Here are some technical notes about the Cd....for all of my brothers and sisters of the Dobro, this is record
is for you
-This Cd was recorded as cleanly as possible, with no edits or effects. A small amount of compression, EQ and Reverb were used, but the greatest effort was made to record the instruments as they sound naturally........
-All tunings are written from the lowest string to the highest.
-For the most part, I use string sets by Paul Beard of Resophonic outfitters, .018-.056.
-On most songs I use a Scheerhorn bar, but if I am going to be doing a lot of slants, I will use a Shubb Pearse bar, because I feel like I can get a better grip on the "shoulders" of this bar. During some songs, I will actually keep the Shubb bar on my lap, and switch bars in the middle of the song.
-I don't believe in plugging a resophonic guitar in, as to me, it defeats the purpose. There are some live situations that force me to use a pickup, but this Cd was not one of them, and so the only songs that have direct signal on them from a pickup are the ones with the Weissenborn or the 12 string, both of which have Sunrise pickups in them.
INSTRUMENTS: There are six instruments used on the "Birds" cd.
1. 1929 National Tricone squareneck #1316
2. 1998 Gibson Dobro, based on the 27 Deluxe model which is no longer made.
3. Superior Hawaiian Guitar. A Weissenborn style copy, made in Mexico.
4. 2001 Fiberglass Dobro with rosewood inserts
5. Washburn 12 string guitar, with raised nut for lap style playing. This is a relatively cheap guitar purchased in 1986 for about 250 dollars. Not sure of the model, it might be a D 15
6. 1938 Regal Dobro, set up "clawhammer style". I set up this guitar to be played like a five string banjo. The normal sixth string was removed and replaced with an .018 guauge first string, tuned an octave higher, to a G. the rest of the strings were then tuned G(octave) , and some variants on G, C, G , C , D.....
Songs:
1. Piping Plovers: regular open D tuning on the Gibson Dobro. DAD, F#A D. The harmonics are played naturally with the left hand, no effects or modifications.
2. Riding the Rails with Chris Darling: This basic melody of this tune was written on Chris Darling's Radio show at WMPG in Portland Maine. Chris is a great guy, and has been really supportive of what I do.......This song was played on the Weissenborn, in open C tuning C,G,C,G,C, E. Both this guitar and the 12 string are outfitted with Sunrise Pickups, which I really love.....
3. The Run up Butter Mountain: Regal "clawhammer" Dobro G(octave) , G, C, G, C, D. This is a segment of a much longer raga that I have been working on for the past year....
4. Great Blue Heron: regular open D on the National Tricone. DAD, F#A D. an improvisation, which was done on the first take.
5. Hammerhead: regular Dobro G, GBD, GBD, fiberglass Dobro.. pretty self explanatory.
6. Pole Vaulting Mingus: Fiberglass Dobro, E, B, B, G A, E. This was written in Mexico in March of 2006 as I was trying to adjust to the behavior of Americans on vacation. A friend of mine was nice enough to cut one of my Shubb Pearse bars in half.....or more accurately, in two pieces, one of 70% of it's length and one of 30%. I have been working with this shorter piece of bar for a few years, trying to get partial chords and fragments that would be impossible with a full sized bar. This short bar is used on the slower segments of this song, and also on track 11, Salty and Smooth.
7. War Never Ends: regular Dobro G, GBD, GBD on the Gibson Dobro. try using your fifth string as the root, instead of the sixth.....
8. Hijaz Mojo: regular Dobro G, GBD, GBD on the Gibson Dobro. I have been studying Middle Eastern scales for the past few years, and many of you have heard me drop them in to my versions of blues standards like Son House's "Walking Blues" or Robert Johnson's "Love in Vain". This particular scale or Maquam, is called "Hijaz" and shares many of the same notes that occur in the blues scale. I have been improvising in this mode for a few years now, and this is where I am with it right now......(to be continued)
9. 73 Bus vs. 71 Bus: regular Dobro G, GBD, GBD on the fiberglass Dobro. Both of these buses leave from Harvard Square in Cambridge, where I play on the street regularly. The 73 bus goes to Belmont, where I used to live, and the 71 bus goes to Watertown.......either way, it's still a cart full of shit and a Dobro on your back and a bus load of people looking at you.....
10. Charles River Rag: regular open D on the 12 string.
11. Salty and Smooth: Fiberglass Dobro E, G, D, G, B, C. This song also uses the cut off Shubb Pearse bar mentioned in #6.
12. Lost Oystercatcher : C minor on the Weissonborn. C,G,C,G,C,Eflat. The Oystercatcher is one of my favorite birds. They are solitary in nature, and like their privacy......
13. Mississippi Ripposaurus: regular open D on the 12 string.
14. Glass Flowers in Mothballs: Regal "clawhammer" Dobro G(octave) , G, C, G, A, D. My best friend likes the Peabody Museum at Harvard University. It smells there.
15. February Grebe: regular open D on the 12 string. Another one take improvisation.
16. 24 Hours: Fiberglass Dobro: E, A, D, E, B, D. this may also have been E, B, D, E, B, D. (learning the lesson of the need to write these down!) This is probably my favorite song on the Cd......another improvisation, that brings back memories of putting one foot in front of the other.
17. UnitedStatesofAmnesia : Regal "clawhammer" Dobro G(octave) , G, C, G, A, D. This was the first piece I wrote in the 'clawhammer' tuning. I had a gig that I shouldn't have taken, far from home, where drunks weren't listening, and there was a guy cutting stained glass while I was playing. I got home late and this song came out of improvising that night..... I really do feel like we have amnesia a lot in this country. peace.
if there's something I didn't cover that your curious about, feel free to drop me a line.
is for you
-This Cd was recorded as cleanly as possible, with no edits or effects. A small amount of compression, EQ and Reverb were used, but the greatest effort was made to record the instruments as they sound naturally........
-All tunings are written from the lowest string to the highest.
-For the most part, I use string sets by Paul Beard of Resophonic outfitters, .018-.056.
-On most songs I use a Scheerhorn bar, but if I am going to be doing a lot of slants, I will use a Shubb Pearse bar, because I feel like I can get a better grip on the "shoulders" of this bar. During some songs, I will actually keep the Shubb bar on my lap, and switch bars in the middle of the song.
-I don't believe in plugging a resophonic guitar in, as to me, it defeats the purpose. There are some live situations that force me to use a pickup, but this Cd was not one of them, and so the only songs that have direct signal on them from a pickup are the ones with the Weissenborn or the 12 string, both of which have Sunrise pickups in them.
INSTRUMENTS: There are six instruments used on the "Birds" cd.
1. 1929 National Tricone squareneck #1316
2. 1998 Gibson Dobro, based on the 27 Deluxe model which is no longer made.
3. Superior Hawaiian Guitar. A Weissenborn style copy, made in Mexico.
4. 2001 Fiberglass Dobro with rosewood inserts
5. Washburn 12 string guitar, with raised nut for lap style playing. This is a relatively cheap guitar purchased in 1986 for about 250 dollars. Not sure of the model, it might be a D 15
6. 1938 Regal Dobro, set up "clawhammer style". I set up this guitar to be played like a five string banjo. The normal sixth string was removed and replaced with an .018 guauge first string, tuned an octave higher, to a G. the rest of the strings were then tuned G(octave) , and some variants on G, C, G , C , D.....
Songs:
1. Piping Plovers: regular open D tuning on the Gibson Dobro. DAD, F#A D. The harmonics are played naturally with the left hand, no effects or modifications.
2. Riding the Rails with Chris Darling: This basic melody of this tune was written on Chris Darling's Radio show at WMPG in Portland Maine. Chris is a great guy, and has been really supportive of what I do.......This song was played on the Weissenborn, in open C tuning C,G,C,G,C, E. Both this guitar and the 12 string are outfitted with Sunrise Pickups, which I really love.....
3. The Run up Butter Mountain: Regal "clawhammer" Dobro G(octave) , G, C, G, C, D. This is a segment of a much longer raga that I have been working on for the past year....
4. Great Blue Heron: regular open D on the National Tricone. DAD, F#A D. an improvisation, which was done on the first take.
5. Hammerhead: regular Dobro G, GBD, GBD, fiberglass Dobro.. pretty self explanatory.
6. Pole Vaulting Mingus: Fiberglass Dobro, E, B, B, G A, E. This was written in Mexico in March of 2006 as I was trying to adjust to the behavior of Americans on vacation. A friend of mine was nice enough to cut one of my Shubb Pearse bars in half.....or more accurately, in two pieces, one of 70% of it's length and one of 30%. I have been working with this shorter piece of bar for a few years, trying to get partial chords and fragments that would be impossible with a full sized bar. This short bar is used on the slower segments of this song, and also on track 11, Salty and Smooth.
7. War Never Ends: regular Dobro G, GBD, GBD on the Gibson Dobro. try using your fifth string as the root, instead of the sixth.....
8. Hijaz Mojo: regular Dobro G, GBD, GBD on the Gibson Dobro. I have been studying Middle Eastern scales for the past few years, and many of you have heard me drop them in to my versions of blues standards like Son House's "Walking Blues" or Robert Johnson's "Love in Vain". This particular scale or Maquam, is called "Hijaz" and shares many of the same notes that occur in the blues scale. I have been improvising in this mode for a few years now, and this is where I am with it right now......(to be continued)
9. 73 Bus vs. 71 Bus: regular Dobro G, GBD, GBD on the fiberglass Dobro. Both of these buses leave from Harvard Square in Cambridge, where I play on the street regularly. The 73 bus goes to Belmont, where I used to live, and the 71 bus goes to Watertown.......either way, it's still a cart full of shit and a Dobro on your back and a bus load of people looking at you.....
10. Charles River Rag: regular open D on the 12 string.
11. Salty and Smooth: Fiberglass Dobro E, G, D, G, B, C. This song also uses the cut off Shubb Pearse bar mentioned in #6.
12. Lost Oystercatcher : C minor on the Weissonborn. C,G,C,G,C,Eflat. The Oystercatcher is one of my favorite birds. They are solitary in nature, and like their privacy......
13. Mississippi Ripposaurus: regular open D on the 12 string.
14. Glass Flowers in Mothballs: Regal "clawhammer" Dobro G(octave) , G, C, G, A, D. My best friend likes the Peabody Museum at Harvard University. It smells there.
15. February Grebe: regular open D on the 12 string. Another one take improvisation.
16. 24 Hours: Fiberglass Dobro: E, A, D, E, B, D. this may also have been E, B, D, E, B, D. (learning the lesson of the need to write these down!) This is probably my favorite song on the Cd......another improvisation, that brings back memories of putting one foot in front of the other.
17. UnitedStatesofAmnesia : Regal "clawhammer" Dobro G(octave) , G, C, G, A, D. This was the first piece I wrote in the 'clawhammer' tuning. I had a gig that I shouldn't have taken, far from home, where drunks weren't listening, and there was a guy cutting stained glass while I was playing. I got home late and this song came out of improvising that night..... I really do feel like we have amnesia a lot in this country. peace.
if there's something I didn't cover that your curious about, feel free to drop me a line.