New Brooks Masten Banjo

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I recently got a new open back banjo and wanted to post a few pictures of it. Its made by Brooks Masten, has an 11″ cherry rim, fiberskin head, walnut neck, ebony fingerboard, and brass tone ring. Its basically a stock Spartan model except for his custom tailpiece. Brooks was great to work with and lives about fifteen minutes from me here in Portland. Thanks to him for allowing me to use his photos.

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I had an old Lyon and Healy banjo from the early 1900′s but just ended up being not that thrilled with it. My new banjo stays in tune better (for a banjo), and the neck is just alot more comfortable. The neck and string spacing are also wider, which is beneficial for clawhammer. I know alot of folks like older banjos, which is cool. They can have a neat vibe, are often cheaper, and can sound good. For me in this case I just preferred a modern instrument.

I have been playing clawhammer banjo for a few years, it was kind of a natural progression from doing clawhammer style things on guitar. I am attracted to instruments that are fun to play in a solo context, where melody, rhythm, and other voices are all self contained. Playing clawhammer banjo this way is so much fun. Its very relaxing to sit on the couch and frail away. Of course playing in a group is fun, and the duo of clawhammer banjo and fiddle is especially nice.

I know some of the standard old time repotiore but am more interested in the banjo as a vehicle for arranging non typical tunes. I play a set of Breton tunes that work quite well on banjo, and some irish reels are nice too, though I would play them in a standard session.

Ill try to post a few videos of these arrangements sometime soon.

Drop D Chords for Celtic Backup

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There is a bit of discussion going on at the TradConnect forum on guitar backup, and someone asked for guitar chords in Drop D. I thought I would post some here so everyone can benefit.
Despite this being “celtic fingerstyle guitar” I also like to flatpick a bit, both backing up tunes and playing melodies. Orkney tuning is nice for backup but to me not so great for flatpicking. The lack of an open D note on the 4th string makes various passages in tunes difficult. D is a pivotal note in celtic music. The way the notes are laid out in Drop D or standard tuning makes flatpicking melodies easier. I guess what it comes down to is I will never be able to settle on one tuning.

Like many folks I was first attracted to Drop D for celtic backup listening to John Doyle’s playing. Thought its fairly old now his DVD on Homespun offers good insight into his chord shapes and right hand rhythms. I think Drop D gives a nice chunky sound with the opportunity for full chord voicings from the sixth string to the first string. Like John I use a thinner pick, a Dunlop Nylon .73mm. Its thick enough for flatpicking celtic tunes, but thin enough for the fast strumming and playing triplets.

Below are a handful of the basic chords I use in drop D. Alot of them I got from Doyle’s playing and the list is by no means complete. For those that are interested I created the images in the Guitar Toolkit app on my iPhone. Then I took a screenshot and transferred the images over to my computer. Pretty neat. Click on the thumbnail to view the full size image.

Line Audio CM3 Mics Acoustic Guitar

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As a side hobby many of us solo and instrumental guitarists often get into home recording. It is by no means easy, but with a relatively simple setup and some experimentation one can get a good recorded sound at home. Not having to worry about bass, drums, or screaming marshall stacks means all you need are some high quality mics and a recording source. Some people opt to go the computer based route, others prefer stand alone options like the Zoom H4N.

As one of my favorite strength coach’s Dan John says, “Its simple not easy.” People trying to record at home often invest big bucks in mics, preamps, and software only to make mediocre sounding recordings due to lack of acoustic treatment in the room. Your basic empty bedroom is just not well suited to recording. I don’t know a ton about the science behind it, but I think it involves parallel walls causing sound waves to collide and amplify certain frequencies. Acoustic treatment is designed to cut down on this, and often the first step is to install some broadband diffusers to absorb bass frequencies. The Homebrewed Music Blog has a good tutorial on a DIY version. I am currently reading this book to learn more about the science behind it.

One thing I try to do when recording at home is close micing. I figure the less of my not so great room being picked up by the mic the better. The flip side is if you get to close you can amplify the bass frequencies, otherwise known as proximity effect. I don’t know if its my guitar or my playing but the best position for me seems to be at least 20″ away. Even in Doug Young’s treated studio using his Brauner tube mics we ended up having to be farther away.

Doug's Brauner Setup

So I was interested when a friend told me about these Line Audio CM3′s he picked up. They are from Sweden and go for about $300 US a pair. He ordered them through No Hype Audio and said he got great service. One of the reasons he got them is that you are supposed to be able to place them close to the sound source and not get much proximity effect. We set up in his untreated carpeted living room, the mics arranged in a spaced pair pointing roughly at the 12th fret and the bridge. Distance from the mic was 5 inches and they were plugged straight into a Zoom H4N. I’m sorry that I did not get a picture of the actual mics and setup. Click play below to give it a listen.

Line Audio CM3

This is by far the best close miced sound I have gotten. I am curious to see if it’s the room or the mics, and plan to bring over my pair of ADK A6′s in the near future. Either way the CM6′s seem to deliver good sound at a reasonable price, and are probably worth checking out.

Steve Baughman: Clawhammer Guitar

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My friend and mentor Steve Baughnan just released two new clawhammer guitar videos up on youtube. They were filmed at Doug Young’s studio and showcase Steve’s tune “Wasilla Weed” as well as give a basic primer on the clawhammer technique. Steve has a new DVD out at CDBaby called the Power of Claw.

So what is clawhammer guitar? In a nutshell its using clawhammer banjo technique but on a guitar. If you can play clawhammer banjo you can probably pick up a guitar and do it with a bit of adjustment. I found it much easier to learn the technique on banjo first. When I first saw Steve doing this six or seven years ago it was more of a right hand fingerpicking pattern that had the same rhythm as clawhammer banjo, with the thumb playing on the “and” of two. Over time it evolved into standard clawhammer technique.

Playing claw guitar is a bit different then on the banjo. For one you have more strings so there are some different options as far as tunings and drone strings. I think the guitar having more sustain lets you play tunes that might not work as well on the banjo. Check out my arrangement of Lord Mayo to see what I mean.

Having a heavy bass string as a drone string can also be problematic sometimes. I feel I have to be bit more sensitive of how I play the drone string on a guitar or things tend to sound overwhelmed by the bass. Alot of times I will clawhammer in Double Drop D, which is DADGBD. That way I can switch between the 6th and the 4th strings as drone strings. CGDGCD or the Orkney tuning is also nice for clawhammer as its not to far from sawmill banjo tuning of gDGCD. One fun thing to do on guitar is what Steve calls a “High Five” or “High Six” tuning. What you do is swap out your fifth or sixth string with a high string of the same pitch. So with Orkney I would remove the sixth string and put on an .16 guage second string tuned up to G. This would give me gGDGCD. It can be problematic tuning a string up that high so what you will need to do is get something like a Third Hand Capo or a sixth string capo that can target individual strings. I tuned the 6th string to B initially and then capoed at the 8th fet to get it to G. This gets the capo up and out of the way of your fretting hand.

Clawhammer guitar is such a fun way to play once you get the basic technique down. After years of regular fingerpicking it has helped recharge my playing and add a different groove and drive to my repotiore. I definitely encourage folks to give it a shot.

Doug Young’s New CD

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My friend Doug Young recently released a new cd, his second album entitled entitled Closing Time. It is a mixture of solo and ensemble acoustic guitar tunes that run the gamut from jazz to a traditional celtic piece.

Doug put together some great arrangements on this album and its that variety that kept me drawn in. The opening track, The Gathering, features harmony guitars, percussion, mandolin, and even a bit of Ebow. For the traditional celtic song, The Month of Janruary, he lets the melody speak while a fiddle adds some nice textures underneath. I really like what he did with the folk standard Wildwood Flower, turning it into something entirely new. Autumn Roads is a groovy modern sounding number, the melody gliding along over a cool chord progression and bass line. My one of my favorite tracks is Red Snapper, a bluesy piece that the liner notes say is inspired by the classic duets of Bert Jansch and John Renbourn. Doug overdubbed two Martin guitars on this track, and the way the parts intertwine and complement each other is just really great. The title track is a smoky jazz piece played in an unusual alternate tuning.

Doug’s recorded tone is superb, a testament to his fine playing and his ability as a recording engineer. Much of the cd was recorded in his home studio, which you can read about here. He talks in depth about his recording process on the Acoustic Guitar Forum. You can stream the entire album on Bandcamp, and Doug offers TAB to all the tunes for those of you that want to learn some of his music.

Celtic Guitar Tab: Granny In the Corner

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Next up is another transcription of one of my arrangements. This one is a great melodic reel called Granny In the Corner. Irish tunes sure do have funny names. I picked it up from my friend and teacher Steve Baughman during a trip to San Francisco back in May.  He started flatpicking it and I just knew it would make a good fingerstyle arrangement. It is one of those melodies that just sounds great, has a good sense of space, and lays easily on the fingerboard. Here is the audio and notation/tab

Download MP3
Download Sheet Music

This piece originally appeared in a recent Portland Classical Guitar Society newsletter, and i also wanted to make it available here for readers of my blog. I apologize for the PDF not having the correct title. I seem to have lost the original file I created with my Sibelius notation software, as I did not learn the title of this tune until recently.

One can play this piece pretty simply or fancy it up a bit. I play the triplets ring, middle, and index finger, and indicate them as much  with A M I, which is standard classical guitar notation. You can play them that way, or any other way you see fit. The important thing is the rhythm. I know some folks play them index, middle, and index. Tony Mcmanus uses his thumb nail for triplets on the bass strings, in a down up down motion. One option is to not play the triplets at all and just play a longer sustained note. That would work perfectly fine.   Then add them in later as your technique improves.

Pay attention to the bass note off the beat in measure six. I think its a nice unexpected variation but may trip you up the first time or two trying it. I really like how that sustained C note in measures three and seven allow you to do that C appregio into the next melody note. Its a nice technique to use when arranging pieces that have sustained melody notes.

I hope you enjoy the piece, and please do not hesitate to get in touch with questions. Happy picking.

Anton

Welcome to my new WordPress website

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Well its been a while since I have updated this blog. Mostly I have just been busy with other things but I also have been working on moving it over to a WordPress platform over the last month.

My previous website was on Squarespace.com Its a great service, everything is entirely hosted by them and you can edit your entire web page in the browser. Its point and click, one does not have to know any html or css code. It worked out great and was super convenient, but the DIY’er in me wanted a website on my own server space, where I could mess around with the code and dig into things. Plus I have been wanting to learn more about web development and WordPress, so i figured this was a good place to start.

It was quite a process and I learned alot. I started by working through some basic CSS books to get a basic understanding of how that worked. Then I installed WordPress locally on my computer started modifying a basic theme called Toolbox. I changed the header and navigation menu around a bit, made the content area wider, and figured out how to have different sidebars display on different pages. Then I began the lengthy task of importing everything from my old blog, copying over the pictures to my local machine, and fixing all the links to reflect their new location. After everything was roughly in place I uploaded my WordPress theme and database to my new server space, fixed some settings, and surprisingly everything worked. There were a few moments of frustration and banging my head against the wall during the whole project, but all in all it went smoothly. I was lucky in that there was alot of information available online.

So my site is up but I still have alot of tweaking to do. I am far from a designer but I know some fonts and things need to be changed. I need to add more content, polish up the blog, and setup a photo gallery. So I will be slowly chipping away at that over the next few weeks.

If folks out three have any suggestions I am happy to hear them.

Anton

Anton Emery and Tim Connell

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I had a really nice gig this past weekend with a new duo partner, Tim Connell. We played out at Newberg Music Center, about 45 minutes Southwest of Portland. The owner, GD, is really supportive of the local music scene and has a final friday concert series at the end of every month. Its alot of fun to play in a music store surrounded by neat instruments.

This was Tim and I’s first formal gig together . Our repotiore is mostly irish music, Tim flatpicking melodies on mandolin and me providing rhythmic backup on guitar. We’ll also do some more arranged duets, where I play a fingerstyle piece and Tim provides supporting melody, harmony, or chords, as well as a few solo pieces each throughout the course of a gig.

Tim is an amazing mandolin player, and I feel honored and happy to be playing music with him. He plays in a seemingly endless variety of styles, including jazz, bluegrass, irish, and his main passion, choro, which is a music native to Brazil. And he has only been playing mandolin for five years!  Before the mandolin it was mostly piano, bass, and the irish pennywhistle. Tim attended music school in Boston, which as you may know has a great irish music scene. He originally learned his irish tune repotiore on the whistle, only recently transferring it all to the mandolin. Its worked out pretty well. Look for Tim and I to be playing out more around Portland and the surrounding area. I hope to work up some flatpicking tunes so we can either play unison melody, or he can accompany me on the mandolin.