|
This site is devoted to the promotion of the steel
guitar and especially the pedal steel guitar and MIDI music. I have been playing the
steel guitar since I was 10 years old and consider, as do most pickers of the steel
guitar, it to be the most enjoyable instrument in the world as well as one of the most
complex instruments. Both hands and both legs are in motion when playing it.
The important thing is that I enjoy it and gain a great deal of satisfaction for playing
it. I do not play professionally and have never played with a band other than once
or twice with a friend of mine, Ed Post. I have done a few shows for remuneration
and one show with a Hawaiian group which I enjoyed immensely.
My introduction to the steel guitar was back in 1951 when my
sister gave me her acoustic lap steel and some old Oahu sheet music. She showed me
some basic principles and I took it from there. I would practice it several hours a
day, especially in the summertime. Later she gave me her electric lap steel and
amp. That was even better. I still like to play an acoustic lap steel, but it
really makes a difference when you gain the ability to sustain notes and control volume.
Needless to say, most of the music I learned at first was Hawaiian and I am still grateful
for that. I love Hawaiian music and am very grateful to Jerry Byrd who was my idol
as I grew up. I use to go to a Polynesian club in Nashville, TN, when Jerry would
appear there, and sit at his feet and drink it up (music that is). Later I purchased
a twin neck (6 strings each) steel on legs. That was even better and gave me the
opportunity to have two tunings easily available, but I was not really happy until I
got my first twin neck pedal steel. From there on it was, next to my wife and
family, the center of my life (my wife may reverse that order). My first pedal steel
is the one in the picture above. It was a ShowBud. I now have a later model
Showbud (Super Pro) with much better action and it is black with gold rope trim.
Last year, 2003, I traded my ShowBud in on a new D-10 GFI Steel. That is
absolutely the best move I have ever made. It is blue and very lite in
construction. It holds it's tune extremely well. I probably will
never buy another. I also got an electronic dobro attachment for it which
I have enjoyed immensely.
The next thing that has happened to me to bring even greater
satisfaction to my music is the discovery of MIDI music. Since I have never played
consistently with a band, I had looked for many years for a source of backup material with
the songs that I knew and wanted to play. I tried buying backup audio tapes and that
was helpful but very limited. Finally, about 15 years ago I connected up with an
individual, Bobby Harris a fantastic keyboard player and fine musician in every
since of the word, who introduced me to MIDI music. (By the way MIDI
stands for Musical Instrument Data Interface). Bobby and I have
performed together may times doing mostly gospel gigs. Now I have a
virtual band in my computer that is never on strike, never sick and never has a
headache, and is always ready to play. All I have to do is click on the
song I want to play. I now have over a thousand MIDI files in my
collection, most of which are Country Music. I also have Gospel, 50s,
Traditional, Hawaiian (very hard to find. I create most of mine and they
will be on this site for download), Jazz, etc. Most of them have been
downloaded from various sites. Some are listed at the bottom of this page and on the
"My Midi page".
Some I have purchased from
which is a commercial MIDI company and produces very high quality sequences. If
I can't find the files I want or the arrangement I want, I have software such as
Power Tracks Pro and Band-In-A-Box available from PG Music, Inc. to sequence the
song. Please see my "MIDI Files Section" below for more on BIAB and Power
Tracks Pro.
The last few years have seen a lot of very good CD tracks become available
from some of the big name Steel Guitar players, i.e., Bobbe Seymore, Herby
Wallace, and John Hughey, to name a few. These players have made some of
the backup tracks from their albums available without the steel guitar.
Many of them also have tablature available as well.
Click on the MIDI Elevator button above to visit my MIDI File Page
Any songs that appear on this site for download
are either my own personal sequences or sequences that I have obtained permission of the
sequencer to have them available for download on my site.
As mentioned above, I have the capability to create sequences with the software I have
in the computer. To fully appreciate this, and to give others of you out there who
do not read music additional hope, you need to realize that I cannot read music.
Everything I do is by ear and with the help of software, primarily Band-in-a-Box.
Using BIAB I can lay down the chord progression for the song I want to sequence.
Then, I choose a style for the timing and type of rhythm I want. Next, I add a few
bars for introduction and ending and decide how many verses I want. Lastly, I may
play a turn around or an entire verse on my MIDI keyboard. For this, I can choose a
playing style such as: Chet Atkins, Floyd Cramer, three or four part harmony, etc. (the
possibilities are almost endless). I then play the verse using one finger on the
keyboard (I am not a keyboardist). BIAB adds all the harmony and special styles of
the style I have chosen. It is fantastic. The song "Columbus Stockade
Blues" which is playing in the background was created in BIAB. The bass and
rhythm guitar style are definitely that of Chet Atkins. You will not get the best sound
unless you have a good MIDI player such as the Roland Virtual Sound Canvas
mentioned above or a stand alone MIDI player.
For performances, I use a cataloging and jukebox type program called The Song
Librarian. This program was created by Denis Ladouceur and is the
best thing out there for setting up a database of all your MIDI files by category or style
and then be able to choose and play the files at will or in a preset order. There is
much more to the program than mentioned here. I would recommend, if you think you
need something like this, that you visit this site.
I have placed several of my MIDI file / Steel Guitar recordings on my web
site for your listening pleasure. Originally I put these on as mp3 files,
but due to their size, I have changed that to Real Audio files. Click on
the Real Audio File Button on the elevator above to visit my Real Audio page.
That about covers my entry into steel guitar playing and
MIDI music. It has been extremely rewarding for me and I hope that all of this will
be of help to others out there, like me, who love music in general and steel guitar in
particular. I will be updating this site with more MIDI and Real Audio files as well
as more information and links, so please visit often. If you would like to add my
site as a link on yours or visa versa please email me or if you just want to drop me a
line please do so by clicking the mail box below.
If you are interested in learning more about my setup and how I develop
MIDI and Real Audio files please visit the other pages on my site and especially THE
STUDIO where I have pictures and descriptions of my equipment. Click the
"My Studio" button on the elevator above to visit to
my studio.
I have just recently added another page to my website. I
call it "Our Family" page and it's primary purpose is to display on my web site
the special things that are happening in our family. It is primarily for
family and friends, but please feel free to visit if you wish. We would
love to here from you and learn what you think of this particular page.
Click on the "Our Family" button above to visit our family
pages.
Thanks Again for visiting my Web Site. Please return often as I will be
updating this site quite consistently. Please email me any suggestions, compliments,
constructive criticism, or just chit chat.
John Nickless
Some of my favorite links are:
Bobbe Seymore - Steel Guitar
Nashville - http://www.steelguitar.net This site
is great for steel guitar sales and repair. Bobbe is, in my humble opinion, one of the
best steel pickers on the planet.
The Midi Studio Consortium (Don Carroll) - http://midistudio.com/Management/Don/ For Country, Pop, and old standards, this is absolutely the best
MIDI site on the net. Don Carroll and the other sequencers on this site are the absolute
best.
Tom Bradshaw, Steel Guitar Products On-line
- http://www.songwriter.com/bbradshaw.html A great site for steel guitar supplies and special gear.
|