The duo behind Celer was the married couple, Danielle Baquet-Long and Will Long.  Their story is deeply inspiring, but unfortunately tragic. They composed and released their music together under the moniker of Celer.  Unfortunately, Danielle passed away in July of 2009 leaving Will a widow and a large amount of unreleased music.  Though this was an end to a prodigiously productive musical partnership, Will continues to release their (and his) music.  Thanks for continuing to share your talents, Will. (For more on Celer: http://www.homenormal.com/artists/celer)

Deeply passionate and intimate, Celer's music frequently features disparate electronic and acoustic textures and timbres to explore the way opposing sounds interact with one another.  Celer exploits the results of pairing two distinct oscillating wave forms with one another, also known as hetereodyning; the results produce an almost hypnotizing effect on the listener.  It can be surreal, unsettling, and calming.  The way clinks and clanks interact with hums and drones and buzzes is very refreshing.  To add to their mastery, Celer maintains rhythmic intelligibility in their music - so it feels songlike.  This concept is far too often neglected in the ambient music genre, and it’s one reason many people struggle with this type of music. 

Rhythm is, in my opinion, the most important component of musical composition – fast or slow, it does not matter – rhythm is the main mechanism by which the message is delivered to the audience.  Sure, sound type/quality and intonation (playing the right notes, in the right tuning) further refine and develop the message, but if the rhythm is skewed or nonexistent, the message will be distorted and misunderstood - regardless of intonation or sound quality.  Just imagine – a melody is played in tune, but without rhythm, the message is likely unintelligible.  But – a melody is played out of tune, but with the correct rhythm, the message is likely intelligible.  It’s an incredibly important concept for any musician to consider (especially ambient musicians), on my view.  Take language, for example, in the following two ways:

1: if, I, use, incoherent. pUnctuatIOn and capitalization and formatting [this is nearly the same equivalence as using correct rhythm] , You!     maynotreally;                                              Understand what it – is that I,m “trying” to say, right. aT The: Very

 least. It WILL!! Be Hard To understand…my MEANING>

 
2: However, if I use correct punctuation, capitalization, and formatting, but only mispel/misuse the wordz [this is nearly the same equivalence as playing the right notes in the right tuning], you wil sstil get my mesage amlost entirly as itnended.  [See?]

When Ray LaMontagne released God Willin' and the Creek Don't Rise, I was hoping for a good old-fashioned album from an American songwriter that would find itself stuck in the constant rotation of my CD player.  I received just that.  This album is thoughtful, decidedly American, and honestly straight forward.  No, it's not a concept album from a deeply abstract musical genius - if you're looking for that in Ray LaMontagne's music, you're missing the point.  He doesn't bother to try reinventing the wheel (or his genre), and because of that, I seriously appreciate his craftsmanship in this music.  The lyrics speak on poverty and hardship in a unique way that earns your attention, but it remains accessible.  Not only did this album grab my attention, I think it did very well to avoid the tired cliche many have come to expect from traditional songwriters. 

Regardless of your opinion of the fellow's music, I think this album deserves a thorough listening from start to finish....it's well worth your hour.  My favorite songs on the album are: the title track - God Willin and the Creek Don't Rise, Old Before Your Time, Like Rock N' Roll and Radio. 

You can listen/buy the album here: RayLaMontagne.com

Chance encounters are not as rare as one might think.  But, quality chance encounters are a little more unusual.  I came to know of Todd Crespi through just that: a quality chance encounter.  After perusing DC's numerous musician's services classified listings, I found one that specifically requested musicians for an improvisation performance/event at Studio Gallery in DC; I immediately dropped the artist a line with a link to my website.  Without much ado, we corresponded back and forth and he invited me to perform at his show closing at Studio Gallery in DC this weekend.

I've always loved art galleries for music performances because, in general, it seems that the crowds who frequent these venues come with open ears and open minds.  These shows tend to be laid back, relaxing, and a lot of fun to play.  I should point out that there will be other musicians at the show, none of whom I know, so I cannot give an accurate depiction of what exactly we'll be playing or how we'll be playing it, since I don't even know for sure at this juncture.  This makes the performance more fun for me, because I really enjoy the challenge of matching my sound to fit into a new ensemble and musical context.  My best bet is that we'll meander through a series of on-the-spot creations that will veer off in the direction of beautiful and ethereal string/ambient music.  It should be a good time for all...

Come show your support for an excellent visual artist and some local musicians: Free Performance, Studio Gallery in Washington D.C. from 5-10 PM this Saturday, August 28, 2010

More on Todd Crespi at:  www.toddcrespi.com
More on Studio Gallery in DC:  www.studiogallerydc.com

Martin Guitars introduced their innovative Sustainable Wood/Smartwood Series of guitars several years ago, much to the delight of environmentally conscious musicians everywhere.  Thanks to my very thoughtful and totally-bodacious-babe (my fiancé), I'm fortunate to be the owner of a new Martin SWDGT dreadnaught from the Smartwood Series of instruments (for more on the Martin SWDGT).  Since this sweet guitar is a wedding gift, I'm not actually allowed to play it on a regular basis until we're married.  Fret not (pun intended) though, I'll make sure it's well-cared for, humidified, and regularly tuned during it's winter hibernation. 

The guitar's neck, back, and sides are made from sustainably grown cherry (Forestry Stewardship Council Certified).  The gloss top is treated with an aging toner to add warmth and is made from rescued Sitka spruce.  The fingerboard and bridge are katalox - a very dense hardwood that is used in place of ebony or rosewood.  The headstock has gold gotoh tuners with a tortoise color plating and gold logo stamp.  The guitar's back, sides, and top are bound in the same tortoise color used for the headstock and pickguard.  I absolutely love the understated look of the satin finish on the back and sides in contrast with the gloss top Sitka spruce.  The headstock provides an understated flash, and the body binding is a tasteful touch. The overall look of the instrument is warm, mellow, and beautifully parsimonious.

The interesting thing about the Sitka spruce used in this guitar is that it was actually en route to a diaper plant.  Yes, the spruce  in my lovely axe was actually going to be ground into pulp and used in diapers.  The good people at Martin caught wind of this nonsense and decided to rescue this fine wood for their guitars.  Gayla Drake Paul of premierguitar.com explains:  "The supplier that Martin gets their tops from a pulp mill that was grinding up Sitka spruce logs to a fine powder and making diapers from them. The supplier taught the company to identify the kind of grain that Martin wants for tops and made arrangements to rescue those logs, which Martin jokingly calls “diaperwood.” According to Dick Boak, Director of Artist and Limited Editions at Martin, it’s not Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC) certified Sitka, but since they’re rescuing it from a fate worse than death, they’ve chosen to include it in their Sustainable Wood Series."  The final appointments on the instrument are beautiful and subtle.  While this guitar is not designed to aesthetically compete with the Martin D-28 or D-35 models, the sound of the SWDGT is actually very comparable to those models.   

How does it sound?  I've included a very short sound clip that I just recorded this morning.  I think it shows the warmth of the SWDGT's tone. The first thing I noticed about this guitar is that, like my cello, the sustain is shockingly good.  Describing the nuances of how various tonewoods sound in any concrete detail is challenging due to the subjectivity of how we hear - so I won't try too hard here.  I will say that I think cherry finds itself somewhere in between rosewood and mahogany on the tonewood spectrum; while the bass is very large and robust, it isn't excessively boomy at all.  This guitar has a unique tone that I love!  It's also one of the louder guitars I've ever played, but its overtones neither lose transparency in sustain nor distort when strummed hard.  Chords are very clear, but there is an undeniable warmth in the sound.  It's hard to quantify, but it's a classic "Martin" sound.  The mids and trebles on the guitar are fat and thick, and the sound is surprisingly well-suited to fingerstyle playing.  I'd expect many bluegrass and blues players would find this to be an appealing match.

I'm really looking forward to recording with this beauty.  For now though, I'm going to practice some self-restraint and go hug my fiancé (and/or a tree) until I can hug this guitar again (which was once a tree...kind of?)...

(Photos taken by me, Evan Setzer)

Let’s get this straight – guitars and cellos are not on completely disparate ends of the stringed instrument spectrum.  There are, of course, many differences between the two, but they’re ultimately much more alike than they are dissimilar.  Here’s my point: I think guitars have been victims of an important design deficiency for many years.  More specifically, the way sound is allowed (or disallowed) to sustain in guitars is precisely where I believe the deficiency lies.  I think it’s worth writing about, and apparently many luthiers (who are far more knowledgeable than me!) have thought it’s worth addressing too.  Enter Batson Guitars, based out of Nashville.

Even though guitar was my first love, I believe the cello has a superior method for sustaining sound than the guitar.  I’m not saying the cello sounds superior – of course they neither sound superior nor inferior to one another – I’m just saying the cello has a better system for producing and sustaining sound than the guitar.  While this is just my opinion, it seems that proportionally, the cello is able to pull more resonance from its body than the guitar.  Both instruments sound unique and beautiful in their own right – please don’t misconstrue this as an argument for one instrument being “better” than the other.  I’m just saying that in this specific area, cellos may have more efficient mechanisms for producing and sustaining their sound, and perhaps guitar makers could use this collective knowledge to their advantage.  Now that’s out of the way…

Of course, the cello is a larger bodied instrument which uses thicker strings stimulated via a bow (much better sustain here  for that fact alone – in some ways, it’s endless), but cellos nonetheless employ substantive innovations (if you still think of these as “innovations” instead of “standards” 300-400 years later) that allow more freedom in vibration, and thus yield more resonant and voluminous sound production.

1. Use the soundhole on the side bracing instead of the instrument’s top.  I’d never thought of it quite like the fellows at Batson Guitars, but it’s true: the guitar is basically a resonating membrane.  To cut a large hole in the top part of the membrane robs the instrument of its ability to vibrate.  Of course side bracing vibrates too, but the tops and backs of guitars (and cellos) are the primary sources of resonance in sound production.  By allowing more surface area to vibrate, you increase the potential for longer sustain, louder volume, and a little known point, you also decrease the likelihood or prominence of feedback in amplified environments (aka: The Larsen Effect – another post entirely).  Cellos still use f-holes, but they’re very small in proportion to the instrument’s size – still, I wonder what a cello with soundholes on the bracing would sound like…
2. Use a cantilevered fingerboard.  This allows the fingerboard to be raised above the actual body of the guitar (it’s still attached to the neck) so that again, body resonance is not impeded.  By allowing the fingerboard to come off of the guitar’s body, you do create some complexities in setting and adjusting the instrument’s action/intonation.  First, you’ve raised the height required at the saddle and you’ve also changed the distribution of tension across the instrument.  As far as I’m concerned, you’ve released focused and excessive tension on the top of the guitar, thus allowing for greater resonance.  (See the picture on the right for the way a cello’s fingerboard is raised…)
3. Use a tailpiece instead of a string-through bridge.  Tailpieces connect to the side bracing (allowing more resonance) and also vibrate much more than a fixed bridge would.  Because the strings are not strung through the top of the guitar, the top wood (usually spruce) is again freed up to resonate even more.  This also reduces, as I said before, pressure being concentrated on one part of the instrument’s top material.  This will make a guitar that freely resonates with less effort.  This most likely increases the life span of the instrument too (very old guitars often have warped tops from maladjusted tension at the bridge).
4. Batson Guitars does some fancy dancing with their internal bracing.  I’m not sure I can really speak too much about the merits of this technique since I’m not particularly well studied on instrument brace construction.  In any case, the idea is that they use less wood  on their internal braces (providing support to the instrument), which allows the guitar more freedom to vibrate.  Seems logical enough... 

These methods of construction really don’t change the appearance of a guitar too drastically, but they do quite different from a traditional guitar.  I suggest you take a look at Batson Guitars’ amazing instruments for yourself.  Like them or not, they certainly appear to be intelligently thought-out examples of tasteful creativity in new guitar construction.  Well done!

(Photos taken from www.consumingworship.org, www.mdturnerphotography.com, and www.wilkecellos.com)