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Post by scripsit on May 4, 2013 0:00:59 GMT
Enjoy, folks. Wish I could be there.
Kym
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Post by scripsit on Apr 29, 2013 13:31:11 GMT
Didn't she write 'Passage to Late Night Poker'?
Kym
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Post by scripsit on Apr 28, 2013 7:50:19 GMT
Agree, Dave. The violin is especially surprising, in that it sounds like a violin even though the materials and build are decidedly non-standard.
But the best bit is that the kids genuinely seem passionate about their instruments and music.
So, can we expect kettle and kerosene tin based harp guitars to start coming from your workshop?
Kym
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Post by scripsit on Apr 26, 2013 1:13:11 GMT
Bob Brozman in concert
Kym
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Post by scripsit on Apr 25, 2013 23:55:38 GMT
Dreadful news; he was one of the most amazing live performers you could experience and had a genuine interest in bringing the music (especially rhythms) of the downtrodden out into the open. He could do amazing raves about the difference between Western 'military' time and syncopation.
I think he got bored with the restraints of it, but he also was probably one of the best straight delta bluesman ever when he put on his hard core hat.
Kym
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Post by scripsit on Apr 24, 2013 1:58:08 GMT
I've got a couple of ebay cheapies (including a bizarre Ovation type knockoff) that I bought when I first thought about re-entering guitar playing. I'd like to have them available to poke in the back of the car without concerns, and for trying out some of the more bizarre fingerstyle tunings.
The tuners and, in the case of the round back, the pickup are fine on both of these, and in any case I've got normal screw drivers and the like if something needs a touch up. Frets seem to be OK, although I gather that a straightedge and a long flat file could work if I needed to knock down a high one.
I've done some very minor stuff with saddles and truss rods to improve playability, but found on both guitars that I can't go much further without adjustments to the nut. Intonation adjusting at the bridge end is reasonably easy with a modern digital tuner and small files. Needle files and sandpaper don't seem to work too well as far as accuracy goes in nut slots, yet a set of nut files is expensive: last time I looked more than either guitar cost.
So, they're just sitting there.
I'd be interested in knowing what sort of toolkits you folk who fiddle with acoustic instruments have put together.
I'll start with one device that I got for less than $A3 online, which is a small mirror joined onto a stick with a universal joint. It was advertised as a dental mirror, but it would be suited only to a very large mouth or other bodily cavity. I've never had to use this for any repairs, but it's fascinating to look inside different guitars and check out bracing designs and the like. And, if you've got some old laminated top instruments, sometimes a bit surprising.
Keith, I admire your persistence in working your way up to quality instruments in the manner you described.
Kym
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Post by scripsit on Apr 21, 2013 9:45:02 GMT
Ha! It's like, so modal! Open!
For me the big seduction into DADGAD was 'Bird Song' on Rosemary Lane. All those little bubbling and sliding bits, and then Bert's gruff voice over the top of it, apparently singing a much simpler song.
Kym
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Post by scripsit on Apr 21, 2013 1:02:49 GMT
Definitely seconded on the 'top player' comment, although I only know him from videos.
Dave White was kind enough to share an accurate (and long) transcription he did of Ken Nicol's DADGAD 'Scottish tune' with me a couple of years ago, and it's a lovely tune to play.
Frustrating, too: there is what I think is a F#7 chord voicing in one of the transitions which is a bitch to hit with both left and right hand (it's one of those 'swap all fingers from one side to the other' shapes in a quarter note timing), so I have even more respect for Ken's ability to make everything seem natural, smooth and effortless.
Kym
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Post by scripsit on Apr 19, 2013 14:42:55 GMT
I've seen him live (he tours a lot, and comes to Australia often), and he can really get some unusual blends of music happening. I'm most definitely not a country fan, but his version of 'good time Charlie's got the blues' gets me a bit teary.
His blues slide stuff on Mohan Veeha (sp?), with sitar like sympathetic strings, is quite astonishing, sort of Muddy Waters with drone. His albums are worth checking out. He's a pom, originally, too, although he lives in Canada.
Kym
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Post by scripsit on Apr 18, 2013 3:24:03 GMT
Harry Manx seems to make good use of one.
Banjo and Hendrix is probably not an obvious combination.
Kym
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Post by scripsit on Apr 16, 2013 8:51:02 GMT
When I was young and played in bands there were two basic strategies:
drink, before and after each set
if an obvious mistake was made, glare at the bass player.
I haven't gigged since doing the solo acoustic thing, but I have awful problems with recording some days: getting over-conscious of slight issues (squeaks and minor flubs) and then too much concentration on not making a mistake and then a wooden performance. The two strategies are no use in this situation.
I think Dave's solution is the only one: try to ignore mistakes and get a feel/groove going.
I suspect this is one of those things that improves when you do it lots. Hopefully, not only after 10,000 hours.
Kym
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Post by scripsit on Apr 13, 2013 4:08:59 GMT
Oh, and I saw the ADK A-6 talked about in an online review as doubling as a very effective fish club, which is something on which I can agree. Because of the weight and size you need a boom stand and a good flexible mount.
Kym
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Post by scripsit on Apr 13, 2013 2:08:17 GMT
I'll second Keith's opinion regarding the Zoom H2 or similar, especially for sketches and 'informal' recording.
I used mine as a USB mic for a while into a PC, which helped me get used to DAW software and the still frightening process of recording my solo playing.
However, I've not been able to get past a 'home recorded' sound with the H2, no matter how much I twiddle with placement and the audio files afterwards. For me it seems to work much better with small ensemble stuff from a distance rather than close-miking. There is a 'nasal' quality (midrange?) that seems to be introduced by the microphones.
Following ever-reliable Internet Advice I bought a two channel pre-amp (Focusrite Scarlett) and two ADK A-6 microphones (mail order from US ebay site). With this setup, spaced pair about 400 mm from my guitar, still going into the same PC via USB cable, the recorded sound is much better: on a good day it sounds clear and professional straight from the tracking, there is low noise and plenty of signal to fiddle around with in mixing (although I am still crap at this part).
I also found with both setups that the room is incredibly important if you want a good recording, and this seems to be the advice of those with much more experience of home recording, too. You need to be able to kill off as much reflection, computer fan noise and so on as possible to begin taming what you track.
The recording also interferes with the playing, if you know what I mean. It's taken about 3 months of fiddling around with the equipment to begin feeling comfortable with the process.
So, if you want to keep a journal of what you are playing or don't want to worry much about the recording process, I think portable devices like the H2 are fine, but if you want to record as well as you can at home and get close to that elusive professional quality I'd hold out for pre-amp and some suitable microphones.
Kym
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Post by scripsit on Apr 7, 2013 0:43:29 GMT
I learned to fingerpick after a twenty year total abstinence from guitar playing, the original core of which was exclusively electric with a plectrum. In the very early days we used to do some Rory Gallagher covers which involved flat pick and two other fingers, but that was it for the right hand.
I had (and still have) an Ovation Legend acoustic for working out songs and solos away from the amp, which was bought because its neck felt like a Strat. I could never do that repetitive pattern thing which everyone said was the way you learn how to fingerpick, so even when sitting around accompanying people playing Dylan songs or the like I used a flatpick.
When the addiction took hold again, which was the fault of spending an afternoon listening to Bert Jansch's 'Rosemary Lane' after years of baroque and classical listening, I quickly found out about Martin Simpson and Al Petteway, and forced myself to sit down with a thumbpick and some tabs and put myself through about eight weeks of hell until I suddenly 'got it'. I also discovered I could play the equivalent of repetitive patterns with my right hand as long as I actually was playing a piece and not thinking about the pattern.
Fast forward a couple of years, and with some decent acoustic guitars with wider necks and bigger strings I quite enjoy it.
Now when I look at it, my right hand 'floats' at all times, and the only anchoring that happens is palm muting around the bridge when necessary. I think the floating started because both Martin and Al do that middle finger 'whack' thing and I just got used to trying to be ready for it even in pieces that didn't require it.
By the way, I've seen some videos of both of these gentlemen with pinky anchored, although I don't think it's their normal practice.
Kym
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Post by scripsit on Mar 23, 2013 23:55:30 GMT
I lurk in several luthier and player forums.
I can't contribute to luthier forums because I've never built a guitar, but I like knowing what's under the hood. And have now been hanging around some forums long enough to be annoyingly opinionated about some issues, so it's best I keep out of the more contentious discussions.
I play solo fingerstyle guitar, and live in Adelaide, which is somewhere about the same as 'novelist' in terms of normal social contact with other like-minded musicians. Reading what other people think and say about their guitar music and playing, and hearing what other relatively sane folk are doing helps make me feel I have some connection with other humans.
The US-based forum has been excellent for good advice about home recording in particular (Doug Young and Fran Guidry are knowledgable and generous with their time), but the continual Martin versus Taylor and 'hey, should I return my dreadnaught under warranty because it has a blemish on the inside of the neck block' stuff is tiresome.
So, I just like checking out what people are saying most days.
Kym
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