Nick Drake's Tone - An In-Depth Look

THE TUNING IS ACTUALLY CGCFCE CAPO 2. Youtube doesn't let you d annotations any more, or I would have changed it in the video. Sorry!!!

Please leave any comments or questions! There's definitely a lot of guesswork and inference involved here, but this is the best I've got. Just my little tribute to a (still) underappreciated genius. My guitar here is a Martin 000-28H. I'm recording on a Zoom H2 and have a little compression going on.

[aaron.debattista]

This might be one of the most important guitar tutorial videos on Youtube.

[gfmgma]

Me listening to sommeliers talking about minor details of wine: "that's all horse shit"

Me listening to this video: "Yes, precisely. Indeed, remarkable."

[DearArianaMusic]

This is the niche nerd content I visit YouTube for. Thanks for all your research!

[TheSongScope]

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.

[billybray]

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!

[TheEleatic]

I think you omitted the humidity of the room and the wind direction.

[Bandstand]

You’re a nerd and we love it. Thanks for this

[FirstToEleven]

I appreciate you doing this more than you'll ever know! Impressive all around!

[michelled]

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.

[michaelk]

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.

[kylebrosius]

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.

[mickbannister]

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.

[KingOfStratosphear]

The depth of your nerdery is epic. Very inspiring!

[judebogart]

Closest I've heard anyone come to replicating Nick Drake's guitar sound. Excellent work man.

[matts]

You’ve achieved Nick’s sound perfectly. Doubt it could be done better. Bravo.

[skyjockbill]

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.

[justinmichaeltarot]

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

[isaaccooksey]

I don’t know anything about guitar playing but I’m captivated by this

[soulshine]

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!

[ReneiYarrow]

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.