I respectfully disagree. In a written format such as this forum, descriptive terms are needed to communicate. As mentioned a few times in this thread are references to Santana's sound as being "creamy". This is one of the sounds I have chased for years and I find that it does take gear as well as technique to approach his tones. Sure, it will be my tone, but using his as a reference and inspiration is a good thing. Right here on this forum years back, someone recommended a modification (designed by a pedal maker on this forum) to a DS-1 to get Santana's sound. The mod made the DS-1 creamier. I don't know how better to describe it and has nothing to do with how good I play guitar.
What do you mean when you say something sounds "creamy"?
- Thread starter theprofessor
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I respectfully disagree. In a written format such as this forum, descriptive terms are needed to communicate. As mentioned a few times in this thread are references to Santana's sound as being "creamy". This is one of the sounds I have chased for years and I find that it does take gear as well as technique to approach his tones. Sure, it will be my tone, but using his as a reference and inspiration is a good thing. Right here on this forum years back, someone recommended a modification (designed by a pedal maker on this forum) to a DS-1 to get Santana's sound. The mod made the DS-1 creamier. I don't know how better to describe it and has nothing to do with how good I play guitar.
MilwMark
Doctor of Teleocity
That's funny. I was just thinking to myself, several of these examples are different sounds (attack, edginess) and all are labeled "creamy". Hmmm.
theprofessor
Poster Extraordinaire
I love all the feedback my initial question has provoked, and I meant it sincerely. It's useful to have an idea of how folks are using their musical lexicon to describe sounds. After reading all the comments and listening to some of the video clips (thanks for posting those), I've created a sort of summary as to what I think folks generally mean (at least based on this small sample of opinions), if they find the term "creamy" useful in describing a sound. I do think that it's best illustrated by the process of making whipped cream. "Creamy" is not liquid, but neither is it clumpy. If you whip liquid cream long enough, it turns chunky (into butter). So creamy is between liquid and thin and clumpy or chunky or dull. @Larry F mentioned the possibility of using sustain through time as another factor. I found that very interesting. Here is an illustration of what I've come up with so far. Pitch in on where you find it useful or lacking.
Tibius Reynolds
TDPRI Member
Creamy is like punchy. Nobody knows what it is but guitar stores can sell it anyway.
SolidSteak
Friend of Leo's
If it's creamy AND punchy it can get kind of splatty. I think they call that a silicon fuzz face. Or is it a carton of milk hit by a sledge hammer?
I think using words to describe sounds hits some of the same communication barriers as using words to describe painting, or painting to describe emotion. Things can get really interesting when we don't know the words! But sometimes my tubescreamer is still just a tubescreamer.
I think using words to describe sounds hits some of the same communication barriers as using words to describe painting, or painting to describe emotion. Things can get really interesting when we don't know the words! But sometimes my tubescreamer is still just a tubescreamer.
mannyg
Tele-Meister
Yes, its that sound when you put a scoop of Tillamook vanilla ice cream in your ear.
Ahhhhh! The Rocky road is pretty good too.
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Creamy.
1300 E Valencia
Friend of Leo's
Sweet Jebus on a surfboard!
Just get Cream's second album, "Disraeli Gears".
Pick a tune. Any tune. That's IT.
Just get Cream's second album, "Disraeli Gears".
Pick a tune. Any tune. That's IT.
theprofessor
Poster Extraordinaire
That's what I find interesting about this whole thing. Listening to Clapton's tone on Disraeli Gears or certain solos of Carlos Santana, it is clearer to me now how most people seem to be using this word "creamy" to describe tone. But "creamy" is not the word I would ever have used to describe those tones, which I've listened to for many years. Even after knowing that they are supposed to be "creamy" sounds, they don't sound particularly "creamy" to me (though they do sound great). I mean, they're creamy in the sense that most folks are using the term, but there's nothing that would have made me associate those sounds with "cream" without some guidance, unless it's just because Clapton was in a band called Cream. Maybe that's why folks use the term = sounds like Clapton on Disraeli Gears when he played with the band Cream.
Henry Mars
Tele-Afflicted
In the end you are going to hear what you are going to hear ( lost a lot of my hearing BTW ). All of these descriptions have degrees and mean different things to different players. So if I say it sounds creamy to me that may mean muddy to you. Even terms like "mid shift" and "scooped" can mean different things to different people and tend to be relative. Ears vary. For example , I absolutely detest the sound of Marshall amps and that is going back to when they first started popping up in USA ... I used to take a lot of flack from a lot of players including one or two you may have heard of. To me the sounded compressed and fuzzed out ... to some of the other cats they sounded creamy ... I prefered the Traynor stacks ... I thought they actually did sound creamy. Which is why I think that these types of descriptions are at best misleading ... some times it depends on the guitar you are using too ... different guitar ... different sound. That said everybody has an opinion ... they aren't necessarily right or wrong just different. Aesthetics ... are personal eh?
Alex W
Friend of Leo's
I think a good example of a creamy guitar sound is the guitar solo in Journey's "Don't Stop Believing." Compressed, gainy, little or no twang.
SecretSquirrel
Friend of Leo's
That's a great sound, I would call it more "snarly" than creamy.
This thread has been interesting, seeing the different interpretations. Also, love
theprofessor's pencil diagram!
Nice visual summary of the thread and I concur with the whole diagram including placement of non creamy.
theprofessor
Poster Extraordinaire
Now I think I know what most people are saying is "creamy." Sometimes it's even only in parts of songs, when, suddenly, things congeal and compress a bit. Then you have cream. I think that part of the guitar solo in Los Lobos's "Mas y Mas" is "creamy." Go to 1:31. Things seem to become especially "creamy" between 1:53 and 1:56. You have to listen to it kind of loud in this recording to hear what I mean. I love what happens in those 3-4 seconds.
And then there's the possibility of a vocal being "creamy." I wonder if this counts as a "creamy" vocal part. It's only about one second in JSBX's "T.A.T.B (For the Saints and Sinners Remix)." It happens at 3:51 when Jon Spencer's vocal suddenly compresses as he says the word "blues" the first time. And since it's already distorted, I think it produces a "creamy" sound.
What do you think? Creamy?
And then there's the possibility of a vocal being "creamy." I wonder if this counts as a "creamy" vocal part. It's only about one second in JSBX's "T.A.T.B (For the Saints and Sinners Remix)." It happens at 3:51 when Jon Spencer's vocal suddenly compresses as he says the word "blues" the first time. And since it's already distorted, I think it produces a "creamy" sound.
What do you think? Creamy?
mexicanyella
Poster Extraordinaire
This has been an interesting thread. The Los Lobos example above, in the suggested range of track time, isn't exactly what I think of as a creamy tone--I picture "creamy" as a cleaner sound than that...less OD. In my mind it goes more with working to achieve and hold sustain through grip and vibrato and careful muting/not muting, rather than "sustain til you kill it" gainy/fuzzy examples like the American Woman licks.
But creamy to my ear or not, the Mas y Mas example is a great example of some badass-sounding lead work. I like it.
My own attempts to achieve my idea of tonal creaminess seem to be less dependent on tubes or specific guitar types and more dependent on gain structure throughout the signal path and the playing touch on the instrument. So I guess to me there is strong component of dynamic response/touch sensitivity in the signal path at work, in addition to EQ concerns.
The reference way back in this thread to a '67 Plexi going from cream to snarl strictly through playing dynamics...I get that. I have never played through a real plexi, but that cream-to-snarl zone is what I shoot for in whatever I do plug into, with varying levels of success.
But creamy to my ear or not, the Mas y Mas example is a great example of some badass-sounding lead work. I like it.
My own attempts to achieve my idea of tonal creaminess seem to be less dependent on tubes or specific guitar types and more dependent on gain structure throughout the signal path and the playing touch on the instrument. So I guess to me there is strong component of dynamic response/touch sensitivity in the signal path at work, in addition to EQ concerns.
The reference way back in this thread to a '67 Plexi going from cream to snarl strictly through playing dynamics...I get that. I have never played through a real plexi, but that cream-to-snarl zone is what I shoot for in whatever I do plug into, with varying levels of success.
mexicanyella
Poster Extraordinaire
I thought of an example of something I think of as creamy: Jock Bartley's lead work in Firefall's "Mexico:"
I really like the lead tone--and the relaxed, ever-evolving licks--in that song. A lot. I likes me some Eagles and Don Felder/Joe Walsh playing too, but man...those Firefall guys had some fat, smooth, clever guitar work in some of their stuff. Mostly in the stuff that I never have heard on the radio.
Another example is the Grays' song "Friend of Mine," from the album Ro Sham Bo:
There are a bunch of guitar parts layered in that song, and a lot of them sound creamy to me. In fact, if it's possible for drums and cymbals to be miked/EQed/compressed into creaminess, it's happening here.
One more, on the more distorted and raspy end of my own personal creaminess spectrum...Bobby Rush's "You Just Like a Dresser":
I really like the lead tone--and the relaxed, ever-evolving licks--in that song. A lot. I likes me some Eagles and Don Felder/Joe Walsh playing too, but man...those Firefall guys had some fat, smooth, clever guitar work in some of their stuff. Mostly in the stuff that I never have heard on the radio.
Another example is the Grays' song "Friend of Mine," from the album Ro Sham Bo:
There are a bunch of guitar parts layered in that song, and a lot of them sound creamy to me. In fact, if it's possible for drums and cymbals to be miked/EQed/compressed into creaminess, it's happening here.
One more, on the more distorted and raspy end of my own personal creaminess spectrum...Bobby Rush's "You Just Like a Dresser":
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3-Chord-Genius
Poster Extraordinaire
I was actually kinda joking when I wrote that, using every weird guitar adjective I could come up with.
theprofessor
Poster Extraordinaire
Very nice. I get that. Less overdriven than the samples I put up.
I never understood the term 'creamy'..Is it the band 'cream' or the food 'cream'..What about frothy? TO me it seemed creamy was a nice tight but droney cruch sound, like hitting a perfectly sustaining A-chord..How do you define Sunn 0's 'distortion' from 0:37 in this clip??
