Danelectro HoneyTone N-10 Mini Amp

I hope this post finds you well and that your holiday was a safe and happy one. Christmas was indeed a merry one at our house.

Thankfully, I didn't get any coal this year and Santa delivered the goods! lol. I was especially excited to see a Danelectro N10 HoneyTone Mini Amp under the tree. Although I purchased my Yamaha SV130 electric violin for "silent" practice, I wanted to be able to play it amplified as well. The Electric Violin Shop (where I purchased my violin) recommended the HoneyTone as a practice amp and so far I'm quite pleased.

Here is a quick summary of the HoneyTone and its features:

• It's small - only 5-1/4" high by 5-1/8" wide by 2-1/2" deep.
• Plastic construction. Features a semi-glossy plastic case with an applied plastic, silver-colored emblem on the front over the speaker area, plastic strap handle, and plastic (at least I think they are!) silver-colored twist knobs.
• Metal belt clip on back of the unit.
• Comes in four "fab" colors - Nifty Aqua, Beatnik Burgundy, Daddy-O Yellow and Black. Santa brought me a black one!
• Powered by a 9 volt battery or AC adapter (adapter is NOT included with the amp).
• Three twist knobs for operation: OFF/VOLUME, TONE, and O. DRIVE.
• Line-In, headphone and AC adapter jacks.
• Includes an instruction sheet with suggestions for sixteen different presets all of which are various combinations of adjustments to the three control knobs featuring catchy names like "Killer Blues", "Woodstock Fuzz" and "Send the Cats Under the Bed".

At first impression, this tiny amp looks like little more than a toy, but it has a surprisingly good sound. I will say that I have yet to explore all sixteen of those presets with my electric fiddle as I'm really more interested in hearing its straight up sound rather than terrorizing the family pets so I've pretty much settled on the "Clean & Spanky" setting for the time being. "Clean & Spanky" is just as described and delivers a crisp, crystal clear ringing tone from my fiddle. The drones and double stops really sound great too and if you do want volume, you'd be surprised just how loud this little amp can get. If one were so inclined, I also think this amp would be great for busking. The built-in belt clip and 9 volt battery power make mobility a non-issue.

My only criticisms of the unit are truly minor in nature. I would say that a few of the presets that I did try seemed to deliver a somewhat similar tone. For me, this isn't an issue as I'm not really interested in having my fiddle sound like anything but a fiddle.

Additionally, as it is plastic construction durability could definitely be an issue. However, I think the low replacement cost pretty much trumps the durability issue when you stop to think about it. You can find the HoneyTone for anywhere between $20 and $30, so if something unfortunate does happen to it, it's not the end of the world.

Bottom line: If you're thinking of going electric and want a great little, inexpensive practice/busking amp that accurately reproduces the true sound of your instrument, I think the Danelectro HoneyTone N-10 would be a great choice and sound investment. How can you go wrong for $20? Yeah, I know, it's kind of cutesy-looking, but that retro, nostalgic look kind of grows on you after awhile and it does sound sweet!

Building Your Old-Time Fiddle Music Collection

What better time to think about building your old-time fiddle music collection than the Christmas holidays? If you're a fan of old-time music like I am, your wish list is never empty!

That said, believe it or not, buying those first few albums for your music collection can be a bit intimidating too. Likely, your interest in old-time fiddle began after you heard someone playing at a festival or local event. You weren't familiar with any names of well-known old-time fiddlers, nor many names of fiddle tunes for that matter. So where should you start? Whose music should you pick up first?

The best advice I can give you here is to do your research (Google is a great starting place) and see what turns up. There are quite a few remastered, vintage recordings out there of now famous old-time players as well as a handful of relative unknowns. There are also many younger musicians that have really taken to this genre and have served to rekindle much of the popularity that this music once enjoyed in the 1920s and 30s.

Most importantly listen, listen, listen......and buy what you like. In the end, it's all about what YOU like - not someone with a name known to be important to the genre. Listening to music you truly love encourages you to play more and, I believe, helps you develop your own unique style (as you pick up and adapt the various nuances of the artists you listen to).

Below is a smattering of albums (most from the 1920s/30s heyday of old-time) that I personally think offer tons of inspiration in the way of style, syncopation and emotion. Perhaps if you are still unsure of where to begin, one of these selections just might be the start of something good.


(NOTE: Amazon offers previews of every tune on these albums, enabling you to get a great feel for what the music is like.)

Jingle Bells For Holiday Fiddling

With Christmas nearly upon us, I thought it might be a good time to do a little holiday decorating here at Fiddler's Folly. Aren't my twinkly lights totally awesome? lol. And, what better way is there to revel in the Christmas spirit than with a traditional, long-time favorite Christmas tune - fiddlized?!?

Jingle Bells has to be one of the most beloved Christmas tunes of all time by kids and adults alike. But did you realize just how old this song is? The answer even surprised me. According to an entry on Jingle Bells at Wikipedia, "It was written by James Lord Pierpont (1822–1893) and copyrighted under the title "One Horse Open Sleigh" on September 16, 1857." Those bells have been jingling a long, long time!

The following sheet music is my own variation on the original Jingle Bells. I wanted to give it a bit of an old-timey feel without compromising the original tune too much while keeping it simple so that everyone can play it. (Of special note, trying to pick out simple, familiar tunes like Jingle Bells or Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star are excellent ways to improve your ear training abilities. You ear will immediately tell you if you have the correct note or not!)

I've also gotten so I like the sound of my fiddle when it is tuned FCFC (called Cross F tuning), so I worked out this particular version in Cross F. To use this sheet music (or any other pieces on this site with alternate tunings) simply tune your fiddle to the tuning indicated and then read and play the music as if you were in standard tuning.

I have included lyrics for the first verse and chorus as well. These lyrics accompanied the information I found at Wikipedia and there you can find the remaining verses if you are so inclined. The third verse is really quite charming and as the article states it is often omitted - so often, in fact, that I had never heard it before. I would like to have included these verses on the sheet music for you, however, I have yet to find a way to insert a page (solely for text) within a Finale PrintMusic project. At this point, it is looking like I don't have that capability with this particular level of Finale software (although I know the full fledged version of Finale can do it).

Anyway, I hope you enjoy it! Merry Christmas to all and to all a good time fiddling! Ho ho ho.

Amazing Slow Downer Product Review

Amazing Slow Downer, created by Roni Music is software that allows musicians to slow down music playback without distortion. Amazing Slow Downer has been available for quite a few years now (it was first released in December 2000), but it wasn't until I'd gotten "serious" about learning the fiddle that I gave Amazing Slow Downer any "serious" consideration.

When you think about old-time fiddling there are several factors that make this software the near perfect addition to your musical toolbox.

• Most learning is still done in the traditional fashion - by ear (aurally) and not from sheet music.
• Many fiddle tunes have a quick tempo and it can be difficult for a beginner to discern the different pitches, notes, tunings, riffs, etc.
• Not many of us are personally acquainted with a really great fiddler who would be willing to play a tune slowly over and over until we get it (unless we have the good fortune of having a great teacher or hooking up with a workshop offering).
• Many of the fiddle tunes we like best are on recordings we already own and many times we want to learn those particular versions.

So let's cut right to the chase. Here is what Amazing Slow Downer can do for you. I've been wanting to learn 'Old Yeller Dog Come Trottin Through the Meetinghouse' for some time and I found that I really like Rayna Gellert's recording of this tune. Rayna plays this tune with an upbeat tempo, so as I stated above, it's not always easy for a beginner, like myself, to pick out each note when listening to a tune played back at full speed.

Amazing Slow Downer allows you to open a music file (either an MP3, AIFF, AAC/MP4 or WAV) and slow it to any speed increment (down to 20% of its original recorded tempo) where you can comfortably figure out the notes. The amazing part is that there is no distortion of sound! When slowed down to the 20% mark, I could even begin to figure out Rayna's bowings on this tune (You can actually hear when the bow grabs the strings to change direction.).

Below are three sound clips from Rayna's 'Old Yeller Dog' to illustrate the capabilities of Amazing Slow Downer (also called Amazing X):

This first clip is an excerpt of the original tune at normal playback speed.

This second clip is the same excerpt reduced to 50% of the original playback speed.

This third clip is the same excerpt reduced to 20% of the original playback speed. (Listen for those bow changes!)

You can also save these reduced speed music files to store on your computer, iPod, iPhone or other media player as practice pieces. I can even plug my Yamaha SV130 Silent Violin into my computer and play along with my slowed recordings! Sweet.

Amazing Slow Downer's user interface is uncluttered and very easy to understand. It features:

• A drop-down arrow box for accessing your files from either a file player or CD player.
• An easy scroll through box for locating your specific music file on the selected device.
• Controls for setting the Start and End points of a loop so that you can isolate one particular section of a tune. Great for learning difficult passages!
• A slider to adjust the playback speed.
• A slider to adjust the playback volume.
• An equalizer for tweaking the sound of the playback. This can help to isolate one instrument if you are listening to a multiple instrument playback (ie, banjo and fiddle together).
• Five different slow-down profiles that use various algorithms (utilizing more or less processing power resulting in better or worse sound quality) as well as bypass mode to hear the tune in its original form.
• Check boxes for enabling/disabling the Equalizer (EQ), karaoke mode (KA) which depending upon how the recording was made may reduce or remove vocals, and stereo (ST) playback mode.
• A mix feature that allows you to listen to either the left or right channel (or anywhere in between) if the recording of the instrument is more prominently heard on one channel over the other.
• A cue slider to get you to where you want to be in the tune.
• Finally, the standard Play, Pause and Stop buttons we expect to find on any audio player.

Amazing Slow Downer's more advanced capabilities include:

• The ability (via a slider tool) to alter the key of the tune by changing the pitch in semi-tones. You can do this while playing back at either full speed or any incrementally reduced speed.
• Fine tuning the playback of the tune to suit your fiddle, rather than vice versa by adjusting the pitch in cents (using the arrow buttons to the right of the Pitch slider). (Cents are 100ths of a semi-tone.) A fine tuner for your computer. lol.

Amazing Slow Downer is available for both Mac and Windows along with a recent release of a version made for iPhone and iPod Touch so there are plenty of ways to get your hands on this "amazing" software. It retails for about $50 and I've got to say that it's worth every penny.

When I hear my significant other, Joe, tell me how he used to learn from cassette taped recordings of festival jams that he attended I realize just how lucky we are to have this type of software at our disposal. Slowing down a cassette was well, shall we say, less than rewarding.