Soldier's Joy - Banjo

[chewie]

Hi all,

Just uploaded this to youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPkO5KliNh0

Just a quick knockoff - not being perfectionistic or anything. I played this at a gig on Saturday (a first - i play solo guitar), and found it went down really well, with spontaneous clapping along, etc. A friend who wasn't there wanted to see it, so I recorded this for him. Just thought I'd share with you fine chaps and chapesses too

[Bob1131]

Richard, I think the audio degraded quite a bit when loading this to You Tube because it sounds so compressed that some notes barely sound and the resonance of your banjo is lost entirely! That's a cool song, and although it starts slowly, I liked it when it finally got going. Again, I think the compression had its worst effect on the slow and paused beginning and end of the piece...too bad, because it was good other than that! Thanks for posting it!

[chewie]

Hi Bob, thanks for the comments. I agree about the compression, but I have to admit it's my fault, not YouTube's - it was a really quick off the cuff recording using my laptop webcam and microphone, so there was a nasty whine all over it from the fan. I did a quick noise removal (which killed some frequencies for sure), and then added some compression to bring up the levels. I had no intentions of being an audiophile about it, in fact I was even using just the laptop speakers to monitor it! -just trying to make it audible.

But anyway - good call on that. It was my first attempt at recording on my webcam, so I'll live and learn! Glad you liked the tune. All the best.

[partyofone]

That's probably my favorite old time banjo tune. Nice playing of it. My only comment is that the banjo head sounds a little loose. If you would tighten that up just a little more, the instrument would have more "snap" to it.

Erik

[Ranger1964]

Neat "old timey sound". Wish we could get a bit more of the sound of that banjo (Now THERE'S something you don't hear very often!! )

[chewie]

Originally Posted by partyofone

That's probably my favorite old time banjo tune. Nice playing of it. My only comment is that the banjo head sounds a little loose. If you would tighten that up just a little more, the instrument would have more "snap" to it.

Erik

Thanks, Erik. When I set up the banjo I tuned the head to G, I have no idea if that was the right thing- it just seemed to make sense. Should I just tighten it regardless of the note, or should I tune it to a note?

Richard

[partyofone]

Bluegrass guys usually tune to G# so that the G does not cause too much resonance. Other say tighten it till it breaks and then back it off a little.

My guess is that your banjo sounds better than the recording shows, but I would still tighten it some.

Erik

[chewie]

Ah thank you, I'll try G#. It is very resonant at G, almost sitar-like, but I like it like that.

[partyofone]

If you like it like that, then by all means leave it alone. The reason for tuning it up is to take that resonance out so you don't get ghost notes. The beauty of the banjo is that you can have thousands of variations and they can all be reversed.

I say, tighten it, see if you like it. If you don't, take it back down to G.

Erik

[Battleman]

Chewie, The beard is sweet, im about a year away from getting mine there...The Banjo was sweet, ive never played one, thought you did, a great job with it...Good stuff...Solo

[chewie]

Thanks, Eric. That's a sensible plan. I'll let you know how I like it.

Solo - that makes us brothers in beards . Glad you liked my banjing.

[Tony from Tulsa]

Chewie, that was awesome! I love listening to a good banjo player. That made my day, man!