Olson SJ BRW (part II)

[JoeCharter]

Originally Posted by Nemoman

Fantastic, Mau--a beautiful tribute...thanks for starting my day off right!

Originally Posted by dcn

Thanks for sharing, Mau. I like how even your more melodic pieces retain a sense of 'forward motion', it's engaging. Congrats!

Thank you for listening, gents.

I wrote this pretty quickly, as you can tell by the simple structure -- but I'm glad and thankful that you enjoyed it.

[BBWW]

Mau,

Your continued artistry amazes me. Wonderful playing and magical melodic composition. The guitar sounds great, however the hands and heart of the player do the work.

Jay

[psychojohn]

Originally Posted by JoeCharter

Thanks so much, John. When I have a compilation you will get a free copy for sure.

There are countless musicians out there who are way, way better and more dedicated than me and don't get their share of recognition. In all honesty, even if we charged people $1 for each of my YouTube views, it still wouldn't be enough to pay a decent salary...

Be careful to not sell yourself short ! Although far from a guitar or music expert, I've listened to quite a few AGF member recordings, not to mention youtube posts and professional musicians (as in have record label contracts) and I am hard pressed to find any doing pure instrumentals that are more compelling than you in tone and composition. The fact of the matter is I really don't very much like pure instrumental music and only in the past 2-2 1/2 years since beginning learning to play guitar have I begun to appreciate it, so for me to enjoy your music is really quite an accomplishment on your part. Besides you, only Tommy Emmanuel has captured my attention and zeal and despite their clear technical prowess and guitar god-like status, players such as Tony Rice, Doc Watson, David Bromberg (to name a few) just don't do it for me.

Keep up the excellent work and I know and many others here at AGF will keep listening.

Peace

John

[ToTheEar]

Mau, I completely agree with John. I must follow 50+ guitarists on Youtube and your videos are among the ones I'm most excited to see pop up in my news feed. The melodies in your compositions are just perfect to my ears and you've got great tastes when it comes to your cover versions as well.

Jeff

[TomB'sox]

I don't know how I could rank you like the previous two posters did, but I can tell you when I first joined the forum and had no appreciation for who you were and listened to your first few recordings that I saw, I just assumed you were a professional making your living with your guitar. The more I have listened the more I have learned to appreciate and welcome your style and compositions.

You are very very good, I mean the ability to write and compose melodies and bass lines as you do is a talent that not many have. I could ape many of your songs and technically master them with practice, however, I could never compose as you do as I have no training in technique and play only by ear and self taught...

[JoeCharter]

Gents, thank you so much for your kind words. I feel very fortunate for having your support and I always cherish your comments -- even if sometimes I feel like I don't fully deserve them...

Originally Posted by BBWW

Mau,

Your continued artistry amazes me. Wonderful playing and magical melodic composition. The guitar sounds great, however the hands and heart of the player do the work.

Jay

Thanks so much, Jay -- but don't underestimate the guitar as it essentially plays itself...

Originally Posted by psychojohn

Be careful to not sell yourself short ! Although far from a guitar or music expert, I've listened to quite a few AGF member recordings, not to mention youtube posts and professional musicians (as in have record label contracts) and I am hard pressed to find any doing pure instrumentals that are more compelling than you in tone and composition. The fact of the matter is I really don't very much like pure instrumental music and only in the past 2-2 1/2 years since beginning learning to play guitar have I begun to appreciate it, so for me to enjoy your music is really quite an accomplishment on your part. Besides you, only Tommy Emmanuel has captured my attention and zeal and despite their clear technical prowess and guitar god-like status, players such as Tony Rice, Doc Watson, David Bromberg (to name a few) just don't do it for me.

Keep up the excellent work and I know and many others here at AGF will keep listening.

Peace

John

I'm glad you like my style, John -- thank you.

I guess my music is more on the "easy listening" side than your average guitar instrumental. I keep it simple, I don't play too many chords...

I'm working on a pseudo fiddle tune right now and I'm looking forward to sharing it with you all.

Originally Posted by ToTheEar

Mau, I completely agree with John. I must follow 50+ guitarists on Youtube and your videos are among the ones I'm most excited to see pop up in my news feed. The melodies in your compositions are just perfect to my ears and you've got great tastes when it comes to your cover versions as well.

Jeff

Thank you, Jeff. Posts like yours motivate me and inspire me to write more music.

Originally Posted by TomB'sox

I don't know how I could rank you like the previous two posters did, but I can tell you when I first joined the forum and had no appreciation for who you were and listened to your first few recordings that I saw, I just assumed you were a professional making your living with your guitar. The more I have listened the more I have learned to appreciate and welcome your style and compositions.

You are very very good, I mean the ability to write and compose melodies and bass lines as you do is a talent that not many have. I could ape many of your songs and technically master them with practice, however, I could never compose as you do as I have no training in technique and play only by ear and self taught...

Thanks, Tom.

I don't mean to be falsely modest -- but there really are a lot of fantastic musicians out there and good guitarists aren't particularly rare (and neither are guys who can write 3-chord pieces).

I think I've improved quite a bit as a player in recent years but I'm still not there yet. I need a few more years.

FWIW I've never taken formal guitar lessons so don't let that stop you.

[JoeCharter]

Here's an introspective piece of mine which I've called "Contemplation".

I wrote this for two guitars with the solo being an improvised first take.

Thank you for listening.


https://youtu.be/mwuhpd9-Cx4

[cigarfan]

Mau, that is tremendous! Has to be my favorite of yours ... ever (or may be better to say so far)! Beautiful song and expert playing.

[islandguitar]

Yowza! What a great way to start the day, Mau! Love the two guitar approach (Double your Mau in one song!) and how it all fits together. Just great playing....very clear runs and wonderful melody lines. Many thanks!
Fred

[TomB'sox]

Ditto to what other's have said. Very nice. Is this the first time you have dubbed a background to play with? It was done seamlessly and was very enjoyable to listen to.

[psychojohn]

You can already guess what my opinion will be ... AWESOME !!! The tone you coax out of that Olson is incredible over my small lap top speakers, and must be even better with good speakers!

A technical question ? I think it's just the play of the light on the strings, but it looked like your A string was vibrating all the way through to the nut. Using a spider capo by any chance or just a light illusion ?

Keep up the exceptional work !!

John

[runamuck]

If I say, "spectacular!", am I repeating myself from the last one you posted?

Because I'm running out of adjectives, I'm sure you'll stop posting.
So much beauty.

Jim

[JoeCharter]

Originally Posted by cigarfan

Mau, that is tremendous! Has to be my favorite of yours ... ever (or may be better to say so far)! Beautiful song and expert playing.

Thank you, Dennis. I always try my best to come up with something new/different using those same 3-4 chords, and I'm glad you enjoyed this one.

Originally Posted by islandguitar

Yowza! What a great way to start the day, Mau! Love the two guitar approach (Double your Mau in one song!) and how it all fits together. Just great playing....very clear runs and wonderful melody lines. Many thanks!
Fred

Thanks so much. I wanted to record something without working too hard and the two-guitar approach allowed me to quickly build a basic structure.

I'm not sure if the idea of "doubling your Mau in one song" would sell very well but the line sure made me laugh...

Originally Posted by TomB'sox

Ditto to what other's have said. Very nice. Is this the first time you have dubbed a background to play with? It was done seamlessly and was very enjoyable to listen to.

Thanks, Tom.

I actually picked up the guitar in my early teens so I could play music with others (as opposed to being a solo nerd on the piano) so I've played in bands for much longer than I've been playing solo fingerstyle.

Before I started playing acoustic guitar, I was mostly called in to play fills and solos as my rhythm playing really sucked. I think I've much improved in that department although I still feel more comfortable soloing away for a few seconds than remaining steady throughout an entire piece.

Originally Posted by psychojohn

You can already guess what my opinion will be ... AWESOME !!! The tone you coax out of that Olson is incredible over my small lap top speakers, and must be even better with good speakers!

A technical question ? I think it's just the play of the light on the strings, but it looked like your A string was vibrating all the way through to the nut. Using a spider capo by any chance or just a light illusion ?

Keep up the exceptional work !!

John

Thanks for your support, John.

I think you might be seeing some moiré in the video which gives you the impression that strings are "vibrating". That's part of the reasons why my videos are in B&W as it would be much worse in colour.

I use a traditional Elliott capo. I don't mean to be disrespectful toward any device or anyone's preferences -- but I'm not much of a "gizmo" type of guy so you wouldn't see a spider capo (or a vibrator) on my guitar.

I was into multi-scales for a short period but when I understood what it was all about I soon reverted to straight frets.

Originally Posted by runamuck

If I say, "spectacular!", am I repeating myself from the last one you posted?

Because I'm running out of adjectives, I'm sure you'll stop posting.
So much beauty.

Jim

Jim, as you probably know I work too much and party too hard to remember whether you're repeating yourself -- so no worries, your support is always appreciated!

[JoeCharter]

Just for the challenge and for the sake of trying something new, I'm currently working on a "modern fingerstyle" cover (with tapping and beating) but it will be a while before I can post a recording. I'm practicing on my OM-21 Special so it takes most of the abuse for now -- and will switch over to the SJ when I'm ready.

In the mean time, here's a simple arrangement of a fiddle song from Niel Gow, called "Farewell To Whiskey":

https://youtu.be/qSmwb8m__XM



Hope you've all had a fun and relaxing Labour Day.

[JoeCharter]

Here's a last recording before receiving my maple SJ from Jim -- my arrangement of a popular song called "海韻" ("Rhythm Of The Sea") which was originally performed by Taiwanese superstar 鄧麗君 (aka Teresa Teng) in the 1970s.

https://youtu.be/Mh4eectcx9g



Thank you for listening.