I imagine this will take some time, but I started accumulating parts for my next instrument build today - I got wood for the neck. I am going to build a combo instrument along the lines of a Novax guitar - 3 bass strings and 5 guitar strings on one instrument. I'm going to call it a batar I am probably biting off more than I can chew with regards to actually being able to play it, but I'm excited to start the build.
I'll have to find some stuff to sell so I can afford the electronics and hardware, I think I'm going to need to figure that out pretty quickly as it will dictate the neck dimensions to some degree.
This one will be completely from scratch and have fanned frets. I've never cut slots or fretted a neck before so this will be interesting!
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Music - the process of writing
Playing music is one of my passions in life, its a true escape. When I'm in the middle of a writing session or playing with the band, I am at peace. I know that sounds cliche, but its the only way I can think to describe it. In that moment nothing matters, everything is calm and I feel at peace with myself. There's no judgement, no thinking, just being. Just reading that back makes me want to gag, but I've re-written it three times and that seems to be the best way I can describe it.
The great thing about all this is I'm not a great musician, I think for the most part I'm barely passable, despite that mediocrity I love playing music. I will say that I have begun to really embrace the guitar in a way I have not in the past.
It is amazing how far recording equipment has come. I've had a recording studio in the basement for 25 years and what used to take thousands of dollars and a floor to ceiling rack of gear can now be done by a single piece of equipment a bit bigger than a laptop (the one I have is a 2488 Neo). The sound quality on this HDR is miles above any other kind of recorder I've had - the fact that it cost less than $500 is kind of incredible too.
I started playing with this current band about 4 years ago - we play mostly original songs and most of the ones I've brought are songs I wrote many years ago with various bands. I've had creative "spurts" in my life where songs were rolling out as quick as I could record them, but this last four years plus the three or so before it when I wasn't in a band have been a bit of a drought. Recently I've been making a bit more time to get in the studio to write and I feel like the creative streak is back. I've written 4 songs in the last 2 months.
Song writing is a very personal thing I guess. When I'm writing I try to not judge at all - I let things happen and see where they go. For reasons I don't understand at all the words usually go in a pretty dark direction. I am a very positive person so I don't know where this stuff comes from or why, I just let it happen. A lot of times the words are from an imaginary person's perspective, who is this guy and why does he hate life so much? I don't know.
So here's my latest creation, warts and all. I always consider these solo writing sessions as sort of rough drafts of the final songs, so there are always warts. Probably the biggest wart (besides my singing) is the use of a drum machine. I could spend time programming the thing so its not so 1, 2, 3, 4, but since this is a rough draft I'm willing to give up on a good drum track to keep the process moving.
The great thing about all this is I'm not a great musician, I think for the most part I'm barely passable, despite that mediocrity I love playing music. I will say that I have begun to really embrace the guitar in a way I have not in the past.
It is amazing how far recording equipment has come. I've had a recording studio in the basement for 25 years and what used to take thousands of dollars and a floor to ceiling rack of gear can now be done by a single piece of equipment a bit bigger than a laptop (the one I have is a 2488 Neo). The sound quality on this HDR is miles above any other kind of recorder I've had - the fact that it cost less than $500 is kind of incredible too.
I started playing with this current band about 4 years ago - we play mostly original songs and most of the ones I've brought are songs I wrote many years ago with various bands. I've had creative "spurts" in my life where songs were rolling out as quick as I could record them, but this last four years plus the three or so before it when I wasn't in a band have been a bit of a drought. Recently I've been making a bit more time to get in the studio to write and I feel like the creative streak is back. I've written 4 songs in the last 2 months.
Song writing is a very personal thing I guess. When I'm writing I try to not judge at all - I let things happen and see where they go. For reasons I don't understand at all the words usually go in a pretty dark direction. I am a very positive person so I don't know where this stuff comes from or why, I just let it happen. A lot of times the words are from an imaginary person's perspective, who is this guy and why does he hate life so much? I don't know.
So here's my latest creation, warts and all. I always consider these solo writing sessions as sort of rough drafts of the final songs, so there are always warts. Probably the biggest wart (besides my singing) is the use of a drum machine. I could spend time programming the thing so its not so 1, 2, 3, 4, but since this is a rough draft I'm willing to give up on a good drum track to keep the process moving.
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Weather so nice I had to do it twice
Dawn and I went out for a ride this afternoon - having extra light is definitely nice.
Longest road ride to date
Did another road ride with John today, at 37 miles its the longest road ride I've done so far. I'm learning about drafting, but have to learn to chill out. I did too many pulls for too long and went too hard. I was pretty much blown up by the end, good stuff. I'll get it eventually. It was a really great ride, lots of climbing, lots of descending.
Friday, March 8, 2013
Snow dump again
The weather dudes said 3", then they upped it to 6+, but we were just on the border of the 3/6+ line. We got 20"+ of heavy snow. That was quite a workout getting the driveway cleared. The really nice thing was Emily is home and Dawn didn't have to work, so the three of us did the driveway in about 2 hours - much easier than the 5+ it took me last time. I love the snow, I really do, but I've had about enough... bring on spring.
It was still snowing when I took this picture.
Emily manning the blower.
Our mushroom shot.
It was still snowing when I took this picture.
Emily manning the blower.
Our mushroom shot.
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Lunch loop
I got out for a nice crank on the road bike at lunch today. That is a nice way to spend an hour - felt great top to bottom even if I didn't do anything spectacular on segments. Most of the segments on this ride are practically private, but its still good to see how today's ride stacked up against others I've done in the past. If I haven't said it lately, I love that road bike, its so much fun. I say it so often because I can hardly believe it myself.
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Back in the US of A
I don't mind traveling for work, I really don't, but I guess I don't love it either. I spent the week in Paris, which to some would be an absolute dream. It was just ok for me. I've been to Paris 3 or 4 times before (all for work). I find it to be a dirty city, yeah parts of it are quaint and great desserts. Why don't people pick up their dog poop! Incredible! It was smeared all over the place - really not cool Parisians! I should say that when I travel for work it usually means long days (and nights) with customers, I rarely get even a few minutes to myself.
When I travel for work I try not to make a big deal out of being a vegetarian, and for the most part its pretty easy to find stuff to eat. There are places I've been where its a challenge - Houston and Atlanta are two places I can think of in the US. I am never one to push my ideals on someone else, I really don't care if you eat meat or not, I don't even want my vegetarianism to make you think about where we are going to eat. Its a choice I make only for myself, I hate it when it becomes an issue.
This is probably going to sound elitist or whatever, but I do think it says something about a city if the restaurants are veggie friendly. There's a distinction between a place that will create a veggie plate for you (i.e. removing the meat from a regular dish) and a place that actually HAS a vegetarian option on the menu. I just think there are enough of us vegetarians out there that a restaurant should have at least one option for us.
NYC, Washington DC, London, LA, San Fran and Melbourne have all been extremely easy to get veggie food in - in the UK most restaurants I went to had a little green V next to veggie options.
All this to say Paris is the worst place I've been to so far to get vegetarian food. My best meals were on the plane - that says something!
I get it, Parisians like meat, but it is a very international city and I really think they should have the options on the menu. While I choose to be a vegetarian, there was a guy in our group who was a vegetarian for religious reasons, I'm surprised an international city like Paris isn't more accommodating. In fact I was surprised at just how consistent menus were in Paris. I went to a big fancy restaurant with a view of the Eiffel Tower and a couple of smaller ones, the menus were pretty similar. I guess that's part of the charm of Paris that I don't get, its clinging to an old paradigm. Perhaps that's my ugly american side coming out, and I guess it is nice that they have a different culture, it just doesn't agree with mine :-D
Anyway, I got back last night, fighting jet lag today, but Dawn and I got out for a nice ride around Tolland, then I continued on and did a bit of a loop on my own. Nice 20 miles or so, even though Strava only caught the last ten minutes of the ride!
When I travel for work I try not to make a big deal out of being a vegetarian, and for the most part its pretty easy to find stuff to eat. There are places I've been where its a challenge - Houston and Atlanta are two places I can think of in the US. I am never one to push my ideals on someone else, I really don't care if you eat meat or not, I don't even want my vegetarianism to make you think about where we are going to eat. Its a choice I make only for myself, I hate it when it becomes an issue.
This is probably going to sound elitist or whatever, but I do think it says something about a city if the restaurants are veggie friendly. There's a distinction between a place that will create a veggie plate for you (i.e. removing the meat from a regular dish) and a place that actually HAS a vegetarian option on the menu. I just think there are enough of us vegetarians out there that a restaurant should have at least one option for us.
NYC, Washington DC, London, LA, San Fran and Melbourne have all been extremely easy to get veggie food in - in the UK most restaurants I went to had a little green V next to veggie options.
All this to say Paris is the worst place I've been to so far to get vegetarian food. My best meals were on the plane - that says something!
I get it, Parisians like meat, but it is a very international city and I really think they should have the options on the menu. While I choose to be a vegetarian, there was a guy in our group who was a vegetarian for religious reasons, I'm surprised an international city like Paris isn't more accommodating. In fact I was surprised at just how consistent menus were in Paris. I went to a big fancy restaurant with a view of the Eiffel Tower and a couple of smaller ones, the menus were pretty similar. I guess that's part of the charm of Paris that I don't get, its clinging to an old paradigm. Perhaps that's my ugly american side coming out, and I guess it is nice that they have a different culture, it just doesn't agree with mine :-D
Anyway, I got back last night, fighting jet lag today, but Dawn and I got out for a nice ride around Tolland, then I continued on and did a bit of a loop on my own. Nice 20 miles or so, even though Strava only caught the last ten minutes of the ride!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)