Pat Kirtley

Pat Kirtley

Pat Kirtley (* 1952 in Kentucky ) is an American fingerstyle guitarist, composer and guitar teacher.

Life

Pat Kirtley grew up in a musical family in Kentucky. He learned guitar as a child under the influence of country and bluegrass music, which was widely heard in his mother's family. In addition, there were influences from classical music, which had a high priority in his father's family. In 1966 Kirtley recorded his first unpublished original composition using loop techniques. At first, Kirtley did not work as a musician, but as a sound engineer in recording studios for 12 years. During this time he began to record his own guitar pieces, which were not published.

In 1992 he first took part in the guitar competition at the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield , Kansas . In 1994 he won the National Thumbpicking Contest in Mountain View , Arkansas . In the same year his first, much acclaimed CD Kentucky Guitar was released . In 1995 he won the title of "National Fingerstyle Guitar Champion" at the guitar competition of the Walnut Valley Festival, which is coveted among American guitarists .

In the following years Kirtley released two more albums, Irish Guitar from 1997 and Rural Life from 1998. Both CDs contain mostly his own compositions for solo guitar. In addition to solo pieces, Kirtley increasingly recorded pieces in collaboration with other musicians, for example on the CD Just Listen, which was released in 2000 . This tendency continued on Brazilian Guitar from 2002, it is more jazz , Latin and pop- oriented and recorded with a larger cast. Here Pat Kirtley plays a guitar with nylon strings instead of the steel string guitar that is otherwise typical for him. As a fellow musician, he has appeared on the CDs of other artists as an accompanying guitarist since 1999.

Today Kirtley travels a lot, gives concerts, organizes guitar workshops and seminars , produces videos and is constantly busy with recordings for various projects. He is the co-author of a book on home recording . He also writes articles for various guitar magazines about his guitar playing as well as recording technology and other guitar topics, for example in the English-language magazines Onstage , Electronic Musician , Home Recording , Wood & Steel and in the German magazine Akustik Guitar . Since 1996 he has represented the American guitar company Taylor in its workshops and demonstrations in guitar shops. He is a recognized and experienced teacher and, in addition to composing and playing techniques, also deals with overarching topics such as the artistic attitude, the development of good practice habits and techniques as well as the fear of performances and related topics.

Pat Kirtley lives in Bardstown, Kentucky.

Style of play and musical influences

Kirtley's musical influences are very diverse. He names Chet Atkins , Jerry Reed , Les Paul , Doc Watson , Antonín Dvořák , Johann Sebastian Bach , Edgar Varèse , Antônio Carlos Jobim , Dmitri Shostakowitsch , Igor Stravinsky , John Cage , Harry Partch , Wendy Carlos , Jimi Hendrix , Bernard Herrmann , Dave Brubeck , Frank Zappa , David Crosby , Wes Montgomery and Keith Jarrett .

Initially strongly influenced by country music and bluegrass, he turned to Irish-Celtic inspired music in the late 80s and began to explore the DADGAD mood , among other open moods , by arranging music for Irish fiddle and airs for guitar. In addition, he made excursions into Brazilian music. His overall repertoire defies any simple categorization. His compositions interweave influences from folk and pop, Celtic music and country, which he transfers to the guitar with wit and thought. His performances leave a deep impression due to his humorous nature and his clear, expressive playing style.

Since he comes from Kentucky, he is heavily influenced by the " fingerpicker " or "thumbpicker" tradition of guitar playing in the style of Chet Atkins, Merle Travis and Doc Watson. The “thumbpicker” tradition uses a technique in which the thumb usually plays a regular and rhythmically driving alternating bass, while the other fingers play the melody, which is often performed syncopated and thus creates a swinging tension to the regular alternating bass. In addition, he often uses up and down strokes over all or individual strings in the style of a banjo player with a light hand, alternating with the thumb stop ( Frailing ). Kirtley always plays these techniques with plastic reinforced fingernails and a thumb pick.

He uses his alternating bass technique in a clever way so that the alternating bass repeatedly picks up on a few notes of the theme. The use of combinations of tones from open and fingered strings gives the characteristic melody runs a typical sound. He often uses the runs as an intro at the beginning and at the end of his pieces as well as in mediating passages. His pieces are usually short and very clearly structured. They often span three choruses ; the theme is varied in the second and third chorus and the main melody is recorded again at the end. Pat Kirtley places great emphasis on right hand technique, melody expression and overall artistic expression.

Guitars and technical equipment

using and

Pat Kirtley uses the following guitars on his CDs and in concerts:

• Martin J-40
• Martin MC-28
• Taylor 710CE
• Taylor 514-C
• Kirk Sand Electroacoustics
• Godin Multiac MIDI Guitar

His preferred strings are D'Addario Flat Top Phosphor Bronze J-17 , from .012 to .054 inches .

He uses a magnetic DiMarzio soundhole pickup for his Taylor and in the other guitars, including Fishman pickups. During his performances, he mixes the sound of the pickups with that of a good condenser microphone . As effects, he uses an Alesis Nanoverb reverb device and a Baggs ParaAcoustic digital interface with a 5-channel parametric equalizer .

In addition to the pickups, Kirtley uses two or three microphones and various effects in the studio. In addition to the Godin Multiac MIDI guitar, his equipment includes a Roland GR-9 synthesizer , a Lexicon Jamman as well as Lexicon Vortex, Alesis and Lexicon reverb devices, which he mixes on a Mackie mixer. Further processing is done using audio editor software, various digital recording devices and analog tape devices.

Discography

Under the use of

• 1994 Kentucky Guitar (Mainstring Music)
• 1997 Irish Guitar (Mainstring Music)
• 1998 Rural Life (Mainstring Music)
• 2000 Just Listen (Mainstring Music)
• 2002 Brazilian Guitar (Mainstring Music)

Collaborations, guest appearances

• 1999 Before My Time , Todd Hallawell (soundset)
• 2001 Wanted! Jesse James Alias: Steve Rector , Steve Rector (Hound Sound Music)
• 2004 Exotic America , Andy Robinson (Brontosaurus Records)
• 2005 Contrast , with Pauly Zarb (Pauly Zarb and Pat Kirtley)

Compilations

• 1996 Guitar Fingerstyle: A Narada Collection (Narada)
• 1997 Dance of the Celts: A Narada Collection (Narada)
• 1997 Masters of Acoustic Guitar (Narada)
• 1998 Celtic Fingerstyle Guitar V. 1: The Blarney Pilgrim (Rounder Records ROUN3157)
• 1998 Celtic Fingerstyle Guitar V. 2: Ramble to Cashel (Rounder Records ROUN3156)
• 1998 Acoustic Guitar Highlights, Vol. 2 (Solid Air)
• 2001 Guitar Fingerstyle 2: A Narada Collection (Narada)

Video, DVD

• 1998 The Blarney Pilgrim (vestapol 13063dvd)
• 1998 Ramble to Cashel (vestapol 13029dvd)
• 2004 Nine Pound Hammer: Guitar Styles of Western Kentucky (vestapol 13081dvd)
• 2004 Introduction to Thumbstyle Guitar (Mel Bay Productions GW301DVD)
• 2005 Introduction To Alternate Tunings (Mel Bay Productions GW302DVD)
• 2005 Introduction To Celtic Fingerstyle Guitar (Mel Bay Productions GW303DVD)

Notes, books

• 1999 Acoustic Guitar Artist Songbook, Vol. 1 . String Letter Publishing, ISBN 978-1-890490-03-4
• 2000 Kentucky Guitar . Mel Bay Productions 97331D, ISBN 0-7866-4992-5
• 2000 Master Anthology of Fingerstyle Guitar Solos Vol.1 . Mel Bay Productions 98370BCD, ISBN 978-0-7866-5290-7
• 2003 Irish Guitar: Celtic Guitar Solos . Mel Bay Productions 97332, ISBN 978-0-7866-7051-2
• 2006 Home Recording Studio Basics . Mike Levine, David Darlington, Pat Kirtley, Rusty Cutchin (Cherry Lane Music). ISBN 978-1-57560-563-0

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Pat Kirtley , an interview with James Jensen for Acoustic Music Resource (1999, en.) Retrieved November 17, 2007.
2. ↑ Good old-fashioned tape looping , Kirtley talks about his first steps. Retrieved November 17, 2007.
3. ↑ ^{a b c d} Pat Kirtley's presentation in the Looper Forum (en.) . Retrieved November 17, 2007.
4. ↑ Pat Kirtley on his participation in the Walnut Valley Festival (en.) ( Memento of the original from January 1, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved November 17, 2007. 
5. ↑ Website of the folk music camp Swannanoa Gathering in Asheville, North Carolina (en.) ( Memento of the original from May 4, 2003 in the web archive archive.today ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved November 17, 2007. 
6. ^ Workshop Pat Kirtley - Celtic Fingerstyle by Andreas Schulz. Retrieved November 17, 2007.
7. ↑ The Blarney Pilgrim Vestapol, 1998 Liner Notes, DVD booklet (PDF 4.8 MB). Retrieved November 17, 2007.
8. ↑ Pat Kirtley's biography at the Winfield Festival (en.) ( Memento of the original from January 8, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved November 17, 2007. 
9. ↑ ^{a b} Pat Kirtley's equipment (en.) ( Memento of the original from June 18, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved November 17, 2007. 
10. ^ Review of the album Rural Life (en.) . Retrieved November 17, 2007.
11. ↑ Pat Kirtley product list at Funkymusic (en.)  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved November 16, 2007.  

Web links

• Pat Kirtley on MySpace