Cool Posters!!!

 A Christmas present.
12 homemade posters.
My version of the 'Cool Wall'.

You can check out the artists on Youtube and buy their LP/CDs if you like them.

The Allman Brothers Band, Andre Brasseur, The Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation, Billy Bragg, Bix Beiderbecke, Datblygu, Delia Derbyshire, The Groundhogs, Jimmy Smith, Johnny Cash, Son House and Townes Van Zandt.

http://www.datblygu.com/
http://www.billybragg.co.uk/
http://www.andrebrasseur.org/

Lazy Moon

I was watching the Laurel & Hardy film 'Pardon Us' (1931) and I liked it so I had an idea which was to play a piano track in time to Oliver Hardy singing 'Lazy Moon'.

I did it by finding the 'Lazy Moon' video clip on Youtube (see link below) and then playing along to it and recording it on my keyboard before mixing them together in Audacity.

J. Rosamond Johnson wrote the music and Bob Cole wrote the lyrics to 'Lazy Moon', published in 1903. In 'Pardon Us' Oliver Norvell "Babe" Hardy was backed by the Hall Johnson Choir.

Here it is:
https://soundcloud.com/samsswingnskank/lazy-moon

(Film clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZo8gllKsmI)

Wanted Man and The A13!

Everyone has heard of Route 66 but I've been playing Johnny Cash's 'Wanted Man' a lot recently and I thought it would be great to have a Wanted Man Route!

This is what I produced. From looking at the route, Johnny Cash must have been a busy man!

Maybe I will actually travel the route one day?

Incidentally, Billy Bragg did a homage to Route 66, 'A13, Trunk Road to the Sea'! Here it is on his Peel Session.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QO_CT3mcKrM

Joni Mitchell - Big Yellow Taxi

My version of Big Yellow Taxi at the New Crystal Folk Club.
Played on a Chord 3/4-size acoustic guitar, purchased from RockStar Guitars.

https://soundcloud.com/samsswingnskank/big-yellow-taxi

http://newcrystalfolkclub.webs.com/
https://www.facebook.com/RockStar-Guitars-134547713278833/

Bach - Prelude in C Minor

Prelude in C minor by Bach.
Not easy!
It's tricky because I get used to playing the bass D note in the middle section and then it suddenly changes to Eb. There's also a lot of big stretches and I only have small hands.

Keyboard is Yamaha PSR-E333. Same 'three tuning forks' logo as on the motorbikes!

https://youtu.be/D9DKkRIfct0

Merle Travis - Dark As A Dungeon

I was working out the chords to Dark As A Dungeon by Merle Travis.

It's a great song and a great video.

Look at how he barres his chords with the index finger and thumb!

Merle plays this in A, but Johnny Cash plays it in Eb and Tennessee Ernie Ford in F. He's playing E shape open chords barred.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FPmSLzsbdM

Samsynth Blue Noize Synthesizer Demo

https://youtu.be/B8RqRAbhnt0

Samsynth Blue Noize Synthesizer

Showing how I have used engine sound sample files to create a 'white noise' drone effect.
https://youtu.be/7zLE-E3cPAM

Joni Mitchell - Big Yellow Taxi

I was working out the chords for Joni Mitchell's 'Big Yellow Taxi'.

On the album, the song is in the key of E, but on a BBC live recording she is playing in F#; she's actually playing D shape open chords, with a capo on the 4th fret to make it F# key.

But in a 1983 concert at Wembley she's playing in E with open and barred E shapes!

And in an official DVD she's playing in D with a open D and barred other chords!

So there are lots of keys and chording styles that you could play the song in and it would still be in the style of how Joni played it!

BBC 1970:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFB-d-8_bvY

Wembley 1983:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FOqJq2GK_4

DVD:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7agB7jriyUU

CD - Color Me Blue by John Langford

On my first visit to the New Crystal Folk Club I won the raffle and chose this CD - Color Me Blue by John Langford. I was pleased I did because it sounded really nice.

There are 10 songs, all written by John. They're a gentle acoustic singer-songwriter style with good guitar work, and a common theme of relationships.

The CD was produced by Pete Kelly and it does justice to John's songs.

The CD comes in a plastic sleeve and looks attractive and professional.

The CD's not expensive (£3?) and I would definitely recommend it.

You can find John's music at:
http://www.johnlangfordmusic.com/
https://www.facebook.com/John-Langford-278944315479064/

John Langford CD - Color Me Blue

As I said in my last post, last night I went to the New Crystal Folk Club and I won the raffle by picking out my own ticket!

There were a choice of prizes and I chose this CD - Color Me Blue by John Langford.

I played it this morning and I thought it was great! Review soon!

https://www.facebook.com/John-Langford-278944315479064/

New Crystal Folk Club

Last night, I went to the New Crystal Folk Club in Blackheath. It was really quite good and I won the raffle by picking out my own ticket! I would like to go regularly. I'll do a review for a future meeting soon.

https://www.facebook.com/NewCrystalFolkClub/

SONG OF THE WEEK! Billy Bragg - A New England (1983)

I like this song because I like Billy's percussive strumming style.

Hear are two versions, about two decades apart, and you can learn a lot from them.

He's playing two different chord shape styles - barre chords on the electric and open chords on the acoustic.

He knows where the chords are by learning where the main notes are on the fretboard.

He's also detuned his guitar one tone on the acoustic, which yuo can use to make your finger positions easier.

Electric:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgwU4zCEJtY
Acoustic:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTZfZQCtuew

Chord CSC35 3/4-sized acoustic guitar

Short review of my Chord CSC35 3/4-sized acoustic guitar.
I bought it from RockStar Guitars (https://www.facebook.com/RockStar-Guitars-134547713278833).

https://youtu.be/Oo9tF9yOs4g

Review coming soon...

No updates recently but I'm working on a review of my acoustic guitar - coming soon.

Wanted Man (Live)

This is my version of the Johnny Cash song 'Wanted Man', recorded live in Halesowen at Ubiquitous Open Mic.
It is a good song to play at open mics because people can sing along and it's easy to play because it's the same pattern of chords.

https://soundcloud.com/samsswingnskank/wanted-man-live

Johnny Cash - Wanted Man

This week's quiz question for my favourite sweet shop lady was, what were the names of the three women who wanted Johnny Cash in his great song, 'Wanted Man'?
If you don't know, have a listen to Johnny singing live at San Quentin, key Eb major.
Be careful; there are more than 3 women mentioned in the song!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kHiuxn0FhI

Synthesizer, SamSynth V3 Demo

This is a short demo of Version 3 of the Samsynth synthesizer.

There is a percussive backing of the blowhole and strings sounds from my Drumulele.

I'm using the Keyboard Machine to play a E & D dominant 7 power chord on the final beat that echoes in to the next bar with the delay & feedback.

The *NEW* Melody Machine plays a riff based on 'The Munsters' theme tune.

Finally I am playing the Mouse Machine freeform which gives a contrast to the fixed beats of the other machines.

What to you think of it?

https://youtu.be/lcNcrFBdXWw

Ma Rainey

This week's quiz question for my favourite sweet shop lady was, "Who was the inspiration for generations of female blues and jazz singers?"

She got the answer right - Ma Rainey - 'the Mother of the Blues'.

Here she is with the Jelly Bean Blues. Shame the recording quality wasn't very good back then but you can still hear her great voice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLsaaaDg2Ns

Synthesizer, SamSynth V2 Keyboard Machine

Version 2 of my synthesizer has 3 machines and a colour-coded interface.
This is the Keyboard Machine.
I created the synthesizer myself using Javascript, HTML, and web API.
It uses a mix of real and oscillator sounds.

https://youtu.be/Tj26PkQuYP4

Synthesizer, Samsynth V2 Mouse

Version 2 of my synthesizer has 3 machines and a colour-coded interface.
This is the Mouse Machine.
I created the synthesizer myself using Javascript, HTML, and web API.
It uses a mix of real and oscillator sounds.

https://youtu.be/fkqfS5RDjvE

Synthesizer, Samsynth v2 Drum Demo

Version 2 of my synthesizer has 3 machines and a colour-coded interface.
This is the Drum Machine.

https://youtu.be/Hd0R9sauJu8

Tempo

Here are two versions of The Skatalites 'Guns of Navarone'.
The first is the original 1965 recording.
The second is a 2003 live recording.
Which one do you prefer?

I like them both but I prefer the 1965 one because it's a slower tempo.
There's only a small difference in tempos (c.120 bpm / c.132 bpm) which is quite surprising because it makes a big difference to the feel.

I can learn something from that because I usually play too fast!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqFf0q3ED4E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPv_BAKIhlo

Synthesizer, Samsynth V1

I recently did an online course about coding your own synthesizer using javascript.

This is what I created. Samsynth Version 1.

It has an oscillator controlled by the mouse moving, up/down changes the frequency and left/right controls a modulation.

It has a drum machine. I used the samples I recorded from my home-madeDrumulele instrument for the drum sounds.

It's really good but a bit limited. I'm working on version 2 now.

https://youtu.be/uUtNuGvBKqg

Drumulele

I made my very own instrument for a homework project one time.
It's called a Drumulele - a percussion and string instrument made out of a cereal box and a few other bits and bobs.
The stripy hi-hat is a sweet bag from Fruitdrops sweet shop.
I held a mic in various places and recorded samples.
With a bit of reverb and other effects it's a great sound.

https://soundcloud.com/samsswingnskank/drumulele

Sam's Swing 'n' Skank

The blog is now known as... Sam's Swing 'n' Skank.

Welcome to Sam's Swing 'n' Skank.
It's all about music.
And some performance arts as well.
It don't mean a thing if it ain't got Sam's Swing!

Find me also on... youtube ... facebook ... and soundcloud.