Category Archives: Acoustic

LIVE 132 • Fair Wind (912ce)

Here is a more recent version of my song “Fair Wind.”  The song is named for a boat of the same name that ran snorkel / dive cruises to Kealakekua Bay out of Keauhou Bay – still does – and my parents took me and my friends for a cruise on it for a number of my birthdays.

Recorded with a 912ce (Rosewood/Spruce, with Elixir Nanoweb Phosphor Bronze HD Light strings) and a Line Audio CM4 microphone.

LIVE 140 • Bron Yr Aur (K22ce)

Bron-Yr-Aur is probably my favorite Led Zeppelin acoustic song.  Written by Jimmy Page about a tranquil cottage in the Welsh countryside, the song is meditative and bucolic; it always puts me in a different place whenever I hear it or play it.  This version was recorded on my Taylor K22ce.

Recorded with a Taylor K22ce (solid koa grand concert with Elixir Nanoweb 80/20 Bronze HD gauge set) and a Telefunken M60 microphone.

LIVE 111 • Harvest Moon (alternate take)

Here is an alternate take of my fingerstyle arrangement of Harvest Moon, the titular song from the great early 90’s Neil Young album.  In era when some of his peers were merely coasting along, Neil was doing some of his best work.  Hope you enjoy.

Recorded with a Taylor 412ce LTD (Rosewood/Spruce, with Elixir Nanoweb Phosphor Bronze HD gauge set) and a Neumann TLM 102 microphone in Honolulu, Hawai’i 9/7/15.

LIVE 103 • Bron-Yr-Aur (912ce)

Bron-Yr-Aur is probably my favorite Led Zeppelin acoustic song. Written about a tranquil cottage in the Welsh countryside, the song is meditative and bucolic; it always puts me in a different place whenever I hear it or play it. This version was recorded on my Taylor 912ce.

Recorded with a Taylor 912ce (Rosewood/Spruce, with Elixir Nanoweb Phosphor Bronze HD Light strings) and a Neumann TLM 102 microphone. 

OPEN 105 • How to Tune Your Guitar to Drop D Tuning

This lesson shows you how to tune your guitar to Drop D tuning, which from low to high (in pitch) is D-A-D-G-B-E.  Drop D is the most common alternate tuning – any tuning other than Standard tuning – and differs from standard only on the sixth string, which is tuned down (or dropped) to D.  Open D is great for playing songs in the keys of D, A, and G.  The tuning has been used by all types of players in all genres for all types of songs, but folkies and hard rock/metal people probably use it the most.  You also see Drop D used in a decent number of guitar arrangements in classical music.

LIVE 083 • Wonderful Tonight (Alternate Take)

Here is an alternate take of my fingerstyle rendition of Eric Clapton’s Wonderful Tonight. Eric wrote the song about his then-wife Pattie Boyd, who had already inspired great songs from Eric and previous husband George Harrison. This song has been the theme to many a high school prom, and its simple yet tasteful melody has held up over the years. In keeping with that, my arrangement here is fairly straight forward: it doesn’t move around the neck very much or have any unusual chord voicings. Hope you enjoy it.

Recorded with a Taylor 412ce LTD (Rosewood/Spruce, with Elixir Nanoweb Phosphor Bronze HD gauge set) and a Neumann TLM 102 microphone in Honolulu, Hawaii 4/27/15.

GEAR 513 • TC Electronic UniTune

Most of you know I have been a fan of TC Electronic’s Polytune Clip for a while now (review linked below). The Polytune Clip does really well with alternate and open-tunings on acoustic guitar; it latches on to notes quickly, has good tracking, and even does well reading the lower bass notes we sometimes tune our sixth strings to which other clip-on tuners can have trouble with. So I still love the PolyTune Clip even though I spend most of my time in open tunings and hardly ever use the PolyTune function. Recently, I learned that TC Electronic had partnered with music retailer Sweetwater to produce the Uni-Tune, which is just like the PolyTune Clip in every respect but without the PolyTune mode. (Also it is about $15 less expensive.)

As with the Polytune Clip, I found that TC Electronic’s Uni-Tune clip-on tuner latches on to notes quickly and accurately, has excellent tracking, and picks up the low 6th string bass notes well (even down as low as Bb). So if you use mostly open / altered tunings, or can otherwise live without the PolyTune function and want to save $15, you might consider the almost identical UniTune clip-on tuner from TC Electronic.

LIVE 081 • Embryonic Journey (Jorma Kaukonen / Jefferson Airplane)

From the uber psychedelically titled Surrealistic Pillow album, Jefferson Airplane guitarist Jorma Kaukonen’s solo fingerpicking tour de force Embryonic Journey highlights his country blues influences and provides a rootsy counterpoint to far out songs like White Rabbit.  Though I don’t listen much to the rest of the album, Embryonic Journey stayed on rotation in my car for a number of years – sometimes when I was in the mood I would listen on repeat four or five times in a row.  It seems like this song was often playing when I was cutting over from Waialae to cruise on down Kapahulu, stopping for groceries at Kokua Co-op or Down To Earth Moiliili, or hanging out at Kapi’olani Park.  Hope you enjoy.

Recorded with a Taylor 912ce (Rosewood/Spruce, with Elixir Nanoweb Phosphor Bronze HD Light strings) and an Ear Trumpet Labs Edwina microphone.  

LIVE 066 • Brownsboro Road, Original Fingerstyle Guitar

Today’s song from the vaults, Brownsboro Rd., is one of the earlier fingerstyle songs that I wrote. The recording was made in an attic apartment with the windows open on a warm night and features the sound of crickets in the background. Brownsboro Road was the second track on a project I had called Signs Music Has Changed Your Life. Hope you enjoy.

Recorded in Louisville, KY. Mixed and mastered by Kevin Ratterman.

GEAR 511 • Taylor Nylon Series Guitars

This video gives an overview of Taylor’s nylon stringed guitars, along with some sound samples of my 414ce-NR (sorry, forgot to mention the “R” in the video, which designates the rosewood back/sides). Taylor’s nylon string guitars are not true classical guitars, but rather cross-over nylon models good for a variety of uses. A Taylor nylon guitar would be a good fit if you like the playability of steel string Taylor guitars but want the sound of nylon.
Similar to their steel string models, Taylor nylon guitars are very playable, they work well with alternate and open tunings, and they have a good pick up system (most feature the excellent ES-N pickup) which makes them adaptable for live performance. While you can play some classical pieces on these, they are probably used more for jazz, Latin, Bossa nova, folk, slack key, and anything else you might want try with a nylon flavor.
Playability, versatility, and stage readiness make these guitars great for players looking for a nylon crossover guitar, as well as steel string players looking to add a nylon sound to their palette.

Recorded with a Taylor 414ce-NR (Rosewood/Spruce grand auditorium nylon string) and an Ear Trumpet Labs “Edwina” microphone.