Great stuff! Any all-mahogany acoustic can get an authentic sounding Nick Drake tone much closer than spruce-top acoustics, even if the strings aren't completely dead. You can skip over expensive models such as the Martin "15" series (000-15m, or 15sm) which can be well over $2000 depending on region, and instead you can get an affordable Guild "20" series (OM-120 recommended) or Sigma "15" series (000m-15 or 15s) which would be great candidates that are well under $1000. Even the Yamaha Storia II model has the capacity to get a great Nick Drake sound if you take out the brass bridge-pins and swap them for bone or plastic pins, and that guitar is less than $400! The trick is reducing "harmonics" in the tone to achieve a Nick Drake sound, which mahogany guitars have fewer harmonics, whereas spruce has a lot of harmonics (deadening the strings is one method to reduce them, but not ideal as you still want the woodiness of the guitar to come through which is what mahogany excels at). And any contact points with the strings such as the bridge pins, nut, and saddle can also produce more harmonics depending on construction material, so using bone is recommended because it's nice and resonant without producing the harmonics that brass does.
Was just thinking Nick's sound reminds me of an all mahogany guitar I played once. Looked up the Guild guitar on the cover and it was solid mahogany. So my gut feeling was that he did use that guild guitar for recordings. My technical knowledge is extremely limited. So glad to come upon your expertise! Great information! Thank you for sharing!
@robert wilson It's not really about political correctness, it's about common decency. it's quite a thing to assume that someone has a developmental disability just because they're done extensive research on something they're interested in. I'm sure it's an assumption you wouldn't appreciate were it directed towards you.
25 years ago my brother and i laboured for months and months working out all his songs by ear and then basically played and listened to nothing else for the next 5 years.... Watching you play these and talk about his sound has given me a super warm fuzzy feeling. Spot on - you sound just like him. Thanks!
Me listening to sommeliers talking about minor details of wine: "that's all horse shit" Me listening to this video: "Yes, precisely. Indeed, remarkable."
Brilliant Josh. I've been listening to Nick Drake since the late 60's when he was virtually unknown. You capture Nicks tone perfectly. All I can say is I would find it difficult to tell if it's you or Nick in a blind listening. I can pay you no greater compliment.
@@harshitkhanna7688 Friend of mine heard him in a pub in Henley in Arden and told us about him - must have been late 60's. So we sought out his records. Devastated when we heard he'd died. So young. been a fan ever since.
I honestly couldn't tell if the beginning of this video was the Nick Drake recording or you playing. When it faded up from black I was shocked. Your tone is pretty perfect.
Thank you Lord for nerds. I have often been described as one myself. I'm 70 and as nerdy as ever. Great job here, Josh. I've been a Nick Drake fan since a teen in the early 1970's. I always loved his music and still do all these years later. 👍👍
At 62 I’m so happy Nick Drake has the respect & listening audience he always wanted. A whole new generation of to pass on his talent . Thank you for your insight into Nicks playing, I have shared it with my son who also loves Nick Drake.
Thanks. Somewhere... there's a warm summer afternoon, that never ends. In a slow bend in the River Thames there's a pub with a lovely lawn that slopes down to the river. Underneath an old oak tree there's a wooden table with fresh bread, english cheese and real ale. Nick Drake is sitting there, talking and lightly strumming his guitar. Then John Martyn joins in the musical conversation. Bert Jansch smiles and sips his beer. David Crosby interupts, he's the new boy at the bend int the river, and says that his tuning for Guinevere is really something.
This is as close to the sound I’ve ever heard. You should be working in a studio and getting paid serious money if you aren’t already. You are a prince
Hi Josh. I'm a 54 year old guitar player. You have no idea how grateful, and I'm sure I speak for lots of other guitarists, that you care enough about your fans to share your ideas on music to talk about fingerstyle techniques and to try to help those of us with less talent to step it up a notch. Thank you man for being so real!
A 9min video that spawned one of the most insightfull, indepth, informative and interesting conversations i've heard in 40 years of listening and playing (trying to perfect) Nicks music. You're a genius Josh, made me feel like a teenager again, that 'lookin forward to puttin different strings on my guitar' feeling all over again, try a new sound. The ability to instill that in so many ppl is a gift. Fine musician too. Thankyou so much my man, and dont stop doing it.👍
I almost fell out of my chair when you launched into 'Hazey Jane I" (6:12). It was as if Nick Drake had come alive! Great videos - you are extremely talented.
I cannot get over how incredibly accurate your tone is! I don’t play an instrument, I am a vocalist, but I have been a huge Nick drake fan for 20 years and I’ve lost count on how many times I’ve listen to every single one of his pieces. And tears flowed when you would demonstrate all the elements together and play the passage of each piece. Thank you for this. I really needed it today.
This is the holy grail of ND playing. You don’t even realize you actually unlocked the secret to his tuning and chords, tone notwithstanding. Thank you!
I met Joe Boyd, Nick Drake's producer/mentor when I first moved to London, and we've stayed in touch - in fact he booked my band the Good Honeys to play at the Chelsea Arts Club a few years ago. I also know Nick's sister Gabrielle; she and Joe Boyd were good friends of one of my closest friends, Christopher Logue. I could ask them, if you like, whether they have any further information about Nick's guitar style and tunings.
You've replied long after he's uploaded this, so likelihood Josh won't see it, however me and everyone else here i'm sure would be very interested in anything you could find.
I had a guitar magazine that had all his timings from Pink Moon, and for a few other songs, but I can’t find it!!! He had so many tunings that it hampered him performing live. There is an excellent documentary called A Skin Too Few, that is pretty thorough, with his sister in it.
Regarding the Guild guitar did he or didn't he? I was a member of a club at 49 Greek St Soho called Les Cousins from about 1967 and for about 5 years. All the greats played there as it was THE foremost London folk club and I was lucky enough to see most of them. Cousins, as it was called, used to have all night sessions and I remember one night in about 1969 or 70, during a John Martyn set, John introduced Nick Drake as a guest during the break and we sat spellbound as he sang five or six of his beautiful songs, mostly from his forthcoming album Bryter Layter, and played that wonderful style. Yes! I was lucky enough to see Nick Drake play live in a small venue and can confirm that he played the very same Guild guitar and, believe it or not, he also had on the very same bumpers [sneaker type shoes] that appear on Bryter Latyter, which was released shortly after. Nick was very tall and extremely shy and sat on a stool hunched over his guitar with his head bowed and his hair hanging over the mike and his face, and did not look at the audience and spoke very quietly and did not a communicate much other than through his beautiful music, With regard to what you suggest are dead sounding strings I would put that down to the dry sound of the all mahogany bodied guitar rather than dead strings. Mahogany is well known for it's dry woody tone and, of course, I could be wrong on the strings issue, and you have studied Nicks style for a long time so i'm not knocking your knowledge, just presenting the view that strings will differ in sound depending on the guitar they are played on as well as their age. You capture Nicks tone and his sound in your playing extremely well however another persons physicality can and will affect their ability to produce nicks sound, and for some it would be impossible, even knowing exactly how he did it. That's why I suggest that it's better to find your own style rather than copy someone else. I Know! iv'e done it myself. Great stuff though! and thanks for putting it out there. It brings back great memories of the 60s folk scene.
That was inspiring just reading what you wrote about seeing Nick play. Thanks. I've owned a couple of small bodied guitars. One was all mahogany and one had a spruce top that was very bright sounding. With the smaller body you can definitely hear the harshness of new strings even on the mahogany. There's just not enough wood resonating in relation to the strings to even out the harshness of new strings. My playing style would adapt to whichever guitar I was playing to bring a little more shimmer out of the hog or to cut some of the brightness from the spruce.. If I recorded them and you also factor in the characteristics of the room and microphone, you'd have a hard time deciding which guitar I was playing. I preferred to use nickel strings which were deadened as well. So in my opinion, the strings and the small bodied guitar were more of a factor in the tone than the type of wood in the guitar. Also as you said, it's good to find your own style rather than to copy. Putting some nickel strings on a small bodied guitar and seeing how your playing evolves is an interesting way to develop your style though. It's worth doing the experiment even if you don't end up playing like Nick or Josh. (Most of us don't.)
One of the biggest reasons why nick drake was so depressing and sad is because he was promised that he is going to be a star but nobody heard of him as he expected. he barely sold his music... if he would still be with us today, I'm sure that he would be more than happy to see how of an appreciated artist he became... he was such a sensitive young man and a gentle soul. ahh such a loss to the world.
No he was never going to survive Realise he wasnt eating but ‘Living on Solid Air’ and he was unable to get out into the biz of music touring and adulation
I was a radio DJ when I was much younger and as a result got to meet a lot of relatively famous, and not-so-famous musicians. The music industry is toxic... the musicians are generally the creative vulnerable types, often with mental health issues... and the industry was built specifically to exploit them for profit, often ruining what the musician was trying to do in the process. Most of the musicians you think of as "super stars" are actually poor in real life. Even big name musicians barely make a middle class income from albums that sell millions of copies internationally. It's only the ultra-mega stars like Taylor Swift that have enough pull in the industry to just barely escape the trap. Ironically, she almost didn't. The rest live in poverty and obscurity, with their label dressing them in rented clothes they have to return after the awards ceremony. It's really sad. The image of the wealthy rock star is exactly that, an image. It's not real.
His guitar playing his the best of the best, but his lyrics and vocals are ABSOLUTE dog crap. Thats a big reason, among other things, he never did take off.
After watching this, I have to change my opinion about who I'd want to sit next to on a transatlantic flight. Josh has amazing talent, but he's also smart and articulate and funny -- and generous in sharing his knowledge. Sometimes, not often enough, people find what they're meant to do in life while the rest, like me, are perpetually restless and sadly content to lead lives of quiet desperation. Love this channel.
@@avit719 "Lives of quiet desperation." Clearly Floyd. Also, here's somebody who is sharing a little bit of how they feel beyond the façade we all put up for the world, and I think we need more of that in the world, not less. Hang in there, Fußgänger!
@@StefanGBucher Thoreau (as in Henry David). I think Nick Drake Syndrome could be a thing. I know when I listen to Pink Moon more than once in a week, I am slightly more prone to throwing myself out a window. That said, there are few albums as cohesive and consistent in tone, mood, and expression that are so dynamically beautiful and inventive in melody from song to song. Each song takes a bite out of my heart, and yet I feel touched by his spirit with each. As a fan of many genres and styles of music, there's really no one quite like Nick Drake. I can't think of an artist who could bare their soul with such fidelity through lyric, melody, and a highly stylish and studied approach to guitar, from tuning to picking. Like someone else remarked here, he was his music. Trying to chase his ghost is unnecessary though I understand why people do it. He hated performing, hated touring, didn't give interviews, wouldn't promote, and eventually disappeared - first socially, then mentally, then bodily. But the music survived and I think you can find him there whenever you want.
I have never left a comment on RU-vid before, but all I can say is I’m flabbergasted! I was just curious about his tuning, but you broke down his whole style and approach. Bravo!
Thanks gor making this! Nick Drake is massively underrated and really influential artist. For instance, everyone just assumes that The Tallest Man On Earth's greatest inspiration is Bob Dylan, but Nick Drake is really at the root of The Tallest Man's own style
It would be fair to say that you don't like the Tallest Man on Earth. Saying he sucks isn't. He is an incredibly talented guitarist and song writer, and I personally love his vocals (his singing is typically what people don't like about him)
How can you say that such a talented musician sucks? He is not my cup of tea by any means but the man is most definitely very talented. It is almost certainly you, that is pretentious.
Apparently, he's some douchebag who sucks. I just looked him up. It's confirmed. He sucks. He reminds me of one of those guys in the Van Wilder movie when they were eating those pastries.
Gorgeous playing! I am not even a guitarist, but I love that the music that is holy to me for over 25 years now, still puzzles and inspires musicians. Marvellous work! Thank you.
I've listened to a ton of Nick Drake over the years, and watching you play these songs was just so dead on. If I focused on just your guitar I could totally see Nick sat there playing it. Amazing.
Pink Moon & Time of No Reply are so beautiful. For finger picking, Elliott Smith is incredible as well. Lyrics are poetry and filled w too much wisdom considering his age when he died.
You have nailed his tone so precisely that I cannot tell the difference between your playing and Nick's. Nick Drake would have been so proud of you, especially since his style and tuning is so unique and challenging. Thank you for all your research. I really enjoyed watching this many times.
I am not a musician so I have a little of intelligence to contribute to this conversation. However, I find Nick Drake’s music deeply moving and your renditions are moving as well. Well done. Thanks for your contribution to our understanding of this incredible artist.
"THE TUNING IS ACTUALLY CGCFCE CAPO 2. RU-vid doesn't let you d annotations any more, or I would have changed it in the video. Sorry!!!" - Josh's description
Hi @joshturner you should check out "Nick drake Remembered for a While " = book + special edition vinyl = do yourself a Christmas gift ! Pretty sure you might pick up some technical and Material's insights ! Love your channel and your work ! thnks !
I seem to remember that, in the book "White Bicycles", Joe Boyd claimed that he mostly recorded with John Wood's Martin D-28. But this sounds a lot more reasonable - I agree, his recordings sound like a small-bodied guitar, not a big rosewood dreadnaught. I'll have to dig up my copy of White Bicycles and re-read that section.
I asked John Wood about that since I read Boyd's book too. He said Boyd was mistaken. John Wood recorded every note Nick played including Pink Moon which Boyd wasn't present for. John says Nick always played the Guild except for one song on the first album where he borrowed Richard Thompson's Martin D-28.
That's the way to do it: hearing old farts out! haha That's how my dad learned everything he knew and passed on to me. He was always watching the blacksmith who did all of the repairs in the village, and heard him out about all kinds of technical stuff.
The Late Great Nick Drake. I always knew Nick was gifted but you have just taken my admiration for his playing,and yours for that matter, to another level. Thank you Josh for this insightful and informative tutorial. ✌🏾
Josh, this was brilliant! I and I’m sure many many others would instantly buy an album made by you of covers of Nick Drake, or simply playing guitar in Nick Drake’s style, etc. This was a beautiful homage to ND, good on you. Merry Christmas to you!
I am extremely impressed!!! This is a labor of love that brought me to tears (literally). The result of your work is astonishing, in a blind test I would barely recognize the original! I hope you will release other covers of the wonderful Nick Drake!
it's 5 a.m. and I am working my way through these comments...this is such a fascinating discussion! I love Nick Drake. I love guitars. Thanks Josh . p.s. recently bought a late 60's Yamaha FG180(£10!!!!)needs neck adjustment but sounds great😀🐂💨
5:15 This blew my mind. I definitely had my suspicions that he was playing with a more classical hand position. But this along with the nails is a staggering difference. Such a great video man.
I've spent a lot of time recreating Nick's tone (he's my favorite musician of all time) as well, and we arrived at pretty much all of the same conclusions! I've been using Thomastik Plectrum strings for the majority of the time for a few reasons; they are very low tension, are flat wound on all wound strings except the low E, have a round (not hex) core which, especially with the silk wrapped ends, I feel keeps the string more flexible and less likely to break at the post from constant retuning - this also allows me to keep a set on way, way longer for more of that great dead string thud. I've used the lights (11-50) and also the medium lights (12-59) - yeah, that 59 is massive, but again, super low tension for the gauge. On another note, and just to bring it into discussion, I feel its also worth mentioning he also possibly had a Estruch nylon string (I'm guessing that's what we're hearing on the Cambridge River Man take and on Day is Done from Family Tree). He was also photographed with a Yamaha nylon string as well at one point for what it's worth. If I'm remembering correctly, he bought a Martin OM in the last couple years of his life. He was also photographed playing (presumably a friend's) Levin dreadnought while vacationing in France.
You are the very definition of Gentleman and Scholar. A very well thought out and insightful video, with the type of guitar playing that makes me want to give up entirely and kill myself. Keep applying your brilliant mind to other such worthy causes
Just stumbled across your video. Having seen Nick Drake live ...yes there are a few of us still here, I was compelled to say what a thoughtful and engaging piece it is. Beautifully presented and obviously researched with love and devotion. A joy. Thank you.
Wow. I can really hear how NIck Drake played, with you. I’ve never heard anyone do another guitarist this well . Your right in there . Thanks I hope you’ll do more
Wow! I’ve been listening and attempting to play Nick Drake for almost 30 years. I have seen many tribute artists play live performances over the years. This is on another level. Thank you for posting and sharing this fascinating information.
I clicked on your link thinking 'I know nothing about guitars, but I wonder if anyone can play like Nick Drake?'. Your video started and I heard Nick, except I didn't. Well done. =) I'd loved to have watched him play live, but I'd loved you to have watched him more.
Would love to see/hear you playing “Time of No Reply”. I actually discovered Mr Drake through this video. Keep up the great work. You’re very talented indeed 🤟🏼
I must have watched this close to a dozen times, Josh does such a great job of getting Nick's sound. But today, while listening to it yet again, all of a sudden I was taken back to the sound of Joni Mitchell's first two albums. Now I'm going to have to go listen to those again, and try to tell if perhaps she was also playing on dead nickel brass strings in the late '60s!
Sorry but you totally remind me of Ferris Bueller. LOL! On a serious note, you've done an interesting and thorough analysis of Nick's playing. Thanks! Very impressive playing yourself, as well!
This is such a great video. The only thing that i'm unsure about is the hand positioning. I know there isn't a lot of pictures of Nick playing guitar, but on every one there is, he is playing with his wrist down, not like you showed. I agree that you get the mellow sound from positioning your hand more in the classical way and with the hand over the sound hole, but in songs like "Which Will" you can definitely hear that his hand i further towards the bridge to give him the snappy bass notes and it looks like his other fingers are almost in front of his thumb if that makes sense. I've tried to get the Nick Drake tone myself and this is how i came the closest and by never changing my strings on my small body guitar. This was a long ramble, but i am too a big fingerstyle nerd and Nick Drake fan, so i just thought i might just share some thoughts on this topic
Agreed - thanks man. In the few photos we have the hand position is definitely different. The guitarist Tobias Wilden on YT does a great job of getting the tone with a hand position more like the photos, so it could be there's just more way than one to get there. and perhaps, different positions are better suited to different guitars. Who knows.
@@JoshTurnerGuitar Yes. I also noticed that with Tobias Wilden's hand position. And yes - hand position probably has something to do with what guitar you are playing. It's such a shame that there isn't any video footage of Nick playing. It's such a mystery. He might also have changed his hand position slightly for different songs. And maybe we're getting tricked a little by the way Nick's guitar was recorded or something. Thanks for the answer anyway. You truly inspire me to pursuit a career in music.
I only found out about Nick Drake from watching the movie ‘The Way’ with Martin Sheen, et al. The song Drake sang ‘Pink Moon’ just seemed to fit perfectly, like all good music used in good movies, the mood, rhythm and characters of the movie.
It's said that parts of Five Leaves Left was recorded on a borrowed classical nylon string guitar. Also you can see in pictures of him holding guitars that appear to have thick, bold strings indicative of being made of nylon. Also his hand position was traditional finger styling, not horizontal like in classical picking.
Elliot Smith has a tone alright, but, unlike Nick's songs which keep growing into something new & clandestine, Smith's song just become slow, dull, & unimpressive. I think the 2 are world's apart when you can listen to Nick's Guitar playing & still be utterly mesmerized regardless.
elliott smith played a vintage yamaha fg180. he used john pearse phosphor bronze 700m strings (13-56). and always had his guitar tuned down a whole step..
Nick almost definitely used a Levin Goliath, which was often mistaken for a D28. I believe it had a maple back and side, which definitely contributed to his odd sound. I definitely agree his strings were SUPER dead.
Great video! I'll always enjoy Nick Drake content and you've really got that tone down. As to the question of his guitar, I know multiple people have come out against him having used the Guild M-20, but I've got one of the reissued ones Guild recently put out, and when those strings deaden I swear it's a dead ringer for whatever he did play. So I guess even if it is a bit of a red herring it happens to work quite well for his type of stuff.
I own a 60s M20 and a martin d28 copy and i swear the sound of the dreadnought is much closer. Of course, the recorded sound of a guitar is down to more than just which guitar it happens to be...
What I will say is i thank Ben Howard and sticking to the odd tuning. Ben told me about drake through listenin to couple interviews and the man was a genius.. like Jim and jimi gone tooooo Young
Thanks for this - an overlooked genius who, sadly, went to his grave before being recognized for his brilliance. You captured the sound and feel remarkably well.
Classically trained finger-style guitarist here: he recorded on "dead" strings likely a 000 Martin or . To get the same string tone, use nickel strings - which are made to sound like old used strings, a common olde English folkie trait. Martin makes "Retro" strings which will mimic this tone, if you want that, and are. His style shares great similarities to his friends, some still living -like Richard Thompson and the late John Renbourn, Bert Jansch and numerous others living and dead. Roy Harper is a more popular example because of his association with Led Zeppelin (but so were Richard Thompson and Fairport Convention). I think you got it pretty close, try some retro strings : it's the same string tone! - Steve. xo
