Welcome! Glad you could stop by the Itsthemusic website. Take some time, listen to our music and feel free to comment and sign the guestbook

You can purchase our CD's online just listen to various tracks. If you like what you hear, or even if you don't, we would love to hear from you!

Enjoy your visit and many thanks! -- Bill, Robert, Joe & David.


Changin' My MindCheck out tracks from our new CD:
"Changin' My Mind"

CD is available for purchse online here

Album also available for download on iTunes

 

Review: "...This album is a treat and has something for everyone. The covers are masterfully done and bring something new to already-recognizable tunes. And the original works get the toe tapping and speak directly from the heart of the songwriter. This is a good album to have anywhere -- in the car with the top down, at the beach with a beer or sitting on the back porch, grilling steaks. -- Ben McNeely (North Carolina Journalist)"

 

Back Home Again**10th Anniversary of our first CD**
"Back Home Again"

Free mp3 downloads
20% off Online Purchases through Judgement Day!

Album also available on iTunes


All is Calm All is Bright Windy and Warm Windy and WarmItsthemusic has produced three instrumental performance CDs by Bruce Emery and his duo partner David McKnight for sale here on this website.
"All is Calm All is Bright", "Windy and Warm", & "Night and Day"
These contain Bruce's fingerstyle guitar arrangements with David’s masterful embellishments on violin, viola, and mandolin.

More information is available from SkepticalGuitarist Publications


OffBeat Music, Durham, NC
If you're in Durham, NC stop by OffBeat Music in Brightleaf Square where ItstheMusic CDs are now available for retail sale at $12.99.

"Changin' My Mind" by Cleaver Smith Swenson & McKnight. "Night and Day" by Bruce Emery with David McKnight. "Windy and Warm" by Bruce Emery with David McKnight.

You can purchase these CD's and more!

ITM Features:


Breaking News!

CSSM started new recording session for next CD Project.

Made great progress on several nerw tunes for the upcoming CD project tentatively called "Tell Me" named after Bill and Robert's original and soon to be Jazz Standard - "Tell Me."

Click the link to download the sample mix of the title song as it stands from the previous 2008 session. mp3

Oct 23, 2011:
New CSSM Recording session!

  • "Mecklenburg Waltz" - by David McKnight --mp3- 06/11/2011
  • "Blue Ridge Morning" -- mp3 - 07/02/2011
  • "When You get Back to Town" - by David McKnight -- mp3 - 06/06/11
  • "Nearness of You" - Hoagie Charmichael -- mp3- 06/06/11
  • "The Fast One" - J.D. Souther-- mp3- 010/23/11



 

ItstheMusic NEWS!

May 6, 2012

Swenson a' Livremour violin nearly finished !

Aftger 6 months of work, my first violin is almost finished. I got to play it for a week and realized I had not brough it to its full potential. Was missing lots of lower frequencies - sounding kind if thin. I assumed that was due to the fact in my plate tuning I only paid attention to the tomnes and not the overall plat thickness and total mass of the top plate.

I decided to take off the top plate again and finish scraping the plate down to its "proper" thickness of about 2.5 mm. Doing that reduces the mass of the top plate from 74 gm down to 66 gm right in the middle of the recommended 61 to 71 gm range. I also cvleaned up the inside of the violin from extra glue from gluing the back. One of the traits of good vilin making is a well built instrument with attention to detail, even in areas you can't see once the violin is assembled. So I also scraped the corner blocks to even up their inside face.

I also did not measure the fianl thickness of the violin plate now that it is scraped fairly well. One of the templates I found recommended the thickness to start at 2.6 mm and gradually increase to 2.9 mm on the edge. I ended up with about 2.4 to 2.6 mm overall. A couple spots were even thinner 1.5 mm in the depression near the top of the C-bout on each side.

The next step is to seal the wood with a "ground" coat of Vernice Bianca - inside and out.
The recipe:

A recipe for “Vernice Bianca” from Sacconi

The following is taken directly from American Lutherie #10 in 1987 when interviewing Jack Batts.
It is also in The Big Red Book vol 1 from Guild of American Luthiers.

25g of gum arabic,
1/2 teaspoon of honey,
1/4 teaspoon of rock candy, 
about 100cc of water, 
albumen from one egg white. 

- Crush the rock candy.
- Warm the water but do not boil.
- Slowly add the gum arabic, stirring constantly until dissolved.
- Add honey and rock candy.
- Strain the mixture through a fine cloth (handkerchief or sheeting) and let cool.

While the mixture is cooling,

- whip an egg white into a meringue and turn the bowl on edge.
- Allow the mixture to settle out and remove the liquid that separates.
(This is the albumin) - Add the albumin to the cooled mixture and stir well.
Use this Vernice Bianca immediately and discard the rest.
Sacconi advocated that after potassium silicate had been put on very sparingly,
you should cover it completely with the vernice bianca before varnishing.

October 23, 2011

New Mixies going up... for June 2011 "Tell Me" CD Recording Session!

Cleaver Smith Swenson and McKnight (CSSM) are once again getting material together for a new CD project. Tentatively called "Tell Me" after Robert Smith and Bill Cleaver's latest collaborative efforts. A spritely list of songs have been recorded: Robert Smith's and Bill Cleaver's "Tell Me" (title song), "The Fast One" (J.D. Souther), "The Nearness of You" (Hoagy Charmichael), "Sometimes" (Jonathan Edwards), "When You Get Back to Town" (David Mcknigh), "Mecklenburg Waltz" (David McKinght), LIvely Cello Tune (Jill Soha), Blue Ridge Morning (David McKnight & Bill Cleaver), "Tennessee Trot" (David McKnight), and "Miner's Holiday" (David McKnight) are on the current list of tunes for this upcoming CD. Check out the current mixes on the "Works in Progress" page.

 

February 8, 2011

New Web Galleries: "My Stradivarius per se" Joe's Antique German Violin


Java Divine Gig Videos

Java Divine Video

 

New Mixes: October 23 2011

Bill Cleaver / CSSM Vocal:

The Fast One : 10/23/11

David McKinght - Dakota Dash...

DakotaDash-03.mp3 : 11/27/10

David McKinght - Miner's Holiday.

Miners Holiday 4F-10.mp3 : 08/25/10
Miners Holiday 4F-11.mp3
: 08/26/10

Miners Holiday 4F-12.mp3
: 08/30/10


Photo from 9th Street Bakery circa 1987?

CSSM at 9th Street Bakery 1987

 

 

 

 

ITM - Photo Gallery Updates

Pop's 80th Birthday and Reunion - Sept 11-16, 2009

download photo set: Pop's80th.zip

High Resolution sets by date:

09-11-2009 - Pop's80th_HiRes-091109
09-12-2009 - Pop's80th_HiRes-091209
09-13-2009 - Pop's80th_HiRes-091309
09-16-2009 - Pop's80th_HiRes-091609

09-25-2010 - Updated - Ian and Stephanie's Wedding Photo Gallery

08-07-2010 - Dillon Beach Weekend

Tomales Point Hike

June 26 2010, Pasadena, CA - Ian and Stephanie's Wedding

...Ian and Stephanie's Wedding

 

Family Photos...

Chris' Photo Download

Linda's Photo Download

Nickie's Photos

 

ITM - Videos