Lo-Fi or low-tech?

A good song well played is the dream of every guitar-toting cowboy and cowgirl - if you can do it with no more than 6 strings and a sense of drama, you got it made!

Of course, it's still a question of an appropriate arrangement, a good performance, and an audible recording. There is a pleasing (though perhaps fleeting) fashion for truly basic recordings - just a couple of instruments and some enthusiasm - as well as a more established genre for 'punk' acoustic and anti-folk stylee recordings that kick out the jams with sheer furious energy. I find all these things very pleasing, though the results are as variable as any other musical foray...they just cost nothing to produce!

Acoustic instruments are ultimately the true 'punk' voices - no amps, no rig, no huge studios or rehearsal spaces. You can play anywhere at any time and carry all your gear on your back, and your voices can be heard.

Doc Watson...

Was reminded recently (by folk legend Vince Martin, as it happens!) about this sublime music...

Pocket Full Of Changes

I have just released a brand new 15 song album via the indie download fave Bandcamp -



http://dantindall.bandcamp.com/

I spent much of last year recording these songs (and others that didn't make the cut) - inspired initially by the desire to have some songs to play on the uke! I also had a lot of lyrical ideas to work on, so it became quite a project in the end...I even got to play the bass!

Just goes to show how a new instrument or playing style can get the old creative juices flowing...

Uke!

Love my tenor uke!

The Little Miracles Of Misanthropy

Every so often you hear something which speaks to you not just as music but also as art. Sometimes it might be the presence of instrumental warp and weft, sometimes it's the image that surrounds the sounds - and sometimes it's just straightforward great lyrics, a clear voice, and imagery which stays with you long after the song is gone.

Interested?

http://prosity.blogspot.com/2011/09/little-miracles-of-misanthropy-aka.html

You know you want to!

Steve Adams

Prosity Records recently released an EP of four songs by the sublime Steve Adams, who is one of those rare examples of an artist whose music is almost impossible to place in the time stream. The vocal has not only the timbre of modern folk rock, but also the wistful ring of the much endangered English folk voice. The guitar is part solo americana, part new-wave discord, with some blues and trad tonality thrown in for good measure. Add to this some seriously moody and occasionally psych lyrics, and it's a very sweet mix indeed.

Check out the EP -

http://prosity.blogspot.com/2011/04/steve-adams-masquerade-ep-eppr10.html

And check out Steve -

http://c1.ezfolk.com/Steve_Adams/

New sounds can make it happen...

I think I have said before how a new instrument or a new tuning can get your creative juices going again? Well, a double whammy in recent times, with a nice new acoustic dread and a ukulele finding their way into my hands. And what a difference it makes to have some new sounds (literally 'new' in fact, which also makes it seem fresh and fun again) and a whole new set of chords to learn!

The guitar - made by Tanglewood, spruce top, rosewood back and sides - big dread shape, bright and bouncy and full of zing - it always amazes me how different tops and tonewoods really do make a difference, rather like finding that trick with club soda and salt really does get red wine out of the carpet. The warm grunge of cedar and mahogany is a million miles away from this lively piece of acoustic action - bizarre and delightful!

Ukulele - Mahalo, all mahogany - even has it's own mini flight case! The only other ukes I've played are the ones that usually come with a picture of a palm tree on them and no brand name (and cost nothing), but this one that has come my way is a revelation. Concert size, warm sweet tone - and actually sounds in tune when I play it...

So some songs that have been left half-written are getting finished and re-made to learn new sounds...that is how it goes, my friends...

What do they know?

Even to this day, I still read mainstream music journalists quoting 'pop' experts telling us some fool or other they have just signed to their label in the next Bob Dylan, the Thin White Duke in waiting, the sound of tomorrow....seriously?

I know nothing, I confess. I have no commercial prowess, no financial whizz-kid credentials...but I do know what sounds good to my ear, and I know self-interest when I hear it!

The great magnates of the music payola can take their talent show puppets and await historical obscurity - for out there, somewhere, is genius...but they'll never find it, 'cos it don't sell...

What's that noise?

The rise and rise of people in the streets of Belfast playing more than just the average busking tunes continues unabated - for a moment I thought I heard the ghost of Pete Seeger and friends, only to discover some young men with banjos and mandolins and guitars (yes, an actual string band, although no fiddle player...yet!) giving it loads to an appreciative crowd.
My only concern is that this current retro trend in folk is no more than that - that the spirit of folk music, the central self-expression of self (not some guys from 70+ years ago) might not be along for the ride. It is good to connect with other musical times (I've done it all my life) but not good to forget where and when you are.

Think it through - then forget it all...

I like my music to sound natural (you probably guessed that already) but that doesn't mean that it all has to sound the same, or that one form of natural expression is better than another. When I work at my own tunes, I am very careful to make them sound as perfectly natural as possible - which is to say, they sound like they would if I played them without error! Obviously this is not always the case in real life, which is where the boundary between live and recorded performance becomes an issue. A studio recording of a piece of music is not a frozen representation of that tune - just a snapshot of the way it was that day (or over those days/weeks!), just as a 'live' track is no more than an audio-polaroid for that certain moment.

Matthew Moss

Matthew Moss is a very talented acoustic musician from Liverpool - I discovered his music when we were both signed to the now-defunct Binary Indy netlabel, and I have enjoyed his lo-fi acoustic approach to writing. It is the music of mood and ambience, good songs with a human character allowing them to wander without getting lost. A sort of post-modern Donovan meets Pete Doherty...or something!

Matthew's music at bandcamp.com

Scott Campbell

Well, I always liked Scott's music from the very first - the lyrics, the rhythms - even just the feel of his work oozes class. A great storyteller, a great writer!

Scott's EP on Prosity Records

Tony Provencher

Tony's EP from Prosity Records


Tony Provencher is an eclectic and talented folk musician, a stalwart of EzFolk, and a generally very cool guy - his music is true folk, with all its humour and honesty.

Electro-acoustic?

So, anyway, I have playing some music in a lo-fi acoustic band called the Lo-Fi Fun Factory and one thing that occurs to me is how distinct and curious the 'electro-acoustic' sound really is. It easily moves from an acoustic dynamic to an amplified one, but never really loses it's percussive qualities.

Listen for yourself...



Despite the fact that I adore the true sound of the acoustic guitar, the lo-fi sound of the basic 'plug-in' acoustic (without all the fancy 're-create the sound of a vintage Martin' nonsense) has a lot going for it...or so it seems to me...

Henry Harrington

Click here to visit the Prosity Records release page for Henry Harrington

Henry's music is just...splendid. It is big and loud and yet it doesn't overwhelm; it is thoughtful and even spiritual, and yet it doesn't compromise. It's good, and you should listen!

You must be mad if...

...you have never tried to record your own music - seriously! One of the wonderful ironies of the modern age is that, for acoustic performers, things have never been better where capturing a natural sound is concerned. Reasonably priced high quality digital recorders with high spec built in condensers mean anyone with a guitar, a harp, and some idea about how to breathe, can make a record.

Sure, it won't be hi-fi Top Twenty sounds - but who cares? With a basic knowledge of some mastering techniques, one can make some nice sounds - and the techniques work for all lo-fi music styles, as my recent adventures with the Lo-Fi Fun Factory will hopefully demonstrate.

Do what you feel like doing - remember, you work to make free time to make art!

Robby Morrow

When I first thought to myself that I would like to start an acoustic netlabel...no, when I went looking for acoustic netlabels and found there were none...well I was angry! The music I love has too few friends and too many pretenders, and that ain't right - it just ain't right!

And when I thought of what I really enjoy in folk music, the voice, the charisma, and all the elements I want to represent, I was drawn to the music of Robby Morrow. Robby is a brilliant lyricist and has a true 'voice' of his own. He is as English as cricket, and yet tells a story which is for the whole world. He also has a sense of humour - the basis of all true art.

My netlabel project Prosity Records was a leap of faith for myself - one which I am glad to say I happily took without fear - but it also took a leap of faith from Robby, who became the first Prosity Records artist, and set a standard for quality and commitment to the ideal.

But all of that is neither here nor there compared to the real important business at hand - which is Rob's music. There is a lot of it, and he is always writing and re-writing and trying new ways of presenting his tunes and expressing his passions. And he writes great lyrics...

"I’ll summon all the mystic shadows tonight
Discover other tracks and tricks of the light
You cut a heart shaped hole in my soul
So I will never ever die, never even get old
And if blood should rain on England’s green
From sands of time right across the sea
This is evil that could come to be
But mostly I still think of you and me"

(Lists Of Love)

I’ll cross those burning bridges under cover of the night
We were never so selfish – We just been hypnotised
And fell into the deepest blue of a voodoo spell
Wanderin’ ‘round universes - not parallel
With nature’s magic is all around my Saintly head
I was looking for answers to the questions I had read
So I went to bed with a cigarette and woke up dead
And I’m tellin’ you the afterlife is nothing like they said

(Immortality)

Frankly, the guy may be a genius, but I never said so!

Visit Robby's pages at Soundclick and spend some quality time with a top guy!

Greg Connor

I have been listening to a superb acoustic musician called Greg Connor - some excellent sounds and real craftsmanship. He uses a wide range of North American folk instruments, and has a dash of style that keeps you listening.

Greg's songs can be found at the dearly beloved EzFolk - click here to visit his site.

Ain't it sweet...?

So, me and my mate are walking through Belfast the other day, and in the midst of all the accordion players and cover version strummers, two busking musicians caught our respective ears. They were not brilliant by any means - but they were great to hear...parlour guitar and mandolin, playing 'You Ain't Going Nowhere' (one of my fave tunes of all time)...I could have hugged them for being so wonderfully natural.

Find your mojo...

Some people find it hard to learn the guitar. To make matters worse, the guitar is such a dominant acoustic instrument that not being able to play it makes people think they will never get play an acoustic stringed instrument and join the world of lo-fi folksters and other assorted misfits!

However, there is one important thing to remember - there are other stringed instruments...the banjo, the mandolin, the bouzouki, the ukulele...

If you can learn on of these, you stand a good chance of picking up one of the others. I know at least one guy who has recently discovered he could play the guitar on a whole new level after falling in love with his uke...best 49 quid he ever spent, in fact! Just as learning new tunings opens up the guitar, so other related instruments bring a fresh perspective and add skills to your box of tricks...to mix a metaphor!

Open tunings...part two

The beauty of the open tuning is freedom - as the great Keith Richards once said, the basic requirements are 2 fingers and one arsehole...but once you get started, you can find a whole new world of alternate playing styles and accompaniments.

The first thing is that you have to unlearn so much; forget about playing chords, you are making relationships on your fretboard, you are thumping out a bass line whilst picking a lead line. A very average guitar player can sound like a trio in an open tuning. It just requires a little time and imagination - and listening to some variety of practitioners of the art for inspiration doesn't hurt either. Davey Graham, Jimmy Page (check out Zep III), Stephen Stills (and even Bob Dylan, cor blimey) - you don't need to do looking for the obscure and peculiar to find those G and D tunings (and E and A, even a low C if you're lucky!) - and make use of this fabulous resource 'the internet' to find new and alternate tuning ideas.

The second thing you find is that it is addictive - you will get carried away with it and try to write every song in that hybrid Dm tuning you found one night after a bottle of Chianti. And so you should - because when you come back to the basics of standard tuning, you will have learned a whole new set of dynamics for playing your guitar. Bringing the freedom of the open world to the standard concert tuning is the beginning of another little musical journey...

Make it sound right!

If there's one thing that annoys me, it's acoustic tunes that float and flutter like they didn't really matter. Acoustic instruments are physical and unfettered - they are a means by which we use our strengths to make music. The faint pattering of some vague strum to underpin another warbling wannabe drives me crazy - it is such a waste of time that could be spent bending wood and metal to your will!

It is hard work playing an acoustic instrument - or it should be. Folk musicians and classical players (and don't forget jazz and blues!) - they sweat like demons to make it sound right. They express themselves; they hurt themselves; more like sportsmen than popstars. It's like climbing a mountain - it requires pain to get the reward.

Even to play quietly requires effort - controlled restraint is a real art that needs a lot of practice, and can bring great rewards artistically. There are some fantastic guitar players who I admire as much for their almost superhuman ability not to get too carried away with what they are doing - the great Doc Watson, for example - exuberant but still dignified. The legendary banjo player Earl Scruggs falls into this category as well - you just can't believe how anyone can be so lively yet so precise.

Open tunings...part one

Open tunings are an invaluable part of the acoustic guitarist's repertoire of sounds. They do not replace the standard concert pitch as the main means to play a song, but they offer an alternative take on the available warp and weft for guitar music. Many guitar players use nothing other than open tuning styles, but to my mind this limits the range and tonality of the overall output, albeit sometimes giving rise to genius when in the hands of a Davy Graham or a Bob Brozman. To be precise, for a songwriter you need to use everything at your command to get the most out of an acoustic guitar, not simply as primary accompaniment, but also to complement recordings. For an instrumental player, the situation is slightly different - but even in their case, it is very much a question of making the best of what is available to enhance their sound.

The first open tuning I ever used was an open G (DGDGBD), and it is still a favourite of mine for more folky blues and country tunes. I wanted to learn to play slide guitar style, but I soon discovered that you could use it to play a very full flat-picking tune, and combine this with the use of the slide. I then also found there were other useful open tunings - DADGAD (very folk orientated), DADFsharpAD (Louisiana tuning - excellent for blues), and the adorable CGCGCE (lovely bass sound, nice bright top end - great for slide/pick combo playing). There are others of course, often simply adaptations or transpositions of those listed, and they are all great fun to learn and use.

More on this later...

What sort of guitar should you buy?

Buying an acoustic guitar is very easy. There are thousands of them on offer from budget to crazy prices.

So which one do you buy?

Here's some basic advice - one which sounds nice.

Most of the generic models made in the far east are very much the same. Most of them are pretty well made these days - but that doesn't mean they are any good. They might have a solid top, and boast 'name' tuners - but you still get a box with strings. So you really have to play them. It's amazing how sometimes a guitar costing 150 quid can sound 10 times as good as one costing 2 or 3 times as much.

Electro-acoustic guitars specifically designed for plugging in usually sound rubbish unplugged. Buy a nice sounding guitar which just happens to have electrics in it.

Cedar topped guitars mature quicker, sound warmer, and have a much better dynamic response than all but the best spruce topped guitar. They do have a more compressed mid-range - so if you like light airy guitar, go for spruce.

Laminated guitars are just braced boxes. Solid tops are a actually a soundboard - in other words, it has 'acoustic' qualities.

Never buy a guitar because it looks nice. Take it from me, this is not a valid way to choose a musical instrument!

Solid backs and sides on a guitar will alter its tonality. This does not mean it is necessarily better!

If you go to my website, and look under links, you will find a list of guitar makers. I do not recommend any of these over any other - but it will give you an idea of what there is and what to look for.

Why write a song?

You often hear people ask the question how do you write a song? - but rarely do they question why they should do it. That might seem like a crazy thing to say, but often it appears there is no accepted good reason to write a song. Music can obviously exist without lyrics, and certainly without meaningful lyrics. So why do it?

Songs exist for a reason - the first musical instrument was (probably) the voice. Music made by voices is more interesting with words, and more memorable if they have a story and maybe a rhyme scheme. And if you have no written language, that makes song a good way to pass on stories and information. It is an effective way to express an idea in a simple way.

Music nowadays (at least in modern westernised cultures) seems to be more a commodity than oral history. Occasionally it has been an art form. But still the song remains the most effective way to write down what you see or hear or think, and lift it above dry academic prose and mere sophistry.

Why write a song? I can't think of a reason not to do so!