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Planxty Irwin 27 Jun 2024, 9:08 pm
David Franzen: Excerpts from the Aranjuez 25 Jun 2024, 3:45 am
Bach: Chaconne – Petra 12 Dec 2019, 4:08 pm
Guitar Lesson 5 Nov 2019, 6:49 am
After hearing Starker play the ‘cello suites, I gave up playing them on guitar. The guitar is too weak, I thought.
Then I heard Gerwig play them on the lute and they were beautiful.
How can this be, I thought. The lute is weaker than the guitar.
Then I realized something. Gerwig wasn’t trying to match or compete with the ‘cello. Instead, he played the music to reveal what is beautiful about the lute.
Barrios: Julia Florida – Rob MacKillop 27 Oct 2019, 3:30 am
Rob 30 Aug 2019, 2:56 am
Four of Ten “Simple” Preludes by Reginald Smith Brindle – Rob MacKillop, archtop guitar.
Says Rob, memorably, in the caption:
“I find them beautiful and complex, much like my late mother-in-law.”
http://ArchtopGuitar.net
Hauser 20 Aug 2019, 5:31 am
Frank Wallace playing a 1939 Hauser. Great sound. Here’s the description from the video.
About the guitar, contact Aaron Green: http://aarongreenguitars.com or http://www.thespanishguitarworkshop.com. Recordings and sheet music by Frank A. Wallace: http://gyremusic.com/; concert information: http://www.frankwallace.com
In my capacity as a dealer I’ve had the pleasure of getting to represent a fair number of Hauser I guitars. I never cease to be amazed at the quality of balance these guitars possess. Not just in the response across the fingerboard but the balance of qualities within the voice of the guitar. When I think of the “Hauser sound” that is the quality that I am thinking of as every one of his guitars I’ve had was unique and ranged from one end of the spectrum to the other in terms of the character of voice. But that aspect of balance remains a constant.
This particular Hauser is a Llobet model, based on the Torres owned by Miguel Llobet, studied by Hauser on a couple of occasions, including the famous meeting with Segovia where he examined Segovia’s Manuel Ramirez. It is somewhat lesser known that Hauser developed both his Segovia model and his Llobet model pretty much concurrently. And Hauser’s favorite guitars were his Llobet model instruments.
One very unique aspect to this 1939 Llobet is that it features a silver tornavoz. It is the only one I’ve handled and is a feature that is found on the Torres original. Albeit Hauser utilizes it differently than Torres did.
There’s not much to say about the sound that isn’t easily heard in Franks capable hands. What I will say is that the guitar is stunningly alive and responsive. It is a joy to play in every way and if I could, I’d keep this one for myself.
This guitar is currently being offered for sale. Any inquires may be sent to me at aarongreenguitars@gmail.com.
Per 17 Aug 2019, 8:55 pm
Bach: Prelude No. 1 from Kleine Preludien Für Klavier BWV 924 in C-Major. Arranged and played by Per-Olov Kindgren. This is the first time I’ve heard this piece on guitar. Nice going, Per!
‘Cello Prelude on Handpans 17 Jul 2019, 12:41 pm
This Bach ‘cello prelude is a great favorite with classical guitarists. I think you’ll be interested to hear and see it done on handpans.
Mario 15 Jul 2019, 8:25 am
Orange Tree in Flower (1944)
Lyrics by: Homero Exposito
Music by: Virgilio Exposito
Era mas blanda que el agua,
que el agua blanda,
era mas fresca que el rio,
naranjo en floor…
Y en esa calle de estio,
calle perdida,
dejo un pedazo de vida
y se marcho…
Primero hay que saber sufrir,
despues amar, despues partir
y al fin andar sin pensamiento…
Perfume de naranjo en flor,
promesas vanas de un amor
que se escaparon en el viento…
Despues, que importa el despues?
Toda mi vida es el ayer
que me detiene en el pasado,
eterna y vieja juventud
que me ha dejado acobardado
como un pajaro sin luz.
Que le habran hecho mis manos?
Que le habran hecho
para dejarme en el pecho
tanto dolor?
Dolor de vieja arboleda,
cancion de esquina
con un pedazo de vida,
naranjo en flor..
She was softer than the water,
than the soft water,
she was fresher than the river,
orange tree in flower…
And in that summer street,
lost street,
she left a piece of life
and she left…
First you learn to suffer,
then to love, then to leave,
and finally to walk without thinking…
Scent of orange blossoms,
empty promises of love
that escaped in the wind…
After, does it matter the afterwards?
All my life is the yesterday
that stops me in the past,
eternal and ancient youth
that has left me unnerved
like a bird in the dark.
What have my hands done to her?
What have they done to her
to leave me in the chest
so much pain?
Pain of an old grove,
street corner’s song
with a slice of life,
orange tree in flower…
Delpriora: Etude 10 21 Jun 2019, 6:03 am
“From an old cassette tape of a live performance. An etude for scales in contrary motion accompanied by opens strings. Middle section: bars and trills.” -Mark Delpriora
Fantasy on a Canadian Folksong 20 Jun 2019, 6:00 am
Fantasy on a Canadian Folksong by Jeffrey McFadden (2018), performed by the composer. Recorded March 27, 2019 at St.Mary Magdalene Church, Toronto, by Drew Henderson. Guitar by Marcus Dominelli (2019).
Nice, eh?
Petra 18 Jun 2019, 7:10 am
Bill McConaughy: Classical Gas 19 Oct 2018, 6:26 pm
Guitarist Bill McConaughy plays a couple of Chis Brandt acoustic guitars at the 2014 Handmade Instrument Show, held at Marylhurst University in Portland, Oregon.
1. The Earl of Salisbury – John Renbourn
2. Classical Gas – Mason Williams
3. I Always Thought of You – Tommy Emmanuel
4. Those Who Wait – Tommy Emmanuel
5. Slow Circle II – Alex de Grassi
6. Yashas Tune – Storm Nilson
Dilermando Reis: Se Ela Preguntar – David Tutmark 10 Aug 2018, 7:20 pm
A Merry Little Christmas – Daria Semikina 24 Dec 2017, 2:24 pm
I like everything about this, but especially the way Daria lets the guitar sing.
James Taylor Tribute to Glen Campbell 3 Sep 2017, 9:08 pm
Karas: The Third Man – Evangelos Assimakopoulos 7 Jul 2017, 12:59 pm
Gut Strings, No Nails 3 Jul 2017, 2:02 am
Adelita on Archtop 10 May 2017, 10:47 am
Another late-night treat from Rob MacKillop. Archdelighter!
Christian Vasseur: Four Etudes – Rob MacKillop 6 May 2017, 2:07 pm
Bach: Adagio, BWV 1001 – Stephanie Jones 6 Apr 2017, 7:18 am
Delpriora: Variations on a Theme by Sor – Nathan Cornelius 20 Mar 2017, 7:46 pm
Remarks from Mr. Cornelius:
American guitarist and composer Mark Delpriora teaches at the Manhattan School of Music in New York. He describes the imaginary program behind this set of variations on a brief Menuet in C minor by Fernando Sor as “an epic journey: a sheet of manuscript paper on which Sor’s Menuet is written is taken by a gust of wind through time and space and onto the desk of my favorite composers.” Each composer transforms the theme into his distinctive style, setting the stage for subtle musical jokes and allusions along the way.
The variations begin with Sor’s contemporary and acquaintance, Beethoven, who draws on the famous C-minor march from his “Eroica” Symphony. A miniature sonata-allegro movement in A major, inspired by Clementi, provides strong tonal contrast, and a cheery ländler or German dance is full of the bold modulations for which Schubert is well-known. Robert Schumann, who created the musical alter-egos Florestan and Eusebius for the two sides of his personality, appropriately bifurcates into two movements, inspired by two of his Symphonic Etudes, surrounding a dark and Chopinesque nocturne.
Moving into the middle of the 19th century, we hear a ballade in the style of Brahms’ famous “Edward” Ballade, followed by a mercurial scherzo inspired by the scene “Queen Mab, the Dream Fairy” from Berlioz’s ballet Romeo and Juliet. A weighty funeral march, easily the longest variation of the set, quotes not only from the famous funeral of Siegfried near the end of Wagner’s Ring cycle but also from Sor’s Fantaisie Elegiaque sur la mort de Mme. Beslay, in which the grief-stricken composer wrote “Charlotte! Adieu!” above the closing strains (hence the subtitle).
The tragic atmosphere is soothed by a tender berceuse or lullaby in the style of Fauré’s Berceuse for violin, followed by a harmonically audacious prelude à la Scriabin, who wrote dozens of such works. The ensuing intermezzo is a textbook example of the twelve-tone style invented by Schönberg, with the row clearly presented at the beginning and then transformed through retrograde and inversion. A dense and heroic fugue closes out the work, much as in Busoni’s Variations and Fugue on a Prelude by Chopin, another piece based on transformations of earlier music. Delpriora particularly admires Busoni for his “affectionate, playful view of history,” in which he finds “a way forward towards which I am sympathetic.”
0:01 Theme Menuet (Op. 24, No. 1, [Fernando Sor])
2:38 Var. 1. Marcia (Pensando di Ludwig van Beethoven…)
4:24 Var. 2. Sonatinetta (Pensando di Muzio Clementi…)
7:14 Var. 3. Ländler (Pensando di Franz Schubert…)
9:47 Var. 4. Etude I (Pensando di Robert Schumann…)
11:12 Var. 5. Nocturne (Pensando di Fryderyk Chopin…)
14:18 Var. 7. Etude II (Pensando di Robert Schumann…)
16:00 Var. 8. Ballade (Pensando di Johannes Brahms…)
18:51 Var. 9. Scherzo (Pensando di Hector Berlioz…)
23:14 Var. 10. March Fùnebre – Liebestraum, reminiscences of Charlotte (Pensando di Richard Wagner…)
31:35 Var. 11. Berceuse (Pensando di Gabriel Fauré…)
34:28 Var. 12. Prelude (Pensando di Alexander Scribain…)
36:27 Var. 13. Intermezzo (Pensando di Arnold Schönberg…)
39:30 Var. 14. Fugue (Pensando di Ferruccio Busoni…)
Scott Kritzer: Prelude, Sarabande, & Gigue from Cello Suite #1 – J.S. Bach 17 Jan 2017, 7:50 pm
Kapsberger: Passacaglia – Stefano Maiorana, theorbo 7 Jan 2017, 11:21 am
Jangle Bells 2 Jan 2017, 8:11 am
Ok, Jingle Bells, arranged for ukuleles and guitar orchestra by the always adventurous composer Nikita Koshkin. The player is Marina Krupkina.
Sleigh Ride 20 Dec 2016, 11:57 pm
Whoa! Sleigh Ride by Leroy Anderson, arranged and performed by Douglas Niedt.
Pepe Romero Plays Aranjuez 26 Oct 2016, 11:02 am
Pepe and the conductor were old friends. Watch closely at the final note.
What Would Beethoven Say? 27 Aug 2016, 7:08 am
Singin’ in the Rain 10 Aug 2016, 9:06 am
Johanson: Five Ways In, One Way Out 6 Aug 2016, 3:24 am
The world premiere of Bryan Johanson’s Five Ways In, One Way Out, for clarinet and guitar quartet. The clarinetist is David Shifrin, who is also the artistic directer of Chamber Music Northwest. The Oregon Guitar Quartet members, left to right, are Jesse McCann, Mario Santiago Diaz, Bryan Johanson, and John Mery. Thanks to the guys for letting me record this. It was an interesting project — three cameras and one me! Challenging.
Turina: Homenaje a Tárrega – Frank Wallace 17 May 2016, 8:26 am
Beautiful playing on a 1910 Manuel Ramirez guitar. This guitar is featured on a new CD by Frank Wallace, Four Extraordinary Spanish Guitars. Recommended!
Sergei Rudnev: Fantasy on “Crimson Moon” – Matt Palmer 9 May 2016, 9:45 am
Peter Ciluzzi – A Perfect Unison 4 May 2016, 6:28 pm
Antigoni Goni Interview 11 Apr 2016, 9:41 pm
Antigoni talks about her old Romanillos guitar and her new recording.
John Williams BBC Special 27 Mar 2016, 5:45 am
Dives and Lazarus – Jeffrey Ashton 10 Mar 2016, 8:25 pm
Note: this video can be viewed in 4k. If you have a 4k screen and a fast enough connection, click on Settings and select 2160p to watch in 4k.
Bach: BWV 997 – Ricardo Gallen 17 Dec 2015, 8:22 pm
Timing, articulation, presentation — not boring.
Video filmed by Paco Montañés and José Hidalgo in the courtyard of Casa-Museo Palacete La Hilandera in Alcalá la Real, Jaén in July 2013. The instrument used is a copy of Fabricatore circa 1820 made by the Luthier Arnoldo García with old instruments-carbon strings by Savarez Alliance. Recording in one take, no editing.
Rudnev: Old Lime Tree – Yuri Liberzon 23 Nov 2015, 1:45 am
Old Lime Tree, by Russian composer Sergey Rudnev. Played here by Yuri Liberzon.
Hilary Field: Donzella 30 Oct 2015, 6:02 am
Guitarist Hilary Field plays her own composition, Donzella: Fantasia on a Sephardic Lullaby.
It is based on the Ladino song Durme Hermosa Donzella (Sleep Beautiful Maiden) and inspired by these lyrics: “Listen, feel the sound of my guitar. Listen, my beautiful, to the song of my sorrows.”
It is a piece from her new CD, Premieres, which features all new, previously unrecorded pieces as well as music composed for Ms. Field. More info is on her web page: www.hilaryfield.com.
Corelli: Sonata Op.2, No.7 Xavier Garcia 1 Oct 2015, 4:41 am
Xavier arranged this, played all the instruments, and recorded and edited it himself. Bravo!
That’s Alright Mama – Emil Ernebro 23 Sep 2015, 11:57 pm
Classical Guitar Helping Kids in Trouble 10 Sep 2015, 4:15 am
New Movie on Agustin Barrios 12 Jul 2015, 10:28 am
It’s called Mangoré, por Amor al Arte (Mangoré, for the Love of Art). It’s about the legendary Paraguayan guitarist and composer Agustín Barrios, also known as Agustín Barrios Mangoré. The movie should be out August, 2015.
Indigo Road – Ronn McFarlane 1 Jun 2015, 3:06 pm
This is original lute music by lutenist Ronn McFarlane, from his Emmy-nominated recording Indigo Road. Thanks to luthier Jeffrey Elliott for bringing this to my attention.
1000 Pages of Classical Guitar Transcriptions 30 May 2015, 5:29 pm
Richard Yates was one one of the very first people to put quality guitar transcriptions online. Now he’s bundled them into a singe file for download.
Says Richard:
While most of these have been on my site for years, many have been added only recently.
The file is a package of pdf files. You might (or not) need to upgrade to the latest Acrobat Reader to view it properly. It is about 30MB so I suggest saving the file and then opening it rather than opening it directly from your browser.
If you visit Richard’s main site — Yatesguitar.com — check out his playing of the famous Prelude in E Major by Bach. Beautiful!
Clara Polka for Machete – Rob MacKillop 29 May 2015, 9:54 pm
Scarborough Fair – Perfecto de Castro 17 May 2015, 8:15 pm
Gregorio Howet: Fantasia – Ioana Gandrabur 9 May 2015, 1:47 pm
Stand By Me – Tracy Chapman 3 May 2015, 9:49 pm
Tracy Chapman gives a beautiful performance of Ben E. King’s 1961 classic, Stand By Me. The lyrics and her voice go right to the heart, and her guitar accompaniment shines with beautiful simplicity.
Raphaella Smits: Bach Chaconne 23 Apr 2015, 2:08 am
When the audience is quiet like that at the end of a performance, it’s better than a standing ovation.
Moller: Whispered by the Wind 20 Apr 2015, 4:28 pm
Carles Trepat 31 Mar 2015, 10:28 am
Once you’ve played this way, or once you’ve felt the meaningful touch of guitar played this way, even something very simple, everything changes.
Carles Trepat Concert on an 1892 Torres Guitar 29 Mar 2015, 5:09 am
Carles Trepat is a Spanish Catalan classical guitarist. He was born in Lérida, Spain, in 1960. He usually plays with historical guitars. This concert was played on his 1892 Antonio Torres guitar (SE 153), using gut and silk strings. (In fact, Torres didn’t finish building this guitar. According to Romanillos, this guitar was completed by Miguel Moya when Torres fell ill.)
Program:
FERNANDO SOR
Andante largo, Op.5, No.5
MIGUEL GARCÍA (Padre Basilio)
Minueto (07:02)
Sonata de Elami (09:17)
J. S. BACH (Trans. Llobet)
Sarabande (14:50)
Bourrée (18:49)
JULIÁN ARCAS
Bolero (23:05)
Soleá (26:00)
ISAAC ALBÉNIZ
Capricho catalán (32:50)
ENRIQUE GRANADOS
La maja de Goya (36:43)
El mirar de la maja (42:22)
MANUEL LÓPEZ-QUIROGA
Dos zambras La Salvadora (46:10)
Y sin embargo te quiero (49:44)
JUAN MOSTAZO
Los piconeros (Bulerías del siglo XVIII) (53:34)
CONSUELO VELÁZQUEZ
Amar y vivir (58:12)
MAGÍN ALEGRE
Americana (1:03:05)
POPULAR CATALANA
El cant dels ocells (1:07:17)
Pepe Romero Master Class in Portland 16 Feb 2015, 3:22 am
My thanks to Pepe Romero for permitting me to record this.
Domeniconi: Koyunbaba – Parkening 1 Feb 2015, 5:50 am
Christopher Parkening has a new YouTube channel. Here’s a video from that channel:
Restoration James Joyce’s Guitar 31 Jan 2015, 4:06 pm
Bach: Fuge BWV 998 – Leonora Spangenberger 11 Jan 2015, 3:30 pm
The Restaurant Gig 8 Jan 2015, 10:05 pm
I was nineteen years old, playing in a wine cellar. I’d spent two hours bringing the audience to this point — chatting them up, telling stories about composers, mixing in a Classical Gas here and a Jobim number there.
Everything was set for the knockout. The waiters had stopped serving, the cash register had stopped cha-chinging, and a full house of patrons had put down their forks and stopped talking to hear me finish burning through Leyenda.
In those days, playing Leyenda, I used to picture a great wheel rolling across the Spanish countryside in darkness, with the landscape periodically lit by a flash of lightning when the big chords were struck.
So there I was, racing across Andalucia with the audience in the palm of my hand, when out of the corner of my eye I saw a sweet little old lady shuffling toward me. She had a kind smile on her face, one hand holding her cane and purse, the other hand extended toward me.
Now she was right in front of me. I still had a minute to go in the piece, but she wanted to give me a tip right then and there. She began nudging my right hand with her own outstretched hand, smiling sweetly all the while.
Still furiously rolling through the arpeggios and banging out the lightning, I motioned with my head toward the tip jar was, but she just kept smiling and nudging until she finally separated my fingers from the strings.
I gave up, smiled at her, and opened my hand to receive the offering. She smiled even more sweetly and delivered five dimes into my hand. Then she wished me a good night and slowly made her way out of the room.
I couldn’t think of anything to say or do, so I just put my guitar down, thanked my audience, and wandered outside for a walk under the stars, wondering what I had learned.
Suite Victor Jara 6 Jan 2015, 4:51 pm
Harp-Lute Pieces by Edward Light – Rob MacKillop 6 Jan 2015, 11:25 am
Comfortably Numb – Thomas Leeb 4 Jan 2015, 7:29 am
Mompou: Suite Compostelana – Frank Wallace 27 Dec 2014, 2:15 am
Mourey: In Memoriam – Marcelo de la Puebla 25 Nov 2014, 4:47 pm
Colette Mourey’s In Memoriam is a set of variations on Anna Marley’s famous Song of the Partisans.
According to Wikipedia:
The Chant des Partisans was the most popular song of the Free French and French Resistance during World War II.
The piece was written and put to melody in London in 1943 after Anna Marly heard a Russian song that provided her with inspiration. Joseph Kessel and Maurice Druon wrote the French lyrics. It was performed by Anna Marly, broadcast by the BBC and adopted by the maquis. The lyrics of the song revolve around the idea of a life-or-death struggle for national liberation, and they also carry elements of a communist political message (for example, calling upon the workers and peasants to rise up).
After the war the Chant des Partisans was so popular, it was proposed as a new national anthem for France. It became for a short while the unofficial national anthem, next to the official La Marseillaise.
In this concert, Chilean guitarist Marcelo de la Puebla gives the world premiere performance of the piece. The video opens with a few words from the composer, who, via Skype, was able to address the audience and enjoy the concert from her home in France. The Skype connection was poor, so the communication was difficult, but I thought it was good to keep it in the video to document the event. The music begins at the four-minute mark.
Bach: 3rd Violin Sonata – Colin Davin 21 Nov 2014, 7:48 am
Colin Davin performed on the David Letterman show this evening! I haven’t seen it yet, but I’ll bet it was great. Here he is playing Bach’s 3rd Violin Sonata (BWV 1005) in Portland earlier this year:
M. Pujol: Tango de Lejos – Aytahn Benavi 14 Nov 2014, 3:45 pm
Aytahn is a student in Kevin Taylor’s Childbloom Guitar Program.
Vahagni plays Hazel 1 Nov 2014, 5:04 am
Another cool vid from GSI. Check out the audio quality. They’re using Telefunken ELA M 260
Stan Jay 28 Oct 2014, 1:18 pm
Stan M. Jay, owner of the Mandolin Brothers musical instrument store on Staten Island, which has been a pilgrimage destination for recording stars, collectors and other connoisseurs of the guitar, mandolin, banjo and ukulele for more than 40 years, died on Wednesday in Staten Island. He was 71.
The cause was Mantle cell lymphoma, his wife, Bea, said.
Mr. Jay played a virtuoso behind-the-scenes role in the musical lives of performers such as Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Jimmy Buffett and Paul Simon — not as a performer, but as one of the country’s premier dealers and restorers of new and vintage fretted instruments.
The walls of his office at Mandolin Brothers, located in a tiny commercial strip, were papered with snapshots of him with those musicians and others, a collage of a Woodstock that might have been: Bruce Springsteen, Judy Collins, Lenny Kravitz, Sarah McLachlan, Sheryl Crow and Crosby, Stills and Nash, as well as celebrity guitar connoisseurs like Conan O’Brien and the filmmaker Christopher Guest.
The rest here.
Tarrega: Maria – Irina Kulikova 22 Oct 2014, 8:36 pm
Nadaka: Raga Guitar 16 Oct 2014, 9:56 pm
Josquin and Narvaez: Mille Regretz – Jeff Ashton 8 Oct 2014, 3:44 am
Jeff Ashton playing his new Maxwell Sipe guitar. Recorded at the 2014 Marylhurst Handmade Instrument Show.
Jeff plays two versions of Josquin des Prez’s Mille Regretz. He starts with his own guitar arrangement of the original four-part chanson by Josquin.
Jeff follows with the 1538 vihuela adaptation by Luis de Narváez, called Cancion del Emperador, later transcribed for guitar and made famous by Segovia.
As a reference for Jeff’s arrangement of Mille Regretz, here’s the work for four voices:
Text:
Mille regretz de vous abandonner
Et d’eslonger vostre fache amoureuse,
Jay si grand dueil et paine douloureuse,
Quon me verra brief mes jours definer.
In Modern French:
Mille regrets de vous abandonner
et d’être éloigné de votre visage amoureux.
J’ai si grand deuil et peine douloureuse
qu’on me verra vite mourir.
English Translation:
A thousand regrets at deserting you
and leaving behind your loving face,
I feel so much sadness and such painful distress,
that it seems to me my days will soon dwindle away.
Bonfá: Manhã de Carnaval – Luciana Elizondo and Quito Gato 4 Oct 2014, 6:41 am
Thanks to luthier Jeffrey Elliott for bringing this moment of simple beauty to my attention.
Sergio Assad: Valseana – Olga Kamornik 9 Sep 2014, 9:03 am
Reharmonized Carulli – John Hall 5 Sep 2014, 10:23 pm
John Hall comes up with some neat ideas. Check out this reharmonization of Carulli’s evergreen Andantino in G:
Listen: Andantino in G, reharmonized
These files are posted here with John Hall’s permission, by the way. Thanks, John!
If you like this work, please drop by John’s blog and tell him so. There’s another reharmonized Carulli piece there — and John says he’ll do more!
(audio/mpeg; 1.49 MB)
Dan Koentopp, Luthier 22 Aug 2014, 4:07 am
Félix – Blind Child Plays the Blues 12 Aug 2014, 11:31 pm
Félix is 10 years old, totally blind, and lives in Quebec.
Tadic: Macedonian Girl – Tavi Jinariu 10 Aug 2014, 7:55 am
Flamenco Dancing Priest 27 Jul 2014, 2:13 pm
Father Pepe, a Roman Catholic flamenco-dancing priest in Campanilla, Spain, feeling the spirit.
Ricardo Gallen Records Bach 24 Jun 2014, 4:10 pm
Corbetta on Baroque Guitar – Rolf Lislevand 30 May 2014, 1:55 am
Carving a Classical Guitar Neck – Michael Thames, Luthier 13 May 2014, 7:16 am
Not only is he building guitars, Mr. Thames is also doing his own captivating videography with his Canon EOS 5D Mark III DSLR. I want one!
Stradivarius Guitar 8 May 2014, 7:36 pm
Antonio Stradivari (Stradivarius in Latin) is known mainly for the violins he made. But he also made a few guitars. The Stradivarius played here, called the Sabionari, is one of just a handful of Stradivarius guitars still in existence. It is the only Stradivarius guitar that is currently playable.
Andrea Tacchi – The Guitar is a Dream 4 May 2014, 3:25 pm
Andrea Tacchi is a well-known Italian luthier. The video was directed and edited by Unnar Ari.
Andrew York: Sanzen-in – Kanengiser and Tennant 27 Apr 2014, 7:41 am
Andrew York wrote this duet for two guitars after visiting the 1,000-year-old Sanzen-in Temple in Kyoto Japan.
And because you’ve been good, here’s Sanzen-in arranged for two marimbas and beautiful women:
Bryan Johanson: Magic Serenade – William Kanengiser 24 Apr 2014, 12:24 am
Another video from the Kanengiser-Tennant concert at Marylhurst University in Portland, Oregon, January 31, 2014. Bryan Johanson was in the audience.
Antonio Ruiz-Pipo: Cancion y Danza – Scott Tennant 21 Apr 2014, 7:11 pm
This video is from the third concert I’ve recorded. The first concert was Celin and Celino Romero, recorded November, 2013. It was a fine concert, but I had no idea what I was doing and failed to get much usable footage. The second concert was Rovshan Mamedkuliev, recorded January 10, 2014, which came out a little better for the experience gained from the Romeros concert. The footage from this Kanengiser-Tennant concert, recorded January 31, 2014, while still not great, is a little better.
It’s a challenge to record these concerts when you can’t get close to the stage and when you have to use the available lighting, which is pretty dim. The lesson from the first two concerts was that using any zoom at all degrades the image quite a bit, and especially in low light. There was very little usable footage from the first two concerts because there was too much zoom on all the cameras.
There were three inexpensive consumer-level cameras on this concert — a Canon HV30, a Sony RX100, and a Sony CX430. The plan was to use the camera with the strongest zoom for the close-ups, and the camera with the weakest zoom for the wide shots. The RX100, with its 1-inch sensor, has by far the best image quality, but unfortunately the worst zoom. So the RX100 was dedicated to capturing a wide shot from the back left corner of the room, using very little zoom. The HV30 was placed in the back right corner, using only as much zoom as necessary to get a medium shot of the stage. The CX430, which has the best zoom of the three, was placed on the left side of the room for the close-ups.
Unfortunately, even with having the best zoom of the three, the side camera still produced the weakest footage. The raw footage was terribly “noisy” in the low light, zoomed in. The video was edited with Adobe Premiere Pro CC. (I’m a total noob with CC or any other editing software, by the way. A subject for another post.) There’s a plug-in for Premiere called “Neat Video.” It cleans up low-light noise very well, but at the price of losing some focus and sharpness. Without that plug-in the footage was unusable; with it, the close-ups became just barely usable.
I’ve now got a new camcorder that should be better for the close-ups. It’s the new Sony CX900. It has the same 1-inch sensor that the RX100 has, but with much better zoom. And it’s an actual camcorder, versus the RX100 which is a still camera with very little zoom, limited to taking 30-minute video clips. So I’m eager to see how the CX900 performs at the next concert.
I want to thank William Jenks of Portland Classic Guitar for giving me the opportunity develop this new hobby of mine. Regular readers of this blog know how much I enjoy guitar videos. I’ve had it in mind for years to start making videos of my own. Now, thanks in large part to the access I have to these concert venues, it’s starting to happen. I’m also very grateful to the concert artists who agreed to be recorded.