This is a (rather crappy, sorry) video from a recent small gallery opening where I and my partner Uncas played. (The tune is the much covered "Death don´t have no mercy" by Rev Gary Davies.)
The amp I´m using here is a Chinese little thing (5W) called Tweed-Tone, and I believe it´s roughly the same as what is sold in the US under the name Memphis Mini, and it has been debated on this forum, IIRC. Since there´s been some interest shown you can check it out here. I´m using an EV mic (recommended to me by forum member "hvyj": thanks again!), an inexpensive and excellent little thing, and a Mooer delay pedal.
Very small room, as is obvious, and I have lots and lots of volume left (despite already being a bit loud ...) -- and I rather like the sound from this little machine.
I have to take full responsibility for the playing, including a mistake around the 2 min mark! (Spit in the instrument: a recurring problem for me. Very annoying.) Perhaps this tune, in A min, should call for 3D pos, but my G harps are not in the best of shape so I mainly had to rely on a D.
(The somewhat crouching position I fall into when playing is not terribly endearing to me, and I try to straighten up -- but keep forgetting.)
Sounds pretty damn good. You are probably your own harshest critic. A "mistake" is just a note you hadn't originally intended to play. My harp teacher is a perfectionist. I asked him how he could ever release an album. "With difficulty," said he. The audience seemed to like your performance. Play and enjoy. Thanks for sharing.
Sounds good to me Martin. Self-reflection and self-awareness is certainly a double edged sword. It seems as though you've found how to use it to your advantage.
As others pointed out, the fills are nice and appropriate for the mood of the song; even somewhat haunting. Nice tone and intonation on that 2nd position playing.
You probably could have played through most anything and sounded fine! ---------- Ridge's YouTube
That was fine Martin. Sure a G in 3rd was maybe an option, as would a low D, but you kept it nicely on a leash when needed and used dynamics well.
I strive for excellence and often fall short. Nice thing about live music is, it's played, it's gone, nobody remembers! They do remember the good stuff and not the perceived miscues here and there. Jolene and I do Raw, Real, Right Now when recording. As live as possible when finished. And live is just live.
Thank you all for the kind words, and I bow my head. However, my main intent was not so much to show off my playing but more to show off an inexpensive small amp that I´ve grown to like more and more.
Let me follow this up with another demonstration of a *seriously* cheap gadget, a Joyo AS pedal, here directly to PA. But first I go thorugh a DI box -- then the Joyo -- and at the end through still another DI box, then XLR to PA. This was something I was taught by a tech-minded friend of mine and I think it gives me a considerably better sound than just playing dry.
I was just sitting in for a few tunes and didn´t want neither to bring an amp nor go directly to the board. This set-up took 30 seconds and was totally feasible between songs. Same EV mic as former clip.
It was a "Dylan gig" (a Dylan cover band) so here´s a snippet from a solo at the end of "Political world", from "Oh mercy". Key of F#min and I use an E harp in 3pos. (The semi-crouching position is, regrettably, the same. Gotta do something about that.)
