I got my first guitar for my tenth birthday and have played it for forty-five years now. Thirty-five years later I got a plectrum banjo and have played it for ten years now. When I was twenty-five I took violin lessons for eight months. In all of the time I played those instruments - the violin is the one that advanced me the most. I am going to attempt to come up with a reason why...
I learned to play lots of major and minor chords on the guitar and coordinate left and right hands. The same with the plectrum banjo, along with sevenths, diminished and augmented chords at different inversions. Both instruments reflected around playing harmonies with just the banjo being the instrument to combine melody and harmony. But with neither instrument could I play the melody on multiple strings. I just never was given lessons (in the case of the banjo) or discovered on my own how to do so. So playing by ear has alluded me on both instruments. The guitar is tuned in fourths and the plectrum banjo has that second string that throws off a single-string player. On the other hand the violin is tuned in fifths and when I started playing Irish traditional music (all melody-driven) it turned out that it made most sense to tune the instruments that way.
In the eight months I played violin I was reading music. I was also playing melody notes singularly on multiple strings. In almost thirty years since I played this instrument my mind must have kept this information. I gave up classical violin lessons because it was hard and I had no goals. I decided that I would go back to playing one if I could set goals. I was no longer into classical music and I didn't listen to fiddle music at all. I eventually sold the violin. Then 2013 comes around. Last summer when I was taking bodhran lessons my teacher lent me her husband's tenor banjo. In Irish music the banjo is tuned GDAE - just like a violin but an octive lower. I started learning some tunes based on reading the sheet music. I already was learning sight reading on the tin whistle and Irish flute so I knew what notes were what and I was familiar with playing some tunes slowly. Almost instantly I could read and play the music. It must be from pulling from my memory. It made sense. I hardly had to think about it. I could rattle off Irish tunes on the tenor banjo! Since then I got a violin, mandolin and a baritone ukulele that I tuned GDAE so I have four instruments all tuned that way.
To remain in the Irish music (my music love) I play the banjo, mandolin and uke. But for the fiddle I've taken to the style of Cape Breton like the works of Buddy and Natalie MacMaster. The fiddle will take me a while so I will learn how to play Scottish reels, jigs and strathspeys and occasionally learn Irish tunes as well. My goal in December was to play ten Irish tunes by May. I did it by February. So I will learn ten more by May and if that happens earlier than expected I will set a goal for 100 tunes by the end of the year. I hope to get to the point where I can play what I can sing (referencing tune familiarity - I can't really sing.) That would give me unlimited playability. When I reach that goal I'll work on adding the harmony by ear. That will bring me back to the guitar and plectrum banjo with a familiarity that I couldn't achieve with just those two instruments.
I feel like a burden has been lifted. I've decided to avoid jazz banjo fests this year and come back in the next year or two with a real ability to perform as a musician. No memorizing numbers. Just play by ear. Then I can work on improving left and right hand techniques. I also hope to play the GDAE instruments at full speed Irish sessions - all by ear. These goals are more realistic now than in my past.
Thursday, February 13, 2014
Saturday, November 23, 2013
Fiddle Blog #1
I'm in my fifties. When I was 26 I decided to take up classical violin. I got a Glaesel student violin and took lessons for eight months. Interestingly, while I practiced hard I had no real goal, a must for success. I always liked my violin and since I had no violin to compare it to, I thought no wrong with it. But after twenty years I decided to sell it. I wasn't playing it and had no reason to play it.
With my interest in Irish music, a GDAE-tuned Irish tenor banjo was lent to me. I had gotten Enda Scahill's wonderful books last Christmas and now I could explore the instrument. I was surprised at how easy a fifths-tuned instrument came to me, perhaps from the lessons on the violin all those years ago. It dawned on me that I now had a reason and a goal that I could persue on the violin, so of course, I needed instant gratification. So I was telling Rick Galloway, a local singer-songwriter and former music store owner that I was interested in playing the fiddle. Rick had an old fiddle that he didn't want and gave it to me.
The violin was really a VSO (violin-shaped object) and it was 3/4 size (the size usually for ten year olds.) I played it for a month and realized that I was adjusting the muscle memory of my fingers to play in pitch (muscle memory is important when there are no frets to guide your fingers.) The small neck was also hurting my big hands. This violin is proof that if you want to see if your kid will want to play a violin, rent a higher quality one. If your kid has a desire and you don't want them to play a violin, get this one!
With my wife's blessing I rented an Eastman VL80 from my local music store chain. Buying one over the Internet is cheap and easy, but supporting local stores and getting the hands-on service is a far better option. Violins are the exception to the addage "You get what you pay for." They can be as low as $49 and as high as in the millions of dollars. University scholarships demand that your violin cannot cost less than $7,000 whether or not it sounds good. Symphonies the same except the minimum is $15,000. One violinist said that he's played an $800 violin that sounded better than many Stradivaris. Factors that determine the value of a violin are not solely based on the sound.
There is a reason a violin is classified a "student model." It has to do with response. A violin that responds to the player's intent is far harder for a beginner to control. With that said, a violin that costs between $250 and $2,500 is likely to completely satisfy the common musician, especially if it's the fiddle and not a Paganini concerto that is in interest. The term VSO stems from the very cheap instruments that are hard to tune and keep tuned and have no response to a setup. Setups can cost $200 and if the instrument is less than that, it's not worth the attempt.
On to the Eastman. The VL80 is the lowest in the Eastman line but there is little to complain about. The top is made of spruce and the ribs and back are made from quilted maple. The violin was hand crafted and the finish is in spirit varnish. The fittings are all ebony. It comes with a K. Holtz fiberglass bow and a case made for destructive kids. It also came with Eastman rosin but I decided to use my Hill dark rosin instead.
Those are what I found out from ads; now here's what I noticed: The fingerboard is scooped nicely. The pegs really tune and hold the tune. There are four fine tuners but only the E string is necessary, like finer violins. The Depiau Supereur bridge, although the D-grade model, is nicely trimmed and has the music store name stamped on it. It came with Thomastik Dominant strings. The violin is very light, a true sign of quality. These things tell me I made a good choice. This violin is better than the Glasel I once owned. Not bad for a violin made in China! The setup is as good as it gets.
The only things I didn't like as much were the strings and the finish. Dominant strings are the most common string used. They sound good, but usually when the E string is substituted with a better string. The E string on this instrument needs to be better. It's not that the strings are bad, though. The overall brightness of the violin just makes these the wrong strings. Either steel or gut strings would definitely darken the sound, but synthetic strings will always last longer so I will get a set of Pirastro Obligatos for Christmas. (Edit: since it's been a few weeks since I wrote this, the Dominants have mellowed nicely. I put a different E string so now, no strings for Christmas.) The varnish finish reminds me of nitrocellulose laquer. Nitro laquer is great for guitars but not for violins. This is not laquer but I think a thinner coating would have been better.
More to come after I've played it for a while...
With my interest in Irish music, a GDAE-tuned Irish tenor banjo was lent to me. I had gotten Enda Scahill's wonderful books last Christmas and now I could explore the instrument. I was surprised at how easy a fifths-tuned instrument came to me, perhaps from the lessons on the violin all those years ago. It dawned on me that I now had a reason and a goal that I could persue on the violin, so of course, I needed instant gratification. So I was telling Rick Galloway, a local singer-songwriter and former music store owner that I was interested in playing the fiddle. Rick had an old fiddle that he didn't want and gave it to me.
The violin was really a VSO (violin-shaped object) and it was 3/4 size (the size usually for ten year olds.) I played it for a month and realized that I was adjusting the muscle memory of my fingers to play in pitch (muscle memory is important when there are no frets to guide your fingers.) The small neck was also hurting my big hands. This violin is proof that if you want to see if your kid will want to play a violin, rent a higher quality one. If your kid has a desire and you don't want them to play a violin, get this one!
With my wife's blessing I rented an Eastman VL80 from my local music store chain. Buying one over the Internet is cheap and easy, but supporting local stores and getting the hands-on service is a far better option. Violins are the exception to the addage "You get what you pay for." They can be as low as $49 and as high as in the millions of dollars. University scholarships demand that your violin cannot cost less than $7,000 whether or not it sounds good. Symphonies the same except the minimum is $15,000. One violinist said that he's played an $800 violin that sounded better than many Stradivaris. Factors that determine the value of a violin are not solely based on the sound.
There is a reason a violin is classified a "student model." It has to do with response. A violin that responds to the player's intent is far harder for a beginner to control. With that said, a violin that costs between $250 and $2,500 is likely to completely satisfy the common musician, especially if it's the fiddle and not a Paganini concerto that is in interest. The term VSO stems from the very cheap instruments that are hard to tune and keep tuned and have no response to a setup. Setups can cost $200 and if the instrument is less than that, it's not worth the attempt.
On to the Eastman. The VL80 is the lowest in the Eastman line but there is little to complain about. The top is made of spruce and the ribs and back are made from quilted maple. The violin was hand crafted and the finish is in spirit varnish. The fittings are all ebony. It comes with a K. Holtz fiberglass bow and a case made for destructive kids. It also came with Eastman rosin but I decided to use my Hill dark rosin instead.
Those are what I found out from ads; now here's what I noticed: The fingerboard is scooped nicely. The pegs really tune and hold the tune. There are four fine tuners but only the E string is necessary, like finer violins. The Depiau Supereur bridge, although the D-grade model, is nicely trimmed and has the music store name stamped on it. It came with Thomastik Dominant strings. The violin is very light, a true sign of quality. These things tell me I made a good choice. This violin is better than the Glasel I once owned. Not bad for a violin made in China! The setup is as good as it gets.
The only things I didn't like as much were the strings and the finish. Dominant strings are the most common string used. They sound good, but usually when the E string is substituted with a better string. The E string on this instrument needs to be better. It's not that the strings are bad, though. The overall brightness of the violin just makes these the wrong strings. Either steel or gut strings would definitely darken the sound, but synthetic strings will always last longer so I will get a set of Pirastro Obligatos for Christmas. (Edit: since it's been a few weeks since I wrote this, the Dominants have mellowed nicely. I put a different E string so now, no strings for Christmas.) The varnish finish reminds me of nitrocellulose laquer. Nitro laquer is great for guitars but not for violins. This is not laquer but I think a thinner coating would have been better.
More to come after I've played it for a while...
Sunday, November 17, 2013
A Quick Note...
I still exist. March to November has brought about many changes to my musical goals. But the basic goal is still the same: Irish Traditional Music. Since March I've been taking bodhran lessons with a local teacher, and have started playing Irish tenor banjo and fiddle. My right index finger has joint pain issues that affect my flute playing, so I have suspended my goals for that instrument. The tin whistle is still being played and I'm on my way to playing ten tunes, which I'll record in the near future.
My violin rental is being journaled. I have written a piece for the blog and I'll post it next.
My violin rental is being journaled. I have written a piece for the blog and I'll post it next.
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Musical Goals for 2013
It's been way too long since I last posted here. Here are random snippets of my current status:
I've been trying to focus on where I want to direct my music. I've improved upon my tin whistle skills and am working on ornamentation. I'm also focusing on common note patterns in Irish music that is slowing me down from playing at session speed.
I got a mountain dulcimer for Christmas and have learned some key chords at different inversions for at least playing tunes in D or G. My goal is to play counter-melodies against a whistle or a flute.
I plan to start learning the Irish tunes I choose on the flute, tin whistle, plectrum banjo, mountain dulcimer and guitar. I have tin whistles in different keys for playing tunes outside of D and G but the guitar and banjo are the only two chromatic instruments I play.
The Irish sessions I play in are run by a banjo player who plays Irish dances and they require playing in all keys. The guitar will be the primary instrument for playing in the sessions, but I'm leaning some of the tune sets on the whistle and as I improve on my embouchure and speed on the flute, I will adapt it too.
My wife got me great books for Christmas. The Grey Larsen books are the most valuable for learning. His and Enda Scahill's banjo books are the best for understanding ornamentations for all of my instruments. Lesl Harker's books of Mike Rafferty tunes are a great reference to a great flutist. Hammy Hamilton is such a good flute maker, player and writer that his book "The Irish Flute Player's Handbook" is a valuable addition. I have the books that will take me where I want to go. In fact, I
dropped membership from Blayne Chastain's great flute and whistle tutorial website because between these books and the book of sessions tunes, I have enough to progress at a good pace.
For melodic playing - Tin Whistle, Flute, Banjo
For counter-melodies - Mountain Dulcimer
For rhythm playing - Guitar, Bodhran (asked for one for my birthday.)
For counter-melodies - Mountain Dulcimer
For rhythm playing - Guitar, Bodhran (asked for one for my birthday.)
I have plans to write songs and place Irish tunes into them. This will allow me to bring the electric guitar and bass into the mix. I've started to work with Garage Band on my Mac and iPad to record my music.
2013 Goals:
1. Successfully integrate Irish traditional music into a more rock-like format (without sounding like the popular Irish-punk sound.)
2. Produce at least one YouTube video of the result.
3. Work out a Christmas set for doing shows with a local singer/songwriter.
The Clubsiders exist (still) but the band will be lower on my priority list. Let's see if the band exists by year's end.
Welcome to 2013.
Monday, October 22, 2012
Musical Goals
As is usually the case, I haven't been thinking about posting on my
blog. I should create a weekly reminder. But to be honest, I haven't had
anything to talk about, at least until I reach some of my short-term
goals. So this post will hopefully be a start to a trend. My biggest
interest is in music and it is that that I will try to write about on a
regular basis.
In 2004 I created a website that time-lined my progress at playing the plectrum banjo. It expressed my enthusiasm towards going to my weekly lessons and it highlighted my favorite banjo players. Slowly, I started to lose interest in updating the site. Then I thought to use some available software to create a new site. The amount of work necessary to update it made it worse for the first site. Then spammers were using it to spam. I put the old site back up and it remained static until the information was so old I had to shut it down.
My love for the plectrum banjo has waned somewhat because the style didn't fit well with music and musicians around me. This year I changed to playing the tin whistle and flute, and started playing Irish traditional music. Now I'm putting my feet into the fire and playing in sessions. I'm cramming the tin whistle practice and fast forwarding my skills, hopefully without crashing. My flute progress is slower but I'm building my lungs and focusing on good tone. The whistle is my head start and my current goal is to play the flute full time in one year. The whistle is my head start program.
Between 2007 and 2008 I became musically depressed. I almost gave up the banjo. I took my annual trek to the BBA St. Valentines Day Banjo Fest and Massacre, but had no interest in participating in the events. Somehow, I felt obligated to go, perhaps because I spent the past four years seriously pursuing the craft. Later in 2008 I participated in a variety show in my community and joined the Clubsiders. This kept me going, but just on a steady course with no goals or desires to further my musical skills. This year the Clubsiders broke up.
2012 is a good year, musically speaking. I wanted to learn how to play a flute, in particular because I was enjoying the music of Jethro Tull and in particular, Ian Anderson's flute. I bought a student flute and spent every day practicing to reach a point where I didn't sound like a student. It was enthusiasm that blocked me from realizing that I was not progressing. For me, lifting my left thumb and using my right pinky insured a shift in the flute's position, losing my embouchure position. I figured in time it would go away but it hindered me from progressing anywhere else.
In the meantime I would listen to a Jethro Tull song called "The Whistler." I thought the instrument he was playing was a fife. That is until I saw the video. "What is that?", I thought as a witnessed an instrument I never noticed before. It was a tin whistle, also known as a pennywhistle. I ordered a Clarke Original (really made out of tin) from Amazon and got several more that month. I discovered a website called Chiff and Fipple and like my old website, the creator hadn't maintained it. It is still a treasure trove of information though, and the forums are the best on the Internet.
The tin whistle was my escape to something new. It was like starting over again. This time I focused on diatonic and modal scales. No chromatic scales to learn. No fingering variations for each key beyond the single flattened note that separates the primary key, in this case D and the secondary key, the G. The G is up one counter-clockwise on the circle of fifths and in the key signature, the C# is flattened to a C, the difference between the key of D and the key of G. As long as I can transpose a song to D or G (with exceptions) I can use the same fingering on whistles in other keys.
In May I started to play the whistle and learn about Irish traditional music. Naturally, the flute was still in consideration and I noticed that a keyless flute allowed for my left thumb and right pinky to remain in place. I made a PVC pipe flute to test out playing one. The decision to switch was almost instant and in August I got a delrin keyless flute made by Walt Sweet called "Shannon."
Two weeks ago I attended my first Irish "session" and am preparing to play the tin whistle in a "set" of jigs. That is jumping into the fire, but if the others are receptive to it, this will take me where I couldn't go on the banjo. If I could have played in weekly four-string banjo sessions, I would have been able to avoid the funk of 2007-2008. I have the enthusiasm to start a new website but this time it will be a static archive. All updates will remain on the blog.
More to come...
In 2004 I created a website that time-lined my progress at playing the plectrum banjo. It expressed my enthusiasm towards going to my weekly lessons and it highlighted my favorite banjo players. Slowly, I started to lose interest in updating the site. Then I thought to use some available software to create a new site. The amount of work necessary to update it made it worse for the first site. Then spammers were using it to spam. I put the old site back up and it remained static until the information was so old I had to shut it down.
My love for the plectrum banjo has waned somewhat because the style didn't fit well with music and musicians around me. This year I changed to playing the tin whistle and flute, and started playing Irish traditional music. Now I'm putting my feet into the fire and playing in sessions. I'm cramming the tin whistle practice and fast forwarding my skills, hopefully without crashing. My flute progress is slower but I'm building my lungs and focusing on good tone. The whistle is my head start and my current goal is to play the flute full time in one year. The whistle is my head start program.
Between 2007 and 2008 I became musically depressed. I almost gave up the banjo. I took my annual trek to the BBA St. Valentines Day Banjo Fest and Massacre, but had no interest in participating in the events. Somehow, I felt obligated to go, perhaps because I spent the past four years seriously pursuing the craft. Later in 2008 I participated in a variety show in my community and joined the Clubsiders. This kept me going, but just on a steady course with no goals or desires to further my musical skills. This year the Clubsiders broke up.
2012 is a good year, musically speaking. I wanted to learn how to play a flute, in particular because I was enjoying the music of Jethro Tull and in particular, Ian Anderson's flute. I bought a student flute and spent every day practicing to reach a point where I didn't sound like a student. It was enthusiasm that blocked me from realizing that I was not progressing. For me, lifting my left thumb and using my right pinky insured a shift in the flute's position, losing my embouchure position. I figured in time it would go away but it hindered me from progressing anywhere else.
In the meantime I would listen to a Jethro Tull song called "The Whistler." I thought the instrument he was playing was a fife. That is until I saw the video. "What is that?", I thought as a witnessed an instrument I never noticed before. It was a tin whistle, also known as a pennywhistle. I ordered a Clarke Original (really made out of tin) from Amazon and got several more that month. I discovered a website called Chiff and Fipple and like my old website, the creator hadn't maintained it. It is still a treasure trove of information though, and the forums are the best on the Internet.
The tin whistle was my escape to something new. It was like starting over again. This time I focused on diatonic and modal scales. No chromatic scales to learn. No fingering variations for each key beyond the single flattened note that separates the primary key, in this case D and the secondary key, the G. The G is up one counter-clockwise on the circle of fifths and in the key signature, the C# is flattened to a C, the difference between the key of D and the key of G. As long as I can transpose a song to D or G (with exceptions) I can use the same fingering on whistles in other keys.
In May I started to play the whistle and learn about Irish traditional music. Naturally, the flute was still in consideration and I noticed that a keyless flute allowed for my left thumb and right pinky to remain in place. I made a PVC pipe flute to test out playing one. The decision to switch was almost instant and in August I got a delrin keyless flute made by Walt Sweet called "Shannon."
Two weeks ago I attended my first Irish "session" and am preparing to play the tin whistle in a "set" of jigs. That is jumping into the fire, but if the others are receptive to it, this will take me where I couldn't go on the banjo. If I could have played in weekly four-string banjo sessions, I would have been able to avoid the funk of 2007-2008. I have the enthusiasm to start a new website but this time it will be a static archive. All updates will remain on the blog.
More to come...
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Musical Blues
So I walk into a music store that prides itself in buying your used
musical instruments. I show them my mint condition Gemeinhardt 2SP
flute. The owner (actually the son of the owner) comes over and looks at
the flute. He then says that I have a beautiful "student" flute and he
hasn't bought any "student" flutes in a year. I wasn't miffed and to be
honest I wasn't surprised. This is my life in the world of low-cost
musical instruments.
Right now I own too many guitars. I have a plectrum banjo I love and a cheap banjo I keep at a bandmate's house where we practice. I have a ukulele I love and another ukulele with a modified string set. I have one flute and ten tin whistles. I love six of the whistles because they are a set of Generation brass whistles that were tweaked by a professional tweaker. Those instruments I love are the ones that I have no intention of ever selling. I don't have the dreaded acquisition syndrome that wants me to keep buying and buying. I have extra whistles because these are the inexpensive kind (whistles can go for up to over $1k) and I am experimenting with my own tweaking.
So I have the right banjo, ukulele and tin whistles. The same can't be said about the guitars or the flute. Now these cannot be compared. The student flute is designed so that parents can buy a flute for their kids without breaking the bank before they know whether or not the kids will stick to it. A good flute costs over $1,250 and the low end of that price range is still compromising the quality but with the ability to improve the existing flute for only over another $1,000. On the other hand the market is flooded with cheap guitars to fill the demand of kids who want to be rock stars some day. Finding a low end guitar that a musician can love is purely a matter of luck. And that only applies to electric guitars. Now, I'm content with my electric guitars because I've finally decided that rock music is not my musical destination in life. The Epiphone Les Paul I own is modified for the alternate tuning I play and the neck is stable. The two other guitars have unstable necks.
My acoustic guitars, on the other hand, are okay at best, but not performance-level. Acoustic guitars on the low end aren't loveable as a matter of luck. They just aren't capable of sounding like the better guitars. I hear good thinks about Godin's Seagull guitars but I have never heard their tones come from the audio tracks of noted acoustic players. My Korean-built Songbird guitar sound nice, but I can't play it with the other acoustic players I know (one has a Martin HD-28.)
The music store incident is indicative of the low-cost instrument dilemma. A good musical instrument, especially acoustic, will retain their value after the initial sell. The others won't. A good acoustic instrument will sound better with time. The others won't. Good acoustic instruments can be passed down from generation to generation. The others can't. I may never get a better guitar now that I'm getting away from them. I'll use what I have to make recordings that other instruments will be focused over and will continue to pursue the whistle and flute.
The reason I wanted to sell the flute was to get away from the Boehm-style metal concert flute to play an Irish flute. The fingering of the Irish flute is similar to the tin whistle and I can already play my whistles better than my flute. I wanted the money to get the entry-level flute and if I liked playing it, get a pro-level one for Christmas. A good keyless Irish flute costs less than the concert flutes and acoustic guitars of the same quality. Note I said keyless. Eight-key Irish flutes cost between $3,000 and $5,000. I don't see a need for a keyed flute as long as the songs are in D or G (I can expand using cross-fingering to produce some extra accidentals, thereby playing in more keys.)
I have improved on my attitude over this issue and writing this has helped more. I am making a flute out of PVC to try my hand at making a musical instrument as well as having a flute to try.
Right now I own too many guitars. I have a plectrum banjo I love and a cheap banjo I keep at a bandmate's house where we practice. I have a ukulele I love and another ukulele with a modified string set. I have one flute and ten tin whistles. I love six of the whistles because they are a set of Generation brass whistles that were tweaked by a professional tweaker. Those instruments I love are the ones that I have no intention of ever selling. I don't have the dreaded acquisition syndrome that wants me to keep buying and buying. I have extra whistles because these are the inexpensive kind (whistles can go for up to over $1k) and I am experimenting with my own tweaking.
So I have the right banjo, ukulele and tin whistles. The same can't be said about the guitars or the flute. Now these cannot be compared. The student flute is designed so that parents can buy a flute for their kids without breaking the bank before they know whether or not the kids will stick to it. A good flute costs over $1,250 and the low end of that price range is still compromising the quality but with the ability to improve the existing flute for only over another $1,000. On the other hand the market is flooded with cheap guitars to fill the demand of kids who want to be rock stars some day. Finding a low end guitar that a musician can love is purely a matter of luck. And that only applies to electric guitars. Now, I'm content with my electric guitars because I've finally decided that rock music is not my musical destination in life. The Epiphone Les Paul I own is modified for the alternate tuning I play and the neck is stable. The two other guitars have unstable necks.
My acoustic guitars, on the other hand, are okay at best, but not performance-level. Acoustic guitars on the low end aren't loveable as a matter of luck. They just aren't capable of sounding like the better guitars. I hear good thinks about Godin's Seagull guitars but I have never heard their tones come from the audio tracks of noted acoustic players. My Korean-built Songbird guitar sound nice, but I can't play it with the other acoustic players I know (one has a Martin HD-28.)
The music store incident is indicative of the low-cost instrument dilemma. A good musical instrument, especially acoustic, will retain their value after the initial sell. The others won't. A good acoustic instrument will sound better with time. The others won't. Good acoustic instruments can be passed down from generation to generation. The others can't. I may never get a better guitar now that I'm getting away from them. I'll use what I have to make recordings that other instruments will be focused over and will continue to pursue the whistle and flute.
The reason I wanted to sell the flute was to get away from the Boehm-style metal concert flute to play an Irish flute. The fingering of the Irish flute is similar to the tin whistle and I can already play my whistles better than my flute. I wanted the money to get the entry-level flute and if I liked playing it, get a pro-level one for Christmas. A good keyless Irish flute costs less than the concert flutes and acoustic guitars of the same quality. Note I said keyless. Eight-key Irish flutes cost between $3,000 and $5,000. I don't see a need for a keyed flute as long as the songs are in D or G (I can expand using cross-fingering to produce some extra accidentals, thereby playing in more keys.)
I have improved on my attitude over this issue and writing this has helped more. I am making a flute out of PVC to try my hand at making a musical instrument as well as having a flute to try.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Why Watches? Why Now?
After years of not wearing a watch, last fall I started wearing one. It
wasn't the one I stopped wearing almost ten years ago. I still have no
interest in that watch. Until this week it was a cheap Stauer
Chinese-movement automatic mechanical watch that I saw in a SkyMall
catalog while flying to Las Vegas. This week I bought an Invicta
Swiss-movement copy of a Rolex Submariner. Why did my interest in these
watches happen? Why will I not consider other watches?
It has to do with the movement in the watch. When I was a child my father bought me a Caravelle watch. It was a manual mechanical meaning I had to wind it every day. Quartz battery-powered watches were just starting to enter the market. I didn't know anything but that I liked being able to tell the time anywhere I went. I loved my watch. As time went by I bought other watches. I thought I made the big time when I bought a Seiko in the service. The only thing I disliked was the battery. I didn't think that it mattered and after I wore out the Seiko I looked at cheap Swatches, Timex and Casio LCD watches. The complexity of the features made it hard for me to make any adjustments without an instruction book. I just didn't like the watch anymore.
But that was before I realized that my nature as a curious engineer realized while reading the SkyMall ad for the Stauer Meisterzeit watch that the mechanics behind a self-winding watch is fascinating. Springs, gears, levers - I wanted a marvel of old-world technology on my wrist. And that Stauer didn't let me down. The watch has an exhibition back that shows the weighted rotor that moves 360 degrees to wind the watch anytime my arm moves. Now the ad talked about the first patent for the modern automatic in 1923 and how this watch mimicked that first automatic. I googled and wikied for all the information I could find regarding the technology. I discovered that the Chinese movement was not a replica of the bumper automatic but rather the Rolex-patented in 1930, full-rotating automatic movements that are in all automatics today. I also discovered what a hacking watch is. The $100 watch could hack - meaning the second hand stops when the crown is pulled out to adjust the time. That allows the watch to synchronize to another time source.
I didn't expect much accuracy with this watch because an electric signal from a quartz crystal is more accurate than a spring, a gear and a lever. For the first few weeks the watch was off by two minutes a week. But amazingly, it got more accurate as time went by and now it is off by a dozen seconds or so a week. Seeing the balance-wheel move through the exhibition back was another love of mine. This was brought even further by blogs displaying hand-made watches that were designed to show all of the mechanics of that watch. In particular are the Tourbillon movements. Those are found in watches that generally sell for more than $20,000.
This Stauer has a sweeping second hand. Just to show my ignorance, I was taught that a person could spot a fake Rolex watch by looking at the second hand. The fake ones I saw had the kind of second hand that clicks every second. Now I know that it has to do with quartz movements - all automatic mechanical movements have sweeping hands. The Chinese-movement in my Stauer could be in a Rolex-copy and I would be fooled. Never-the-less I still view the sweeping hand a sign of luxury - at any price.
I love the Stauer watch and recommend it to those with a low budget but I needed to move on to what I hope to be my final watch. My friend Larry wears a Rolex. It's not that he could afford one as much as it is that he always wanted one. I can't say the same so it's smart that my wife has no intention of getting me one. I would not appreciate it. But I do appreciate having a Swiss-made automatic movement on a nicer watch. I was considering getting a Hamilton watch someday. But I came across Invicta and found some really wonderful options. Invicta has a series called "Pro Diver." In the series are a half-dozen or so watches that look just like a Rolex Submariner. All of them are automatics and cost between $90 and $300.
I was opting for the Invicta model 8626 with a Japanese Miyota movement. But like my guitars, buying the inexpensive one would not satisfy me. The fact that the back display shows a plain movement and a plain rotor along with the fact that it's not a Swiss movement and it is non-hacking, with a mineral (scratchable) crystal would not have satisfied me. Fortunately I got a bonus from my boss and was able to get the $300 model 9937 with everything I want in a watch. I don't want a Rolex or anything costing close to that much. I hope that this watch will last me because the Sellita SW200 Swiss movement isn't proven yet and I'm not sure what Invicta means by calling the crystal "Flame-Fusion." I know what it means but the name is used as a trademark. Supposedly it is more durable than a straight sapphire crystal but it may only be a cost saver. Time will tell. The bottom line is that the watch looks great and already someone mistook it for a Rolex.
Why now? I don't know. Maybe I'm thinking back to when I was a kid with my Caravelle watch. Maybe it was discovering that I could afford a watch that looks like a Rolex. Maybe it's the marvel of the engineering. But I'm happy to own this watch and I will wear one from now on.
It has to do with the movement in the watch. When I was a child my father bought me a Caravelle watch. It was a manual mechanical meaning I had to wind it every day. Quartz battery-powered watches were just starting to enter the market. I didn't know anything but that I liked being able to tell the time anywhere I went. I loved my watch. As time went by I bought other watches. I thought I made the big time when I bought a Seiko in the service. The only thing I disliked was the battery. I didn't think that it mattered and after I wore out the Seiko I looked at cheap Swatches, Timex and Casio LCD watches. The complexity of the features made it hard for me to make any adjustments without an instruction book. I just didn't like the watch anymore.
But that was before I realized that my nature as a curious engineer realized while reading the SkyMall ad for the Stauer Meisterzeit watch that the mechanics behind a self-winding watch is fascinating. Springs, gears, levers - I wanted a marvel of old-world technology on my wrist. And that Stauer didn't let me down. The watch has an exhibition back that shows the weighted rotor that moves 360 degrees to wind the watch anytime my arm moves. Now the ad talked about the first patent for the modern automatic in 1923 and how this watch mimicked that first automatic. I googled and wikied for all the information I could find regarding the technology. I discovered that the Chinese movement was not a replica of the bumper automatic but rather the Rolex-patented in 1930, full-rotating automatic movements that are in all automatics today. I also discovered what a hacking watch is. The $100 watch could hack - meaning the second hand stops when the crown is pulled out to adjust the time. That allows the watch to synchronize to another time source.
I didn't expect much accuracy with this watch because an electric signal from a quartz crystal is more accurate than a spring, a gear and a lever. For the first few weeks the watch was off by two minutes a week. But amazingly, it got more accurate as time went by and now it is off by a dozen seconds or so a week. Seeing the balance-wheel move through the exhibition back was another love of mine. This was brought even further by blogs displaying hand-made watches that were designed to show all of the mechanics of that watch. In particular are the Tourbillon movements. Those are found in watches that generally sell for more than $20,000.
This Stauer has a sweeping second hand. Just to show my ignorance, I was taught that a person could spot a fake Rolex watch by looking at the second hand. The fake ones I saw had the kind of second hand that clicks every second. Now I know that it has to do with quartz movements - all automatic mechanical movements have sweeping hands. The Chinese-movement in my Stauer could be in a Rolex-copy and I would be fooled. Never-the-less I still view the sweeping hand a sign of luxury - at any price.
I love the Stauer watch and recommend it to those with a low budget but I needed to move on to what I hope to be my final watch. My friend Larry wears a Rolex. It's not that he could afford one as much as it is that he always wanted one. I can't say the same so it's smart that my wife has no intention of getting me one. I would not appreciate it. But I do appreciate having a Swiss-made automatic movement on a nicer watch. I was considering getting a Hamilton watch someday. But I came across Invicta and found some really wonderful options. Invicta has a series called "Pro Diver." In the series are a half-dozen or so watches that look just like a Rolex Submariner. All of them are automatics and cost between $90 and $300.
I was opting for the Invicta model 8626 with a Japanese Miyota movement. But like my guitars, buying the inexpensive one would not satisfy me. The fact that the back display shows a plain movement and a plain rotor along with the fact that it's not a Swiss movement and it is non-hacking, with a mineral (scratchable) crystal would not have satisfied me. Fortunately I got a bonus from my boss and was able to get the $300 model 9937 with everything I want in a watch. I don't want a Rolex or anything costing close to that much. I hope that this watch will last me because the Sellita SW200 Swiss movement isn't proven yet and I'm not sure what Invicta means by calling the crystal "Flame-Fusion." I know what it means but the name is used as a trademark. Supposedly it is more durable than a straight sapphire crystal but it may only be a cost saver. Time will tell. The bottom line is that the watch looks great and already someone mistook it for a Rolex.
Why now? I don't know. Maybe I'm thinking back to when I was a kid with my Caravelle watch. Maybe it was discovering that I could afford a watch that looks like a Rolex. Maybe it's the marvel of the engineering. But I'm happy to own this watch and I will wear one from now on.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Portrait of My Cameras
I wanted to get a picture of all of my cameras. Since I was a kid I had cameras. I recall having a plastic camera with a fixed lens that shot 127 roll film (for remembering this detail I thank my dad.) When I was a pre-teen I was allowed to shoot picture with my dad's Mamiya C330 Twin Lens Reflex. My high school graduation present was a Minolta SRT-201, all black from Ritz Camera (In Wilmington Delaware in 1977, Ritz was the big camera store downtown.) I took that camera with me into the Army where the light meter broke. I sold it and bought one of my favorite cameras, a Yashica Electro 35 GSN.
Throughout my adult life I owned a Minolta Maxxum 7000, Pentax K1000, various point-and-shoot 35mm and digital, a Yashica (FX-7?), Contax RTS II, Yashica Mat-124G, Mamiya C330, Nikon F, Soviet-era Lubitel 166B, Nikon D50, Minox EC, Canon EOS 60D and HTC Inspire 4G (okay, the last one is a cellphone.) Today I have many of these cameras. I have my third Electro 35, a GS model (I love these cameras) plus six other cameras for my portrait. I used my cellphone to take the picture with a program called Night Camera. Night Camera brackets three shots to make the final picture and unlike a good DSLR, there is a major lag between shots.
I couldn't hold the camera steady enough to get a good alignment with the shots (my Canon 60D has a nice grip and a much better weight and bracketing three shots hand-held is no problem.) I needed to brace the phone in order to get the picture.
So first, here's the picture:
Now here's my cellphone on my tripod:
I used a clamp made by Cullman that I purchased in the 80s to mount lights to my tripod. This provided the perfect stillness for the three shots that resulted in the final image. I'm not sure but clamps like this one should still be available to mount on your tripod.
Throughout my adult life I owned a Minolta Maxxum 7000, Pentax K1000, various point-and-shoot 35mm and digital, a Yashica (FX-7?), Contax RTS II, Yashica Mat-124G, Mamiya C330, Nikon F, Soviet-era Lubitel 166B, Nikon D50, Minox EC, Canon EOS 60D and HTC Inspire 4G (okay, the last one is a cellphone.) Today I have many of these cameras. I have my third Electro 35, a GS model (I love these cameras) plus six other cameras for my portrait. I used my cellphone to take the picture with a program called Night Camera. Night Camera brackets three shots to make the final picture and unlike a good DSLR, there is a major lag between shots.
I couldn't hold the camera steady enough to get a good alignment with the shots (my Canon 60D has a nice grip and a much better weight and bracketing three shots hand-held is no problem.) I needed to brace the phone in order to get the picture.
So first, here's the picture:
Now here's my cellphone on my tripod:
I used a clamp made by Cullman that I purchased in the 80s to mount lights to my tripod. This provided the perfect stillness for the three shots that resulted in the final image. I'm not sure but clamps like this one should still be available to mount on your tripod.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Use HDR Without Making It Look Like It
Okay digital photographers, have you produced HDR (High Dynamic Range) photos? When I first saw HDR back around 2006, I thought of how wonderful the images were but I didn't want my images to necessarily look like a 'HDR image.' Today I was going over photos I shot on my trip to Las Vegas with my wife in September. I came across a photo I shot of the Beverly Hills City Hall on a day trip we took to California.
To get the perfect exposure of City Hall I lost a lot of detail of the trees. The old days of making prints meant I would have to dodge and burn to get more detail and film didn't necessarily capture the detail in underexposed sections. Digital sensors do capture details in under or overexposed sections better making dodging and burning details produce better results. But that's still a pain in the butt to me. Another method would have been to shoot a series of bracketed shots and mask sections to blend together the different sections where the details show. That's exactly what HDR software does - bracket a high contrast image and it merges them together.
But I only shot this image one time. No problem. I used Nik Software's HDR Efex Pro software and going through a series of preset samples I found the image that gave me all the detail in one image.
As you can see it did so without making it look like a 'HDR Image.' The only problem I had with the final image was that the added detail brought out a lot of chromatic noise. I didn't save the noisy example. I recommend using commercial noise rection software to eliminate as much noise as possible. I used Nik Software's Dfine 2.0 to produce this almost noise-free final image.
On occasion, making HDR images with bright colors and surreal contrast work very well. But don't overlook HDR software to correct shooting images in high contrast situations.
To get the perfect exposure of City Hall I lost a lot of detail of the trees. The old days of making prints meant I would have to dodge and burn to get more detail and film didn't necessarily capture the detail in underexposed sections. Digital sensors do capture details in under or overexposed sections better making dodging and burning details produce better results. But that's still a pain in the butt to me. Another method would have been to shoot a series of bracketed shots and mask sections to blend together the different sections where the details show. That's exactly what HDR software does - bracket a high contrast image and it merges them together.
But I only shot this image one time. No problem. I used Nik Software's HDR Efex Pro software and going through a series of preset samples I found the image that gave me all the detail in one image.
As you can see it did so without making it look like a 'HDR Image.' The only problem I had with the final image was that the added detail brought out a lot of chromatic noise. I didn't save the noisy example. I recommend using commercial noise rection software to eliminate as much noise as possible. I used Nik Software's Dfine 2.0 to produce this almost noise-free final image.
On occasion, making HDR images with bright colors and surreal contrast work very well. But don't overlook HDR software to correct shooting images in high contrast situations.
Saturday, December 17, 2011
I am testing the posting of my images. I have no desire to write political comments anymore but that could change. I would rather be a photographer and show the beauty of life whether still or moving, whether breathing or not, whether man-made or not (everything's natural or it wouldn't exist.) I took this photo in October. More to come soon...
Monday, October 10, 2011
Dart : Structured web programming
Dart is officially released (but limited.) I've started looking at it so I won't comment on its structure but I think it will be real easy for Java programmers to pick up.
Dart : Structured web programming:
'via Blog this'
Dart : Structured web programming:
'via Blog this'
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs was one of the most important people in my life as well as many others. His business partnership with Steve Wozniak moved a cadre of niche products to the forefront of the computer industry by offering something better than the others (at the time.) Later, his return to run that same company made it bigger than its rival competitor (Microsoft) and number two in the country.
My first computer was an Apple II and it was vital in getting me to where I am today. I wrote machine-level code in order to understand the inner workings of a CPU and how it interfaced with memory and other devices. Although the memory-mapped I/O method was completely taken over by Intel's I/O approach, the understanding remained. The Apple II helped me realize that I could make a machine do what it wanted it to do. I had abandoned Apple after I bought an Apple IIe but now I own a Mac and an iPod. Jobs made Apple produce products that mattered to people and did so without stealing ideas.
When Jobs said he'd step down if he could not run the company I knew his days were numbered. I still was surprised to see the news last night. It shows how quickly cancer can cause someone to go downhill quickly. Tuesday's big announcement of the iPhone 4s was quite lame compared to past announcements. Had I known that Jobs was going to pass away the next day I would have seen the announcement in a different light. Tim Cook did a good job considering the circumstances.
I wish the company continued success and I thank Steve Jobs for the job I have now.
My first computer was an Apple II and it was vital in getting me to where I am today. I wrote machine-level code in order to understand the inner workings of a CPU and how it interfaced with memory and other devices. Although the memory-mapped I/O method was completely taken over by Intel's I/O approach, the understanding remained. The Apple II helped me realize that I could make a machine do what it wanted it to do. I had abandoned Apple after I bought an Apple IIe but now I own a Mac and an iPod. Jobs made Apple produce products that mattered to people and did so without stealing ideas.
When Jobs said he'd step down if he could not run the company I knew his days were numbered. I still was surprised to see the news last night. It shows how quickly cancer can cause someone to go downhill quickly. Tuesday's big announcement of the iPhone 4s was quite lame compared to past announcements. Had I known that Jobs was going to pass away the next day I would have seen the announcement in a different light. Tim Cook did a good job considering the circumstances.
I wish the company continued success and I thank Steve Jobs for the job I have now.
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Photography Bug
Everything goes around in circles for me. For a four year period of my life in the nineties I was a wedding photographer. It wasn't my primary job, it was just something I wanted to grow into and become my career. I loved photography. My father was a wedding photographer and he let me use his cameras when I got old enough. His primary cameras were a Mamiya C330 and a C220. I learned how to shoot manual pictures and do things with depth-of-field and other techniques. He bought me Ansel Adams' series of books and for my high school graduation a Minolta SRT-201 SLR. That was in 1977.
From then until I did weddings I focused on taking landscape and architecture photography. My job took me to places around the world and I took slides of some of the most beautiful places. I still have those slides and I need to digitize them for my soon-to-be portfolio. The key was that I loved photography. My wife took some of my favorite photos from that era and framed them. They hang in the wall in our hallway. On and off since then I've wanted to get the passion that I used to have.
But the wedding photography damaged my passion. I worked solo in a field where my photography equipment was no match for my competition. I worried between the wedding and the negative processing. I lost tons of money trying to get started. I hated all of the professional processing labs I dealt with. I hated the business side of wedding photography. It got to the point where I didn't want to ever pick up a camera again.
In 2000 I bought a digital point-and-shoot camera. Until it was stolen in 2004 I started enjoying taking pictures of family events. I started playing banjo and wanted to photograph those events so my wife bought me a Nikon D50. Since then I've taken pictures on and off and have enjoyed doing so. I tried souvenir photos at banjo events too.
Lately I've gotten the bug again. I started playing with HDR in 2007. I got a cellphone with a 8MP camera in it and found some great Android Apps for it. I started following photographers on Google+ and Facebook. I want now to replace my Paint Shop Pro and free software applications with Photoshop, Pro Efex, HDR Efex, Lightroom and whatever Photoshop filters I can get. I want to get a Nikon D7000 camera. I want to pursue career again (but not weddings!)
I am far away from the level that the best digital photographers have achieved but I can get to their level in the future. In the meantime if you want to see some wonderful photography, follow me on Google+ and let me know that you're interested in following the photographers in my circle. I have over 250 photographers in that circle. I'll share the circle with you.
From then until I did weddings I focused on taking landscape and architecture photography. My job took me to places around the world and I took slides of some of the most beautiful places. I still have those slides and I need to digitize them for my soon-to-be portfolio. The key was that I loved photography. My wife took some of my favorite photos from that era and framed them. They hang in the wall in our hallway. On and off since then I've wanted to get the passion that I used to have.
But the wedding photography damaged my passion. I worked solo in a field where my photography equipment was no match for my competition. I worried between the wedding and the negative processing. I lost tons of money trying to get started. I hated all of the professional processing labs I dealt with. I hated the business side of wedding photography. It got to the point where I didn't want to ever pick up a camera again.
In 2000 I bought a digital point-and-shoot camera. Until it was stolen in 2004 I started enjoying taking pictures of family events. I started playing banjo and wanted to photograph those events so my wife bought me a Nikon D50. Since then I've taken pictures on and off and have enjoyed doing so. I tried souvenir photos at banjo events too.
Lately I've gotten the bug again. I started playing with HDR in 2007. I got a cellphone with a 8MP camera in it and found some great Android Apps for it. I started following photographers on Google+ and Facebook. I want now to replace my Paint Shop Pro and free software applications with Photoshop, Pro Efex, HDR Efex, Lightroom and whatever Photoshop filters I can get. I want to get a Nikon D7000 camera. I want to pursue career again (but not weddings!)
I am far away from the level that the best digital photographers have achieved but I can get to their level in the future. In the meantime if you want to see some wonderful photography, follow me on Google+ and let me know that you're interested in following the photographers in my circle. I have over 250 photographers in that circle. I'll share the circle with you.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Stauer Meisterzeit Watch
I have taken for granted the idea of wearing a watch since being an adult. I remember my father getting me a Caravelle by Bulova when I was a kid. I don't remember how old I was or what the occasion was. All I remember was that it was an automatic mechanical watch and it kept great time. Since then I've owned a Seiko with a quartz movement, a Swatch and various LCD Casio watches. The last Casio I owned was too hard to adjust and I gave up wearing a watch.
Recently I've had my eyes looking at automatic mechanical watches again. Money being an issue, keeps me from looking for anything in the Rolex category but I was looking at moderately-priced Hamiltons. Last week I went to Las Vegas with my wife and I saw a watch that intrigued me in the SkyMall catalog on the airplane. It is the Stauer Meisterzeit and it is advertised for only $99.
See the ad from Stauer here.
Okay, some of you will probably question my gullibility after reading the ad, but I actually caught the nonsensical marketing hype and stuck to the things that made me want this watch. I read forums from watch connoisseurs who dogged the quality of "Chinese-made" Stauers to the buyers who likened the watch to the "finest ever made." Here is my review of the watch (so far) and a comparison of the marketing hype to the real thing.
This is part one of my review. I will write part two in a month or so. The watch arrived five days after I ordered it online. It looks like it came directly from Stauer. The box it came in really doesn't remind me of the typical watch box but it is nicer than boxes I've seen. The instructions are presented in a fancy envelope along with a card stating its excellence in reproduction. Supposedly this watch is a reproduction of one made 82 years ago. According to the story one survived and it was meticulously reproduced using 31 million dollar machinery. I cannot verify any of this and I doubt it's true.
The next claim is that the automatic movement is based on a patent from 1923. I did some research and learned that John Harwood patented the automatic movement in 1923 and it was for a "bumper movement" that was used in thousands of Harwood watches and made more famous by Omega watches. Bumper movements have been criticized and have since been replaced by the full 360 degree movements that were made popular by the original Rolex patent in 1930. Fortunately when I received the watch it had a full-360 degree movement. The other thought I had was that if Harwood was the one who made seven of these watches, why didn't he reproduce it when he made thousands of plain-looking watches until his company went out of business?
I have come to the conclusion that the ad is all hype but if one wants a nice looking watch and is careful with it, this watch is rather nice. It is water-resistant down to thirty meters but there is no claim of it being shock-resistant. It only has a thirty-day guarantee, which is something else that bothers me. That's where I did notice reviews. Customers were happy that theirs were still running fine after owning one over a year. I will have to be careful with this watch.
The second hand "sweeps" at five increments-per-second like a Rolex. The face is big but the date window is tiny and the watch is rather thick. None of this bothers me much. The watch face is one of the nicest I've ever seen. The band is genuine leather although I don't think it's fully leather. The band was real stiff when it arrived but it broke in quickly and is comfortable after one day's wear. The side buttons are the right size for my wrist. The watch was running when it arrived but I wound it fully before putting it on. Some have said the wind doesn't last long after the watch is taken off but since it was running when I got it, I don't think it's that bad. I can't rate its accuracy but I will do it at my followup review. It's a mechanical watch so I expect to adjust it on a regular basis.
Overall my first impression of this watch is good. I didn't have high expectations when I bought it so for what it is, it's very nice. I don't like the marketing decision because it's dishonest to call this watch a limited edition and state that it takes six months to make this watch. A $100 watch? Did Stauer get a $500 million loan from the government? It takes six months to make an expensive watch. That's why they're expensive. The intellectual dishonesty of the ad is a turnoff. But don't go by the ad. The watch is very nice and works fine (so far.)
Recently I've had my eyes looking at automatic mechanical watches again. Money being an issue, keeps me from looking for anything in the Rolex category but I was looking at moderately-priced Hamiltons. Last week I went to Las Vegas with my wife and I saw a watch that intrigued me in the SkyMall catalog on the airplane. It is the Stauer Meisterzeit and it is advertised for only $99.
See the ad from Stauer here.
Okay, some of you will probably question my gullibility after reading the ad, but I actually caught the nonsensical marketing hype and stuck to the things that made me want this watch. I read forums from watch connoisseurs who dogged the quality of "Chinese-made" Stauers to the buyers who likened the watch to the "finest ever made." Here is my review of the watch (so far) and a comparison of the marketing hype to the real thing.
This is part one of my review. I will write part two in a month or so. The watch arrived five days after I ordered it online. It looks like it came directly from Stauer. The box it came in really doesn't remind me of the typical watch box but it is nicer than boxes I've seen. The instructions are presented in a fancy envelope along with a card stating its excellence in reproduction. Supposedly this watch is a reproduction of one made 82 years ago. According to the story one survived and it was meticulously reproduced using 31 million dollar machinery. I cannot verify any of this and I doubt it's true.
The next claim is that the automatic movement is based on a patent from 1923. I did some research and learned that John Harwood patented the automatic movement in 1923 and it was for a "bumper movement" that was used in thousands of Harwood watches and made more famous by Omega watches. Bumper movements have been criticized and have since been replaced by the full 360 degree movements that were made popular by the original Rolex patent in 1930. Fortunately when I received the watch it had a full-360 degree movement. The other thought I had was that if Harwood was the one who made seven of these watches, why didn't he reproduce it when he made thousands of plain-looking watches until his company went out of business?
I have come to the conclusion that the ad is all hype but if one wants a nice looking watch and is careful with it, this watch is rather nice. It is water-resistant down to thirty meters but there is no claim of it being shock-resistant. It only has a thirty-day guarantee, which is something else that bothers me. That's where I did notice reviews. Customers were happy that theirs were still running fine after owning one over a year. I will have to be careful with this watch.
The second hand "sweeps" at five increments-per-second like a Rolex. The face is big but the date window is tiny and the watch is rather thick. None of this bothers me much. The watch face is one of the nicest I've ever seen. The band is genuine leather although I don't think it's fully leather. The band was real stiff when it arrived but it broke in quickly and is comfortable after one day's wear. The side buttons are the right size for my wrist. The watch was running when it arrived but I wound it fully before putting it on. Some have said the wind doesn't last long after the watch is taken off but since it was running when I got it, I don't think it's that bad. I can't rate its accuracy but I will do it at my followup review. It's a mechanical watch so I expect to adjust it on a regular basis.
Overall my first impression of this watch is good. I didn't have high expectations when I bought it so for what it is, it's very nice. I don't like the marketing decision because it's dishonest to call this watch a limited edition and state that it takes six months to make this watch. A $100 watch? Did Stauer get a $500 million loan from the government? It takes six months to make an expensive watch. That's why they're expensive. The intellectual dishonesty of the ad is a turnoff. But don't go by the ad. The watch is very nice and works fine (so far.)
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Bitcasa Infinite Storage on your Desktop
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Why I Like Google+
I am on Facebook, Twitter and Google+ regularly. I'm on LinkedIn but I don't go there. I planned on avoiding all social networks until a banjo player friend of mine invited me to join Facebook. When I found a vast community of my banjo friends I realized that there is a good reason to be on Facebook. So at the same time I joined Twitter.
I didn't get Twitter. I didn't find many friends on it and most of them would hardly post anything on it. On the other hand I followed about four people who post regularly. I couldn't ever read everything they posted. I didn't have enough time. And the posts were so short that a lot of it was incomprehensible. The mini-URLs that accompany the posts were a good idea but I didn't have time to view them. I quit Twitter.
I played with Google Buzz and Google Wave. It would have required that I get all of my friends and colleagues on there. I was thinking the same thing with Google+ until I discovered that I could follow Linus Torvalds and Leo Laporte. I started getting regular posts on my stream that were more than just spitting out random, incomprehensible chatter. They were interesting. And they shared other posts from people who interested me. Before I knew it I was following people who write things I want to know. I actually had time to read them and if I had time I could read all the comments. That's what I didn't like about Twitter: every post was like a comment but I could not always get what people were commenting on. I have none of these problems with Google+.
Now that I finally get Twitter I rejoined it. I may never tweet. I only read what others say but I only use Twitter for following my favorite political pundits (and Orianthi.) I will probably follow other musicians too. But now I love posting on Google+. I share other posts for my small following. I use Google+ for technology and photography, not for politics.
I'll keep the other social networks. I like the fact that I can post to circles or publicly in Google+. This means that friends that don't want to be on Google+ can still go to my profile page and read what I share publicly. But if I have a circle of work colleagues and I want to post something that is work-related, I can share with just that circle. Cool!
I recommend that if you get a Google+ invite, take advantage of it. Follow some people on there and you'll discover that there is a lot of great content there. Businesses - Google is rolling out business-related stuff soon. In the meantime check it out.
I have a different point of view:
I didn't get Twitter. I didn't find many friends on it and most of them would hardly post anything on it. On the other hand I followed about four people who post regularly. I couldn't ever read everything they posted. I didn't have enough time. And the posts were so short that a lot of it was incomprehensible. The mini-URLs that accompany the posts were a good idea but I didn't have time to view them. I quit Twitter.
I played with Google Buzz and Google Wave. It would have required that I get all of my friends and colleagues on there. I was thinking the same thing with Google+ until I discovered that I could follow Linus Torvalds and Leo Laporte. I started getting regular posts on my stream that were more than just spitting out random, incomprehensible chatter. They were interesting. And they shared other posts from people who interested me. Before I knew it I was following people who write things I want to know. I actually had time to read them and if I had time I could read all the comments. That's what I didn't like about Twitter: every post was like a comment but I could not always get what people were commenting on. I have none of these problems with Google+.
Now that I finally get Twitter I rejoined it. I may never tweet. I only read what others say but I only use Twitter for following my favorite political pundits (and Orianthi.) I will probably follow other musicians too. But now I love posting on Google+. I share other posts for my small following. I use Google+ for technology and photography, not for politics.
I'll keep the other social networks. I like the fact that I can post to circles or publicly in Google+. This means that friends that don't want to be on Google+ can still go to my profile page and read what I share publicly. But if I have a circle of work colleagues and I want to post something that is work-related, I can share with just that circle. Cool!
I recommend that if you get a Google+ invite, take advantage of it. Follow some people on there and you'll discover that there is a lot of great content there. Businesses - Google is rolling out business-related stuff soon. In the meantime check it out.
I have a different point of view:
Friday, September 9, 2011
Fujifilm adds X10 to retro digital compact range
Unless the X100 drops under $1k I want this camera. It doesn't come out until November but I'm putting this on my Christmas List. I've wanted the feel of the old 35mm cameras that I'm not getting with my Nikon D50. Unlike the fixed-focal lens on the X100, this has a zoom lens. I prefer a fixed-focal lens.
Fujifilm adds X10 to retro digital compact range:
'via Blog this'
Fujifilm adds X10 to retro digital compact range:
'via Blog this'
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
DigiTech RP155 - A Great Pedal
I'm a tone god wannabe with no budget. I look for all the answers when it comes to getting the right guitar sound. I have tube amps. I have essential stompboxes. I have the most recommended guitars for my budget. And yet I have not been able to get the sound I want. Lately I have listened to the modelling amps that have been coming out on the market and I've been impressed. The top-of-the-line Peavey Vyper sounds great to my ears. I couldn't just go and replace my amps to pick this one up.
Weeks ago I went to our clubhouse and watched a local band, the Rock and Roll Relics perform. I'm a groupie. This talented band has a setup I wish we had in the Clubsiders. The guitarist Gail always sounds like the guitar players she mimicks. I've spoken to her before about her setup and she always has an older Vox Valvetronics with a Vox Multi-effects Pedal. That made me think that perhaps the answer is to get a modelling multi-effects pedal to mimick the guitar sounds. My first choice was the Vox Tonelab ST but then the question was, "how am I going to afford to get one?"
Fortunately my boss gave me a bonus. But after the money was allocated to various things like a trip to Boston late this spring and a new cellphone, I was left with too little money for the Vox. I then started looking around. I found the DigiTech RP90 and up until the day I was buying it I dreamed of having it. There were two big disadvantages to this pedal: no USB interface and no fuzz pedal emulation. They were two caveats that I thought I was going to compromise with. But that day I discovered that the DigiTech RP155 was the same price and instead of compromising those caveats I had to compromise with the expression pedal. Looking at the jacks on the pedal, an expression pedal input was included. That's it. I was sold. I bought the RP155.
Well, now that I have bought the RP155 I have had some time to play with it. The bottom line is that this is the best thing I ever spent $100 for. I can get the tone I was looking for and I didn't need to adjust the amp to do it. That's important given that the Fender Champion 600 has only a volume control. The RP155 has a decent equalizer and five preset tone settings along with the ability to adjust bass, midrange, and treble level and frequency. I suggest creating the sounds you want and listening to them through your amp as opposed to using the canned presets. If I had gotten the RP90 I wouldn't be so dog-gonned pleased with this. With the USB interface you can use the X-Edit software available from DigiTech. It is available for Windows or Mac. This software makes it very easy to create the sound presets you want. The methods used to create the sounds from the pedal are confusing and require some learning time. Not so with the software. Everything's there and the flexibility is amazing.
The equalizer and the noise gate are key. The Lexicon reverb settings are also great. My Vox AC30 has tremolo that I want to utilize when we play shows but I won't lug this anchor to practice. The tremolo works great on the RP155. The distortion effects sound very accurate to me as well as the different amp and cabinet settings. I have not tried to use this to work with GarageBand or any other recording tool. I am still learning how to take advantage of the twenty second looper. I think it should be a thirty second looper but I'm just learning how to use one so for me this is fine. I thought the two-pedal tap for the bypass would be an issue but both pedals could be tapped with one foot. The bypass sounds like a true-bypass but since I want to control tone I will most likely store rhythm/lead settings adjacent to each other. Fifty new settings can be stored which is more than enough because the fancier effects are less likely to be used. I do like playing with the Whammy effect and the delay effects sound really good.
This is really a partial review but I am quite impressed with this pedal. It feels like it can be abused but since it doesn't use real stompbox switches, I'd be careful. I am going to get an expression pedal soon. I will take this to practice and to gigs and will get comfortable with the looper before I re-review this pedal in the future. As for right now, I highly recommend this if you are not a purist with a keen ear for tone god perfection. That will cost you a lot more money.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Telecaster Four-Way Switch Mod
It took me very little time to go for the mod. I was hoping that wiring the pickups in series would give me the crunch sound that the humbuckers on my Les Paul give me. I ordered the Tritan four-way switch from Guitar Parts Resource. Warning to those who choose to buy this lever switch - the slot on the plate is not long enough. I had to use my Dremel tool to lengthen the slot so that the switch could go all the way to position one.
I used the wiring diagram from Rothstein Guitars. Both pickups normally have the negative leads grounded but one of the negative leads has to go to the switch. The neck pickup seems logical to me because the metal shield is grounded. The Rothstein mod instructs you to disconnect the wire on the shield going to the negative lead on the pickup and adding a wire to the shield to run to the back of the volume pot. The only problem I had wiring was starting it with the switch backwards. I had to study the wiring diagram and the switch to find the common pins. Other than that the diagram was easy to follow. I tested the wiring before I mounted the switch to the plate. Everything was fine.
I recommend plugging a cord into the output jack and testing the resistance while switching through the positions. The bridge pickup has a higher resistance than the neck. Wiring them in parallel will read less than half of the bridge pickup and more than half of the neck pickup. Wiring them in series will read the sum of both pickups.
I mounted the switch and put the guitar back together, plugged it into my amp and was disappointed with positions one and two sounding the same. I did the resistance check and found position one measured what position two did (both pickups in parallel.) I lifted the plate and discovered the switch could not go all the way to position one. Fortunately I had a Dremel tool and with a little labor and a couple of broken wafer discs I got the switch to work. Looking closely at the picture above, the plate was nicked in the process. Consider it the start of my relicing project. :)
Fender also makes a four-way switch at over twice the price of the Tritan. I could not tell you if the switch or the slot is the problem but other than this problem the Tritan works fine. I have one more mod I want to implement. It requires a push-pull switch/potentiometer and a .001uF capacitor. This is my own design for adding a "cocked wah" sound usually done to Fender Esquires (Telecasters with just the bridge pickup.) Esquires have the same three-way switch that Telecasters do but it is used to modify the tone. I will post the results in the future.
Testing the mod, both pickups in series did not give me the humbucker crunch but did give me a stronger midrange sound. It does add to the versatility of the guitar and sitting at switch position three I can play rhythm and go to position four for leads. I'm not set up to provide a sound demo. I hope to in the future.
I used the wiring diagram from Rothstein Guitars. Both pickups normally have the negative leads grounded but one of the negative leads has to go to the switch. The neck pickup seems logical to me because the metal shield is grounded. The Rothstein mod instructs you to disconnect the wire on the shield going to the negative lead on the pickup and adding a wire to the shield to run to the back of the volume pot. The only problem I had wiring was starting it with the switch backwards. I had to study the wiring diagram and the switch to find the common pins. Other than that the diagram was easy to follow. I tested the wiring before I mounted the switch to the plate. Everything was fine.
I recommend plugging a cord into the output jack and testing the resistance while switching through the positions. The bridge pickup has a higher resistance than the neck. Wiring them in parallel will read less than half of the bridge pickup and more than half of the neck pickup. Wiring them in series will read the sum of both pickups.
I mounted the switch and put the guitar back together, plugged it into my amp and was disappointed with positions one and two sounding the same. I did the resistance check and found position one measured what position two did (both pickups in parallel.) I lifted the plate and discovered the switch could not go all the way to position one. Fortunately I had a Dremel tool and with a little labor and a couple of broken wafer discs I got the switch to work. Looking closely at the picture above, the plate was nicked in the process. Consider it the start of my relicing project. :)
Fender also makes a four-way switch at over twice the price of the Tritan. I could not tell you if the switch or the slot is the problem but other than this problem the Tritan works fine. I have one more mod I want to implement. It requires a push-pull switch/potentiometer and a .001uF capacitor. This is my own design for adding a "cocked wah" sound usually done to Fender Esquires (Telecasters with just the bridge pickup.) Esquires have the same three-way switch that Telecasters do but it is used to modify the tone. I will post the results in the future.
Testing the mod, both pickups in series did not give me the humbucker crunch but did give me a stronger midrange sound. It does add to the versatility of the guitar and sitting at switch position three I can play rhythm and go to position four for leads. I'm not set up to provide a sound demo. I hope to in the future.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
New Guitar - A Review
Time flies and I've stayed away from my blog despite a lot of rants I wanted to post. I probably will post about the shooter who shot Congresswoman Giffords but for now I will write about a guitar I bought after Christmas.
The guitar is a Fender Squier Classic Vibe '50s Telecaster.
That's not a great picture but it is a great guitar. I can't afford to buy my dream guitar (a Gibson Custom Shop VOS 1959 Les Paul Reissue, which can be bought for < $6000) so I look for good guitars for a heck of a lot cheaper. Before I go on, I can understand if a non-musician says to me "why if you don't make money playing the guitar?" but a musician asked me that question when he knows the difference between a cheap instrument and an expensive one. I don't ever care if I make money playing the guitar, that guitar is my dream guitar. Back to the Fender.
I decided on this guitar based on word-of-mouth. I visit the TDPRI Telecaster Forum regularly and I listen to people at Guitar Center or wherever I go. This guitar was the most talked about because for the price, people were saving from buying the more expensive Made in America Fenders after playing these. I needed a guitar to perform with that would allow me to play standard tuning. Since I started playing guitar again I played with a tuning that reflects my banjo skills (Bb, F, C, G, B, D) and due to string gauges (.012 - .070) I couldn't just retune to standard tuning much less spend the time doing so at a gig. When it was time to look I decided to get the Squier CV50.
Back in 1993 I bought a Fender '52 Reissue Telecaster and owned it for twelve years. I didn't cherish it - I thought it didn't have great pickups and acoustically it didn't resonate well. I thought all telecasters were like this. I had it until 2005 when I totally stopped playing guitar. I actually sold it for more than I bought it but that is how guitars value. I don't see this Chinese-made lower end guitar doing the same but this guitar may be the exception. So my review of this guitar will be based on comparison to the '52 RI. Overall, it is the best out-of-the-box guitar I've bought since 2008 and possibly the best ever.
First, the plusses:
The fretwork on this guitar is better than any guitar I've ever owned. The frets are dressed perfectly and were leveled. Guitars made at this level will usually sacrifice this much quality in the manufacturing process.
The intonation and neck bow was perfect out-of-the-box. I just had to lower the strings at the bridge.
The acoustic resonance was remarkably well. There must be something to pine and maple as the choice woods for this guitar. The ash/maple on the '52 RI didn't sound this good.
The bridge pickup is hot and tone-wise good. I can't compare it to boutique pickups but my other electric pickups don't sound this good and the '52 RI didn't either. The magnets are Alnico IIIs.
The neck pickup is not as hot but also sounds good. I must say that the resonance of the guitar is probably adding to the pickups to make them sound good. I will not be replacing the pickups.
The volume and tone potentiometers are made by Alpha and have a great feel and quality.
The tuners are solid. I've had to buy tuners for Chinese made guitars before.
The nut is synthetic bone and was cut perfectly at the factory.
Now the minuses:
The pickguard looks cheap. Being wintertime I had a pickguard static issue. I fixed it by placing a drier sheet under the pickguard. I can't blame the pickguard for that but it did make me notice how much better my other guitars' pickguards looked and felt. The '52 RI had a bakelite pickguard, which I find superior to all plastic pickguards.
The saddles on the bridge are low quality. The screws to adjust the height are too tall and can grab one's hand. With the good intonation I won't bother to replace it.
The bridge pickup route is exposed slightly on the side of the bridge plate. This is me being nit picky but I never noticed it on the '52 RI.
These minuses are not major. I will replace the pickguard only because I want a white one.
Finally, where I have no opinion (yet):
The input jack and cup - People have had problems with flimsy jacks and cups. They are buying Switchcraft jacks and Electrosockets to replace them. I have not had a problem yet. I will consider this in the future if necessary.
The switch - I am replacing it with a four-way switch because I'm adding a mod (surprise). The switch is fine.
Knobs - they're fine.
The only other thing I will say is that these guitars only come in the cream color with black pickguard. The cream varies by guitar from white, to yellow, to slightly green. Mine is more yellow and I like it a lot.
Keep in mind that guitars vary in quality off the assembly line. In America flaws are caught more often than in Asian countries. One person complained that the frets were really bad. Others have had pickups fail. Don't judge this guitar by the words of a few because a vast majority rave over this guitar. Replace bad ones with another CV50.
The mod I mentioned will be posted in the future.
The guitar is a Fender Squier Classic Vibe '50s Telecaster.
That's not a great picture but it is a great guitar. I can't afford to buy my dream guitar (a Gibson Custom Shop VOS 1959 Les Paul Reissue, which can be bought for < $6000) so I look for good guitars for a heck of a lot cheaper. Before I go on, I can understand if a non-musician says to me "why if you don't make money playing the guitar?" but a musician asked me that question when he knows the difference between a cheap instrument and an expensive one. I don't ever care if I make money playing the guitar, that guitar is my dream guitar. Back to the Fender.
I decided on this guitar based on word-of-mouth. I visit the TDPRI Telecaster Forum regularly and I listen to people at Guitar Center or wherever I go. This guitar was the most talked about because for the price, people were saving from buying the more expensive Made in America Fenders after playing these. I needed a guitar to perform with that would allow me to play standard tuning. Since I started playing guitar again I played with a tuning that reflects my banjo skills (Bb, F, C, G, B, D) and due to string gauges (.012 - .070) I couldn't just retune to standard tuning much less spend the time doing so at a gig. When it was time to look I decided to get the Squier CV50.
Back in 1993 I bought a Fender '52 Reissue Telecaster and owned it for twelve years. I didn't cherish it - I thought it didn't have great pickups and acoustically it didn't resonate well. I thought all telecasters were like this. I had it until 2005 when I totally stopped playing guitar. I actually sold it for more than I bought it but that is how guitars value. I don't see this Chinese-made lower end guitar doing the same but this guitar may be the exception. So my review of this guitar will be based on comparison to the '52 RI. Overall, it is the best out-of-the-box guitar I've bought since 2008 and possibly the best ever.
First, the plusses:
The fretwork on this guitar is better than any guitar I've ever owned. The frets are dressed perfectly and were leveled. Guitars made at this level will usually sacrifice this much quality in the manufacturing process.
The intonation and neck bow was perfect out-of-the-box. I just had to lower the strings at the bridge.
The acoustic resonance was remarkably well. There must be something to pine and maple as the choice woods for this guitar. The ash/maple on the '52 RI didn't sound this good.
The bridge pickup is hot and tone-wise good. I can't compare it to boutique pickups but my other electric pickups don't sound this good and the '52 RI didn't either. The magnets are Alnico IIIs.
The neck pickup is not as hot but also sounds good. I must say that the resonance of the guitar is probably adding to the pickups to make them sound good. I will not be replacing the pickups.
The volume and tone potentiometers are made by Alpha and have a great feel and quality.
The tuners are solid. I've had to buy tuners for Chinese made guitars before.
The nut is synthetic bone and was cut perfectly at the factory.
Now the minuses:
The pickguard looks cheap. Being wintertime I had a pickguard static issue. I fixed it by placing a drier sheet under the pickguard. I can't blame the pickguard for that but it did make me notice how much better my other guitars' pickguards looked and felt. The '52 RI had a bakelite pickguard, which I find superior to all plastic pickguards.
The saddles on the bridge are low quality. The screws to adjust the height are too tall and can grab one's hand. With the good intonation I won't bother to replace it.
The bridge pickup route is exposed slightly on the side of the bridge plate. This is me being nit picky but I never noticed it on the '52 RI.
These minuses are not major. I will replace the pickguard only because I want a white one.
Finally, where I have no opinion (yet):
The input jack and cup - People have had problems with flimsy jacks and cups. They are buying Switchcraft jacks and Electrosockets to replace them. I have not had a problem yet. I will consider this in the future if necessary.
The switch - I am replacing it with a four-way switch because I'm adding a mod (surprise). The switch is fine.
Knobs - they're fine.
The only other thing I will say is that these guitars only come in the cream color with black pickguard. The cream varies by guitar from white, to yellow, to slightly green. Mine is more yellow and I like it a lot.
Keep in mind that guitars vary in quality off the assembly line. In America flaws are caught more often than in Asian countries. One person complained that the frets were really bad. Others have had pickups fail. Don't judge this guitar by the words of a few because a vast majority rave over this guitar. Replace bad ones with another CV50.
The mod I mentioned will be posted in the future.
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