17th-Century Scottish Lute Music on an 8-string Guitar

[Rob MacKillop]

The latest offering

[video=youtube_share;gZLla8mmAOk]http://youtu.be/gZLla8mmAOk[/video]

 

[Paul Lange]

Great stuff Rob, I really enjoy these videos you put up on You tube. However, I am still waiting for the one where you wear a black suit and are accompanied by several identical women in skimpy outfits with guitars.

 

[Rob MacKillop]

I wish!

 

[Pete Askew]

Or the one where you are wearing a sk... no, on second thoughts!

 

[Rob MacKillop]

You wish!

 

[Pete Askew]

I think this might actually be my favourite so far. Aside from the wonderful music, I like the way the new (?) guitar creates areas of clear light and dark in the video. I also like the way the general lighting works and the way it lights you as you move closer and further from the camera especially as that usually follows the rhythm.

 

[Rob MacKillop]

Good points, Pete. With limited technology, I try to create something worth looking at, something which highlights the instrument as much as possible. I also don't like to spend more than a couple of minutes setting things up, as I only do it when I feel in the mood to play, and don't want to dissipate that energy in setting up lots of equipment. So, these are still very much 'home movies'.

 

[Pete Askew]

What are they shot on?

 

[Rob MacKillop]

A Panasonic SD60 - AVHCD (or something like that) about 8 years old, I think. I record the sound separately with a Fostex FR2-LE recorder, a Rode NT-4 Stereo Mic, edited in Steinberg Wavelab to take off the tuning and swearing at the beginning and the massive sigh at the end, and add a little reverb...Then I put it all through Sony Vegas - the cheaper, simpler version, replace the sound, and add titles. Et viola!

 

[Pete Askew]

Works well. How do you sync the sound and motion?

 

[Rob MacKillop]

I have to zoom in, then just drag left and right, matching up the sound waves accurately, then mute the camera sound. Only takes a few seconds. I can do this very easily in Vegas Studio, but find it impossible to do in iMovie - if anyone knows how, let me know. iMovie can get close, but not close enough, in my experience. So, I have to do all this on my old pc laptop.

 

[Pete Askew]

The fancy way is to either use a clapper board or hand clap in the leader or software like Pluraleyes (Singular Software - PluralEyes). I'm sure there used to be a free version at one time. There's a programme called QT but I've never used it. This might help though.

iMovie Tutorial: How to Sync Sound with External Audio | Obama Pacman

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dslr-slate/id374241045?mt=8

 

[Rob MacKillop]

Thanks. I'll look into that.

 

[Andrew Cotterill]

great playing there, and a beautiful sounding instrument. I play the acoustic guitar, so was intrigued to see how you were going to use the two extra low strings - now I know.

 

[Rob MacKillop]

Thanks, Andrew. Love those low notes!

 

[Kev Pugh]

Rob I could listen to this all day, lovely sound indeed,,

 

[Rob MacKillop]

Well, that makes me happy, Kev. I'd like to think you could have it on in the background while painting.

 

[Kev Pugh]

Best send me details of how to get a copy

 

[Rob MacKillop]

Over six hours of my playing can be heard for free here: https://soundcloud.com/robmackillop/sets Enjoy!

 

[Chris Dodkin]

He's quite good Rob - where did you discover him?