Governor Silver - From the Possible to the Impossible

Fitness update

2011-11-29T00:14:00.001-05:00

On August 17, 2011, I started following the Rings One program. I was interested because it was a CST (Circular Strength Training) influenced strength training program for gymnastic rings. At the end of Level A, Phase 1, I was not strong enough to progress to the next phase, so I repeated Level A, Phase 1. On November 17, I completed the repeat of this phase. I was back to doing the same number of pullups I did before my latest shoulder injury, and was able to do 5 dips, sometimes 6 on a really good day, on the rings, which was an improvement from not being able to do any. I think the Rings One program is a great program, but the results will vary depending on the trainee's physical condition. For someone like me coming off of a shoulder injury and never really possessing a great amount of strength, I think it would take at least 3 repetitions of Level A, Phase 1 before the trainee could progress to the next phase. Level A, Phase 2 includes exercises that I was not able to execute even after going through Phase 1 twice, such as Tuck-Up To Shoulder Stand and Inverted Tuck Roll Chin-Up. The exercises I could not do in Phase 1 until the middle of Phase 1 included Jump Tuck to Inverted Hang (could not do even one rep) and Mountain Climbers (8 reps minimum - I could manage 6). I have no doubt if I kept following Level A, Phase 1 over and over, I'd eventually build up the strength to take on the next phase. But I started to get bored and am switching to the Clubbell Mass Evolution program. This program includes the use of a 2-handed clubbell. I have a 45 lb. "Bruiser" clubbell, but it's too heavy for me, so I ordered a 25 pounder. Until it arrives, I will follow this exercise routine:Intu-Flow Intermediate5 Pullups on door pullup bar (breaks allowed if I can't do 5 consecutive)5 Pike Pushups on Power Wheel (partial range movement ok)7-10 "steps" per hand Hand Walks in Plank Position on Power Wheel5 Hip-Ups to Shoulder Bridge on Power WheelRest 5 min. then repeat aboveCooldown:Pigeon Pose, Hip Flexor Stretch, Hamstring StretchCooldown routine from Rings OneI'll be doing the Power Wheel exercises to address core strength (abs and back) defiencies. The pullups address pulling strength deficiencies that prevent me from doing Inverted Tuck Roll Chip. The Pike Pushups start to address the upper body strength deficiencies - particularly the shoulders - when I attempt to support my bodyweight while facing downward, such as in the Tuck Shoulder Stand. What I hope to gain from Clubbell Mass Evolution is muscle mass to help burn fat, and particularly muscle mass around the shoulders to make them a little more injury-proof. The program also has a lower body training component that was a bit lacking in Rings One.

Some links for Emu Command Station and possibly other Proteus synths

2011-11-11T16:11:00.003-05:00

Post about using clock divisor, LFOs, etc. to modulate sample start of drum behavior

Overview of the sequencer

prodatum - A cross-platform editor for the Proteus family of synths

Jazz and piano advice retrieved from old forum posts

2011-10-20T00:13:00.002-04:00

After quite a layoff from practicing the Bach Two-Part Inventions (actually, I only practiced No.1 and was noodling with No.2 a bit), I searched old forum posts for the advice that I dimly remembered getting as to which of the Inventions to learn first and came across this old thread:

http://forums.musicplayer.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/2001420/1

Some highlights:

If you want to improve your jazz playing, there are much better ways than that too.
check out Clare Fischer's Harmonic Exercise book from Advanced Publishing for starters.

... I haven't ordered the Clare Fischer book yet. Doh!

(in answer to which Bach Inventions to learn first) No. 1 in C major is a good one to start with. No. 4 in D minor and No. 8 in F major might be good as well.

It turns out the person who I thought steered me to the Bach Inventions was someone else, but this first person called my attention to Bill Dobbin's books. He has a bunch out - I'll have to ask which ones to check out...

Ekdahl Moisturizer - Unique spring reverb with unusual features

2011-03-01T09:57:00.002-05:00

From the Knas website:

Ekdahl Moisturizer is a spring reverb where the springs are exposed so they can be played/hit/fiddled with. As well as being capable of creating sound in itself, you can of course also play sound through the springs like a regular spring reverb - this makes for happy-fun-time finger-modulation of the reverb on whatever audio that's going through it. On top of this there's an analog multimode filter that can be used to attenuate or exaggerate certain frequencies in the sound, this is real handy while playing the springs as you can - for instance - cut all the highs and just make thunderous doomy sounds or do the opposite; cut all the lows and make that ear piercing high frequency special love. Also, it incorporates an LFO that's internally routable to the filter and that also has some external routing-stuff. The Ekdahl Moisturizer has tons of CV / Expression pedal options on the back for even more hillarious moments. The Moisturizer is a mono unit.

This unique reverb unit is definitely on the list of gear that I'd like to acquire in the near future.

Dave Douglas on Ear Training

2010-05-31T23:14:00.001-04:00

This article was posted in 2008, but still looks like a worthy read:

Dave Douglas on Ear Training

Wednesday Working

2010-04-21T18:01:00.002-04:00

Morning only:

Beginner 4-Corner Balance Drill
Frog Stand Practice (60 sec. total work)
Tried some chest expander exercises from Noe book
Neck And Shoulder Focus Practice from the Kraftsow DVD

Pretty much taking it easy today. Left shoulder pain is receding - probably a combination of healing and the yoga practice. Once again, Viniyoga comes through!

Messiaen modes for jazz

2010-04-20T18:39:00.004-04:00

Nelson Veras is a unique jazz guitarist who has chosen an unusual path for the development of his voice. Click here to go to a page that describes how Veras applies Messiaen modes. The page includes video and audio links.

According to jazz guitarist Gene Ess, there is a book by Masaya Yamaguchi called Symmetrical Scales for Jazz Improvisation that updates Messaien's concepts for the 21st century. I took a peek at some sample pages of this and his other books and they are deep.

Some C Melodic Minor exercises

2010-04-20T14:29:00.008-04:00

I recently started practicing the Graham Clark Scale Method on viola and guitar. I am convinced that this method will help me nail down the intervals that I want to play, with less time wasted searching for the interval in the fingerboard. The examples in his article are written for C Major. C Melodic Minor is new to me, so I decided to write down some exercises from his method for C Melodic Minor.

This is the first set of exercises for the modes of the scale:

Note sequence	Mode
CDEbFGABC' C'BAGFEbDC	C Melodic Minor
DEbFGABC'D DC'BAGFEbD	Dorian b2 or Phrygian #6
EbFGABC'DEb EbDC'BAGFEb	Lydian Augmented
FGABC'DEbF FEbDC'BAGF	Lydian Dominant
GABC'DEbFG GFEbDC'BAG	Mixolydian ♭6
ABC'DEbFGA AGFEbDC'BA	Aeolian b5
BC'DEbFGAB BAGFEbDC'B	Altered Dominant

With the above note sequences written down, it's much easier to extrapolate the degree-to-root note pairs to practice for that section of the GC Method.

Here are the broken interval exercises for C Melodic Minor:

Note sequence	Interval
CEb DF EbG FA GB AC' BD' C' Eb'C' D'B C'A BG AF GEb FD C	3rds
CF DG EbA FB GC' AD' BEb' C' F'C' Eb'B D'A C'G BF AEb GD FC	4ths
CG DA EbB FC' GD' AEb' BF' C' G'C' F'B Eb'A D'G C'F BEb AD GC	5ths
CA DB EbC' FD' GEb' AF' BG' C' A'C' G'B F'A Eb'G D'F C'Eb BD AC	6ths
CB DC' EbD' FEb' GF' AG' BA' C' B'C' A'B G'A F'G Eb'F D'Eb CD BC	7ths

Here are the triad exercises for C Melodic Minor:

Triad	Chord
C Eb G	i minor
D F A	ii minor
Eb G B	iii
F A C'	iv
G B D'	v
A C' Eb'	vi
B D' F'	vii

Monday Workout

2010-04-19T18:33:00.003-04:00

Morning Workout

Joint Mobility (Intu-Flow program from Rmax)
Four Corner Balance Drill (introduced in the Intu-Flow DVDs).
Frog Stand Practice (as described in Sommer's article)
Low Back/Sacrum Viniyoga Practice

Left shoulder still hurts despite no workout over the weekend, other than yard cleanup

Day Workout (during breaks at work)
Pullups w/supinated (palms facing me) grip
1-leg squat (not directly related to the gymnastic goals, but done to build leg strength)

I actually only did 2 sets today. I'll hold off on pullups for now and let the left shoulder heal some more. Frog stand does not seem to bother it as much. I still can't hold the Frog Stand for 60 sec. straight (not even close!) but I managed to sustain a hold for more than 5 seconds a couple of times, up to the 60 sec. total work.

Tried to get into Tuck Lever but lack the ab strength to simply curl myself up into it. I'll take tomorrow off from pullups, but when I resume I'll go for static hold practice of the hanging leg lift, emphasis on the Hanging Straight Leg L, as described in Coach Sommer's article, Developing the Hanging Leg Lift. I can do a Hanging Tuck L for 10 sec hold, no problem, so I'll start with the Hanging Straight Leg L with bent knees.

Friday Workout

2010-04-19T18:30:00.003-04:00

Morning Workout

Joint Mobility (Intu-Flow program from Rmax)
Four Corner Balance Drill (introduced in the Intu-Flow DVDs).
Frog Stand Practice (as described in Sommer's article)
Bhujangasana and Vimanasana from Low Back/Sacrum Viniyoga Practice

Day Workout (during breaks at work)
Pullups w/supinated (palms facing me) grip
1-leg squat (not directly related to the gymnastic goals, but done to build leg strength)

Suffered mild left shoulder strain while swinging across monkey bars. I probably need to build more shoulder strength as the left shoulder may still be extra weak from the previous shoulder injury.

Tuesday Workout

2010-04-15T18:24:00.005-04:00

Despite refraining from further swinging on the monkey bars, my already-sore left shoulder seems to have been aggravated even by merely hanging from the bar to do leg raises. I found via Google a post by Coach Summer on this discussion thread:

Postby Coach Sommer on Mon May 26, 2008 10:49 pm
Your hanging strength is currently insufficient for the demands of hanging leg lifts. For the time being move to another core strength element and consider using the information in the following essay to increase your shoulder stability:
http://gymnasticbodies.com/forum/viewto ... ight=#2664

I clicked on the link he provided and he mentioned several exercises. Of those exercise, I thought an overhead support walk was a realistic option. I tried my 16kg kettlebell and realized I'd lost a lot more upper body strength than I'd previously thought, after all this time of not exercising the upper body. I couldn't military-press the KB even once, where I had been able to press it for at least 5 reps.

I thus did the following this morning:

Intu-Flow Beginner Mobility Drills
Beginner 4-Corner Balance Drill
Frog Stand Practice (60 sec. total work)
Neck And Shoulder Focus Practice from the Kraftsow DVD Viniyoga Therapy for the Upper Back, Neck & Shoulders

Tonight I'll dig out my Lifeline Chest Expanders. These were instrumental in my shoulder rehab in the past.

New workout routine

2010-04-15T18:24:00.001-04:00

I found the monkey bar set near our office building. I had no idea it was there, despite months of working in that building.

My low back/hip has recovered nicely, but is still not ready for weight training. The Low Back/Sacrum Practice from Gary Kraftsow's DVD has helped, after about 4 months of practice 3-5 times a week. My shoulders are still a bit touchy but better off than my back.

As the experts say, one's workouts would be more effective if one has a goal in mind. So I have decided to resume pursuit of the skills described in Christopher Sommer's article Building an Olympic Body through Bodyweight Conditioning. None of the exercises in this new routine bother my shoulders nor my back.

Morning Workout

Joint Mobility (Intu-Flow program from Rmax)
Four Corner Balance Drill (introduced in the Intu-Flow DVDs).
Frog Stand Practice (as described in Sommer's article)
Low Back/Sacrum Viniyoga Practice

Day Workout (during breaks at work)
Pullups w/supinated (palms facing me) grip
1-leg squat (not directly related to the gymnastic goals, but done to build leg strength)

So far, I can do 3 pullups comfortably. Not great, but that's why I'm doing them. My 1-legged squats are weak, so I just do 1 rep per leg. I do 4-5 sets of the Day Workout during a typical work day.

I'll tweak this routine over time. The first thing would be to find the yoga compensatory flows for pullups that are in Scott Sonnon's 4x7 DVD.

Given my current weak state, reaching my goals will take quite a while. But I really enjoy going outside to do the pullups, especially when the weather is nice.

MIDI Footcontroller Roundup on The Gear Page

2010-03-11T13:03:00.002-05:00

If you are a musician who needs to coordinate multiple MIDI devices (synths, effects processors, etc.) with footswitches, because both hands are busy playing your instrument, you probably need a MIDI footcontroller. The Gear Page's Digital And Modeling Gear forum has a nice roundup here.

CNNMoney.com - The 20 best money Web sites

2010-03-11T10:03:00.002-05:00

The 20 best money Web sites

I don't recall seeing Smartmoney.com on the list, but it was suggested in the Digg.com comments.

Danny Barnes: How To Make a Living Playing Music

2010-02-03T10:01:00.002-05:00

I'm as guilty as a lot of people (apparently) of fantasizing about a different lifestyle - in which one makes music for a living instead of working at a "real" job. Check out Danny Barnes' "how-to" article. Doesn't sound like an easy lifestyle...

Master 5 OS X Utilities in 5 Minutes

2009-12-07T22:35:00.001-05:00

We’re sure many Mac users have seen the Utilities folder inside of the Applications folder and wondered what the applications contained inside can do. Maybe they can control the weather? Or maybe they give you super powers? The reality is bit less exciting, but still incredibly useful to even the newest Mac user.

Check out the article

WebUrbanist: Ten Magnificently Modern Musical Instruments

2009-11-18T10:06:00.004-05:00

WebUrbanist has a nice little roundup of modern musical instruments.

My random commentary:

Electric violin is mentioned by not electric cello.

No Haken Continuum

I keep thinking about downloading Ocarina into my iPhone and forgetting about it.

The Hapi Drum's inspiration, the Hang Drum, was worth a mention. But the Hang Drum is harder to obtain and it costs a lot more, but much of the extra cost is due to the more complex design. This is a nice video showcasing both instruments plus a couple of others:

Foods that slow aging

2009-11-17T09:58:00.000-05:00

Foods that slow aging

Links of interest from Washington DC Green Festival

2009-10-12T20:59:00.006-04:00

This was the first time I attended the DC Green Festival, now into its sixth year. There were plenty of lectures and panel discussions to choose from, as well as a large exhibit area, with booths divided into sections for home remodeling, food products, clothing, activist groups, etc. Here is a selection of interesting links about stuff I found at the festival:

Community Forklift is a home improvement store that carries used building materials. The site has links to other green businesses in the DC metro area.

Green Building Institute offers courses for green living, with topics ranging from vegetable gardening to green building materials.

DC Green Connection is a meetup for DC area green living enthusiasts.

Planting Empowerment is an organization that offers investments in trees in Panama, ranging from a $50 investment for 2.25 trees to a $1000 investment for 70 trees, up to a $10,000 investment for over 700 trees. From what I understand, these investment should be thought of as 25 year bonds, except the rates are pretty high (just over 7% for the $50 investment, 9.3% for the $1000). Because of the time required to cultivate healthy trees, it takes a pretty long time from the time a tree is planted to realize a sustainable profit from it, and this is reflected in the investment schedules - you'll have to wait the full 25 years to get maximum return. Distributions are typically scheduled for payout beginning in year 8 of the investment.

The nonprofit Center for Community Self-Help and its financing affiliates Self-Help Credit Union, Self-Help Federal Credit Union, and Self-Help Ventures Fund provide financing, technical support and advocacy for those left out of the economic mainstream.

The OmGym Suspension Yoga Set is a useful tool for enjoying the benefits of inversion without the advanced yoga skills required to do an unassisted inversion pose such as a headstand. One could probably use it for many of the same strength training exercises done on Power Rings and the Lifeline Jungle Gym. The inventor demonstrates some other fun applications (besides yoga inversion and strength training) in various videos on the site. What makes the OmGym green is the use of recycled materials.

ReDirect Guide is a sustainable business/lifestyle guide for 3 metro regions that also offers a credit card that funds carbon offsets with every purchase, obtains discounts from green businesses, and funds community banking.

Demilec manufactures green spray foam insulation products, including Sealection 500 insulation which has a 50 STC rating for sound proofing - looks like a great combination with two layers of sheetrock on each side (see the book Home Recording Studio Build it Like the Pros by Rod Gervais).

YouRenew.com takes unwanted electronic products such as old cell phones and will pay for some of them, unlike municipal electronic recycling programs which offer no chance at all for monetary reimbursement.

Crude is a documentary about the exploitation of the Amazon jungle region of Ecuador by Texaco-Chevron. I suppose I have a lurid fascination for this sort of film. It opens in DC at the E Street Cinema next week, for a one-week run. No, Michael Moore is not involved.

Tapped is a documentary about the bottled water industry. It explained why my previous employer abandoned the distribution of bottled water in favor of reusable canteens and filtered water dispensers. No, Michael Moore is not involved.

STEVE COLEMAN ON CHARLIE PARKER

2009-09-24T13:51:00.002-04:00

Steve Coleman is a saxophonist/composer who is one of the more innovative composers in jazz. Here is an incredibly detailed analysis of Charlie Parker's work by Coleman.

STEVE COLEMAN ON CHARLIE PARKER

Socially Responsible Investing for regular folks

2009-09-22T17:22:00.005-04:00

My first encounter with socially responsible investing was with the Calvert, Domini, and Neuberger Berman socially responsive funds that I found in my employer's 401k plan. Contributing to a better world appealed to me, so I added them to my 401k portfolio.

As the recession deepened, I saw rates for saving accounts and CDs drop to pitiful levels. As of September 23,2009, the average CD rate was 1.751%. Of course, saving account rates are lower than that. Then I found MicroPlace. MicroPlace is an online broker-dealer that allows regular folks to make investments in the microfinance industry. I found MicroPlace while checking out the Oikocredit website, which mentions MicroPlace as a way for investors to invest in Oikocredit. I can choose an investment with only $20 minimum. For example, one investment I selected was "Advance social change in Nicaragua", which will be repaid in 2013, at a rate of 6% a year. As of September 23,2009, the average rate for a 4-year CD was 2.5%, according to bankrate.com. Granted, I invested only $30, but the difference in rate is pretty dramatic, as you can see. Today, I noticed there is now a "special liquidity" investment offered at MicroPlace by Oikocredit - unlike all the others, this one is practically a savings account - you can take your money out anytime. My monthly budget for savings/investment is pretty small, so MicroPlace is a great fit for me - the investments available through it pay better than savings accounts and CDs, and the investments benefit poor folks who need it.

More socially responsible investment options I've found for low budget investors:

FTSE KLD 400 Social Index Fund and FTSE KLD Select Social Index Fund at iShares.com. These are ETFs (Exchange Traded Fund) rather than mutual funds. The iShares site has a good little tutorial explaining the differences between their ETFs and regular mutual funds. Unlike the mutual funds I've found, these two ETFs do not have a minimum investment requirement. If I read their prospectuses correctly, I could theoretically start investing in them for just a few bucks, plus whatever the broker charges for a transaction if I'm using a broker (TradeKing for example charges $4.95 per trade.

Pax World Mutual Funds. Just about every mutual fund of theirs has a $250 minimum investment, with $50 minimum for subsequent investments. Many mutual funds have a minimum investment of $2000 or more, with a minimum of as much as $250 per additional investment. Every single Pax World mutual fund that I found has socially responsible goals. I saw on Google that Pax World filed to open up its own socially responsible ETF offerings too, but I guess that's still in the works.

Artillery 2 Effects software

2009-09-21T09:46:00.003-04:00

Interesting approach to the use of effects as an instrument, by Sugar Bytes:

The Artillery concept is as simple as effective: Effects are assigned to keyzones and can be triggered with MIDI notes in an intuitive and extremely flexible way. This way you are able to perform hair-raising sequences, and playfully put the effects you want in the places you want, whenever you want.

Jazz Anatomy by Mimi Fox (free jazz guitar lessons)

2009-09-17T17:23:00.002-04:00

Pretty nice set of free lessons on jazz guitar by Mimi Fox. She introduces the viewer to jazz guitar via the blues, which I think works for guitarists coming out of rock.

Jazz Anatomy

Geoffrey Keezer's Jazz Piano video clips

2009-09-17T17:03:00.001-04:00

Just found this cool collection of jazz piano licks in short video format.

Evening Star Cafe

2009-09-17T17:01:00.001-04:00

Just starting to catalog Washington DC area jazz lounges as I find them....

Evening Star Cafe

Two informative articles on credit scores

2009-09-11T10:12:00.002-04:00

For most people, a good credit score can save tons of money on home and car loans - like several hundreds of dollars a month off your mortgage payment. Here are a couple of good articles that you may find useful in your quest for a good credit score:

Credit Scores: What You Need to Know Now (Wall Street Journal)

Myths of credit (Andy Jolls)

Trogotronic Noise Synths, Effects, and Controllers

2009-09-08T11:13:00.002-04:00

Trogotronic makes synths and processors for noise in both tabletop and pedal formats, which is unusual for a builder.

They also make interesting controllers for audio and control voltage (CV), also in tabletop and footpedal formats. The audio signal routing controllers range from familiar A/B switchers to a joystick-controlled audio mixer/router. The CV controllers should be of interest to anyone who has CV compatible gear such as Moogerfooger pedals.

Harmony Central thread on Japanese Music

2009-09-01T18:37:00.003-04:00

There's a huge thread on Harmony Central about Japanese music artists - mostly rock/pop, some noise, chock full of embedded Youtube clips. Some I'm familiar with - such as Green Milk From Planet Orange and Ruins.

Check it here.

Pedals and other tools by This1smyne

2009-08-31T15:51:00.002-04:00

This1smyne makes signal routing pedals and other useful tools. Examples:

Mini Expression Pedal (with a big knob you turn with your foot):

Flip Flop - reverses the order of two pedals with a switch:

Pedals with extra switches for Eventide effects pedals:

Dr FREAKENSTEIN FUZZ (and Igor)

2009-08-31T10:04:00.002-04:00

I like the design of this fuzz pedal, which has a stylized switch that you must reach down and throw, just like Dr. Frankenstein throwing the big switch to bring his monster to life. It comes with a little expression pad named "Igor". More info at Rainger FX's site.

TapCritic

2009-08-28T17:07:00.002-04:00

As a new iPhone owner (got my 3GS recently), I'm on the lookout for iPhone app review sites and blogs. I found this one via a review of a storyboarding app that was posted elsehere.

TapCritic blog

Intua BeatMaker

2009-08-21T15:43:00.002-04:00

BeatMaker is a music creation app for iPhone inspired by hardware beatboxes (such as the Akai MPC- series), loop samplers and software sequencers. Like the Akai MPC- series beatboxes, it is a sample-playing instrument designed for quick creation of beats, songs, and remixes.

Noise.io iPhone Synth

2009-08-20T10:42:00.000-04:00

Noise.io was one of the first iPhone apps that I heard of that relied on realtime synthesis rather than sample playback for its sounds. I'm not sure how it compares with more recent iPhone softsynths such as Jasuto, SunVox, and bleep!Box, but I'll probably end up getting all of them eventually.

OHNOHO Pedals

2009-08-18T17:19:00.002-04:00

OHNOHO makes a couple of unique effects pedals - the Chk Chk Boom and the Utter Stutter. From the website:

The CHK CHK BOOM works by feeding your effects loop input to it’s output. The amount of feedback is controlled by a pot with a real vintage chicken head knob.

The CHK CHK BOOM has a momentary switch so it’s only on when your foot is on it. This is a good thing because its perfect for short blasts of crazy noise mixed into other melodic content. It’s also great when you’re playing through a delay and you want the delay to swell and feedback with out bending down to twist a knob.

Like CHK CHK BOOM, Utter Stutter creates a timed feedback loop feeding your effects output to it’s input. What’s new here is you can set the oscillation rate of feedback like a tremolo pedal. This opens a whole world of possibilities to time your aural modulation to what ever tempo your working with.

Check out the site for more info and demo videos.

Cool Music Blog Alert - So Much Sound

2009-08-18T10:04:00.002-04:00

So Much Sound is a new blog by NYC-based professional musician Sean Driscoll. I first became aware of this blog when Sean posted his transcription of Drew Zingg's solo over Steely Dan's classic "Peg". He's put up a lot of high quality info - mostly about jazz improvisation - in a short time already.

Expert Sleepers' Silent Way

2009-08-17T10:22:00.004-04:00

Silent Way is a suite of plug-ins designed for use as part of a modular analogue synthesiser system. In other words, these plug-ins let your computer interact with your analog synths via any audio interface with DC-coupled outputs. Thus you can have your favorite DAW (eg. Digital Performer, Sonar, etc.) send control voltage to your analog synths. I'm sure there are other interesting applications

Silent Way sounds a lot like MOTU's Volta, except there's OSC support and a significant price difference.

Steel Guitar Black Box

2009-08-17T09:29:00.002-04:00

The Steel Guitar Black Box is a true, audiophile quality, vacuum tube pickup driver (buffer/impedance matcher) especially designed for enhancing the tone of steel guitar pickups, yet has proven to be equally effective with acoustic instrument pickups, electric bass & guitar pickups, electronic keyboards and drum machines, and much more.

Keith Jarrett Interview at Jazz.com

2009-08-13T09:16:00.001-04:00

In conversation with keith jarrett

I would say the 'cleverness' syndrome has taken the place of melody. It’s like everyone has come down with this terrible disease in jazz. First of all you are always expected to do your own material, which is a strange thing to do if you’re a poor composer but a great player. If you are a great player and luckily you know what great melody is about things can happen that can’t happen otherwise.

5 Sliding Content Techniques, Examples & jQuery How to’s

2009-08-12T11:12:00.002-04:00

Excerpt:

The more intuitive layout structure is designed, the better users can understand the content. Whatever content you have to present, you can present them in a more interactive & more responsive ways.

Today we would like to focus on sliding effects and how i can change the structure of a page in a truly unique and creative way

5 Sliding Content Techniques, Examples & jQuery How to’s

Harmonic Capo

2009-08-11T16:14:00.002-04:00

A normal guitar capo is designed to act like an extra finger, holding down the strings between frets at a spot on the fretboard that you select. A Harmonic Capo instead lightly touches the strings so that you get the harmonics when you pluck notes above it.

Here is a demo:

It's available at the Weaseltrap site.

Five Things That Will Kill Your Site

2009-08-11T09:58:00.002-04:00

I've run into just about all the items listed. Archiving this Carsonified article for future reference.

Ampeg J-20 Guitar Amp Mods

2009-08-11T09:53:00.002-04:00

The Ampeg J-20 Guitar Amp was recently blown out for $299 each, so I picked one up. The amp seems to be fine enough to me, based on what little playing I've done through it so far. Amp modifications (mods) are part of the tradition for amp enthusiasts, so in case anyone got a J-20 and is looking for ideas for mods, check out this thread on The Gear Page.

Korg M3 Instructional Videos on Youtube

2009-08-11T09:42:00.003-04:00

I own a Korg M3, a synthesizer workstation. The difference between a synthesizer and a synth workstation is that the latter has features for writing an entire song, often with the capability to record samples. I confess I have yet to explore my M3's sequencer in earnest, as I'm used to simply recording audio into multi-track recorders. Still, it's great to see Korg post these instructional videos on using the sequencer. I don't know how many they intend to post, but here are the first two:

EHX HOG - Nice Freeze-Gliss demo

2009-08-05T14:17:00.002-04:00

The Electro-Harmonix Harmonic Octave Generator (HOG) is a pitch-shifting effects pedal that can produce synthesizer-like sounds. It is one of the few pitch-shifting pedals that sound great with chords - most pedals of this type struggle when more than one note is played simultaneously. The HOG has several modes of operation. One that I admittedly do not use much is the Freeze-Gliss mode, because I found it a bit tricky to control. With the expression pedal all the way down, the HOG will "freeze" whatever is being played. After the expression pedal is raised, the HOG will "slide" from the frozen notes to the currently played notes, at a rate determined by the current position of the expression pedal.

Harmony Central forumite "Loobs" does a nice demo of the HOG's Freeze-Gliss mode here:

Loobs said the Spectral Gate toggle was on, and the expression pedal was set half-way.

Lokua Kanza

2009-08-04T17:37:00.001-04:00

Lokua Kanza (born April 1958) is a singer, songwriter, and composer from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He is known for his soulful, folksy sound, which is atypical of the dancefloor friendly soukous music that is common in the Congo.

Bop Rock with Mike Stern

2009-07-28T09:49:00.002-04:00

Bop Rock with Mike Stern

On a recent pit stop home between a date in Honduras and a tour of Japan, Stern squeezed in a private lesson exclusively for Guitar Edge, offering insight into some of his concepts for playing “out,” for playing horn lines on the guitar, for improvising with triads, and for developing monster chops.

Reader's Digest: 10 Ways To Save Money on Home Improvement

2009-07-28T09:29:00.001-04:00

Reader's Digest: 10 Ways To Save Money on Home Improvement

Compressor for Funk Guitar

2009-07-20T10:03:00.003-04:00

A compressor is a type of effect that has always had some controversy in the world of guitar players. Those who refuse to use a compressor fear it will rob them of their dynamics. I was one of them. Then I was pointed to this excellent demo, which does a great job of explaining how a compressor can be useful for funk guitar playing.

A tip posted to the discussion thread where I saw this video:

-First, set the Ratio to 2:1, ie: very moderate compression, and set the Knee to Soft.
-Set the Release according to the music, ie: funky rhythms - set it to a faster Release (shorter time), so it doesn't hold on to the notes very long and detract from the quick playing style.
-For long sustained soloing, set it slower (longer time) to hold on to the notes for more sustain.
-You can then adjust the Attack to taste, also according to the type of playing.
-Set the Attack to a medium level to start, ie: not too fast or slow, and adjust it as you're playing until it sounds right/good for the style.
-Then you can play with the Ratio again to hear how higer/lower settings affect what you're playing.
-After a few times doing this, it will be easy and fast to find the sweet spots for each setting.

Cherokee - performed by Makovicz, Woods, Juris, etc.

2009-06-23T10:30:00.003-04:00

Charlie Parker's classic tune "Cherokee" is one of the benchmark tunes for jazz musicians - if you call yourself a jazz musician, you should be able to play this tune, at the typical tempo (pretty darn fast). This is the first time I heard of Polish jazz pianist Dave Makovicz, but he's obviously capable of hanging with this all-star band.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x14wqo_cherokee-dave-makovicz-phil-woods_music

New Directions Cello Festival 2009 - Friday Afternoon

2009-06-11T18:01:00.006-04:00

New Directions Cello Festival is an annual festival for cellists who want to learn from fairly well-known non-classical cellists and each other. I have nothing against classical music, but opportunities for cellists who study jazz, Celtic music, etc. from cellists who are established in those respective genres are quite limited. The positive experiences I had at the 2006 festival made me want to attend subsequent ones, but I had to wait until 2009 for my next chance. The format of the 2009 festival was very much like the 2006 one - one has a selection between 2-3 classes during the daytime, with lunch breaks, and concerts on Friday and Saturday nights to be followed by informal jam sessions.

Here are the classes I chose for Friday Afternoon:

Free Improvisation
Instructor: Joel Cohen

I unfortunately botched up my recording of this class. My Tascam DP-004 apparently has to "backup" the song from the DP-004's MTR partition on the SD card to the FAT partition. It took forever to backup the recording of this class. I think it's because I totally maxed out the card quickly by recording two tracks at once. Silly oversight on my part to not get a 16GB SD card - I used the pathetically tiny 1GB card that came with it. What I recall of this class was being given simple parameters with which to improvise - usually a tonal center like C or G, a rhythm, and a parameter specific to one's group (class was divided into groups at some point). So the improvisation wasn't 100% "free" as Derek Bailey would call it, but there was still a lot to room to try ideas.

Shetland Tune
Instructor: Abby Newton

The class was pretty much devoted to one tune from the Shetland region of Scotland. I was painfully reminded of how slow I am in picking up a new song completely by ear. I had the same problem when I took a class taught by Natalie Haas, another cellist specializing in Scottish music. Still, it was interesting to get a taste of Shetland bowing, which seems to be playing more notes with a down-bow and using the up-bow to accent a particular note. Because my DP-004's SD card was full, I couldn't record a second of this class.

Flying Pizzicato I
Instructor: Stephen Katz

This class introduced Katz's Flying Pizzicato technique for cello. A demo of this technique is here:

Katz is a virtuoso with this technique, which lends itself well to music with a strong rhythmic drive.

Cello Big Band
Director: Joel Cohen

This wasn't really a class, although I personally learned a lot by partipating. Part of NDCF tradition, apparently, is that cellists take time to prepare several pieces for the final concert on Sunday afternoon. Usually some cellists out of the group volunteer to improvise solos where the pieces call for it. I tried to participate back in NDCF 2006, but my sight reading was even worse then than it was as of June 2009. This is where my lack of true classical cello training might be a liability. Anyway, I gained quite a bit of confidence by being a part of Cello Big Band this time around.

I'll continue my NDCF 2009 reporting in a later post.

Lee Konitz on Jazz Improvisation

2009-06-01T10:46:00.003-04:00

Check out this jazz great's short but sweet interview, in which he offers some insight and opinions on the study and practice of jazz tones.

Moog Voyager Operating System 3.4 and the Touch Surface

2009-06-01T10:19:00.003-04:00

I'm embarrassed to admit I just found out that Moog Music released Version 3.4 of the Minimoog Voyager Operating System quite a while back. The Moog Music site highlights these features of Version 3.4:

- Individual Local ON/OFF assignments for the Keyboard, Pitch and Mod Wheels, Aftertouch, Touch Surface, Pots and Switches.

- Elimination of parameter stepping when multiple pots are adjusted at the same time

- LFO Sample & Hold capability for the Touch Surface, plus four selectable Amounts
(OFF, 25%, 50%, 100%) for the X, Y and A axis.

- Global Reset of selected parameters (Category, Pitch Bend, and Pedal Amount)

The Minimoog Voyager is a direct descendant of the Minimoog synths made famous by the Beatles, rap artists, Keith Emerson, Jan Hammer, Chick Corea etc. - typically for searing leads and bass lines. I actually don't use it that way at all with our band Phonic Riot - for us it's more of a noise machine. I use the Touch Surface a lot for at least Phonic Riot's "Woodsong" . I searched for other Voyager owners' experiences on the V3.4 software update and came across mention a zipper-noise issue with the Touch Surface. So this post is mainly for future reference, in case I encounter the zipper-noise issues with the heavily Touch Surface-dependent patch I use for "Woodsong" after installing the update.

Moog Music Forum Thread on the Voyager OS 3.4 update.

Two reports from users on the forums (excerpt):

Right now these sounds (at least here on my Voyager) default on using the new Touch Surface LFO S&H function on all sounds. So all sounds get now a somewhat zipper noise like sound effect when playing the Touch Surface. I had to reprogram my sounds to set the new Touch Surface LFO S&H to "off" on all four Touch Surface destinations. This also include the factory sounds.

I just installed the new 3.4 OS upgrade and now all my patches have the zippering sound whenever I use the touch pad. I had many patches where the touch pad was used to swell the note as I went left to right, and now it zippers instead of responding smoothly. Have I missed something?

Billshrink

2009-05-21T09:58:00.002-04:00

I found out about Billshrink, an independent recommendation service, via an article about T-Mobile inviting current and potential customers to use Billshrink to compare cell phone plans. Billshrink currently does recommendations for cell phone plans, credit cards, and gas stations along your daily commute route (if you drive to work).

I just tried the Gas Advisor and it looks useful. However, the list of recommended gas stations were all stations along a route I actually don't use to drive to work, because of the traffic. Still, it's got potential.

Ray Charles Turnaround Lick for Guitar

2009-05-19T18:30:00.002-04:00

I admit, I haven't worked very much on turnaround licks, but this one looks and sounds cool enough to learn. Thanks to Arlen Roth for this lesson.

Piano Lesson Excerpt: The Impact of Key Speed on Soft Playing

2009-05-19T18:15:00.000-04:00

Vietnamese Street Guitar

2009-05-19T13:16:00.002-04:00

Electric guitar jammin' on the street, Vietnamese style:

Quite fitting, considering the Vietnamese most likely invented the world's first whammy bar.

Controlling Analog Synths from Software

2009-05-14T13:34:00.002-04:00

Most analog synthesizers and some effects processors, eg. the Moogerfooger pedals, can be controlled by voltage. Such devices have "control voltage" ("CV" for short) inputs. MOTU has released a software product called Volta which can send CV signals, allowing for more convenient integration with a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) such as Pro Tools, Logic, Sonar, Cubase, etc. It requires an audio interface with DC-coupled outputs such as MOTU's own audio interface products. I'm not sure if Volta can also receive control voltage.

If you have Cycling 74's Max, you could try implementing something similar in Max. This discussion thread has more information.

HacDC

2009-05-12T17:43:00.001-04:00

HacDC is a hacker space located in Washington, DC...

Latcho Drom

2009-04-22T12:39:00.002-04:00

From http://www.rambles.net/latcho_drom94.html:

They are called Gypsy, Romany, Rom, Tsigane, Bohemian, Gitano and are known by other names as well. They live primarily in Eurasia where they have wandered and engaged in specific trades for centuries, if not millennia. They constitute a large underclass in European countries like Romania and Slovakia, the poorest of the poor.

They also produce music that is among the finest in the world, that has strongly influenced the European classics and jazz, and that is an intrinsic part of their culture.

Tony Gatlif's 103-minute 1993 film Latcho Drom (Safe Journey) is a homage to the music of the Rom people from Rajastan, India, where the journey begins, to Egypt, Turkey, into Romania, Hungary and Slovakia, and finally into France and Spain.

Unfortunately, the DVD seems to have been discontinued. Fortunately, somebody uploaded the movie. Start at the linked page below and follow the links to the rest of the film:

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x47tom_latcho-drom-part-1_music

Turn your iPod Touch into an iPhone (almost)

2009-04-10T11:07:00.003-04:00

I'll probably get an iPhone when the next model is released. But some folks simply want to run the cool iPhone apps without getting stuck with a phone company contract, hence the appeal of the iPod Touch. This article introduces iPod Touch owners to Voice Over IP ("VoIP") and SMS software for the iPod Touch. With VoIP software, one can have phone conversations over the Internet without need of a phone company.

The article touches on a disadvantage of this approach, in that you need to be at a WiFi hotspot. Still, a cheap cell phone and iPod Touch might be an attractive alternative to an iPhone for some folks.

Creative Rhythmic Concepts for Jazz Improvisation

2009-02-23T09:43:00.002-05:00

Interesting book by Irish jazz musician Ronan Guilfoyle:

This publication is the first of its kind to clearly explain the most recent developments in jazz rhythmic techniques. Intended for use by all instruments, it explains clearly how to go about developing and exploring one's rhythmic technique and how to use these sophisticated techniques in a jazz context. Areas discussed include

Metric Modulation
Subdivision
Odd Metres
Bulgarian music
South Indian Tala system
Multiple subdivision
Polyrhythms
Odd meter polyrhythms
Odd meter modulation.

Each technique is clearly explained and clearly notated and the accompanying CD acts as both a demonstration of the various concepts, and as a playalong CD. There is a comprehensive listening list included in the book as well as 6 compositions that demonstrate the different techniques outlined in the book.

Check his website for more info

ZT Amplifiers Lunchbox

2009-01-30T12:46:00.002-05:00

I read about this compact amp in one of the many NAMM 2009 reports.

I currently use an Electro-Voice SXA 360 Powered Speaker and a Roland KC-350 for amplifying my processed guitar and synth signals. The same two amps are also used for the band's vocals. I'm thinking it would be nice to get more separation for just my guitar/synth rig from the vocal mix, without adding more bulk to what we have to stuff into my car. This looks like a viable solution.

http://www.ztamplifiers.com/lunchbox.html

Harp-like Harmonics Guitar Lesson

2009-01-14T11:31:00.002-05:00

The beautiful harp-like arpeggios utilizing harmonics, as played by the likes of Tuck Andress and others, have always been a mystery to me. I think this video might be helpful:

Crayon Physics Deluxe

2009-01-07T10:10:00.002-05:00

The goal of this game is to get the ball to the star, using crayons to draw items to move the ball. It's been out for the PC and was recently released for iPhone/iPod Touch.

SynthPond

2009-01-06T10:26:00.002-05:00

synthPond is a relaxing spatial sequencer and audio toy by conceptual new media artist Zach Gage.

Unlike a normal sequencer where you place notes on a grid and a moving playhead plays them, in synthPond you place nodes in a field (pond).

There are two major types of nodes.
-Circular nodes release waves at certain intervals.
-Hard-edged nodes release waves when waves hit them

Moving these nodes about allows you to create complex and relaxing melodies.

ABC News: Five Best Work-From-Home Jobs

2009-01-06T10:05:00.000-05:00

Five Best Work-From-Home Jobs

RjDj

2009-01-02T09:41:00.002-05:00

RjDj is a music application for the Iphone. It uses sensory input to generate and control the music you are listening to.

Here's a demo video:

Which food is not worth buying organic, and which is

2008-08-28T09:07:00.001-04:00

Is 'Organic' Worth It?

How Quit A Day Job

2008-08-26T16:56:00.002-04:00

A professional blogger's story of how she quit her day job to pursue her passions.

I'm not even thinking of quitting my day job now or within the next 2 years, actually. But I'm fascinated by this type of story.

Tips for reducing tension in seconds

2008-08-21T18:14:00.000-04:00

Learn the Art of Self-Massage

A couple of good roundup articles on green countertops

2008-08-21T15:27:00.006-04:00

One decision I've been putting off on the upcoming kitchen remodeling project is which countertop to use. Anyone who has been following this blog (yes, all 2-4 of you) knows I've been looking for something environmentally friendly.

The Kitchen Designer - Green Kitchen Countertops

New York House Magazine - The best in green kitchen countertops

I was initially leaning towards recycled glass such as IceStone... until I found out recycled glass countertops cost just as much as granite (which, though popular, is not considered environmentally friendly due to quarrying practices). I'm probably going to get PaperStone Certified, which is made from 100% post-consumer standard office paper.

One Block Off The Grid program

2008-08-21T10:59:00.002-04:00

One Block Off The Grid is a group "on a mission to make solar accessible at a fraction of the cost, one city at a time".

Solar power is notoriously expensive, typically costing about $20,000 US per home. Should I wait for Ikea to start selling affordable solar panels, or sign up with One Block Off The Grid?

I'd love to get my house off the grid, or at least generate so much electricity via solar power that the electric company would have to pay me.

13 Magnificent Renewable Energy Successes and Failures

2008-08-21T10:43:00.000-04:00

13 Magnificent Renewable Energy Successes and Failures

Making a To-Do List in Gmail

2008-08-21T10:07:00.002-04:00

I'm very new to Gmail. Ok, I actually had my account for nearly 2 years but only started using it more regularly a couple of weeks ago. This article and previous ones in what appears to be a series on Gmail Labs look useful to me.

Lifehacker's Gmail To-Do List

Korg DS-10

2008-08-11T10:42:00.003-04:00

I originally bought my Nintendo DS Lite to play Electroplankton. Sadly, my Electroplankton era came to an ignoble end, thanks to losing my DS Lite case which had the Electroplankton cartridge and 5 or so other cartridges (the other two "games" I'm unhappy about losing are My French Coach and Brain Age 2). Electroplankton was more of a multimedia art piece than music software, though one could improvise a musical performance with it.

Korg DS-10 is a new cartridge for the DS that will probably bring an end to my cryinga moping over my losses. It is a true synthesizer-on-a-card which I understand was inspired by Korg's MS-10 analog synth. I anticipate having lots of fun composing beats and other song parts on my commuting rides. An interview with the DS-10 developer sheds more light on this much-anticipated product.

25 Tips to Make Your Apartment an Eco Friendly, Sustainable, Green Paradise

2008-08-11T10:34:00.002-04:00

I still like my Green Remodeling For Dummies book, but this article contains several tips not in the book...

25 Tips to Make Your Apartment an Eco Friendly, Sustainable, Green Paradise!

Pen Zen: Bring Clarity to Writing

2008-08-11T10:32:00.001-04:00

I could obviously use the advice in this article...

Pen Zen: Bring Clarity to Writing

Travel Photography Tips

2008-08-11T09:26:00.002-04:00

I love to snap photos as much as the next traveler. I realize I haven't shown this much in this blog, partially because I've been so behind in uploading pics to various sites. I used Shutterfly for several years, and lately have started using Flickr, which has more up-to-date features, but restricts uploads to 100MB a month.

Anyhoo... this article appears to have some useful tips for travel photography. Hopefully I'll have the photos from my trips to the Philippines, Hong Kong, and Chicago online by the end of the year.

The A-B-C-D-E of Travel Photography

15 (More) Future Wonders of Green Technology: From Spinning Towers to Seawater Greenhouses

2008-08-08T23:33:00.002-04:00

As a casual fan of both architecture and science fiction, I enjoy looking at pics of futuristic buildings, even more so if they're "green". Maybe you will too...

15 (More) Future Wonders of Green Technology: From Spinning Towers to Seawater Greenhouses

Russian cartoon based on Bradbury

2008-08-08T11:04:00.001-04:00

Check out this 9-minute animation based on "There will come soft rains" by the great science fiction author Ray Bradbury:

Alan Watts on Life & Music (with Animation)

2008-07-28T15:56:00.003-04:00

Cute, funny, and thought-provoking animated short, with audio from an Alan Watts lecture how we tend to treat music in our lives (or perhaps more accurately, how we tend to put it off). Produced by Trey Parker and Matt Stone of South Park fame.

Life & Music

31 Simple Ways to Prevent Cancer

2008-07-28T15:18:00.000-04:00

31 Simple Ways to Prevent Cancer

34 Uses for Lemons

2008-06-26T09:19:00.001-04:00

Discover this popular fruit's 34 clever uses

60 Second Guide To Short Term Savings

2008-06-18T10:28:00.002-04:00

60-Second Guide to Short-Term Savings

The Eco-Friendly Mega-City of the Future

2008-06-16T10:16:00.002-04:00

This is a very nicely done presentation of the environmentally-friendly city of the future. With fast-rising oil prices, there seems to be more interest than ever in alternative energy sources. You'll need a tiny bit of extra patience as you have to click "Continue" three times or so, but it's worth it:

Popular Science's Plan for Tomorrow's Mega-City

Frugal Beginners Guide To Green

2008-06-12T10:30:00.002-04:00

I recently bought a house and I've been researching environmentally-friendly ideas for renovating my home. My primary source of information has been this book:

Here's a nice introductory article for "green" living and the financial benefits:

Go Green And Save Green: Beginner's Guide

In this guide, you’ll find out how to spend less than $1,200 to save over $8,000 over the course of 5 years. Here are suggestions of free or low cost things you can do to help you go green and save green.

Scientific American: How to Unleash Your Creativity

2008-05-30T09:03:00.001-04:00

How to Unleash Your Creativity

Top 10 Things You Forgot Your Mac Can Do

2008-05-19T09:18:00.000-04:00

Top 10 Things You Forgot Your Mac Can Do

Victor Wooten performing "Amazing Grace"

2008-04-28T10:21:00.000-04:00

Arranged for solo bass guitar...

Guitar Harmonics Lesson - Tommy Emmanuel

2008-04-28T10:17:00.002-04:00

An 11-year-old guitarist

2008-04-08T16:04:00.001-04:00

...who plays better than most adults:

Dick Moore's Interval Practice Routine

2008-04-01T11:51:00.002-04:00

This is the practice routine we learned from F. Richard Moore, a professor at University of California, San Diego:

1. Pick a starting note. For the purpose of this article, the starting note is C. You may use an instrument to provide the starting note only. Do not use an instrument for the rest of the exercise

2. Sing a minor 2nd up, then back down, using the note names then the number of half steps in the interval, for example:

C Db C
Minor second one

3. Repeat #2 above for the following intervals: major 2nd, minor 3rd, perfect 4th, augmented 4th/diminished 5th (depending on the enharmonic spelling you're using), perfect 5th, minor 6th, major 6th, minor 7th, major 7th, octave. For example, when you get to the minor 7th:

C Bb C
Minor 7th ten

4. After you have done #2 and #3 above for the octave, reset your starting note to the octave above your original starting note. For example, your new starting note is the octave C above the original C.

5. Sing a minor 2nd interval down, using the note names and the number of half steps in the interval. For example:

C B C
Minor second 1

6. Repeat #5 above for major 2nd, minor 3rd, perfect 4th, augmented 4th/diminished 5th (depending on the enharmonic spelling you're using), perfect 5th, minor 6th, major 6th, minor 7th, major 7th, octave.

Vary your starting notes from session to session. Start from Bb, A, F#, etc. Avoid using "pet" starting notes.

Give an Old Laptop New Life with Cheap (or Free) Projects

2008-02-25T11:25:00.002-05:00

Give an Old Laptop New Life with Cheap (or Free) Projects

I have a Mac iBook which is getting a bit long in the tooth, by computer standards. I'm sort of bookmarking this article for ideas on extending the life of my (mostly) trusty Mac laptop...

And a related article of interest:

14 Best Ways to Use Your Computer’s Spare Time

The Business Of Jazz,

2008-02-12T18:02:00.000-05:00

...posted by a member of The Bad Plus

Pat Metheny and Joe Diorio - Blues In The Closet

2008-02-12T14:20:00.000-05:00

Nice pairing of one of my favorite jazz guitarists with one of the great jazz guitar educators (who isn't a bad player himself!)

McNiel Lesson on Hybrid Picking (with video)

2008-02-11T13:36:00.000-05:00

I work a lot with the Hybrid Picking For Guitar book and highly recommend it. That said, it's nice to see another take on the technique, particularly with video demos.

McNiel Lesson on Hybrid Picking (with video)

Stanley Clarke, Upright Bass Virtuoso

2007-11-15T10:37:00.000-05:00

Mr. Clarke going nuts with flamenco and slap bass licks on the upright acoustic bass:

A practice idea for developing jazz improvisational skills

2007-10-01T09:14:00.000-04:00

I've recently started pursuing a practice idea for developing the ability to improvise over a jazz tune. When I take a solo, I have a tendency to rely too much on muscle memory and the layout of the instrument. I want the solo to be created by my imagination rather than mindless movement of the fingers. Here is the idea:

1. Listen to lots of jazz, especially recordings of jazz musicians playing the tune you are specifically working on.

2. Memorize the melody and chords to the tune.

3. While away from your instrument(s), mentally practice soloing over the tune - imagine your instrument playing the notes with an imaginary rhythm section playing the chords for you.

4. When you have your instrument at hand, do this:

a. Make up a melody for a 1-3 measure chunk of the tune in your head, without playing your instrument.

b. Play the melody you made up in 4a. above on your instrument.

c. Repeat 4a. and 4b. until you're done with the tune.

The purpose of this practice is to develop the ability to compose a solo on the fly - ie. improvise. By composing short phrases at a time, the task seems less daunting.
As a demonstration of this practice idea, I recorded myself doing Step 4 above for the tune Blue Bossa, with a backing part courtesy of Band In A Box. I recorded two guitar parts, panned right and left in the stereo field, so that you can hear the two guitars taking turns playing phrases that I composed on the spot.

Some of the phrases required several practice repetitions and re-recording. This is because I can compose a phrase in my head that does not match anything I've ever practiced on guitar before, and sometimes this phrase does not fit neatly under the fingers. Thus it took me about an hour to record this one-minute track. The aim was not to be perfect - let alone impress anybody - but simply to capture the main gist of the melody I spontaneously composed for Blue Bossa. The other reason I did not clean up all my mistakes on this recording was to document my starting point as I journey down the road of jazz discovery - I can't claim progress without showing where I started.

My September 30,2007 solo over Blue Bossa is now up on my MySpace page.

Ear training Practice for Parallel Modality

2007-08-06T09:19:00.000-04:00

Dave Woods just posted this to the jazz guitar group. Enjoy!

Ear training Practice for Parallel Modality

On your guitar using the open A string as a common Tonal Center, play this

---0------
---10----
---8-----
---7----
---0---
---X---
This will play an A Tonal Center on the open 5th str., and the open E on the
1st. string will sound the perfect 5th. These set up an A Tonal Center drone on
the Guitar. The fretted notes give you A D# A, and against the A Tonal Center,
it sounds the Key Tritone of A Major Lydian Key of E.
(A) B C# (D#) E F# G# (A). Strum the guitar, play it with the open A,
open E Tritone drone, and sing the Mode. Then sing The Mode in your mind only,
as you play the drone. You will be hearing the Key Tritone against the Tonal
Center. Nothing cements the feeling of a Mode in your consciousness better than
this.

Next, on your guitar using the open A string as a common Tonal Center, drop
the fretted notes down one fret.

---0------
---9----
---7-----
---6----
---0---
---X---
This will play an A Tonal Center on the 5th str., and the open E on the 1st.
string will sound the perfect 5th. This sets up an A Tonal Center The fretted
notes give you A D# A, and it sounds the key Tritone of A Major Ionian (A) B
C# (D) E F# G# (A). Key of E.
Strum the guitar, play it as a tonal drone, and sing the Mode against the
drone. Then sing it in your mind only, as you play the drone. D# is lowered to
D. This gives a feeling of loss of tension.

Next, move the fretted notes down another fret.
---0------
---8----
---6-----
---5----
---0---
---X---
The fretted notes give you G C# G, and it sounds the Key Tritone of A
Mixolydian Key of D
(A) B C# (D) E F# G (A). Strum the guitar, play it as a tonal
drone, and sing the Mode. Then sing it in your mind only, as you play the
drone. Here D# drops to D. Go back and forth till' you sense the drop. G# is
lowered to G.

Next, move the fretted notes down another fret.
---0------
---7----
---5-----
---4----
---0---
---X---
The fretted notes give you F# C F# , and it sounds the Key Tritone of
A Minor Dorian Key of G
(A) B C (D) E F# G (A). Strum the guitar, play the tonal drone,
and sing the Mode. Then sing it in your mind only, as you play the drone. Here
C# drops to C. Go back and forth till' you sense the drop.

Next, move the fretted notes down another fret.
---0------
---6----
---4-----
---3----
---0---
---X---
The fretted notes give you F B F , and it sounds the Key Tritone of A
Minor Aeolian Key of C
(A) B C (D) E F G (A). Strum the guitar, play the tonal drone,
and sing the Mode. Then sing it in your mind only, as you play the drone. Here
F# drops to F. Go back and forth till' you sense the drop.

Next, move the fretted notes down another fret.
---0------
---5----
---3-----
---2----
---0---
---X---
The fretted notes give you F Bb F , and it sounds the Key Tritone of
A Minor Phrygian Key of F
(A) Bb C (D) E F G (A). Strum the guitar, play the tonal
drone, and sing the Mode. Then sing it in your mind only, as you play the
drone. Here F# drops to F, and B lowers to Bb. Go back and forth Through the
Modes till' you sense the drop.

A lydian has the most tension, as you go down through the Modes from
A Lydian to A Phrygian, the tension keeps dropping. Keep listening, singing, and
singing in your head as you listen to the Modes against the Drone.. This is
great training for composers, but will be a revealation to jazzers as well.

Dave further elaborates:

The Parallel Modality exercise was invented for a very talented friend who
wanted to learn to hear Key and chord Changes better.
In parallel Modality the Tonal Center is fixed on a given tone and the keys
change in relation to it. As you go through it, you feel the lift and drop
within you as the Key Tritone changes in relation to the Tonal Center and notes
get raised and lowered. Lydian is the most tense and brilliant, and as you go
down the line, Phrygian is the least tense and an angry sad feeling.

I come from a composition background. Grant Fletcher was my teacher at Arizona
State University back in the 60's.
There, I learned a theory of modulation.

Starting from the Key of C, G is 1#, D is 2#'s, A is 3#'s, E is 4#'s B is 5#'s,
and F# is 6#'s. In Modulating from the Key of C, to keys with sharps, the
pitches (frequencies) of notes are being raised (getting faster). .

Starting from the Key of C, F is 1b, Bb is 2 b's, Eb is 3b's, Ab is 4b's, Db
is 5 b's, and Gb is 6 b's. Here, pitches (frequences) of notes are being
lowered (getting slower) Therefor, the body feels a drop in tension.
These effects are best felt when the key changes are heard within the same
octave register.
Gb and F# are enharmonically the same, and here the effect of a lift or drop of
frequenct cancels itself out. raising from C to 5 #'s, or lowering from C to
five b's is the limit of the effect.

In my opinion, such as it is, training your ear (inner feelings) to be sensitive
to key changes is the all important first step.
Whin I hear a Key change the new key opens up within me in all regesters from
high to low at once, and I can just dive in. We hear and sing inside, and that
is projected through the guitar.

Dave Woods www.jazzguitarstartingright.com

Physical Training Update

2007-07-31T17:40:00.000-04:00

My apologies to anyone who is still following this blog - I've been really slacking off on updating it.

In my quest to rehab my lower back, I noticed that the Yoga routine assigned to me by my last two teachers emphasized the core in some way. I discontinued Yoga lessons because of the need to create some time in my schedule for other things, but carried the idea of emphasizing core work to my regular exercise.

Monday's training, with Intuitive Training scores:

Circuit (done 5x):

Chinups x6, RPT=8, RPE=6, RPD=4
Power Wheel Hand Walk x10 forward and backwards, RPT=8, RPE=4, RPD=4
Power Wheel Leg Curl x5, RPT=6, RPE=5, RPD=3
Power Wheel Pike Up x10, RPT=8, RPE=4, RPD=4
Rest 3-5 min.

Finish with Chest Expander work to compensate for training effects on shoulder. I was experiencing left shoulder soreness from the above routine until I tried the Chest Expander exercises I'd used to rehab the same shoulder a couple of years ago.

This has been my exercise routine of late, with rep numbers increasing as Intuitive Training scores allow. As a very brief recap, if RPT (Rate of Perceived Technique) is 8 or greaters, RPE (Rate of Perceived Effort) is 3-4 or less, and RPD (Rate of Perceived Discomfort) is 4 or less, then it is time to increase exercise difficulty. Intuitive Training is of course from Scott Sonnon's Circular Strength Training system.

The Power Wheel came with an instructional DVD and a brief set of printed instructions, which differ from one another in what exercises are prescribed for each skill level, so I use elements from both the DVD and the printed manual.

I use Lifeline's Jungle Gym 2 as my chinup device. I do chinups to strengthen my back from the top side - so the entire back is covered. The chinup was also one of the few ways to strengthen my arms without negatively impacting my back.

I'll keep doing this routine until I can do 10 Power Wheel Leg Curls. I figure by then the lower back should be strong enough to handle a switchover to Clubbell training.