Today has been a GREAT day so far!
-Found a nickel on the ground at Walmart - YAY, my retirement is saved!
-Got through Walmart with my 2 year old and left early enough to avoid the usual redneck hoard that ends up rolling through about mid day.
-Grocery Shopping uneventful
-Visited the new Music store in Natick, Music Go Round and was DUELY impressed! More on that later.
-Had an open bluegrass jam with the makers of Becker Guitars
It's been awesome today. So, here we go!
Music Go Round is a breath of fresh air in what is otherwise a callus soulless business of purveying musical equipment to unsuspecting saps like me. I've been eyeballing the place for months as it's been under construction and right next to the Stop & Shop here on Route 9 in Natick, MA. On my way into the grocery story, I noticed they were open and stopped in more out of morbid curiosity than anything else. While the entry is a bit crammed with Drums etc, the place is well lit, well organized and stocked to the gills with all sorts of instruments, the most notable of course being the Acoustic Upright bass standing dead center of the showroom floor. Phil, the owner came up, introduced himself, shook my hand and gave me the lowdown on the place. The staff was pleasant enough and the selection of instruments varied WIDELY. The catch with this place is that everything in there is USED. In general, the gear is in pretty good shape and I found several selections that I liked. By and large the selection is good, they have a few oddball instruments and in true consignment store fashion, I'm sure that I'll have to pop in regularly to find what I like.
So the highlight of my day was a rather impromptu bluegrass session with the makers of Becker Guitars Ryan and a gentlemen who I think was named Mike. I started playing the Banjo just for laughs and it turned into an all out three chord jam session! Standup bass, mandolin, Banjo and "Mike" and I trading off to guitar later on. I'm sure I overstayed my welcome, but I think more stores need to have that open jam feel. There's a couch for example in the middle of the acoustics section and it just BEGS for people to come, sit and play. I then took the opportunity to chat them up on their product. They make a line of Basses and Guitars and recently have signed up artists to use their products from such notable bands as MOE. and Umphee's McGee. Not wanting to insult, I sat down with their 5 string Bass at the request of the Bass's Maker, Ryan. At first glance, it has somewhat of an odd beauty to it. The guitar itself is shaped somewhat naturally, if it's possible to describe it that way, it looks a bit like silly putty when you smash it with your hand and drag it across the table. The finish of the body was a dark sort of walnutty color and I'm not sure how he did it, but the neck was a deep woody purple. In short, gorgeous. Two REALLY clever items about this piece:
1. Wood volume and tone knobs. It fit perfectly with the theme of the Bass.
2. The battery case: The bass has active electronics so there is a 9 volt battery plugged into the back. To access it, there's a really clever design feature, you press a button (also made of wood) down and swing the casing out. This entire guitar is essentially wood and the design just flawless.
Playability: I've played a lot of basses, some cheap and easy to play, others expensive and totally not worth it. The Becker is an absolute treat from head to tail. Good tone, harmonics spot on and the action was flawless. I tapped out a few tunes, played some straight lines and funked up some slap bass. It handled beautifully on all fronts. If I had $1100.00 to blow on this thing, I would! It beat out many of the other models I tried today hands down. Had I not just spent over a grand on my bagpipes this year, this Bass would have been high on my list. Well done gents and best of luck with getting the word out!
I think the bottom line for me today is that I met a lot of really great people doing some exciting things in a time where economically, some people wouldn't have the balls to do what these people are doing. Phil, Ryan and "Mike", Keep going, I love the vibe you're all giving off and I'm very excited to A.) save up for a Becker Bass and B.) visit Music Go Round again!
Well, more to come I'm sure... the beer is again on the back burner until my Diet tells me I can... or I get sick of eating southbeach food!
Cheers!
Rob Anderson
Showing posts with label Music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Music. Show all posts
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Friday, November 6, 2009
Is it bad if your teacher laughs at you?
Sorry gang, no beer reviews this week... only a heathy glass full O'shame...
Wow... of all the instruments I've learned (Up to 12 if my count is right...) Bagpipes are by far the most difficult!! The fingering alone has been a process but WELL worth it. My goal is to get these perfected over time to Gordon Duncan like consistancy. I've gotten as far as the Lemluath and the Touralouath (sp), however this week, I recieved my first lesson in humility. The practice chanter vs. the actual pipes is a completely different animal. While I've done fairly well at the Chanter, the phrase "playing the pipes is more taming a beast than playing an instrument" has never been more true. My teacher Brian has been remarkably patient, however his sadistic side has now come to light. Ahhh sweet revenge for all my poor playing over the last 10 months. I received my new pipes, a set of Duncan Soutars, the news of which the Band responds with either quizzical looks or gazes of admiration. They are, in short an exemplary example of the Great Highland Bagpipes. So... that brings me to my lesson on Thursday. This by the way is my Second time inflating the bag beyond the day that I bought the pipes (being last Sunday...)
The most important thing that I've learned so far is that you don't blow the bagpipes, you squeeze them. This for me is like when I learned jazz music... it's about the notes you DON'T play. Equal parts enigmatic and rediculous. However, there is an ounce of truth to both sayings. Please don't ask me to elaborate. It's much like figuring out what the sound of one hand clapping sounds like... I can get the drones going and fairly steady for the most part thanks to my training as a singer (thank you Carol Ann, my chamber singer director). Diaphram breathing is MOST important as it allows for the most air to enter the bag. So long and short of it, the drones are going OK and somewhat steady.
Now comes the hard part. Fire up the drones AND the chanter... I only have so much air. I have to say, I've got a LOT of hot air to spare but this is was a challenge for me. This task was only made more difficult by the fact that my instructor gave me a hard reed to work with. Whoooooo! It's tough! On a medium reed, like the one that I tried at Dick Chane's shop, I could get out a full scale, with some difficulty. BUT... On the hard reed, it takes a TON of air and quite a bit of coordination to get this thing going. If I get one note at a time, I'm lucky at best. Suffice it to say... it will be quite some time before I get a full song on the books. I WILL tame this beast!!!
Cheers!
Rob Anderson
Wow... of all the instruments I've learned (Up to 12 if my count is right...) Bagpipes are by far the most difficult!! The fingering alone has been a process but WELL worth it. My goal is to get these perfected over time to Gordon Duncan like consistancy. I've gotten as far as the Lemluath and the Touralouath (sp), however this week, I recieved my first lesson in humility. The practice chanter vs. the actual pipes is a completely different animal. While I've done fairly well at the Chanter, the phrase "playing the pipes is more taming a beast than playing an instrument" has never been more true. My teacher Brian has been remarkably patient, however his sadistic side has now come to light. Ahhh sweet revenge for all my poor playing over the last 10 months. I received my new pipes, a set of Duncan Soutars, the news of which the Band responds with either quizzical looks or gazes of admiration. They are, in short an exemplary example of the Great Highland Bagpipes. So... that brings me to my lesson on Thursday. This by the way is my Second time inflating the bag beyond the day that I bought the pipes (being last Sunday...)
The most important thing that I've learned so far is that you don't blow the bagpipes, you squeeze them. This for me is like when I learned jazz music... it's about the notes you DON'T play. Equal parts enigmatic and rediculous. However, there is an ounce of truth to both sayings. Please don't ask me to elaborate. It's much like figuring out what the sound of one hand clapping sounds like... I can get the drones going and fairly steady for the most part thanks to my training as a singer (thank you Carol Ann, my chamber singer director). Diaphram breathing is MOST important as it allows for the most air to enter the bag. So long and short of it, the drones are going OK and somewhat steady.
Now comes the hard part. Fire up the drones AND the chanter... I only have so much air. I have to say, I've got a LOT of hot air to spare but this is was a challenge for me. This task was only made more difficult by the fact that my instructor gave me a hard reed to work with. Whoooooo! It's tough! On a medium reed, like the one that I tried at Dick Chane's shop, I could get out a full scale, with some difficulty. BUT... On the hard reed, it takes a TON of air and quite a bit of coordination to get this thing going. If I get one note at a time, I'm lucky at best. Suffice it to say... it will be quite some time before I get a full song on the books. I WILL tame this beast!!!
Cheers!
Rob Anderson
Monday, March 30, 2009
First Post
Every Journey Starts with Just one step: This is mine.
I've never in my life blogged and frankly, for the longest time, I thought it somewhat well... sad. I felt it relegated to the ranks of Comic book Guys (worst reference ever...) However, as of late, I've had a change of heart. I have a few friends who have done it and frankly, it's fairly interesting to read up on. Either I'm overly nosey or I'm the most tame voyeur of all time. Through this, I'm hoping that I can at least get my thoughts out on the page and use this as a forum to help you, the reader. HOWEVER, my end all, be all hope is that I can entertain you. If I've done that, I will have succeeded. "Victory shall be MINE!!!"
A little about me:
My name is Rob and I'm a life long "Mass-Hole" as we're so affectionately called throughout the Union and yes, I love the Red Sox, Bruins, Patriots and the Celtics. (the Sox, the B's the Pats and the C's). I drive like a total and unabashed jerk and, I use the word "wicked" on a regular basis. I'm predominantly Irish, although my last name is Scotch/English. Either way, PASTY is the best way to describe my skin pallor. Suffice it to say, the sun and I do NOT get along.! If they make an SPF 300 I'll be the first in line.
I have too many hobbies to list but I'll be blogging on a variety of them on a regular basis.
-Home Brewing: I LOVE a good beer and I'll be blogging on my recipies as well as my tour of my brewpubs of the world
-Music: I work for a record Label called "Brewhouse Records". Can you tell the ilk of people I hang out with?!?. Check us out! We have a brand new artist named Vanessa Kafka. She's GREAT!! Check her out as soon as you can! In addition, I've been writing a few things, mostly for myself but I'm going to be blogging on that as my projects progress. I play guitar, piano, banjo, Tin whistle, Harmonica and a HOST of other instruments
-Bagpiping: I'm in a group called the Sutherland Bagpipe Corps. I've JUST started in January but I have a history with music, so it's coming somewhat quickly. It is by FAR the most difficult instrument I've had to learn. They're a GREAT group of guys and I'm really looking forward to working with them further.
-Cooking: I fancy myself a home chef. I LOVE to cook and I have to say, my favorite thing to make is quickbread. My most recent success was with a Beer bread recipe I found. Could it be that I've combined two loves into one?!?! More on these later
-Fatherhood & Husbanding: Note that I didn't say Husbandry... If you've seen "dirty jobs" on Discovery Channel, you'll get the reference. EEwwww. Long story short, I LOVE being a Dad and I have a relationship with my wife and daughter that sometimes is just plain funny.
-Voiceovers: I'm getting into it! I've always had a knack for impersonations, accents and language. I figure of the 1001 ignorant things I can do, I might as well use this ordinarly useless talent to make some loot. Stay tuned!!
As you can see, I'll be blogging about nothing in particular. So friends and would be friends. I bid you good eve and I look forward to entertaining, informing you and hearing your feedback!!
-Rob
I've never in my life blogged and frankly, for the longest time, I thought it somewhat well... sad. I felt it relegated to the ranks of Comic book Guys (worst reference ever...) However, as of late, I've had a change of heart. I have a few friends who have done it and frankly, it's fairly interesting to read up on. Either I'm overly nosey or I'm the most tame voyeur of all time. Through this, I'm hoping that I can at least get my thoughts out on the page and use this as a forum to help you, the reader. HOWEVER, my end all, be all hope is that I can entertain you. If I've done that, I will have succeeded. "Victory shall be MINE!!!"
A little about me:
My name is Rob and I'm a life long "Mass-Hole" as we're so affectionately called throughout the Union and yes, I love the Red Sox, Bruins, Patriots and the Celtics. (the Sox, the B's the Pats and the C's). I drive like a total and unabashed jerk and, I use the word "wicked" on a regular basis. I'm predominantly Irish, although my last name is Scotch/English. Either way, PASTY is the best way to describe my skin pallor. Suffice it to say, the sun and I do NOT get along.! If they make an SPF 300 I'll be the first in line.
I have too many hobbies to list but I'll be blogging on a variety of them on a regular basis.
-Home Brewing: I LOVE a good beer and I'll be blogging on my recipies as well as my tour of my brewpubs of the world
-Music: I work for a record Label called "Brewhouse Records". Can you tell the ilk of people I hang out with?!?. Check us out! We have a brand new artist named Vanessa Kafka. She's GREAT!! Check her out as soon as you can! In addition, I've been writing a few things, mostly for myself but I'm going to be blogging on that as my projects progress. I play guitar, piano, banjo, Tin whistle, Harmonica and a HOST of other instruments
-Bagpiping: I'm in a group called the Sutherland Bagpipe Corps. I've JUST started in January but I have a history with music, so it's coming somewhat quickly. It is by FAR the most difficult instrument I've had to learn. They're a GREAT group of guys and I'm really looking forward to working with them further.
-Cooking: I fancy myself a home chef. I LOVE to cook and I have to say, my favorite thing to make is quickbread. My most recent success was with a Beer bread recipe I found. Could it be that I've combined two loves into one?!?! More on these later
-Fatherhood & Husbanding: Note that I didn't say Husbandry... If you've seen "dirty jobs" on Discovery Channel, you'll get the reference. EEwwww. Long story short, I LOVE being a Dad and I have a relationship with my wife and daughter that sometimes is just plain funny.
-Voiceovers: I'm getting into it! I've always had a knack for impersonations, accents and language. I figure of the 1001 ignorant things I can do, I might as well use this ordinarly useless talent to make some loot. Stay tuned!!
As you can see, I'll be blogging about nothing in particular. So friends and would be friends. I bid you good eve and I look forward to entertaining, informing you and hearing your feedback!!
-Rob
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)