Montgomery Guitars

I have been playing the guitar a little more recently.  This has mainly come from a need to do so for the church praise band.

To date I have been playing an Avalon Silver Series belowing to one friend or an Ibanez something-or-other from another friend.  While I appreciate the graciousness of these guys to let me loose on their guitars I was thrilled when I got my own instrument.


And it is no ordinary guitar.  This guitar was hand built by my brother.  He has been building guitars as a bit of a hobby recently and the one I now have is the second off his production line.  It is 100% solid wood.  It has a Spruce top and Indian Rosewood back and sides.  The fingerboard is ebony.  It has a beautiful tone.

As I primarily play in church there was a need to install a pickup.  In choosing a pickup I wanted one that performed well live on stage with minimal chance of feedback.  It also needed to capture a least some of the natural tone and be fitted in a non-destructive way.  I know nothing about these things so took advice from several quarters.

From the outset though I wanted an LR Baggs setup.  That partly came from recommendations and also, admittedly, I just like the feel of their company and the look of their products.

Originally I wanted the LR Baggs Anthem system which looked like it could capture the guitar tone very well through their tru-mic setup.  It probably could but I was put off for a couple of reasons.  One, the preamp just wouldn't fit into the body of the guitar given the shape and bracing used.  Two, microphones are more prone to feedback.  But to be honest the main reason was just that it would not fit.

To cut a long story short I bought the LR Baggs M1 Active system which you can see just sits in the sound hole.  In fact the only drilling or cutting required was for the strap jack which would have been necessary for just about any pickup.

The LR Baggs M1 Active is designed to give a balanced string and body signal so it should give a mic'd up sound without the mic.

First impressions are good but I need to try it in the church setting to understand if it will be ok.  I bought it from Matchetts in Belfast who gave great service.

I'm really thankful for this guitar.  It's production was a labour of love for my brother.  I don't think I have received any physical gift that required so much work and craftsmanship.  It is truely unique.  My prayer is that it will be used to glorify God who gave the gift of music, made the raw materials and gifted the luthier to put it all together!

Belief is Free!

I downloaded a John Mayer song from iTunes recently because it was free. Even though it was free iTunes still sent me an invoice. I have included an excerpt from it below because I found it interesting and a little thought provoking.

Can belief really be free?

The Rufus on fire!

I was at a Rufus Wainright concert on Tuesday night at the Waterfront Hall. I had been meaning to get and listen to his latest album so I could fully appreciate the live show. But I didn't manage to do that. As it turns out, it didn't really matter as it was a great show without knowing the songs!

I was particularly impressed when the band unplugged and Rufus sang without a microphone in tribute to John McCormack - a famous Irish Tenor who lived in the late 19th/early 20th century.

Snow Patrol at Ward Park 2 - Run

The new version of iMovie allows me to export straight to YouTube! Pretty cool but still takes a fair bit of time to get a result when to add up the encoding time and then the YouTube processing time.

But as promised here is the first instalment of the Snow Patrol at Ward Park. I give you 'Run' minus the first wee bit:

Snow Patrol at Ward Park

At the moment I'm sat in the Radisson hotel, Liverpool, hungrily awaiting my dinner! We're going out for some Chinese food in a bit - I'll tell you more about that when I get back.

First let me update you on last weekend.

On Saturday I was at Ward Park, Bangor in the open air listing some great live music. When I arrived 'We are Scientists' were playing. They were pretty good but were topped by Ash who followed. Ash in turn were blown out of the park by the all conquering Snow Patrol who were absolutely fantastic.

As the light faded the light show added to the atmosphere. Great tune after great tune came from the stage. We were all oohs and aahs when fireworks went off in time with 'Light up, Light up' at the climax of run at the end of the set.

I'll try and YouTube-ify some video I took with my phone and post it soon. Although not the best quality you get a good feeling of the atmosphere. The crowd around me can be heard shouting all manner of things ranging from 'Healey! Healey!' to 'We're not Brazil we're Northern Ireland' to the big choruses in the songs. The funniest bit though was when Gary lightbody highlighted the Northern Irish tendency to sing the lead guitar bits - which we promply obliged with as he launched into the next song!

Hope they do it again next year. I'll not take my umbrella then as I had my old P&O Nedlloyd one conficated as it was deemed dangerous!

The Bourne Ultimatum

Dermo, Mark and I headed to the cinema on Friday night to catch the third instalment of the Bourne series.

With a lot to live up to after the first two outings, 'The Bourne Ultimatum' did not disappoint. Some good action sequences, especially the one on one fight scenes and car chase.

Just be careful with how close to the screen you sit. The camera does not stand still. This does give it a more of a gritty reality but made me slightly queazy during some of the quieter parts! Probably best viewed from a little further back than we were.

Also, you gotta love that Moby track at the end. You can get Extreme Ways by Moby from iTunes.


Moby - 18 - Extreme Ways

Martha Wainwright

Last night I had the pleasure of listening to Martha Wainwright sing and play guitar at a concert in Lisburn. It was just her voice and her guitar but those two together were enough to captivate and entertain.

I arrived not knowing any of her songs but left wanting to learn them! Except of course for the swear words which were, admittedly, a little to frequent for my liking.


Sadly I didn't get a photo of the performance as Eventsec were out in force ensuring none were taken. But I did get a couple of the signing session Martha did after the show. She's the one behind the table - somewhere! My brother is in the bottom right in blue.

Amazing Grace - music from the film

No its not the Chris Tomlin one, which I also like.

I thought this was a fantastic version of the well known tune. Traditional sound with the bagpipes but also very moving. I love how it builds with the drums then finally with the brass section.



This is not present on the soundtrack album - disappointing, especially given its centricity to the story and title!

Some of you may prefer a Tomy Emmanuel take on things.

Audi A5

I have long been and Audi fan. Recently they had an advert running for the new A5 (pictured below). As you can tell from the image below it is a beautiful looking car.



To promote the launch of this car, Audi produced a lovely advert with some fantastic music. Do you remember the one with the ribbons/stripes gently forming a hint of the outline of the sleek design? Well, as is the case with a number of adverts I was attracted to the elegant music. I searched for it at the time but the best I could do then was to find it was called Prelude 2, it was composed by Dustin O'Halloran and that it was hoped it was to be released at some stage.

Even though my iTunes alerts let me down I was please to find (rather late!) that the track was released on 4th June. Both the original and advert versions of the track are available from iTunes. I have added the link below.

Dustin O'Halloran, Prelude 2


Enjoy!

Dance Tonight

Everybody gonna dance tonight!

My brother bought a mandolin. It is an Osark 2250 and if you sat with it for 10 mins you could learn to play a Paul McCartney song! Its that one from the iPod advert from his new album. All you need to know is G, C, D and Fmaj7 (I think), put them in the right order and you are set.

But, and this is the slight frustration, Sir Paul detunes his mandolin by a tone so when he plays the G formation it is actually an F and so on. It means you can't sing and play along to the track while learning it.

So far I can strum it ok but my brother was getting down to REM's Losing My Religion earlier. It sounded cool!

Dave Matthew's House

Are you a Dave Matthews fan? Do you enjoy watching House? Well, if so, you are in for a treat - or to be more accurate, you could be missing that treat right now!

Tonight's episode of House on Channel 5 guest stars Dave Matthews playing a musically gifted young man. But this young man spends more time behind a piano than a guitar and so far there isn't even a hint of a DMB song! Actually, so far all the music has been at the start and the poor guy has spent the rest on a hospital bed undergoing Dr Houses' relentless tests as he strenuously pursues the cause and cure of the condition!

Not so good at multitasking so thought I'd get back to the show!

Glastonbury 2007

I was chatting to my brother today who was is a taxi along with a few other unbelievably stinking fellas on their way from the Glastonbury Festival to the airport. Although clearly mucked to the oxters and audibly smelly the now tentless group were in good spirits after enjoying a great few days of musical indulgence.

I only got to see snippets of the BBC's coverage. This was partly due to being busy (check out the wedding post below!) and also due to the fact that I've been staying at my folks house for a couple of days so have been reduced to 4 analogue channels!

But they do have a non-too-shabby internet connection. So, if you like me missed a lot of the great acts that some of your friends are starting to rave on about then you will like this link to the beeb's webcasts of some of the live sets!

Watch and listen to live acts from Glastonbury 2007!

Did you see or listen to any of the weekend's acts? Any favourites?

Of course, not satisfied with the offerings of the mud soaked Glastonbury fields my brother and co are now off to Amsterdam for a couple of days to get cleaned and rested before going to another festival in Denmark. Yes, Denmark, home to Carlsberg, lovely bacon, tasty pastries and the great Maersk (who I work for) host the Roskilde Festival.



Over 170 bands at that one running from 5th to 8th July with the amazing Muse finishing things off on the Sunday. I am ever so slightly jealous!

Commercial Breaks and Beats

I have used this site (www.commercialbreaksandbeats.co.uk) quite a bit to track down (no pun intended) music from adverts. It also has links to iTunes and Amazon etc. But if you want to buy something from Amazon go through Dermo's site (www.dermo.co.uk) because he gets a kick back which helps fund his wonderful blog. Plus he bought expensive Macademia nuts the other day just so I could try them so he needs the cash to continue to do stuff like that!

So I hope this helps the anonymous person who lef the comment on the Saab advert entry.

Choir as Folk, Killead Presbyterian

No, I didn't know where it was either. But it was quite easy to find in the end. My Dad, one of my sisters and myself made our way to this little church on Thursday night for part of their 38th Annual Festival of Praise.

Dad heard about the event through a guy he works with who also happened to be conducting one of the many and varied choirs taking part. Basically, a number of churches within the Templepatrick Presbytery assembled their choirs for one night singing a number of tunes ranging from old classics to modern but soon to be classics!

I enjoyed it for the music and for a few other little things that just amused me. First, as the assembled choirs occupied the ground floor, we the congregation had to sit in the balcony. In the old cross shaped building this made for difficult viewing of the participants. Then, in a service that was to run unannounced the guest conducter proceeded to introduce just about everything.

But the bit that really made me chuckle was when, toward the end of the evening, the conductor address the combined choir prior to the benediction. She said something along the lines of 'I don't need to tell you how to sing a benediction, but if you can remember to start quietly and build....'. As I whispered to my sister next to me, I wondered how long she would have had to speak had she deemed it necessary to tell them how to sing it!

Please don't think I'm aweful for saying this sort of thing. These things just make me chuckle and bring a smile to my face. But regardless off all these things, what makes me smile the most is that the people both in the choirs and in the congregation took part in a night for which the aim was to sing the praise of Almighty God. We should be thankful the our Lord that has given us music and the ability to derive pleasure from it. But more importantly we should be willing, like the choirs that put the work into this event, to use the gift of music in the proclamation of the greatness of God our creator, our Saviour, friend and Lord!

Thanks to Killead and all the other churches that took part!

Oh, forgot to mention. One choir used a Djembe drum! Thanks to the Katie and Rachel for letting me know what it was.

Saab Song, Release Me

Have you seen the recent Saab commercial? I just can't get the song from it out of my head. It is beautiful. A girl called Frida Orhn from a band called Laura sounds wonderful as she sings it. Here is a YouTube video of a promotional recording:



What do you think? Pretty good, eh? If you really like it you can buy the track from iTunes by clicking the link below. I have the feeling some people will be looking for it!



If you know this band and can recommend other essential listening by them or by others, please let me know!