Wenn das Brot, das wir teilen (EGB 632)

Auf mehrfachen Wunsch hin habe ich die Tabs zu diesem Stück erstellt, die ihr hier laden könnt.

Viel Spaß damit!

The Light

Live Looping (Demo)

Here is a small live looping tune which I have composed just for demo purposes. The guitar part is very simple, because I was focussed on the looping pedal and on the live performance. Thus I kept the melody very easy.

Live looping makes so much fun - just give it a try!

Hope you enjoy this tune.

  

Template for BOSS RC-50

Good news for all Live-Loopers using a BOSS RC-50:

I have created a small template which might be helpful for all who are going to create a new song with the BOSS RC-50 loop station.

Please leave a quote if you like to get you own. I will send it to you by email.

Enjoy!

Stephan

Happy New Year everybody

I've tried to catch my thoughts on yesterdays evening and transform them into a small piece of music. Here you go. Let me know your thoughts.

Building a Cajòn

Hi folks,

long time no posts...

I was very very busy during the last 5 months due to business activities. Some weeks ago I've read something about Cajòns - a percussion instrument which is extremely flexible regarding the creation of different sounds: creating bass drum, snare drum, conga sounds is no problem for the box.

Some of you might have noticed that I like to build things by myself (see my guitar project from 2005 or my isolation box for recording purposes). Last weekend, I've decided to build my first Cajòn.

I've used multiplexed shelves from a birch tree (16 mm), ply wood (6 mm for the resonance board behind and 4 mm for the front plate) and some lumber for fixing the snare drum carpet. You can also use guitar strings instead in order to create a snare drum sound.

The first step is cutting the boards (300 x 300 mm for the bottom and the top shelve, 300 x 490 mm for both sides). I've used express glue in order to fix the frame of the box in a short time.

The next step is to fix the snare drum carpet (first I've used two guitar strings, A 5th) for a very cool sound. After this, I've build the gap on the rear side of the box (6 mm resonance board). I've cut out 150 mm in diameter for the sound hole and fixed the board using the express glue. Then, I've fixed the front board (4 mm) using some screws.

Now it's time to grind down the box and especially the edges. I've used natural polish for the finish and that's it!

See also my photo stream at Flickr.

Cajòn sound check by Stephan Schwenk

Here's a small video showing the used equipment for the demo recording.

Check out my soundcoud for some more sound examples.

Have fun!

Stephan

Only Time Will Tell

Since I've covered couple of fingerstyle guitar songs I thought i'ts about time to write my own. And here it is. Inspired by "Hope" I've composed my first song for fingerstyle guitar. The pictures in the video are taken in 2010 showing the landscape nearby where I live.

I hope you'll enjoy it.

Stephan

My old Luxor

I've bought this guitar in 1979 from my good old friend Johannes. He used this
instrument with La Bella nylon strings and I was looking for a steel
string guitar. I told him to by a Hannabach or something like this and
he did it.
The guitar has a very crisp sound and is still my first choice for
strumming songs. Now, my old lady has got new Elixir strings - I still
love "her".

I've got played on "Is This Thing On?"

Couple of days ago, Nick Tann - a guy from the UK and the founder of "Is This Thing On?" podcast - asked me, if he could play my new YouTube cover song "Hope" in his weekly show. Well, I felt honored and I agreed. Listen to it here (it's around the 36th minute).
There is a lot of other very cool stuff and I recommend to subscribe to his podcast. Try it - you'll like it ;-)



Stephan

New song cover on YouTube (Hope by Jeroen Groot Beumer)

I've uploaded a new song cover called "Hope". This song has been composed by Jeroen Groot Beumer from the Netherlands. I like this song - so, I've started practise 3 weeks ago. It is a really, really wonderful piece of music. Take a look at it and let me know your thoughts. Stephan

First live stream using Ustream

Oops - long time no post. I was very busy with other stuff.

Today, I've found some time in order to test live video broadcasting using Ustream TV. It's really very simple. So, here you go with my first video. I'm performing "Mood For A Day" by Steve Howe. The performance is not the best and my guitar is really out of tune, because I was very busy with the new technique of Ustream. Steve, please forgive me ;-)

Korg Kaossilator double loop length

Since yesterday, I'm using a Korg Kaossilator for live looping purposes although I'm not a friend of using such stuff within handmade music.

However, lets give it a try...

There is one important thing (many thanks to @UKDad at twitter), because Korg has designed this tool in order to record 2 measure phrases (8 steps). But the developers put an "easter egg" into the Kaossilator which allows you to record up to 4 measure patterns (16 steps).

Here is, how to take advantage out of this feature. (Jump to the News section).

Moon River

Today, I've posted a new video to my YouTube channel. I'm playing an wonderful song which is well known from the movie "Breakfast at Tiffany's". The song is called Moon River and was originally performed by Audrey Hepburn. The version I'm playing was arranged by Shun Komatsubara. Hope you'll enjoy it! See more at http://youtube.com/stephanschwenk.

Acoustic guitar piece in Open D tuning (from Jeroen Groot Beumer)

This is a great song from my friend on YouTube Jeroen. He's a musician from the Netherlands and plays accoustic guitar. Find further information on his channel.

Stephan

Steve Lawson - Looping basics

I've found an amazing YT video on the web from Steve Lawson. He's explaining how live looping could looks like. Awesome!

I'll be there

Couple of minutes ago I've uploaded a new video to YouTube. This is a wonderful song from Per-Olov Kindgren. I've found this song on his YT-channel and I've loved it from the very first time. My version of this song is the result of about 5 days practise. I need more time...

Photos from building my first guitar in 2005

Long time ago - anyway...

Since my old guitar building blog is no longer available, I have decided to share the photos on flickr.

It happened in 2005. I've built the complete guitar with my own hands. Even the pickups are handmade. I was deeply impressed after I had finished my work. My first guitar, built with my own hands....a great feeling and lot of experiences!

Citizen

This was the name of the first song I had composed using my new guitar. A very simple song.

Here are some tunes.

Here is some useful information:

Mighty Dub Katz - Magic Carpet Ride

I love this video and the music. You can hear it almost every Friday on hr3.

New videos on my YouTube channel

Some days are gone since my last blog - I was a little bit busy.

I've uploaded four new songs on my YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/stephanschwenk

I must admit that all of them are not played well but I want to put the videos live on my channel without spending too much time on the recording of these songs.

Greensleeves
It's a wonderful small song and I'm playing the easy version of it.

Freight Train
If you're going to start travis picking then you should take this song first. It is excellent for beginners (like me :-)). I had some trouble with the picking because I used a thumb pick. I've started practise with this pick only two weeks ago. It is not as easy as it seems at first sight.

Godfather theme
This is another cover of this beautiful song. I've started playing two weeks ago and here is the result. I know, there are a lot of things to improve...

Weißt du noch
I love this song and especially the unconventional tuning of DADF#BD which gives you this special sound. Ulli Bögershausen has composed this song and you can even feel the magic of it while playing.

 


Check it out and let me know your thoughts.

Stephan

Sound experiment with Korg KAOSS PAD 3

Here is a small demo with the Korg KAOSS PAD 3. I must admit that I own this new toy since one day. So, this is really a small demo of this powerful pad. The goal is to use the effects of this unit for guitar live loops. I won't use it like a DJ but in addition to my RC-50 looping pedal.