The Listening Room

Music by Edward Hamlin
Check here for free MP3 downloads of favorite tunes I've recorded. Recently added downloads are identified with a star .   For some songs I've recorded informal video performance as well - look for the and click the word Video.

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All downloadable material here is © 1981-2008, Edward Martin Hamlin, except where noted.  


free MP3 download Chinook  February 2008  (3.5 mb)  
A Celtic-flavored composition inspired by the fierce winds that roll down the Rockies.  The tune is played on a mahogany Lowden guitar from Northern Ireland.

free MP3 download Distant Friends  May 2008  (1.5 mb)  
A little song of friendship for Anita Camarella and Davide Facchini in far-off Milano.

free MP3 download Wind on the Lough  October 2006  (5.5 mb)
A piece inspired by the changeable weather of Belfast Lough. (Re-recorded May 2008)

free MP3 download The Great Migration  February 2008  (5 mb)  
This tune was written to chronicle our move from Chicago to Boulder, Colorado - not in a covered wagon, but a Great Migration for us just the same. The song is played on a lovely Paul Woolson Double-Top LG ("Little Guy") guitar that Paul has sent around on a road trip of its own so that a variety of fingerstyle players can take it for a spin. It's a delightful instrument.

free MP3 download The Forgotten Question  February 2008  (3.5 mb)  
Just a pensive little tune written for my wife.  It's played on the Woolson LG.

free MP3 download Now is the Place  August 2007  (9 mb)  
A piece written for two friends who met and married long after most do.

free MP3 download Meltémi  March 2007  (7.5 mb)    Video
A song named for the strong Aegean wind that Philip of Macedon used to advantage when sailing against southern fleets. The meltémi often dies down at night, leaving a peaceful summer evening by the sea.

free MP3 download Reckless  December 2006  (2.5 mb)
An up-tempo excursion, light on its feet.
Of interest to guitarists, this tune uses a partial capo over an altered tuning.

free MP3 download Rooted  February 2007  (5.4 mb)    Video
The title cut on my forthcoming CD.

Ravenswood Aire  December 2006  (7 mb)
A three-part tune with a mildly Celtic aroma and a fast section that is a whole lot of fun to play. It's recorded on my rosewood/cedar Goodall.

Eliot's Debut  September 2006  (1.5 mb)    Video
A wee lullaby composed on a new guitar from the George Lowden shop.

Safflower  August 2002/August 2006  (3.7 mb)    new mix as of 8/19/06
A wistful song written at Lake Louise in 1982 and re-recorded there exactly 20 years later.  Somewhat unusually for me, this one features multiple guitars.

Stranger's Lament Suite  May 2006  (11.8 mb)    
A seven-part suite meant to capture the experience of traveling alone in a strange country. Three years in the making and a journey in its own right.

One More Surrender  February 2006  (4 mb)      Video
An up-tempo, solo fingerstyle piece written in late 2005 and recorded on a chilly Sunday in February 2006. Check out the video by clicking the link above.

Lilina (for Lilina Mauro)  October 2006 (4.0 mb)   new recording 10/29/06
This tune was written out of affection for my wife's grandmother Lilina Mauro, a free spirit who's visited many times from her home in Rio de Janeiro.

Laying the Roses  August 2006  (5.9 mb)
Written as a memorial for my father, Skip Hamlin, in a loosely Celtic style.

Doing Eighty on the Open Road (with Marcel Tiemensma)  June 2006  (4.7 mb)  
A tune I wrote for my ever-youthful mother in honor of her 80th birthday. Featured on nylon-string guitar is a talented musical friend from the Netherlands, Marcel Tiemensma.

New World (duet with Bill Vencil)  Spring 2006  (4 mb)
A duet with Bill Vencil, who's also the composer of the tune.
Bill's Lowden is the first guitar you hear; I accompany him and take a solo on my Goodall.

Paz no campo (Country Peace)  Summer 2003  (1 mb)  remixed Dec. 2005
A tranquil little moment far away from city life.
So why the Portuguese title?  Because I was playing a Brazilian guitar!

Sangamore  January 2006  (4.8 mb)
A solo guitar outing, the first extended fingerstyle piece I wrote.

Horizon Line  December 2005  (4.8 mb)    Video
An upbeat tune that came to me while sitting in the sun on a crisp early winter's day.

Crossing Crystal Lake  August 2005  (3 mb)
My take on a lovely tune by Howard Emerson.
Howard's original is ©1998 Emertunes ASCAP.

Golias  April 2005  (1.5 mb)
A little tone poem for our late, great German shepherd.

Spring Thing  May 2004  (4.1 mb)
A spontaneous creation on a warm spring afternoon, just for fun.

Manhã na Selva (Morning in the Forest)  March 2003; remixed Feb. 2006  (3.6 mb)
A little ode to mornings with my lovely wife.
Click here for an English version of the lyrics.

Aurora (excerpt)  Feb. 2002  (1.2 mb)
Written at Lake Louise in 2002, the day after we witnessed some stunning aurora activity along US 131.

Blackberry Blossom (Trad., arr. Hamlin)  Sept. 2002; remixed Feb. 2007  (3.8 mb)
Always dug this old standard. I play it more slowly than a real bluegrass picker would, and to tell the truth I like it both ways.


photo by Suzanne Plunkett
See more photos from the same session with Suz

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For the musicians among you...

My primary steel-string guitars are a Lowden F10C in mahogany/cedar (pictured above), a James Goodall jumbo in koa and Sitka spruce, and a Goodall standard in rosewood and cedar. Rob Bustos at Paragon Guitars in Vancouver is working on a custom guitar for me now, a mini-jumbo in Madagascar rosewood and Carpathian spruce with a sound port and an arm bevel.

Nylon-string guitar parts were done with the Brazilian Di Giorgio that Paula used as a girl in São Paulo and with two younger Di Giorgios we picked up cheap in Petropolis, Brazil, on a rainy day in 2001. The electric tracks were done with my Ibanez S470 played through a DigiTech Genesis 3 (the funky stuff) and an Ibanez Artcore hollowbody (the mellow stuff). Since both Paula and I play, these are but a few of an embarrassing number of guitars in our life.

As for gear, the core of my studio consists of a Yamaha i88x Firewire interface module, Neumann, ADK, Oktava and Nakamichi condensor mikes, an ADesigns MP2 preamp, ganged RNC compressors, and some other gizmos here and there. I mix and master on the computer, Adobe Audition being my main squeeze there.  Here are some views of the studio and mixing area:

The bullpen - note Auralex treatment
The rack, within easy reach
Rear sound baffle
The mixing desk
Detail on the homemade baffles - ugly but effective!
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