MaryReid

Thank you both Carolyns. I like the term “lonesome sound”. I would love to be playing those tunes at some of those lonesome beaches and cliffs included in the video.

The vid of me was the first take, so I let the occasional flub go. That left more time for adding slides. I use Adobe Premiere Elements for editing videos, so it was actually not too…[Read more]

Hey Tom, nice job. I like that mournful “droning lonesome sound” you evoke with your laments and the Raagini. It’s like a trip to the Isles. Love the photos! I’m sure it took some effort to put that together. Thanks for sharing.

Carolyn B.

Nice! That is a tricky little tune. (AKA “Who’s Been Here Since I’ve Been Gone?” as the soldier returns to his pregnant wife)

Well done! Inspiring.

I recorded with my iMac Quicktime app. Don’t know why I didn’t think of it before, it was much easier than fiddling with a camera or device. Not much new, just a bit faster. I played 3x through, trying to build up stamina. When I play for reals with other people, the tune may last a long time, not just a few times through.

Thanks Joanne. I love those old slow songs. Lots of fun.

And I look like I’m reading the music, but I’m not. Just focused on the music in my head.

Trying my best to do about one a day! Thankfully I remembered to have them give my Covid shot in the left arm, since it doesn’t have to move as much as the right arm!
Frustrating to have to match up the videos on iMovie, since I can’t find any really fine controls. But good enough for this purpose.

You can see that I don’t try to “fix the video up.” If I messed around trying to make it look nice, then I would never get it up there. Since I have my regular YouTube channel I share a lot of stuff on, I don’t particularly want these practice blurbs thrown in the mix, so I use another account to post them.

No banjo this time, only a quick practice today. Up to 160bpm.

Well, I couldn’t resist moving up the speed dial on the metronome. I always figure this in the importance of learning tunes (if you intend on playing with other people) #1. Keep the beat. You can play all the wrong notes, and it might not sound that nice, but at least everyone else can play along. Mess up the beat and it’s a train wreck. #2. Be…[Read more]

Ok, I was pretty sure I could speed this up a bit, so here is Angeline at 145 bpm, with an occasional drone. At this point, I think I will stick at around 150 or 155 for a couple days while work on style.

I’ve been making little movies on iMovie for awhile, it is pretty user-friendly. I would know more if I had the patience to sit down and go through the tutorials, but I’m always ready to get started on something when I sit down! I knew a split screen had to be in there somewhere, so I googled it and found out where the controls were.
I love…[Read more]

Wow! Now I want to learn the banjo too! It sounded really good and I think you should also do a lesson on how you did the video – It’s a great idea to create your own accompaniment. Thanks for posting!

Carolyn, that is SO good! I love it!

Thanks! I was so impatient to try it once I decided to, that I just propped up my phone to take the shots. Now that I know how it works, I’ll see what I can do to make the next one better!