Sea Glass
An original piece in D Ionion mode for dulcimer, electric gourd dulcimer, and harmonica.
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dulcimer | flute
Original sketch for dulcimer and flute. The acoustic dulcimer is tuned DGD with a capo at fret 1. The electric dulcimer is DGD with no capo and is being played through and Electro-Harmonix HOG as a bass. The tune is pretty much in Em / E Aeolian.
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dulcimer | gourdtar | harmonica
An original piece in D Ionion mode for dulcimer, electric gourd dulcimer, and harmonica.
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gourdtar | banjo
An original piece for banjo and electric gourd.
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gourdtar | harmonica
An improvisation for electric gourd and harmonica.
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dulcimer | harmonica | bass
I recorded this improvisation as a bit of musical therapy after a particularly bad day in September 2011, but Twang Darkly finished it up in late 2012.
A Twang Darkly performance:
Michael: GCD dulcimer, C-harp, HOG bass
Troy: percussion -
gourdtar | bass | drums
Going to Gourdtown. I'm playing my gourdtar on this one, a DIY lap steel dulcimer thing.
A Twang Darkly performance:
Michael: gourdtar
Joel: bass
Troy: drums -
dulcimer | guitar | bass | drums
A Celtic-flavored Appalachian rock thing for your enjoyment.
See also the 2011 live version and my 2010 solo demo.
A Twang Darkly performance:
Michael: DGC dulcimer
Joel: guitar, bass
Troy: drums -
flute | bass | drums
Doing the bamboo flute thing live in the studio.
Check out the live version recorded in April 2011..
A Twang Darkly performance:
Michael: flute
Joel: bass
Troy: drums -
banjo | guitar | drums
Joel's cool slide guitar makes this one work. I recorded the banjo (tuned CGCD) late one night after a couple of Twang Darkly shows.
A Twang Darkly performance:
Michael: banjo
Joel: guitar, bass
Troy: drums -
banjo | gourdtar | flute | bass | cajon
This is the footstompin' title track to our 2012 album. That banjo is tuned CGCD for those you who like to know that kind of thing.
A Twang Darkly performance:
Michael: banjo, gourdtar, flute, cajon
Joel: bass -
dulcimer | bass | drums
We had a blast performing this song and others at a community "barn-warming" party in Texas in October, 2012. We love parties!
Check out the original solo version of Blue Rover.
A Twang Darkly performance:
Michael: dulcimer (DAC)
Joel: bass
Troy: drums -
dulcimer | bass | drums
The bridge of this song calls to mind coming upon a vista of Bright Angel Canyon, part of the Grand Canyon, after a hike up on the North Rim.
An earlier recording that uses some of the melodic ideas here, sans the majestic bridge, is "Another Home."
A Twang Darkly recording:
Michael: DAA dulcimer
Joel: bass
Troy: drums -
harmonica | banjo | bass | drums
This recording is built around a banjo sketch that I later rediscovered in some archived files. I decided it had some potential for the band, so we overdubbed some additional parts.
I assembled the video from some May 2012 footage I captured at the Barataria Preserve south of New Orleans.
A Twang Darkly recording:
Michael: banjo, harmonica
Joel: bass
Troy: drums. -
dulcimer | flute | cajon | other
Dorothy Kristin Hanna's 2012 avant-garde short film, which I scored with an original dulcimer and flute soundtrack. My first foray into collaborative filmmaking, I also edited the movie and created the visual effects as well.
More film information at fb.com/beingthemovie.
The dulcimers are tuned DGD capo 1; some of the melodic ideas are recycled from an earlier recording, Regular 8. Each track was recorded live as I watched a copy of the movie playing. The dulcimer parts make extensive use of EHX Superego pedal.
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dulcimer | guitar | harmonica | bass | cajon
Kyle Canyon Road leads from Las Vegas up to the Mt. Charleston wilderness area. It's quite scenic -- a world away from the Strip -- and will lead you to some fabulous hiking.
This one evolved out of a solo demo, Crossing Thistledown.
A Twang Darkly recording:
Michael: DAA dulcimer, harmonica
Joel: bass, guitar
Troy: percussion -
guitar | harmonica | banjo | bass | drums
A jazz blues thing celebrating Joel's spazzy dog.
See also the solo demo of this song.
A Twang Darkly recording:
Michael: guitar, harmonica
Joel: guitar, bass
Troy: drums -
dulcimer | bass | drums
Captured at the Shreveport Farmers' Market, this is one of our first live performances of this tune. To me, the tune evokes the feeling of negotiating my way to various viewpoints along the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, with the middle bridge section capturing a bit of the sense of majesty experienced upon coming to one of the many vistas.
There is also a studio recording of this pieces.
A Twang Darkly performance:
Michael: DAA dulcimer
Joel: bass
Troy: drums -
dulcimer | guitar | drums
A live version of one of the songs from The Sound of Secret Names, as performed at the Sherveport Farmers' Market.
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guitar | flute | banjo | cajon
I recorded these layered improvisations over a repeating guitar riff in Dorian mode (well, more or less).
Michael: banjo, guitars, recorder
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guitar
My original demo of a jazzy blues thing I do with Twang Darkly.
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dulcimer | other
Joel and I recorded this meditative improv while discussing the nature of modal music in connection with the compositions of Hildegard of Bingen and a possible upcoming recording project. This particular piece is in F# phrygian.
The imagery was captured earlier in the day out in my backyard.
A Twang Darkly recording:
Michael: DAA capo 2 dulcimer
Joel: accordion -
guitar | bass | drumsOne of several pieces I wrote in Las Vegas during the summer of 2011, this foot-stomper is a favorite of ours to play live.
A Twang Darkly recording:
Michael: guitar
Joel: bass
Troy:drums
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guitar | flute | bass | drums
My folks got me this flute back in 1990 or so -- it's still my favorite out of all the flutes I own.
See also: solo demo of Her Secret Name
A Twang Darkly recording:
Michael: flute, guitars
Joel: bass
Troy: drums -
dulcimer | guitar | flute | bass | cajon
I started this one intending to do A Sliver of Pandora, but we went sideways and ended up with Odell Borg double flute instead.
The title is taken from a Cherokee legend about the Nikwasi Mound in Franklin, NC.
A Twang Darkly recording:
Michael: flute, mountain dulcimer
Joel: bass, electric guitar
Troy: cajon, shaker -
dulcimer | bass | drums
A jam for DGC tuned dulcimer, this one seems to vary dramatically from rendition to rendition.
See also: the original 2008 solo recording and my favorite live version
A Twang Darkly recording:
Michael: DGC mountain dulcimer
Joel: bass
Troy: drums -
dulcimer | guitar | bass | drums
A simple but moving improvisational piece that works really well live. It's actually evolved a bit since this original recording.
A Twang Darkly recording:
Michael: DGD mountain dulcimer
Joel: guitar, bass
Troy: drums -
dulcimer | guitar | banjo | bass | drums
This is based around ideas I've been noodling with on dulcimer since the early 1990s. The title is a reference to a character in The Fisher King whose name is correctly spelled P-a-r-r-y.
Check out my quite different solo recording of this one also.
A Twang Darkly recording:
Michael: GDD mountain dulcimer, banjo
Joel: guitar, bass
Troy: drums -
guitar | drums
This piece captures the duality of the American Southwest -- it's both dangerous and beautiful.
You might also be interested in the original solo version.
A Twang Darkly recording:
Michael: guitar
Joel: guitar
Troy: drums -
guitar | harmonica | bass | drums
I like to do this one live.
A Twang Darkly recording:
Michael: guitar, harmonica
Joel: bass
Troy: drums -
guitar | banjo | bass | drums
This waltz conjures imagery of the great wheeling flocks I'd see over eastern North Carolina when I was young. If you never seen such a flock, it's quite a thing to behold, and it has an emergent life of its own that's greater than the individual birds.
A Twang Darkly recording:
Michael: guitar, harmonica, banjo
Joel: bass
Troy: drums -
harmonica | bass | drums
I love my harmonic-minor tuned Lee Oskar harmonicas, so we cooked up this song so I'd have an excuse to play one. It seems to go over well at shows.
A Twang Darkly recording:
Michael: harmonica
Joel: bass, guitar
Troy: drums -
guitar | bass | drums
Here we are monkeying around with the famous English carol during a break in one of sessions for The Sound of Secret Names album.
A Twang Darkly recording:
Michael: open-Gm guitar
Joel: bass
Troy: drums -
guitar | bass | drums
Like Hogstone, this is one of the "Vegas pieces" I wrote in a hotel in summer of 2011. Lately, I've been playing it on the banjo, but here it is in its electric guitar grit.
A Twang Darkly recording:
Michael: open-G guitar
Joel: bass
Troy: drums -
dulcimer | bass | drums
My ethereal piece for DAD tuned dulcimer performed live at the Shreveport Farmers' Market.
See also my solo version of Vacancy.
A Twang Darkly performance:
Michael: DAD dulcimer
Joel: bass
Troy: drums -
guitar | bass | drums
We captured this at a party way, way out in the country. I'd recently upgraded my oil can guitar with a new pickup and a rebuilt backside, so this was its first outing.
Check out the band's studio recording of Hogstone, which was recorded a few months after this live take.
A Twang Darkly performance:
Michael: open-G guitar
Joel: bass
Troy: drums -
harmonica | banjo | bass | drums
Back in 2001, a friend gave me beat-up Silvertone banjo he grabbed at a yard sale for around $5. This was one of the first pieces I wrote on it, originally recording it with my brother Andy on the Dirt Roads of Nations album.
A Twang Darkly performance:
Michael: banjo, harmonica
Joel: bass
Troy: drums -
dulcimer | guitar | drums
This piece is named after Morrow Mountain in North Carolina's little know Uwharrie Mountains. This performance was captured at a fundraising event for a Shreveport art museum.
Check out my solo demo for this piece, as well as the band's 2012 studio recording.
A Twang Darkly performance:
Michael: DGC dulcimer
Joel: guitar
Troy: drums -
guitar
Performed at the Meadows Museum Gala in October 2011. If you like this one, check out the studio recording.
A Twang Darkly performance:
Michael: oil can guitar
Joel: guitar
Troy: drums -
guitar | harmonica | bass | drums
Performed at the Meadows Museum Gala in October 2011. If you like this one, check out the studio recording.
A Twang Darkly performance:
Michael: guitar, harmonica
Joel: bass
Troy: drums -
guitar | other
A guitar and oud improvisation recorded with Andy at his house in Cambridge.
The source footage for the film is the Library of Congress: Thomas Edison produced night footage from 1901 Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York.
An Andy and Michael Futreal recording:
Michael: guitar
Andy: oud
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guitar | flute | bass | cajon
My original demo of a piece I would later record with Twang Darkly.
And, yes, I'm a Jethro Tull fan.
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dulcimer | bass | drums
I really like this live Broken Moon as performed at the 2011 Highland Experience.
See also: the original 2008 solo recording
A Twang Darkly recording:
Michael: DGC mountain dulcimer
Joel: bass
Troy: drums -
dulcimer | bass | drums
A Twang Darkly performance:
Michael: DGC mountain dulcimer
Joel: bass
Troy: drums -
flute | bass | drums
This one comes out quite different each time — doing our jazz thing!
See also the 2012 studio version.
A Twang Darkly performance:
Michael: flute
Joel: bass
Troy: drums -
gourdtar | bass | drums
Folks are always intrigued by this homemade gourd lap steel guitar that I built.
My original solo version of this song was on the Devil's Stomping Ground album.
A Twang Darkly performance:
Michael: gourdtar
Joel: bass
Troy: drums -
dulcimer
See also my original solo recording of Flags.
A Twang Darkly performance:
Michael: DAD dulcimer
Joel: bass
Troy: drums -
banjo | bass
A highly improvisational bit for the DGCD tuned banjo (my banjo only has four strings).
A Twang Darkly performance:
Michael: banjo
Joel: bass
Troy: drums -
dulcimer | bass | drums
As the name implies, the piece is in Lydian G.
A Twang Darkly performance:
Michael: GDD dulcimer
Joel: bass
Troy: drums -
dulcimer | bass | drums
The images in this movie all come from 1960s 8mm films shot in the North Carolina mountains by my father.
See also my solo version of Vacancy, or watch my band play it live.
A Twang Darkly recording:
Michael: DAD dulcimer
Joel: bass
Troy: drums
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dulcimer | harmonica | banjo | cajon
The 4-string banjo here is tuned DGBD; that's a c-harp on the weird parts.
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dulcimer | bass | drums
A "field recording" of our rethink of the traditional piece "Greensleeves."
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dulcimer | bass | drums
A "field recording" of my rockabilly dulcimer bit. This one originates from a solo improvisation, and has since evolved into something of an epic live piece.
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dulcimer | bass | drums
A "field recording" of the band doing our answer to "You Are My Sunshine. See my solo demo of this piece as well.
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dulcimer | cajon
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dulcimer | cajon
A weird experiment for DGD capo 1 dulcimer. The melodic ideas in this piece would later inform my soundtrack for the short film BEing.
The bass part is played on the dulcimer as run through an EHX HOG pedal.
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dulcimer
The dulcimer tuning DAC, though typically used effectively for straightforward Aeolian pieces like "Shady Grove," actually has a lot wider potential. I had the barest notion of where I was going with this piece when I recorded this highly improvisational version; it has since evolved into a really fun live piece I do with the band.
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dulcimer | bass | cajon
Ah, dulcimer capo, how I love thee. Here, I'm using a capo 1 on a DAD tuning. Don't believe anyone who tells you that you shouldn't really ever need a capo because they are "cheating" or some nonsense. Capos allow you to access modes that would otherwise be practically impossible to finger and still have the drones that make it all come together.
This tune is not "You Are My Sunshine," hence the title
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dulcimer | cajonThe melody here dates back to some of my earliest dulcimer inventions, though I've reharmonized the whole business here. I like this recording, but it never really "goes anywhere." I later rearranged it for Twang Darkly, adding a majestic bridge section that gives the piece more life.
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guitar
Over the past several years, I've spent a fair amount of my summers in Las Vegas and the surrounding high country in Nevada and Utah. The red landscape is unlike anything I encountered growing up and I find both endlessly inspirational and ominous. I tried to capture a bit of that desert duality with this recording.
I've recorded this one with the band, and we play it live a lot.
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dulcimer | guitar | cajon | other
This one started with the charango riff and grew from there. The electric mountain dulcimer solo at the end is among my favorites of all the things I've ever played.
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dulcimer | guitar | cajon
I do this one live with my band quite a bit, letting Joel take over the guitar duties — he has a very different take on it. In 2012, Twang recorded a studio verison.
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dulcimer | guitar | harmonica | cajon
An original piece for GDD dulcimer that has since been resurrected with Twang Darkly as Kyle Canyon Road.
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dulcimer | guitar | cajon
An invention for FDC tuned mountain dulcimer (a drop from my more usual GDC tuning) with a bit of electric guitar thrown in for good measure.
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dulcimer | guitar
An original for GCC tuned mountain dulcimer.
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dulcimer | guitar | cajon
Dulcimer is tuned GDD on this one, but the howling guitar recontextualizes the Ionian melody into an Aeolian excursion.
This song is named for the mysterious Brown Mountain Lights of North Carolina.
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guitar | gourdtar | other
A favorite among all my recordings, this one has a great rock vibe. Maybe one of these days I'll upgrade this recording by having Troy record a live drum track in place of the drum machine business I used here.
The gourdtar is an instrument I built.
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dulcimer | guitar | harmonica | cajon
Guitars are both in standard tuning for this one. The dulcimer is tuned EBA, a minor third up from the GDC tuning I often use.
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dulcimer | harmonica
I've been playing variations on this GDC dulcimer tune for a long time, sometimes under different titles like "Driving to New York." It might have been "Driving to Philadelphia" at one point as well...
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guitar | harmonica | banjo | cajon
Tasty spaghetti western music on my oil can guitar (tuned to open Gm)! Who is this mysterious Twang Darkly and what's he doing in town?
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dulcimer | guitar | cajonAn extremely alternate (and goofy) dulcimer take for Elisha Expedition, shown here mostly for fun. It gets better towards the middle and end, I think, but it's a bit too weird for keeps.
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dulcimer | guitar
This original guitar piece with GDD dulcimer overlay is named for Elisha Mitchell, a 19th century explorer and scientist from North Carolina. He established Mt. Mitchell as the tallest point east of the Mississippi, but met an ill-end for his trouble.
For kicks, see the ill-advised alternate version with crazy electric dulcimer.
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dulcimer | bass | cajon | other
The dulcimer here is tuned EBB capo 1, though I mostly usually play this on DGD capo 1 these days. It's one of my favorite pieces to this day and is usually a big hit with audiences.
The "Devil's Stomping Ground" is the stuff of legends in North Carolina.
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dulcimer | flute | other
This EBB dulcimer part at the basis of this song dates back to nearly the beginning of my history with the instrument.
The orchestral strings were played with MIDI-guitar; the horn sounds were arranged via some detailed tweaking of the output of some generative music software.
Twang Darkly routinely plays a very different arrangement of this piece.
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dulcimer
An improvisation for GCC capo 1 dulcimer, recorded the same evening as Wire Mountin in Spring.
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guitar | other
This one features my long-scale chromatic strumstick.
The flute/synth parts were primarily played on MIDI-guitar with some post-production tweaking, something I was experimenting with extensively at the time.
Some of the photos in the video come from a visit to the Cinque Terre, Italy.
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dulcimer
I recorded this DAD dulcimer piece in an ugly hotel room during the Dulcimers Are Go sessions, but I saved it for the Devil's Stomping Ground record for some forgotten reason.
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dulcimer | guitar
The mountain dulcimer is tuned GDC for this one, a versatile and favorite tuning of mine.
I was rereading Edgar Rice Burroughs' Martian tales at the time, hence the unusual title. Tar Tarkas is a four-armed Thark.
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dulcimer | flute | other
A jam for DGC tuned dulcimer. The strange loopy drum-machine track is something that came randomly out of some generative music software Noatikl. I was practicing along with different beats and this one struck a chord (so to speak).
There's also some of my long-scale chromatic strumstick in there as well, along with a little soprano recorder that I seem to have lost. These days, I do this song with my band.
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dulcimer
For DGC dulcimer, this piece actually arose while I was messing around with a possible arrangement and recording for Greensleeves in Blue.
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dulcimer | guitar | other
Stitched together from a leftover parts of a few different guitar pieces I've played for a long time, "Chimera" is a good name for this one.
The dulcimer is tuned GDD.
The orchestral parts were primarily played on MIDI-guitar with some post-production tweaking.
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dulcimer | guitar | gourdtar
This is a piece for GDC tuned dulcimer that alternates between C Lydian and D Dorian modes.
For fun, there is a bit of gourdtar in the Dorian sections.
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dulcimer | guitar
A fun guitar piece that I still play sometimes with Twang Darkly. The dulcimer in this recording is tuned GDD.
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dulcimer | guitar
Built from an original guitar recording that Andy sent me.
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dulcimer
You can also watch a nice Twang Darkly version set to mountain imagery or see my band play it live.
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gourdtar | other
I built the gourdtar from a giant gourd I found at the North Carolina Farmers' Market in Raleight back in the early 90s.
My band sometimes does Get My Gourd live.
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dulcimer
An improvisation born of my desire to do interesting things with the DAC mountain dulcimer tuning.
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dulcimer
An audience favorite, I've been doing this dulcimer piece for a long time. Though the dulcimer is tuned DAD, this is an Ionian D, not Mixolydian piece.
See also a live Twang Darkly version of Flags.
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dulcimer | harmonica
A bit of Mixolydian fun for DAD dulcimer!
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dulcimer
An improvisation for GCC capo 1 dulcimer, recorded the same evening as In the Shadow of Wire Mountain
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dulcimer
An improvisation for GCC capo 1 dulcimer, recorded the same evening as In the Shadow of Wire Mountain and Wire Mountain in Spring
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guitar | gourdtar
Andy recorded the guitar part in Cambridge, UK; I added the gourd down in Shreveport, LA.
An Andy and Michael Futreal recording.
Michael: gourdtar
Andy: guitar -
dulcimer | guitar
An improvisation for dulcimer and guitar recorded in Shreveport. The title happened because of the extreme amount of Edgar Rice Burroughs I was reading at the time.
An Andy and Michael Futreal recording.
Michael: GDC dulcimer
Andy: guitar -
dulcimer | guitar
An improvisation for dulcimer and guitar recorded in Shreveport.
An Andy and Michael Futreal recording.
Michael: GDC dulcimer
Andy: guitar -
guitar | banjo | bass | other
I wrote and recorded the banjo part here the day after 9/11/2001. I created the video on the 10th anniversary of 9/11.
An Andy and Michael Futreal recording.
Michael: banjo, guitar, MIDI guitar
Andy: bass