mandovark
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Post by mandovark on Jan 5, 2015 17:54:02 GMT
Just sent you a PM
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mandovark
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Post by mandovark on Jan 5, 2015 14:13:56 GMT
I don't think it's possible to judge whether or not someone is a good singer without looking at the context. The real question isn't whether someone is a good singer or not, but how good they are at singing the songs that they're trying to sing. Different kinds of music require different kinds of technique, and people who are highly skilled in one style will often struggle to move into a different one.
I think that Steve Knightley and Kate Rusby are terrific folk singers, but I wouldn't pay money to hear them singing Faure's Requiem. I would pay quite a lot of money to hear Bryn Terfel and Cecilia Bartoli sing it, but when they and other classical singers sing folk songs it often leaves me cold.
It's interesting that a discussion like this one tends to become about 'technique vs feeling', as if (a) it isn't possible to have both, and (b) there is only one kind of technique. Many folk singers have very good technique: they just don't have classical technique. By the same token, lots of classical singers can sing with every bit as much feeling as any folk singer. It's also worth remembering that in most classical music, it isn't going to matter a damn whether you sing with feeling if you don't also have the technical chops to sing the music accurately. Technique and emotion is not an either/or. Good singing needs both.
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mandovark
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Post by mandovark on Dec 5, 2014 18:51:02 GMT
Just to throw another brand into the mix, Tanglewood make some really nice guitars in the price range that you're looking at. I used to work opposite a shop that stocked most of their range, and I thought they were very good value for money.
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mandovark
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Post by mandovark on Nov 14, 2014 16:59:06 GMT
Violet, if your "new" busking guitar is loud and stays reasonably in tune as well as being cheap then it is perfect for the job. Tried a Vintage Gordon Giltrap in Merchant City, Glasgow. It was brilliant. I was listening to a lad busking in Lancaster last month on a Moon 0003 Pau Ferro which was brand new. Best part of £2000. Boy did it vanish quick when the rain started! If it was the one that was in stock at Promenade Music for a while, I'm not surprised he got it away quickly. I played that one a few times and came close to buying it myself - it was a beauty.
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Post by mandovark on Nov 14, 2014 13:16:12 GMT
+1. I just love Miranda too. And the brilliant thing about Phil Beer is that he gurns differently on different instruments, ie his "guitar face" is different from his "fiddle face" etc. Interesting - I shall have to watch the live DVDs again in order to study this...
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Post by mandovark on Nov 14, 2014 11:41:29 GMT
Great review. Makes me nostalgic - haven't seem them live for a couple of years. I'd wanted to go to the Liverpool gig, but I'm playing in a ceilidh tonight. Maybe next time!
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Post by mandovark on Nov 14, 2014 11:35:16 GMT
I have been getting a lot of sarky comments about using my old Gibson while busking.... along the lines of "If you can afford a Gibson you don't need my money" And here, encapsulated, is one of the primary problems buskers face... Busking is about entertainment, not begging! Very true! You don't hear people saying 'I'm not going to buy a ticket to see Eric Clapton, because he already has all those nice Fenders so clearly doesn't need my money'!
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Post by mandovark on Nov 13, 2014 21:15:04 GMT
they sound like a pair of real crackers phil, I do believe I've found some of your you tube vids, excellent stuff by the way, as has already been pointed out to me scorpiodog, one is never enough !! think I better keep away from their workshop Unfortunately, the pics of each month's new guitars on their website mean that staying away from the workshop is no defence. I lusted after a Brook for ages without ever going near their workshop - and it's only got worse since I got my Tamar
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Post by mandovark on Oct 20, 2014 9:35:43 GMT
In any event I think I've found another good reason to simply own one guitar. We'll have none of this heretical talk on here, thank you very much. There is NO good reason to only own one guitar! Seriously, I tend to find that it's the whole package of nut width, scale length, string spacing and neck profile that determines whether I find a guitar comfortable or not. I used to think that I preferred a 45mm nut, but I find my Brook (44mm) every bit as comfortable. I've also played a couple of Moons (standard nut width is 43mm, I think) which I found very playable even though the fingerboard is narrower than I usually like. On the point about switching between different nut widths, my experience is that it becomes less of a problem over time. When I first started playing mandolin, I found that it made my guitar neck feel like a cricket bat. Having done it for a while, I find I can switch between guitar, mandolin, and even 5-string bass without any problem.
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Post by mandovark on Oct 16, 2014 22:33:44 GMT
Promenade Music is my local and one of my favourites. Last time I went in there I came out with a new Brook, so staying away for a while for the sake of my wallet.
I'd also recommend Symphony Music in Wigan. Their range of guitars isn't really my thing - mostly Martin and Taylor, with I think the odd Breedlove - but they give the best customer service I've ever encountered in a music shop or in pretty much any other kind of shop. I still haven't quite got over the time I went in for a clip-on tuner: they got two different ones out of the boxes, loaded them up with batteries, got me a guitar and sat me down to have a play around with them to see which display I liked best. All for a £15 tuner. Some bigger-name shops could learn a lot from them.
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Post by mandovark on Oct 8, 2014 10:07:08 GMT
Thanks Martin - for some reason, the quote function seems not to work properly from my office computer. Maybe someone is trying to tell me something
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Post by mandovark on Oct 8, 2014 8:31:55 GMT
Don't know why the quote keeps disappearing from that last post, but it should be from the second post on the thread! Edit by Martin : I've inserted the missing quote text above.
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Post by mandovark on Oct 8, 2014 8:29:42 GMT
This is a very current topic Paul make no apology for its length its complicated subject which raises a lot of hackles There was an interview some time ago about this and the had the usual Pro and Con debate one person said this. If you are an architect and design a house or a bridge whatever you get paid once for the design. Thereafter whoever live s in the house or uses the bridge does not pay any more to the architect. If you are an artist (painter, sculpter, whatever) you sell a painting and you bank the money, if the buyer puts your artefact on permanent display you get no more cash So why is it different for art i.e. created in a musical form that they get a fee for the music and then royalties for the next 75 years What is so different here we are still talking art, creation, money or is somebody going to suggest Pet sounds, Sgt Peppers, etc are not works of art. The world has changed in the 20C the music and distribution was controlled by managers record companies and people who played music or made stuff to play it. The internet changed everything once your song is out there its out there. Nothing you can do to stop people listening for free or a small fee. Thats why in the last year many artists have had there stuff taken off you tube His bobness included Can you imagine Frank Lloyd Wright or Picasso going round asking people who live in or look at their stuff to pay money for the privilege they (if still alive ) would be locked up It just does not stop there think in purely emotional terms. How much pleasure do you get listening to music you think of the total amount of pleasure you have heard over your lifetime in listening to your top 10 favourite records. That must equate with the pleasure of seeing beautiful paintings/art. I can remember the sheer joy I got seeing Rodin's The Kiss in the Louvre for the first time. He only got paid once (thats why he made more than one Kiss sculpture) The Defence rests m'Lud Read more: acousticsoundboard.co.uk/thread/3533?page=2#ixzz3FXdNvxAxBut this overlooks the fact that different art forms work in different ways. Architects and sculptors aren't working in art forms that involve mass reproduction and distribution. If somebody started producing and selling knockoff versions of a sculptor's work, I'm fairly sure the sculptor whould have them up in court straight away. An architect or a sculptor will normally only expect to be paid once for a piece of work - that's why they usually charge a lot of money for it. If a musician records an album, where is that big initial payment coming from (particularly if they aren't signed by a major label)? Which CD or download of the album is the 'original' one that should cost thousands before all the rest become free? Who makes that initial payment? Or should a musician have to accept that once one person has paid £8 for his new CD, he should forget about being entitled to make anything else from it? A more accurate comparison might be with writers, who do expect to earn royalties on each copy of a book sold (some will be paid advances - though big advances are much rarer than people often assume - but these remain, at least technically, advances on anticipated future royalties, not extra money). Without the ongoing royalties on each copy sold, a writer couldn't possibly earn anything from their work. I know less about music publishing, but I imagine the situation is much the same.
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Post by mandovark on Sept 25, 2014 17:04:59 GMT
Really interesting thread. I've never had formal singing lessons, but I've done a lot of choral singing over the years and had some advice on technique from choir-leaders. Even a bit of good teaching can make a big difference to your technical ability.
Dawkins mentioned phrasing, and for me this is one of the most important things to learn. Maybe I'm just getting old, but I find myself getting more and more frustrated when I'm listening to a song and I can only make out every third or fourth word. I find it especially annoying in folk music, where the storytelling in the songs is so important. On the flip side, a few years ago I took my dad to see Show of Hands. One of the first things he commented on afterwards was how good Steve Knightley's diction was - he'd been able to follow every word despite not knowing the songs before.
Like anything in music, though, there's always a lot more to learn. This was brought home to me once when I sang in public with a friend who happens to be a classically-trained soprano who is good enough to have had a semi-professional career. She was holding back a lot - believe me, if she hadn't been then no-one would have heard me at all - but what surprised me was how clumsy it made me feel. Hearing the way she moved seamlessly between registers made me aware of flaws and rough edges in my own singing that I would probably never have noticed otherwise.
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Post by mandovark on Sept 25, 2014 8:12:32 GMT
......... If I was playing in a situation where for some reason I couldn't use my Orchid, e.g. if there was no phantom power available, I might be more inclined to dig out my trusy old Yamaha electro-acoustic with onboard controls. It doesn't sound anything like as good as my other instruments, but in some ways it's a lot more foolproof. mandovark - I use K&K preamps much of the time, but there are occasions when I prefer to use my Orchid preamp. When the phantom power on my mixer went west I got a very cheap phantom power supply (on a recommendation from Orchid) to enable me to still use my Orchid when I want to. It was only about a tenner or so and works very well. Obviously needs a nearby plug socket and more cables but not too much inconvenience really. Keith That's handy to know - I'd never thought of using portable phantom power! My main reason for using the Orchid is simply that it makes switching between instruments straightforward. I have a Fishman preamp as well, but I hardly ever use it - it sounds fine, but the EQ settings are too complicated for a quick change of instruments. I've never tried the K&K, but I've started using their pure mini pickups so I might give one a go at some point.
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