Music

Do You Really Listen?

/ mrbaxteria2008 / 1 Comment

 My essay about why we listen to music and the importance of the people behind the artist.

Gary Paczosa was Altan’s sound engineer for the album The Blue Idol(2002)

Dear readers. I have just finished my second cup of tea for the day. Would you care to join me for a little reflection? I have questions in mind. And I have conclusions of my own. How about yours? What’s your take on this article?

What makes listening to music fulfilling? Is it the speed of how the tune is being played? Is it accuracy? Technique? Style? We can go on and on rambling about what makes music interesting. I am sure we have our own sets of prejudices when it comes to other forms of music. Elitism after all exists in all forms of persuasions be it aesthetic, intellect or economic. We are snobs!

Jeff Wolpert: engineer, mixing, assistant producer for Loreena McKennitt albums and live recordings at work on her Mediterranean tour.

I think there are those who chose a particular form of genre based on the fact that very few listen to it so that makes it cool. Yes, it is the foundation of cool that keeps the business going round and round. Sometimes it is not so much on the beauty of the music than the fact that it is simply COOL to own such albums or listen to bands which your COOL friends approve of. Peer pressure?

I know I am not innocent. I have given up my biases years ago to put balance in this site. It is after all one half me, and the rest belongs to the people who contribute to the traffic of this site. Sometimes I feel my preferences are just one fourth of what this site is all about. Honestly, I also listen to other types of music. That is why I have a secondary blog which caters to indie musicians where genres like Rock, Electro and Jazz apply. But Celtic music was responsible in turning my world around which in turn gave birth to this site. Writing has been a source of joy for me.

Enya and Nicky Ryan inside old Aigle studio(picture from enyabookofdays.com)

Sometimes, miss the old days when I used to let people listen to my records to cite an example. I even went as far as making my own mix tapes so I can inject those recordings on buses and bars where people are found. And I can talk for hours how a particular note can gain different colors based on the effects that you put on a sound, making you travel inside the music and marvel at the wonders of the recording technology. I can write an essay how clarinets sound so good when played sonorously, gaining a haunting quality.

There are also times when I just listen to make me feel good at the end of the day. We all listen to music for different reasons. But I think the best music is that one where you always get satisfied in all aspects. Something that makes you think of how the arrangements of the instruments were done, the album artwork, the people who worked in the photography, the liner notes, the sound engineers, mixers and finally those who do the mastering process.

Richard Dodd: engineer and producer of The Magical Ring, the legendary album by the band Clannad

Have you ever wondered how the musicians and people involved in the album making worked hard in the studio to give you the finished product? Somehow these are things that got ignored in the world of fast mp3 downloads and not having too much time to REALLY listen. Do you really listen?

Reflections, Meditations and Walking the Mists

/ mrbaxteria2008 / 1 Comment


Thoughts and a little bit of book review for you.

The United States still posses the biggest chunk of my readership.  The UK ranks the second. I am amused by the fact that my American readers seem to prefer that I write about artists from other countries. To cite an example, the Russian band 208 Talks of Angels got a lot of traffic when the article was published and 96% of the readers were from the US. Yesterday, Marc Gunn, the Celt father topped the number of readership. Yn Chruinnaght CD review ranked the highest, the day before yesterday.

Thunderstorm! This weather is enough to drive someone into spiritual reflection.Which, was the case when I took a week off from the Internet. That included turning the phone off and avoiding people. This doesn’t happen often but it was a great experience. It feels good to realize that there is a big world out there outside cyberspace. I was able to finish reading four books and started mixing tracks for a future project with a friend who asked me to mix his next album. I am not really confident that I will do good but it is nice to be asked. He actually recorded 7 instrumental bits for me to assemble using effects. It was quite an experience.

There is a great book I finished reading. It is called Walking the Mist by Donald McKinney. The author put a lot of himself in the book. It also glimpse into the history of the Druids. Like me, Donald McKinney was also influenced by the music of Enya and that got him started into the whole thing. Just like myself. I never knew about Celtic music until I heard the uilleann pipes and whistle in Watermark. It was also my first taste of Irish Gaelic after hearing her song “Na Laetha Geal M’óige”. I think I have to credit her influence on my desire to be a music journalist. It is that feeling you get when you hear something so beautiful. You are at loss for words, but you want to describe that experience because it is that moment in your life when you reached an epiphany and you realize: this is something I want to do!

Here’s what he wrote(page 6)

Another indication was the music of Enya. Like many people, I had thrilled to the sound of “Orinoco Flow” and it even inspired me to have a Celtic Christmas that year-my partner bought me lots of Celtic items. It is almost embarrassing now to recall how powerful Enya was for me.

The author further expounds on the power of music in general(page 149):

To the Celt, music was a powerful tool. Perhaps accompanied by poetry, it was the key to the heart of man. The harpists that wandered the roads of Ireland were treated like lords and it was a great honor, well into the late Middle Ages, to have a bard attend your house.

Donald McKinney has other interesting topics covered in this book especially about meditation and maintaining the balance of mind, body and spirit. My big thanks to Paula who mailed this book to me all the way from England.

The author recommends the following albums:

Karen Casey-The Winds Begin to Sing

Anuna-Invocation

The Chieftains-Tears of Stone

Enya-Paint the Sky with Stars

Loreena McKennitt-Elemental

Loreena McKennitt-The Visit

Mary McLaughlin and William Coulter-Celtic Requiem

Aine Minogue-The Mists of Time

Paul Mounsey-Naboo3:Notes from the Republic

Gary Stadler-Fairy Nightsong

Various-Celtic Voices

You can purchase the book using this link: http://www.donaldmckinney.com/walkingmist.html

I remember the day The Celts came out on cassette tape. It was evening. I didn’t wait the next day to buy the album.

Got Harp Blisters?

/ mrbaxteria2008 / 2 Comments

Picture courtesy of http://harpyness.blogspot.com

I believe that any discussion is worth an article. Got this posted by Rachel Hair about issues with blisters among musicians who play the harp. This is understandable. Unlike guitarists who usually use the guitar pick harpists have to rely solely on their fingers in conquering those great bunch of strings.

Hi folks,

Do any of you ever get blisters when you play? I’m just wondering how you deal with them when you get them, or how you yourselves prevent them?

I myself rarely, rarely get blisters as I’ve such hard callouses on my fingers. Last week though I had a very intense playing schedule… I had 4 gigs in 2 days, which was over 7 hours of hard, full on playing (mixture of background music and professional performing gigs).

I ended up with a massive blister on my right hand thumb, but under my callous, so it had like a 1mm skin on it! I’ve ended up taking a needle to it and bursting it and I’ve cleared the skin away (it was such thick skin it was never going to regrow in).
Now I’ve fresh skin though without callouses on my thumb that I’m going to have to “train” up again.

Was just wondering what you guys do if you end up blisters, small, or big?

Rachel Hair

Things that usually happen:

1. Small cuts on fingers on wrong places. This happens when a wrong part of the finger slides or gets into too much contact with the wired strings.

2. Blisters. According to harpist Amy Kortuem: blisters  can occur on the 4th finger of left hand, the finger that anchors all those big chords on those huge gut and metal strings in the bass.

Temporary Remedies (if there is an ongoing gig):

1. Duct tape. Here’s what Amy Kortuem said:

Once I resigned myself to the fact that it wasn’t going to look pretty, I gave in. Duct taped finger it would be. I packed up the harp, got it into the warm truck and went to my tool box — No. Duct. Tape. And I didn’t have time to stop at the hardware store before I needed to be at the Wine Café. So I steeled myself to just play through the pain.

I shouldn’t have worried, though. There were plenty of great musicians at the Wine Café, and the likes of Paul Durenberger and Minnesota Music Hall of Famer Billy Steiner rushed to my rescue with a roll of duct tape and a Swiss Army knife to trim the edges.

It made for some interesting adjustments in my playing. While I didn’t feel any blister pain, I also didn’t feel the strings at all. I spent more time looking at my fingers while playing than I have since I was first learning to play the harp. But I adjusted, and people enjoyed the show tunes and romantic songs I played.
I’m sold on the duct tape cure. So much so that I went to the drugstore last night to buy a roll for myself. The cashier looked at me a little strangely when I put the duct tape and a Valentine’s Day card on the counter (the card was for my 90-year-old neighbor, Ethel), but I didn’t explain. I just tripped off into the winter’s night with my purchases, ready to give myself a manicure with some silvery nail polish to match my newest performance accessory.

2. Plasters. Plasters are quite good for allowing one to keep on playing, as they shape themselves to the shape of your fingers, and don’t completely block off sensation.

Long term remedies:

1.Aloe vera. It has soothing, moisturizing, and healing properties. Cut a small piece, squeeze it and put the gel on your finger. Don’t be afraid to moisturize your skin,  as keeping it dry will exacerbate the problem in the long run.

2. Rock tips. It builds callouses for sensitive fingertips. More info through this link: http://rock-tips.com/

Big thanks to all harpists who contributed their ideas:

Scott Hoye, Amy Kortuem, Màiri Macleod, Leo Phillips, Corrina Hewat, Renia Kayiava, Karla Sullivan, Susan M Berry, Ray Pool, Alice Freeman, Julia Somerville and Eliseo Mauas Pinto.

Additional info can be found here: http://www.harpcolumn.com/forum/message-view?message_id=167147

Music is Therapy

/ mrbaxteria2008 / 5 Comments

His singing moved me to tears that I just lost it.

It is a somber day. I just finished breakfast and I listened to one of my CD collections. This song by Christy Moore came on. I had to drop everything . I can’t stop bawling like a baby. Something about the sentiment of the song hit me. It is a very sad song of Scottish origin. It took me sometime to recover and I thought I should write about it.

Writing is a good therapy. So is listening to music. There are emotions we refused to acknowledge so they stayed hidden. Not until one song unlocks them and everything is a catharsis. Sometimes the only friend we have until the end is music.  Songs help unravel our experiences within the chronology of our lives. They help us revisit the past and  we experience that old feeling. Music is precious. And musicians are also therapists that help us in the healing process.

I went through high school and college relying on the sustenance of my record collections. They kept me balanced and prevented me from doing drugs or getting into vices. In college, I had to set aside my allowance for clothes and shoes to buy albums. We do what we can to help each other. Friends are there but sometimes…just sometimes, people we care about can do damage even if they don’t mean to. It is just human nature I guess.

I remember the song Molly Ban which I also listened to a while ago. It has these lines:

Going home from her uncle in a shower of rain,

She crept under a green bush the rain for to shun.

Her white apron being around her he took her for a swan,

For he never intended to shoot his own Molly Ban.

O when he came to her and saw what he had done,

The tears from his eyes in great fountains did run.

Straight home to his father with a gun in his hand,

Saying “Father, dear father, I’ve shot Molly Ban.

“Her white apron being around her I took her for a swan,

In modern context, we can apply this story to words we say to one another. We might not have a gun like Molly Ban’s lover…but we have words. And words can wound..even kill.

I like this quote that my friend Christi once attached to her email signature:

Say little, and the little you say, say well.- Old Irish Saying

The Scottish New Music Awards September 2nd 2012

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The 2012 Scottish New Music Awards are going to be held on Sunday, September 2nd 2012 at the Classic Grand in Glasgow..

You can now start voting for your favorite artists for the 2012 Scottish New Music Awards. My focus is on the Roots Recording of the year. It’s going to be bloody because two of the artists in that category have already been featured in this website. They are Fiona J MacKenzie and The Rachel Hair Trio led by harpist Rachel Hair.

It is a nice award because it recognizes the best in Scottish music. The category covers everything, from Pop, Indie to Metal. So I am sure you can pick your own category and be happy with it. I made my vote already but I won’t tell you 😉

About:

The purpose of The Scottish New Music Awards is to present a professional event to honour the music made in Scotland and recognise the artists and the industry that make it happen.

The SNMA’s goal is to promote, celebrate and showcase new emerging artists and bands across all genres and to promote, celebrate and showcase the businesses within the industry i.e. recording studios, venues, photographers and print publications.

Beyond entertaining, The Scottish New Music Awards strives to educate attendees on an important part of Scottish culture. There is NO OTHER event like The Scottish New Music Awards. There is no political motivation or corporate pressure behind this event, The Scottish New Music Awards is for music lovers by music lovers.

Vote now for the music awards by clicking HERE
Vote now for the music industry awards by clicking HERE

The 2012 Scottish New Music Awards are going to be held on Sunday, September 2nd 2012 at the Classic Grand in Glasgow..

Contact: info@scotmusicawards.co.uk

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