Allan Holdsworth - Distance Vs. Desire Lesson & Tutorial

[@halocupid]

Thanks for all the work you put into these videos! All of us Holdsworth fans appreciate it!!! ❤

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

My pleasure 🙂

[@joemusicman64]

Your music theory is scary. This is amazing work John. It's so bizarre to come to this channel and hear the exact sounds you hear on AH's albums. Especially the SynthAxe.

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

I'm no theory expert like a Beato or Neeley, but I know an ok amount. Thank you though!!

[@alexanderallegra432]

Allan lives on!

[@sa99m]

I can't get over the m6/9th chords at the beginning at the song, AH is truly the Shakespeare of chords in my personal opinion, his chord vocabulary is huge!

[@kamilmuslimov4135]

Oh my god, i was 15 years old in 2015 when i try to transcribe licks from Distance Vs Desire in midi and then play it on guitar, this piece is very meaningful to me, its always fascinated me and evoked vivid pictures in my imagination ... thank you for remember me this emotions

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Glad to! One of Allans finest :)

[@Hulloder]

This is a beautiful tune, thank you for this lesson. Allan's ears for Bartok/20th century classical music always really stuck out here to me in these harmonies!

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Thank you! Absolutely 😁

[@jameshayes6366]

John your transcriptions are absolutely amazing. We all appreciate you keeping Allan’s music alive and helping us to understand this unbelievable music

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Thank you so much 😁😁😁

[@planetpjr]

This piece is so wistful and yearning.

[@erictripton]

And once again, this was an improvised solo. Such a vocabulary he had ti 'improv' from. Such commitment to performing..blows my mind.

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Agreed!

[@NathanChojnacki]

I know nothing about Allan Holdsworth and not even really a fan. But I watch all your videos and think your knowledge, especially with a specific focus on the SynthAxe, is an absolute necessity on the internet

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Thank you so much! I appreciate that. I'm trying my best to put as much info as I can about the Synthaxe out there 😁

[@ShredTraining]

One of my favourite Holdsworth pieces. You did a great job, thanks for sharing!

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Thanks for watching!

[@BlackRail33]

You've really become an amazing translator of this material. Mesmerizing look inside Allan's process. Thank you.

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Trying my best. Thank you!! 🙏🙏

[@davidlinnartist]

So much fun to watch! I got to see the man live and struggled to figure out what exactly was happening. Then I bought reaching for the uncommon chord and that was helpful.

[@beenhonked5172]

Made my year.

[@leoquesto9183]

I cannot tell you how happy this makes me. I've loved watching this. This piece, and Sand, in general, remain among my favorites of Holdsworth's work. I'm very glad to see that you're going to be focusing on SynthAxe pieces and utilize different tunings with ease. Thanks so much for sharing this and all the particulars with the SynthAxe, the perfect Holdsworthian instrument.

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Thanks!! Glad you enjoyed it 😊 ☺️

[@ES175jazz]

OMG Chick Corea/ Allan Holdsworth concert = pure heaven!

[@wesleylakemusic]

Outstanding work as always John!! I know you've been figuring this out for years, but i don't think you get commended enough for your ear as well as your technique, its one thing transcribing this but also being able to play it is also amazing, you are really a great player. Also incredible to see you're still motivated to do these after so many years. Thank you so much, this information truly is valuable

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Ah you're too kind, thank you 😊

[@RajorshiBhattacharyya]

This tune is devastating and you do a great job.

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Thank you 🙏. It's one of my very favorites so I had to do my best

[@basicsforbaroqueimprovisation]

Outstanding work ! Your dedication and perseverance in learning all of this is truly inspiring. Your SynthAxe journey is a great one. Thank you for loving the music so much ! Best Wishes - John

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Thank YOU so much for the kind words and watching 🙂

[@dudeeronomy3805]

Watching you play those solo excerpts note-for-note was thrilling man! Also, "certain parts of it that he almost liked" regarding the recorded solo is hilarious... classic Allan.

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

I phrased it the same way he said it in the interview because it was that funny haha

[@We-all-watched-the-video]

One of my favourites! Thank you!

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

My pleasure! Thanks for watching 😁

[@justicia8393]

cool report 👌🏼 i saw the Synthaxe for the first time with Gary Moore in his video Out In The Fields and i was blowing away

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Cool! I was told he was kind of "forced" into using one haha

[@biorythmicshifter]

A true labor of love. This is an equivalent of revealing an amazing magic trick. Those chords and sounds have been an abstract structure in my brain channeled from the heavens or some other dimension and you’ve now shown us a glimpse of this construct from earth…thank you.

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

You're very welcome!

[@milgarofalo3377]

Beautiful. Thank you Sir.

[@mckinleymorton]

Crazy good, man. Im not nearly on the same technical plane, but the way you break down the stuff always gives me ideas that I can use. Also, sounds f#$%ing awesome. I find the synthaxe fascinating and the ways one can use and exploit the technical aspects of it truly seem to have peaked with Holdsworth. Just a brilliant culmination of passion, skill, and technology that you were able to elucidate.

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Thank you so much!! I really try to get Allan from the clouds and to the human plane 🙂. Even if you don't have any crazy theory knowledge I try to make it accessible to all.

[@derrylgabel]

Great work John!

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Thank you so much 😁

[@lucianogiordana]

you are probably the biggest authority on AH nowadays !

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Maybe haha but I'm just happy to be in the conversation

[@lucianogiordana]

@@TurrigenousOfficial no seriously. most musicians speaking of AH focus on the legato technique, some on the "sound" of the intrument. you are the only one that speaks about the harmony, the composition mindset of the master, which is a approach I love , because Im a composer and AH influenced me a lot on those aspects (I dont play guitar at all). Thanks for the great work !

[@JR-io8kw]

thanks for your unique videos, with a SynthAxe! Great band also!

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Hey thanks for checking us out too 😊

[@erictripton]

Another tune that if I listen at the right time, I cry my ass off. You know, John this is exactly why he belongs with the great composers. It's these chords that wrench your feelings. Just so happens he's a bitchin' guitar player. Different from all hard rock typical heroes. "Allan, where did you get inspiration to write this?" Kurzweil me thinks is what he recorded with for soloing. Breath controller, mate. Check out Pat Smythe Live 1974; A raw Coltrane sound soloing... Makes me cry out why no one shared this instead of thinking Jimmy Page was the bee's knee's

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Good to know about the Kurzweil! If I had a vst of it I could give a more accurate answer. Also I have heard that concert but it's been a while!

[@erictripton]

You can hear the breathe controller operating a filter. Thats how he gets those vowels, dynamics as like a horn, John. Pud Wud opening is the breath contoller; you know its opening the filter hard, loud and piercing the harder he blows. Just food for thought. I'm loving what you're doing. We all back in the day could barely afford decent amps. Allan's gear was complex, innovative and way over the head of a 20 yr. old. back then. No internet. Just magazines, shop talk at music stores, and long distance calls out to Andy Brauer, Bob Bradshaw's gang. Magazines was integral. I still have his 1980 interview in Guitar Player. I read about him, but didn't really get interested until Edward Van cover story 1980, he mentioned him..I was 14 then@@TurrigenousOfficial

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Pud Wuds intro chords doesn't use a breath controller. It's some very dynamic Clav patch on a DX7. I found something close but needs tweaking

[@erictripton]

I see, my bad. @@TurrigenousOfficial

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

@rickoverzdream all good! 👍

[@simongrady1298]

cool as usual mate

[@germanezequielsanchez7214]

Distance vs Desire was played a couple times in fall tour May 1987.

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

That's cool to know! If only I had that information before I made the video 😁

[@clarkrichardson949]

another amazing lesson! Also very interesting to learn about the Xpander and Matrix 12! Love that Michael Brecker also used an Xpander with his EWI. Glad to hear you have more of these in the works! Looking forward to "Sand" and "Endomorph" lessons!

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Oh didn't know that!! Both of those tunes are in the pipeline ready to go! Just gotta double check them.

[@clarkrichardson949]

@@TurrigenousOfficial a couple Michael Brecker records to check out would be Steps Ahead "Magnetic" from 1986 ("In A Sentimental Mood" in particular) and his self titled solo debut from 1987. Holdsworth mentioned Michael Brecker as an influence!

[@rmcfee]

Amazing video! Thanks so much for this!

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

You're so welcome!

[@bassplayer1966]

Great! Here's an easy one - let us see you play "The Un-Merry-Go-Round" which is my all time favorite AH tune! Nevermind...I JUST FOUND YOUR VIDEO ON IT!!

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

😆

[@topeka321]

now that you have a synth-axe… i would love to hear your input on “Mac Man”. Sand is my favorite album, but no one has ever touched Mac Man. The first groups of notes are absolutely mind blowing. 🗣️🗣️🗣️

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

I would but I believe all the piano for Mac Man was written, well on a Mac haha. The synthaxe was only used for the solo and the solo chords I think

[@cordobassmusic]

thanks John for this excellent transcription and work, you are amazing!! one thing i always think when i see Cm7#5 chords, is the fact that they don't sound like a minor chords, i know it's handy called that way but it's accurate. maybe Ab(add9)omit3/C would be better ?? greetings from Chile and bravo for your work.

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Thank you!! For that chord you don't need to say omit3 if you're gonna put the 3rd in the bass but yeah, all of those m7#5 chords can be interpreted as 1st inversion add9 chords. I tried to keep the bass the same. Again as Allan says, the name isn't that important 😊. Thanks again!!

[@aidanacuna6069]

Hey Jon that was really awesome. I have a question though, are you thinking about getting a breath controller, like Allan did?

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Thank you! If I come across one maybe. But it would also have to be an analog one with the vst setup I have I think.

[@xogmusic]

I started using the TEControl BBC2 which is sending out midi breath CC2 among 3 other CCs. This works with most synths but you have to program them to respond to CC2 with cut and level being automated. You mention a Matrix VST by Luigi Marcella? Could you point me to where I’d be able to get that? BTW, LofiLeif on KZbin has some amazing vids with the TEControl and guitar.

[@davidseals1415]

You are having serious fun with that synthaxe 😂 I envy you

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

I am!! 😁

[@davidseals1415]

Keep it up. You’re doing the Lord’s work 😂

[@StephenLeeBuller]

You are fantastic. Do you think you’d ever to teach Hazard Profile Pt.1? with Soft Machine

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Thanks!! Not so much. I like to keep it to Allans more chordy stuff that he wrote instead of the more riffy, sideman stuff

[@paulczech]

@TurrigenousOfficial I've always wanted to ask. Do you have a perfect pitch? Just trying to understand how you can hear the harmonies so well.

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

No not at all. I have pretty decent relative pitch. But it's a combination of not only ear but using programs to help identify frequencies or live footage. After years of playing these chords and knowing Allan's chord preferences, sometimes I can just tell

[@VegasCyclingFreak]

Wow. If I didn't know it was you playing I would think that was Allan himself. I didn't realize this tune was so sophisticated and that there was as much going on in it as there is. How long did it take to do be able to play the SynthAxe? It seems like operating a UFO that came from outer space. 😀

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Ah thanks!! It took a while for me to set up properly because of computer issues and the SA not being fully operational. But now I play it just about every day and like everything you have to get comfortable with it and adjusting the SA for the right patch

[@LivioLamoneamusic]

Fantastic!!

[@pizzaface4079]

Way too advanced for me, but glad you pulled it off, nice work dude.

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Thank you 😁😁

[@MrThomas1958]

❤

[@rmcfee]

Where on Earth did you find a Synthaxe?

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Hah! One happened to be up for sale a state over from me. It was too hard for me to say no to 🤪

[@lex.cordis]

Kind of off topic, but just throwing this out there.... I'm selling all of my music gear (hanging it up for good), and I'm curious if you would be interested in a Kiesel HH2. I had it built around 2020-2021 (I'll have to check the paper work). It's got a quilted maple top with a blue stain, lightly sanded back, royal ebony fingerboard, black limba body and neck with Holdsworth pickups. Trying to find a good home for it. Looking forward to the video!

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Thanks! Appreciate it but I have enough guitars haha. If it was owned by Allan that would be different 😁

[@lex.cordis]

@@TurrigenousOfficial I totally get it! Just figured I'd throw it out there.

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

@lex.cordis I'm sure it'll find a good home. It's a solid instrument

[@gsuthan]

what kinda wizardy is this

[@jeffreyclement2726]

If only David Gilmore had used one in Pink Floyd!

[@ElrondHubbard_1]

Great! Let me grab my Synthaxe out of the closet...

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

🤣 also make sure to tune it first!