Jump to content

Watch Here

mark_h

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    97

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    10

 Content Type 

Posts posted by mark_h

    🎸Monthly Recording Challenge 70 "Play us something acoustic"

    in Guitar Playing & Technique

    Posted

    On 7/10/2019 at 9:54 PM, gotto said:

    Beautiful playing Mark. Your instrumentals always touch me and provide inspiration to all of us  yearning to play as well as you. What a wonderful outlet you have for sharing in Spain, and thanks for sharing with us.

    Ian, this is great! Your fingerstyle is growing by leaps and bounds, a testament to your dedication and practice. So nice to see you still creating new music for all of us to enjoy. Well done. my friend.

    Greg

    Thanks Greg! I agree, I’m very lucky

    mark🎶

    🎸Monthly Recording Challenge 70 "Play us something acoustic"

    in Guitar Playing & Technique

    Posted · Edited by mark_h

     

    Great call Mandy! Ian has already set a high bar. This is this seasons most requested Brides entrance. Ed Sheeran’s “Perfect”. I recorded it on my phone into GB and there is a lot of background noise. There are also two bass notes that are way more forceful then intended, but it is just the guitar played acoustically. I did double the track to increase the volume a bit. The photo was taken at a recent wedding I played in Marbella, “I love my office!”

    Mark

     

     

    • Like 4
    • Thanks 1

    🎸Monthly Recording Challenge 69 - Songs of the 60s

    in Guitar Playing & Technique

    Posted

    22 hours ago, Nutty 1 said:

    Here is my entry "Nights in White Satin" by Justin Haywood, performed by The Moody Blues.

    It is a tale of posh bed sheets, wasted stationary and a love that is lost causing pain which no one understands.

    You know like when you get that sinking feeling .......I had a bit of a microphone problem during this song.  Looks like I can not have the boom arm out too much on my mic stand.🤣🤓😂

     

    👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼🎶🎶 great job Mandy! The mic problem didn’t effect the recording so not to worry. Great choice of song too. 👍👍👍

    • Like 1
    • Thanks 1

    🎸Monthly Recording Challenge 69 - Songs of the 60s

    in Guitar Playing & Technique

    Posted · Edited by mark_h

    Thanks for keeping things Mandy!

    I didn’t want to do anything too  obvious so it’s a little obscure,; the title track from “Wave” by Antonio Carlos Jobim.

    This is one of the most difficult pieces for me to play, my timing is never right and I almost always stumble, but I play it anyway, every chance I get. One of these days I’ll get it right. (Or maybe not.) 🤗

    Mark

     

    • Like 7
    • Thanks 1

    Monthly Recording Challenge 68 - "Short and Sweet"

    in Guitar Playing & Technique

    Posted · Edited by mark_h

    Thanks for the challenge @watson43 . 

    This is one I learned for a recent wedding. It’s under 2 mins and was a lovely piece to arrange and play around with. It definitely stays in the repertoire. Beatles tunes are always more difficult then I expect, this took a while to get under the fingers. It’s recorded live to my iPhone and was played through a Roland mobile ac. The little Roland is a fab piece of kit. I use it for my indoor Restaurant gigs and it’s plenty loud enough.

    enjoy.

     

    • Like 6

    Monthly Recording Challenge 67 - "Love and relationships"

    in Guitar Playing & Technique

    Posted

    On 4/17/2019 at 1:59 PM, Nutty 1 said:

    Welcome back Mark, we missed you! I love hearing your recordings as they are so inspirational. We need great players like you as well the strugglers like me! 😁 What a beautiful song, thank you for sharing it with us.👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

    I have been worried that the monthly recording challenge threads would die. We need people of all abilities to post, it is really a great learning experience. When people practice on their own they have no real idea of what it sounds like but once you start recording yourself you begin to step up your learning because it gives you specific things to work on and makes you practice that song much more which leads to improvement. This is a great forum, no one is going to tear anyone's recording to pices because we are all real guitar players and we have all either been there or would love to get there! 😁(Sorry folks, that was an encouragement rant aimed at the non posters).

    Thanks so much Mandy, you are very supportive and kind. It’s great to hear you back playing. 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽🎶

    • Like 1

    Monthly Recording Challenge 67 - "Love and relationships"

    in Guitar Playing & Technique

    Posted

    2 hours ago, matonanjin said:

    @mark_h, it is really nice to have you back sharing because your recordings are always very enjoyable.  In fact, I was listening to this and my wife walked by my office and asked, "What song is that?".  I told her and she said, "That is really pretty".

    Could you explain for this recording newbie what you meant by the phrase "to add some strings"?

     

    Thank you to you and you wife for the kind words.

    The GR20 is a guitar synthesizer. It Connects to the Godin with a 13 pin lead and converts the signal so that you can reproduce any instrument or group of instruments either on their own or with the guitar sound also coming through. On this track I played the guitar and as well as the guitar sound, you can also hear a string section in the background playing the same notes. It’s just one take, but it sounds as if multiple instruments were overdubbed. I just connected the GR20 to my iPad and recorded it straight into GarageBand.

    if you look up the ROLAND GR20 you will see all the sounds it can reproduce.

    i hope this explanation  is clear.

    Mark

    Monthly Recording Challenge 67 - "Love and relationships"

    in Guitar Playing & Technique

    Posted

    Hi all, I hope you are well and feeling some spring in the air. Nothing posted for a while as it seemed some people were feeling the standard of the submissions was a bit intimidating and they wouldn’t give it a go. However, last months submissions were awesome, so now I’m feeling left out. 😭

    this is a loose arrangement of a beautiful Mexican love song originally titled “Sabor a mi”, it was recorded in English by Doris Day retitled “True to me”. It’s played on a nylon string Godin Multiac into a Roland GR20 to add some strings. I just can’t get this guitar to sound the way it should so this is the last recording with it. It’s now on eBay. The clicks and buzzes are the guitars fault, the clipping is entirely mine.

    “You can always make a recording louder, but if it clips you’re screwed “. 

    Enjoy!,

     

    • Like 9

    Monthly Recording Challenge 59 - "Free For All"

    in Guitar Playing & Technique

    Posted

    On 8/30/2018 at 3:19 PM, Nutty 2 said:

    Hey everyone, I am sorry that I could not post my song myself (thank you to UncleHammy for doing it for me) because I had a technical problem where I could not reply to threads or see the Chatbox. With Steve K's help I am up and running again with a new user account so I am no longer Nutty1. 

    Thank you @UncleHammy, @Oldjock and @Randy120 for your kind comments. I am glad that you like the harmonica, it is an instrument that I have just started learning and I am really enjoying it. I realise that the mix that I first did of this song was pretty terrible, in fact i find it quite uncomfortable to listen to ?so I have done another where I softened the vocals and reduced the volume a bit. Sorry about that guys, it is testimony to the theory that if you work on something for too long it starts sounding good when it is not.?

    I hope that this one is better! By the way it is an original, based on a blues in A (because I can still play that on guitar!).

     

    I am still having a problem with my hands, my fingers are still difficult to bend and the joint locking is still present but not so violent or as frequent now. I am continuing with the physiotherapy and occasional use of a topical anti-inflammatory. Hence my learning harmonica now.

    The remix is so good Mandy! Great job. I’m glad that your hands are feeling a bit better, hopefully they continue to improve. Loving the harmonica. ?? 

    • Thanks 1

    Could you play at weddings?

    in Guitar Playing & Technique

    Posted

    On 8/21/2018 at 8:41 PM, Tom M said:

    I really enjoyed your web site and story Mark. Also you have a great song list. I played my sons wedding a few years ago and they picked out all the songs. I did go get some lessons and learned a few classical pieces. One thing learned from my teacher was that to keep the bridal walk simple and short. I did cannon in D and had some crazy arrangement that my teacher said was way too long. He was correct in that I didn’t even get thru it and the preache signaled me too cut it short.

    I did all you need is love for the brides maids walking in, cannon d for the bride March and here comes the sun when everyone was leaving. I used a martin and a fishman amp and got a pretty good sound. 

    I always wanted to do more so your story is a great example of how to focus and provides a great song list. Very nice vids.

     

    Tom

    Thanks Tom, you are very kind. It sounds like you did a great job and got some on the job training too. I tend to work the same venues each season and have learned how long the Brides walk is in each one, all my arrangements have to end within a few seconds of the bride arriving at the front. So I know exactly what you mean. ?  

    Mark

    Monthly Recording Challenge 59 - "Free For All"

    in Guitar Playing & Technique

    Posted

    7 hours ago, WATSON43 said:

    I thought I'd try something different this month. Many years ago I recorded the guitar and lead vocal for this song on cassette tape. Recently I was able to convert the analog recording to digital, so I imported it to my DAW (Studio One) and added harmonies. Since the original was on tape there's a little bit of background hum, but I don't think it hurts things too much.

    Thanks for listening.

     

    Wow, this is great, Kevin! Lovely job on the harmony. ???

    Mark

    Could you play at weddings?

    in Guitar Playing & Technique

    Posted

    10 hours ago, NeilES335 said:

    Thanks for the reply Mark... I see you have put a lot of thought and practice into this, and that's why you're popular and get the jobs...  I thought you're set up looked something like this  equipment (maybe a European version ) https://www.long-mcquade.com/2383/Pro-Audio---Recording/PA-Speaker-Cabinets/Bose-Professional-Products/L1-Compact--Portable-Line-Array.htm

     

    10 hours ago, NeilES335 said:

    Thanks for the reply Mark... I see you have put a lot of thought and practice into this, and that's why you're popular and get the jobs...  I thought you're set up looked something like this  equipment (maybe a European version ) https://www.long-mcquade.com/2383/Pro-Audio---Recording/PA-Speaker-Cabinets/Bose-Professional-Products/L1-Compact--Portable-Line-Array.htm

    Hi Neil,

    My unit is a lot like that one, but it’s the older version of this one:

    https://www.amazon.com/LD-Systems-LDMAUI28G2W-MAUI-Bluetooth/dp/B071R7HCPC/ref=sr_1_1?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1533886550&sr=1-1&keywords=maui+28+white&dpID=31suhbgi9OL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

    they don’t do the Bose in white and LD has more speakers. The downside is the weight. I need a trolley for the base unit. When it’s time to replace it I’ll go for the new LD Maui 5 go, it puts out nearly the same db in a much lighter, battery powered unit. I’ve used my unit for weddings with 200 people outdoors, in 110 degree heat and it performs perfectly. I think it being white is both appropriate, and helps keep it cooler.

    thanks for asking,

    Mark

    Could you play at weddings?

    in Guitar Playing & Technique

    Posted

    53 minutes ago, NeilES335 said:

    @mark_h Thats great Mark that you made a business out of doing something you love and obviously do very well.  I was wonering... What actual gear ie PA, amp, etc do you use? Do you use backing tracks or just go solo on everything?

    Thanks Neil,

    those are really important questions. It took me a while to figure out what gear was best for these type of situations.

    my main rig is a white Maui 28 line array system, you can see it in the photo above. Line arrays use multiple speakers in a column and a subwoofer, to project sound over distance with very little volume loss. This means that even though it can be heard 100 feet away, when you stand in front of it the volume is bearable. I use it with a beringer xenyx 1204 usb mixer, which gives a lot of input possibilities and onboard FX. My other system is a battery powered Ibiza portable PA with 12inch speaker, also in white.  I use a Boss RC3 looper, a passive volume pedal and a Boss FSU 6 AB switch pedal. 

    When I started out it was important to me that everything I played was live on one guitar. Then I grew up, ? the only thing that counts is that the couple get the day they planned so I added the RC3 for two reasons. I have an allergy to wasp stings and blow up within 5 mins, I am constantly working outdoors and it is inevitable that at some point I would be stung just before a wedding, so I prerecord the main ceremony  songs on the RC3 in case I can’t play. I also wanted to be able to play both rythmn and lead on some tunes so the RC3 allows me to lay down the rhythm part live and play over it. I use it for things like “Shape of my heart”, “still got the blues”, “Stormy Monday” and “phearon”. 

    The volume pedal is a must, as it kills the guitar as soon as I stop playing. There is nothing worse than banging the guitar strings by accident during a church ceremony!

    the FSU 6 gives greater control over the RC3. When I am playing over one of my rhythm tracks I need to be able to kill it with one tap and continue the rhythm myself to end.

    if you still have any questions let me know.

    PS I use a €200 nylon string with a fishman system in it. It was 104F in the shade when I was playing the cocktail reception in the video. It’s hard on guitars so I don’t use an expensive one.

    Mark 

    • Like 1
    • Thanks 1

About us

Guitar Gathering is a community of guitar lovers of all types and skill levels.  This is a place of learning, support and encouragement.  We are unapologetically positive.

If you've come here to gripe, demean others or talk politics then this isn't the place for you.

But if you've come to talk guitars, ask questions and learn from professionals and guitar learners from all over the world then come on in!

Get in touch

Follow us

facebook feed

Recent tweets

×
×
  • Create New...