There is a channel on You Tube called Candyrat Records. It consists of promotional videos for the artists that record on their label. They are all excellent guitar players. In fact, that seems to be the one common attribute of all the artist on their label. They span the range from rock to folk, jazz to classical, and everything in between. There are soloists and groups, large and small. But they all are extremely talented musicians.
They play all kinds of instruments. Some are standard six string acoustics. Some have special necks with frets set at odd angles to promote perfect intonation. Some are interesting custom instruments like the guitar that has six bass harp strings strung above the standard fret board or the double neck instrument that has a standard electric six string on the bottom neck and an electric mandola on the top neck.
Some of the artists perform unique covers of popular songs while a lot of them play pieces of their own composition. They make extensive use of harmonic chimes and specialized two handed tapping techniques that both sound the note and select the pitch with a single motion. It really must be seen to be appreciated.
They often also play the bodies of their instruments like a drum ensemble while simultaneously playing the strings. It is very inspirational for a guitarist to see such a wide range of demonstrations of what can be accomplished on a guitar.
Some of the videos include the music that is being played on a strip at the bottom of the screen. Somehow that seems a little bit like bragging. As if they are saying, “let me show you how difficult this music is.” But it is seriously beautiful music.
Often the visuals that accompany the music are riveting as well. Sometime they are simply shots of the guitarist playing in an interesting setting. Other times, they are images of dancers dancing to the music or abstract patterns. They all augment the music in one way or another. It’s like the artist is saying instead of music and lyrics I’m going to augment my music with visuals.
In short, I like the channel a lot and highly recommend it to anyone that likes instrumental string music. It is good music to write by. I was catching up on the music that has been posted there recently while I was writing this blog post. Do yourself a favor and look it up sometime. I think you’ll enjoy it.
Sweet dreams, don’t forget to tell the ones you love that you love them, and most important of all, be kind.