Author: Ingo

Amps, Effects, Guitars, Mark Knopfler gear, Misc, Recording

Sultans of Swing – The alternate single version and the demo version – sound and gear

Dire Straits’ first hit was Sultans of Swing, recorded in Basing Street studios, February 1978. But did you know that there was a different studio recording before (demo version, Pathway Studios, July 1977), and also a later recording (Pathway Studios, April 1978) that was recorded to be released as a single in some countries? The demo version This version was recorded on July 2, 1977, together with four other song […]

Mark Knopfler gear, Misc, Misc

Old Geocities Dire Straits Guitar Page down – Please update links and bookmarks

On October 26 Geocities finally closed. Geocities was one of the first hosts for free websites. They were taken over a few years later by Yahoo who now finally decided to drop Geocities forever. When I built my very first website in 1996, it was Geocities who hosted my original “Dire Straits Guitar Page” at http://www.geocities.com/Nashville/3399/. Although hardly updated within the next years, it was nevertheless one of the first […]

Guitar in general

The Tai Chi of guitar playing

Recently my son started to practice Tai Chi – an internal Chinese martial art that is often practiced for health reasons. Tai Chi is originally a sophisticated martial art in which you learn to control and relax your mind and your body and to win over the hard with softness this way. It is not really about fighting these days but rather about practicing ultimate principles that enable you to […]

Recording

Recording acoustic guitar with two microphones – Audio Technica AT 4050 and Schoeps CM 64

I recently recorded an acoustic guitar for a cover version of Brothers in Arms. I used two different microphones – a large diaphragm condensor  Audio Technica AT 4050 near the bridge and a small diaphragm condenser Schoeps CM 64 over the neck. I had seen pictures showing Mark using a similar approach from a radio promo recording he did a few years back. I recorded both mics to separate channels […]

Effects, Guitar in general, Guitars, Mark Knopfler gear

The Synclavier – The guitar sound of Dire Straits So far away

I recently saw a few threads in numerous forums about the guitar sound of So far away on Dire Straits’ fifth album, Brothers in Arms. People speculated that there was a flanger, a delay, a chorus, or other effects involved to create the rather unusual sound of the lead guitar. And unusual it is in fact. This is because it is not really a guitar what you hear – instead […]

Dire Straits/ Mark Knopfler live pictures and videos, Mark Knopfler gear, Misc

Dire Straits 1979 concert photos from Liverpool and Birmingham by Alan Perry

Those early years of Dire Straits are still a very special period for me. 1979 was the time when I first heard the band and became a fan of Knopfler’s guitar style and sound. For this reason I still have a deep interest in any live pictures from this time but more and more I got the impression that I meanwhile have seen most existing pictures from those early years. […]

MK guitar style and licks

Sultans of Swing solo

Last weekend we had guests and one of them had this new photo camera – a Panasonic Lumix FX 37 which costs less than 200,- €. Besides taking great photos you can also record videos in HD quality (1280 x 720 pixels). As I was curious what these look like with my stuff I played Sultans for them and we filmed it. The result is really amazing – much better […]

Easy stuff for beginners, MK guitar style and licks, Understanding music

Chord changes for ending of Romeo And Juliet

Romeo and Juliet is a song I have been playing on my National for many years, but I never tried to play the wonderful ending of recent live versions where the piano leads through a rather unusual chord sequence. Yesterday I played around with the piano a bit and had a look at this. After the last verse Romeo and Juliet features a two-chord sequence over which Knopfler plays solo: […]

Guitars, Mark Knopfler gear, Misc, Recording, Vintage guitars

Installing a Highlander iP-1X – The best pick-up for the National resonator guitar

I have my National for some years now but never found the time, money, and courage to install a pick-up into this sensitive instrument. But a few weeks ago I decided to order what is said to be the best available pick-up for single cone Nationals: the iP-1X pick-up from Highlander – the same model that Mark Knopfler has in both his beautiful 1937 National and his new National. I […]