Sonicsiblings.net

Last night, Rene and I went out to the Rhythm Room to meet up with our friend Howard. He had recommended we check out the band Turn Back, O Man. We totally enjoyed the conviction that the vocalist projected in his singing and the complexity of the lyrics. The backup band meshed real well, with drums, bass, slide guitar and Hammond organ.

This morning, I woke up inspired. Late in the morning, I revved up the studio and started recording some tracks to midi. Rene made a cameo and we played a waltz together and sang a funny song about dachshunds.

Later in the evening, I stepped back into the studio and made another pass at a recording. In particular, I wanted to get a slide guitar into the mix, so I tuned my electric to an open tuning and picked up the slide and started to wail. Here it is:

 

 Open Duet [2:24m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

I handed off the song, Down on Weighted Knees (from my last post “A New, Old Song Done Differently“) to Todd. I was so amazed at the beauty that he coaxed out of the song and the celebratory tone he created towards the end that I almost cried.

You can hear his mix of the tune here.

 

 Down on Weighted Knees - Todd’s Mix [4:00m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Here’s a blues ditty. I was humming it after a close brush with the Sarah Palin disaster (…now she’s gone and I don’t worry….). Ron sings it well, and Ithink the sound quality is really nice on this one. I recorded things low on the meters to avoid any clipping.  Check it out!sittin-on-top-of-the-world

 

 Sittin' On Top Of The World [4:12m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Here’s a new, old song done differently: Down on Weighted Knees. It’s based on a poem that I wrote back in the ’90’s. I want to release it under Creative Commons in such a way that it promotes collaboration. We’ll see how that goes. Here’s the first mix. No reverb. It may even be mono. But there’s an idea there. Partly inspired by the tempo of a Leonard Cohen song that I was reminded of by the folks at NPR’s All Songs Considered, partly inspired by the music of Beach House. Partly inspired by the lyrics. Hope you like it!

 

 Down on Weighted Knees [3:37m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

I recently got together with my friend Howard and we put together this blues.  It’s the first real song that I’ve put together using the BR864.  I may re-take the accordion part, but as a proof of concept, I’d say  it’s pretty good! The lyrics were lifted, real quick, at the last minute from a book on the blues. I’m thinking that they’ve fallen into the public domain.

Have a listen, and let me know what you think.

Thanks Howard, for all your help!

 

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Before heading out to Marseille for the past two weeks, I got together with my friend Walt Lockley to make some music. While I was working on a mix of a different song, Walt wrote the lyrics to the song “Someday You’ll Find it Easy”.

This morning, during a cold-induced bout of insomnia I decided to put the words to music and record it. You may notice I’m using the same chords as “First Kiss”. Given this mother of all sore throats - and the meds I’m on to combat this thing - I kind of floated through this one.

Have a listen. Hope you like it!

 

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It was just a matter of time until we got around to this one.  Ron and I learned this song just the other day, so take it as an early version.  Again, one take on vocals, guitar and mandolin, and then another by way of afterthought (some percussion) as we listened back.  I still feel hampered recording with the M-Audio Firewire 410.  The quality is comparatively good (as Todd would say…better specs than many other devices), but I need more simultaneous tracks so…. MOTU here I come, and it may be time for the dual processor Mac as well. As for this recording, I always wondered what this old traditional english folk song would sound like with middle-eastern dumbeg behind it.  Ron’s voice is perfect for it,  and I will continue to practice this one on the mandolin until I get more crisp on the leads.  Oh, and one lesson learned here, I upgraded to a better mandolin and had a luthier set it up for me just right, but notice how it does not sound as good on this recording compared to my others?  That’s because it has a fishman pickup system in it and I am recording jack to jack for the first time.  Previous mando recordings were done with a fairly high quality condensor mic.  From now on, I will go with the mic in the studio…or maybe both the jack and the mic and see what I get.  The lesson for me….the fidelity with good microphones will almost always get you a better recording with acoustic instruments.  I am still pleased with the upgrade though as the pickup gives me much more mobility to move around and enjoy performing.  We are just about ready for that open mic!   John Barleycorn

 

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In the summer of 2004, we (my wife and I and two boys) spent our first week at Berkeley Family Camp in Yosemite. Each evening, a group of folks would gather down by the river with instruments to sing and make music. Nestled in the redwood groves of Tuolumne National Park, we would play for ourselves and anything that cared to listen. One morning Ron Hendel showed up with his family in tow and a little backpacker guitar. After jamming just a few minutes with Ron, I knew I had someone to play with who could play guitar as well as I and sing well too. Over the following several days of jamming, we played a lot of music. Then, when the week was nearly over, we agreed to keep in touch. Only now, after a few years, we are regularly getting together and playing (after I located his number at the bottom of an old wallet). However, instead of just playing guitars, we find ourselves somewhat enchanted by the complimentary sound of my new mandolin along side the guitar. Here is a tune we recorded the very first month I got the mandolin and was learning to play. It is a simple song, and was initially inspired by a Dulcimer playing woman we met down by that old river back in 2004. I believe it was the only song she knew, but as she was so excited to play with us, we took a liking to her and learned her favorite tune and played it for a good 30 minutes! It captures the vocal harmonies and instrumental sound that define us at this point. The song is an old traditional folk song “Shady Grove” recorded by many artists over the years, including Doc Watson, David Grisman and others.

 

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This isn’t music, but a radio story that I did awhile back.

This tests a recent change in the site which will allow file size limits of up to 100 megs.  Please note: this 14 meg file took about 5 minutes to upload.  So, if you are uploading a large file and the browser appears to be spinning away, please be patient.

 

 Bald!: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

It has been a while since I have contributed anything as a sonic sibling, but my recent escapade into playing the Mandolin has yielded a few songs share. I have only been playing Mando a few months, but I find my experience playing guitar has allowed me to make some headway fairly quickly, and my friend and guitar player Ron Hendel, who has been playing with me regularly as of late, has been very patient while I pick up this new instrument. Ron has a great voice and sings and plays guitar on what I have posted here. It was done in one take with 3 mics on two tracks. It is what it is! “Hometown Blues” written by Steve Earle

~Manoog

 

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