The InstrumentsThe roll that never stops
A three-finger banjo pattern running continuously underneath everything, so the instrument functions as motion rather than as melody.
The Mic
The mix is made by walking
With one microphone there is no engineer balancing anything: a player steps forward to solo and back to blend, and the whole arrangement is choreography around a stand.
Read the piece →
Three worth reading next
SelectedThe Instruments
The HarmonyStacking above the melody
The lead sings the tune and the tenor sits above it, which is the opposite of most popular harmony and produces the characteristic strain.
The CircleThe car park jam
The parallel event to any festival: circles of players in the campground, open to anyone who can hold the form.
One job each, and where it stands
PartWhat it is doingAt the mic
01BanjoA continuous three-finger roll: motion rather than melodyFurthest back
02MandolinA damped chord on two and four, standing in for a snareMiddle distance
03FiddleFills the ends of sung lines, then takes the whole breakSteps in, steps out
04GuitarBass runs and rhythm — the part everyone else is listening toClose to centre
05ResonatorA steel bar across a spun metal cone, played flatIn for breaks
06No drumsThe absence that defines the sound, and what fills the role—
Nobody is mixing this. The band is standing in an arrangement, and the arrangement is the mix.
Also in this issue
Every piece →
Songs everybody knowsA shared body of material large enough to fill a night and standard enough that strangers need agree only on a key.
The key questionThe only negotiation before a tune starts.
Circle etiquetteTaking a break in turn, and the unwritten rules that keep it working.
Who calls the tuneRotating the choice, and what that does to the repertoire.
Capturing a band that movesRecording an arrangement built around one microphone, and what happens when you give everyone their own.
Close mics changed itIsolation made the mix editable and quietly removed the reason to move.
Six sections
Browse →The Mic
One condenser microphone, five players, and a balance made by walking.
The Instruments
Banjo, mandolin, fiddle, guitar and bass, and an unusually strict division of labour.
The Harmony
Lead, tenor, baritone, bass — stacked in an order that runs against most popular harmony.
The Repertoire
A shared body of material wide enough to fill a night and standard enough that strangers need agree only on a key.
The Circle
The jam is an institution in its own right, running in the car park in parallel with whatever is on the stage.
The Record
How an arrangement built around one microphone was captured, and what changed when every player got their own.