Guitar Musings

“This is acoustic music, in your face…” is the introduction on the first track on Tommy Emmanuel’s  “Live, Center Stage” CD1.  Was that a prediction or a warning?  Either way, Tommy didn’t disappoint with his 2nd live double CD set in three years.

Highlights:

• The Mix:  Every song on CD1 was engineered to perfection.  From Tommy’s playing to the just the right mix of crow noise makes you feel like your there at times.
• Nine Pound Hammer:  Great improv solo much like Guitar Boogie.  At one point, Tommy is playing guitar with one hand a moving baseline on the other.   Oh yeah, he’s singing on top of all that.
• And So it Goes:  Beautiful arrangement of a timeless Billy Joel song.  This performance just might bring a tear to ones eye.
• I Go to Rio:  Just love that he plays this.  It’s partially because I performed this in Jr. High choir and he does an awesome job with it.
• Beatles Medley:  Not the best one that I’ve heard but it’s still worth mentioning.  He does like to mix it up so this version had “Here Comes the Sun”, “When I’m Sixty Four”, “Day Tripper” and “Lady Madonna.”

No “lowlights” that I could find.  Some of the Tommy detractors might not enjoy some of the rhythmic montages that Tommy has been known to get into.  I believe he goes into a three or so minute rhythmic trance during Mombasa.  If you don’t already have it, get it.  If you’re still wondering and waiting, my thoughts on CD2 will posted soon.

I’m a huge fan of podcasts and video podcasts and I love the the wealth of information that you can obtain from them.  I have probably 20 or so on my iTouch as I write this and it keep on growing.  One podcast that I am having a hard time finding is a good instructional podcasts for music. Most music podcasts that I find are usually radio shows presenting recommended listening in a certain genre.  Great tools to expose yourself to new music but not what I’m looking for.

I did find is the Musicology Show from Pandora. which is a true instructional show that digs inside the nuances of music it’s styles.  One show will teach you about metric modulation (aka time signature changes) and the next week you will learn about aspects of composition or what a madrigal is.  For some it will be a refresher course and for others, it will expose you to different aspects of music that would otherwise stay unknown to you. 

Give the Musicology Show a listen and tell me what you think.  Are there any good guitar/music instructional podcasts you would recommend?

http://blog.pandora.com/podcast/

Now that I have found tab that will point me in the right direction in learning Tommy Emmanuel’s Borsalino, it’s time to get practicing.  What I usually is listen the hell out of a song and watch any videos I have to observe technique.  I had a great version of Tommy performing Borsalino from the Sierra Nevada Center Stage show that aired on PBS.  It was on my DVR for quite a while and knew it would always be there.  At least I thought it would be.  Turns out my Tommy show got recorded over because I failed to protect it so needless to say, I was crushed and pissed.

Technology taketh away and technology giveth back!  Did a quick search on YouTube and found the performance that I once had.  Not to big of a find since YouTube has tons of videos available at anytime but I didn’t want to visit YouTube everytime I need to look at the video.  I want to be able to watch it on my iTouch any time I felt like it.  Thankfully, many have addressed this need  with programs and services that assist me in getting YouTube videos on my iTouch.  It’s called “YouTube to iPod Converter” from dvdvideosoft.com.  It’s a simple little program where you enter the URL of the video, specify where you want the .mp4 video to save and click on the “convert” button and you are set.  I now have my Tommy video back and can reference it any time I like. 

This is yet another great resource for musicians who need to reference music on they fly when they are practicing.  This video conversion method isn’t relagated to just iPods.  You can do conversions for your PSP, Zune, Windows Media or any other kind of media player. 

If only this software could transcribe the song for me and then I would be set.  : )

Links of Interest:

YouTube to iPod Converter

Another YouTube Converter (Online)

Tommy’s YouTube Video

In a previous post, I did a review of Bruce Cockburn’s performance at the Swallow Hill Folk and Roots Festival last March.  I also posted my report to CockburnProject.net and found an interesting addition to my review by someone called Audrey.   Audrey had some really good “inside” information regarding the circumstances surrounding Bruce’s performance.  Apparently, Bruce’s normal stage crew wasn’t there to set his rig and so there was a bunch of “fiddling” around trying to figure out what was wrong and Bruce’s in ear monitor was also on the fritz.    Plus, with the long delay Bruce had to keep focused because there was a curfew and if they went over that curfew, there would be fines.   Therefore the reason why Bruce wasn’t engaging the audience like I mentions.   Anyway, thanks to Audrey for shedding some light on the situation and knowing what I know now, I’m even more grateful for Bruce’s performance.  He could have thrown in the towel and just showed up but he still played a great show.  THANKS Bruce!

Good news for all of us TE fans out there!  A new live 2 CD set, “Center Stage,”  is set to be released April 29th.   Recorded October 2007 in California, “Center Stage” is a compilation of 3 nights recording and the word is that there is a HD DVD coming in the following.   According to CDP, some previously un-recorded songs will be featured like “Ruby Eyes.”

Certified Guitar Player is pre-selling “Center Stage” for $15.95.  I’ve already placed my order, have you?