Author Topic: Do we have any musical people on DC? (Read 212625 times)

Edvard · « **Reply #125 on:** December 15, 2014, 09:33 PM »

I'm also observing that those who claim to hear things that I can't are also more *superstitious* than I am as well.
-superboyac (December 12, 2014, 05:07 PM)

At least you were polite enough not to mention their webbed feet.
-40hz (December 13, 2014, 08:05 PM)

hehe... Lately I've taken to omitting the tone control altogether, and swapping the volume for a 3-position switch with resistor networks for full-on, 77% (give or take...), and full-off because I've noticed that playing style and amplifier choice have more to do with tone than anything capacitative in the guitar. I've played awful guitars through amazing amps and was convinced I was a guitar god. I've played amazing guitars through awful amps and thought the action was too high and the pickups weak. At the moment I play a Squier Stratocaster upgraded to better hardware and custom pickup configuration, playing through a hand-made distortion pedal and Wal-mart bass amp. I have to say I'm not blown away but totally not disappointed either.

Also just recently proved to myself that imagination can DEFINITELY color your perception; just yesterday I fired up 'speaker-test' to test what I thought was some degradation in the sound of my stereo and ended up playing with my own head;
Speaker-test will play white noise for a second through one channel, then another until you kill it. As it ran, I listened for high frequency sound from the left speaker - lo and behold! the left speaker sounded brighter. "Damn," I thought, "time to replace the caps in the pre-amp, the right channel's getting dull" but then I listened for the same frequency in the right speaker. Damned if it didn't suddenly get brighter with more "air" and "definition" than the left speaker. I slowly smiled to myself and spent the better part of the next ten minutes actively listening for different parts of the spectrum, and sure enough, they'd pop out like gremlins at my whim. Mind you, I have a very nice stereo amplifier and decent speakers, so the frequencies were there to be heard, but it was amazing to see (hear?) just how much expectations will color your perceptions... frighteningly so, in fact.

Now, I am quite aware that no amount of imagination is going to turn my '53 Fender Deluxe into a Marshall JCM 900, but at least I am dispelled of any myth that might suggest that putting a vintage Bumblebee cap in my '82 Bullet S-3 is going to turn me into Eric Clapton.

40hz · « **Reply #126 on:** December 20, 2014, 08:13 PM »

OK...finally something musical that may appeal to the broader tech crowd here. The creator of the iOS looping app called Loopy has started on its next iteration: Loopy Masterpiece Edition. He's invited his userbase and interested musicians to participate and follow along with the design process. And he intends to detail the entire development process in a blog he's created.

Here's his introductory video:

Then his three part walkthru of LME: part-1, part-2, part-3

Once you have what LME is all about under your belt, he moves into the software engineering behind how all this software magic is going to happen. This video will probably be quite useful to anyone who ever considered doing a serious music app. It shows just some of the thinking behind such products and is a decent example of an object oriented programming project.

Pretty fascinating, and well worth a watch, even for non-programmer musicians like myself.

There's more to read and see at the blog. I intend to follow this one closely. Recommended.

tjbray · « **Reply #127 on:** December 21, 2014, 11:03 AM »

@theGleep: Hmm..... I KNOW I replied several days ago to your post as I was getting ready to head out the door the other day, but I did so on my desktop, which badly could use reformatting, and it must've locked up. Kinda sad my iPhone is faster than this thing...

You're dead on regarding the flake to alcohol ratio. It will take a few days to completely dissolve, but it will. When it does, I'd bet it is already thin enough to spray, depending on your rig. If your gun is high pressure, low volume, Harbor Freight has a detail HVLP detail gun for under $20-$25 bucks that works great. I strongly advise adding a water filter to the line. I haven't sprayed shellac through my gun yet, but after this bass, I highly suspect I will. When it comes to brushwork, I'm no DaVinci, and it gets old sanding the lines down. I haven't had time to work on it for a week, knowing I won't be ordering the remaining parts until after the first of the year, so I haven't been feeling the rush to do so with Christmas at the doorstep.

You should be able to put coats on fairly quickly, given the speed the alcohol evaporates. I can't really give you a number to shoot for, it all depends on how thick you coat it each session, I would block sand by hand, so you don't risk going into the stain from oversanding, and remember that once you've got no shiny pits or valleys when you've sanded as close as you dare, you are glass smooth. Spray a couple more coats on to have a good base for polishing, and after curing, you will be set for either the Arm-R-Seal or your car polish, depending on your preference.

I'll look NOW for that invoice, I have at least one of the forms I'm looking to put in a program somehow, I may have to explain it in the email. My computer is acting up, so I need to get this posted. Good luck and Merry Christmas!

theGleep · « **Reply #128 on:** December 22, 2014, 08:46 AM »

@tjbray: Thanks again for all the advice. You have mail.

I'm thinking that what I'll do for the shellac is 3 coats per day, with a graduating "cure" time. 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour...(I guess that means four coats...

.

And do a "block sand" each morning before starting again. And I'll be trying for really thin coats.

I have two HF "guns" - one big siphon feed HVLP spray painter (like, huge...this is the one I got to spray spider-killer around the exterior of the house). The other one is th $10 airbrush - the one with multiple bottles, and the air blows over the spout in the top of the lid to suck the paint out. This is the one I'm thinking to use for the bass.

I'll let you know how it goes - I *SHOULD* get my shellac today; but with mixing and dissolving time, it'll probably be Wednesday before I get to using it.

theGleep · « **Reply #129 on:** December 23, 2014, 09:16 AM »

@tjbray (and anyone else following the story

- So I got my shellac flakes...as soon as I got home, I put them into ever-clear (190 proof grain alcohol, in case you were raised by teetotalers like I was). It's FULLY dissolved and I can't wait for my daughter's boyfriend to wake up (he sleeps in the basement where I'll be doing the work).

For my first batch, I went with a little less than a cup of alcohol (everything in the little $5 bottle) and an ounce of flakes. Very near a 1lb cut.

I will probably up it to a 1.5 cut for the next batch.

@40hz: (re vanilla) - So, I gave out little 1oz bottles of vanilla to my co-workers (wife did the same). So I think I'm on to something. Here's my recipe:
* Vanilla beans - I buy from Vanilla Products USA via Amazon (1/2 lb for around $35 ... I'm gonna email them and see if I can get a return customer discount...maybe even a referral discount. Tell 'em I sent you and deserve it

- the batch that did so well was "Madagascar grade B"
* 80 proof vodka (around $13 for the really cheap stuff, here in Utah)
* Clean 2 quart bottle (6 for $15 at the local wal-mart)

I used roughly 3 inches of bean for every tablespoon of vodka. Didn't split them, just cut them into 1-inch (or less) chunks. (this next time, I will put them in a food processor with the vodka and chop them up that way...not puree, just lots faster and a bit finer chopping). I put that in the bottle - and *CLOSED THE BOTTLE* (maybe that last is obvious to everybody but me...my first batch I wasn't sure, so I put cheesecloth over top of it ... just didn't taste the same).

Wait a year or so. Shake a LOT the first couple of weeks...then shake it whenever you remember about it.

When I was dishing it into the 1oz bottles, it smelled like alcohol instead of vanilla. But the next day when a co-worker opened the bottle? Oh, YUM!!!!

My wife said "Let's do that again...triple batch this time."

One last note: I put a couple of chunks of bean into each of the 1oz bottles so it would keep ?fermenting? ?proofing? ?steeping? Whatever it's called...as I was doing so, I noticed a couple of them actually had vanilla *syrup* dripping out the ends. So I "squished" the beans as best I could into the remaining extract, added an extra $5 bottle of ever-clear (see above) and this time I put the cheesecloth on it (figuring the overdose of alcohol would really need to burn off). This was a week ago, and even in the big bottle it's starting to smell really really good.

40hz · « **Reply #130 on:** December 24, 2014, 07:34 PM »

@40hz: (re vanilla) - So, I gave out little 1oz bottles of vanilla to my co-workers (wife did the same). So I think I'm on to something. Here's my recipe:
-theGleep (December 23, 2014, 09:16 AM)

Sounds really good! I'll have to give it a try after the holidays. Thank you so much for sharing your recipe.

I just started working on a liqueur based on Earl Gray tea and orange blossom honey as the primary flavoring ingredients. If it ever amounts to anything I'll be sure to let you know.

theGleep · « **Reply #131 on:** December 26, 2014, 01:05 PM »

@40hz: Sounds interesting! I tried some of the "young leftovers" in banana cream pie. Worst batch of pie I've ever made. I forgot the salt, and the liquor is too present. Maybe if it sits a while longer, but I doubt it.

tjbray · « **Reply #132 on:** December 29, 2014, 02:08 PM »

@theGleep: let me know how you felt the flow was through your gun at each cut you use. I'm seriously thinking of using a preval kit (a disposable spray can you fill with your paint /stain) to shellac the tele I'll be doing next. I may even try the Arm-R-Seal poly varnish through one, but I'm not sure I can clean it out good enough for more than one application. The preval will save me from heating up the garage or the shop in the barn, where my compressors are, and just set up in our basement.
I like the sound of your vanilla project. Something I may get the wife interested in working on sometime with me!

theGleep · « **Reply #133 on:** December 30, 2014, 08:44 AM »

@tjbray: I'm actually using an airbrush - the $10 from harbor freight, with 5 changeable bottles; the air blows over the nozzle for the bottle and sucks the shellac out.

It seems to work pretty well. I've managed a few layers (6?) before I came down with the flu. It seems to go pretty well - half a bottle (about 1oz bottles) per coat. I'm still learning - got some sag, and bits of dust here and there; but I'm knocking it down with 400grit wet/dry. As it gets thicker, I'll be moving up to 600 grit...maybe eventually something even finer.

I think I said before - I did one-pound cut for the airbrush. Also, I'm being careful to clean out the nozzle each use by swapping to a bottle of just alcohol and spraying that for a bit.

tjbray · « **Reply #134 on:** January 05, 2015, 12:56 AM »

@theGleep: Hope you're feeling better. I never thought of using an airbrush. It sounds like far less sanding, and I'd guess overspray isn't much different than a HVLP detail gun. I'll have to pick one up for the tele build.
I have all my build's electronics on the way, still shopping for a better price on Hipshot Ultralight tuners and a drop d extender. With the sale of this build, I'll finally have enough in my hobby account to cover high dollar builds without coming from our regular account. Not having to balance my hobby/business with my Happy Wife life will surely speed my production up!

theGleep · « **Reply #135 on:** January 05, 2015, 09:37 AM »

@tjbray: I'm liking how the airbrush works out. Except for sag - but that's my lack of skill.

I'm thinking that what I'll do for the last few passes is to "hang" the body flat so that the shellac smooths itself out. I plan to do this by putting the strap screws in (well...spare strap screws), hanging it from the screws and putting a hook of some sort to keep it stable. If I'm spraing the front, the hook would be through the "pot holes" (heh-heh), and when I'm doing the back, I'll move the hook to one of the neck-mounting holes.

How many coats, overall, should I expect to do? And would I double the number of coats since I'm using half-strength shellac?

Congrats on the hobby making enough money to sustain itself!

I've a couple of questions on the "app" - I'll email those offline.

tjbray · « **Reply #136 on:** January 05, 2015, 10:16 AM »

@theGleep@: If you don't intend on using a poly varnish seal over the top coat of shellac, just going for a shellac finish, once you're able to block-sand the flat areas completely level -- you'll know this by not having any shiny dots where the paper hasn't touched -- I'd go one or two light coats more and you should be able to go with a light rubdown with MacGuires Polish, I'm not home, so I'm not sure the number, it should be just under swirl remover. Finishing with swirl remover would be your prerogative after that. If you're going by hand, I doubt it's necessary. I'll get to my email this afternoon or evening once I get home.

Another way you can hold it flat would be to screw a 1X2 to the neck slot using 2 of your neck screws, and clamping or weighing down the end to a table or chair. No matter how you do it, be 100% sure it won't slide off, or you'll be repeating one of my mistakes!!!

theGleep · « **Reply #137 on:** January 05, 2015, 10:32 AM »

@tjbray: Good idea! That'll be lots easier. Once I find my c-clamp

As to block-sanding...at this point, I don't have much actual flat surface, so I'm mostly finger sanding, but being careful to be a super-light touch. As such, I don't tend to "dull" the whole surface. Which is part of why I want to do the "flat" pass

I *am* finding it's pretty shiny even without doing all of the buffing.

But I am considering a nitro-celulose top-coat, just to be careful (I *KNOW* I'll be bumping this thing against tables or whatever when I play it...I want as much protection for that as I can get

40hz · « **Reply #138 on:** January 11, 2015, 01:34 PM »

Here's something interesting for keyboard players who might have about $5K to spend on a keyboard controller. (Don't rush the checkout counter please!

)

This is a perfromance of Handel's 'Hornpipe' segment from Water Music. It's played by Mark Smart on a Haken Continuum Fingerboard driving a custom setup on Native Instruments Reaktor software.

Very cool.

Uploaded on Oct 20, 2011

"Alla Hornpipe" from Handel's Water Music, Suite #2 in D major.

This performance is dedicated to the memory of my father Mervin Smart (1934-1991) who loved Handel's music.

In this multitrack recording, I'm using the Haken Continuum Fingerboard
(http://www.hakenaudio.com) to control a custom synthesizer built with
Native Instruments' Reaktor software (running on a Muse Receptor 2
for fast response). I used Cubase for the multitrack recording.

The left channel of the audio is the same take I'm playing in the video
(with some corrections). The Continuum surface is split in the Y
(front-to-back) direction so playing above the halfway point produces
a string sound and playing below it produces a brass sound. The
"Mono Interval" on the Continuum is set to 2, which means that when
you play notes more than 2 half-steps apart, you get two separate
notes, allowing you to play dual melody lines in thirds. But if you
play notes 1-2 half steps apart, you only hear whichever note you
are pressing the hardest, allowing half-step and whole-step trills.
So in the same take I can do the 2 Violins, 2 Trumpets, or 2 French
Horns by playing at different locations.

The right channel contains 9 additional tracks, also performed on
the Continuum driving Reaktor:

1. Violin 2 (when it's not playing along with 1)
2. Violin 3
3. Viola
4. Cello and bass (this is panned a little to center)
5. Oboe 1&2
6. Additional trumpet 1
6. Additional trumpet 2
7. Additional horn 1
7. Additional horn 2

In case you're wondering, my finger is injured and I wear a splint
on it to keep it straight. It's a repetitive stress injury from flipping
too many people off.

Haken Audio web site: http://www.hakenaudio.com/Continuum/

My web site: http://www.marksmart.net

More Continuum examples by me: http://www.marksmart.net/instruments/...

Deozaan · « **Reply #139 on:** January 11, 2015, 08:40 PM »

This is a perfromance
-40hz (January 11, 2015, 01:34 PM)

I ain't gonna watch a video of a perv romance!

40hz · « **Reply #140 on:** January 12, 2015, 07:17 AM »

This is a perfromance
-40hz (January 11, 2015, 01:34 PM)

I ain't gonna watch a video of a perv romance!
-Deozaan (January 11, 2015, 08:40 PM)

Why not? You never know where you might learn something useful.

(Oh well...That's what I get for trying to do a long post with a lot of cut & paste on a smartphone.) $:-\$

superboyac · « **Reply #141 on:** January 15, 2015, 06:15 PM »

I just finished putting some organ on my friends' tracks, for this upcoming album:
http://creativecollo...sacre-at-the-narwhal

So it's coming up soon! It was a delightful track, if I do say so myself. A sound we've been talking about for years.

40hz · « **Reply #142 on:** January 16, 2015, 12:09 PM »

I just finished putting some organ on my friends' tracks, for this upcoming album:
http://creativecollo...sacre-at-the-narwhal

So it's coming up soon! It was a delightful track, if I do say so myself. A sound we've been talking about for years.
-superboyac (January 15, 2015, 06:15 PM)

Sounds good! Keep us posted.

40hz · « **Reply #143 on:** January 20, 2015, 07:48 PM »

New concert piano design. Pretty interesting.

40hz · « **Reply #144 on:** January 25, 2015, 10:33 AM »

Are you still not playing a ukulele?

It's fun. It's cool. It's quite the thing.

Article over on at The Atlantic provides a good introduction to the Uke Renaissance.

...
Despite a long history that once included a reputation as an exotic and highbrow instrument, the ukulele has also endured decades of snubbing from both the pop music scene and the more cultured world of classical music. But with the help of trendsetters and tastemakers, it's making a strong comeback—the National Association of Music Merchants reported a 54 percent jump in ukulele sales in 2013—that can be traced in large part to the instrument's accessibility, affordability, YouTube popularity, and celebrity esteem.

The instrument's renewed appeal can be seen in the rise of ukulele music festivals, which have cropped up in places like Reno, Milwaukee, Napa, Port Townsend, Washington, and Rockville, Maryland. Take New Jersey's second annual Ukefest last August at the Morristown Unitarian Fellowship Hall, which kicked off with 86 beginners tackling their first piece, "Surfin' USA." During the festival, the rented church was awash with love for the novices—a kind of generosity rarely seen at a piano or guitar convention. “Strum with your index finger or thumb—whatever feels good,” ukulele teacher, author, and songwriter Jim Beloff told the beginners. “There are no ukulele police.”...

For an example of just how good a uke can sound, listen to master player Jake Shimabukuro performing his interpretation of While My Guitar Gently Weeps while visiting Strawberry Fields in Central Park NYC. No fancy effects, no recording studio, no big stage show...just a fine musician, a simple acoustic instrument, and open air.

There's a bunch of instructional videos for ukulele up on YouTube if you want to give it a go.

Why not?

superboyac · « **Reply #145 on:** January 25, 2015, 01:57 PM »

Jake Shimabukuro! Wow! Damn that was so good.

40hz · « **Reply #146 on:** January 25, 2015, 05:52 PM »

Jake Shimabukuro! Wow! Damn that was so good.
-superboyac (January 25, 2015, 01:57 PM)

Yup! He's one of the poster children for the "new" ukulele sound. And deservedly so IMO.

He's been called the Béla Fleck of the uke. Seems to be an equally nice guy too.

40hz · « **Reply #147 on:** January 26, 2015, 08:04 AM »

re: Ukulele

So why not build your own? And why not a solidbody electric while you're at it?

Link to download plans here.
Link to Dan Hulbert's Circuits & Strings website here. Great source for uke builders.

And since we have an electric solidbody, how about doing up a bass while we're at it?

Or if woodworking isn't your thing, maybe try using a detergent bottle for the body. A resonator is a resonator. Some sound better and work better than others. But they all do the same basic thing. Experiment!

40hz · « **Reply #148 on:** January 26, 2015, 08:20 AM »

Of course there's also the Diddley Bow for people with no building skills or money. It's just a hunk of any wood you have lying around; any guitar string or piece of wire you can get your hands on; something to use as a bridge and nut (an old eye bolt, or piece of doweling, or a pencil stub are traditional); a screw (or whatever) for a 'tuning' key; and a pickup of some sort. Usually it's the cannibalized piezo element from an old buzzer or something like the microphone end of an old telephone...

After that it's up to you. Because the truth is: even "a piece of junk" can become a pretty remarkable musical instrument in the right hands. Here's Seasick Steve, a Jedi master of junk instruments if there ever was one, showing what you can do with a Diddley Bow:

BTW: The Diddley Bow is a modern manifestation of the monochord. A musical instrument, teaching tool, and research device that dates back to classical antiquity. From that single string came much of what we know about the physics of music, the harmonic series, the geometric ratios of notes to one another, and pretty much everything else that passes for music theory to this day.

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #149 on:** January 26, 2015, 08:39 AM »

Uploaded on Oct 20, 2011

"Alla Hornpipe" from Handel's Water Music, Suite #2 in D major.

This performance is dedicated to the memory of my father Mervin Smart (1934-1991) who loved Handel's music.

Know it dates back a while but just seen the video - cool!!

Sorry I haven't been around much over the last few months - been totally obsessed by my cello!!! (Also I get enough input about computers during the day). Played this Handel in a concert last week ;-)