 |
|
Chris Newman writes: On this recording, I used a number of instruments that are listed here: |
|
2004 Collings OM-1AC acoustic guitar I bought this guitar on Ebay about three years ago. The vendor was in Little Rock, Arkansas and shipped the guitar to the North Texas Irish Festival in Dallas where Máire & I were due to play a few weeks later. Collings instruments are of the highest quality, and it's the only brand I would ever consider buying without seeing or hearing first. |
 |
 |
2004 Collings MF-5 mandolin Another Ebay purchase, but this time from a chap in Oxfordshire, so I was able to try it out first! My previous mandolin was a relatively cheap Gibson A-50 so it was a quantum leap for me when I bought this instrument. |
Ibanez archtop Yet another Ebay purchase...is there a trend developing here? I've absolutely no idea when this Chinese-built guitar was made, but the build quality is incredible. Fabulous inlay work and extremely easy to play. Single floating pickup and great fun all round. |
 |
 |
1994 Fender Stratocaster In 1996 I was on tour in the USA, and one afternoon found myself in Albany, NY. There were a few hours free before the gig so I went for a wander around the town and stumbled across a music shop that was full of extremely expensive vintage Stratocasters. $20000 and up. Incredible amount of money for a plank of wood and a few magnets! In the back room I found this slightly used model that was up for $450 - much more like it. I'd always wanted a Strat, especially a red one, so that was that. |
1998 Octave mandolin by Davy Stuart I like this instrument a lot as it's in roughly the same register as a guitar but, being tuned in fifths, has a completely different voice. In the past I might have used two acoustic rhythm guitars on a track, but now I often use only one guitar and the octave mandolin. Davy also made the Black Beauty guitar that I've been using on stage since 2006 - that's the one on the back cover of the new CD. |
 |
 |
1927 Martin O-18 I bought this old Martin in the same store as the Stratocaster (see above). It was in extremely poor condition, but caught my attention as it was old and interesting. In the end, the entire guitar was taken to pieces and completely rebuilt by Jon Press in Bristol, and is now a completely viable instrument that plays beautifully. It's been around the block a few times, but who cares? It plays really well and sounds wonderful. Jon has a great website, but come back soon! |
1984 Aria ProII LaserElectric bass guitar Many different microphones were used, from AKG, Audio-Technica, Neumann & Rode. DI boxes were BSS, and the studio mixer was an Allen & Heath Zed R16. The entire album was put together on an Apple G5 computer using Digital Performer software and a few useful plug-ins, notably Altiverb 5 and Line 6 PodFarm. The post production mastering was done by Warwick Pilmer at Clipstore in Leeds. He uses a SADiE system to put all the tracks together, sort out the relative levels, make sure there are no clicks, bangs or low flying aircraft etc., and hopefully make everything sound lovely! |
|