RFS Guest Artist: Quintin Stephens

Filed under: Guest Artists — Robert @ 10:50 pm

Quintin demonstrates how he has incorporated some techniques of master guitarist, Django Reinhardt,”the King of Gypsy Swing”, into a pyro-technic display of flying fingers on his original composition, Avatar, at the Lagniappe Fest in Port Allen, LA. Quintin can be found on the web at http://www.quintinstephens.com/

Guest Artists Quintin Stephens, QuickTime, 512kbps (16.4MB)

Guest Artists Quintin Stephens, Windows Media, 512kbps (14.8MB)

Guest Artists Quintin Stephens, iPod (27.7MB)

RFS Guest Artist: Lois Hornbostel

Filed under: Guest Artists — Robert @ 10:49 pm

Lois demostrates dulcimer techniques on a traditional Cajun two-step tune, the “Hackberry Hop”. An intrepid collector of folk tunes and a prolific author with Mel Bay Publications, Lois makes the tune indeed, hop, at the Lagniappe Fest in Port Allen, LA. Lois can be found on the web at http://www.loishornbostel.com/

Guest Artists Lois Hornbostel, QuickTime, 512kbps (10.2MB)

Guest Artists Lois Hornbostel, Windows Media, 512kbps (9.1MB)

Guest Artists Lois Hornbostel, iPod (16.9MB)

Robert Force Plays “Did You?”

Filed under: Techniques — Robert @ 10:45 pm

Written by Robert in Cabo San José, Mexico, January, 2005. He explains how some of the images developed and uses the tune to illustrate a staccato-stop-string technique, articulating the chord with flat-picking, and how to incorporate the length of the fretboard for different tones.

Performance “Did You?”, QuickTime, 512kbps (21.3MB)

Performance “Did You?”, Windows Media, 512kbps (19.4MB)

Robert Force Plays “Wellyn”

Filed under: Techniques — Robert @ 10:42 pm

Written by Robert in Cornwall Bridge, CT, Spring, 1972. He demonstrates the full-chord barre technique that is an influential characteristic of his personal playing style, found throughout much of his later work. Camera angle is set so that you can see how the right and left hands work together percussively. Camera work is by Gene Talvin who first started his career in Hollywood filming stills for the “Rocky and Bullwinkle Show” and finished by being lead cameraman on “Third Rock from the Sun”.

Performance “Wellyn”, QuickTime, 512kbps (12.3MB)

Performance “Wellyn”, Windows Media, 512kbps (11.2MB)

Robert Force Plays “Cornwall”

Filed under: Techniques — Robert @ 10:38 pm

Written by Albert d’Ossché in the Spring of 1972 in Cornwall Bridge, CT. Robert illustrates the two-stop, partial chord nuances upon which the tune is built. He identifies the composition as being a seminal, modern work for the instrument which uses these partial chords balanced against pervasive, shifting pedal-tone drones that can only be achieved with the dulcimer and it’s delicate, tentative tones. The tune is particularly effective when played rubato– without a specific timing– to let the overtones fade away, creating quiet, reflective spaces within the arrangement.

Performance “Cornwall”, QuickTime, 512kbps (16.9MB)

Performance “Cornwall”, Windows Media, 512kbps (15.4MB)

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