So I've been spending some time working on my standard notation reading. This next recording is my latest practical project. I'm playing three parts of Vus Vet Zayn, a traditional Klezmer piece. There are 2 mandolin parts and one mandola part. I don't have a mandola yet, but I noticed none of the notes were below the mandolin open G so I just played it on the mandolin.
This song would really benefit from a smoother tremolo than I currently possess. I'll plan on posting again in a month and see if it's any better. Also, this song increases tempo after every 10 bars or so. Just thought I should let you know that I'm not rushing (at least trying not to :-).
Here it is:
Monday, March 24, 2008
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Music Up!
The reason I'm really doing this blog is to give me an outlet to work on music and recording. I'm hoping that the added pressure of playing while recording will ultimately make me a stronger player.
(truth be told, I really wanted to buy some electronics for recording and this is my excuse)
I'm currently taking several classes. I'm taking an advanced mandolin class at the Folk School of St. Louis and also taking weekly 1/2 hour lessons from Mike Compton. This first song is a song I'm learning from Dave M. in the FS Adv. Mando class. I'll be posting some songs from my lessons with Mike soon too.
So without further adieu, here's my first effort.
The song is Twinkle. It's a swingin' song in the key of G major. The main difficulties in the melody of this song are up the neck sections and the rhythmic aspects. The rhythmic part is especially important to get as it's an approach that's often used in Bill Monroe style playing.
I used GarageBand on my iMac to record the music. I didn't use my better mandolins (Silver Angel F5, Pomeroy F4, Gibson F4), because I wanted to plug in and I only have a pickup on my Michael Kelly. Speaking of which, that MK is actually pretty decent once it got a professional setup. It was my first mandolin and as such will probably be a keeper.
The setup for this recording was:
MK with LR Baggs Radius pickup -> LR Baggs Para Acoustic DI -> M-Audio Firewire 410 Interface -> iMac with GarageBand -> iMovie HD
That last step is because I can't seem to figure out how to post plain music files to Blogger, but movies work just fine! ??
The upright bass is a very old King bass. I use a set of K&K pickups and preamp. More on that later. From the preamp I again go into the M-audio interface.
So here it is: Twinkle.
(truth be told, I really wanted to buy some electronics for recording and this is my excuse)
I'm currently taking several classes. I'm taking an advanced mandolin class at the Folk School of St. Louis and also taking weekly 1/2 hour lessons from Mike Compton. This first song is a song I'm learning from Dave M. in the FS Adv. Mando class. I'll be posting some songs from my lessons with Mike soon too.
So without further adieu, here's my first effort.
The song is Twinkle. It's a swingin' song in the key of G major. The main difficulties in the melody of this song are up the neck sections and the rhythmic aspects. The rhythmic part is especially important to get as it's an approach that's often used in Bill Monroe style playing.
I used GarageBand on my iMac to record the music. I didn't use my better mandolins (Silver Angel F5, Pomeroy F4, Gibson F4), because I wanted to plug in and I only have a pickup on my Michael Kelly. Speaking of which, that MK is actually pretty decent once it got a professional setup. It was my first mandolin and as such will probably be a keeper.
The setup for this recording was:
MK with LR Baggs Radius pickup -> LR Baggs Para Acoustic DI -> M-Audio Firewire 410 Interface -> iMac with GarageBand -> iMovie HD
That last step is because I can't seem to figure out how to post plain music files to Blogger, but movies work just fine! ??
The upright bass is a very old King bass. I use a set of K&K pickups and preamp. More on that later. From the preamp I again go into the M-audio interface.
So here it is: Twinkle.
The Folk School of St. Louis
The Folk School of St. Louis is where I first started taking lessons several years ago. Since then, I've taken a number of mandolin classes, an upright bass class, and some old-time and bluegrass ensemble classes. The Folk School is a wonderful group of people that are very supportive.
About a year or so ago, I was asked to join the board of the school. It has been very rewarding working with the board.
In January, the Folk School moved into great new facilities. Many volunteers helped paint and finish the space. Yours truly caught here dripping paint onto the floor.
In addition to the great classes the school offers, we also offer workshops and performances.
Last year, we hosted Mike Compton and David Long for a great workshop (and house concert at my house). That was a real treat.
This coming weekend, another of my favorite mandolin pickers, Skip Gorman, is going to be in town for a concert and workshops. You can find details on Skip's site or at the Folk School.Don
My inaugural post
Ok, so I've been playing mandolin for about 3 years 4 years now (it only sounds like 3 years) and it's time to start getting serious about getting better. I've always thought a little visibility goes along way toward motivating me to perform better. So, with that in mind I'm going to record, video, describe, commiserate, rant, and otherwise try to document my efforts to learn to play this 8-stringed beast.
If you don't enjoy the actual music, that's ok. As they say,
"it's actually a lot better than it sounds!"
Don
If you don't enjoy the actual music, that's ok. As they say,
"it's actually a lot better than it sounds!"
Don
Maury River Blues
Here's the second installment. This song is also from the Advanced Mando class at the Folk School.
Maury River Blues is a great song in Am that uses a kind of slow even triplet style of tremolo. I'm working on trying to even it out and make the up and down strokes sound the same. You mostly play it out of second position. The other thing of note is the use of the DUD triplet followed by a series of down strokes. Very typical of Monroe's playing and important to get this technique down.
Here goes.
Maury River Blues is a great song in Am that uses a kind of slow even triplet style of tremolo. I'm working on trying to even it out and make the up and down strokes sound the same. You mostly play it out of second position. The other thing of note is the use of the DUD triplet followed by a series of down strokes. Very typical of Monroe's playing and important to get this technique down.
Here goes.
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