Category Archives: Music

Breton tunes on the Brooks Banjo

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Sometimes I will just hear a tune and know I have to try and arrange it. Such was the case this set of tunes, an unnamed Breton tune and the second, Scottish Du Stockfish. I learned them both from Bryan Owens, a Portland musician who plays a variety of music on guitar, bouzouki, mandolin, and fiddle. I initially intended to arrange them for solo guitar, but the rhythm of the music just called out for some clawhammer banjo. They fell so easily on the fingerboard and within in minutes it seems like I had a workable arrangement. That does not happen to me often but when it does it sure is nice. I ended up arranging them for guitar later on, and I like that setting as well. But they are such a blast on the banjo.

The instrument is my new Brooks Spartan I mentioned back in January.

Some concert footage

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Hi folks, just a quick blog post with a few things.

I forget if I have mentioned this before, but I am really enjoying the simple timer at http://e.ggtimer.com/ for monitoring my guitar practice. Like most of us that work a day job and have other responsibilities I often do not have as much time to play as I would like.  Sometimes its just 30 or 45 min after work, and being able to see my practice time count down on the screen really helps me focus and stay on task while playing. I know you could do the same thing with an iPhone or stopwatch, but I enjoy using this little application.

I just got a bunch of footage of a concert I played last year with mandolinist Tim Connell at Newberg Music.  Thanks alot to G.D. for filming the whole thing. I put a few clips up on youtube, and will be uploading more over the next few days.


Hope you enjoy it.

Anton Emery

Some new music

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I recently added a new page to my website called Ensembles. I play in a few different duos around town and wanted a place to showcase music and video separte from my solo work. I’ve included the tracks and video below, and you can also access the ensemble page by hovering over the About Me link in the navigation bar.

Rich Rosencrans
Rich Rosencrans and I play traditional and original material influenced by celtic, bluegrass, and folk genres. Rich is a simply fantastic singer as well as a wonderful bouzouki player and guitarist. He writes his own original songs as well as arranging traditional ones. I alternate between guitar and flute, and occasionally clawhammer banjo. We enjoy mixing it up between songs and instrumental tunes.

Song – Willie Taylor
[audio http://www.celticfingerstyleguitar.com/audio/RichAnton/willietaylor.mp3]

An arrangement of a traditional song by Rich

Flute and Bouzouki Reel of Mulnivat/Man of the House
[audio http://www.celticfingerstyleguitar.com/audio/RichAnton/mulnivat.mp3]

I’m on flute and Rich is on bouzouki. My flute playing needs a bit of work but I like Rich’s driving rhythm.

Guitar and Bouzouki Slow Reels – Silver Spire/Brendan MacMahons
[audio http://www.celticfingerstyleguitar.com/audio/RichAnton/silverspire.mp3]

I am on flatpicked guitar and Rich is fingerpicking his four course bouzouki. On its own these slow reels might be kind of plain, but I really like what Rich’s bouzouki part adds to the arrangement.

Tim Connell
I met Tim Connell though jazz guitarist Eric Skye. Eric and I connected through the Acoustic Guitar Forum, and he later invited me to open for his Jazz Trio at a house concert. Tim is a part of the trio, and upon finding out we both played irish music we decided to do some tunes on mandolin and flute during the set. Tim studied irish music in Boston, starting out on the whistle and later transferring his repertoire over to mandolin. Tim is an amazing player in a variety of genres. I recently got some more video from this concert at Newberg Music, so i hope to post that soon.

Licensing Acoustic Music

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When my cd first came out I submitted it to various music licensing services. These are agencies that will make your music available to companies that might want to use it for TV, Film, Radio, Videogames, etc. The service is usually free, and in return they take a cut of the licensing fee. Companies like this include Pump Audio, Rumblefish, Triplescoopmusic, and most recently CD Baby’s Sync Licensing.  Even though they take a cut I consider it a good service as I do not have the contacts to market my music this way. Plus you can still get composing/arranging royalties from your performing rights organization.

I recently got my first statement from Pump Audio and someone from Disney/Hyperion Book group licensed one of my tracks! Specifically the jig set, Ship in Full Sail/Trip to Sligo/Christy Barrys #2. I made $17 out of the $50 licensing fee. So yea, its not alot of money, but I was still excited that someone chose my music.

Its got me motivated to sit down and write some music specifically for licensing, and then submit it to these various agencies. You can make alot more money if something gets placed that you wrote, as opposed to arranging  public domain material. I would stick to genres I am familiar with, acoustic based sounds using mandolin, banjo, guitar, and flute.

I think there is a place for this kind of stuff on TV and other mediums. Often when watching a show or commercial I will hear a simple fingerpicked guitar or banjo that really adds alot. I don’t expect to make a living doing it, but it would be fun and perhaps make me a little extra money.

David Hamburger is a musician that has transferred into writing music for tv and film.  Alot of his themes use acoustic instruments and have a Blues/Americana sound. Its really neat to see how the music and whats on the screen interact.

Duo irish flutes

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photo by Angeline Bajzek

My friend William Bajzek visited this weekend, and we recorded this quick clip of some duo flute playing. Its a nice little tune called the Mills are Grinding.

Mills are grinding by AntonEmery

Though I mostly focus on guitar, I also play the irish flute on a more casual level, with friends and at sessions around Portland. I first met William at the Swannanoa Gathering Guitar Week many years, back when I was living in Florida. Even though he was in California we would stay in touch and see each other once a year or so. Now that I am on the West Coast we see each other a little more often. William is half of the excellent irish music duo Castlerock with his wife Angeline. He is also a wonderful classical guitarist.

Hope you enjoy the tune.

Anton

Playing in public

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Since releasing my cd I have been working on getting out more and gigging.  The past year or two I let it slide, i was busy working on the cd and I guess just was not really feeling motivated.  But now I actually need to sell some discs, and the best way to do that is at live shows.  So i gotta get out.  

When I first started gigging occasionally several years ago I would always get nervous.  What do I say between tunes, is the audience going to like my music, am I to boring, etc?  The more I have done it the less nervous i get, though I still get that little tightness in my stomach, especially if I am going on solo at a bigger venue. I wanted to put down some thoughts that I have had after the last few gigs.

 

  • What to start with. I like to start with a piece that I am really familiar with and can play in my sleep. For its best if this piece is of moderate tempo, so I can burn off some of the nervous energy that results from getting on stage. If I start with something difficult I won’t be able to manage it, and believe it or not, slow pieces are actually harder at this point in a show.  With more space between the notes, my fingers have to be in exactly the right spots, which is kind of hard to do after just going up on stage and being a bit nervous.  So i generally start with something of moderate tempo, and then pace the set from there to what feels right.


  • Talking between tunes. When first playing out I found this the most difficult part, and it still generally gets me more nervous than actually playing the music. Thats the fun part. I think the only way to get better at this is to do it more. Usually before each tune I will try to talk a bit about, perhaps relate some personal story as to who I learned the tune from or something like that. Sometimes if a joke or something funny occurs to me I will try it, and if I get a good reaction I mentally file that one away for next time. I have seen professionals who will use the same jokes and stories year after year at gigs. I think you just figure out what works over time for you and your personality. 


  • Losing your place. This is a scary one.  It has almost happened to me a few times but I managed to recover, and hopefully no one in the audience was the wiser.  With alot of these tunes I have played them for years, so there are times I will zone out mid tune, and start to think about what I am going to say or play next, what such and such person in the audience things about my music, where I am going to go after the gig, etc.  Then all of a sudden I snap back to the moment, and realize my fingers have been on autopilot and I don’t know where I am.  Both times this has happened it was during a slow air, and I just fumbled my way back to the main theme, and hopefully it sounded like a variation. To avoid this I just try to not let my mind wander when playing.  I keep my attention focused on the music, trying to execute it well, just like practicing at home. If my mind starts wandering to something else I bring it back on the task at hand. 

 

So there you have it, some things I have been thinking about after the last few gigs. Hopefully they help some folks out.  If you have any other tips for live let me know in the comments!

 

Anton

 

Lord Mayo – Clawhammer Guitar

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So I finally got around to recording that version of Lord Mayo for clawhammer guitar mentioned a while back.  Sorry for the delay.  I had to order a Third Hand Capo to make it work.  The Third Hand Capo is pretty cool, it lets you capo only individual strings while leaving others open.

In my case i wanted to tune the guitar gGDGCD, with the sixth string one octave above the fifth.  So i took off the low sixth string, and replaced it with a .16 guage second string.  I tuned that to B, then put the Third Hand up on the 8th fret, bringing that string to G. That put the capo out of my way, since this arrangement doesnt go that high.  Since i only needed to capo that one outer string i removed the other rubber washers, as even in the up position the open strings would sometimes buzz against them. 

So essentially i tuned my guitar to the mountain minor banjo tuning, which is gDGCD, and stuck an extra string an octave lower after the 1st string.  This is nice because i can essentially play banjo tunes, and sometimes hit that 5th string and let it ring for contrast.  Another way to accomplish this tuning would be to put some railroad spikes in a second guitar.  I know Steve Baughman does this, but i dont really want to put them on my main nice guitar.  Perhaps later on i will devote a second guitar to it. 

Anyways, so here it is.  Its just a simple recording i made at home, so pardon the few mistakes. 

Lord Mayo – Audio

Let me know what you think.


Anton

Some thoughts on my cd project

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photo by Mike Losier

Well, everything is done with my cd except for the artwork.  I have the final master ready to be sent off to the manufacturing house, liner notes are typed, and everything is in place.  I am hoping to get it all sent off after the New Year, dont wanna rush the artwork.

I have been thinking about the whole process of this project, and wrote some of my thoughts down.  Perhaps some folks will find it useful if they pursue recording a cd.

I have been playing guitar about 15 years, and arranging celtic music for about 7 years or so i think. In that time i have compiled a handful of tunes that i like, and started to seriously think about doing a cd a few years ago. But i kept putting it off, wasnt the right time, etc. Then i moved out to Portland, OR three years ago, which put me closer to two friends in California, Steve Baughman and Doug Young. I had met them both at the Swannonoa Gathering and saw them pretty regularly over the years at camp. When i first brought up recording a cd Steve offered to produce it, and Doug offered the use of his home studio. I knew i had a good team here, as Steve has been a teacher of mine over the past few years and knows my playing quite well. Doug is well established in the acoustic guitar scene, has top notch gear, and knows how to use it. So i knew i would be able to get a good sound, and had two other folks i trusted to give me good feedback on my decisions.

Before all this i had toyed with the idea of recording at home. Alot of solo guitarists record at home in very modest studios. I would have to drop a bit of money on gear, but afterwards it would be mine and i could do future albums at home for free. However in the end i decided against this approach. I was not really in the position to modify my room with acoustic treatment, my house is on a fairly busy street, and i just didnt feel i knew enough at that point to get a reliable sound i trusted. I wanted this first cd to be as good as possible, and did not want to have to second guess sound quality or mic placement. Flying down to California was an added cost, but i feel in the end it will have been worth it. Now that i have a good baseline for what a professional cd should sound like i may try to record future albums at home, if i can assemble the right gear and acoustically treat my room.

Working with a producer was also something i had to think about. Its a dynamic i had never experienced before, plus is also an added cost. In the end having Steve there was well worth it, and i would reccomend a producer to other folks if you can afford and know someone who fits the role. Being able to just go in the studio and play, while Steve noted down which takes and parts were keepers was a big load of my mind. Doug worried about setting up the mics, running the computer, and editing. Both of them offered up their thoughts when i was wondering about a take or certain part. Steve was very good about getting the best playing out of me, and encouraging me to play louder.

I managed to record all twelve tracks in two seperate sessions, one in April and another in Sept of 2009. The first time was 8 tracks over the course of 2 days i think, and the second time i did the remaining 4 tracks in one day. Overall i would say things went smoothly, and part of that i attribute to being fairly well prepared. Being that i had to pay to fly down there, plus other expenses, i wanted to get the most out of each trip as possible. I would reccomend this to anyone going into a studio, whether its local or out of town. Practice up, do some demo recordings at home on a simple recorder to get used to the red light and the microphone. Its funny how much ones playing goes down hill once the record button is hit. I would say each track took about an hour to an hour and half, though some were definitely more. Thats recording and editing the takes into a final master take. Some of the stuff Doug accomplished with digital editing was pretty cool. Its certainly more effecient than hoping for one magical perfect take.

After all the recording was done the cd was mixed by Doug at his place. Mastering was done Cass Anawaty at Sunbreak Music up here in Portland. I wanted to work with someone local so i could pop in and talk about music and the sound i wanted, and Doug mentioned that Cass mastered Larry Pattis’s latest cd. Cass is also a Michael Hedges fan and has studied guitar with Alex De Grassi, so i knew i would be getting someone familiar with the acoustic guitar genre. We met up, had coffee, and talked about music. Cass is a really nice guy, listened to what i had to say about my sound, made some suggestions of his own, and off we went.

I felt the mixed version straight from Doug’s sounded good, and would probably stand up fine as a cd on its own. But i want this to be a professional cd as possible, and to me the mastered result is smoother, more spacious in places, and of course louder.

What type of manufacutring to get also involved a bit of decision making. The standard run is a 1000 real cds for about a $1000. Any less and they are usually CD-R’s. Which would be fine, but again, i want this to be a professional release as possible. Kind of like printing your resume on regular paper vs something nice. But i don’t really want to spend a $1000 at the moment. Asking around Doug (LittleBrother) over on the Acoustic Player Magazine forum referred me to Copycat Media, as he had just used them for a project with good results. I sent off for a quote, and was able to get 500 real cds, full color 4 panel artwork, 3 color on disc printing, plus a barcode for about $600. I will most likely go with them, though i want to check out Doug’s CD. 500 units seems like a good first run to start with. Hopefully i will sell a bunch, and will end up giving alot away for promotional and gigging purposes, as well as gifts.

There were also some extranous expenses that i didnt think about. Three of the songs on the cd are not public domain, so i had contact the authors and pay them mechanical rights, which are about a $100 each. Not a ton of money but it adds up on a personally financed project like this. I also decided to register for ISRC codes (i think thats what they are called). Basically its a code for each track that the mastering guy can embed on the final disc. They are unique for each track, and are used to track statistics for digital downloads, which is neccessary these days. So that will probably end up running $150 or so in total.

I am happy with the course i took, and now i know how a professional cd sounds, should i ever decide to record one at home.  I am glad i met Cass, its good to know a mastering engineer who is local and being able to talk to him in person really helped.  I hope folks enjoy the music as much as i enjoyed recording it.

Any questions or thoughts on the process?  Let me know in the comments.

Banjola, Coffee, and Eric Skye

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Hi Everyone,

Sorry no blog posts lately.  I have been busy running around trying to figure out things for the album, plus just trying to practice more and play more music.  I guess i also feel like i have not had much to say in the way of music or celtic guitar lately.  If folks out there have questions about guitar, a traditional tune you want to see arranged, or anything else let me know in the comments or via email, and I’ll get to it. 

Surfing around youtube lately i came across my good buddy Aaron O’Rourke playing the banjo at a festival this past summer.  Aaron is a dulcimer champion, who also plays a variety of other instruments, including fingerstyle guitar and now the banjola.   Here he plays a clawhammer tune, and then an arrangement of the Lunasa tune Inion Ni Scannion, which i also play on fingerstyle guitar.  In fact, its going to be on the cd.

 

Continuing with the trend of trying to meet more local professional musicians and get their insight on playing music for a living, i recently spent a few hours with Eric Skye.  Eric lives here in Portland and seems to play everything, flatpicked jazz, blues, bluegrass, brazillian music, as well as a variety of fingerstyle music.  Plus he makes a killer cup of coffee, which ranks very high on my list.  We talked about the business side of music, solo performing, getting your cd out there, and a wide variety of things.  I am very grateful for these professionals who have taken a bit of time out of their day to get together and talk with me.  Here is Eric playing a solo killer version of Porkpie Hat, and another with a local trio.  If you get a chance to catch these guys do it, its music of the highest caliber.

 

Well back to practicing.  A friend and I are working on putting together the art work for my cd, and then once thats done and i approve the mastered cd its off to the manufacturing house.  If you want to be notifed when its done you can sign up for my email list on the front page of the site.

thanks

 Anton

Something a little different..

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While i mostly blog about various aspects of aoustic guitar and traditional music here, i enjoy listening to alot of different types of music.  Rock, blues, jazz, bluegrass, newgrass, and electronic, just to name a few. 

Cass Anawaty, who is mastering my album, just finished up an album with Paul Russell called Monjour.  How to describe it.  Its a world beat/ambient/electronic/tribal kind of sound.  There is grooving acoustic drums and bass on track, and then a more ambient soundscape on the next.  At the moment its only available streaming on their website, but i imagine they will have a cd available sometime soon. 

I highly reccomend it, especially listening through a good pair of headphones.


Anton