the unique demands of professional musicians looking for a robust, high-efficiency cab that can translate the raw power of their sound without compromise.
Premium Craftsmanship and Materials
The Doom Box cabinet is crafted from solid finger-jointed Baltic Birch plywood, ensuring both durability and tonal clarity. Each cabinet is constructed by hand in the U.S.A. using original 1930s machinery, the DoomBox reflects Sunn’s historic commitment to quality, contrasting with some of the mass-produced, MDF-based cabinets on the market today. The cabinet’s aluminum basket, ferrite magnet, and custom Sunn weave Tolex with a custom grill design complete its professional-grade build.
Technical Specifications:
• Power Handling: 1000W
• Inputs: 1 x ¼”
• Impedance: 8 Ohm
• Drivers: 4 x Sunn 12S250
• Construction: Marine Grade Baltic Birch
• Dimensions: 29.25” X 30” X 14”
• Weight: 107 lbs
• Price: $2399.00
With clear low-end punch, even sound response, and ample air movement, the Doom Box ensures that every note reaches the audience with clarity and power. This cabinet is a game-changer for musicians who need high-performance, road-ready equipment that enhances their unique sound.
Does the guitar’s design encourage sonic exploration more than sight reading?
A popular song between 1910 and 1920 would usually sell millions of copies of sheet music annually. The world population was roughly 25 percent of what it is today, so imagine those sales would be four or five times larger in an alternate-reality 2024. My father is 88, but even with his generation, friends and family would routinely gather around a piano and play and sing their way through a stack of songbooks. (This still happens at my dad’s house every time I’m there.)
Back in their day, recordings of music were a way to promote sheet music. Labels released recordings only after sheet-music sales slowed down on a particular song. That means that until recently, a large section of society not only knew how to read music well, but they did it often—not as often as we stare at our phones, but it was a primary part of home entertainment. By today’s standards, written music feels like a dead language. Music is probably the most common language on Earth, yet I bet it has the highest illiteracy rate.
Developed specifically for Tyler Bryant, the Black Magick Reverb TB is the high-power version of Supro's flagship 1x12 combo amplifier.
At the heart of this all-tube amp is a matched pair of military-grade Sovtek 5881 power tubes configured to deliver 35-Watts of pure Class A power. In addition to the upgraded power section, the Black Magick Reverb TB also features a “bright cap” modification on Channel 1, providing extra sparkle and added versatility when blended with the original Black Magick preamp on Channel 2.
The two complementary channels are summed in parallel and fed into a 2-band EQ followed by tube-driven spring reverb and tremolo effects plus a master volume to tame the output as needed. This unique, signature variant of the Black Magick Reverb is dressed in elegant Black Scandia tolex and comes loaded with a custom-built Supro BD12 speaker made by Celestion.
Price: $1,699.