Thanks 😊 🎶

Thanks Mal! It’s one of my favourite pieces to play 😊 🎶

Cheers Dave! 👍

Thanks Tommy! I find learning classical pieces helps with my technique and also gives me ideas for my acoustic compositions 🎶

Thanks. It was originally written in C minor but guitarists tend to play it in D minor. 👍 🎶

Thank you! 👍 🎶

Thanks Mal 😊 🎶

Thank you! It’s a great piece of music 🎶 😊

Thanks John, I love Paul Desmond’s playing, planning to transcribe more. Might have to try one on mandolin! Cheers 👍

Cheers, yeah it has a 1 3/4 inch nut width so plenty of space and it has good tone, nice strong bass. The neck feels pretty slim and comfortable to play. I would try one first as the fret wire was really small when I bought it which makes it harder to play barre chords etc. I changed it to pretty large gold evo fret wire which made a massive difference to playability. Sounds really good plugged in too 👍

Thanks! It’s a really fun solo to play, really like Chuck Loeb’s style 👍

Thanks! I really enjoyed working on this. 👍

Thanks Tish 😊 xx

Thanks Tommy, much appreciated. It varies quite a lot, sometimes I can write them fairly quickly (over a day or two) other times I’ll write a part and then keep returning to it and eventually finish it! I think Find Your Way has taken the longest so far, took quite a few weeks to finish off. I find this guitar has a very strong and direct sound with a lot of bass so it’s good for this kind of thing. It doesn’t have the note separation and balance of the Larrivee at all though so I tend to record with the Larrivee. Cheers 🎶 👍

@@Tom-Lloyd-Music a few weeks is still really good. Impressed! I'll look out for your tour dates if ever up Edinburgh way ! 😁

Thanks Tommy 😁👍🎶

Thanks a lot Chen 🎶👍

Thanks Ed 😊 🎶

Thanks a lot Paul, that means a lot. It’s a really fantastic mandolin! 😊 👍 🎶

Thanks a lot Matteo, much appreciated 👍 🎶

Thanks 🎶 👍

Thanks! 😊 🎶

Thanks 👍 🎶

Thanks Dermot, glad you like it 🎵 👍

Thanks, much appreciated 👍

Thanks 🎶 👍

Thanks Tommy 🎸 👍

@danielchung2507 out of curiosity, I thought I would check and there are over 5,500 on thesession.org where you can find free Irish traditional music. Would take a while to learn them all! 👍

Tunes, not songs!

Thousands

Thanks! 👍

Hi, thanks for subscribing! Sorry for the slow reply, your comment didn't show up to start with. I like 60s music too so will happily subscribe! Happy Birthday in advance 👍

Thanks Jessie xxx

Thanks Tommy! I do play and teach classical guitar, self taught though. I used to anchor the pinky when I started playing fingerstyle then had to work at not doing it! I have a lower wrist in this piece than a classical player as I’m palm muting the bass notes occasionally. My singing is awful unfortunately otherwise I probably would! Thanks for your comment about 1:53 😊

​@@Tom-Lloyd-Musiclargely self-taught here, too. I usually do the pinky anchor (as also mute at the bridge) but I find all that vibration of the top can make the pinky hurt after a while. I find it a lot more stable for the picking hand but would prefer to do it your way. Makes for less tension in the ring finger. That's what I think about my own singing but I think it can really round things off and give even more of a personal touch. But it's all good, definitely inspiring to keep seeing the videos coming with original compositions. Makes me want to do more, myself. Keep up the good work!!

Thanks Tommy. I found that practising resting on the strings very briefly before plucking (known as planting) helped me to learn to not plant the pinky on the top. It almost feels like you’re always in contact with the guitar with your right hand. There are a lot of amazing players that do plant the pinky though (like Martin Taylor the jazz guitarist and I think Tony McManus does if I remember correctly). I guess there are so many ways to play the guitar which I think makes it even more interesting! Really liked your version of Tae the Weaver’s Gin Ye Go by the way. It’s got great energy and really liked your guitar accompaniment, singing sounds great too 👍

Like you say, if you're muting the strings you sort of have to alter the hand position. I defaulted to the anchor way but definitely it creates more tension in the 3rd finger which isn't perfect. Hey thanks for the compliments - during lockdown I randomly learnt some tunes and threw them up for something to do. That one was just my take on the same song by Andy Stewart and Manus Lunny. I found it after listening to a lot of Silly Wizard. I tried the Ken Tamplin vocal course for a while but I struggle to find the time to play guitar let alone sing. The real magic imo is creating your own music, that's what I'm liking here. So many great guitarists but how many are creating something new and interesting. Keep up the good work!

Thanks Tommy, hoping to record some more over the next couple of weeks 👍

Thanks Tommy, much appreciated. I started with the bass pattern and then tried to imagine a melody that would work over the top. I always write this stuff down as I go which makes it much easier to put together (and remember!). That way you can make changes to bits that don’t quite work too. I find that trying to imagine how I want it to sound is really helpful, rather than messing around on the guitar until I find something I like the sound of which is what I used to do. The mics and position are the same but the room is quite a lot bigger (did this one downstairs, took ages to carry everything down!). I used to do a bit of EQing but have done none on this one and think it sounds better. Just added a bit of reverb. Thanks 👍

Aha that's exactly what I do now.... Listen to it in my head and then put it onto guitar. Mucking around find out what sounds cool shows in a composition. What I then find is it's original and not bounded by music theory / patterns / progression etc which can sound robotic. Nice one... You should contact Larrivee and consider being an endorsed artist! And have to say again, the sound is MUCH better in your last two recordings. Genuinely inspires me, this. I played all that high octane electric stuff for 20 years and wish I'd come to acoustic sooner

I really appreciate that Tommy, thanks. I’m going to put an album together soon. Glad you have enjoyed my pieces, your comments mean a lot. I still play a lot of electric guitar but acoustic guitar/writing my own music is definitely what interests me most now. Glad to hear the sound is good, I’m still new to recording and haven’t put much work into learning about it so glad I’m moving in the right direction! I might invest in some better mics at some point. 👍

​@@Tom-Lloyd-MusicI hear you, it's good to get feedback. Look forward to the album - I've been working on one for a ridiculous 20 years as I'm doing it all myself and life keeps getting in the way! All electric bar at least one acoustic fingerstyle piece. I use an SDC pointed at 12th fret (Lewitt) and LDC at bridge (Rode NT1) these days but hate having to sit and mess about with all that stuff rather than just focus on the playing. I'll be listening to your tunes again - there's a good sign ! - very impressive stuff.

I find it hard to find enough free time too, I’ve been wanting to do these videos for ages. Good luck with the album, I look forward to hearing it when it’s done. It’s interesting to hear your mic setup, I’ll have to give that a go. I think my recorded sound is sometimes a touch bright so wondered about trying a LDC to give it more warmth/body. Cheers 👍

Hi, yes I find it really comfortable to play. My other mandolin is a Weber bitterroot F style (set up really well) and I think playability is roughly equal but the neck shapes and feel are different. The shippey’s neck isn’t as deep as the Weber’s but it is wider (30mm nut) and has a flatter fingerboard which I like. It feels very comfortable to play though and I got used to it really quickly. It sounds really good in person too!

@@Tom-Lloyd-Music Thanks, I just listened to Salt Creek which features your F-style. Interesting comparison. I've got 4 A-styles and love the style and sound

I think they look great too. By the way, the strings were older on the Shippey here whereas I just changed them on the Weber before doing the video. The last lot of vids I did with the shippey were right after a string change 👍

Thanks Tommy! Yeah it’s a great mandolin, works really well for solo stuff. Will be doing some more acoustic vids very soon. Cheers mate 👍

haha! 😁

@@Tom-Lloyd-Music Wailing, yes. But not lilting.

I can imagine a banshee looming too but only at a pinch

Thanks Charles, much appreciated 👍 🎶

Possibly, I’m thinking about maybe doing a couple of tutorials, if so I’ll do this tune. You can find the notation for free on thesession.org which is a great resource for ITM and where I learned it from. I’ve then added a few “triplets” (picked down up down quickly), slides and some harmony notes to the B section. Hope that helps 👍 🎶

Thanks! :)

Thanks :)

Thanks John, much appreciated. I enjoy your videos too and have subscribed. Hoping to do more soon 👍

@@Tom-Lloyd-Music Thanks… btw, the Shippey sounds great… I have one on order (hopefully ready around spring time this year)!

Nice! I’m sure it’ll be a fantastic instrument, I’m made up with mine. Did you go for the axe or tone one? Mine has a carved top but flat back so a bit different to his current models. I had been thinking about ordering one before this one came up for sale 👍

I originally ordered a Tone (2.5 years ago!…ling waiting list). I later visited Paul and played a partially completed Tone and a couple of completed Axe’s…after which I opted for an Axe. However, the mandolins I own has changed over that time, as has my playing… I recently saw a video of Paul’s demoing an A5 f hole…which threw a spanner in the works, as I liked the sound of that! I literally messaged him yesterday to discuss my options…so the simple answer is, at this point I’m not certain which model it will be! Which ever I finally opt for, I have every confidence it will be a top notch mando!

I would struggle to choose too! I saw the video of him playing the A5, it does sound really good. Looking forward to hearing which you end up going for 👍

Thanks 👍

Thanks! Great sounding mandolin isn’t it 👍

Thanks Ray, much appreciated. It’s a great sounding mandolin!

Thank You :)

Thank you :)

Thanks for your kind words Tommy, much appreciated. I use a matched pair of Rode NT5 mics in the XY position just under a foot away from the guitar. Recording is new to me tbh but I did a bit of experimenting with XY and ORTF at different distances from the guitar and found this to be the best sound for me. What setup do you tend to go for? Larrivees seem to record well don’t they, really balanced sound

@@Tom-Lloyd-Music Thanks - unfortunately the Lewitt mic I just bought is bust so wasn't able to try the spaced pair technique I wanted to.. the other mid being a larger diaphragm RODE NT1. I went to a guitar shop today and the best guitar in the shop was a Larrivee sapele model (I went to try rosewoods but again.. something is missing in that sound, though Guatemalan rosewood is interesting!). Yeah I prefer the "normal bracing" - the 40 series adds bass but also then sounds less balanced. Their satin guitars really "breathe" too I'm offloading an L05 as I switch between guitars more than focus on the music, which is the important bit! Keep up the great work

Thanks Tommy. That’s a shame about the mic. I wondered about the 40 series, haven’t tried one yet though. I had been planning to get a Larrivee dreadnought and thought the D40 or D40r might be a good contrast to my OM05. I’ve run out of space for new instruments though! Thanks again 👍

I'd be interested to hear your impression of the 40 series and yep... I hear you re the space and G.A.S. syndrome! Cheers!

Thanks :)

Thanks Tommy!