"Highland Mist": A Guitar-Born Journey Through the Highlands

"Highland Mist" by Martin Lloyd Howard: Where Guitar Meets Landscape.

Martin Lloyd Howard is an English guitarist and composer from Reigate. Belonging from the classical realm, where he eventually extended his influences to encompass the rich textures of the folk, blues, and rock genres. Howard mostly performs on a fifty-year-old handmade classical guitar, but is equally adept with electric, acoustic, and slide guitar. He brings out the original instrumental material, exploiting guitar textures to evoke complex imagery and stories that utilize nothing but the guitar.

"Highland Mist" is an atmospheric instrumental piece that evokes the mystery and awesomeness of the landscape of Scotland's highlands.

Lloyd Howard has picked a Tanglewood steel-string guitar with DADGAD tuning, which perfectly renders the song "Highland Mist" with such a pure and clear Celtic atmosphere. The playing of the open strings results in a very nice drone under the gentle melody, and that makes the guitar actually sound as if it is full, warm, and emotional. In a very natural way, the slow 3/4 rhythm flows along, while keeping the performance expressive and human via rubato instead of mechanized. Howard also has elegant control over different dynamic levels, shifting from light, delicate notes to richer and more powerful passages.

The sound of the guitar, the strings, string movements, and small details can even be heard clearly; because of this, it feels as if the listener is sitting beside the artist. With the help of a great guitar player, one could imagine that Howard is a magician who managed to capture the very essence of peace and the atmosphere in music through a few delicate chords and strums. That is precisely what this beautiful composition, "Highland Mist, " does.

Anyone who enjoys acoustic guitar, Celtic music, and cinematic instrumentals should listen to this piece. It is a perfect example of musical talent turned into an emotional experience.

We got a chance to interview Martin for this song, and we found a lot of unspoken tales!

Let's get started:

1. Whose idea was it to compose "Highland Mist" in the first place?

   
   

   It was my idea, but it’s worth stressing that it came out of some experimentation with chords and arpeggios on a DADGAD-tuned guitar. To my ear, what emerged conjured up images of the Scottish Highlands, so that became the theme and the title.

   
   

2. How did you decide to go with a DADGAD tuning for the song, and why?

   
   

   It was something of an accident. I was working in DADGAD on a completely different (and ongoing) project when the opening melody emerged. I decided to stick with it and take advantage of the lovely resonances you get with that tuning to add a bit of a folky Celtic vibe.

   
   

3. What impact does the gentle 3/4 time have on the song?

   
   

   Strictly speaking, the piece is scored in 4/4 time, but it does have a lilting flavour which can read across to 3/4 tonalities. That lilting character was deliberate and designed to reflect the atmosphere I tried to instil into the composition.

   
   

4. What feelings in "Highland Mist" can make listeners get into those feelings?

   
   

   For me, the structure and note selection conjure up images of rugged mountain landscapes wreathed in mist. Listeners may also get that sense, but they may experience something entirely different from the sound of the piece. That’s fine with me. The main thing is that they enjoy it.

   
   

5. We are very fond of the simple recording at Howard's home; what does that tell you about the music?

   
   

   I generally use a simple single mic setup when I am recording solo guitar pieces at home. I have, over the years, tried out different mic placements, but I find that the one I use most - 9-12 inches from where the neck meets the body of the guitar - works best.

   
   

6. Martin Lloyd Howard has a unique approach to the Highland landscape. What is his secret to achieving such an effect?

   
   

   I don’t think there’s any great secret. It’s a question of developing a picture or image in your mind in parallel with the musical composition.

   
   

7. What is that ingredient that makes "Highland Mist" so great in the instrumental world?

   
   

   I’m glad you think it’s great! I guess one key ingredient is simplicity. It’s not a difficult piece to play, but the expression and use of space and silence to allow the various resonances to play out are absolutely essential to the character of “Highland Mist”.

   
   

8. What makes “Highland Mist” unique?

   
   

   Well, I’m not sure it’s unique! It is an original piece of music, of course, but you can trace influences like Martin Simpson, Davy Graham, and other great acoustic guitarists in some of the phrasing and tonalities.