Guitarist's Forum

[ragtime]

Its a metter of taste and what suits your guitar,of course,  but I agree with MartinK about Martin lights. I've used them for years, but I use the pure bronze ones rather than the usual phospher-bronze variety. I find they sound fuller and warmer on my instrument and less prone to fret squeak.

Chris

[Al]

Hi all,

I like the standard Martin bronze rather than the phospher ones too, the phospher ones seem a bit dull to my ears at times  I was pleased to see somebody else say they found Elixir disappointing. I'd also go as far to say that the DR handmade brand are pretty ropey too.

But, of course its all personal tatse and how they match the guitar(s) you have.

BTW, one slight omission, re Newtone strings, for those with a National or National style guitar I can heartily recommend trying their Messer National strings, they are fundamentally a medium gauge set, which really gets the cone moving, and they have a thicker top E ( just one step below the B string ) and this sounds awsome for slide. As the Newtones do have a lower tension, the jump up to medium gauge doesn't seem so bad.

[Ozspur]

I've been using Martin Bronze (not phosphor bronze) extra lights on my Ovation for years now and I really like the sound. Here in Australia the heat make your fingers very sweaty - probably due to my fast and brilliant fingerpicking technique  - and they soon lose their shiny appearance and start to sound a bit dead. This is due to the acidic content of sweat.
 
However I learned a really good trick back in 1977. Ralph McTell was playing in Canberra when I was living there. He was ten minutes late for his gig and he said it was because he had taken off his strings and washed them. I have since read in his book that if you boiled them it somehow rejuvenated them - AND you could drink the soup. Yuk!

This sounded way over the top for a part-time guitar player like me so ever since then I've kept an oily rag in the guitar case and I give the strings a thourough wipe down after each use. It really does prolong their life. I just use thin sewing machine oil. You have to wrap the cloth around each string individually and really pinch it hard as you slide the cloth up and down the entire length of the string between the nut and the bridge.

By the way, does anybody have a tab of Bert Jansch's version of Anji?

[peluche (Chris)]

Ralph McTell was playing in Canberra when I was living there. He was ten minutes late for his gig and he said it was because he had taken off his strings and washed them.

I heard of this technique once - putting strings in a pan of boiling water. I tried it when I was much younger and couldn't afford frequent string replacements - first twice I tried it, the strings snapped whilst putting them back on !!!  However, I was advised years later, whilst talking to Steve Rothery of Marillion, that the reason they snapped was I didn't put vingegar in the boiling water

By the way, does anybody have a tab of Bert Jansch's version of Anji?

Yes, there is a version on www.ultimate-guitar.com but I'm not sure how accurate it is

Cheers, Chris

[Al]

By the way, does anybody have a tab of Bert Jansch's version of Anji?

G'day 

Yup, attached to this post is a nice accurate version, and even better if you visit www.tabledit.com you can downlaod a free viewer program named Tablview ( or something like that ) that will enable you to open it, watch and listen to it being played etc etc  ( assuming your midi is working - it should be ).

TILT ! can't attach it becuase of its file extension, anybody wants it IM me with their email address and I will send it on.

[Al]

I have since read in his book that if you boiled them it somehow rejuvenated them - AND you could drink the soup. Yuk!

Ah, the old boil in the pan trick - I tried it a few times and either found the strings snapped ( like Peluche ) or that I could not tell any difference. Never tried the soup  I must admit I've never rubbed my strings down with any oils or anything, although obviously a lot of people do, maybe I should. I am fastidious about wiping them down after playing though.

[Ozspur]

Hi Al and Chris,

Many thanks for your Anji advice. I have downloaded the one from Chris's site - by golly it looks a bit difficult. Al, I have pm'd you separately about the file.

Cheers guys

Richard

[Henrik]

By the way, does anybody have a tab of Bert Jansch's version of Anji?

G'day 

Yup, attached to this post is a nice accurate version, and even better if you visit www.tabledit.com you can downlaod a free viewer program named Tablview ( or something like that ) that will enable you to open it, watch and listen to it being played etc etc  ( assuming your midi is working - it should be ).

TILT ! can't attach it becuase of its file extension, anybody wants it IM me with their email address and I will send it on.

Hi Al

Or you could just change the extension to say .... hmmm  ... ".txt" and notify us about what
the real extension is supposed to be 

Thank you for your kind offer - still looking for that song.
You see, I need to know what it really sounds like in order to make any sense
of the tab as soon as it is above the very basic level.


Henrik

[Leighton]

Guitarpro4 is quite good software and has Angi on it - looks something like

[John Robinson]

I'd back up the comments about Anji - I'm in the middle of learning it and I am amazed at how far I am getting with it.  Min doyu I do have a really good "in house" teacher - sometimes it is a bit like living in a guitar workshop!!

Not only is Anji really a lot easier than it sounds but it also teaches you and your fingers many useful things.  An excellent "tuition piece" which will improve your playing AND be interesting to play in its own right.

"Romance" is another tune in this category - although I don't think I'll try 'er indoors' Ragtime version just yet!

Anyone know any other pieces which fit into a similar role?

Regards
John Robinson
http://www.JulieEllison.co.uk   


MAJ says: Merged from the Guardian topic as it was more relevant here.

[Al]

Taking Henrik's cue here is Anjo in Tabledit format with a file suffix of .txt

To work with the free viewer available from www.tabledit.com you will need to rename it with a suffix of .tef



[attachment deleted by admin]

[Al]

Guitarpro4 is quite good software and has Angi on it

Hi Leighton, I'll have to investigate this methinks i due course 

[MAJ]

Taking Henrik's cue here is Anjo in Tabledit format with a file suffix of .txt

I'm having problems with this Al. Can't see or do anything with it - what am I doing wrong?

M

[Leighton]

Al,

TEFview is quite good. very similar to guitarpro4. Tabs for Guitarpro can be downloaded from mysongbook.com about 30,000 tabs

[Al]

Taking Henrik's cue here is Anjo in Tabledit format with a file suffix of .txt

I'm having problems with this Al. Can't see or do anything with it - what am I doing wrong?

M

Hi Maj...er I dunno is the answer.

To use, save the attached ANGIE.TXT file as ANGIE.TEF

Make sure you have downloaded and installed TEFview from www.tabledit.com

You should be able to double-click on ANGIE.TEF  for it to open in TEFview

You shoudl then be able to at least view it. If your midi is working you ought to be able to click on the play button and hear it.

Let me know if none of this works.

[david stevenson]

Good for you John

I particularly like the way that you ignore the first string first few plays of the riff then start to use it open as a chiming drone.  It gets really interesting if you carry on with riff then throw in hammer-ons on the first and third frets on the first string.  Sorry about the messy explanations - maybe I should join Al in the tabbing stakes!

David

MAJ says:  This post split from the Guardian topic as it is more relevant here - talking about guitar technique.  John's post of 16 Jan referred to is also now in this thread.

[Al]

I've been reading these posts and was stimulated ( oo-er ! ) by John's question about other pieces that are excellant tuitiion pieces and I thought I would be able to come up with some but having pondered this now but I have found it really hard to come up with any !

"Anji" is an absolutely fantastic piece because you can do what you want with it basically. Ralph's "Nettle Wine" taught me an awful lot as a player I think, still find it deeply satisfying to play even after all these years,  it got me away from the steady boom-chick of everything else I was playing at the time, like the Mississippi John Hurt type of thing - nothing wrong with them but they don't take you very far.

But, a cd and book I would recommend is by Jaques Stoztem named "Fingerprint". The tab is excellant and the cd is great listening, but what I like about it in particular is that its got quite a different approach to the thumb and uses unusual voicings higher up the fret board. Its available, as are lots of stunning cds ( and tab books ) from Peter Finger's Acoustic Music company( http://www.acoustic-music.de/english/index.html ) , everything I've heard on that label has been very inspiring - very much like the Kicking Mule records of the 1970's except they are better produced etc and there's nary a ragtime tune is sight  Dip in, I've been buying them regularly ever since, loads of ideas etc.


MAJ says:  This post split from the Guardian topic as it is more relevant here - talking about guitar technique.  John's post of 16 Jan referred to is also now in this thread.

[david stevenson]

Ralph's "Nettle Wine" taught me an awful lot as a player I think, still find it deeply satisfying to play even after all these years,  it got me away from the steady boom-chick of everything else I was playing at the time, like the Mississippi John Hurt type of thing - nothing wrong with them but they don't take you very far.

But, a cd and book I would recommend is by Jaques Stoztem named "Fingerprint".

MAJ says:  This post split from the Guardian topic as it is more relevant here - talking about guitar technique.  John's post of 16 Jan referred to is also now in this thread.

Al

Kindred spirits on two counts!  I also taught myself Nettle Wine all those years ago - there are lots of great picks on the Not Till Tomorrow album..... and I saw Jacques Stotzem lots of times a few years ago when I was working in Brussels, amazing.  Didn't realise that he had a book, so that's my next purchase! Thanks

David

[Leighton]

Being a novice in the art of recording multiple audio tracks, I thought a free audio editor may be of some use.

It is available for download at http://audacity.sourceforge.net/about.php.

It is "very basic" but I'm finding it very valuable in increasing my knowledge of recording, without it costing me anything (at least for the time being). It gives you the ability to play and record at the same time. Something which I have found to be very difficult to understand, except in words of one syllable.

The one problem which I found out was that there is a slight time delay in the recording from the first track. I have found it easier to only use the first track as a backing and delete it on the final recording.

I save the files in it's original format and also as a wav file.

I would welcome any feedback as to whether other board members find this a useful starter for home recording.

[Al]

Hi Leighton,
I haven't any experience of this package but for free its got to be a useful intro, especially if you can play with yourself, as it were. I read a quick tour of its features, pretty good stuff. I must admit to being a Luddite in principle, although I have a digital recorder I still think in terms of 'performance' so have hardly used any of the cut and paste functions these things offer. One thing I can say is that its an extremely addictive activity thats for sure