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"SCRUFFY EAGLE"
2004 MUSIC DIARY NOTES ARCHIVE
Copyright (C) 2004 thru 2009, by: scruffyeagle.com
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----- AUGUST, 2004 -----
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----- 08-02-04 -----
I made the decision today, to begin what I'll call the
"Music Diary". It will just be a place for making
mention of events that were significant, re. my music
endeavors. This is the first document for what will almost
certainly become a collection of documents, one document for
each month.
Today was musically significant, because I placed a personal
ad into the local paper, seeking musicians to practice with.
Thinking about it on the way home, I realized I could have
done it better if I'd included the website address as being
the source of info. re. me for those who might be interested
in contacting me. (I'd tried to include such info. into the
ad.) I guess I'll have to go back & request changes.
It's due for hitting the public 08-16-04. In the meantime, I
can set up a page at the website devoted to those potential
local musicians seeking practice partners.
Here's the content of the ad at the moment:
WANTED: Reliable musicians near LOL - Rock, Folk, Blues,
Country - for regular unpaid practice sessions. Re. me:
49yo singer / guitar player / composer / songwriter.
Does both covers & originals. Approx. 29 yrs.
experience.
Leave mssg. at
[phone number went here].
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----- 08-13-04 thru 08-15-04 -----
I attended the yearly Pow-Wow hosted by the Lac Vieux Desert
indian tribe. There were several "Drums", and a
large number of dancers in full ceremonial regalia.
NOTE: For those who aren't familiar with the Native American
ways, the term "Drum" is used as inclusive of both
the instrument and the group of people who all play that
instrument at the same time. In other words, the term
"Drum" refers to the entire troupe of drummers,
and their single (shared) instrument.
I had a good time. I felt welcome and relaxed. The LVD tribe
sponsored a buffet which all present were welcome to help
themselves to. Unfortunately, I had to hold back until the
line was almost gone, because of my back & hips, joints,
etc. problems. (Standing so long would have hurt.) The
result was that by the time I reached the tables, virtually
all the food was gone. It's okay, though,... I managed to
scavenge enough meat, beans, etc. from the various
containers on the tables to fill a plate. I even had a piece
of cake. (Thank you, LVD tribe!)
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----- 08-17-04 -----
I have a cousin living nearby, who's played keyboard most of
his life. He had an extra keyboard hanging around in his
stuff, along with an extra keyboard stand. He's lent me that
keyboard, so I can practice with it and use it in future
compositions. It's a Yamaha DX-21 Synthesizer.
I've begun reading the manual, and familiarizing myself with
its operations. The truly tough part, was figuring out a
place to put it where it would both be accessible and out of
the way - but, I think I've come up with a manageable
arrangement. Now, I just need to PRACTICE, PRACTICE,
PRACTICE!!!
I should also mention before closing that my ad seeking
people to practice music with hit the street in the local
paper, this Monday, 08-16-04. I failed to include my website
address in it, though,... So far, no responses at the phone
number I provided.
I've also posted a slip of paper about this, on the bulletin
board in the "Hodag Music" shop, in Rhinelander,
WI.
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----- SEPTEMBER, 2004 -----
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----- 09-11-04 -----
I returned the Yamaha keyboard to my cousin yesterday,
because I'd found that its presence overwhelmed my ability
to maneuver and conduct normal activities in my room. I had
to face facts - that, I was already at my limit re.
available floor space, before the keyboard arrived here -
and, that I couldn't live normally without that minimum
access to things I've got carefully tucked & stacked all
over the place in this room. So, I returned it and thanked
him for lending it to me. As a consequence of having it for
that short time, though, I did learn this: That, when I do
finally get a keyboard for practicing with, I just won't be
comfortable unless it has the "velocity sensitive"
keys. Lacking that feature, the output becomes strictly
staccato, and the keyboard ends up being fairly useless
because it doesn't meet the standards of my sense of
aesthetics re. note phrasing.
I placed another order with musiciansfriend.com today. I'd
been quibbling with myself all August, re. what I might
(should) order - and, decided to go with the
"nickel-and-dime" approach of ordering a slew of
small items instead of one large one. So, the amplified
acoustic bass guitar for $149.00 was out, and the $60.00
hardshell case for my new Dean S12 was out. (I'll need to
jury-rig some solution re. protection against shock &
thermal changes, inside the chipboard case it's currently
in.) Instead of those nice things, I bought these other nice
(but smaller) things: My order began with a guitar stand and
a digital tuner/metronome for a student of mine. I added on
a dozen Fender "Thin" guitar picks in "Green
Moto" color, a Dunlop trigger-curved Capo, and a pair
of AKG "K-44" headphones. (I decided to get those,
because I'd had the opportunity to try on a pair of AKG
headphones that my cousin had - and they were the
most comfortable headphones I'd ever worn in my life! The
price was right, so I bought a pair. It'll pay off, in the
long run.) Even including S&H, I managed to keep this
month's equipment purchase to under $70.00. I feel quite
pleased with myself, about that. Judiciousness and
self-control, instead of wild splurging,... Yes, that's
good.
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----- OCTOBER, 2004 -----
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----- 10-07-04 -----
A few things worth mention have occurred, since my (only)
entry during September:
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I managed to deliver the new Dean "Playmate"
child-sized acoustic guitar I'd purchased & done
prep-work for, to my cousin Kerri's kid, Zoe. Along with
the guitar, she received a gig-bag case w/ carrying
strap and a guitar stand. So, Zoe, at 7 yrs. old now has
her very own guitar - and, one that has very nice tone
quality, to boot. Time will tell, what the outcome is of
this gift.
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I found a way to get my Saxophone repaired. It turned
out, that I'd only need to make an inquiry - I was
already in contact with the person who could fix the
instrument; I just wasn't aware of it. I had 2 pads
replaced at the Hodag Music Shop in Rhinelander, WI. It
cost me about $10 total for the repair. Another $5
(approx.) bought me a pair of number two Saxophone
reeds. I'm taking my time, to break the reeds in slowly
for the sake of how they'll play a year from now. I've
actually played the Sax itself once since the repair -
and, was rather amazed that I actually was making some
decent sounds without straining.
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After living and working with the Dean 12-string guitar
for a month, I began to get my "touch" and
"ear"back for using that type of instrument -
and, discovered in the process, that I'd made a big
mistake by choosing the Dean. This became crystal-clear
to me, during the time I was dilly-dallying in the shop
while my Saxophone was being repaired. I took an Alvarez
12-string down off the wall, and began playing it to
make the time pass more easily. Lo and behold, I
realized that in terms of tone quality the Alvarez was
far, far better than the Dean. The Dean, by comparison,
was only capable of a rather mushy, indistinct sound.
The Alvarez was distinct, clear, and resonant. I won't
try to explain the difference in its entirety - that
wouldn't really be a productive endeavor, since tone
quality in guitars is frequently difficult to quantify
and attribute to specific details of structure. However,
at least part of the difference is definitely because
the Alvarez had a solid spruce top, whereas the Dean's
top was a composite. (Yes, I just mentioned the Dean in
the past tense,...) I went home and mulled it over for
two days, & played the Dean some more. I ended up
going back to the Hodag Music Center and using the Dean
guitar which I'd only had for about a month as a
trade-in to leverage my way to where the Alvarez was
within my economic reach. To finish off this entry re.
the Alvarez, I'll let you know that this fiasco of
decisions & choices resulted in me spending about
50% more than I otherwise would have, to end up with an
Alvarez 12-string in my possession. Ce' la vie.
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I've been continuing working with the Flute and the
Cornet each morning, and I've made some progress. I've
got two finished songs now, that include use of the
Flute. My Cornet playing isn't quite up to par yet, so
the world will have to wait for that,...(!) But, I do
see progress; not quite so hard on the ears, or
sensibilities.
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----- Tuesday, 10-12-04 -----
I recently posted 2 songs for public consumption: One,
titled, "Wishin' Ya' Well" got posted to the
songscribbler.com website for pay-per-download distribution.
The other, titled "Last Night" got posted to the
alt.binaries.music.amateur newsgroup and the soundclick.com
website. I've set up a page holding the lyrics for the
recent version of "Last Night", at
scruffyeagle.com. I should probably do the same for the song
"Wishin' Ya' Well" - however, I might decide to
re-record the 12-string guitar part of the song, since I now
have a better 12-string. (Maybe, I'll re-record it, but end
up including both guitars as artistic color? We'll see.)
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----- Monday, 10-18-04 -----
Something very frustrating has occurred. I was practicing
Cornet (2nd time, this day), and felt that I was making
progress in my embrochure - the notes were sounding much
more clear, and clean; without fuzziness. I shifted focus of
my practice session from doing a melody, to doing a single
note sustained - and, heard it. There was a definite
buzzing inside my mouth, in my teeth. The instrument was
causing a resonance inside my teeth. I know this is a
normal effect of horn playing, that this would occur - but,
I hadn't really thought it through, re. how that might
affect my health. You see, I have rather severe dental
problems as the result of failing to brush properly during
my younger years, combined with a penchant for sweets as a
child. My mouth is a forest of fillings, within the teeth
that are left. That buzzing I was hearing was the sound of
very old fillings in my teeth resonating to the Cornet I was
playing. Buzzing, resonating; that means, shifting position.
It doesn't matter that the shifting of position is only a
micrometer or so,... They're shifting, which is very bad for
someone who can't afford to have them replaced. The more
they shift, the more likely it is that they'll eventually
fall out (wear and tear). During the past month and a half
that I've been practicing Cornet, my dental problems have
increased. I've increased my dental hygeine routines to
more than double what they'd been, but it's kept getting
worse. Now, I know why.
There's only one reasonable decision I can reach, in
response to this situation: I have to quit practicing the
Cornet. The consequence is that I won't be able to add
Cornet to my music compositions, as I'd intended and had
been working toward. The most sad part of it, is that it
took until I'd actually began to develop some skill, for the
key evidence to become noticeable (re. damage being done to
the fillings in my teeth).
I've been intending that once I'd reached a certain minimum
level of competence on the Cornet, able to play simple
melodies, I would then begin to work with the Saxophone I
recently had repaired as a 3rd horn section instrument for
artistic color in my compositions. What I have to wonder at
this point, is: Will the same effect happen, re. my teeth
and fillings, when I turn my attention to Saxophone? I
guess, I'll find out when I do it.
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----- Thursday, 10-28-04 -----
This is a minor update, re. the possibility of using horns
in my music:
When I quit practicing the Cornet, my dental conditions
stopped deteriorating - but, haven't returned to normal as
time passed w/o such practice (as I'd hoped might be
possible). I haven't even begun practicing the Saxophone,
since I'm fairly sure the same buzzing effect within the
teeth would happen, as happened with the Cornet. I've
managed to prevent further deterioration of my teeth, and
potential associated abcess(es), via use of grapefruit seed
extract; a potent anti-viral, anti-fungal, anti-microbial,
anti-bacterial, & anti-parasitical agent. (In this case,
it's the anti-viral and anti-microbial properties, which are
proving crucial.) It's halted deterioration (seemingly), but
isn't capable of triggering healing & rebuiilding of the
damaged areas. For that, I've ordered 2 products:
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"Bio-Dent" - a nutritional supplement which is
effective against tooth decay and capable of helping to
rebuild damaged teeth. And,
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"Peri-Dent" - a nutritional mouthwash, capable
of fighting tooth decay, rebuilding teeth & roots,
etc.
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It's been expensive, to obtain the products I need for
overcoming the dental problems. However, it's rational to
evaluate the situation this way: What's more expensive,
purchasing the products that can fix my teeth, or paying for
dentistry services (root canal, capping, teeth
pulling, etc.)? I think it's obvious that the approx.
$130.00 I've spent in the past week or so on dental products
is a lot less expensive than the cost of dental work
which would need to be done in the near future if the
situation isn't brought under control quickly. It's only
been about a week and a half, since I began buying the
necessary products to fix my teeth. The restructuring items
were ordered during this week (since Monday) - so, they
haven't arrived yet. Today, I received my restocking supply
of the grapefruit seed extract ( two 100-ct. bottles). The
special "NutriBiotic" dental gel I've relied on
for brushing my teeth is on back-order; don't know when it
will arrive. (I attribute running out of that and using
retail off-the-shelf toothpaste for a month or so, earlier
this year, as the cause of my current problems.) Hopefully,
it'll be soon enough that I won't run out of my current
stock (only have the tail end of a tube left!). The
"Bio-Dent" is scheduled to arrive tomorrow. The
"Peri-Dent" delivery schedule isn't known at this
point.
The success of my efforts to fix my teeth isn't by any means
guaranteed, at this point. However, the possibility of being
successful at fixing my teeth raises the further possibility
that at some point in the future I could resume practicing
horns for my music. That would be very nice!
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~~~
----- NOVEMBER & DECEMBER, 2004 -----
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----- NOTE -----
I don't have any music diary notes from November or December of 2004. I think this is because my computer system
fried a chip on the mainboard, near the end of October, 2004.
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----- IN CONCLUSION -----
That completes the entries that have been archived here for my music diary.
I hope you've enjoyed reading them!
May you be guided and protected
as you pass through life!
~~~
Scruffy Eagle
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"MUSIC DIARY (Archived)S LIST" include: "SCRUFFY EAGLE" website
ALL AVAILABLE "SCRUFFY EAGLE" WEBSITE MUSIC DIARY DOCUMENTS:
( Music Diary was begun in 2004. )
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