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"SCRUFFY EAGLE"
2007 MUSIC DIARY NOTES ARCHIVE
Copyright (C) 2007 thru 2009, by: scruffyeagle.com
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----- JANUARY, 2007 -----
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----- Wednesday, 01/03/07 -----
I still haven't managed to repair my Bongos. The silver lining in the
storm cloud, though, is that the lack of Bongos has motivated me to spend
time practicing with my tunable tambourine - and, subsequently, resulted in
me developing a new, rather unique method of playing it. I'm now calling it my
"Jangle Drum".
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----- FEBRUARY, 2007 -----
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----- Wednesday, 02/15/07 -----
I finished repairing my Bongos, about two weeks after I wrote the
previous entry. Since then, I've used them on stage again, sitting in with
Johnny Green and the Green Men.
I need to write down an entry into this music diary. This past Saturday,
02/10/07, I participated in the 27th Annual White Pines Jamboree & Fiddle
Contest. It was hosted by the WXPR radio station, and held at the
"Taj Mahall" restaurant & bar, in Rhinelander, WI. There was
approx. 80 people there; about 20 of whom were contestants in the fiddle
contest. The contest was divided into 2 divisions: 12 yrs. & under were
in the "Junior Division". Over 12 yrs. old was the
"Unlimited Division". I, of course, was in the 2nd category. It's a
sad truth, that virtually everybody who hit that stage was more skilled than
me - even the 5 yr. olds. I, of course, didn't win. I played
"Greensleeves" for the "ethnic" piece, and "Try To
Remember" for the waltz requirement. I screwed up Greensleeves, and
was forced to start over. The problem, was that I hadn't properly adjusted my
bow, and it sounded terrible. Once I'd tightened it, I was able to play and
finish the performance. As I left the stage, the WXPR representative handed me
a small certificate, showing that I'd participated in the contest.
Before the contest began, there was a 2 hr. period where people were arriving
and small ensembles were practicing. I sat near a group of about 5 people, and
joined in with them. There was a female banjo player, who was a member of some
bluegrass band, an old guy with a dobro that he didn't play, and about 3 guys
with acoustic guitars. There was a teenager with a violin who came and sat with
the group; but, didn't try to play along with us. I contributed via playing my
bongos - softly, seeking to accompany lyrics, melodies, and rhythms; most of
which, I'd never heard before. I don't think I did too badly... There were
several times when the (mainly) non-musicians at the tables nearby gave applause
when we finished songs.
I've reached 2 conclusions as the result of my experiences at the Fiddle Contest
& Jamboree: One, is that I need to find/create more situations where I play
the fiddle in front of other people; maybe, even with other musicians plying
their craft. The second, is that I need to gain some experience providing a
percussion accompaniment for bluegrass music. I'm not sure how I can achieve
that, but it's a sensible goal for the sake of any future Jamborees I attend.
After the contest was over, there was a band that performed, and a square dance.
I didn't try to participate in the dancing, since my physical problems would
make such an attempt virtually guaranteed to end in embarrassment (or injury).
So, I just sat and watched the dancers, and talked with a couple I'd made the
acquaintance of. The couple was a professional fiddle player who seemed to be
about my age; his first name was Randy. With him, was a woman named Joyce. I
don't know what their relationship was, because I didn't ask and they didn't
offer the info. They were dancing, when I left.
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----- MARCH, 2007 -----
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----- Thursday, 03/08/07 -----
I'm still practicing the fiddle, although until the electric violin is fixed &
back in service, all my fiddle practice occurs on the viola. I've had a change of
focus, re. guitar playing. I'm spending virtually all of my rhythm guitar
practice time, using the Tradition SG. I feel a little guilty, that the Seagull
and the Alvarez aren't getting played on a regular basis, and hope that the lack
of use doesn't result in some level of damage or degradation of sound. I continue
to work with the new technique I'm developing on Bass Guitar, that I think of as
"picking within chords". I feel I've made some progress with it,
gaining a little facility. I still do what I can to transfer what I develop on
Bass over to the electric 6-string guitar. I also feel a little guilty, that my
bongos practice has been almost non-existent this past week. My excuse, is that
my living quarters are in a rather stirred-up state as I attempt to get things
ready for the arrival of a new, larger bed that will necessitate repositioning
most of the things I have in the room. (Although not impossible, it's become
difficult to get at/into the box where I store the bongos when I'm not
using them.)
I've had contact with Fisherman Rich again. He's got a new practice partner who
plays both 6-string electric guitar and Bass guitar. He's got a set of digital
drums now, and is about to take possession of a brand new set of quality drums
that are being given as a gift to him from his sister. He intends to organize
a new working band, and wants me to be a part of it. I'd love to - but, unless
I can solve my transportation problem, it won't happen.
Two weekends ago, I met a Canadian singer who goes by the stage name of
"Hurricane Kristi". She's a pretty woman with a wonderful singing voice
and beautiful blue eyes - but, I can't get my hopes up; she's married, Her
husband plays electric guitar in her band ("Hurricane Kristi"), and
he's very, very good at it. I've decided, that I like & respect her.
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----- Friday, 03/24/07 -----
Viola, Bass, & Tradition SG practice continue, more or less as it's been for a while. The
Bongos have been on vacation, huddling down inside a foot locker while I attend to other
necessities. They're hard to get at for the sake of using, at the moment... The Flute, also, has
been sitting unused for a while.
I've got my own computer again. I picked it up for a song & a dance, at an auction of computer
equipment at the LVD Casino. After a week of wrestling with it, I've got a fully functional (as far
as I can tell) installation of Windows XP on it, and my M-Audio Delta 410 soundcard installed.
I intend to reserve this machine for strictly offline use, to minimize the chance of viruses &
trojans (etc.) damaging the setup I've invested so much time & effort into creating. I have
another dirt-cheap machine I picked up at the same time, that I intend to set up with Linux and
then assign as being for online activities.
I haven't reached a point where I've had time to play with sound programs yet, but I expect
that to happen soon. And, eventually... Recording my own music again!
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~~~
----- APRIL, 2007 -----
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----- Wednesday, 04/11/07 -----
I just now managed to pipe the output of my karaoke machine as input to the
Audacity music editing program on my computer. I was able to record the piped input
and then save it as a .WAV file. This is definitely progress, because the creation
of this .WAV file didn't require involvement of any equipment that isn't mine. The
next stage will be to verify the ability to record live performance directly into
the machine - and, then, to verify that I can simultaneously listen to a track I've
already recorded while I record a new track to go with it.
It's now about three hours after I wrote the previous paragraph, and I find myself
forced to add more into this date's entry. I just discovered that my beautiful
12-string Alvarez has a major problem. I've noticed during the past couple of times
I've played it, that it seems to be buzzing on the top 2 sets of strings. I can't
get a good clean sound, until beyond 5th fret. Well, tonight, I figured out why.
The neck has a reverse bow in it, that isn't being compensated for by the pull of
the extra-light set of D'Addario strings I have on the instrument. Sighting down
the neck from heel toward nut, the reverse bow is plainly visible. There's only
2 possible solutions for this: One, if the truss rod has been tightened at all,
loosening it could fix the neck's playability (allowing the strings to pull it
straight). The other, is to switch to a heavier gage set of strings - something
I really don't want to have to do. I've tried to loosen the truss rod, but
it seems stuck; won't turn in either direction. I'm afraid that if I wrench too
hard on it, the wood will give somewhere, and then there's no inexpensive way of
fixing it. The nearest guitar shop is 50 miles away, so expert attention
isn't an option until I can borrow a car and plan ahead. I need to phone the
shop that sold me the guitar, and inquire about their warranties. I don't know if
the Alvarez is still covered in that manner, but the sensible thing to do is check.
If it's not covered, then I'll be forced to increase gage of strings until the
buzzing disappears; i.e., I'll try Light Gage, and if it doesn't fix it, I'll try
Medium-Light gage; etc. In the meantime, I'll have to just live with the buzzing,
and if I want to do any recording, use the 6-string Seagull.
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----- Monday, 04/16/07 -----
I took my experimentation a step further last night, and tried to record into the
computer via microphone into Karaoke machine as pre-amp. It was like walking on a
path and stepping into quicksand. It flopped terribly. I could barely hear the
recorded microphone stuff, even w/ all knobs at maximum setting.
I just took several minutes to mess with it again. It was better than when I was
trying it earlier, but still a very weak signal being processed by the Audacity
program. What puzzles me, is that the Karaoke machine has no problem producing a
(fairly) loud output of my voice through its main speaker, the same (slightly
softer?) as it does when I'm playing guitar through it. But, the computer isn't
getting the same strong level of signal as input - at least, that's what I'm
assuming for the moment. My next attempt will be using the mini HoneyTone amp as
a pre-pre-amp for the microphone signal. I'll boost it before it gets into the
Karaoke machine, and see if that will fix the problem.
I re-learned this, while messing around: When I play the guitar into the karaoke
machine, I need to adjust the mic input volume knob, to drop the input level.
The guitar sounded as if it was maxing something out, but I couldn't figure out
what or why - and, I think the setting of that knob might be the problem.
I'm going to need to go buy 2 more y-splitters. One will be for using the Delta
410's output lines to feed the headphones (instead of using the mainboard chips
for sound output). It's possible that the difficulty I'm encountering is the result
of splitting the input/output tasks between 2 different system devices...(?)
The other splitter will be for connection on the output of my Toshiba DVD/VCR
machine. I'll set up a pair of small multimedia speakers, to receive the sound
output. It's my hope I can set it up so mother can use the machine as a player
for audio CD's, because she hasn't had a player to use, and I know the machine
is capable of playing audio CD's (I tested it, a couple of days ago).
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----- Saturday, 04/28/07 -----
I stuck my figurative neck out today, investing in my self - a vote of confidence(?)
in my ability to master bass guitar. I bid on & won a bass guitar on eBay. It's
an Ibanez "SR-406" 6-string electric bass guitar, with a natural maple
finish. I allowed myself this, by making a deal with myself: I allowed myself to
make this purchase, on the condition that I master the process of selling things
through eBay; which includes, of course, the process of packaging stuff &
arranging shipment via U.P.S. and/or U.S.P.S. Before buying it, I researched the
instrument to some extent; read several forum postings people had written about it
(I tracked such down), and learned what the going rate for the instrument is.
Apparently, they're going for anywhere between $300 & $600 at the current time.
I got mine for $300 plus about $42 covering shipping & shipping insurance.
I have high expectations that this particular guitar will be in excellent condition,
based on the several high quality photographs in the auction ad, and the information
I obtained from the middleman seller. It will come with an "Ace" gig bag,
so I'll need to track down a suitable hard-shell case to fit it. I guess, also, that
making this deal with myself is also a vote of confidence in my ability to master
the selling portion of the eBay auction process. Anyway, the bass guitar should be
arriving at my door in about a week via U.P.S. I've seen a couple of these being
used on stage at the casino, and got captivated by it. It's an exceptionally
beautiful instrument, with extra pitch range both above and below the normal range of
bass guitars - and now, I'm going to have one.
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----- Sunday, 04/29/07 -----
Another item I've been watching & waiting for came due for sale on eBay; a
Yamaha SHS-10 Keytar. I researched it, to discover what the going rate for keytars
is, before bidding. They're going for anywhere between $175 and $250, depending on
condition. This one seemed excellent, so I was really hoping to get it (an extension
of my deal with myself, from the SR-406 purchase). Unfortunately, I was outbid in
the (literally) last 20 seconds of the auction. Oh, well... There'll be other
keytars, and in the meantime I've got a big load of learning to do re. the process
of auctioning & shipping items sold on eBay.
My mother arrived back home in the U.P. today, after her vacation down in IL. She
brought my Alvarez 12-string guitar back with her. I'd sent it down for adjustments
at The Highwood Music Gallery, because the neck had a slight reverse bow in it and
the 1st & 2nd strings were buzzing up to about the 5th frets. The cost ended up
being $20 for them to free up and then loosen the truss rod in the neck. I haven't
checked it out yet to verify the quality of the repair work, but I will soon.
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~~~
----- MAY, 2007 -----
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----- Wednesday, 05/02/07 -----
I tested the Alvarez, it now it plays fine; no buzzing. I was very aware, though,
that the strings sounded dull, lacking voice. So, I put my nose to the grindstone
today, and did the detested chore of changing strings. This is a good thing,
considering it's probably been a full year since I put the previous set on. I used
the Ernie Ball Slinky phosphor bronze set that my mother gave to me as a 2007 Xmas
present. When it was finished, I played it about an hour to break in the new strings.
They sounded wonderful - as good (?) as the Ernie Ball Studio phosphor bronze I'd
become so attached to but can no longer find. Because of that, I've decided that I'm
going to stick with this type of strings, for future restringings of the Alvarez.
Putting the guitar away, I noticed
damage on the case. This troubles me, because I'm very careful with my equipment,
which includes being careful to protect the cases. There was a scratched place on
the front of the case, which looked as if something sharp had dug into it and
traveled about half an inch (but, didn't dig through to the interior). There was
also a couple of places where the covering had flopped loose over a seam. The
reason I find it troubling, is I'm not sure if those damaged placed were like that
before I sent it on its journey to IL to be fixed. If the damage happened during the
trip, then it would have had to have been either at Evette's apartment (the most
likely cause) or at the Music Gallery. I'd hate to think that it happened at the
Music Gallery. I've done business with them for almost 30 years, and they've always
been the best; I've never had anything damaged by them. I'll need to figure out some
satisfactory and durable method for repairing the case. There's 2 reasons for
making it a high priority: One, is it's unsightly. It's a beautiful case, that was
selected to fit and complement the beautiful guitar it holds. I'd like it to
continue being a good showcase for the instrument whenever I show up somewhere with
it. The second reason, is that once the case is damaged, further damage will occur
more easily, spreading out from the places where it's already damaged. Fixing the
current small points of damage should make the entire thing last much longer.
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----- Wednesday, 05/09/07 -----
My newly-acquired Ibanez SR-406 6-string electric bass guitar arrived yesterday.
It was incredibly well packaged. It took me a half hour to extract the guitar from
the thick layers of bubble wrap.
In my correspondences with the seller of the bass guitar, he told me that the owner
of the guitar had stated as their reason for selling it, that "it just didn't
sing to him". This seems rather dim, in my estimation. The guitar doesn't sing
to the performer - the performer sings through the guitar. Once the guitar was in
my grasp, I played it for one session, then dug into resetting the hardware. The
action of the strings was too high, and the intonation was way off. I spent about
2 hours today, tweaking the string heights and intonations. Now, it plays easily
and much more in pitch when fretted. I had 2 minor surprises, re. the guitar. The
first, was that when seen directly (as vs. in the photos from eBay) it's actually
much darker and a bit dusky in color. The second, is that the knobs on the front of
the guitar don't do what I'd expected them to do. One is obviously a volume knob,
controlling the master volume. Another seems to be a pickup selection knob, allowing
the user to pan from forward pickup to rear pickup; stopping anywhere in the mix.
The other 3 knobs affect aspects of the tone of the guitar. My guess of the moment,
is that those other 3 knobs create a 3-band graphic equalizer (based on a comment
I read while researching the guitar before purchase). I need to track down some
better information, to know for sure what each of them does.
I'd had the intention of selling off the Fender JP-90, once I had the Ibanez SR-406.
However, now that I've had the chance to experience the Ibanez, I realize that it
can't replace the Fender. They are very different guitars, and neither one
can do what the other one does, or even sound like the other one. This creates a
minor dilemma for me, since the deal I'd made with myself (allowing myself to
purchase the Ibanez) specified that I had to sell off the Fender. I might end up
cutting myself the necessary slack to keep both basses, via substituting other
(unused) instruments onto the sale block. I have a saxophone, a trombone, and a
cornet that have all been unused since the dental problem made it impossible for
me to play them. I also have an accordion that I don't play at all. (I discovered
via owning one, that my wrist and back problems would make learning the accordion
unachievable for me.) I think if I sell off all four of those instruments, it will
be sufficient to take the place of selling the Fender, fulfilling the spirit of the
deal I made with myself.
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----- Friday, 05/11/07 -----
I've had the chance now, to use the Ibanez SR-406 for 2 of my morning practice
sessions. I've concluded that my initial assessment of the situation re. the previous
owner's statement that it "just didn't sing to him" was correct. The guitar
sings beautifully, once properly adjusted. Despite its bulkiness of neck, the guitar
has a wonderfully sensitive responsiveness, and capability for expressiveness, in its
playability. I've decided that my gut feeling about this type of instrument was
correct; that, it's an excellent tool for creating music, when it's in the hands of
a skilled performer. (Now, I just need to become a skilled performer!)
My primary dilemma at the moment, re. the SR-406, is the issue of a proper case for
it. I'm torn between the frugal approach, the cautious approach, and the meticulous
approach.
The frugal approach would guide me to select a generic $40
musiciansfriend.com hard shell case. The problem with that, is the reviews I read
re. those cases contained many complaints about shoddy construction & materials
causing the handle to break and/or the cushion where the neck rests, to collapse. I
can't tell without better info., whether rough handling had anything to do with the
failures generating the complaints. (I could buy one of such, and just be very gentle
with it... But, that might not prevent it breaking.)
The cautious approach would lead
me to select a 3rd-party manufacturer of quality cases, and purchase a case based on
the dimension specs. I could get such a case for between $65 & $70, depending on
which one I selected. A potential stumbling block, is that the SR-406 has its extra
wide neck - and, standard cases simply might never fit properly in that one aspect.
And, I wouldn't know for sure whether it would fit or not, without some extra
research & customer assistance to obtain the spec re. width of cradle where the
neck would rest; as a rule, that spec isn't included, in case descriptions. But, if
the neck width did fit, the guitar would be well protected, and the money wouldn't
end up squandered (as is the risk in the frugal approach).
Lastly, there's the
meticulous approach. The meticulous approach has the drawback of being the most
time-consuming, and the possible drawback of not being achievable. Being
time-consuming is bad, primarily because it means that the SR-406 remains in gig bag
instead of a hard shell case, for the duration of the process. That approach
would lead me to research via the Ibanez corporation's customer assistance, and
learn which of the Ibanez brand cases was designed to hold the SR-406 guitar - then,
set about obtaining one. The reason it might not work, is that the SR-406 isn't in
production any more; therefore, the cases custom-fit to hold the SR-406 might also be
out of production. There's an Ibanez case for sale via musiciansfriend.com, for $90.
The blurb says it should fit "most" Ibanez basses. But - the SR-406? Its
6 strings w/ extra-wide neck might make it not fit. I'll have to include the product
model number of the case obtainable via musiciansfriend.com, when I contact Ibanez,
if I decide on this approach. The meticulous approach also has the attraction of
resulting in properly matched set of bass & case. There's a certain amount
status as a musician, which is assigned when other musicians see that the brand of
case matches the instrument; i.e., it's simply more professional, to have it that way
- and, the way in which other musicians assess your musicianship, is very important
in affecting how sessions work out. Wrapping up this discussion re. cases: At the
moment, I'm leaning toward pursuing the meticulous approach despite the fact that it's
the most time-consuming and expensive. Despite its time spent without a proper case
in the possession of somebody who obviously didn't know very much about guitars, the
guitar's neck isn't warped. It's more likely than not, that the extra time involved
in me finding the most beneficial case via the meticulous approach, won't result in
deterioration of the instrument's quality - so, I'm fairly sure that the meticulous
approach is the one I'll pursue.
Despite my pleasure with the experience of the SR-406, I still feel that it can't
replace the Fender JP-90. It's a very different guitar, and just can't sound like
that old Fender. So, my intention of substituting other (unused) instruments onto
the sales block in place of the JP-90, remains as the leading contender in the
possible choices.
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----- Wednesday, 05/16/07 -----
Monday morning (05/14/07), I felt as if I had a minor breakthrough occur, in my
fiddling. I'd been practicing one of the songs I've composed, that's got a more
intricate pattern than I can really do properly. Halfway through the song, I let
my grip slip a little bit on the bow, but kept on fiddling. As I continued, I
realized that I was actually achieving a better control of the bow than I usually
do. After finishing the song, I focused on my bowing, pinning down exactly what I
was doing different, and getting the difference in grip well defined in my mind.
Up till now, I've managed my grip on the bow using primarily fingertips on the
assumption that a more delicate grip would result in a more dextrous result. The
new grip holds it further into the hand, with the pad of the thumb and the first
two fingertips doing most of the work. The last two fingertips are further down
near the end of the bow. The bow ends up being much more stable in my hand, when
I hold it that way; there's a lot less flopping around - and, the result is a
better level of control both in terms of the pressure being applied against the
string(s), and in the ability to control the timing, attack, sustain, and decay
of notes. So, for the moment, I've got the intention of continuing to use this
new grip.
I should get myself back to the fiddling forum I found online, and post a
description of my new grip; get some feedback, from more experienced fiddlers.
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----- Sunday, 05/20/07 -----
I gave away the R&B/Soul CD I'd made for myself to practice bongos to, to a
friend of mine who's in a band I sat in with. This in itself was a good thing, but
later on when I tried to burn a new CD to replace it, the writing process failed on
2 CD's in a row. I'm worried that something's gone wrong with my CD burner, and I'll
end up being forced to spend money to replace it. Very bad timing, considering I've
finally got recording capability again and could potentially be ready to burn a
new sampler CD of Scruffy Music in a month or two. And, how am I going to replace
the CD I gave away? I'll need to try to deal with this later, since it's now way
past any normal bedtime for me.
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----- Tuesday, 05/22/07 -----
I applied myself to recording rhythm guitar today. My chosen tool was the Alvarez
S12. The songs I did were "Thanks For The Rain" and "Honey, You
Beyond"; 3 takes each, before I was satisfied that I'd performed & got a
clean recording of a good copy for the rhythm guitar parts. NOTE: I might end up
doing a 2nd rhythm guitar part using electric guitar w/ wah, for the song,
"Honey, You Beyond". Being obedient to the rule of KISS, I didn't attempt
to record any vocals at the same time as the rhythm guitar parts - that way, I only
needed to worry about the quality of the guitar, and I've left open the chance for
re-recording vocals as needed. It took me about 2 (+?) hours to get down the 2
tracks to my satisfaction. Note that part of that time, was spent doing a take
of "Thanks For The Rain" that ended up being lost when Audacity crashed
(instead of exporting to a WAV file). I used my 30-yr-old Radio Shack microphone
for input, using my karaoke machine as pre-amp. The recorded file was very soft;
almost inaudible; it took 2 applications of the "amplify" function to get
the data loud enough to work with. But, that's the best signal level I've been
able to obtain via any combination of equipment. Once recorded, I used Cool Edit 96
for noise reduction and amplification envelope generation, for fine-tuning the
contents of the files. It worked incredibly well, considering that the amplitude of
the background noise was about half the level of the recorded guitar.
Now that I've got these 2 tracks tucked away,
I can consider actually recording a fancy (for me, anyway) bass guitar track for each
of them. "Honey, You Beyond" shouldn't be any problem. I've had enough
practice at it, that I should be able to record the bass guitar part in just one
or two takes. "Thanks For The Rain" is a different story. The technique
it uses is much more complicated, and I still have trouble when I'm practicing it
solo. Perhaps, though, having the rhythm guitar track to practice to will make it
easier? We'll see.
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----- JUNE, 2007 -----
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----- Monday, 06/04/07 -----
I did something I haven't done for a while, this past weekend... Since the weather
was nice (about 60 degrees & no rain), I took my Seagull guitar w/ me when I
went out Friday night (06/01/07). My intention was to visit at Mike & Sharon's
place after I gave them a lift home (after the show), and play some guitar for them.
They'd never heard me play & sing w/ guitar; only, bongos when sitting in w/
bands at the Casino. When I broached the subject, they liked the idea, so I actually
did it. When he heard me perform, Mike gave me the highest compliment I've
ever received: He told me it was like "angel's breath". In fact, he
repeated that about four times, during the approx. 2 hours I was there. To keep this
in perspective, Mike was definitely halfway in the bag, after drinking all night in
the Casino's lounge...(!)
I did the same thing on Saturday night (06/02/07), but w/ the Alvarez guitar. This
time, there was a 3rd person present listening; a guy named "James" (?),
who I'd agreed to give a lift back to LOL. A few minutes after we arrived at
M&S's, a woman who works as a bartender at the Casino, "Jeanie", showed
up. (For the record, I think she's really cute.) She & James took off after a
couple of minutes; James returned alone after about 20 minutes. I think he went to
stop in at a nearby party, and have a beer or two... The reason I mention Jeanie, is
that she's another who's never really heard me sing & play before. On a personal
level, I'd enjoy it if she'd start showing up when I'm there. From a professional
perspective, having someone who works at the Casino become familiar w/ & an
advocate of my music, can only be beneficial; not to mention, that the people who
hear me perform will spread the word, and it might lead to a whole group of people
who want to hear me. And from a social perspective, if more people start showing up
when I'm performing, I'm a lot more likely to actually develop new friends. So, I
think this is a good thing, and I should keep doing it.
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----- JULY, 2007 -----
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----- Tuesday, 07/04/07 -----
I went to the casino this evening. The band "Westside" was playing
there. They're on a 5-day gig, for the 4th of July holiday. I talked with the
drummer, and a couple of other band people. The drummer told me they'd have me
sit in during their last set of the night. It didn't happen. There was some
guy they were calling "Wild Bill", who went up on stage about 3 times
to sing with the band - but, they didn't call for me. Bill was okay, but really
that was about it. He could do a respectable Satchmo impression in terms of
tonality, but needs to work on pitch. His Johnny Cash impression underwhelmed
me; wasn't even close, in my estimation. I know they were under no obligation
to call me up to sit in, but I couldn't help being disappointed as the
realization sank in that it just wasn't going to happen. It's not just a matter
of being told they'd call me up, and then not doing it; it's more that thinking
it was going to happen, I mentally primed myself for excelling - then, didn't
get the chance to let that excellence out.
There is a tiny bright spot in this dark cloud, though. As I sat there watching
them play their last song ("Brick House"), I just knew that
my hand-drumming for that song was better than what I was witnessing their
regular hand-drummer do. Having played that song so many times in practice
sessions, and when sitting in with bands, a lot of the song's beats &
changes are routine to me now - and, my version of the hand-drumming part is
better than his. So, although I didn't get the chance to sit in with the band
and play, that loss of opportunity set the stage for the moment of realization
that I was actually better than the working musician I was watching.
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----- Sunday, 07/15/07 -----
I skipped going to the casino this weekend. The July schedule had shown that
they were having an Elvis tribute band - and, I've never been an Elvis fan, so
I wasn't interested.
I've almost got my car into condition for normal usage again. This creates the
possibility for joining a band, now that I can travel to reach wherever the
gigs are being held.
With professional income as a musician becoming a possibility, it's occurred to
me that I need a resume - so, that's become my next focus, re. musicianship; the
need to create a resume. I'll need one, if & when I contact an agent or a
placement agency.
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----- AUGUST, 2007 -----
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----- Monday, 08/20/07 -----
It turned out that when I read the July schedule and decided to skip going that
weekend, it was a mistake. If I'd read more carefully, I would have realized that
after the Elvis impersonator, there was a 2nd band - Johnny Green & the Green
Men. If I'd gone, I could have sat in with him again. (DRAT!) It's my loss, because
I really like Johnny Green. Oh, well... next time, for sure!
I've made plans for a trip to Berlin, WI, to have an initial session with Fisherman
Rich and the other musician(s) he's found. This will be a test session, and I hope
to be able to determine whether or not we can put a band together. If I decide it
just won't work, then I'll be making the phone call to the number that Johnny Green
gave me - and, a month after that, should be in a band as a hand-drummer, with a
bunch of people I don't know yet.
I managed to get my 5-string electric violin back into service a couple of days ago.
It was a bit odd, using it; as if it wasn't anywhere near as pleasing to play, or as
easy to play, as I'd thought it was. I found myself thinking that perhaps my liking
of it (before) was the result of its novelty value. We'll see how I feel about a
month from now, I guess.
I conducted a purchase of equipment from musiciansfriend.com, this morning. I bought
a 10"-head rope-tuned Schalloch Djembe, a LP "Mic Claw" for the bongos
setup, and a set of Martin M350 phosphor bronze extra light gauge acoustic guitar
strings. Total cost, including S&H, was $81.78. Delivery should be to my P.O.
Box in Watersmeet, on or near 08/28/07.
I have it in mind, that since I got such a good deal on the Djembe, I can afford to
experiment. If I examine it and determine it will work, I'll (carefully) trim off
most of the lower portion of the drum, to decrease the drum's height. Then, I'll
create a round ring of wood to attach as a stabilizing base for the drum. My idea, is
that I could trim it down to be almost the same final height as the bongos currently
are, and build a new bongos tray to hold the modified Djembe and bongos in such a way
that all 3 drums are in a line. Taking that idea one step further, would be to trim
down the height of and create a base ring for the mini-djembe also, and make the tray
wide enough to have all 4 drums on it; i.e., 10" djembe, 8" bongo, 6-1/2" bongo,
4" djembe; all in a row, or perhaps arranged so the bongos are forward center w/ the
djembes to the sides and slightly back. I'm not sure if this will work or not... The
limiting factor, re. trimming the height of the Djembe, will be the rope web that
holds the head on. I can't cut it beyond where that rope net is anchored on the body
of the drum. If I can't trim it down to match the height of the bongos, then I might
end up needing to design & build a drum-tray table to hold the drums. That idea
doesn't thrill me, though. I'd prefer to not need to drag an entire table with me,
whenever I want to perform using my full set of drums. And, I have doubts re.
reach and leverage from a seated position, if the drums are on a table instead of my
lap. (I can't consider playing standing for an entire show, because of my physical
limitations.)
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----- Monday, 08/27/07 -----
The trip down to Berlin, WI is now done. The "initial session" of the
Scruffy Eagle Band ended up being a five-hour jam session that only involved me &
Fisherman Rich; i.e., nobody else showed up. My high hopes were dashed, as I was
forced to concede to reality, that only 2 musicians isn't enough for a working band.
So, I'm left with the fall-back plan, of making the phone call to the number
Johnny Green gave me last year.
As a side issue, I discovered that having the cruise
control feature for long-distance driving has changed from being a convenience to
being a necessity. My arthritis is now bad enough that working the gas pedal for
five hours straight (& holding it down for the majority of that time) is very
difficult; difficult enough to cause me major joint pains and cause me to be
worn out at the end of such a long drive. I'll need to attend to this upgrade of
my vehicle as quickly as possible...
Another side issue, is that I had a major
problem sleeping while I was on the trip. Of the 12(?) hours I spent laying down
during the 3-day outing, my guess is that only 5 of those hours were spent actually
sleeping; the rest of the hours were spent laying motionless, trying to get to
sleep. The conditions I was trying to sleep in weren't ideal - but, they weren't
terrible, either. I was laying on an air mattress, on the floor in Rich'es living
room. It was too bright for my liking, due to the street lamps outside; but, with
a pillow over my head (the way it's normal for me to sleep), it wasn't a big
problem. The sound of traffic 25 feet away, beyond a wall full of big windows,
was a much larger obstacle to sleep. The first night, I finally fell asleep for
about 4 hours once the traffic had picked up to be a fairly continuous flow instead
of silence, roar of some semi, silence, roar of a Harley motorcycle, silence,
another semi climbing the hill, silence, etc. The second night, I only slept about
one hour (if that). My worry, is that the difficulty I had sleeping will continue
in the future, when I'm on the road doing gigs. It might just be that I've been
spoiled, out here in the Great North Woods, and that I'll adapt once I get back into
cities on a regular basis. But, it's also possible that I won't be able to adapt -
and, that it could end up crippling my ability to function on stage if given four
nights in a row of virtually no sleep.
Rich & I worked well together, despite the fact that it's been about 25 years
since we had the chance to sit down and jam for several hours on end. There was one
point during our long jam session, where a wedding party of several cars stopped
& parked on the other side of the street. When they got out of their cars, they
could hear our music - and, they actually started dancing in the street out there.
They were out there about 20 minutes, enjoying the music, talking amongst themselves,
and dancing.
Despite the ego-boost of the wedding party enjoying our music, and the encouragement
of knowing we could work well together despite the years since we'd last practiced
together, the trip down to Berlin concluded with the Scruffy Eagle Band being put on
indefinite hold. The other musician Rich had contact with, Todd, didn't show up.
Rich phoned him; gave a heads up that I'd be there - but, he never even phoned back
to give excuse why he couldn't make it. There are 2 most-likely possibilities re.
this: One, is that he decided he didn't want to get involved in a working band after
all, when it became clear that it might actually come to pass. The other, is that
he's got obligations and involvements that pre-empt his time & efforts to the
point of incapacitating him re. even phoning Rich in a timely manner, much less,
being able to show up. Either way, his unreliability has been demonstrated, so
until/unless I'm given sufficient reason to change my mind re. him, he's out of the
picture as a potential band member.
Rich was able to hear my fiddle playing while I was down there, during my morning
practice hours. (Yes, I sustained that discipline during my trip.) He was quite
impressed, and complimented me on my progress. Not only that; he remembered having
heard me do the song, "Hey Joe", but couldn't place exactly where or when.
I remembered, though. You see, "Hey Joe" is one of the pieces I've been
trying to work out by ear, for doing on the fiddle. I'd tried to play it (without
lyrics, mention, or comment at conclusion) during the first of my 2 morning practice
session in Berlin. He remembered having heard it, on that 2nd day there. This fact
is very encouraging for me, re. my assessment of my own progress; it means I was
doing it well enough for it to be recognized - something which I wasn't sure was the
case. It's also made me think that perhaps I should be including a song in the agenda
that would be suitable for performing sitting in with miscellaneous groups on stage.
A good candidate for such a piece, would be the song, "Brown Eyed Girl".
I've got the lyrics & chords memorized already, so that would provide a good
basis for figuring out the individual notes of the melody line.
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----- Thursday, 08/30/07 -----
At 3:08 PM CST, I made the phone call to the number Johnny Green gave me last year.
It turned out to be a company called "Professional Musicians Referral", in
Minneapolis. I didn't get to talk to a human, but left a message on the answering
machine: "This is a message for either Susan or Jan. My name is John Fordham.
I'm being referred by Johnny Green for placement as a hand-drummer. My # is area code
906 (private info, not being posted online). Thank you." I felt that
this message was sufficiently terse to be considered competent as a business message,
but also sufficiently informative, for the sake of a first contact with a referral
agent. We'll have to see what comes of it...
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----- SEPTEMBER, 2007 -----
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----- Monday, 09/09/07 -----
I've continued with my change of only doing fiddle during my morning practice
sessions. I think it's made a difference in my rate of progress as a fiddle player.
The past couple of mornings (which includes both acoustic viola and electric 5-string
violin), I've had the feeling that my control of phrasing has undergone a sudden
improvement. If this keeps up, I might actually consider trying to play fiddle during
songs with other musicians...(!)
I've also continued my attempts at returning to Flute playing. As a way of working
it into my schedule to make it more or less routine, I've chosen to make it a
pre-bedtime activity. I've been having difficulties with embrochure. What used to
seem easy, re. making the notes, is now very difficult. I don't know at this time,
whether my current difficulties are the result of the huge change in my dental
condition (half as many teeth now, and no front teeth at all, as vs. 2 years ago),
or simply a result of the fact that I went so very long without playing at all. I
intend to try to give it another month or so of trying to get back into the swing
of it, before drawing any conclusions.
My rhythm guitar playing has changed. Putting so much attention into bass, fiddle,
flute, and hand-drumming, I've spent very little time maintaining my repertoire of
memorized songs on rhythm guitar & voice. There's a lot of stuff that I simply
don't remember any more, because I haven't spent enough time refreshing the material.
On the other hand, the stuff I do remember and have practiced, is (I think) being
done more expertly in terms of tempo, beat, and phrasing.
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----- Thursday, 09/13/07 -----
My fluency on the fiddle seems to have lagged again... Really, it was to be expected.
In the acquirement & practice of any skilled artistic activity, the quality of
the artistic output varies. The artist gets into "hot streaks" of
unusually good quality, then lags into periods where the quality drops to normal (and
frequently, below normal). The difficulty for self-assessment, lies in the fact that
the practice of art is primarily subjective for the artist. Objectivity is difficult,
though not impossible, and an assessment of the objective average quality requires
an organized relational database of samples to assess from. The best an artist can
accomplish re. objectivity, in practice, is to attempt to recognize when they're
performing at the average level, and in what manner their current performance is
deviating from the average. I feel that the best stance to be in, during the
subjective experience, is to be continually striving to improve the quality of the
current performance; i.e., making the continual striving for improvement the normal
stance, the actual quality level of the current performance becomes less relevant.
How good can it get? There's no practical limit. Can an excellent performance be
improved? Of course. I feel that a useful thing for artists to have in mind during
performance in front of other people (or recording), is that most of the potential
(or current) audience members can't even begin to do what a trained artist
does in the practice of a learned artistic craft. Knowing you're more accomplished
than 99% of your audience takes most of the pressure off, re. being critiqued.
Knowing the performance can always be improved takes the pressure off, re.
performing at your maximum level of quality; i.e., you do your best of the moment,
and that's the most it can ever be in whatever moment you ever find yourself.
A good question for the sake of evaluation of a current performance, is, "Is it
good enough for most people to enjoy?" If a well considered answer would be
"yes", then the performance was sufficient from the perspective of
provision of entertainment.
I've continued working with the flute before bedtime, and find myself surprised
that it's actually becoming easier to make good notes. I know it's not objectively
rational to be surprised at improvement, but, there it is. If I keep at it, I'll
continue to improve.
I did something this week, that I haven't done for a long time - I learned a song
strictly for the sake of being able to play it for some people I'd discovered like
it. I learned the song, "Puff The Magic Dragon", memorizing the lyrics,
chord sequences in 2 keys, and melody in those same 2 keys. I learned it in
"C" (the original key), for the sake of being able to play along with
others if they also know the song. Then I transposed it down into the key of
"G", for the sake of being able to sing along with it when I play it on
guitar, and memorized it that way also. I haven't had the chance to perform it for
them yet, but perhaps this weekend I'll be able to.
I haven't heard back from Susan or Jan, at the Professional Musicians Referral. I
don't know why, at the moment. It's been exactly 2 full weeks, and I can only
speculate: Perhaps,
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they didn't get my message, or
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lost my info, or
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weren't interested in me, or
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didn't have a suitable placement available, or
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simply have too much going on to take on a new client?
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The first 2 possibilities are excusable, but if one of those last 3 are the case,
then PMR isn't a good company to do business with. Any of those last 3 possibilities
would mean they didn't have the courtesy to make a return call and let me know I
needed to pursue some other option(s) to achieve my professional goals. I intend to
make a follow-up phone call to PMR tomorrow, and see if I can make connection. I
also intend to send an email to Johnny Green, and let him know what a dismal failure
my attempt at following his advice has resulted in so far. (This is NOT his
fault!!!)
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----- OCTOBER, 2007 -----
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----- Tuesday, 10/02/07 -----
I made a phone call to musiciansfriend.com last night, checking on the Djembe that's
been on back-order for about a month and a half. I was prepared to tell them to
cancel the order, if they told me that the delivery date had been pushed back again
by the manufacturer - but, lo and behold, they told me it had been shipped! It was
on its way to me, via USPS! So, my expectation is that it will arrive in Watersmeet
by Friday at the latest.
Yesterday morning, I made good on a promise which I made to my niece Andrea. I'd
found what seemed like a suitable half-size violin, at a bargain-basement price, on
eBay - so, I bought it. I received email notification dated later that same day, that
the shipping info had been forwarded to UPS. That doesn't tell me whether the package
has been transferred to the UPS service or not, though; only that the info has been
transferred. To know for sure, I'd need to query the UPS website using the shipping
tracking number. Maybe I'll do that later tonight... Maybe not. It will be
delivered to my home address, via UPS, when it comes. After I've had the chance to
inspect & test it, then I'll start considering how to get it to Andrea, down in
ILLinois.
I've been slacking off on my drumming, lately. I guess it's a reaction
to disappointment at my lack of progress getting into a band as a hand-drummer. It's
more likely than not, that I'll get past this discouragement I currently feel, and
return to a more rigorous practice regiment. I can tell that the lack of practice
has affected my drumming, and I don't like that.
My fiddle work seems to come and go, in terms of quality. Some mornings, I feel like
I've really done well. Other mornings, I feel like I just couldn't do what I
intended. I spend some time (maybe fifteen minutes) of each practice session, trying
to pick out the melodies for songs I don't know yet. I think it's starting to pay
off; yesterday morning, I was able to pick out the melody for most of the song
"Down On The Corner" by CCR. (I hope I've got that title right!) Last
night, I was able to transfer what I'd figured out on fiddle, to do it on the guitar.
That feels and seems like progress, to me.
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----- Thursday, 10/04/07 -----
There are times when, like during this morning's practice session, I find it
difficult to stop. Usually, it's because I've got this feeling that I'm just
outside the groove, and if I push a little harder, practice a little longer, focus
a little more intensely, I can get it and fall into the groove where it all flows
smoothly and exactly where it should be. The reality, is that I virtually never
find that groove while practicing fiddle; I'm just not good enough yet, and I don't
think it's an excuse to attribute my lack of finesse to the fact that I've only been
doing it for 2 years of entirely self-taught practice. I was 51 when I set myself the
task of learning to play fiddle. I don't think I should expect myself to be capable
of producing the same level of performance as an average adult who began playing
fiddle as a child. All that considered, I still find myself hoping to be able to
make the instrument do what I want after 2 years of almost daily practice. It's
frustrating; I occasionally have this feeling, that I just don't get it, and never
will; that, my arthritis isn't the only thing holding me back; that, perhaps I just
don't have and never will have the level of skill, knowledge, and sense of pitch
that fiddle playing requires. It might be, that the feelings I've just mentioned
are moments of realistic appraisal amidst long bouts of chasing fantasies - but,
conversely, it might be, that those feelings are inaccurate. The question of whether
or not I'll ever attain the level of fiddle playing finesse I strive for, isn't a
question that can be accurately assessed or definitively answered. The best I can do,
is say that I like doing it, and enjoy hearing the sounds that happen while I do it.
It's an activity, that's value is primarily in & of itself; i.e., somthing that's
"done for the doing", and not for reward in terms of money or achievement
of goals. Maybe a good analogy, would be, "I think I'll go play on the swings
for a while..." - or perhaps, it's more like walking the entire length of a
low, narrow wall without falling off; an exercise of balance, that doesn't carry
very much risk or reward beyond the disappointment of failure or the satisfaction of
having been able to do it.
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----- Friday, 10/05/07 -----
So far, this day has adhered to that old saying, "When it rains, it pours."
The Shalloch 10" Djembe I've waited a month and a half for arrived at the Watersmeet
Post Office today. I had to drive up there to get it, and risk not being here when
the UPS driver arrived. (My mother had taken off to who-knows-where; probably, to
go perform organ for some church service.) Luckily, it worked out okay. I'd gotten
back home, had just enough time to open the Djembe box and inspect it, when the UPS
truck pulled in. So, both of the instruments I'd been waiting on arrived on the same
day, getting here into the apartment within 15 minutes of each other.
I've opened and inspected both of the instruments. The half-size violin (slated to
eventually be given as gift to Andrea) looks in good condition. I'll research online
to make sure re. the tuning of half-size violins, before I tune it up for the first
time - I want to be sure it isn't different than full size violins; otherwise, I
might end up breaking a string (or worse)! After the initial tuning, I'll start
breaking in the strings and one of the bows. (It came with 2 bows, but I'm keeping
one for myself, since I don't own any other bows that short at the current time.)
If, at some later time, something's happened to Andrea's bow and she needs a
replacement, I'll have the 2nd one here. It will keep that backup bow safe, in good
condition, and give me a short bow to work with (occasionally) until then.
The Djembe, which is marked as having been made in Malaysia, isn't as good a quality
as I'd hoped it would be. The rough-hewn surface has a several places where the
craftman's chisel dug too deep or off kilter. There's one spot where an area about
the size of a quarter is around 1/8" lower than the surrounding surface; like a dug
out area where perhaps the wood was damaged, or the craftman screwed up. There's a
two-inch wide place around the bottom edge, where it wasn't stained enough to match
the rest of the body. There was absolutely nothing in the box it came in, except the
drum, some flimsy packing material, and about fifteen or twenty silicon packets
for absorbing moisture; Shalloch didn't include any instruction re. care of drum,
or re. how to maintain/adjust tuning of a rope-tuned Djembe. It took a month and a
half, for the drum to be delivered. All that said, I still think I got what I paid
for at the low price of $50.00. Despite its flaws, its sound will be a useful
addition to my Bongos setup.
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----- Saturday, 10/20/07 -----
I've continued to devote practice time to my flute. It's almost routine now, to
spend a half hour practicing flute right before bed. Yesterday's session was a bit
easier than it's been since I resumed flute; I managed to take about half the
breaks I'd been doing up till then, and I felt that my control over the flute was
improved.
I posted a jam I'd done (based on "Hey Joe") into the amateur musicians
newsgroup. The post-recording processing I did to remove the hum from the old,
cheap tape recorder also did a number on the tonalities of the notes - made the
unplugged electric violin sound Oriental. Someone (Mikey) actually posted a response
saying they thought it was pretty neat.
I still haven't been able to get myself to spend the $250 it would take to obtain
a Fostex MR8-MKII digital recorder. I've read the manual, and have decided it will
do everything I need it to - but, I guess I'm a little paranoid about spending that
much money on the recorder. What if I get it here, and it doesn't meet the grade
for my recording needs; like, less than hoped for clarity of the recordings?
I met the members of the band "Ranchhand" last night. They're
excellent musicians, especially the lead guitar player and the violin player.
I asked them if they ever let anybody sit in, and they told me "no". I was
disappointed, but that won't prevent me from enjoying their act. I'm going back
to watch their show again tonight at the LVD Casino, intending to show up earlier
this time; they're not just a country band - they're an excellent country band.
I even filled out a comment card for the casino, telling them what I thought and
requested that they schedule a return performance.
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----- Monday, 10/22/07 -----
I couldn't take it any more - I spent the money. Yeah, that's right: I ordered &
paid for a Fostex MR8-MKII digital recorder via musiciansfriend.com. Color choices
were limited to either black or silver; I chose black, because in the photos, the
labels of the buttons (etc.) on the surface of the black model seemed to stand out
much better than on the silver model. Realistically, I couldn't afford to part with
the $249.00 the recorder cost - but, it's been almost exactly 2 full years since my
fancy computer's motherboard fried a chip, and I haven't been able to make decent
recordings of my music, the entire time.
I also order a pair of Dunlop egg-shakers, a dozen Dunlop "Nylon Standard"
guitar picks (.60mm gage), and a Thomastik Superflexible 4/4 Violin A string. The
egg-shakers are needed because I keep giving them away, and now I'm down to having
only one on hand. The same applies to the guitar picks; I've yet to wear out or break
even one of this type of pick - I just keep giving them away as samples to people I
think might like them. The violin string will be put onto my 5-string electric violin
to replace the one it came with. After replacing the "E" string that broke,
I found that the Thomastik Superflexible had so much better tone and playability,
that I eventually decided I should replace the "A" string with the same
type - and, now I've gone ahead and ordered it.
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----- NOVEMBER, 2007 -----
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----- Friday, 11/02/07 -----
Today, I tracked down & ordered 2 necessary accessories for my new Fostex
digital recorder: 1) A fire-engine red 10' USB cable w/ one end having an
"A" style connector, and the other having a "B" style.
2) A 2GB CompactFlash card. Total cost including S&H ended up being about
$45.00.
I met Greg "Fiddler" Holt, at the LVD casino, after the show was
over. He'd come to the casino on a job w/ a country band, but there was a
mix-up; the casino had 2 bands scheduled for the same evening. The other band
got the gig, and Fiddler's band will end up just hanging around during the
weekend. Talking w/ Fiddler, he seemed like a normal guy of moderate talent.
After going home, I visited his myspace.com page - and, learned more about him.
The stuff on the page leads me to believe this guy is strictly world-class
talent, and that the casino made a big mistake choosing to have the other band
perform instead of the one Fiddler's in. I gave him my website address before
I left, and maybe he'll tell me what he thinks about it... (Do I really want to
know?) I also told him that I was expecting an email tomorrow morning from the
promoter of the band which did perform ("Memphis"), to let me know if
they want me to sit in, and which instrument I should bring (djembe, or
bongos?) I told him that if I didn't sit in, maybe I'd try to sneak in a guitar
so we could sit around after the evening's show was over, and play some music.
I'd had it in mind, that I should show up with the Seagull if it works out that
way. We'll have to see whether that guy actually sends me an email tomorrow,
and if he does, what he says.
I've continued working with the flute, on & off. It's still difficult, with
the dental disfunctions that have yet to be resolved - but, the practice is
starting to pay off in tone quality and fluidity of finding & changing notes.
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----- Friday, 11/09/07 -----
Today, I retrieved both of the necessary accessories for my new Fostex digital recorder from my Watersmeet
P.O. Box: 1) A fire-engine red 10' USB cable w/ one end having an "A" style connector, and the other
having a "B" style. 2) A 2GB CompactFlash card. I've done preliminary testing of both items now, and
everything seems to be working properly. I was able to record a 40-second file, and then transfer it into the PC.
Examining it in the PC, I found that although the decibel level of the imported file was much lower than I expected,
the quality of the recording is so good that amplifying it from -22 dB to -2 dB still ended up with a very
clean recording. All in all, I'm quite pleased, and feel that my limited money has been well invested.
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~~~
----- DECEMBER, 2007 -----
~~~
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----- Tuesday, 12/04/07 -----
I've continued to practice the flute, although the sessions are nowhere near as regular as I consider proper.
The formation of embouchure has become easier, but I'm still lacking stamina in my lips. My accessible range
has extended slightly, although just slightly. The song I practice the most often on flute, on fiddle, &
on bass guitar, is "Thanks For The Rain". I choose that one, for two reasons: One, is that it's a song
which is a good benchmark for the sake of musical achievement; i.e., the material I've composed in that song is
well beyond my capability of actually playing - and, therefore, when I'm able to play it properly, it will be a
solid objective indicator that I've achieved some genuine skill. The second reason for choosing that song, is that
I still haven't created an up-to-date copy of it with the lyrics and chord progressions as they currently are. Now
that I've got the digital recorder, it would be a cinch to make a copy of just rhythm guitar & voice - but, the
song as I envision it to become, would also include electric bass, flute, fiddle, and percussion parts. The
percussion part will be easy, given only a couple of sessions of working with it; having the knack for the
hand-drumming comes in very useful in that respect. But, the flute, fiddle, & bass parts (as I've composed
them) are still out of reach - so, I continue practicing that song on those instruments, in the hopes of making
the overall song a reality some day.
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----- Wednesday, 12/12/07 -----
I encountered something I hadn't expected today. I did 2 practice sessions of hand-drumming. The first was on
bongos, since I hadn't practiced those for quite a while, in favor of working on djembe. I fell back into the
groove of using bongos easily; by the time I was doing the 3rd song, I was right back in the groove. The 2nd
practice session, several hours later, was on djembe - and, that's where the surprise was. I just couldn't
get back in the groove of using the djembe. It was as if all the things I'd figured out and internalized re.
the djembe's tonal usage was all gone - and, needed to be figured out all over again. At the end of about 2
hours of practice, I was finally starting to feel like I could control it again. I think I'd better stick with
the djembe for the rest of the week, since I intend to bring that drum when I go to the casino next time.
Johnny Green is supposed to be there this weekend, and he hasn't heard me on djembe yet.
I suppose I should enter something about the flute... I've got a suspicion, that my efforts to resume flute
playing have had a negative effect on my dental condition. It had stabilized (more or less) after the loss
of a tooth. I have the feeling that each time I practice, it's working to aggravate the damage under my gums
to make the roots of the teeth go bad. I mean, I know they're bad already - but, the flute playing seems to
be causing the condition to go past some limit into actively deteriorating. Maybe this isn't a bad thing,
though. I've been on a downhill slide for the past 2 years with my teeth, and it's only a matter of time
before I'll be forced to go get whatever teeth are remaining extracted, and get dentures. The sooner I hit
that point where it can't be put off any longer, the sooner it will cease to be an issue.
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----- Friday, 12/28/07 -----
I met Geoff Landon, the rhythm guitar player, singer, & leader of the band "Geoff Landon &
the Wolfpack", during his/their gig in the Thunderbird Lounge at the LVD Casino. I'd walked up to ask him
about his guitar. I was curious, because it had such a good sound - comparable quality, as vs. my Seagull S6.
It turned out to be a Martin w/ dull black finish, onboard pickup/amp/equalizer, and composite top & saddle.
He let me hold it, and even play it for a few minutes. In retrospect, I'm impressed at the trust he placed in me,
doing that. I intend to give him some guitar picks; a selection of my favorite types (2 of each of 3 types), as
a "thank you", when I go up there and watch the 2nd night of their scheduled performance.
Geoff told me about his Martin - that, after a fairly short time, the saddle had come loose from the face; probably
the result of repeated exposures to heat, cold, etc., and that he'd had to have it repaired. I don't know for sure
at this point, what his reactions were when it happened - but, I was thinking about it, and realized what my reaction
to the event would have been: First, I would have been pissed off. Then, very quickly after that, I would have been
terribly depressed. The depression would have lasted until I'd managed to have it properly repaired. Then, I'd have
a lingering resentment against the instrument (a loss of feeling it was a quality guitar), for about a year. Once
the trauma had been dulled by time and many, many sessions of using it, I'd start to appreciate it again. But, it
would never again be quite the same in my esteem as when I'd first purchased it. In fact, I'd end up seeking an
opportunity to replace it with something better, regardless of its sound quality, due to a feeling that I'd ended
up with a "lemon".
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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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