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The Edge
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David Howell Evans was born on August 8th, 1961 in East London to
Garvin and Gwenda Evans. Dick was the older at 2, and their baby sister
Gill would be born in late 62/early 63 - I don't know the exact date.
When Dave was one they all moved to Malahide, a suburb of Dublin.
Dave went off to Mount Temple and was a year behind Bono. He was the
kinda guy who saw everything, and he was also a MacGuyver of
sorts-explains his guitar playing. After answering the note
Dave Evans was christened The Edge *. While not exclusively a member
of the Village, because he was friends with Bono, they named him. Now
opinions vary on the origin of his name, but it was either because of:
- 1. the shape of his head;
- 2. his keen guitar playing;
- 3. Dave's way of watching everything from the sidelines, or the edge
Personally, I don't think his head is edgey, and how awesome could his
guitar playing at 17 ? My vote goes to the last oppinion. By the way,
the guys sometimes call Edge Reg just because. :)
As far as music playing goes, Egde plays electric guitar and keyboards/piano.
When he goes between the two, ala New Years, he calls it
"helicoptering". He and his friends, along with guitar tech Dallas
Shoo, have created some incredible sounds from Edge's guitar, one of
the most notable being the Infinite Guitar. It's something akin to
the e-bow, but is activated by a pedal and lasts longer. In
With Or Without You, it's that
noise that sounds like a violin or synthesizer. Cool, huh ? Edge is
also somewhat famous for his one note solos, like
All I Want Is You and
Running To Stand Still
most notably on the Zoo TV versions. Dave Evans also has produced a lot
lately, often doing remixes, etc. and he even got a producing credit
for Zooropa.
Edge also does do some lyric writing of his own.
He came up with the idea for Sunday, Bloody Sunday.
He wrote and sings Van Diemen's Land and
Numb, and he also does a big part of the
vocals on Seconds. Edge gives a lot of
input, throws around wacky ideas when it comes to song writing. While
Bono does the majority, you'd probably hear
some different songs if Edge-man wasn't there. He also wrote lyrics for
Pop - Wake Up Dead Man.
With Edge and the d-word, Flanagan's book "At the End of the World"
has a story from Edge about Mushrooms and the secret of the Universe.
I don't think there's ever been any mention of him and heavy drugs to
my knowledge, and if there is, I wouldn't trust it.
As far as personal stuff goes, Edge married his high school sweetheart
Aislinn O'Sullivan. They had three girls - Blue Angel, Holly, and Aaron.
Holly was born in June of 85, Aaron followed a year later. Blue Angel
was born in 89. They separated around 1991. Because of Irish law they
could not get divorced, but a recent vote made divorce legal. Edge,
however, has a girlfriend - Morleigh Steinberg - the belly dancer on
the last leg of the Zoo Tour. We shall see how it goes...
In other news, Edge has accompanied Bono on
Two Shots and Miss Sarajevo
in Modena. The dude also went to an Oasis concert with his kids and
when he tried to get up and dance he was told to sit down. Hah. Edge
is living with his girlfriend, Morleigh, in Ireland now. Which I guess
is an of again on again relationship. Hmmm...
Os Segredos Da Guitarra
Se existe alguém que faz juz ao nome que usa, esse alguém é sem dúvida The Edge.
The Edge conseguiu estender as possibilidades sónicas da guitarra mesmo até ao extremo.
Não é muito fácil reproduzir o seu som com exactidão, mas actualmente, graças às unidades
multiefeitos disponíveis ao mais comum dos guitarristas, já não é muito difícil, pelo menos,
obter os mesmos efeitos. Quanto ao som da guitarra já é outra coisa...
The Edge provávelmente não é a pessoa ideial para classificar como um guitar hero, mas
a sua economia de estilo e, mais recentemente, a sua utilização da guitarra para criação de
texturas sonoras, fizeram-o ganhar uma reputação merecida como tal - quanto mais não seja porque
deixa quase toda a gente a pensar: oO("como raio é ele capaz de atingir todos aqueles sons ?" )
Durante os três primeiros álbuns dos U2, The Edge utilizou sobretudo
um amplificador Vox AC30, uma variedade enorme de guitarras - incluindo uma Tele, uma Start e uma
Gibson Explorer - juntamente com uma unidade de eco Echoplex - de fita - para obter o seu famoso
delay em reticência - ou seja, com três repetições por
batida.
-"Eu tenho uma inclinação particular para utilizar efeitos que não
alterem significativamente a tonalidade da guitarra. Não apreciso Phasers, Flangers nem
quaisquer outros do mesmo tipo. Entre os efeitos que aprecio e uso encontam-se as unidades de eco
e reverbação." explica The Edge.
O som saturado de overdrive de Edge não apresenta a base de graves conforme é
caracteristíco nos guitarristas de infulências metálicas que utilizam os grandes Marshalls e, em
vez disso, apresenta um aumento de frequências médias - à volta de 2.5kHz -, o que lhe dá aquela
característica penetrante, quase angular. Quem ouvir exactamente o primeiro álbum dos Echo And
The Bunnymen, Crocodiles, poderá constatar como The Edge foi influenciado pela guitarra de Will
Sergeant. No entanto, foi o mestre dos ambientes, Brian
Eno, que encorajou The Edge a desenvolver um som ainda mais expansivo como o do álbum
The Unforgettable Fire. Já por altura de Achtung
Baby, Edge estava a utilizar completamente as possibilidades dos multiefeitos, conjugando-os
com um delay da TC Electronics, modelo TC2990, o qual
substitui finalmente a Echoplex. Para além destas unidades, The Edge continuou ainda a explorar
a sonoridade de todos os tipos de caixas de efeitos e pedais, por vezes conjugando-os até ao
extremo de forma a obter sons de guitarra impossiveis de reconhecer.
Assim, apesar de nenhuma das músicas dos U2 ser muito difícil de
tocar, pelo menos no que diz respeito a guitarra e baixo, a questão de obter o mesmo tipo de som
já se torna um desafio mais difícil. Quem não tiver acesso às últimas palavras em termos de
unidades multiefeitos pode tentar conjugar, por exemplo, uma unidade Roland GP-100 e um Zoom
9030 com qualquer boa guitarra. Não vai ser a mesma coisa, mas dá para explorar o mesmo tipo de
sonoridade com delays longos e sons saturados de efeitos.
O Delay De The Edge
Para perceber exactamente como é que funciona o efeito de delay usado na guitarra de The Edge
é preciso saber o ritmo da canção em termos de batidas por minuto (bpm).
Especificamente, vamos supor que o ritmo é de 120 bpm. Isto significa que existem 120 batidas,
ou seja, uma batida em cada meio segundo (500ms). O efeito de delay uzado por The Edge
possui três repetições para além da batida, ou seja, três quartos de tempo (0.75) até à próxima
batida. Assim, usando simples aritmética: 500x0.75=373ms, sendo este o tempo exacto de
delay a usar para obter este efeito numa canção a 120 bpm.
Para saber o tempo ideal de delay para qualquer canção a um determinado ritmo, divide-se
os 60 segundos de um minuto por qualquer batida por minuto, multiplica-se por 1000 para obter o
tempo entre as batidas e depois multiplica-se os resultados pelo valor da repetição pretendido,
por exemplo 0.5, 0.75 ou 1.5 são valores clássicos muito usados. Este método bastante simples
é totalmente eficaz e é muito mais simples na prática do que descrito como aqui.
The Guitar Secrets
If there's someone that got a name who sutes him, it's The Edge. He was able to extend the
sonic capabilities of the guitar to the edge.
It's not easy to reproduce his sound with exactness, but nowadays, thanks to the multiefect
units available to any guitar player, it's not too hard to obtain the same effects.
But when it comes to the guitar sound, well, that's different...
Probably The Edge is not the most suitable person to classify as an guitar hero, but his
style economy and, most recently, his guitar use to create sound textures, made him win the
guitar hero reputation - at least because he leaves everyone thinking:
oO("How the hell can he reach all thoes sounds ?")
On the first three U2 albuns, The Edge used mostly an Vox AC30
amplifier, a variety of guitars - including a Tele, a Start and a Gibson Explorer - with an
echo Echoplex unit - tape - to obtain his famous reticence delay - i.e., with
three repetitions per beat.
-"I got a particular tendence to use efects that don't change significantly the guitar
tonality. I don't like much Phasers, Flangers nor any of the same kind. Among the efects that
I like and use are the echo units and reverbation."." says The Edge.
The Edge's overdrive saturated sound does not show the grave base like the metallic
influenced guitar players that use the big Marshalls. Instead, he presents a rise of medium
frequency - around 2.5kHz - with penetrating features, almost angular.
Who listen the first album of Echo And the Bunnymen, Crocodiles, can see for himself how The
Edge was influenced by Will Sergeant's guitar. Though, it was the master of ambiance,
Brian Eno, that encouraged The Egde to develop a sound
eaven more expansive like in the The Unforgettable Fire album.
By the time of Achtung Baby, Edge was making use of the total
capabilities of the multiefects, conjugated with a TC Electronics
delay, model TC2990, that finaly substitutes the
Echoplex. Aside this units, The Edge continued to explore the sonority of all types of special
efect boxes and pedals, some times conjugated to the edge to obtain unrecognizable guitar
sounds.
None of the U2 songs is to hard to play, at least when it comes
to guitar and bass, but when it come to obtain the same type of sound, well, that's an harder
challenge. If you don't have access to the latest multiefect units, you can join, for example,
a Roland GP-100 and a Zoom 9030 with any good guitar. It won't be the same, but it's good
to explore the sonority with longer delays and sounds saturated with efects.
The Edge's Delay
To understand how the delay used in The Edge's guitar is used, it's necessary to know the
rhythm of the song in terms of beats per minute (bpm).
Specifically, let's suppose that the rhythm is 120 bpm. This means that there are 120 beats,
that is, one beat each half second (500ms). The delay efect used by The Edge has three
repetitions beyond the beat, this is, three quarters of time (0.75) untill the next beat.
So, using simple arithmetic: 500x0.75=373ms, this is the exact time of delay to obtain
this efect on a 120 bpm song.
To know the ideal delay time to any song at a certain rhythm, divide the 60 seconds of a
minute by any beat per minute, multiply it by 1000 to obtain the time between the beats and then
mulpitly the results by the value of the whanted repetition. 0.5, 0.75 and 1.5 are classical
values often used. This easy method is totaly efficient and it's a lot simple when you put it
in practice than it is when you read it here.
Last Updated: November 5th, 1997.
*Última Actualização: 5 de Novembro de 1997.