RIP Chris Michalek

I always watched his YouTube vids. This one vid he was playing with out the cover plates getting clear notes and just playing normal.I was in shock " thats not right" : ) and I was fascinated how can this be done? I can't get a clear not when the cover plates are on. Than I made the effort to practice as often as I can to play like " Chris and Joe F David B the and so on. : )