Sep
13
2007
I wanted a bowed string instrument, and decided upon the Psaltery. It is a fairly ancient instrument, with lots of character and charm. I found an instrument maker by the name of James Jones. His specialty is the hammered dulcimer, but he also makes harps, thumb pianos (kalimba), slit drums, and even guitars. He was very patient with me, and allowed me to choose the woods I wanted from his rather extensive collection. Here’s a photo:
The woods are as follows: Top & bottom are Stripy Mahogany, sides and bridge are Cocobolo, and the pin block is Rock Maple.
Aug
29
2007
Taken in and amongst the geranims in our front yard.
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Aug
20
2007
Here are a few more flower photos…
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Aug
18
2007
I love photos of bare trees. Here’s one that I modified in photoshop:
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Aug
08
2007
I am pleased to announce that I will be participating in the 4th Annual SoundWalk. This one-night event presents a variety of conceptual, performance, sculptural, and site-specific installation works on the streets, businesses, galleries, and byways of the East Village, in Long Beach, CA. All works use sound in one way or another.
I have had the good fortune to have participated in the previous three events. In the first two, I presented kenetic sculptures and, last year, sat in on a performance by the Hop Frog Kollectiv.
This year, I’m pushing my own creative boundaries, but won’t be able to tell you more. You’ll just have to come and experience things for yourself.
From the organizers:
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Jul
24
2007
As you may know, some years ago I undertook the rather ambitious task of creating a custom guitar. It was an educational experience, fraught with unique challenges but, ultimately, rewarding. A friend pointed out that I’d not recorded an example of its various sounds and whatnot, so I did.
I’m including three links here. The first is
an early attempt
, with a total of 6 tracks. Please be forewarned that the lead is a bit wooly. I hope to improve upon it with some practice. In this early version there are very few effects (some delay and reverb, and gain on the lead).
In
the 2nd version
, I added 6 additional tracks. Three are individual notes in a chord, sustained by a device called an e-bow, and played at double speed. I also added a bass guitar part (the only track not played on the Sandblaster) and two one-note harmony tracks at the end of the solo.
I’m also including a very brief example of the
e-bow tracks
, on their own, so you can get a better sense of them.
UPDATE:
A friend suggested that I add
a spoken word element
to the piece.
After living with this first version for a while, I felt that a different reading of the words would work better. I also added some rather complex effects to the voice.
The result is
This Eden - V2
.
Read the words.
Jul
24
2007
Except for the first one, all of these were taken in our back yard.
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