Do Guitar Buzzwords Mean Anything?

Focus, decay, separation, response…what do they mean to you? What do they mean to us? This week on Alvarez TV, we’re looking at tone buzzwords and terminology around how we describe the sounds of our acoustic guitars.
0:00 What’s the Buzz? (Intro Jam)
4:38 “Focus”
5:38 “Scale Length”
5:55 “Silking”
6:56 “Resonance”
7:47 “Compression”
9:38 “Reverberation”
10:30 “Headroom”
12:10 “Articulation”
13:19 “Presence”
15:01 “Balance”
16:04 “Sparkle”
16:35 “Sustain & Decay”
17:29 “Fundamentals & Overtones”
19:27 “Woody & Muddy”
20:05 “Separation”
21:56 “Response”
24:09 Parting Thoughts
Featured in this Episode:
Alvarez Masterworks MD66CE Dreadnought: alvarezguitars.com/guitar/md66ce.
Alvarez Masterworks MDA66CESHB Dreadnought: alvarezguitars.com/guitar/mda....
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[@mattnelson8325]

My favorite guitar channel and "dudes". Must see TV for us guitar geeks. Thanks again guys.

[@waynzwhirled6181]

Excellent discussion. I love your content, but having watched many of your videos, I feel like what really sells the content on this channel is the two gentleman presenting it. Your relaxed, slightly subdued (reserved? humble?) delivery of the material, how you interact with each other and your audience all combined make your presentations very appealing and enjoyable. Thank you.

[@AlvarezGuitarsOfficial]

Thank you so much for your kind words! We'll pass this on as I'm sure the guys would really appreciate it 🙌

[@waynzwhirled6181]

@@AlvarezGuitarsOfficial Thank you!

[@juliemulie1805]

Reminds me of a medical professional speaking with a lay person. You'd think terminology would have pretty ridged definition but then you get into "feelings" and popular opinion. This was helpful as I'm learning what is necessary to set up a personal recording studio for my clarinet and guitar. When I play my clarinet the guitars on the wall sing along, making a very interesting reverberation.

[@AlvarezGuitarsOfficial]

That's great! We love hearing this, thanks for watching 🙌.

[@RR-mi5ni]

What a great series of informative videos! Thank you for all the explanations. Specifically for "overtones". Everybody keeps using this term, referring to rosewood mostly, but no one has taken an effort to explain what it is. None of the English dictionaries help in this respect either. The entire series makes me want another Alvarez guitar (model selected already) so much more. But need wait for that until I get to the US next year, as now I am stuck in South Africa. Thanks again.

[@AlvarezGuitarsOfficial]

We always love hearing that. Thanks for playing Alvarez 🙌.

[@yogarich]

Thanks for another great video!

[@ralphfrasier2079]

Hey Guys, great video! Thanks for posting!

[@heidih2887]

Nice! :D One thing that sort of relates to these terms is the assumption of what is "good/better" or "not as good/bad". Someone new to acoustic guitar might think that "more is always better", whether that be volume, sustain, or whatever, which of course is a short-sided or limiting interpretation. I've noticed that throughout a number of your videos, you've at least TOUCHED on the concepts that different features/sounds and attributes have applications in different settings/different music etc. For example, what works "better" in a studio setting might not be the best for an outdoor setting/venue, or a guitar used as the primary instrument (for a particular song, or portion of a song such as a solo) may not be the best for accompanying a singer that sings in a particular register etc. Reviewing these terms and definitions from your perspectives can really help with understanding product reviews and demonstrations. Thanks! :D I really enjoy these videos, and love the way you two guys play together! :D Very enjoyable music regardless of which guitars you're featuring! :D

[@AlvarezGuitarsOfficial]

Thank you Heidi! We always love hearing that, and agree with your points. Thanks for watching 🙌.

[@johnny.musician]

Excellent usage of terminology, and fwiw pretty much exactly how I use these terms. Interesting that with better recording techniques over the years, even Country players preferred to record with D18s rather than D28s…more ‘focus’. Yep, give me a focussed cutaway parlour sized, cedar top, standard scale guitar that can handle concert pitch and DADGAD and I’m a happy camper. Thanks!

[@nathanfrisby3133]

Great explanation of your terminology. I am still getting accustomed to the different sounds of my new Alvarez AG60CEAR, up until this I have only had complete mahogany guitars. The projection from this top is so full top to bottom.

[@ronchave6354]

OMG, you Guy's have done it again. How do you do it? Great informative video. Thanks!! Iam still waiting for book to come out!!!

[@scottfishkind5335]

Great conversation... I thought you both did a great job expressing with those terms mean to you. Some other descriptors To me resonance implies a more 3 dimensional quality that also feels like the sound almost wraps around you. Articulation is clarity as opposed to the sound becoming muddy or unclear. An articulated performance means each part speaks clearly and more individually.

[@user-er8eu4sd8k]

Very interesting Video. Can you do a show on different tuners, and ratios? Can they affect the sound?

[@user-yc3gg8fw8b]

I really enjoyed this discussion because it is so hard to describe sound with words. Words are always subject to interpretation and, as you said, what means one thing to you means another thing to me. So, even the clarification of what you mean is subject to interpretation. It's never ending. I was hoping to hear a discussion on the meaning of "brightness" and "warmth." These terms mean something to me but, they are elusive concepts. Could you please elaborate? Mahogany guitars are generally considered to sound warm, but they don't necessarily have a strong bass. What makes them sound "warmer" than, say, rosewood which is known for it's low bass and bright trebles?

[@stevevice9863]

Hey guys! Thanks for all the great videos. You have talked about things that affect tone, like bridge pins and nut and saddle materials, so how about a video on pick, (plectrum), affect on tone and volume. Thin picks vs thick picks, pick materials, shapes. I have found that a pick can have a profound affect on the tone. In my opinion it is the best bang for the buck tone modification. SORRY!...You have already covered this!...I found the video in the vault...you guys are on top of it! Thanks, again!

[@AlvarezGuitarsOfficial]

Ha! we love hearing this Steve , thanks for sharing 🙌.

[@brianhoey1107]

Once again very informative and comprehensive.........that is until Dee used the word 'transient': that's worthy of an explanation. I think 'attack' and 'response' are very similar, meaning how quickly the note moves from silence to full volume once it is played. If you use a volume pedal on an electric guitar you control the 'attack' of the note and can make the note slowly gain in volume: a slow attack as opposed to the normal faster attack when the volume control is fixed. Great episode!

[@lhvent]

Something about the African Mohagany guitars from Alvarez. The sourcing that Alvarez has done to find that exact wood that brings the sound to the next level, The compression of the Mahogany guitars from Alvarez is second to none.

[@AlvarezGuitarsOfficial]

Thank you for playing Alvarez 🙌.

[@howardlewis3153]

"Chatoyancy" = The way light dances when we look at quartersawn timbers from different angle.

[@mk-wv6yv]

Great lesson on terminology. Words can mean a lot and even get in the way of describing a guitar. Bottom line; how does it sound to you and how does it feel to play. And, what happened to the archtop display?

[@AlvarezGuitarsOfficial]

We totally agree! And we'll have to find out who moved the Archtops. 😂

[@rhiannonpage3974]

Time to make some flashcards 😂 I would love to hear your understanding of timbre!

[@AlvarezGuitarsOfficial]

Thanks for the suggestion, we'll pass it onto the guys 🙌.

[@jimcasler7847]

Echo, reverberation, resonance - some difficulty here. Echo and reverberation are related. Echo is that repetition of a sound after it's reflected from a surface, but then, so is reverberation, but with a difference, and resonance is part of that. First, reverb is a bunch of echos, close enough together that they're almost impossible to differentiate from each other, and they are colored (no "u" in that, I'm a Yank), by resonance, which is the tendency of a space or an object to continue to vibrate at a frequency or set of frequencies after it has been excited by a sound, so that some frequencies will sound louder than others, and some frequencies will continue to sound after the initial sound has decayed. There's a pretty complex relationship between these properties.

[@AlvarezGuitarsOfficial]

Some great points there, thanks Jim!

[@lhvent]

I have an Alvarez ARD70 that was on loan to my son for the past 3 years and I got it back yesterday. I can tell that the Sitka top with the Rosewood back and sides has opened up ten fold from the way I remember it. I would say the sound and feel of this slope shoulder dreadnought has bloomed given the guitar is now nine years old. I put on a new set of strings and the sound knocked my socks off. Gone is the tight sound it one had. The notes are no clear.

[@TJ-Dives]

Alvarez are a teriffic guitar company. Thank you.

[@TJ-Dives]

*Terrific

[@AlvarezGuitarsOfficial]

Thank you TJ we really appreciate it!

[@robertmoulton1647]

Ooo, this is a good one. I can't disagree with anything you said - partly because the assessments are so subjective. Many of the qualities also have to do with the guitarist and his/her technique, as well as one's hearing. But I might add, coming from a background in radio, that COMPRESSION has to do with frequency range: AM radio, for instance has a top frequency of 9kHz (although you will probably get some overtones/harmonics from your speakers or listening environment). To compensate for this limitation, the lower frequencies are rolled off to achieve BALANCE (essentially a sine wave or bell curve of frequencies), and then the entire signal can be amplified. Then, I think of RESPONSE in terms of SENSITIVITY. With a microphone, the engineer wants to know how evenly (flatly) sensitive the capsule is across a range of frequencies. I think of a guitar in roughly the same way: does each string project clearly (of course this also has to do with string diameter and composition and the player's acumen), and does it accurately render the dynamics of my playing. Some guitars sound dull or flat (not to be confused with MUDDY) no matter how you play them; they just don't respond, there's no sense of life to the notes.

[@robertmoulton1647]

Just remembered... HEADROOM is something that I wanted to chip in about. I always think about headroom in terms of amplifiers, being the amount of surplus power you have to generate signal before it clips or distorts. This is where the 3dB ratio of power to loudness comes into play. A change in volume of 3 decibels is the minimum that the human ear can detect, but that increase requires double the amount of power from your amp. So if you're producing, say, 60 dB from your amp at 11 watts, 63dB will require 22 watts and you've maxxed out your Fender Deluxe Reverb. Anything more and you're going to distort, whether you want to or not. If you want loud AND clean, you want an 85 watt Twin - or more. Applied to an acoustic guitar, I'd think it would have to be the instrument's ability to allow you to play vigorously without losing clarity or separation.

[@mikebarker7105]

Was that Mullarky - The grain in the wood. Haha, I'm joking. What is the term when a guitar is strummed quite hard and the sound becomes undefined. All jumbled into a mess. Is that Muddy or something else? Thanks for your videos. They are enjoyed even this far away.

[@AlvarezGuitarsOfficial]

The sound can become distorted if strummed too hard, thank you for watching!