# How do you mute excess string noise when two hand tapping without a fretwrap?



## UniverseOfTheMind8 (Nov 7, 2016)

^


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## OmegaSlayer (Nov 7, 2016)

I use fretwraps...still...in the 80s and 90s there weren't fretwraps, so I kind of think that the right way to do it is without fretwraps.
If you check...Chris Broderick doesn't use fretwraps.
The point is that fretwraps make life much much easier as you don't have to bother about muting strings with the palm of your picking hand and muting strings with the index of your fretting hand.
Because that's the deal and it's not that different from simple legato.
Index of fretting hand mutes the strings below your pick, palm of the picking hand mutes the strings above the pick, simple as that.
If you play pentatonic patterns or minor/major thirs intervals with your fretting hands, my suggestion is to keep a light barrè with the index to mute the notes and use the other 3 fingers to fret, that requires a good amount of strength on the mid finger of the fretting hand for the "hammer-on from nowhere" and good stretch of 4th finger and pinky.
It's quite the optimal way to keep everything very clean, but requires a lot of practice.

The problem is that we have 2 main enemies.
One is the ring between the hammered fret and the capo, which is always present anyway, even if barely audible (but problematic on some positions, when the resulting note doesn't harmonize with the played scale/mode) unless you mute it someway, and you can't mute it if you use the index to hammer from nowhere (check this playing unplugged).
The other enemy which amplify the strength of the first is the gain, the more the gain, the higher the amount of unwanted noise from strings, because even if you palm mute them, a slight movement creates a scratchy sound anyway.
This leads to finding the right sound to play those phrases.
Compressor and noise gate if badly dialed could kill the dynamics of your tappings...change the value/parameters and see how your tapping dies on the same phrase, so find what's good for you.
Also...turn down the gain...if you notice, loads of people currently playing loads of tapping even blended into rhythmic patterns are dudes who play djent, which has low gain and high presence values.

So...maybe your hands aren't doing something majorly wrong, but your tone doesn't help them.

Having said so...
When you open a thread to ask help, don't be so constipated and put a little more effort than typing a "^", maybe explaining your problem helps people giving you better advices.


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## ncfiala (Nov 7, 2016)

You put on a fretwrap.


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## bostjan (Nov 7, 2016)

^ there's your answer














Haha. Just joking.

I guess if you are looking for a technique for tapping without generating a lot of noise, you simply have to be very deliberate with both hands when muting. A lot of guys in the old days used some crazy muting techniques with both the left hand and the right hand to keep noise to a minimum. The trick is to use enough pressure from your hand to mute the string (too little pressure and the damping is not enough to keep the noises from ringing out, and too much pressure will generate more noise), and also to be fast enough to get to the muting before the noise is too noticeable. You have to be proficient in how you release notes so as to mute them in the process and also proficient in muting on its own to keep cross-talk from other strings to a minimum.

Ultimately, there will be noise, so it's a balancing act to get as little noise as possible whilst still making the musical sounds you desire.


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## JumpingInFire (Nov 7, 2016)

I have never used a fret wrap.

I move my hands around until I find the correct position, which changes depending on which part of the neck I'm on.

Sometimes I use my picking hand forearm to mute my low strings as well.

I don't put a lot of thought into it other than cranking the gain and experimenting with hand position until I play cleanly without strings ringing out.


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## ncfiala (Nov 7, 2016)

Put on a fretwrap. Then you can avoid a lot of wasted time and get down to the business of making music and not worry about whether or not you're "cheating."

To be perfectly honest, and I'm sure I'll get criticized for this, I leave a fretwrap on all the time. And I'm not talking about behind the nut. On the neck. I only take it off to tune or change strings and things like that. I never play open strings so I decided why not leave it on all the time. Am I "cheating?" No, because that would imply that I'm breaking some rule and there are no rules.


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## Leviathus (Nov 7, 2016)

I do by using both the index finger of my left (fretting) hand and the palm of my right. if i'm tappin somethin on the low strings the left hand index finger is keeping the others quiet, and vice versa if this makes sense.


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## Tech Wrath (Nov 7, 2016)

I do a mix of muting with both. I mean if you are tapping, your tapping hand, wrist and arm, are all right there above the string you are tapping. Those strings should easily be muted. Muting the higher strings more depends on what you are playing where and how and you just get used to it.


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## bostjan (Nov 7, 2016)

ncfiala said:


> Put on a fretwrap. Then you can avoid a lot of wasted time and get down to the business of making music and not worry about whether or not you're "cheating."
> 
> To be perfectly honest, and I'm sure I'll get criticized for this, I leave a fretwrap on all the time. And I'm not talking about behind the nut. On the neck. I only take it off to tune or change strings and things like that. I never play open strings so I decided why not leave it on all the time. Am I "cheating?" No, because that would imply that I'm breaking some rule and there are no rules.



Cheater! How dare you use a prduct made for guitar on guitar!


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## The Omega Cluster (Nov 7, 2016)

I either use the bottom of my right hand (especially for lower strings) or a finger or two of my left hand, but this gets difficult if you're playing complex patterns with either hand.


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## zeropoint (Nov 7, 2016)

I've had my troubles with this too, but it's important to realize if you sound like .... when tapping because of strings ringing out when they're not supposed to, the same thing probably applies during a lot of your other lead playing as well, so it's probably worth practicing some of the two handed muting methods described in this thread.

Ben eller has put up a couple of different helpful videos on muting
e.g. this one and also in parts of his videos on sweep picking


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