Guitarist's Forum

[Al]

[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

As you'll no doubt discover from the website there are in fact quite a few of them - will keep you busy for a while 

[david stevenson]

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.

Thanks Leighton

Downloaded successfully and I'll give it a shot over the next two weekends.  I use the multitracking facility to give depth to the recordings, recognising that you can't then replicate it in live performance, but as I write my own material I think it's important to try to get as close to how the song sounds in your head when you finally record it.  Other writers out there will know what I mean!!

David

[MAJ]

Hmm, I get very strange things happen when I try to access the Stringbusters website (recommended by Al).  Anyone else have problems? (www.stringbusters.co.uk)

MAJ

[Paul]

Fine for me MAJ. Do you get any error messages?

Paul

[Leighton]

Looks ok to me MAJ.

[Geoff]

MAJ,

Have you ever thought of playing the Elizabeth Cotten way ?

Elizabeth "Libba" Cotten played a right handed guitar left handed, without changing the strings around. Amazing.

I remember seeing a snippet of her on the Martin Carthy TV prog afew months ago. Playing the song she was most famous for writting - Freight Train

I'm sure if you do an Image search on Google for Elizabeth Cotten you will see what I mean.

Worth mentioning here that Leighton plays an excellent version of "freight train", without even changing hands or restringing his guitar!

[Leighton]

MAJ,

Have you ever thought of playing the Elizabeth Cotten way ?

Elizabeth "Libba" Cotten played a right handed guitar left handed, without changing the strings around. Amazing.

I remember seeing a snippet of her on the Martin Carthy TV prog afew months ago. Playing the song she was most famous for writting - Freight Train

I'm sure if you do an Image search on Google for Elizabeth Cotten you will see what I mean.

Worth mentioning here that Leighton plays an excellent version of "freight train", without even changing hands or restringing his guitar!

Geoff, thanks for the comments. But I hadn't planned on playing it. It's just I made such a pig's ear of Mrs Adlams Angels (I have NO IDEA WHY I PLAY A7th INSTEAD OF Amin), that it was the first song that entered my head.

And a Thank You to Al as well, a complement from the master is much appreciated.

I'm working on "That'll never happen no more", a wonderful Blind Blake tune............. Nearly got it.

[Al]

I'm working on "That'll never happen no more", a wonderful Blind Blake tune............. Nearly got it.

Great tune, been one of my favourites for a long long time 

[MAJ]

I had forgotten what a pain (literally) changing strings can be.  I have just put a set of Martin bronze extra lights on my new 'baby' and I like the sound very much.  Made a bit of a pig's ear of actually carrying out said task - still, tis done.

Thanks for your advice......now I'm off to practice.

MAJ

[david stevenson]

Maj

For all of us who have the Songs for Six Strings book, Ralph's advice on tightening strings when you first put them on is invaluable.  I am an inveterate fiddler between standard tuning, drop D, DADGAD etc, and Ralph's method keeps me in tune.

David

[Al]

What a pain changing string is !! I have got really quick at it but still hate it. In an effort to shame myself into doing it more often last year I took to leaving a slip of paper under the headstcok in all my guitar cases upon which I scrawled the date whenever I changed strings. It didn't work, I have no more enthusiasm for changing strings than I did before and the guitars now have documentary evidence of my neglect 

My 12 string suffers the most but still it rewards me with glorious tones that I don;t really deserve   

Astonishingly, I was reading some posts on a newsgroup nto so long ago and someone else in the States had tried the very same idea...and with the same result.

I think the only solution is for someone to invent strings that never need changing.

I've just had to look at the book to see what David refers to, I think the way I do it is roughly the same although I have never quite got the hang of slotted headstocks yet - they're horrible even if they do look great 

[Henrik]

Maj

For all of us who have the Songs for Six Strings book, Ralph's advice on tightening strings when you first put them on is invaluable.  I am an inveterate fiddler between standard tuning, drop D, DADGAD etc, and Ralph's method keeps me in tune.

David

Also the trick of bending the string 90 degrees after putting it through the whole of the adjustment "pin"
and locking the string even more in place by bending it 90 degrees up before overlapping it with the next
round of string works wonders for me - not nearly having to adjust the tuning as often as I used to have to.
Wondering what I did, before I learned this ....   

So how much do you "guys and dudettes" tigthen the string before you start turning the adjustment "screw" ?
ie. how many rounds of string is it common/ sensible to end up with ?


Henrik

[peluche (Chris)]

Maybe I'm an oddball 
But I quite enjoy changing strings. I can get to clean all the little nooks and crannies that I can't reach when the strings are on - plus the lovely bright sound of new strings just makes it all worth while !!

Henrik, I always wrap twice round peg, then through hole and between the two previous wraps !!!

Cheers, Chris

[Nuthouse]

Maybe I'm an oddball 

Yes... you are an oddball 

Whenever you feel the need to exercise your bizarre fondness for string changing please let me know and you can do the lot - particularly the mandolin 

[tarda (Gill)]

I can just see the stall at Cropredy -
"string the changes with Chris" 

[Nuthouse]

He needs aversion therapy.... anyone got a harp ?

[Paul]

No, but I've got a 12 string, 5 six strings, a mandolin and a bass he can have a go on.

 

Paul

[Nuthouse]

Bless ya heart Paul, that should help him 

[tarda (Gill)]

we could get him to restring the school guitars - now that really is a demorallising task!

[jude]

Next time I decide to restring all three autoharps (36 strings each) I'll know who to call on....

Jude