Thanks very much, Mike. Okay, this is going to be the last one on here, but I'll probably put a bunch more on my Youtube channel in the coming days as I get them done.
That is awesome! Love that tune and wow that sounds good. Keep'em coming David.
Nice! That's my favorite of that batch. Nice mandolin solo, too!
The mic likes it, and the chop holds up well with the bass.
Great stuff.
Here's a new one - this is Milford's Reel from Noam Pikelny's great CD "Beat the Devil and Carry A Rail". I think it's Jesse Cobb who plays mandolin on that, and I've really just copied what he does.
That's a happy tune, sounds good.Never heard of that one, I'll have to check out that cd. Always looking for more mandolin music to listen to.Expand my horizons from Bill Monroe, Grisman and more Bill Monroe. I dig that fretboard on your mandolin, got a good look on that video. Kris
David, Your Jacobson keeps sounding better every time I listen to it. I was very impressed how it held its own in the trio environment and the "studio" recording reveals a lot of depth also. STP
Thanks Chris and Stephen. It does seem that the tone has darkened a little (in a good way) since I first got it, and also rather surprisingly it has become even more responsive - something that it already had in spades.
David, What kind of strings you use? Flatwound myself
Plain old D'Addario J74s. I think Marty had flatwounds on this the first time I played it, and I thought they were fine, but they just don't seem to be for me.
Yes, I tried FW74's on it originally. They didn't make a huge difference, but round-wound J74's give it a little more power, I think. So when are you going to give that banjo a workout for us, David?
I'll keep that in mind for #24. I'd like to see that
Well, I don't get to pick the banjo as much as I used to - have to wait until the family have left the house usually - but I work it in to my videos when I can. I can't play Noam's great part on Milford Reel yet, but I will try it some day. Here's a couple of links to some older videos where I pick some banjo: http://youtu.be/oifjD54-qIE - Crossing the Cumberlands http://youtu.be/gtQKIaH34d4 - Girl I Left Behind Me.
Really cool! My wife liked those as well. I have a big dust collector in the corner in the shape of a banjo, hard to find the time to pick it.
More videos from the 26th of May when Tom and David came over... (Uploading now .. check back in a few if they're not playing correctly yet.)
Great videos Marty and you broke out the fiddle. A lot of fun to watch, great stuff!
This was a Song A Week submission, but I wanted to cross-post it here because it seemed like this was the first time I began to capture on "tape" some of the more edgy, slightly crazed tone #21 can produce. It's very easy to get a nice sweet tone out of this instrument, but it's not so easy to control and use the flipside of its personality. I don't know if I really succeeded here, but I think it starts to give you an idea. I used absolutely no EQ, no compression, mastering or anything on this recording, just a touch of reverb.
Awesome variation, as usual, David. It does seem like you're getting a bit more "crunch" out of it with this setup. I noticed you were playing around with a different recording setup on Durham's Bull, too.
Yes, I was experimenting with different mics, but in the end I decided it was just down to how I was picking more than how it was recorded. I'm starting to be able to drive the top more efficiently - or possibly the top is responding more efficiently as it gets used to it, and that's where some of the really interesting sounds start to come through.
Whatever the combination, that tone on that video is great, David. That mando really has a wonderful voice.It seems to be getting even better. (and yer pickin' ain't hurting matters either!)
I figured that the depth of tone you're getting there must be with a pickup. Stunning that it is being projected. David, do you think that mandolin is beginning to mature, or are you just finding that voice more often?
Well, it's very hard to say isn't it Tom. My impression is that the change is more a case of me learning to tease out the sounds I really want to hear more consistently, but it's so subjective I could just be flattering myself. The things I really like about this mando were all audible, or feelable, on that first night I tried it, though.
David, I ask this because that first night I heard these tones in there too, and I watched you try to tease them out with some consistency. The feeling was that these tones were a mystery with that mandolin to be figured out. But, I also believe that it takes a little while for those pieces of wood to lose their memory of being a strong tree and begin developing a memory of functioning together as a mandolin. That's what I call "maturing". A bit metaphysical, I admit, but pretty easily discernible. If the top begins to respond more efficiently, that can be described as the wood cells drying out and becoming a bit more flexible, but to me it is useful to consider that the continuation of that process is a form of memory in those cells that works in conjunction with the other woods in that instrument. We experience an instrument "waking up" after being in a case for a while. In a sense, that is a form of remembering what it is capable of doing. A new instrument needs to develop a new memory first by finding its full voice. I'm watching how that takes place in Marty's mandolins. Thanks for your thoughts as you observe it opening up.
Well, here you go Tom, here's Star of the County Down as it was after about a week, and as it is now nearly 3 months later: May: August: It's so difficult to keep everything the same - at first I thought it had changed quite a bit more, but then I realized that I'd played the original using a D'Andrea Pro-Plec instead of my usual Blue Chip, so I had to do it over again. I'm using much older strings in the second version. But I still don't know if there's much difference or what it is. You tell me.
What I hear here is really the same sound from the mandolin. Looks like your technique is very slightly different, so you are pulling out the sound you want. There is something about the mandolin that sounds a bit "tighter" or more "together". Hard to say at this point.
Yes, I'd agree with that assessment - maybe just a little more focus, as if it means what it says a bit more firmly.
There is certainly no major difference between the two. The only difference I hear sounds like it could easily be attributed to strings past their prime. Just my .02, which on the world currency exchange is probably worth about .014.
Hi David, Like Stephen, I could not detect much difference in the two. I thought that the mix was more balanced in the first. I preferred the first one. As for your Blackberry Blossom video, all I can say is excellent playing, style, and variation. One of the best versions I have heard of late.
Thanks very much, Nic!
Hi David and Marty, I think that 21 would go well in Planxty style music. Why don't you try some counterpoint to see how it sounds one over the other? Just a thought.
David, I agree with the Blackberry Blossom assessment, awesome. I check out your videos and man you must know 125 songs! Ever count them up? Guess there is no stumping you at a jam. Kris Sorry Nic I didn't see your post! Wouldn't have gone off subject if I did.
Mmmmm... Planxty. Where's Mark Kunkel when you need him?
Not a problem Dusty. I think that American music would benefit hugely from incorporating the counterpoint playing that is present in Planxty. The mandolin and octave mandolin go well together in this context. There was an American 80s duo called 'how to change a flat tyre' that did this stuff. I just think that David should go one step further and reintroduce this into his videos. Just my opinion.
Well, it sounds like a cool idea, although I'm not much of Planxty expert, as Marty says there are other guys who are more into that sort of thing. I could see myself getting more into the counterpoint idea some day though. Dusty, I don't always keep all those tunes I do for Song A Week in my long term memory, but it sure helps when you're in a jam, because even if I've never played the particular tune they drag out, I probably have played something very like it. I think having a big back catalog does help me to categorize and absorb new tunes and chunks of melody much quicker. That said, it's usually pretty easy to catch me out I'm hardly ever called on to play fiddle tunes in public though - in reality I probably know a lot more bluegrass singing songs than fiddle tunes.
Intresting , I heard Tom mention that about fiddle tunes as well. Half my tunes are fiddle tunes, I guess song of the week social group will help me get a wider range of tunes. I don't go to any jams yet but guess it's best to have a good mix . I always thought fiddle tunes were a MUST KNOW for mandolin but I'm beginning to see otherwise. Singing bluegrass and old time stuff might be a little more popular in jams and get you further in jam situations. Not that there is anything wrong with knowing some fiddle tunes.
I think it depends a lot on your location, you have to check out the local jams and see what people get up to. People come up with all kinds of weird stuff and act like everyone should know it.
Georgians think alike I guess, Tom kind of made the same point to me about the fiddle tunes. I have to stop being chicken and go to a jam and see what people are into around here.............."weird stuff" guess I should have a couple polka tunes at the ready
Yeah, you don't even have to take your instrument just to scope out what goes on. It's probably easier if you don't.
Here is my Jacobson #24. Blackberry Blossom, Ragtime Annie, a little Dill Pickle Rag, flub medley.
In hindsight I should have done one song and waited for a flawless take but oh well. Wanted to display some different sounds out of it, don't go up high much although I know the fingerboard and should start to play licks/ melodies higher up on occasion.
Kris, thanks for posting! It's a cool little mandolin, but I'm glad to have it out the door. Looks like you're having fun with it. I need to learn that Dill Pickle Rag.
There is a whole middle part I didn't play in that Dill Pickle Rag. It was a Song of The Week song if you want to find the music for it. Fun song.
Well, it doesn't matter what you played, the main thing is, you sound great on it - I really enjoyed all of those, that mandolin really works for you, I would say.
Nice job, Kris. #24 sounds great, and I know you're having a great time with it. You've got a beautiful mandolin for sure!
Thanks David, Mike. Here is Bile Them Cabbage Down. I'm trying to fiddle with my new microphone for the best sound, still working out the kinks. Not there yet.
#24 is looking and sounding great, Kris! Glad to see you got it in and playin' it.
Thanks Mike! I'm enjoying it for sure.
This one has been getting some love and appreciation for the Jacobson tone over on the Song A Week group:
Awesome playing, David, thanks for sharing.
