Tag: relaxing

Two New Releases on Bandcamp!

As I write this, it is still Bandcamp Friday, where the site forgoes their cut of the sales, so we artists get more today. For the pricing, I set it to “pay what you want, including zero” which always seems to work out very well.

Most of my output on Bandcamp has been EP releases, with 4 to 6 tracks, but this time I made more of a full album…….11 tracks, taken from older unreleased singles, and some brand-new tunes as well. All in all, this project has been time-consuming, but I’m really pleased with the final mixes and the overall flow of the music.

https://jerryrockwell.bandcamp.com/album/one-shiny-morning

And now for a completely different release! This wonderful EP from the amazing Butch Ross, has a track I’m featured on. This was a long time in the incubator, marinating in Butch’s creative juices. I can’t exactly remember what dry tracks I sent him originally, I only know that he did a spectacular job of transforming the living daylight out of whatever I did!! The other tracks are very powerful too, so be sure to check out the whole EP.

https://butchross.bandcamp.com/album/whats-going-on

New EP at bandcamp!

This EP is partly a retrospective, with three tracks going back to 2019 and 2020 (Canterbury Lullaby, Jenny’s New Dreamscape, and The Light Always Comes), and two fairly recent tracks from earlier this year (Allison’s Infinite Round I, and Firefly Duet).

The three earlier tracks were remixed and remastered, and this took a lot more time than any other production in recent memory. I have taken advantage of the new mastering assistant in my Logic Pro Digital Audio Workstation, and I have made some progress in my audio engineering – particularly with getting levels balanced and consistent.

Most of these tunes have two or three tracks of electric dulcimer, with some standard DAD tuning, and some baritone AEAA tuning (Allison’s Infinite Round is tuned a whole step up to B-F#-B-B).

https://jerryrockwell.bandcamp.com/album/canterbury-lullaby-ep

Baritone Dulcimer Solo in AEAA Tuning | F# Aeolian Tablature

Here is a recent solo I recorded on my baritone dulcimer in AEAA tuning. This is very similar to the tablature I gave for B Aeolian in the last post, except for the fact that it is a 4th lower in F# Aeolian, and the last chord in the last measure is a G chord. In the F# version here, that same chord would be D.

And here is another take at a quicker pace:

Brand New EP at Bandcamp!

This is East Beach on Lake Erie in Lorain, Ohio. "Twilight At East Beach" is the title of my EP on Bandcamp

It has certainly been many moons since I released anything on bandcamp, but I’ve been working diligently on some more meditative dulcimer instrumentals, and I have a 4-tune EP ready now……just in time for “Bandcamp Fridays” (where the platform forgoes their share of revenue on the first Friday of most months).

These are some tracks that took more time for me to get exactly the right production, and I’m learning a lot about audio engineering with each track.

“Kate’s Waltz” is a 3/4 time version of my original “Kate’s Tune” which first appeared on my Singing Messenger album, way back in 2016. It is based on a mixolydian chord progression which was generated by a harmonized descending mixolydian mode. I have used this for many other titles, including “Blue Ridge Dream” (also in 3/4), “November’s Waltz” (from the early years of my Patreon lessons), and also the last track on this EP “Continuous Lines 218.”

“Magic Mountain Sanctuary” is a continuation of my “Magic Mountain Solitude” tracks, and I’m tuned a half step up from my usual DAD tuning – to Eb – Bb – Eb. The chords are a stretched out version of the “cabbage chords” (well-known to many dulcimer players!), and there is an arpeggiated keyboard track in the background to set the groove.

The title track “Twilight At East Beach” is inspired by a beautiful beach on Lake Erie, in Lorain, Ohio, not too far from Cleveland. This one is actually in the key of F and uses an 8-bar progression I constructed from joining two 4-chord loops. These days, I usually play in the key of F by tuning CGC and keying off of the F chord as the center, but not using a capo. This track has a few synth pads to create a backdrop for the very high-pitched dulcimer melodies.

Anyway, here you go if you want to check it out. Thanks for listening!

Twilight At East Beach EP

QuaranTUNE 7.0 is OPEN for Registration!!!

http://virtualdulcimerfest.com

Here are the three workshops I’ll be offering:

Peaceful Irish Airs and Lullabies (Level 3)

Friday Session 1 (9-10AM EDT)

Get totally enchanted with these slow, meditative airs from Ireland. “Báidín Fheilimí” (“Phelim’s Boat”) is a 3/4 time lullaby that we’ll be doing in a simple, sparse arrangement using a lot of open strings. “Eibhlí Gheal Chiúin Ní Chearbhaill” (“The Fair and Charming Eileen O’Carroll”) is much more mesmerizing and circular.

Soothing and Magical Chord Progressions (2 hour session) (Level 4)

Friday Session 4 (12:45-2:45PM EDT)

In this workshop, you’ll learn some soothing and magical chord progressions that are easy to play and fun. Most have only four chords and they are addictive! You’ll also learn a few of my original melodies that go with them. In the last part, we’ll explore some longer chord progressions that you can use for your own melodies, and we’ll add chords to some descending scales and modes.

Freeing Up Your Playing With Pentatonics (Level 4)

Saturday Session 4 (12:45-1:45)

The ancient 5-tone Major Pentatonic Scale is a great way to jump-start your improvising. You’ll learn how to flatpick this scale, and then we’ll apply it to the main chords you know. You’ll see that there aren’t any “wrong notes” when you play the pentatonics over simple chord progressions. Finally, using the examples of some original pentatonic tunes of mine, you’ll get some insights into building your own pentatonic tunes.

These classes are filling very, very fast (not only for my classes, but for the other fine instructors you may want to study with.

Ideas, Tips, and Devices You Can Use Right Now – Dulcimer Workshop by Jerry Rockwell

This post is designed to be a listening resource for my new workshop on how you can make your dulcimer playing more interesting and varied by using some common musical devices and tips. These tracks are all on Spotify, though you can find them on Apple Music and other streaming platforms if you wish. This workshop is being given at the amazing North Georgia Foothills Dulcimer Association Virtual Fest.

Pentatonic Tunes

New Release!!

Chord Substitution Ideas on Skip’s Jam-A-Round (Lullaby for a Starry Night)

This part of the workshop deals with easy chord substitution ideas: D to Bm, G to Em, and A to F#m. We’ll use my Lullaby for a Starry Night to illustrate this principle.

Riffs and Sequences

This topic is best illustrated by some tablature and music: an excerpt from my first book of Patreon lessons.

lid_pachfilesDownload

Bm-G-D-A (Lazzy’s Old Brown Cow)

Kate’s Tune, Kate’s Waltz, and Blue Ridge Dream

These tracks are all based upon the same Mixolydian chords, they just have different time signatures and different approaches to the melody lines.

Magical, Peaceful Instrumentals Playlist

This is one of my favorite playlists of the ones I curate myself on Spotify. It has a wide variety of instruments and genres, but the common theme is a simple, folk-oriented approach to melody and harmony. You’ll hear some minimal pieces on piano by some of my favorite players, some great accordion work by the amazing Maria Kalaniemi, or some mesmerizing modal compositions by Whalebone (UK-based ensemble).

New Single Coming Soon!

NineBridgesLamentation

This is a brand-new version of an original tune from about 1993. It is in the spirit of an Irish slow air, and it has strong modal flavoring throughout. The original recording was just solo acoustic mountain dulcimer….fingerpicking style and just some open string drone in spots. This new recording uses a few tracks of  electric dulcimer, along with some ambient wash in the background. I have also added more chords: making it a bit less of a dronal texture.

Here is the link for doing a pre-save on the major streaming platforms:

Nine Bridges LamentationÂ