Tour Update!

I'd like to call it a whirlwind tour, but three weeks does not a whirlwind make! It was more of a steady breeze that carried me through six state stopovers, two major festivals, a trade show, three house concert/workshops and more Mexican food than I've had in a number of months. As I've discovered, it's easier to update via the iPhone than attempt to find wi-fi and use my laptop, which is why I mainly shot tons of pictures and then posted them on Facebook. There are over 400 photos from Nashville, Tennessee (NAMM Show), Townsend, Tennessee (The Pickin' Porch and the Great Smoky Mountains), Bardstown, Kentucky (Kentucky Music Week), Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio (Doug and Deena Snapp's), Portage, Pennsylvania (JT and Missy Taylor's) and Westminister, Maryland (Common Ground On The Hill.) You can find those pictures in three albums on Facebook entitled "Summer Tour 2010" parts 1, 2 and 3. The photos and captions tell the story:


Summer Tour 2010

Summer Tour 2010 Pt. 2


Summer Tour 2010 Pt. 3

Tomorrow, I fly out to Woodburn, Indiana for the 1st Annual Indiana Dulcimer Festival, teaching and performing along with Stephen Seifert and Lois Hornbostel, both of whom I've rubbed elbows with earlier on tour. Looking forward to a great weekend at Folkcraft Instruments headquarters. Returning on Monday, I'll have a quick shot at Epcot to see U2 tribute band 2U before climbing back into Buster and heading westwards to Houston, Texas for the Bayou City Music Festival, thereby kicking off the second leg of this crazy summer tour.

I'll try to be better about at least posting updates here on the blog - but if you follow me on Facebook and/or Twitter, you'll probably get more info until I'm back home with reliable wifi.

Many thanks to those of you who have signed up for the mailing list and regularly drop a line to say "hey". I do my best to answer each e-mail in timely fashion and sometimes the spam filter arbitrarily grabs a message. If you don't hear back from me, try again. We'll see you on the road.

There are Hotwire coupons you can use to get here.

aah......

The Energy of Excited

Going on tour is always an exciting prospect and, after it's all said and done, I'm also excited to come home as well. Variety is truly the spice of life for Sagittarius and it sometimes makes me do crazy things. Like last night, after The Pub Thang and Simon Time Trivia at McWell's - I packed up my gear, put it in Buster, went home, unpacked, re-packed, said goodbye to Jae and hopped in for a ten-hour drive to Nashville. Normally, I'll break up anything over eight hours into two days, but for some reason, I figured that I could do this without getting any sleep. I was right.

It's currently 4 p.m. ET and I've now been up for a consecutive 31 hours and showing no signs of fading. Too early to knock off now - better wait until later in the evening. Got a long day at NAMM tomorrow.

Met up with Richard and Nick from Folkcraft - got my exhibitor badge, heard some music at Tootsie's and checked into the hotel room, which is niftily within walking distance of Broadway. Hopefully, this time around, I'll get a chance to see 16th Avenue.

But for now, I'm thinking "pool." Pool, and maybe a nap.

Tradition

The annual 11th hour prep of songbooks.

Mountain Dulcimer Blues 101 at Mel Bay Dulcimer Sessions

Dulcimer Sessions » Blog Archive » Mountain Dulcimer Blues 101

peace in the garden

Showers of summer foreshadowed

Weather Conditions from The Weather Channel

Now for Orlando, FL (32805)

Temp: 98F
Feels like: 100F
Fair
Humidity: 31%
Wind: CALM at calm mph
Updated: 6/14/10 6:05 PM EDT

Dulcimerica 163 - "Key West Dulcimer Fest Pt. 5"

The Cool of future

More like Project: Next Thursday

test

Good News and Bad News

I know, when someone says that to me, "I've got good news and bad news", the heart starts to racing a little faster. Since there's more timely news to present here, I'll actually save the bad news for last. If you simply can't stand it anymore, you can jump to the end of this post. But be sure to come back!


TONIGHT! Earth Trivia and The Pub Thang at McWell's Restaurant (6/9)


We're trying something new with the Wednesday nights at McWell's in Orlando. Throughout the summer, I will be there on the 2nd Wednesday of each month and then we'll boost it to every week. However, starting with last week, every Wednesday will be Earth Trivia with Simon, starting at 8 p.m. On weeks that I'm there, the music will begin at 7 p.m. and continue until trivia starts. Then, I'll be performing during breaks in the trivia until it's over at 10 p.m. and then the music continues on until 11 p.m. More details are on the site at http://mcwellsrestaurant.com - tonight will be the first evening where we try the new format, so please come out and have some fun with us! Besides the usual drink specials and .50 cent wings - you can also compete with other teams to win a $25 bar tab and more!



CHANGE OF SCHEDULE AT DICEY REILLY'S



I'm still performing this Saturday, June 12th, at Dicey Reilly's, but will not be performing on June 11th due to a scheduling mishap. The show will launch, as always, at 7 p.m. and if it gets even half as wild as the last time I was there, better bring your dancing shoes.


NASHVILLE Next Week


I will be in Nashville, Tennessee next week for four days, demonstrating at the Folkcraft Instruments booth during Summer NAMM Show. Actual dates of the show are Friday, June 18th - Sunday, June 20th and I'll be arriving on Thursday, June 17th. Though the music trade show is closed to the general public, you may be one of those folks who actually has a badge to get in. Folkcraft will be at booth #907 on show days - come by and say hello! If you're interested in getting a private lesson while I'm in town, just drop me an e-mail and we'll set something up. The show runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday. I will not be available for private lessons on Sunday due to an immediate departure time after the show - destination: Kentucky Music Week in Bardstown, Kentucky.


MORE NEW DATES!


Besides Kentucky Music Week (if you're going, you probably already know what I'm teaching by now), I'll be swinging back through Tennessee into Townsend to perform again on The Pickin' Porch at Wood 'n' Strings Dulcimer Shop. June 26th is the date and I'll also be teaching three workshops that are geared towards all skill levels. The schedule looks like it might roll this way:


Noon - 1:30 p.m. - Mountain Dulcimer Boot Camp (90 minutes)

1:45 p.m. - 3:15 p.m. - Get Rhythm (90 minutes)

3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. - Jamming Without A Net (90 minutes)

(90 minute Workshops) - $35 per person ($30 if taking more than one workshop)


Concert will be at 6 p.m. and workshops will take place in the lower level of the building behind the dulcimer shop. This info may change - so please check with Cherith at the shop before heading out on Saturday, June 26th.


OHIO and PENNSYLVANIA Folks!


I just booked two more events today, so the details are still being assembled, but if you're interested - I've got contact information for you.


Thursday, July 1st will be a day-long event in Columbus, Ohio organized by Doug Snapp (614 313-6424 - dmsnapp@wowway.com) I'll be teaching a number of workshops and also performing in concert as well as offering private lessons to anyone who'd like. If you're within driving distance of Columbus, be sure to contact Doug if you're interested in attending and he'll give you the details!


Saturday, July 3rd will likewise be a day-long event; Portage Dulcimer Day, organized by JT Taylor (814-659-8254 - jt@jttaylor.net) Once again, I'll be doing a handful of workshops and also an evening concert as well as private lessons. Be sure to contact JT if you're interested in attending.


Common Ground On The Hill



Which all leads to Westminster, Maryland for Common Ground On The Hill. This is an extraordinary event, unique, and it's my first time attending so I'm very excited! I'll be teaching mountain dulcimer as well as Native American flute.



These dates are all listed above and you can also click on the "Tickets" link for more information. There's much more to come this summer, of course, with the Indiana Dulcimer Festival just around the corner in Woodburn, Indiana as well as the Bayou City Music Festival in Houston, Texas. There will be some additional new dates popping up in the south Texas area, so be sure to check my schedules on the websites (one easy place to look is http://tinyurl.com/bingcalendar)


AND NOW.....THE BAD NEWS.....



With the economy continuing to wear away at everyone's reserves and an environmental disaster looming off of the Florida coast, we have decided to cancel the 2nd Annual Key West Dulcimer Fest. We managed to squeak by earlier this year, though we had plenty of cancellations credited to the eroding state of finances in the U.S. and overseas. As we did lose money this first year, it seemed prudent not to move forward with the festival for next year until we can ascertain whether the times will improve for everyone. We sure hate to give in - but tough times call for tough calls. We do expect to continue the festival at some point in the future and, of course, you will hear about it here first.



Speaking of "first", if you skipped down to the bottom to read this - please return to the top of this message and read the rest - it might cheer you up. It had that effect on me. : )



I'm looking forward to seeing many of you on the road soon. Everyone travel safe and get ready for a fun, musical summer!



Me ke aloha,



Bing

Dulcimerica 162 - "Key West Dulcimer Fest Pt. 4"

Well, Oh Well, Oh 'Wellyn'

Click to hear "Wellyn"

Okay, so this started off as a "testing one-two-three" and turned out to be a not-bad knock-out of "Wellyn" by Robert Force.

What makes this track remarkable is that both dulcimer parts were recorded, E.Q.ed and mixed on my iPhone.



As many of you know, I've been an iPhone owner for about three weeks or so after a long courtship with the Blackberry Curve 8310. Jae and I both upgraded at the same time (we're with AT&T) but figured we couldn't both afford to get the pricey Apple gadget, so I took the bullet and initially figured that the split would be fine. It didn't take long to begin silently envying and likewise coveting her iPhone.

Now that I've got one, it's quite clear why. It rocks. In ways the Blackberry could only dream about.

Take, for example, this app called Four Track.



This is pretty sick stuff. You've got a basic four-track recorder which uses the iPhone's built-in microphone. You'll need a set of headphones, with or without the microphone. You lay down track one, then track two while track one plays back. You add some percussion and bounce it over to track four and then begin filling up tracks one through three with other instruments and even some vocals. Just like the real thing only you're doing it on your iPhone.




Once you've recorded your tracks, you can do a number of things, from post-recording equalization to mixing down or copying to a clipboard for use in other applications. Then, when you're ready to do something more with it - you can sync via Wi-Fi to any nearby computer with a browser, download the mix or all of your single tracks in .wav format to use in your digital audio workstation (DAW.)

People are creating entire albums with this app - and, as you can hear - the sound quality has an unmistakable "you are there" sense about it. Just incredible. It's not a .99 cent app by any means, but considering what you're getting in this sleek-yet-powerful package, eight additional bucks is a small price to pay.

Jot down musical ideas, create arrangements, lay the groundwork for your first or next album. Sure, there are a few things wanting (like lack of a metronome or quantize feature), but apparently those are fixes that have probably already been worked into the next version. I've got some pretty cool apps in the past three weeks, but I'm gonna have to say that this one is just the coolest of them all.

Dulcimerica 161 - "Key West Dulcimer Fest Pt. 3"

More, Please...

Quite a rowdy time was had at Dicey Reilly's Irish Pub this past weekend, thanks to all who came out and participated (loudly) in the evening's music. From "Seven Drunken Nights" to "The Time Warp" from "The Rocky Horror Picture Show", it was a sing-along, dance-along, get the beer steins and pint glasses swaying kind of an evening; just the way we likes it.

There is the hint of making this happen a lot more down there at Dicey's, which comes right on the heels of a suggestion that it may also happen a lot more up at McWell's in Orlando. Which simply means that you'll have more opportunity to come out, raise your glasses and sing until you're hoarse, dance until you're sore and have lots of great stories to tell over the weekend as you recuperate.

I'll have more info about that as the details develop. In the meantime, I'm buried under a moving wall of video right about now and won't be surfacing for at least a week, so I'll take this time to wish all of you a blessed Memorial Day and we'll see you on the flipside!

Dulcimerica 160 - "Key West Dulcimer Fest Pt. 2"

Dulcimerica 159 - "Key West Dulcimer Fest Pt. 1"

This Week's Shows and A CHALLENGE!

Two out of three gigs this week are passed and it's been quite a lot of fun! First, The Pub Thang at McWell's for Cinco de Mayo and then last night at The Plaza Theater with K-G & the Band. Great grooves - two big nights of music, you'd think my fingers would be worn out, but I'm ready for more jamming and will do so tonight at Fresh Aroma Bistro Cafe in Deerfield Beach, Florida.

It's a unique show, sort of what we used to do with Open Mic Extreme; have an open mic with also featured performers. The open mic begins at 7:30 p.m. and I go on at 9 p.m. with the open mic continuing after that, I believe.

After this, we're back at McWell's for The Pub Thang next Wednesday, the 12th on our regular night, second Wednesday of each month.

Interval Ear Training Contest

Many of you are familiar with the Interval Ear Trainer that I blogged about here at some point. Understanding, and being able to recognize, intervals is one grand step towards building better melodies, playing chords on-the-fly and generally becoming more at-ease with your instrument. I typically will test myself on 100 to 200 intervals every day. The more you keep at it, the better you will get.

Starting something new here, occasionally I'll issue a challenge to equal or beat my interval score, which I'll post here. In order to participate in the challenge, you must be able to take a screen capture of your score from the Interval Ear Trainer site:



Here's my first challenge:

1. Score 100% by correctly identifying 50 intervals.
2. Be one of the first three to post a comment to this thread.
3. E-mail your .jpg proof to me at bingfutch@yahoo.com
4. I'll send you your choice of CD from my store.

Sorry about the perfect score for a starter. : ) Trust me, it's not always the case, so some of these challenges will be a little easier to match or beat. Anyway, have fun with it and do it every day - you'll find that not only do you get better at it, but you'll start to "hear" the music in your head before you play the notes on your dulcimer, making for lots of magic!

Chord Voicings - "Figure Eight"

One of the best ways to get acquainted with your mountain dulcimer, diatonic or chromatic, is to figure out songs on them, trying as hard as you can to perfectly match the chords. As many dulcimer players well know, this can be pretty difficult with a diatonic dulcimer, as there are notes missing.

That's one of the reasons that I got into chromatic dulcimer - wanting to maintain a relative ease of play (the chord shapes for dd-A-D tuning are the same, you just have to adjust for an additional fret space here and there) but eager to perform and write songs without having to do a whole bunch of "leaving out" or "fudging" of chords. I'm currently working on a method book for the chromatic dulcimer which will include examples of how to discern not only standard chords (Majors, minors and sevenths) but also so-called "extension" or "color" chords (the term "chromatic" comes from the latin root "chroma" which means "color") like 6ths, 9ths, Major and minor sevenths, minor sixths, augmented, diminished, etc.

This is yet another very simple look at figuring out chords on chromatic dulcimer, in the same vein as our looks at "Wichita Lineman" and "Her Diamonds." Chords for both of those songs are readily available online as guitar tablature. Trouble with that is sometimes the author of the tab gets it wrong. Another problem with that is if it's anything more than chord symbols, you're going to have a time transposing guitar tablature to dulcimer tablature due to the different tuning. One of the best reasons for coming up with your own chord charts, lead sheets and tab is that if you trust your ear, you're bound to come up with the truest version of a tune that anyone could find.

That certainly goes for this tune, beloved by many, which has haunted me ever since early childhood. "Figure Eight" is the somewhat dark and classical ditty that has helped millions of kids learn their 8 timetables through that bastion of whimsical and entertaining education "Schoolhouse Rock!" "Figure Eight" and "Little Twelvetoes" were two of my favorite songs due to their complex chords, beguiling melodies and nifty arrangements. As I learned while sussing out the chords for "Figure Eight", this tune's a real workout when it comes to the changes.

Figure Eight
Music and Lyrics by Bob Dorough


Cm                        C#
Figure eight as double four,
          G                Cm

Figure four as half of eight.
                               C#

If you skate, you would be great
              G               Cm 

If you could make a figure eight

           Fm               G             Cm 

That's a circle that turns 'round upon itself.

Cm                            C#
One times eight is two times four.

           G                 Cm

Four times four is two times eight.

                       C#
If you skate upon thin ice,
 
         G                   Cm  
You'd be wise if you thought twice

Fm              G              Cm
Before you made another single move.


C                  G/B   Gm/Bb               F/A
One times eight is eight, two times eight is 16,
Fm/Ab               C/G  Am6/F#              Fm6

Three times eight is 24, four times eight is 32,
    C/E        Cdim    Dm7  G    C

And five times eight is 40, you know.

C                  G/B Gm/Bb                F/A
Six times eight is 48, seven times eight is 56,
Fm/Ab               C/G  Am6/F#              Fm6

Eight times eight is 64, nine times eight is 72,

    C/E        Cdim    Dm7  G    C

And ten times eight is 80, that's true.

Em                     F      D7/F#                 G
Eleven times eight is 88, and twelve times eight is 96.
               D   

Now, here's a chance to get off
         G    
On your new math tricks.
           D          

'Cause twelve times eight is the same as
 
           G
Ten times eight plus two times eight

                  G7

80 plus 16 ... ninety-six!

C                  G/B   Gm/Bb               F/A
One times eight is eight, two times eight is 16,
Fm/Ab               C/G  Am6/F#              Fm6

Three times eight is 24, four times eight is 32,
    C/E        Cdim    Dm7  G    C

And five times eight is 40, you know.

Cm                        C#
Figure eight as double four,
          G                Cm

Figure four as half of eight.
                               C#

If you skate, you would be great
              G               Cm 

If you could make a figure eight
           Fm               G             Cm 

That's a circle that turns 'round upon itself.
  
Ab                                        Fm           C
Place it on its side and it's a symbol meaning         Infinity...

As with the other two songs (and many other arrangements you'll want to explore), one of the most memorable aspects of this tune is its descending bass line that runs through all of the chords in the chorus. Starting with the root note "C" at the bass of a C Major chord, the descending notes are:

C - B - Bb - A - Ab - G - Gb - F - E - Eb - D and then a resolution with the chords entering G and then C.

The trick in listening to the tune (no tablature for this tune on the web, at least not where I looked) and figuring out the chords is to maintain that bass line structure or the song just doesn't sound the same. I've done the hard work - now can you figure out how to play these chords? Can you see the pattern? Can you discover which inversion you would need in order to play these chords so that they sound correct?

Let's revisit the concept behind inversions or "slash chords":

A basic 1-3-5 or 1-b3-5 chord is going to have the root note on the bottom, the middle note in the middle and the fifth at the end or top. Using different chord voicings can change the fundamental sound of a chord, even though it uses the same notes, by rearranging the order of the notes. For example, changing the order of notes so that the third is on the bottom, acting as the bass or root - it becomes a first inversion.

So, a C major chord: C - E - G would become E - C - G.

Now, make the fifth the bottom or root note, and you have a second inversion.

G - C - E

When you write out a chord symbol for an inversion, it's often called a "slash chord." You'll see the chord symbol and then a slash and then another note. The note after the slash indicates that this is what the root or bass note should be. So, a first inversion C chord would look like this: C/E

A second inversion C chord would read: C/G


Here below are some chromatic chord shape charts. What I've done here is simply laid out the shapes for chords coming out of the key of D. By moving these shapes up and down the fretboard, paying close attention to the location of the root, you can play in any key. I keep the chromatic tuned to dd-A-D for the time being.

If you haven't already, it's a good idea to learn where all of your notes are on the fretboard. Once you've got that and the fundamental chord shapes, you can play anything!

A key to reading these charts, if you're not familiar with them. First, the number on the left side represents the fret number that it's sitting next to. For this purpose, I'm counting frets like a guitar, numbering 1-12 for an octave, no half-frets here. The numbers on the notes themselves reflect the scale degree of the note (R = root, b3 = flat or minor third, etc.) Sometimes you'll see a chord shape that doesn't include the root, in which case there's normally a trick to suss out what the root is (in the case of the minor 6th, it's three frets up from the "6th" note.)

Have fun!

Dulcimerica 158 - "Dulcimer Blues Pt. 2"

Catching Up With Myself (and the rest of the world)

Dulcimers On The Green in Central City, Kentucky was the very next stop after a rowdy night of "The Pub Thang" in Orlando. I whisked up Interstate 75 and stopped overnight in Signal Mountain, Tennessee at the home of Dan Landrum, editor of Dulcimer Players News. We then set out in the afternoon of the next day and got into Central City with enough time to have some Mexican food at El Bracero and get checked into our rooms.

This first-year festival was quite a joy - great music and jams, lots to see and do. But what made this different was the entire teaching staff was given a key to the city during an opening night welcome party. Here, Mayor Jerry Mitchell is pictured presenting me with the first key. It's never happened before and who knows if it will happen again? All I know is, it was pretty darn cool.



(pictured above l-r, Stephen Seifert, me and Dan Landrum) After Saturday workshops, we had a break for dinner and then the concert at the Merle Travis Music Center.

All in all it was a lovely time - Dan and I headed back to Tennessee right after the concert and then I switched horses in Signal Mountain and continued on home to Orlando where I was greeted by my lovely wife, Jae. We then headed out to meet our dear friends from McWell's over at Epcot and proceeded to zip around, having fun as you do.

Finally, a week later, we met those very same friends on board the Royal Caribbean Monarch of the Seas to help celebrate Andy Weller's birthday (it had been a surprise cruise in the making for a number of months - hard to keep this secret!) We set sail for Nassau in the Bahamas and disappeared off the radar for the weekend. It was my first cruise and I'm still sort of in denial that we're back in Orlando, getting back to the grind of things.



Knowing that I was going to be caught up in the cruise afterglow this week, I took the liberty of already shooting the second installment of "Dulcimerica" dealing with blues on the mountain dulcimer - it will be posted on YouTube tomorrow morning as well as at Dulcimerica.com. Thanks for all of the kind words - glad you enjoyed part one!

It's a busy week here - lots to do. Hope you have a great one - watch this space for more soon!

Dulcimerica 157 - "Dulcimer Blues Pt. 1"

New Gear and Stuff

It's been over a week since I checked in but there's a good reason for that. First off, "The Pub Thang" went over well at McWell's - thanks to all who came out to support the night. My last post mentioned heading over to Guitar Center and there's a photo above of what was acquired.

The DigiTech Vocalist Live 4 is a dandy piece of equipment that allows me to layer harmonies into live performances and recording. From one voice to four-part harmony, it's programmable and has instrument effects as well. Jae hates it. I think it rocks the bells.

My friend Kaleo uses one. He said, "they're awesome - but brudda, you gotta be on-key." Since all of the harmony is modeled from your original vocal, it's only as good as you can make it (which is only half true since there is pitch-correction built into the unit - I have it switched to "off".) Harmonies are more effective on sustained notes and I have a habit of clipping my phrases, so right off the bat, the machine was in my face as I practiced tunes that have always wanted some extra voices during the solo show. Took awhile to get the hang of it, but I gotta say it's pretty freakin' sweet and I didn't overuse it at Wednesday's show. Honest.

I Can't Think Of Anything To Say: I Think It's Nice

It was about six and a half hours up to Covington, Georgia and six and a half hours coming back; not counting the horrendous traffic on I-75 just south of Perry, Georgia. Never been a trip this quick. At least driving. I set out in Buster about 6:30 a.m. Saturday morning and rolled into the Atlanta area 'round about 1:30 p.m., after lunch at Margarita's.

"Hoosonanny", as the house concert series is called, was great fun. Everyone had a great time and Bill and Teri's hospitality was tremendous - looking forward to returning sometime for more visits, music and jams. Concerts In Your Home made it possible for artist and venue to connect in this case, so thanks to Fran Snyder for creating this avenue (wow, now that's an amalgam of "artist" and "venue", i'n't? How about "artvenue"?)

I hung out, jammed and talked with folks until 2 a.m. - then hit the sheets for four hours, got up, drove back to Orlando (with more traffic; on a Sunday? Really?), caught an hour-long nap and then went with Jae to celebrate a birthday with our fabulous friends from McWell's. And speaking of which, that brings me to this:

The Pub Thang

It's a long story about how "The Pub Thang" came to be, and if you're really and truly interested, ask me to tell you about it one day.

We'll be at McWell's Restaurant & Bar this Wednesday, April 14th from 7 pm to 10 or 11 pm - depending on how many table dancers we get. Special guest will be Roger Zimish.

What exactly is "The Pub Thang"? Besides a really stupid title for something that's essentially title-proof? It's the show I've been cultivating at Dicey Reilly's Irish Pub for over two years (back when it was still O'Doherty's.) It's a blend of traditional Celtic and Americana music, originals and a wide variety of popular music styles, including rowdy drinking songs. It's not unusual (to be loved by anyone) to have Prince and the Gorillaz bouncing up against Tom Petty, Garth Brooks and selections from "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." All performed on Appalachian mountain dulcimer and Native American flute. Then, I get Roger Zimish to sit in. Roger may do a set by himself, all of the mesmerizing acoustic guitar work that he does on his originals, then firing it up with Stevie Ray Vaughn and screaming Texas blues. Together, the music takes on a shape-shifting quality as Roger and I trade off "arrangements", usually improvised on the spot. Trancy good stuff; primal heart-beat kind of groove. And Pink Floyd.

In any case - we're doing it once a month now at McWell's - second Wednesday of each month through summer (with an extra show on May 5th for Cinco de Mayo). 7 to 11 pm. No cover - great food - drink specials - fifty cent wings! Come celebrate making it halfway through the week. Raise your spirits with us and cruise on through to the weekend with levity!

Dulcimers On The Green

The day after "The Pub Thang", I make my amends to the universe by driving up to Central City, Kentucky to teach and perform at Dulcimers On The Green. Other performer/instructors are Stephen Seifert, Maureen Sellers, Rick Thum and Dan Landrum. Awww yeah, nothin' but a party up here in this joint!

Gotta run - meeting Roger at Guitar Center in South Orlando. See you soon.

Aloha,

Bing

Dulcimerica 156 - "Froze In The Poconos"

It's been a busy couple of weeks; visiting, preparing for spring, attempting to chill out. Will be back with more posts as we get into the swing of things.

Dulcimerica 155

Dulcimerica 154 - "Winter In Bardstown Pt. 5"

The Mail Must Go Through

It's been a curious period of "workation" this past week as I put the finishing touches on "Mountain Dulcimer In The Band (Book 6)" with Robert Force as a house-guest. Robert had been down in Key West visiting my in-laws Sheri and George, remaining for George's 60th birthday party. Jae, our friend Nedra, and I drove down - partied like you do, bringing Robert back with us as he continues what I've termed his "Wellyn Walkabout." It was nice to hang with Robert at our casa; we've hung out in many different parts of the country, from Colorado to Kentucky to Key West, but here - he was seeing something that not many people see: me at home. On deadline.

Since beginning the MDITB series last January, it seemed that I'd be publishing the editions in pairs twice a year. With my A.D.D., projects come fast, furious and with intense focus or else they simply don't get done. Robert watched in amazement as I engaged in marathon rehearsal, recording and book layout sessions, finishing up the book in a couple of days. In between, there was lots of cigar-smoking, drinking, meals, a trip down to Disney and my gig opening up for Larry Mangum (ably assisted by John Henry Gates on fiddle and Woodie Berlin on bass and harmonies) at Langford Park in Orlando. Central Florida Folk presented the show, which took place outdoors on a beautiful Sunday afternoon under a pavilion on a nature boardwalk. Mangum's performance and tunes were a lovely thing to behold.

Now, with Robert on a bus for Gainesville (he'll return in a couple of weeks with family in tow), I'm back into full-on work mode, preparing to ship book 6 tomorrow and getting ready to leap back into production on "Dive!"

It's a blessing to be busy - it's good to have requests for your service, especially in today's economy. I'll never take for granted this opportunity to pursue what I love.

This Week's Shows

It's St. Patrick's Day on Wednesday and I'll be at McWell's Restaurant & Bar along with Doc Williamson and Roger Zimish from 7-11 p.m. Then, this Friday and Saturday I'm back at Dicey Reilly's Irish Pub for another couple of nights at my favorite Celtic hangout. Music begins at 7 pm.

Hope everyone has an especially fantastic week!

Dulcimerica 153 - "Winter In Bardstown Pt. 4"

Dulcimerica 152 - "Winter In Bardstown Pt. 3

The benefits of Googling future purchases

Profire 610 serious recording bug. Not accurate

A loopback test with the Profire 610 shows that it has a serious random sample offset bug. The 610 is not consistently accurate in the sample start point when recording, meaning the start point drifts in time.
If you record e.g. a prerecorded track (1) out of output 7, into a new track (2) thru input 1 with a phono jack cable, you will see that each time you reopen the project or restart the host program, repeat the process and record the same track again, the start time will never be the exact same as last time when zooming into sample detail. It is drifting randomly by a few to many samples left or right arbitrary. Which means it is not able to do "sample accurate recording" as of today.

After skimming through this entire thread - it's become clear to me that the M-Audio ProFire 610 is NOT going to be the way I go.

Out with the bad, in with the good --

M-AUDIO - ProFire 610 - High-Definition 6-in/10-out FireWire Audio Interface with Octane Preamp Technology

Designed by the company that revolutionized mobile music production, the ProFire™ 610 FireWire audio interface transforms your Mac or PC into a powerful 6-in/10-out recording studio. Premium digital converters deliver high-definition, 24-bit/192kHz audio throughout the signal path.

While attempting to record two tracks simultaneously in studio today, I was once again dismayed by the apparently malfunctioning second channel on my two channel Firebox. The 48v phantom power switch has also lost its ability to be activated and the unit has a dicey relationship with Garageband in that it sometimes shuts off or introduces audio crackle when I switch between tracks and/or features in the DAW. In other words, it's a poor excuse for an audio interface and I'm ready for something reliable.

After a bit of research, I've decided upon the M-Audio ProFire 610. It apparently has pretty nifty pre-amps, though they aren't tube so I stand behind my recent purchase of the ART Tube Pac. After checking out comparably priced interfaces, it seemed that what the Firebox had that many units do not is a 1 X 1 MIDI port - something that I need in order to utilize my Roland Fantom and virtual instruments in Garageband. Narrowed the choices quite a bit. On top of that, the ProFire 610 has two separate headphone jacks, each with their own volume control. It amazes me that many higher-priced interfaces don't even go this route. It comes in handy when recording tracks simultaneously with another warm body in the room.



Interestingly enough, another unit that I'd balk at if paying retail, is cheaper than what I'd be willing to pay for the M-Audio unit. The Saffire Pro 40 seems to be chock full of goodness with many of the same features as the ProFire 610. Ah - decisions, decisions.

I won't really be able to sell a somewhat defective Firebox - so I'll probably pass it on to my daughter, Casey, when I get her started with a DAW set-up of her own. It won't be perfect, but it will be enough for her to build upon.

Regarding the Rode NT1a (has anyone else noticed that the model name actually spells "rodent"??), I may hold off on that for a spell, as the combination pre-amp and new interface should be enough to give all the mics a boost (apparently, the Firebox has a notoriously low db gain.)

Besides, there are other gear fish to fry. (to be continued.)

Tools, Baby, Tools!

It goes without saying that home studio recording and project recording are not the same as going to a full-fledged professional studio. It's worth the money to have an experienced hand at the faders and a facility with the equipment necessary to make you sound your best.

That said, there's something attractive about the D.I.Y. ethic, which can fan out over many levels - from novice buying their first multi-track recorder to careerist, making decisions on the best DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) for the buck. Recording yourself and others at home offers plenty of benefits including the ability to track whenever you desire and without keeping a wary eye on the wallet clock. Another benefit is the gradual education you receive by slowly immersing yourself into the infinite world of gear, gear and more gear.

Over the years, having a home studio rig has become more affordable with plenty of resources out there to lend you a helping hand. Believe it or not, what's also made home recording so attractive is the fact that millions of people tend to listen to their music via mp3 files. This compressed audio format tends to level the playing field just a little bit in terms of fidelity. A very little bit.

During my own engineering journey, I find there are purchases made that greatly plus my ability to create and record good-sounding music tracks. Cruising on that for awhile, I continue to add onto the knowledge of recorders and mics, processors and amps, hardware and software. In recent months, I've purchased a couple of microphones (Shure SM57 and SM58 Beta) which have already improved the quality of what I record here at home. The next logical step was to get into an inexpensive microphone pre-amp to help warm up the tone that those microphones (and others in my collection) pick-up.

After getting a lead from David Lee King (@DavidLeeKing on Twitter), I ended up setting my sights on the ART Tube Pac. (A play on Tupac, perhaps - who knows?) I've long preferred the sound of tubes over solid state for amplifiers, so it made a lot of sense to employ their warmth to vocals and instruments during the recording process. As you get deeply into the whole production process, a rather largish world of details begins to unfold. Like the difference between dynamic and condenser mics or the wonderful world of manipulating frequencies during the E.Q. and mastering process, the deeper you go, the more there is to absorb. Compression plays a big part in all three phases of production (which, for you non-tech heads out there is pre-production, production and post-production) and it seemed handy to have a mic pre that would also allow for some signal compression.

So, I'm waiting on delivery of this unit sometime this week. Next on the list will be to upgrade from the PreSonus Firebox recording interface to something a little less glitchy with more inputs and sonic controls. Then: I'll be stepping up and looking for a good deal on a Rode NT1a.

As David put it, "amazing how there's ALWAYS more gear out there, huh?" It's true. Especially if you continue to develop, nourish and perfect your craft, whether it be playing an instrument or recording one. You need the proper tools to do the proper job.

Dulcimerica 151 - "Winter In Bardstown Pt. 2"

Eternal Cabbage

Jerry Rockwell is the mad scientist/genius of the mountain dulcimer, applying music theory to this simple instrument and exploding/exploring the possibilities within/without its structure. His "Eternal Cabbage" chordal exploration is a great exercise for playing and recognizing partial chords up and down the fretboard.

While you're over at his site, poke around and investigate some of the other pages too. Do it till your head hurts - then bookmark where you left off and come back for more. It's guaranteed to get you playing better/smarter in a heartbeat/New York Minute.

I have no idea what this/that is all about. Some kind of hidden theme - need more coffee to suss that out.

Hands-On Training

You may not be familiar with Mike Casey, the performer - he's a wizard on mountain dulcimer, limber like a gymnast on the fretboard. His book "Hands-On Dulcimer" is like spring-training for serious players.

Chock full of exercises for the left and right hands, this book is something I use to warm up before launching into playing or working out tablature or studying music theory. It consists of a number of targeted modules that help to develop and firm up strumming, flat and finger-picking, melody and chordal development as well as strengthening finger and hand muscles to do the work.

Great for all skill levels, it's either a great introduction to techniques such as hammer-ons, pull-offs and slides or it's a rigorous work-out for those familiar with those ornaments. It's probably a good thing to face; you don't just learn all of this stuff and then automatically "have it" for the rest of your life. Nay - even seasoned professionals need to crack away at scales, chords, various rhythms, picking patterns and studies in order to, as I call it, "stay on the horse." The moment you stop learning is the moment that your music starts to go south (and I don't mean Key West, either.)

I highly recommend this book to not only my students, but also anyone who is serious about stepping up their game on mountain dulcimer!

Amazon coupons are available for this book.

Winter in Bardstown Pt. 1

A little drone with your coffee?

I really am a late bloomer.

Throughout my musical career, I've flirted with the idea of gratuitous merchandise like t-shirts, hats, printed thongs, the stuff you buy, but have been mainly focused on producing the music and getting it out there.

Until now.

No, now I've gone all Bing*Mart and have officially cracked open a schwag store on Reverbnation. For starters, because there's more stuff to come, the "Got Drone?" line has finally hit shelves. Dulcimer-land has some pretty famous shirts, clever ones that people like. I know that "Got Milk?" parodies are so very 1980, but as a child of the 70's, that seems jolly progressive to me. The great thing about "Got Drone?" is that it's not just about mountain dulcimers for it could also be about bagpipes, hurdy-gurdy, vacuum cleaners, etc.


Not only t-shirts and tote bags but also stainless steel travel mugs for your morning coffee. The jury is still out regarding "Got Drone?" thongs, mainly due to available printing space and not so much about the social implications.

And then, there's the logo marketing. As many of you have no doubt noticed, I've taken particular care about establishing a cross-platform "look" for my websites and social media networks. In somewhat disgusting marketing-speak, this is called "branding" and though it doesn't involve vaqueros, iron rods or painful heat, it's still a slightly disturbing yet necessary part of raising your visibility in an ever-crowded marketplace.


Back when the internet first became commercialized and open to the public, people were hip to set up web pages, even though they had no idea what on earth to do with them. They'd labor intensively over the thing for a week, proudly set it up and then sit, blankly looking at their static web counters, wondering why no-one knew they were there. With the sheer amount of people rubbing virtual elbows with you on the 'net, you've got to somehow get their attention. Just long enough for you to show them what's inside the box, kind of like walking down a supermarket aisle when blammo! something leaps out at you visually and you have to go over and inspect it. Branding is part of the first line of attraction. Somewhere along the line, I managed to acquire some maddish design skillz, so I eventually came up with my own logos, colors, layouts, etc. If you're not a designer; find a starving art student/webmaster and pay them with Netflix gift cards.


Once you've settled upon a visual identity, allow that to be a common thread in your online presence. Much like the familiar red and white Coca-Cola logo, people will come to recognize you on a crowded shelf. This wasn't such a big deal when mom and pop ran the places, but with more and more of a big-box approach to commerce (aided mostly by the internet and not so much the big box stores), you have to shout awfully loud to be heard even half of once.

You'd think I'd have long been into the merchandising side of this, having really dug into the whole branding concept, but two things have kept me from stocking up on logo jewelry, embroidered toilet paper caddies and signature pool covers.

One. Space.

Two. Cash.

I know. It may seem like I'm on a $&#%@! boat a lot of the time, but remember, the boat was rented. Just like the tux. Great ideas cost great amounts of money and, without investors or that flash-in-the-pan success and advertising, you can end up a million-seller ("got a million of these in the cellar.") But when Reverbnation suddenly opened up a way for artists to sell 0n-demand merchandise, well - that changed everything. You can design your merch, have them pay for production and ship it as well. That is treat-filled. Wish I could work my books and CDs like that (and I know that I can - just have to put that in motion.)

Granted, the retail price of the items is pretty much eaten up by production costs - so what's the profit? The profit is in extending your visual reach beyond the internet. Just the fact that anyone would want to wear a t-shirt with your name on it should be enough to make you pretty happy. What then exceeds happy and clutch-shifts into overdrive glee is knowing that X number of people may see the shirt (or mug or thong), have your name or band float across their frontal lobe, file it away under "Google This" and before you know it, you've got another click on your page views.

Strict marketing talk can be a soul-numbing experience, so be sure to remember that both you and the people who embrace your mission are just that: people. And more important than any flashy bling or schwag is what you have to say, how you say it and what effect it has on others. Sure, there are those out there who are all icing and no cake. But take one bite of that and you may be prone to pass on that particular brand (unless you're an all-icing kind of person in which case there's a special level of misery reserved just for you.)

Now, having said all that, can I interest you in a "Got Drone?" chamois?

Pinching Myself (and liking it)

Aloha!

I just had to take a moment and reflect on something. Seems I've been go-go-go for a while here, which has resulted in some pretty eye-opening stuff.

The 1st Annual Key West Dulcimer Fest wrapped up not even a week ago and was a tremendous success. Before then, I'd not organized anything larger than an open mic night (unless you count the production of the short film "Meds"), so it was a blast to see a whole year's worth of work culminate in a four-day party with music, great weather, wonderful people and a sweet vibe.

Now, back home in the studio, with nothing on my schedule except a recording session at Full Sail next week and my usual monthly two-nighter at Dicey Reilly's Irish Pub, I can finally settle down and finish work on my recording projects. Kinda. Because each day, I'm still managing my career; it's a lot of juggling, working online, maintaining connections and making new ones. You know how you could always do more, but then again you could always do less and somewhere in the middle is a decent place to be. There's a place where you can still do it for the love and not let it break you, or leave a sour taste in your soul.

As I'm doing my morning administrative stuff on this Saturday, I happened to look at my booking calendar and was stunned to see that, during this first week of February, I'm already scheduled for every month of the year except December (which has traditionally been a month that I've taken off in order to rest up and enjoy the holidays with my family.)

I used to lie awake, just before sleep descended upon me as a child, dreaming about a life like this - doing what I love, traveling, making music, meeting people, lending a hand, cruising in happiness. What that all amounts to is this: dreams do come true.

But not only if you believe - there must be hard work involved as well. Along the way, there were many who tried to dissuade me, convince me there was another path or outright discourage me from my attempts, dismissing them as futile. Others, however, drop e-mails now and then with the gentle words "I always knew you'd make it happen."

After I finish typing this blog, I'm going to sit down and continue doing what I've always done - fighting and scrabbling for each little bit of purchase on the slippery slope of life. Every day, it's run scales, work with a metronome, dig into different tunings, learn songs that I don't know, write and record, design and connect. It never stops, but it sometimes plateaus, and those are the moments when you can sit back, relax and appreciate the view.

This is one of those moments.

Moment is over - back to work. : )

Thanks for all of you out there who believed, and thanks to all out there who did not. Thanks to those who support and encourage the music and thanks to those who don't.

I'm pinching myself and liking it.

Festival Action - Low Action - High Action

It's been awhile since I've posted here, mainly due to keeping up information on the Key West Dulcimer Fest website.

What a blast and what a joy! The festival ran smoothly, the weather was amazing and we're looking at 2011 for our next time around.

There are lots of little details that have been floating in and out of focus since the final day; moments of music, leaps forward in ability, all of the minute things that combine to create a wonderfully eye-opening experience.

Huge thanks to Folkcraft Instruments for their sponsorship of the festival and the hard work of Richard Ash on-site, connecting with instructors and working on dulcimers. Stephen Seifert and I have been talking about low action vs. high action (we've both been huge fans of low action) and finally decided that a higher action was necessary for the styles of playing that we both employ. Richard raised the action on three of our instruments and the difference is incredible. Sure, you have to work a little harder, not much, but enough to win great results. The dynamic range of the instruments have opened up and, dare I say it, has made them just a touch louder. We went with low action to make fretting easier - but I offer that anything totally easy won't yield the best results. It's like working out - the harder it is, the greater the reward (or something like that.)

There will be video coming along in a little while, some more recollections and announcements of dates and instructors for the next festival - soon!

Viral is the new black

kings of maybe: Bing Futch Playing Dulcimer: "Gold Trails Hotel"

ValGalArt disse...

oh dood! i love this sound,it's so good ;) I used to live with a dulcimer, hahaha, no really and I love em :D Have the best time in the world, do everything and love each other ;) your pal, valgal

Here we go....

I landed back in Florida today after a whirlwind trip to Anaheim, California for the NAMM Show and then a stopover in Stroudsburg, Pennsyvlvania for the Winter Dulcimer Fest. Now, the runway is pointing towards the next big event, which is The Key West Dulcimer Fest (but not before a quick couple of nights at Dicey Reilly's Irish Pub in St. Cloud, Florida.)

NAMM was amazing as usual - spent time at Downtown Disney on Wednesday, shopping and meeting up with a dear friend from my post-high school life, then a nice meal with Richard and Nick from Folkcraft Instruments before launching into the first full day on the convention floor on Thursday. When standing in the booth, playing dulcimer, the time seems to fly and during that time, a few breaks were taken to catch some of the sights and sounds, which included lots of new gear, a sighting of Bootsy Collins and Cowboy Troy, many visitations and encounters at the booth and a meet-up with the V-Picks gang, who laid yet another amazing pick on me.

Stephen Seifert was handling booth demos for the rest of the show and he came out about midday. After a dinner at El Torito, we repaired back to the hotel and jammed in the lobby, much to the delight of staff and some other folks who were staying there.

Friday morning came way too early (about 4 am PT) as I headed off to John Wayne airport and began the long journey to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for the Winter Dulcimer Fest in the Poconos. Christie Burns picked me up from the airport along with her niece, Devin, and we enjoyed some teppanyaki before joining others for a jam at the festival site. Saturday brought a full day of workshops and an evening concert, where Christie and I jammed together for the first time. Afterwards, I hung out with my friend Kristy Sproul and stayed at the house she shares with her husband, Kevin and their two children Kyle and Katie. I awoke this morning to the smell of breakfast and had a lovely visit before heading out, once more, to the airport for the return trip home.

Needless to say, I'm flat sick of airports already for the year 2010 and am glad to be home and focused for the upcoming festival in Key West. There will be pics and videos from the past weekend, but right now, I'm just checking in, sitting in the backyard hammock, trying not to launch directly into frenzied work mode.

Life is good. Busy, hectic, crazy, but definitely good.

Can it get any colder? (Don't ask that question)

It's cold as a penguin's bottom here in Orlando, Florida and that's a luxury. Tomorrow, I'm on a plane bound for Bardstown, Kentucky where the aforementioned bottom has stuck to the ice.

Though I've been to Kentucky Music Week a handful of times, as well as the Kentucky Music Weekend, this will be my first Winter Weekend with KMW and it's looking like the snow that we didn't have down here for Christmas. Makes me wish I owned one of these jobbers that hoss is wearing in this picture.

This month is full of craziness, lots still to do in preparation for the Key West Dulcimer Fest plus a good amount of travel, not only this week, but next week (NAMM show and Winter Dulcimer Fest in California and Pennsylvania respectively) as well. Throw in a couple of gigs at Dicey Reilly's and you can see how I'm scrambling for time.

Nevertheless, I'm trudging through the day-to-day of administrative musical stuff and finally got my Reverbnation page chugging along. I began setting it up some time ago, but have been hanging back with my arms folded, waiting to see what good it might do. Same tactic that I used with MySpace, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. There are so many gorblimey choices and, if you're not careful, you'll spend all of your time updating countless profiles designed, ironically, to save you time. But Reverbnation has turned out to be a heavy hitter and it's becoming quite clear just how useful the site truly is. One day, all the portals will flow into one. For now, we network our various streams and hope that people don't get lost in the voluminous tubes of these wonderful "internets."

Speaking of YouTube, there's a new season of Dulcimerica starting today with an upload in the pipeline for episode #147.

Happy New Year!

"We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day. "

- Edith Lovejoy Pierce

First off, a deeply heartfelt wish for all of you who read this; have a very Happy New Year full of the blessings of life.

Last night was different and, God knows, I like it like that. Spent most of the evening working on the poster for the Key West Dulcimer Fest and grilling steaks for Jae and I. At some point, we began watching the first episode of "Hetty Wainthropp Investigates" starring Patricia Rutledge from "Keeping Up Appearances." I got the entire four seasons on DVD for Jae and we were both curious how this newer show would compare to the comedy that we both enjoyed so much (it was quite good.)

Somewhere towards the end of the episode, the cracking and banging and booming outside the windows escalated and we surmised that midnight had arrived, so I popped the cork, poured us two stiff quaffs, we kissed and toasted the new year quietly, then finished watching the episode. When it was through, we did switch over to see how old Dick Clark was getting along (remarkably well for a man of his age and condition, in fact, it appears he's getting better) but the music ended up chasing both of us into bed an hour later. As we don't watch t.v. or listen to radio, the new shows and music often end up surprising us as we turn around odd corners from time to time. I try to stay abreast of current creative events and so it was no surprise to hear names like Colbie Caillat and Selena Gomez headlining events. What did surprise me was the sheer proliferation of auto-tune songs, lip-syncing and the overall sameness of the material. Seriously, The Go-Go's did bubble-gum pop much better in the 80's!

While sitting there watching the current state of mainstream music, I began getting itchy about the new year and my own career. Plans have already been laid for some new directions and I'm anxious to get hoppin'. One of my self-prescribed Christmas gifts just arrived last week; a Yamaha RBX 250 bass guitar. I began my professional musician life as a bassist back in 1984 and haven't owned one since falling in love with the mountain dulcimer. It'll come in handy when working in the studio, since I've really not enjoyed working with synth-bass for most of the releases over the past couple of years. Sounds so....synthy.

On the way also are a set of Piedmont Blues harmonicas. With Mohave I've wanted to spice up the musical mix a bit with a fifth member who would be a multi-instrumentalist. Until that perfect person shows up, I've decided to add a few more instruments to my own bag of tricks including the aforementioned bass and harmonica. Down the road, as I continue developing on the chromatic dulcimer, I'm looking at getting into ukulele and fireside bagpipes.

This doesn't mean that the dulcimer is getting pushed aside, by any means. Like a painter who favors a certain palette, I'm simply expanding the range of colors with which I use to paint. There are always primary colors involved in the mixing of paints, and I consider the mountain dulcimer to be one of the most important shades I use. There are developments this year that will even expand how those particular hues are perceived and it's going to be a very interesting year for recording, that's for sure.

Watch this space for more music theory and, of course, the fourth season of "Dulcimerica" for resources pertaining strictly to the mountain dulcimer. A new year has begun, in some ways a new song for us all to sing. I hope you sing yours loudly, proudly and without fear. It's your song after all and no-one can sing it but you.