I played a wedding on Saturday, always a lot of fun and a good warmup for the hands. I got home late and just as I was ready to go to sleep I picked up the guitar for one last tune and ran through "Moani Ke `Ala" inspired by the Gabby Band.

Had so much fun with it I decided to set up the camcorder and a mic to shoot a video, and here it is.

Written by Prince William Pitt Leleiohoku, the song is one of romantic longing, but for some reason it's just a lot of fun to play in a raggy uptempo style.

The video was shot on a Flip Mino HD, audio recorded using an Audio-Technica AT3035 about 24" from the bridge. The audio has reverb added in Adobe Audition 3.0. The video and audio were synced using Avidemux. The guitar is a Kathy Wingert Model E.

Please visit my slack key website at http://www.kaleponi.com

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"`Imi Au Ia `Oe" (I Search For You) is attributed to Charles E. King and also to Queen Lili`uokalani. The song speaks of the yearning for a lost love: "I search for you, my love, in the fragrant groves of Puna."

I love slack key waltzes, the Sonny Chillingworth vocal version of this song caught my ear and inspired me to create an instrumental arrangement. You can hear Sonny's wonderful performance on the "Endlessly" CD from Dancing Cat records.

I recorded this video with a Flip Mino HD, and captured the audio with a Zoom H2 handheld recorder. I edited the audio in Adobe Audition 3, and synced the audio and video in Avidemux.

Please visit http://www.kaleponi.com for more video and audio clips and other slack key related stuff.

If you're interested in the technical side of video and audio recording, please visit http://www.homebrewedmusic.com for articles on recording solo acoustic guitar at home.

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Hawaiian music has a long tradition of medleys, mine is a bit more obvious than most, but I couldn't resist the opportunity to combine two distinctive melodies that refer to the same city in Hawai`i.

The first song is "He Aloha No `O Honolulu" written by Lot Kauwe. This song is a farewell to Honolulu and a tour of the winds and rains encountered on a journey that eventually ends in Kona.

The second tune is an old one called "Honolulu, I'm Coming Back Again." I understand that it was commissioned by the Hawaiian tourism board of 1922. This song has English lyrics telling of the cherished features of Honolulu.

This video was recorded at the first Wingert House concert, held on March 28, 2009. Noted southern California luthier Kathy Wingert has begun a house concert series and invited me to be her first performer.

I captured this video on my Flip Mino HD using camera sound. I edited the result in Avidemux and adjusted the audio in Adobe Audition.

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This video is dedicated to Lance McCollum. Lance was a talented luthier, builder of handmade guitars. He built the Grand Auditorium guitar used in this video. Lance passed away on February 1, 2009, at the age of 50, leaving three children and his wife.

"E Nihi Ka Hele" was written by King David Kalakaua for his queen on the occasion of her journey to England for Queen Victoria's Jubilee celebration. The song lyrics include a mention of Kaleponi, or California, as part of the wish for a safe journey.

Lance lived and worked in Colfax, CA, a town born to build the transcontinental railroad. Queen Kapiolani certainly passed through Colfax on her journey.

This video was recorded using a Flip Mino HD camera, with audio recorded separately on a Zoom H2 field recorder. The audio was edited in Adobe Audition and synched to the video using AVIDemux.

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"Ki Ho`alu" is both the name of the style and a common name for instrumental pieces, here is a version I learned from Uncle Ray Kane and Led Kaapana, played in Double Slack.

Just for fun, I tuned down three half steps from G to E, and dropped the middle string another half step for a double slack or Wahine tuning.

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I wrote my first slack key instrumental on a trip to the little town of Waialua, on the north shore of O`ahu, so naturally it's called "Waialua Slack Key." The musical ideas that make up the song were all learned from Ozzie Kotani and his great "Guitar Playing Hawaiian Style" book.

I usually record the audio separately and sync the sound and video in Windows Movie Maker, but this time I'm just using the camera mic on the webcam.

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A slack key instrumental version of an old Hawaiian song. I learned my way of playing this song from Kevin and Ikaika Brown of Maui.

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"Salomila" is an old Tahitian song often done as a slack key instrumental. I wrote an instructional column for Acoustic Guitar Magazine teaching this piece, published in the Feb 09 issue. The sound in this video was captured with a Zoom H2 recorder just outside the frame, then edited in Audtion 3 and synced with the video in Premier Elements. The guitar is in open G tuning, called taropatch tuning by slack key players.

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One of my favorite tunes, I based my version on one by Leonard Kwan. This performance was at Don Quixote's in Felton, CA, where I was opening for Ledward Kaapana on Sept. 10, 2007.

Sorry for the sound quality, this was recorded using the camera mic rather than a board feed.

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A fun old Hawaiian song done in the slack key style learned from Mr. Ledward Kaapana. Led is one of the greatest guitarists in any style, and it's always a pleasure to hear him. This is my tribute to him.

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One of my favorite slack key pieces, done in the style of Uncle Raymond Kane. This is my usual opening number, in honor of one my favorite players.

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An original slack key piece, a waltz, written for my beloved. The title means "sweet gentle breeze."

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