Cleanup Time

My album is now about three-quarters complete, and before I move on to the last trio of songs I'm cleaning up some earlier recordings. In some cases this simply involves remixing; in others, I'm revisiting songs I recorded as far as two years back and redoing parts that didn't pass muster. I've also added a few embellishments to one song that needed a bit more fleshing out.

Make no mistake: recording an album by yourself, though great fun, is hard work. One of those "simple" remixes took 19 tries and much cutting and pasting of drums and percussion before it finally came together. All the while, I'm slowly gaining basic proficiency on the new instruments in my palette—dulcimer, violin and recorder.

Adventures in New Instruments

The latest addition to the family is this mountain dulcimer, lovingly handcrafted by Hugh Hunter of Rockwood, Ontario.

Mine is a bit darker than the model pictured here (the wood is cedar instead of spruce) and has a couple of extra sound holes as well. It looks great, feels great and sounds great, and because it's diatonically tuned you almost can't play a wrong note. In fact, I learned my first song by accident in less than five minutes: The Rolling Stones' "2000 Man." If you capo a dulcimer—and you need a specialized capo; guitar capos won't fit—the tuning and mode change. At Capo 1, for instance, you suddenly find yourself in a minor key. Standard tuning for the four strings is DAdd, the latter two being an identical "melody" pair. It's a haunting, mellifluous instrument and I'm blessed to be a proud owner.

Meanwhile, the fine folks at The Twelfth Fret were setting up and repairing my Nonno's Strad-O-Lin (mandolin), and they did a fabulous job. It's now eminently playable: I just recorded with it today, and even capoing at the 4th fret didn't throw off the intonation one bit. The repairman estimated the instrument to be of 1950s vintage, and though the tuning pegs are still rather stiff, it sings like a bell.

And finally, remember the violin I bought last October? I made my first recording with it today, and with help, my playing is approaching musicality. By "help" I mean that through the marvel of multitrack recording, I stitched together a nice-sounding accompaniment by playing only a few notes at a time, all on the same string. Huzzah! The fact that the song was in B certainly didn't make things easier, I'll tell you that. As you may know, learning the violin can be tough sledding. Tone, pitch, timbre and to a lesser extent timing are all hit-or-miss propositions for me at this point, and to get a decent take I have to nail all four simultaneously. Sometimes, I can do it ... for a few notes at a time.

Oh, and I've recently posted some sample music on my web site: studio recordings, an open stage appearance, plus a live-off-the-floor living room session recorded a few weeks ago. Come have a listen!

Papa Vern Screech

And his not-so-funky fiddle. (With apologies to the esteemed Papa John Creach, fiddler extraordinaire with Jefferson Airplane/Starship. We are not worthy!)

Truth be told, I'm doing reasonably well for someone who's had about an hour of practice, but it's still sounding rather screechy. To move things along, I've invested in a few beginner's aids—a shoulder rest, high-quality rosin and fingerboard tape so I can at least screech in tune. The tape is to novice violinists what training wheels are to the budding cyclist. Eventually, when my fingers know where they're going, it can come off.

In the meantime, I could use a refresher on Lesson 1: How to Hold the Violin & Bow. Yes, like most online lessons, this is geared to young pups with conservatory ambitions. But I've come to learn that fiddlers and violinists alike find proper technique indispensable. Holding the thing correctly is a good start, yes?

The good news: I'm blessed with a keen ear, so I'm (painfully) aware when my intonation is out or my bow technique poor. The bad news: progress will likely be slow because I have little time to practice. My goal for now is major scales starting on the open strings (G, D and A)—fluidly, with correct intonation and, I hope, an ever-improving tone.

Having only played instruments that are fingered, plucked or picked, I must say the bow strikes me as pretty freaky. I'm unsure how tight it should be, the optimal pressure on the strings, the speed at which to bow and most crucially, the correct angles for each string. But all is not lost; these vexations and more are, I'm sure, covered on YouTube.

All that said, I sound better than I did when I first picked it up at the music store, and this after but one hour. Cool.

Fiddler on the Goof

You'll recall my quasi-bluegrass tune, "Year of No Tomorrow," in which I quoted the opening bars of Coltrane's A Love Supreme on my virtual keyboard fiddle. Upon further reflection I loved the part, but the tonal qualities of the patch were wanting. In short, it sounded like a cheesy keyboard fiddle. I tried EQ'ing and remixing, but no avail. So, guess who's bought himself a fiddle for his birthday? Yup. Mine is the blue one:

It's a Stentor student violin, it cost me under $200, and no, I don't know how to play it. Yet. But I'm confident I will eventually. You see, many birthdays ago, circa Grade 8, I played violin in school, and I recall that after the initial screechy period I was able to produce some quite musical sounds. As for how I'll learn, I won't be entirely on my own because these days, all the violin lessons a beginner could want are available online for free (hooray for YouTube; pity the out-of-work violin teachers).

Sure, I could have hauled in a professional to play the part, but I'd rather do it myself. It's a bit of a goof, a lark, a fun challenge. My neighbours will hate me, but hey, a practice mute should mollify them. And I don't envision my fiddle as a one-shot deal: I have my eyes on a dulcimer next, and armed with a dulcimer and  fiddle I'm seeing some lovely British folk music in my future.