Old Joe Clark
July 2, 2010 6:15 PM
An old-time chestnut on guitar, mandolin, and my new Menzies tackhead banjo
It's been way too long since I was serious about playing and/or recording, so I jumped on a bit of spare time and recorded a couple of rounds of this on my iPhone with FourTrack, and mixed it in Audacity. Played in D, 5 steps lower than its usual key of A. (It's one seriously plunky banjo.)
I really need to get back to work learning how to play in the older minstrel style; clawhammer is fun on my gourd & tackhead, but a little bit muddy-- especially when laid next to a guitar track. The minstrel style is a bit more sparse, but really works for the mellow, deep tone of an early style banjos.
It's been way too long since I was serious about playing and/or recording, so I jumped on a bit of spare time and recorded a couple of rounds of this on my iPhone with FourTrack, and mixed it in Audacity. Played in D, 5 steps lower than its usual key of A. (It's one seriously plunky banjo.)
I really need to get back to work learning how to play in the older minstrel style; clawhammer is fun on my gourd & tackhead, but a little bit muddy-- especially when laid next to a guitar track. The minstrel style is a bit more sparse, but really works for the mellow, deep tone of an early style banjos.
posted by usonian (3 comments total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
Nice job. I love the sound of those loose banjo strings. It makes it sound like the mandolin is playing along with a wonky 78 rpm player playing at 70 rpm.
posted by umbú at 8:27 PM on July 6, 2010
posted by umbú at 8:27 PM on July 6, 2010
Thanks! Yeah, I'm still getting the hang of playing without frets... playing solo you can get away with being a little sharp or flat, but the mandolin really highlights those slightly off banjo notes.
posted by usonian at 10:41 AM on July 7, 2010
posted by usonian at 10:41 AM on July 7, 2010
You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments
posted by peterkins at 9:59 PM on July 2, 2010