Test Drive Through Garageband
Well, I changed the first two strings on Halcyon to a thicker gauge and tightened the tuner gears in case there's slippage happening. After doing a little research, I've figured that maybe I need to adjust the bridge saddles to correct the intonation, which means I need to get a set of allen wrenches. Ah, the musical complexities!
In any case, I took her for a recording test drive to see how she handles. These two tracks are faux-acoustic, but you can tell that there's no real warmth in the tone, compared to an acoustic dulcimer. Where the humbucker pickup excels is in effects work, though not detailed here, when I kicked in the amp modelers in Garageband, she sung like Hendrix, absolutely incredible! When I want mellow sounds, I'll use Angelique - but when I want to kick some tail, Halcyon's my girl.
[Bing Futch - From The Hills To The Sea (demo).mp3 (2:41/2.4 MB)
This is an original piece that I wrote last year. No words for it yet, but I think you'll know when the title comes into play.
Bing Futch - Jurassic Park Theme (demo).mp3 (1:55/1.7MB)
I've gotta be the only guy playing "Jurassic Park" on the dulcimer, cause I didn't learn it from tablature - figured it out one day. It's a great piece to open shows with - only a few people get it.
Garageband is a cool little program - if you're a Mac user (and if you aren't, consider the possibilities), it's not expensive and does quite a lot that the big boys can do. The new version even has music notation and pitch correction - lordy lord!
In any case, I took her for a recording test drive to see how she handles. These two tracks are faux-acoustic, but you can tell that there's no real warmth in the tone, compared to an acoustic dulcimer. Where the humbucker pickup excels is in effects work, though not detailed here, when I kicked in the amp modelers in Garageband, she sung like Hendrix, absolutely incredible! When I want mellow sounds, I'll use Angelique - but when I want to kick some tail, Halcyon's my girl.
[Bing Futch - From The Hills To The Sea (demo).mp3 (2:41/2.4 MB)
This is an original piece that I wrote last year. No words for it yet, but I think you'll know when the title comes into play.
Bing Futch - Jurassic Park Theme (demo).mp3 (1:55/1.7MB)
I've gotta be the only guy playing "Jurassic Park" on the dulcimer, cause I didn't learn it from tablature - figured it out one day. It's a great piece to open shows with - only a few people get it.
Garageband is a cool little program - if you're a Mac user (and if you aren't, consider the possibilities), it's not expensive and does quite a lot that the big boys can do. The new version even has music notation and pitch correction - lordy lord!