VOM 8 -- Virtual Open Mic @ HCAG, Second Sunday, Sept 14, 2008

[knockwood]

 

Try this. It's the youtube route. BTW, the original iMovie captured my saddle-up view complete with smooth mellon. The final rendering de-cranialated me. Better for you. Also, the recording makes the Goodall sound like a plastic Hurdy-Gurdy so pay no attention to the quality of the guitar. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mn4ZGXDaIVI

 

 

That worked! Thanks. Lovely picking & vocs! Wish I could use thumb/fingerpicks. I try, now & then, and my playing is about as graceful as an elephant on stilts... and ice skates.

[FussenKuh]

FussenKuh

[FussenKuh]

Fussenkuh: Cool! Teach me that one some day!!! I didn't know that song but now I'm going to listen to it very often!

I'm glad I could introduce you to Tesla If I lived in Montreal, I'd gladly teach you... although, I don't think I'm a very good teacher

[bransonb]

 

bransonb....thanx.....and by the way, I really liked your train song.....where is that open mic you go to up in the berkshires?

 

 

 

And thanks back, Michael. I regret I haven't been to the Berkshires in some time. Some Damn Old Train Song was recorded at Java Jo's in Jamaica Plain, right across from the Forest Hills T stop, and one of the longest running open mics in the Boston area.

[bransonb]

 

Just curious Branson, what prompted you to think Nick Drake or L.Cohen? My delivery? Lyrics? Nylon string? Thanks, -Dave

 

 

Oh definitely your delivery and your approach to the song. Your lyrics here are more upbeat than Nick Drake or Leonard Cohen. Those guys can get pretty dark. I don't hear you going there with Daughter of the Water. Good job!

 

Branson

[Sangemon]

 

It's no problem really, just strip out the 'Fruit' aspect of the picture... :poke:

 

 

How'd you do that?

[DigitalRelay]

Second time listening through...

 

Cripes - YouTube link worked. Really great job! You make playing and singing look easy.

 

Queequeg - Cool song choice. And yes, I had visions of Popeye while listening. Agreed on the 1812 Overture too, even though I grew up in the 70's and 80's. Thanks to reruns.

 

riffmeister - Wow! I know I'm not the first to say it, but awesome playing! Excellent recording too!

 

Scodiddly - Great rendition of this song. Well played and sung.

 

recordingtrack1 - Very nice recording. Not familiar with the song, but I enjoyed your playing and singing.

 

happy-man - Really nice. I'd like to here more about the homemade mic.

 

MattSkibaIsGOD - I got some weird audio glitches, but great playing and singing.

 

totamus - I don't know the song, but I enjoyed your version.

 

Jaron - Great video and recording!

 

Michael Martin - Cool song! Well written and I liked the lyrics.

 

gthom - That was beautiful, man! I wish I could play like that.

 

Freeman Keller - (putfile not working for me. Will try again later)

 

kwakatak - (ditto putfile)

 

garthman - (putfile once more)

 

My apologies if I missed anyone.

 

I had a great time listening to all of your submissions. I especially like the video clips. YouTube in particular, since you can play it without leaving the webpage.

 

And I just wanted to say thank you to everyone that took the time to listen and/or comment on my submission. It was awesome to be a part of this again.

[MattSkibaIsGOD]

 

Oh definitely your delivery and your approach to the song. Your lyrics here are more upbeat than Nick Drake or Leonard Cohen. Those guys can get pretty dark. I don't hear you going there with Daughter of the Water . Good job! Branson

 

 

Thanks again. I've really learned a lot about the way I approach melodies from listening to Leonard Cohen, and how to fit really gorgeous chords into my songs from Nick Drake.

 

EDIT: Thanks DigitalRelay; the audio glitches are from my mic not functioning properly.

 

Garthman: great job on another Cohen classic.

[riffmeister]

Thank you Mr riffmeister about your comments on my voice! By the way, riffmeister: what is your musical background??? You are a very advanced musician!

 

You're welcome, you deserve it!

 

I've been playing guitar for about 45 years......and my fingers are KILLING me......ba-da-bump! I had lessons as a kid and in my teenage years I studied briefly with an accomplished jazz guitarist and then a classical guitarist, but I am largely self-taught and pick up a lot of songs by ear. I've played in numerous amateur musical groups since age 12. In the end, though, music is just a hobby of mine......an avocation, not a vocation.

[Cripes]

 

That worked! Thanks. Lovely picking & vocs! Wish I could use thumb/fingerpicks. I try, now & then, and my playing is about as graceful as an elephant on stilts... and ice skates.

 

 

They are weird feeling at first. I tried every brand/style of fingerpicks and short of super-gluing them on they tend to fly off at some point in a busy piece. So, I quit using them. Besides, they really didn't do anything for me sound-wise. My natural nails do as good a job. The thumbpick is something that is starting to take root on my thumb. I seriously cannot play without one now.

[Brokepick]

DigitalRelay, Sangemon, Riffmeister, Queequeg, Cripes, Happy Man, gthom, OGP, C70man, bransonb;

 

You guys don't know how much your kind comments mean to me. I would guess that's the first time I've received anything resembling applause. I must admit that looking at that performance in a brutally objective way, it wasn't that great, but I had a good time with it anyway. Thank you so much for the encouragement.

[FussenKuh]

Alrighty, I've finally gotten a chance to listen to the next chunk of what's been posted... then my power went out. I took that as a sign that I should stop listening for the day... not that I had much choice. Once again, I've been quite impressed with the number of contributions and play styles.

 

mrmoe - I'm always impressed by how clean you play and your voice matches perfectly with the music. Great job!

bransonb - That's one Damn Old Train Song that's been nicely played You're right about how great all those background sounds fit into the song.

g6120 - Priceless indeed! That's an once in a lifetime moment to capture on film. And, you matched the song beautifully with it.

strang - String buzzes and screw-up? Not to my ears. That's the sound of authenticity! Thanks for sharing at the VOM

Frets99 - Thanks for sharing your "new" guitar with us For not knowing how to play slide guitar, I'd say you did a quality job... certainly better than I've ever been able to do.

 

I'm looking forward to making my way through the rest of the submissions. Hopefully, the power company will cooperate.

[OldGuitarPlayer]

Well..it looks like I have made it to the end of this months VOM. I'd like to thank all those again who listened to my song and left kind comments and words of encouragement. You all did a great job on your stuff...it shows how much you all enjoy playing acoustic guitar! That's what brings us all here anyway...right?

 

Here's what I have listened to today!

 

Michael Martin Thanks for sharing that wonderful song with us for your first contribution to the VOM! It has a very catchy melody and well thought lyrics.

 

gthom I have only dabbled in classical guitar so I am no expert... I thought you played the piece nicely It was relaxing and fluid. I think the creaking chair only adds to the "live" flavour of the recording. The guitar didn't sound that bad and has nice sustain. Very enjoyable indeed!

 

Freeman Wow! Great stuff! That was a nicely played melodic instrumental! I the sound of your 12 string! Especially when you hit that low note..

 

Misha I cannot believe how much you have progressed in the past few months. I think that is the first time I ever heard your voice...it's beautiful! You must keep singing!!! ...Nicely played too and it sounded good...I was able to hear everything fine.

 

Kwak That was amazing! Another beautiful original melody and sooo finely played. I love the sound of your guitar...every note is clear. The melody has a very "classical" sort of vibe to it...at least I think. Thanks for sharing this with us!

 

garthman I love how you play Leonard Cohen's music. You really capture his vibe and the finger picking is awesome! You even have a similiar tone and delivery in your voice...it's easy to tell he is big influence on your sound. I am glad I got to finally here it.

 

 

Great job all!!!

 

OGP

[kwakatak]

Thanks to everybody for the feedback on my submission. Like I said, it's still a "work in progress" but it's taken on a life of its own. I could name about 3 or 4 different influences though so I don't really feel that it's "mine" - though I'm wrestling with it every day.

 

The lyrics are getting be problematic. They're coming out more trite and poetic than truly "lyrical." You know how it is, too much rhyming and using words that may fit the rhythm and meter but don't "flow" within the song's context. Maybe I'm putting too much thought into them. The music has actually been pretty easy - too easy, in fact. I've actually had to simplify parts and leave other stuff out that has just flowed while noodling. The toughest part has been trying to order it into a structure that will accommodate lyrics.

[Ohioarrow]

Seems I took a rather unscheduled vacation there. Just got communications back albeit we're still running on generator here.

 

Ike seems to have not been satisfied raising cain in Texas and decided to defy conventional thinking and clean Ohio's clock too. Haven't had much news since Sunday, so I am not sure where else it went. A hurricane in Ohio, who'd thunk it?

 

Any rate, I got the servers back online this afternoon. Keep in mind they are being powered by gasoline so there may be brief outages occassionally for "re-fills" until our electric companies can get the infrastructure back up.

 

My apologies to garthman - I did post your stuff bro, but apparently the weather gods intervened. Luckily - this was a very rare event.

 

It'll take me a few days to get my act together and get the archive site updated, I have a few business priorities that require my attention, but I will try and get it done before the end of the weekend.

 

By the way, anyone seen my roof? Some of the metal sheets seem to have gone AWOL. Probably landed in Pennsylvania.

[FussenKuh]

Wow That really sucks, Ohioarrow. I'm glad to hear that things are at least starting to return to normal. We got about 72 hours of straight rain around Detroit over the weekend, but, luckily, it never came with high winds. We just had some flooding and a lot of soggy ground.

[riffmeister]

Seems I took a rather unscheduled vacation there. A hurricane in Ohio, who'd thunk it?

 

Yikes. Let's hope the earthquakes stay out west!

 

Welcome back from camping!

[OldGuitarPlayer]

Glad to hear you are doing ok Ohioarrow!!

I hope you didn't sustain too much damage.

[C70man]

 

...... It'll take me a few days to get my act together and get the archive site updated, I have a few business priorities that require my attention, but I will try and get it done before the end of the weekend. By the way, anyone seen my roof? Some of the metal sheets seem to have gone AWOL. Probably landed in Pennsylvania.

 

 

Prioritize your stuff first......I'm sure we can wait it out. Just glad to hear you're ok.

[MattSkibaIsGOD]

Glad you're back, Joe.

[Cripes]

 

By the way, anyone seen my roof? Some of the metal sheets seem to have gone AWOL. Probably landed in Pennsylvania.

 

 

Finders, keepers. Really? You have a tin roof? Gads that must have sounded like a freight train rolling across your house. I lived in a tin-roofed house and just a normal rain caused a roar. Well, all the best in getting things restored and normal again.

[Misha]

Seems I took a rather unscheduled vacation there. Just got communications back albeit we're still running on generator here. Ike seems to have not been satisfied raising cain in Texas and decided to defy conventional thinking and clean Ohio's clock too. Haven't had much news since Sunday, so I am not sure where else it went. A hurricane in Ohio, who'd thunk it? Any rate, I got the servers back online this afternoon. Keep in mind they are being powered by gasoline so there may be brief outages occassionally for "re-fills" until our electric companies can get the infrastructure back up. My apologies to garthman - I did post your stuff bro, but apparently the weather gods intervened. Luckily - this was a very rare event. It'll take me a few days to get my act together and get the archive site updated, I have a few business priorities that require my attention, but I will try and get it done before the end of the weekend.

 

Glad to see that you are ok!

 

By the way, anyone seen my roof? Some of the metal sheets seem to have gone AWOL. Probably landed in Pennsylvania.

 

:eek:

 

[g6120]

 

Seems I took a rather unscheduled vacation there. Just got communications back albeit we're still running on generator here. Ike seems to have not been satisfied raising cain in Texas and decided to defy conventional thinking and clean Ohio's clock too. Haven't had much news since Sunday, so I am not sure where else it went. A hurricane in Ohio, who'd thunk it? Any rate, I got the servers back online this afternoon. Keep in mind they are being powered by gasoline so there may be brief outages occassionally for "re-fills" until our electric companies can get the infrastructure back up. My apologies to garthman - I did post your stuff bro, but apparently the weather gods intervened. Luckily - this was a very rare event. It'll take me a few days to get my act together and get the archive site updated, I have a few business priorities that require my attention, but I will try and get it done before the end of the weekend. By the way, anyone seen my roof? Some of the metal sheets seem to have gone AWOL. Probably landed in Pennsylvania.

 

 

Hey Joe, Glad to hear you made it through OK!

And to my fellow VOM1T players, I'm sorry it has taken me this long to even log back in and check out comments but I've been super busy this time! I literally only had time to post my video and leave. I really appreciate ALL of your comments about my video featuring my boy. Such a wonderful thing to capture, that moment of first musical discovery. DOn't ask me where he learned those hand movements because neither of us play piano. We do have one in the house though and he has plinked one note things on it but this is the first time we've seen him try to play with fingers on both hands!

 

I will get to start listening to all of your contributions and comment soon!! From what I have read it sounds like we had another great VOM!!

[Stackabones]

Welcome back, Joe! Glad to hear you're here!

[Ohioarrow]

I finally got to sit down this evening and listen to all the links. All the links worked except Garthman's. Joe, Garthman's song didn't show up in your post, so I missed it. Don't know what is wrong.

 

We got sideswept by the remains of Hurricane Ike out here in Ohio. Took out all power to the servers and communications infrastructure. Garth's post was on that server along with the archive site. We were down about a half a week. Everything should be viewable now.