David Russell - Interview

hi I'm Miguel and I'm here with David Russell Grammy winner internationally known classical guitarist and I'm here to do an interview with him nice to meet you nice to meet you I want to talk to you about tone production okay in 2005 on la ville de galicia there's a quote from you saying seemed rakeesha Tokido come Andres Segovia which is I always wanted to play like a minute ago p.m. and you developed your own tone which are very famous for and the two sentences you hear most in guitar departments of music schools throughout the u.s. is David Russell has the most amazing tone and the second one is I wish I had the tone like David Russell what advice do you have for students who to produce to learn how to find their own tone well I'll go by parts okay we talked about the Segovia thing first yes it might be a quote which is a little bit in isolation because I grew up listening to recordings of Segovia and that was really what attracted me to the guitar as an instrument and the music that he played and also the charisma that he had in his music so it's not that I want to play in exactly the same way as he did musically of course we all end up finding our own voice musically but it was really his playing that inspired me at the beginning so that's really the reason why that Holt is there okay then coming down to what you're asking about like the tone production itself that one find your own dullness I would say often the tone itself is less important than the balance we produce so when you play a card how loud is each note in that card or if you have a melody with some accompanying notes the person is able to distinguish the melody from the accompaniment notes in a good way will probably sound like they have a better tone unless they have simply an awful bad tone but they obviously have a pure enough don't that is the impression you have but it's not only with tone it's all the other things that go together with it the balance I think balance is vital to be able to bring out the musical intention that the composer wants or you want with a phrase so I would say we should all find our own balance in terms of which note is louder than the other across the guitar also on the guitar we have to cross our strings and so sometimes from the third string to the first string it's only one fifth the way I mean it's that's that's not even twenty centimeters on the piano and yet we've gone across two strings and each string with its own tone so our work to be able to balance that string crossing so that you don't notice the listener that is partly tone production to news etc and I would say balancing your guitar is also an ability which you must listen to him here so that the first string is doesn't sound shrill in comparison to the third string and make it if not if not the most beautiful sound but at least the most attractive if the melody goes up and it finishes on this really important note and I happens to be on the first string is going to be just as beautiful as on any other string nowadays I think both the strings and the that are built with our making have improved so much in comparison to Segovia's day so we don't need always to move up the strength if you look at Segovia's fingering very often he'll go to the room and go away out the second string instead of doing it in the third position or something because his first string didn't have the same tone quality now we don't have to do that too much yeah you just reminded me of baguettes number five source study number two the Segovia number five I think it's number seven the D major one the D major he does go up for the a on the second so yes that's very typical yeah I mean people still do that I sometimes sometimes do it to be able to get the seven kind of vibrato things which is strangely enough you know Segovia was famous for for his very good tone I think he was very good at bringing out the most important magical note of a phrase there's not not the note every note is a good tone he can make that special note have the extra magic with his good vibrato he had a fabulous finger Otto and of course it's good tone production which makes the important note in the phrase really glows thank you for that Dominic Attar's mm-hmm that's another part that it's very it's an integral part of your playing and you've been playing Dominic Harrison's I'm guessing like the early 90s yeah late 90s late accent yes yes mine well started playing the Diamonds a little before I did actually that's that's that's leading to my next question usually my next question is that my note about Rocco he was the first international classical concert artist to perform on a domina guitar did that that he influenced you in any way to actually start playing them or was that was was that just coincidental that you both sort of coincidental you know I played for many years on the guitar made by John Gilbert John was passed away now John was from San Francisco and his guitars were very bright and so you had to spend a lot of time darkening them and and mellowing the sound you know it's a little bit it was a I want to say a struggle it was an exciting kind of guitar to play but sometimes maybe Shrew on the difficult end from the players point of view and I was looking for a good cedar guitar I had played on Ramirez before and so a friend called Alex done an American guitarist he showed me his dam which is earlier than manuals and that was the first one I saw that I thought wow this guy is making something special so I got in touch with him and at that same time one well had started playing diamond so it's of course then I shall have one well could do with hazel okay but I had already made the step and the first time and I have which I kept was shall we say more mellow I have big volume and everything so in some ways it was like like going for the tone from the opposite angle that the jungle was this really bright guitar which I had to mellow tone down or be careful with the diamond was naturally much much warmer so it was almost when I wanted it to be bright I had to work at it to push the guitar in the opposite direction but the diamond is much more comfortable right you know just naturally the guitar will help you with your tone and help with this big volume fix it then you don't have to push it yeah it's a bit like you say that the John Gilbert or some other guitars like that it's like driving a Ferrari if you're not careful we'll jump all over the place that one's more like a Mercedes and it gives you a comfortable ride most of the time how has it affected your performance and like your artistry well it must have affected me because you know when you play an instrument you you adapt your interpretation for the good parts of that the instrument has the good qualities although I think most of the time becomes a point where the guitarist can't change so much you know so it's almost like this is how I play if we don't get tell in there if it doesn't sound good I'm not gonna make it sound good put another one in this one sounds good this is one for me you know it's because I think maybe when you're 22 or 25 perhaps you can really adjust much more to the instrument as you get older you want to find the instrument that brings out new qualities instead I've had many demands I've had many from him we've exchanged and each one has a different character and so when when you play an Inuvik hour whether it's by Matias diamond or by someone else of course you discover new new things in the music that you play that maybe on the other guitar weren't coming out you can bring them up on the new guitar it's just fun I love it I usually get a new guitar not necessarily by my peers but almost every year I like to do that's a lot of fun Wow can you let us know some of the other guitars that you player that well and I got one recently from from Dennis totes it was a young German maker we met my wife and I met Dennis more to do with running marathons because he's from Berlin and we were running the Berlin Marathon so we made friends that way and his guitar making just got better and better and better and the last couple years is really up there and so I bought one film and I loved it I also have one by Michael O'Leary who's a guitar maker from Dublin from Ireland plays exactly the other place and I met I met him I think maybe through birthday perhaps I have his pectorals very nice and I have some more at home I kept on I kept have 3 John Gilbert / I love them because I liked him so much but I probably won't play a concert with them anymore and then there's some other guitarists home but those are probably the apart from my diamonds Dan is the guitar and Michael ladies cut other two that I think are best well your John Gilbert guitar and use that and in my opinion and a lot of like dr. amos and dr. brad Deroche I'm humiliated rush but we have this concept that is like the most monumental record because because you accomplished something that nobody else has done of recording so many works by that I got and also like everything like came together perfectly the guitar the John Gilbert guitar is amazing your you know your elegant lyrical playing the tone and and and and and the production of the album yeah I like I'm very happy with that at that time I couldn't find any more tarragon you know that since then a whole lot of phase species that are not on the CC v being discovered if you like and and in fact someone said recently that they have a score of yet another new piece that didn't exist before so there must be some more in some people's attics Thanks but at that time that was everything I could find and I wasn't playing on the on the Gilbert at that time but I used an old Gilbert guitar from 1980 or so which I still have because it's a certain kind of sensibility that the spruce top can do that often the see the tops not so good at doing you know see the tops will make that big juicy time but sometimes not such a refined sound which is fine for a concert because like yourself never played amplified because it's a big hole but for the targa you you I felt that I wanted something that had an intimacy in the melody in the tone that I was getting much better from the Gilbert guitar do you have any plans to make another thought it has to be in the future with the night it might put in a few more but you know that that CD was a big work to do you know it's a lot of lot of work to do to learn makes about two hours of music and I was I did it while I was still playing concepts and you know in between and that was it was hard work but John John Taylor was the engineer John's still a good friend and he's wonderful since then I've moved to other companies and so I think other people can do talk about you know already question about that that's our yeah I just I have other questions but I just sort of thinking other wants to ask you I have the four volume sets it's by Betterman of all the complete works but I thought oh yeah I have a hunch you work from that for the album didn't you well I got a whole lot from a man called Michael McMicken who see he used to be the producer I think the owner of chanterelle public company he since I know he sold it but he gave me access to a whole lot of first publications which is where bourbon got theirs I see so I I didn't go with someone else's arrangement or someone else I got access to at least what we could get first publications and some things written by hand you the manuscripts to see it you know of course I have everything else you know and see what other people did but yeah it's always best to get to the earliest source possible excellent I started switching questions around here going back to we're still thought about that I did I love that album and I want to talk more about your artistry on those sort of money fest buy that again you play an intro that I haven't been able to find anywhere a little pond show pond balls buddy ante opus 34 number one a flat major what is the secret to that what is it it's a version I found I didn't find it somebody I think maybe Michael gave me that and it's a bit like some of the pieces by barriers and other composers where they rewrote the piece again and again you know sometimes with an intro or something without or a different intro you know and historically I think there are still some things to be discovered about Auriga and of course other composers in his time people were not so careful to with what they did with the scores and with a with the compositions for example the famous Grand Hotel which I played last night the intro is by Jose Venus a piece called recuerdos de palma so it's not completely by but by Venus but tarragon used Venus and then put some things in themselves then 1/2 of 1/2 but a few of the variations and the theme itself is by Julian artists and then most of variations by Taric so what would you put three names in the publication I don't know or could you say well actually tarragon we wrote from this variation onwards the other ones are coulis anarchist I don't think it was trying to steal the piece it's just he used other people's music to incorporate them into his piece of music so does that mean that for the piece say la pregunta and I did Latino by the 11-member rice there's also an intro veils and other people often don't have but that comes from a recording by a deal Amanda where he played some chords before the melody starts you know yeah you know it's the beginning of the melody but I mean it starts bang on that right Melissa the way he did it on an old recording he plays a few of those cards so I just took off the recording that's I just copied it so so that means that you spend a lot of time trying to get like historically accurate as well as because yeah I mean I all the score with like handwritten scores that you can yes to be honest I'm not a musicologist you know so it sounds like you are yes well maybe I'm trying to make it sound like a man music oh no no I just feel that if you if you play a piece of music the more time you investigate where it came from where where was the composer when they wrote it or what sort of influences were around in their lives at that time I think you you can get a little closer to the piece but I don't want to say that my version is like the last word on what you should do with a piece of music because I don't but I don't approach the music as a musicologist I approach them piece of music because I love this plus the melody or of it and then from there if you're gonna make a recording like a CD or something the more you know about it the better you know it'll help so you know Barrios is a problem because there's still intros and different versions still being discovered and every year somebody has a new version of the world's number seven so you know okay I know because he made so many versions and in his recording said the wrong to two pieces the same yeah because he he can do it once cuz he wrote it when we play it we should make our own choice for example when you play the famous Paraguayan dance Marius there are many versions so each of us should choose the version that we think is the best if you like just like Barrios dead you know it's Wednesday today today's Thursday tell Rudy routine place where as a semitone the other time it pleaseth on you it doesn't I mean it doesn't completely change the atmosphere of the piece or anything it's just he's allowed to improvise we're supposed to do what he did but in the end the piece becomes yours especially if you if you have more versions to look at next question for the past year or so you've taken your music on the road on an iPad yeah the little foot pedal fantastic yeah that's like two years for two years a lot okay well you know when you travel a lot yeah you have to carry a whole lot of scores because the pieces that maybe want to learn next year I'm not sure all the pieces that that now whether I have them in my memory or not still I carry all those scores making photocopies all the time because you can't carry on who let this big for three pages yes you know so all of that done I don't have to do that anymore I just scan all the pieces that I think I might want to look at and for example when I'm at home I haven't got lots of other things I want to do so I don't want it from doing transcribing I don't want to do that at home I want to do it when I'm bored in an airport or something not with the iPad there's lots and lots of scores with me it's fantastic really house how has that affected your performance on stage because you don't have to be flipping or like have fun yeah I think I think it's much more elegant than cutting scores if you're if you're going to play with the score the the is the large iPad you know whatever kind of tablet you like but really I think it is the best the other tablets the programs are are not as good as the program the one that's called for score it's a fantastic program for for a soloist may be for a group may be other ones but the pedal is the page-turner you don't even have to prod your iPad because you just walk out and kick the pedal and it just wakes up if you set it up properly and then I just make a playlist so you just go through and I just you know when the first piece finishes address next piece is there you know so it makes life much more fun you know and a lot of the time that we put into practice it's purely for memory as a young player I think everybody has to really push your memory to the limits because memory is vital in many ways you know to to conceive a large piece of music you can't really do it on the page because there are all these interruptions you know a big piece I'd say the shock on my back in your mind you can if you have it well memorized you can see the shape of the piece better but there comes a time in your life perhaps that memorizing is more difficult or no one said because I'm old but it is different it was a lot less effort when I was 20 I just memorized pieces immediately now there's a lot of effort involved and if you can sight read well often there'll be many pieces that you actually are gonna play it really well within a week but you don't have it but in the memory so now I can put pieces into the program I can have a much wider program choice because I use that of course transfer them and have my memory enemy you know but for modern pcs or you know contemporary works that the written now I prefer to use the score or in this case use the pad that makes sense speaking about memory and things like that you've been you've traveled the world for many years you and you're obviously healthy you've run marathons and you're very relaxed your playing is effortless like it looks effortless that's a lot of effort there you know I mean it just it just so relaxed there's like no tension in your body it's it's there's very few guitar players like that John Williams has is similar to you in that aspect bit better on metal as well it just sits there and it just looks like you're like in a meditative state and very very peaceful and you use the footstool there's an in this day and age you know people our focal dystonia focal dystonia tends to be a thing that's been affecting a lot of modern pleasure younger players younger players and focal dystonia they're using they have like pinched nerves and they're using you know they don't use the foot rest anymore they're using the cushion what do you do to stay physically healthy so that you don't have to do something that looks stupid like a foot no sorry yeah okay the cushion the cushion yeah the cushion the little glass thing that there's a very nice yeah that's a nice one but well there's a video where I make fun of all of that yeah because I made that I made fun it was a big concert a concert in honor of Ellie Kastner and so he'd heard me play a lot so instead of that I did the hell with the gags mixed into the music and I put a video on youtube or on Facebook I can't remember maybe a song since I need to I'll say it and where it's gonna I just cut up the bits where I'm making fun of different kinds of fruits tools and things yeah that's it's a fun thing but to be honest I think if I was going to start again I like the idea of not using a food stool because you are much more square yeah if you like and your whole body can be more balanced you know not so twisted but I grew up a few stool and the times I tried playing concerts with either cushion or well some of the attachments to the guitar and very comfortable at home but a moment time was the pressure of being on stage acting like the feeling of having a guitar between my legs it's a it's a it gives me a kind of strong feeling and for vibrato and things that I found with a with the operator so ever you want to call it I just didn't have the same energy to to like dig into the instrument but I think if I was going to start it's a very good idea but what about fitness aspect what it is because you know you've been throwing thin a long time sorry No for example the violin with all the flute you know those instruments the you know twisty that you're holding something with you know a whole lot of things happening or the flute where there's a lot of body twist to play and yet there are flutist who are incredibly relaxed it doesn't it doesn't mean that you can't go into a rather odd position and still be relaxed so I think the thing is to find the balance position not too much twisting whatever but and not go too far around I would say especially if you look at my shoulder for example that they're not just they're a bit pretty straight so I want to try to get our fairly balanced but you know that and you mentioned a vocalist or any other there are some people who have absolutely perfect body position focal dystonia and there are other people are completely twisted up and they don't so I don't think one thing goes to the other I feel that the focal dystonia is a is more some sort of connection I think because I have no I'm not gonna have it but you know I say is that a there's something that they the connection and them the the orders from the brain to the fingers something goes wrong and the order gets gonna short circuited or something you know because I don't think it's to do directly with a position if you have a twisted like a pinched nerve or something I don't think because you focal dystonia will give you a pain in the elbow or it'll give you something else will go wrong I don't think you could call that focal dystonia so pinched nerves are bad of course and all guitarists we often suffer in the bottom of her back and I think that comes from not sitting with your back straight as you think with you back popped out so I would say sit up so that your your back is basically straight and then you have your very strong but that strong in the sense that I don't want to be relaxed it's gonna sound like I'm floppy but I want to be relaxed like a judo guy you know it's so that you're in a position that from here I can do anything energetic that's what I look for I think that's what Charles Duncan calls in the art of classical guitar I think he calls it dynamic repose there's a boy sounds great so yeah what advice would you give to people preparing for a masterclass because yeah well it's be prepared be prepared because you don't know how much pressure you're going to feel you think oh it's not a concert just a masterclass but you've got the guy sitting about you know three feet from you staring at your fingers they say you're the student and this close to you it's a bit imposing sometimes and some people some people get kind of like almost overwhelmed by the by the the feeling of being scrutinized so much and the fact is when you go to master class for you know I think a solo lesson where you just play for the future nobody else is less intimidating I think master classes are difficult so I would say be prepared I really know your piece so that when they when a teacher asks you to do things to it you can deal with it you know it happens often you know I do lots of much the best in sometimes really good players they just gonna fall apart sometimes not you know and my work is usually to help them to help them sound okay you know to help have a good experience and not some sort of traumatic experience well thank you thank you for your time okay okay all right

Channel: Guitar Lessons from Spain

Views: 10,486

Rating: 4.985765 out of 5

Keywords: David Russell, Andrés Segovia, Las dos hermanitas, Francisco Tárrega, Se Ela Perguntar, Dilermando Reis, Matthias Dammann, John Gilbert, Michael O’Leary, D’Addario Strings, classical guitar

Id: HMpTJmcFepw

Length: 29min 0sec (1740 seconds)

Published: Tue Jul 09 2019