Cafe Mando Clips: Quality & Intimidation Factor at All-Time High

[Ed Goist]

...Brent, it's funny because it's true!

Stats 11 months into the obsession:
Mandolins purchased so far: 4
Mandolins sold so far: 3
Custom builds on Order: 1
Custom builds Planned: 1

Well, at least I'm stimulating the economy and promoting some growth in the luthier industry.

[Toycona]

The Dream Theatre writstband lives in my case, so I wear it almost every time I play. Thanks for the positivity.

[Ed Goist]

Tom, big ups on the Dream Theatre wristband...That's a major Mojo generator for sure!

[John Hill]

The Dream Theatre writstband lives in my case, so I wear it almost every time I play. Thanks for the positivity.

You know it. I was bummed to hear Portnoy left a couple months ago.

[Jill McAuley]

It seems to me that clips are most likely to get a look in if they're in either the "post a video of yourself" thread, or over at the SAW social group. Those are the only places I've posted clips really vs. the "Celtic etc etc" area that I check in on all the time but folks only post clips sporadically there. I do think the tune you're playing may inspire more (or less) attention as well.

Cheers,
Jill

[Chip Booth]

Is this a Prog discussion on Mandolin Cafe??

All this reminds me to go pull out the latest Transatlantic CD I bought but promptly forgot about with all the mandolin playing going on!

[Brent Hutto]

Heck, the whole purpose of the Song-A-Week group is to watch and comment on each other's clips. I wouldn't give up on being able to post and receive comments on the Cafe generally until at least giving Song-A-Week a try. And we're all very nice and friendly there, you know. Except for that one guy we call "Stinky".

[John Hill]

Is this a Prog discussion on Mandolin Cafe??

All this reminds me to go pull out the latest Transatlantic CD I bought but promptly forgot about with all the mandolin playing going on!

Yeah, Rush has some mandola on their Snakes & Arrows & Test 4 Echo albums...er, uh cd's. Prog on.

[Chip Booth]

Yeah, Alex used a stand mounted Garrison octave mandolin on the two Snakes and Arrows tours I saw. He had it capoed up the neck quite a bit as I recall, maybe into mandola territory.

Alex Lifeson has some very intidating sound clips out there.

[Toycona]

A buddy of mine and I performed a bluegrassy version of "End of the World" by Blackfield (Stephen Wilson of Purcupine Tree's side project). Great fun!!!

[John Hill]

Yeah, Alex used a stand mounted Garrison octave mandolin on the two Snakes and Arrows tours I saw. He had it capoed up the neck quite a bit as I recall, maybe into mandola territory.

Alex Lifeson has some very intidating sound clips out there.

Yep, Alex had the Garrison octave capoed up to mandola. Saw the S&A tour myself and am going to see them in Louisville in April.

[journeybear]

Stats 11 months into the obsession:
Mandolins purchased so far: 4
Mandolins sold so far: 3
Custom builds on Order: 1
Custom builds Planned: 1

Well, at least I'm stimulating the economy and promoting some growth in the luthier industry.

Dude! Thank you on behalf of luthiers and dealers ... but you might want to ease up just a touch. You might be a mandolin picker if you are planning a custom build while you are still waiting for one! I think it was 15 years until I got my fourth mandolin - banjolin, actually; needed it for the jug band.

I have not posted to the 'post a video of yourself' thread, as I feel that thread should be reserved for actual performance videos...

Eh? I'm sorry - I thought that's the kind of videos you were talking about. Anyway, I still say, in the future, that's where I would post clips of you playing to get responses, unless there are other considerations, like genre or instrument type or such - you know, a blues clip in the blues forum, electric in the electric, that sort of thing.

[Laird]

Now, I am aware that I'm a newby, and that my playing and equipment are both 'marginal', so I assume that the lack of response to my videos has been mostly out of kindness.

That's a mistaken assumption, at least in my case. I'm pretty picky about the thread titles I'll click on--certainly less than 10% on any given page. If it's about something I'm specifically interested in--Eastmans or Collings, or (lately) picks--I'll check them out. Threads with unusual titles will sometimes lure me toward something I have no real interest in, and I'll quickly figure it out and leave. Curiosity about why there's a football thread on here drew me to read much of a recent discussion about which I had no interest... just waiting to see how folks wove the mando content in. Don't take this personally--you or anyone else--but it would never occur to me to click on a thread titled "Here's me learning a new song." I'm glad, though, that there's a social group for folks who want to do that. It does seem useful, in the right company.

[Ed Goist]

... but you might want to ease up just a touch. You might be a mandolin picker if you are planning a custom build while you are still waiting for one! I think it was 15 years until I got my fourth mandolin - banjolin, actually; needed it for the jug band.

Well, starting at over 50, and finding out within a few months that I was "all in" when it came to the mandolin, I decided to work very quickly to get one or more "permanent" instruments.

I'm hoping that by the end of this year, I'll have my three permanent (I know, famous last words) mandolins...
* One bright, choppy and Bluegrassy (the Morris A5 "Night Train" - a definite lifer for me)
* One dark, brooding, Bluesy and woody (The Orpheus 2 Pointer currently being built)
* One right in the middle...for Celtic, Jazz, and other applications (Builder TBD...more to come)

[Toycona]

My prog friends and I tried to create an internet buzzthat Nick D'Virgilio would take his place. The Spock's Beard legion was pisssssed at us!

[Chip Booth]

I miss the old Beard.

[Toycona]

Indeed. I've seen the post Neal Beard a few times, but it's just not the same. I do like Neal's musical direction, however.

[sgarrity]

I post the occasional video to various places on the board and the SAW group. While it's nice when others listen and respond to your videos I have to tell you that I do it for myself and I encourage others to do the same. It's not about the recognition it's about the music!

[Loretta Callahan]

I post the occasional video to various places on the board and the SAW group. While it's nice when others listen and respond to your videos I have to tell you that I do it for myself and I encourage others to do the same. It's not about the recognition it's about the music!

Exactly. And when folks do comment, especially with helpful technique input ~ so much the better. You learn a lot about what you're doing well or not so well by posting vids of your playing.

I'll be interested to see how or if my playing improves by looking at a post I did yesterday and comparing it to one I might make six months from now.

Thanks for the great Happy Birthday post, Ed. That was really sweet!!

[JeffD]

However, I must admit that I also find this somewhat intimidating as a player.
I doubt I'll be posting any clips anytime soon...
Again, good job folks!

That was one of the first things I had to get rid of. Intimidation was one of the factors that made me chose mandolin in the first place, back when I was a sprite. Everyone played the guitar, and well. There was no way I was going to distinguish myself there. Almost nobody played mandolin that I knew, so I could, as I thought at the time, distinguish myself at least in my instrument choice.

I soon learned otherwise.

But look, no matter what, there will always be someone much better than me. Always. And (thank heavens), there is always someone who is a few cars back on this train, and looks up to me.

I had to decide early on to just let it go. And I have had a lot more fun as a result, and as a side benefit, as I let it go and enjoyed it more, my proficiency increased dramatically.

In my view, as long as I am doing the tune justice, giving voice to excellent music with enough competancy that others fall in love with the music itself, I have done very well. Playing well enough, to me, means playing that well. What folks think of my playing is way back secondary - what they think of the tune I am playing is almost everything.

I made a comment on your martial arts thread that I will also repeat here, in a different way. I know a band, well more like an assemblage of musicians, who are each individually monsters, scary good, and who as a group are together like a swiss watch. Their harmonies are soaring, their licks are dead on and perfectly nailed every time. They play at parties and informal gatherings, and blow everyone out of the water. ...

On the five songs they know. They have been working on the same five songs for as long as I have known them, which has got to be 15 years or so. They are all friends and neighbors of each other, and get together frequently enough, but they only do those five songs. After all these years, yea, they have them down. Recording quality. Scary good. Nailing it every time. Almost looks overdubbed its so good. But don't request any other tunes, and don't ask them to jam, and after you have heard them once or twice, you can go a year or so without hearing them again.

My point is that no matter how good someone is, there is an infinite amount of music that they suck at, just like me. An infinite amount. It helps me let go of it.

[Bertram Henze]

...On the five songs they know. They have been working on the same five songs for as long as I have known them, which has got to be 15 years or so. They are all friends and neighbors of each other, and get together frequently enough, but they only do those five songs. After all these years, yea, they have them down. Recording quality. Scary good. Nailing it every time. Almost looks overdubbed its so good. But don't request any other tunes, and don't ask them to jam, and after you have heard them once or twice, you can go a year or so without hearing them again.

ZZ Top ???

[Ed Goist]

Jeff, what a fantastic post.
Thank you for that.
Here's my take on the jig The Rose in the Heather recorded yesterday after my daughter helped me adjust the webcam so that we got to at least usable quality.

[Bertram Henze]

Now Ed, I really don't know what all this intimidation talk was about.

You have
- good constant timing
- clean tone
i.e. what it takes to play along.

You might work on
- tuning/intonation of your mandolin (I know, a topic worth a thousand threads)
- stronger pronunciation of the pronounced notes (i.e. 1 and 4 in a jig) to awaken the groove, after that you're irreversibly addicted to fun

You're on the highway bound for your destination, now go enjoy the ride.
Some of the other players are behind you, some are in front, but don't forget the earth is round, so those directly in front of you are really 24859 miles behind.

[JeffD]

Some of the other players are behind you, some are in front, but don't forget the earth is round, so those directly in front of you are really 24859 miles behind.

[JeffD]

Here is another way to look at it. Ricky Skaggs is already there. Chris Thile exists. Bill Monroe is so advanced he passed on. There is nothing I am going to do that compares. I mean, Sam Bush is playing, why should I even pick up the instrument?

And yet I do. Every day or so.

Because I don't strive to compare myself or have you compare me to anyone. I pick up the mandolin because I got a great tune I wanna play for you. I have some music I want to share with you, to enjoy. I strive not to impress you with my ability, but to convince you that a life in music has validity, that life is not futile just because others seem to have lived it better. That a well placed II chord can legitamately make my day, and that is as good a reason for taking on the day as any.