For now, here are two more Jerry noises to add to the list I already started. Again, please feel free to share some ideas of your own, and let me know what you think of these ones.
- Feathered Fingers
- Maybe this is just Jerry finger-picking, but something about his playing sounds almost like the notes are covered in feathers. This comes out the most in the deepest of musical spaces, such as "Dark Star" or actual "Space." I don't hear it as much post '77, but from '72-'77 Jerry routinely gets this sound out of his guitar. The solo-Jerry "Space"s from '77 exemplify this the best (post-"Uncle John's Band" 1977-05-11 and post-"Eyes of the World" 1977-05-22 [DaP 3]).
- Mayer can get a bit of this sound, and I've heard Stanley Jordan do it a couple of times, so I think it really mu8st have to do with finger-picking. Either way, when applied correctly in Dead songs, it has a beautiful effect that I think separates this particular sound from the style itself.
- Shparrlorangs
- Like with Roynk Rankles, I had to onomatopoeiatize this one. Shparrlorangs are the sound Jerry's guitar makes when he's really playing from the heart. It has the "ang"-ness of a Roynk, but there's a lot more vibration and heart-rending to it. The notes themselves are of course just vibrations in the air, but a Shparllorang is almost like the vibrations themselves vibrating. These really only come out in soulful songs like "To Lay Me Down," or "Black Muddy River," and they have the power to pull tears from otherwise dry eyes.
- Kadlecik can definitely create this sound, but Mayer is a master of it. Between his Rankly Roynkles and the way he Shparrlorangs, Mayer really captures what is at the heart of Jerry's playing style.
That's all I got for now, but I'm sure I'll have more as soon as I figure out how to make some more words!
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