How the Beatles Rocked the Kremlin

For those of you who missed this documentary on public television here it is as a streaming video. I hope it will inspire you as much as it has inspired me. (By the way, you can click the full-screen icon at the lower right edge of the video and then sit back and watch it sized to your computer display.)

Happy Holidays!

Here is a classic Christmas cartoon from 1939. It's a different look at the theme of "peace on earth".

In a lighter vein, here are Leon Redbone and Dr. John with their rendition of 'Frosty the Snowman'. Lord Buckley must be here in spirit...

Wishing you all a happy holiday season and a great new year!

A Brief Personal Note: Dia de los Muertos 2009

I went to the event in Albuquerque yesterday. It had special meaning this year because my father died a few days ago. He was 90.

The people at the celebration in Albuquerque were great. Especially the kids. They cheered me up a lot. Looking around at twilight it's easy to believe that the ghosts of the dead are here among us. I know my dad will always be with me in spirit.

With digital capture there is always a lot of "darkroom" work to do. I ran this photo through quickly so that I could show you something right away. Hope you enjoy it. (Click to see a larger picture.)

Searching for the Holy Grail

After reading DR's recent post to the comments for a previous article I did some thinking. Here I am gearing up after a ten year hiatus. My life is somewhat balanced compared to the old days when I was playing the couch circuit. That means I've had a few bucks to spend on equipment instead of just barely enough for food and gas to get me to the next town. Although for some folks this lifestyle of mine might be uncomfortably close to the poverty line, for me it's been Fat City. (If you ever took refuge from the rain under a railroad bridge in the middle of the night then you'll forever be grateful for a warm dry place to sleep and a hot soapy shower in the morning. Everything else is extra!)

I have a buddy Ray Doyle from Dublin, Ireland who is a wonderful musician and an old and trusted friend. During the past year Ray has endured many long distance phone hours listening patiently to me telling him about my various trials and tribulations with recently acquired recording and stage gear. During this time Ray has released a great solo CD and a music video. That's on top of touring all over the world as the spotlight performer in Wylie Gustafson's band.

Every time we talk Ray asks me two things. "How much practice time are you putting in?" and "Have you written anything new?" If my conscience wore a cowboy hat and boots it would look like Ray Doyle. Something like this:



Well, I guess Ray has gotten through to me because this weekend I took a different approach to my musical chores. Instead of fiddling around with the latest gear trying for the perfect sound, I pulled out my trusty 1963 Gibson LG-1 (with it's 25 year old Sunrise pickup) and plugged in to my Fishman SoloAmp. Then I pulled out my recently neglected SM-57 for duty as a vocal mic and plugged that in to the other channel.

For two days I made myself play bar sets. I worked on arrangements. I transposed songs into different keys and much to my surprise found that I could hit those previously unreachable high notes. (Thank you Brett Manning! Those vocal exercises on your CD's really do work if you practice them assiduously.) I played very fast. I played very slow. I played till my fingers hurt and then kept on playing.

Now here I am on Sunday night thinking about what I've learned in the past two days. I can only speak for myself but I'm guessing that it's safe to say that most of us singer/songwriters who've been at it a while have all the equipment we need. Yet we continue to try everything new that hits the market. We are always thinking that if we upgrade our gear we will sound better and get more gigs and better gigs. At this point in time I find myself thinking that the best gear is the tried and true workhorse equipment that we already own. And the best way for us to upgrade is to push ourselves creatively.

Art doesn't happen when we stay secure within our comfort zone. When I push myself and take creative risks some very interesting things start to happen. An old folk song suddenly takes on different shades of meaning and becomes exciting all over again. Sometimes before you can play a song well you have to play it badly. When you make mistakes, just make sure that they are interesting mistakes. An interesting mistake can take you places you'll never find if you play it safe and stick to the cliches that you've already mastered.

I never meant for this blog to focus on gear. I've meant all along for it to be about music. It's important to have a few good tools and some extra guitar strings. It's even more important to have good material and to perform it the best you can. So today I'm thinking that it's time for me to eBay a few things and get back to the basics.

Before I call it a day here, I want to recommend an instruction DVD called Doc's Guitar. I just received my copy last week. It's a gem! If you're looking to "upgrade" this may be the answer. There is so much good stuff in this one set of guitar lessons that it will keep you busy for months... or even years.

Here's some vintage video footage showing Doc Watson at his fingerpickin' best to whet your appetite a little bit:



Well, that's about it for now. Keep on pickin' and grinnin' folks. Until next time...

Yer pal,
Al Acuff

DPA 4099 Guitar Microphone - Follow-up Review

Like any microphone the performance of the DPA 4099 is somewhat dependent on the quality of the mic pre that it goes through. I recently acquired a John Hardy M-1 mic preamp and after recording with my 4099 through the John Hardy I found myself wondering if the mic was performing optimally. It sounded good but the sound wasn't as solid as I would have liked.

I decided to call DPA service at their US headquarters in Colorado. I spoke with Jed and he asked me to send my mic to him for evaluation. Wthin a day of receiving my mic Jed got back to me. It turned out that with some preamps my mic failed to power up completely. Two days later I received a brand new replacement for my 4099. Does it sound better? You bet it does! The defective mic I had before sounded pretty good but now the sound is all there. The bass has more weight to it. The output is higher so I need less gain from my preamp. The air and sparkle is there without any eq boost needed.

I've seen a few forum discussions where players are questioning whether the mic is worth the retail price of $600. When I consider the incredibly fast and thorough customer support I received, I have to say that it's worth every penny. When you are gigging accidents happen and gear sometimes needs service. In my experience customer service is one of the most important considerations when buying pro gear. DPA came through for me with flying colors.

A reader asked me whether there is any audible self-noise with my DPA 4099. I fingerpick with the pads of my fingers and my fingernails so it's safe to say that my playing volume is on the soft side of the volume range. With my Hardy M-1 which is extremely revealing there is no self-noise from the mic at all. Furthermore the sound quality rivals the best acoustic guitar recordings in my music collection. I wouldn't be surprised to see James Taylor or Paul Simon using a DPA 4099 on stage or even in the studio.

With my Fishman SoloAmp and Martin OOO-18GE 1937 the DPA 4099 works beautifully. You just can't get this quality of sound from a guitar pickup or from a mic inside a guitar. The phase reverse switch on my SoloAmp eliminated a feedback loop with the top of the guitar and I could play without fear of the dreaded wolf tone. For me it's a big plus that I don't have to drill or modify my guitar in any way to use the DPA mic. And if I want to play my 1963 Gibson LG1 it only takes a minute to switch the mic over to that guitar.

For the singer/songwriter with a project studio the DPA 4099 Guitar microphone is no brainer. It's sound when paired with a good preamp is natural and uncolored with superb dynamics and plenty of detail. You would be hard pressed to find a better mic for recording your acoustic guitar. When you consider that you can carry it in your guitar case accessory compartment and use it for live gigs it certainly earns it's keep. For half the price of a used KM84 (if you can find one) you are getting a first rate recording mic and an excellent acoustic guitar pickup for use on-stage.

The Mystery of Microphone Preamps

Those of you who have been reading here these past few months have no doubt observed that I've been testing and selecting equipment for a small DAW based project studio. The next and hopefully the final item on my shopping list is a first rate microphone preamp.

I've been doing some research on this subject and have found something that I want to share with you. There are a couple of excellent articles by John Hardy which provide an excellent introduction to the world of high quality dedicated microphone preamps.

You can access the articles from Mr. Hardy's informative links page and you can also go directly to the articles by clicking here on the titles (or right-click to download the PDF files):

1. Outboard Mic Pre-amps: What's the Deal?

2. Mic Pre-amp Evaluation Methodology

These articles cover the topic much better than I can so I won't even attempt it. I would just like to say a quick thanks to Sean at Mercenary Audio for suggesting the John Hardy M-1 Mic Pre-amp to me. It was while reading up on the M-1 that I came across these excellent articles.

Singing With Your Eyes Closed

When I was growing up one of my musical hero's was Rick Nelson. Every week on Ozzie and Harriett he would appear with his band (including guitar legend James Burton) performing a song. Rick was the first person I ever saw sing with his eyes closed.

Recently, I viewed some Rick Nelson clips on Youtube.com and sure enough there he was singing with his closed. It doesn't look to me like he was doing it for effect. It looks like he was getting into the music and didn't want to get distracted. But who knows... maybe the bright TV studio lights hurt his eyes.

Anyway, that's where I learned to sing with my eyes closed. Another Rick Nelson fan who sang with his eyes closed was the late Townes Van Zandt. A fan once asked Townes why he sang with eyes closed and in true Townes-speak he answered, "If the audience would all close their eyes, then I wouldn't have to close mine."

Over the years I've found that when I close my eyes it allows me to get deeper into the song. Be warned though that this form of intense concentration is not without it's hazards. As an example I remember one night when I was singing in the bar at the Santa Fe Hilton. I had my eyes closed while singing Gentle on My Mind. Just as I was conjuring up an imaginary campfire scene by a desolate bit of railroad track I felt a hand on my shoulder. A very drunk bar patron had wandered up on stage. I snapped out of my reverie and looked him straight in the eye. He responded by asking for directions to the Albuquerque airport.

I wonder if Rick Nelson had to put up with stuff like that. Probably not. TV audiences were no doubt restricted from walking up on stage during a performance. I did meet Rick Nelson once at a party as Billy Al Bengston's Venice, California studio. He was a nice guy and seemed as glad as me to find another musician at among the stuffiness and pretension of the L.A. art crowd.

I'd like to think that if Rick had been on stage at the Hilton that night he would have done what I did... I gave the customer directions to the airport... then I closed my eyes, called up the image of my lost love, and sang the rest of the song... "I dip my cup of soup back from the gurgling, crackling cauldron in some train yard. My beard a roughening coal pile and a dirty hat pulled low across my face. Through cupped hands 'round a tin can I pretend to hold you to my breast and find. That you're waving from the back roads by the rivers of my memory ever smilin' ever gentle on my mind."