The Steel Guitar Forum

Good morning everyone,

I've decided to take the plunge and expose you to the first piece of music I've written on lap steel. This was late on Monday night, and I made a recording of it straight away (through a Sony stereo mic straight into my minidisc player, with a bit of foot-tapping thrown in at no extra charge ). It's played on my recently acquired 1940s Oahu squareneck, tuned to open D.

Here it is: The Ring
(Many thanks to Steinar for hosting my mp3!)

I would really appreciate some feedback, and please be honest. I got my first electric lap steel last autumn, and my first acoustic lap slide last winter, so I'm very wet behind the ears and need to learn from my mistakes. You guys on this great forum (along with DVDs from GeorgeBoards, Rob Ickes and Kelly Joe Phelps) are my teachers, so any words of guidance would be much appreciated.

Have a nice Wednesday!

Cheers,

Fred.

------------------
www.frockmusic.com
www.myspace.com/ilikerecords <font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Fred Kinbom on 31 May 2006 at 01:57 AM.]</p></FONT><font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Fred Kinbom on 31 May 2006 at 02:04 AM.]</p></FONT>

Well done Fred, you'v cracked the main hurdle there, YOUR IN TUNE !!! Be thankfull you have that gift otherwise its a killer journey. Nice relaxed playing too I liked it.

Very nice!

That was cool! Your tone and touch are really beautiful. You speak as though you've done an amateur job, but my ears hear "expert". Honestly! <font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Jeff Au Hoy on 31 May 2006 at 06:23 AM.]</p></FONT>

Not only are you playing with the intonation and authority of someone who's played a lot longer than you, but you've also come up with a piece of music that keeps spinning in my head long after I've shut down the media player. Excellent work!

Steinar

------------------
"Play to express, not to impress"
www.gregertsen.com
Southern Moon Northern Lights

Really nice! You should be proud of the progress you've made in such a short amount of time.
<font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Bill Leff on 31 May 2006 at 07:44 AM.]</p></FONT>

Nice job, Fred!

------------------
Mark

Good stuff, Fred!
Just keep doing what you're doing.

Nice piece of music, Fred! I like the tone, touch, subtle hammers and slides - not overdone, just used when appropriate. No criticism necessary, just keep playing. You're going down a good road.

I like the fact that it is precise and still identifies itself as a bar-played instrument. Some of this stuff I hear sounds like a fingerpicker played it, with no slide sounds anywhere; and it makes a nice hook! Very nice!

Sounds great Fred. Very catchy little tune there.

I am totally impressed! Great tune!

Good stuff Fred!!!!

Simply awesome. I agree that it's totally pro-sounding, particularly in execution but even in production values!

My ears still aren't good at identifying tunings, so would you care to share which tuning you used? Open G?

Greg

Kevin, Roman, Jeff, Steinar, Bill, Mark, Rick, Andy V., Keith, Andy S., Mike, Charles, Greg,

I am so surprised, and very happily so, at the great response I got for my first slide tune! I was quite nervous about posting it. Thank you all so much for your encouraging words! It really means a lot to me and gives me motivation and inspiration to keep trying to learn to express myself through this fantastic instrument.

(Greg, the tuning I used on the recording is open D (DADF#AD). Actually, this morning I have strung this guitar in open G (or, rather, F – FACFAC), so I will try out this tuning now (I want to learn how to play Jerry Douglas' solo in "Man Of Constant Sorrow" ). I don't know yet if this tuning is "for me". I keep my other acoustic lap slide tuned to open C (open D-shape) – I like this tuning.)

Thanks again everyone! Have a great day!

Fred.

------------------
www.frockmusic.com
www.myspace.com/ilikerecords <font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Fred Kinbom on 01 June 2006 at 02:31 AM.]</p></FONT>

I really enjoyed the song, good work. I love the tone of that old oahu, that's actually the first recording i've heard of one being played. I was considering buying one a little while back, but then i remembered the old acoustic i had lying around and just got an extender nut on it. I'm curious to know if that oahu can hold "dobro G" tuning without putting too much tension on the neck? I keep my acoustic lap in open D and low bass G (low to high DGDGBD) because i'm sure dobro G would wreck havoc on the round neck. Let me know how well that tuning (or the F equivalent) holds up on that guitar.
And again, great playing, and a surprisingly nice recording with such a simple set up. Keep up the good work.

------------------
my music: www.myspace.com/mattlangemusic

That sounds really good! If you're looking for any kind of feedback, I would say that although I like that you haven't gone overboard with the vibrato, it might be nice to hear some ( ), perhaps even if only on the last note of the song.

I find that good vibrato is a difficult thing to acquire, but it's worth it.

Anyhow, great job!

-Travis<font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Travis Bernhardt on 01 June 2006 at 11:10 AM.]</p></FONT>

Yo, Fred -- nice work!

You're intonation is spot on, and your touch and feel are really true to the genre. In fact, your playing reminds me of a friend I have who plays a lot of solo lap steel. He goes by the name of Laptop Randy (calls it a "laptop" guitar - southern thing, I guess?), and he used to live here in the Tampa, Florida area (now lives in Franklin, North Carolina).

In any case, I think you'd enjoy his material, and your playing really reminds me of his work.

Great job!

------------------
Todd James Weger --
1956 Fender Stringmaster T-8 (C6, A6, B11); 1960 Fender Stringmaster D-8 (C6, B11/A6); Regal resonator (C6); 1938 Epiphone Electar (A6); assorted ukuleles; upright bass


<font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Todd Weger on 02 June 2006 at 04:12 PM.]</p></FONT>

You can't fool me, Fred. That was Jerry Byrd.

...kidding of course, original and very clean __ great going.

Matt, Travis, Todd & Rick - thank you very much!

Matt - I sent you an e-mail about Oahus.

Travis - thanks for pointing out the vibrato issue. This is something I need to focus on. Perhaps I should get a Black Phoenix bullet bar to improve this technique? I find vibrato quite tricky with sculptured bars, perhaps it's better to learn this with a bullet bar (with which I think I will find eveything else tricky though! )?

Todd - I checked out Laptop Randy at CD Baby. Sounds good! No CDs available though. Do you know what tuning(s) he uses?

Rick -

Have a nice weekend!

Fred.<font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Fred Kinbom on 03 June 2006 at 09:58 AM.]</p></FONT>

I like the tune just as it was played. I'm not sure extra vibrato would improve the performance? Like certain styles of singing, vibrato doesn't always match in some places.

The only thing I would add to the positive feedback so far is that the tune reminded me of something from a Jerry Douglas solo CDs. I don't know what song but I just thought "that sounds like something Jerry wrote." I hope you take that as a compliment.

Outstanding job.

To clarify, I liked the way the tune was played, as far as vibrato is concerned, and I don't think it would necessarily add anything. Was just surprised not hear much, even on the last note where it might have been nice (albeit potentially cliche). I know that vibrato can be a tricky thing to get--it was and is for me, anyways--so I thought I'd mention it.

As far as changing bars, I don't think that should make a difference as far as vibrato is concerned.

-Travis

I wanted to thank everyone for their feedback. This forum is great, and you guys have given me such a boost of motivation and inspiration by your encouraging comments!

Thank you all very much.

Fred.

------------------
www.frockmusic.com
www.myspace.com/ilikerecords <font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Fred Kinbom on 08 June 2006 at 03:58 PM.]</p></FONT>