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Location: Newington, CT | Lots o'OT in this one, so please feel free to gloss over those parts, but there is a theme: how music can enrich our lives -- and sometimes in ways we don't suspect, until it's happening.
Here's the background: I have two astonishingly beautiful children (and I'm very modest about them, as you can tell). Alright, alright... they're astonishingly beautiful in my eyes. Anyway, when Diana, my eldest, was very young, I was on my silly, self-imposed hiatus from the guitar, and I read to her each night until she fell asleep.
Now, when Alex arrived, some six years later, he seemed to have little patience for being read to, so I would bring him upstairs to the attic where the computer was, fire up some lullabies that I had on CD, and sing him to sleep. He loved that, so that went on for several years.
Now, some years later, Diana is an absolutely voracious reader, and Alex is the singingest little kid you can imagine!
Fast forward to last night. It's 9:00PM and Alex is in bed, but not asleep. He and I are roomies (three people in a two-bedroom condo -- Diana gets the privacy!), so I try to be quiet if I'm in there. However, when I put Alex to bed, I had interrupted some fun time on my nice 2080. I still wanted to play for a bit, so I asked Alex wehther he minded -- if, that is, I played quietly. He allowed as how that was ok with him and closed his eyes.
I started in playing very softly and quietly. You can pick a note in such a way as to contact the string with both the fleshy part of your thumb and the pick simultaneously, and that can produce a softer, dampened note that can be really beautiful in the proper context. For lack of a better way to describe it, the pick produces almost a consonant sound, while the thumb contact turns it immediately into a muted vowel. This gentles the beautiful, bell-like ringing of which the 2080 is capable, in favor of a crisp, but soft initial note, followed by a dampened, rapidly decaying ring.
Now, here's the mash note part...I have played this way many, many times, but, coincidentally, never on a 2080.
I was absolutely stunned.
The 2080's tone with this subdued playing was beyond gorgeous. Velvety, smooth, still full-bodied, it immediately suffused the darkened room with a contemplative mood verging on the reverent, or the hypnotic. I heard AND felt the soft thrum of the top as it projected the tones into the dark.
It was not my playing! Simple lead motifs in G, followed by a softly strummed E-Minor, and some upward-bound runs from low E to High E on the 12th fret. Then, repeat, and vary the sequence. Simple, but pedestrian, stuff. It was the tone of the 2080!
After a few minutes I paused for a couple of seconds, and my son, eyes closed, said drowsily, "Daddy, don't stop, I really like that." I kept playing for another five minutes or so, 'til I knew he was asleep, then went over and kissed his cheek. After all, he'd just given me one of the sweeter moments of my life!
Several morals to the story:
* First of all, there probably are not many moments in a daddy's life that top that one! What simple sweetness can be in our lives!
* Second, I owe it all to that Adamas 2080.
* Third, sometimes it is extremely rewarding to turn it down, quiet it down, slow it down, soften it up and listen to the new, sublime sounds that might come from your guitar. (Yes, dobro, I'm admitting the wisdom of what you said a few threads away!) |
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Location: Yucaipa, California | ...indeed less IS more. Very cool. Treasure it! |
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Location: on the web | oh good gawd - if less is more wil someone puleeze give me the reader's digest version or all that tripe? i dont have time to sift through it all |
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Location: closely held secret | The 2080 sounds good. |
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Location: Yucaipa, California | "Tripe"?????
I certainly hope that was meant in jest. If not, it was certainly inappropriate. |
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Location: NJ | my father used to cook tripe and it just turned my stomach every time he did.
I could never get the stuff past my nose |
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Location: Vernon CT | Originally posted by Tim in Yucaipa:
"Tripe"?????
I certainly hope that was meant in jest. If not, it was certainly inappropriate. Try and remember there are a few here now that TRY to stir things up, Ignore them! :rolleyes: :) |
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Location: Marlton, NJ | Originally posted by alpep:
my father used to cook tripe and it just turned my stomach every time he did.
I could never get the stuff past my nose Same here Al! My Mom used to make it for my Dad a couple of times a month.... nasty stuff. |
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Location: 6 String Ranch | we used to feed raw tripe to the dogs, they loved it |
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Location: Florida Central Gulf Coast | Originally posted by AlanM:
Lots o'OT in this one, so please feel free to gloss over those parts Originally posted by The Usual Suspects:
puleeze give me the reader's digest version Day-um TUS, he warned ya! :rolleyes:
"I love my children and appreciate my 2080." Kapish?
Alan, nice story. It's all good!  |
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Location: on the web | Complete drivel. |
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Location: Hot Springs, S.D. | Yes, Usual Suspects, it seems that whatever you have to say IS complete drivel!
Alan, a beautiful story and an interesting take on how your "attack" (I'm talking about how hard you pick the guitar, not what drivelface is saying) can effect the sound of your guitar. That's why when I get a new guitar and I want to hear how I will sound to the audience, I let my friend Jeff play for me. His style and picking are very similar to mine. |
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Location: Boise, Idaho | Just to add to the "drivel", Alan, it gets better when he plays and you listen. Been there, done that. |
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Location: Steeler Nation, Hudson Valley Contingent | Great story Alan! |
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Location: Texas | Alan,
Nice story, thank you, it wasn't too long, nor was it "drivel." I have played my 2080 very softly many a late night when the family has gone to bed, and I heartily agree, it has a delightful tone when played that way. I think it is a very versatile guitar, I am delighted with mine…
I pity the person who can't appreciate the simple, yet fulfilling, joy of reading, strumming or singing their child to sleep…
…throw an Adamas into the story and it really isn't OT, either, IMHO.
Thanks Again! |
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| That is a really nice story Alan.
Michelle |
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Location: Budd Lake, NJ | An observation: It is a very good thing that our member "from the web" did not name himself/group "The Usual Suspects Here;" that would have made for quite an unusual acronym. :D (I am becoming used to listening for the bells and watching for the motley. ;) )
I will have to try that style of playing; not being too "pick-oriented" I may some trouble at first, but I'm willing to give it a go.
Those of us who are parents have moments with our kids that will live on in our memories long after they're grown and gone--I'm so glad that we do.
--Karen |
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Location: NW Washington State | Is there a killfile or "ignore user" option in this forum software that can block posts by user name?
-Steve W. |
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Location: Newington, CT | Thanks, all! It was a really nice moment, and the 2080 made it possible.
Tim, Alison, BT717: thanks for the supportive words, but you don't have to worry -- I'm almost impossible to offend, and it certainly takes more than a silly comment like the "tripe" one. That one did, however, elicit some funny comments that added another "flavor" to the thread. Not a bad thing!
As far as I'm concerned, we can ignore the "Suspects" of the world, or engage 'em, it's all the same. If the thread is worth it, it'll survive the sillier intrusions easily. And I DID (I confess) laugh at the subsquent posts! No problem!
Furthermore, I DO love to tell stories, and I AM a sentimental sap (comes from having to be both mommy AND daddy for my kids), and sometimes I DO take myself just a teentsy bit too seriously. It's a GOOD thing for me to have my bubble popped occasionally!
Michelle, Patch, Iffy, Tim, standing: I knew you guys would see the sweetness of the story too!
Mark: I look forward with GREAT anticipation to THAT moment! How GREAT that must have been!
standing: I figured a fellow 2080-owner would know exactly what I was talking about!
alpep, Beal, Crimson: I've had tripe -- not too bad...just had to get past the texture! |
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Location: Newington, CT | Karen: you're absolutely right! It's something we parents would understand very well.
numb: not to worry...these things kind of just burn themselves out. |
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Location: Boise, Idaho | SAP Warning: If you can't take it, do not read further.
The moment I was referring to actually involved the piano. I endured several piano recitals, but in one of the last ones my daughter did a Chopin medley. I'm Polish, so it was more special. When she finished, there wasn't the usual polite applause, just total silence. Then one of the moms in the back whispered, "Wow". I still get chills thinking about it.
That may have been topped by her college valedictorian speech last Spring, but that didn't involve music.
Another highlight is if your kid goes with you to one of the OFC gatherings. Mine did. Then we had to leave to play for my mom's surprise 80th birthday party |
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Location: Newington, CT | Originally posted by Mark in Boise:
SAP Warning: If you can't take it, do not read further.
The moment I was referring to actually involved the piano. I endured several piano recitals, but in one of the last ones my daughter did a Chopin medley. I'm Polish, so it was more special. When she finished, there wasn't the usual polite applause, just total silence. Then one of the moms in the back whispered, "Wow". I still get chills thinking about it.
That may have been topped by her college valedictorian speech last Spring, but that didn't involve music.
Another highlight is if your kid goes with you to one of the OFC gatherings. Mine did. Then we had to leave to play for my mom's surprise 80th birthday party Wow! Those are great ones, Mark! Being a daddy is the best! Sounds as though it's been really good for you also! |
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Location: Hot Springs, S.D. | Mark, I got a chill just reading about that recital. I never had kids of my own so I'll never really know how you feel, but Jarrett comes close to being my kid, and when he's on stage and the people STAND UP to see "who IS that kid playing that Strat anyway", I get an inkling of how you must feel.
(Inkling...hmmm...is that a baby pen?) |
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Location: Sydney, Australia | Alan: Great story.
Usual Suspect: You saw the warning at the beginning of Alan's story and kept reading. Maybe you should be criticising yourself. |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | What the hell is a MASH NOTE ?
Alan, don't take the comments of certain members too seriously. I heard that your children were just lovely when they attended the OFC gathering in New Jersey. |
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Location: Newington, CT | Originally posted by Gallerinski:
What the hell is a MASH NOTE ?
Alan, don't take the comments of certain members too seriously. I heard that your children were just lovely when they attended the OFC gathering in New Jersey. Thanks, Dave! I don't worry about it. As I mentioned a bit above, I'm almost impossible to offend. And, I think that Usual just tosses these things off, without really thinking about them. So, I suspect, no offense intended. None taken, no matter the intent!
Anyway, as I've understood it, a "mash note" is a sappy, starry-eyed love note. Merriam-Webster calls it: "a usually sentimental or effusive note or letter expressing affection for the recipient." In this case, the recipient is the 2080.
I used the term, because when I heard the exquisite tone coming from the softly-played 2080, there literally WERE tears in my eyes.
And, thanks for your kind words regarding my children. They had a GREAT time at the Jersey get-together, and I think it DID spark some interest in them to take up the guitar. |
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Location: Newington, CT | Originally posted by TAFKAR:
Alan: Great story.
Usual Suspect: You saw the warning at the beginning of Alan's story and kept reading. Maybe you should be criticising yourself. Lol! Thanks, TAFKAR! It's funny. I'm supposed to be a certain way, and have a certain reputation where I live because I'm a biggish fella -- 6'4" 290 lbs worth o'big -- so I'm not supposed to be the sentimental sap that I am.
I gather that according to some I can't even get away with being all sentimental in the written word either! That's why, now at least, I DO try to remember to post a warning if I'm dipping into sentiment, or less Hemingway-esque language!
I WAS trying to be kinda mushy regarding the 2080, and I guess I hit the mark, 'cause it elicited the rolling eyes of the less literate usual suspects...However, I'm a single guy; I'm not trying to impress the usual suspects; I'm trying to impress the WOMEN on the board!
Just kidding!!! (maybe) |
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Location: 6 String Ranch | Ah, that explains it then. |
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Location: Newington, CT | Originally posted by The Usual Suspects:
oh good gawd - if less is more wil someone puleeze give me the reader's digest version or all that tripe? i dont have time to sift through it all Lol! I wasn't TRYING for high art, Suspects! Just a nice, sentimental family tale, with a guitar. I'm flattered that your expectations for me are so much higher!
However, now it's time to prove that YOU can string a coherent sentence or two together about guitars or music. Anyone can lob insipidities, but one qualifies to do so, if and only if one can top the target. You CAN do good writing, Suspects, can't you?
If so, I await your output with bated breath, and I'll be the first to acknowledge your outstanding quality.
If not, then doesn't the constant diet of intellectual sour grapes grow wearying after a while? |
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| Well, Alan, here's the problem for me you've created.
Never having played or even seen an Adamas in person, I've done a bit of research and decided that the 2080 is the one I'd want; even came close to ordering one a few times. I put it off for a lot of reasons.
After having read your eloquent, almost pornographic description of the tone, however, I REALLY FRIGGIN' WANT ONE!
Damn you! |
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Location: Bluffton, SC | It really is a great guitar, Losov. Talk to Al - he may have one or ask Alan what he thinks of the OFC II. There might be one or two of those hanging around Al's place too.
Absolutely incredible guitars... |
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| I ain't askin' Alan nothin'. That silver tongued devil will have me buying a bridge. I'll talk to Al. When he starts mentioning numbers, it'll snap me back to the real world. |
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Location: Steeler Nation, Hudson Valley Contingent | Originally posted by Losov:
I'll talk to Al. When he starts mentioning numbers, it'll snap me back to the real world. Boy, ain't we all been there?! :rolleyes: |
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Location: Newington, CT | Originally posted by Losov:
I ain't askin' Alan nothin'. That silver tongued devil will have me buying a bridge. I'll talk to Al. When he starts mentioning numbers, it'll snap me back to the real world. Lol! Wellllllll...I DO own THREE of 'em! If you'd like to borrow one and try it out, and it's not too onerous to get it to you... |
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| Alan, I know that's a serious offer from a nice guy and I appreciate it. I think it's best if I keep the 2080 quest as a goal yet to be realized. |
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Location: Newington, CT | Originally posted by Losov:
Alan, I know that's a serious offer from a nice guy and I appreciate it. I think it's best if I keep the 2080 quest as a goal yet to be realized. No problem! Let me know if you change your mind. |
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Location: Blue Ridge Mountains | Great story Alan...I have two kids and they love to dance and listen to the guitar: it's a rare evening that they come running shouting "Guitar, Guitar"...I treasure these moments as I have waited for them all my life. Nice to know that others do as well... |
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Location: Campbell River, British Columbia | Originally posted by Gallerinski:
What the hell is a MASH NOTE ? A short letter from Alan Alda. |
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Location: Newington, CT | Originally posted by fillhixx:
Originally posted by Gallerinski:
What the hell is a MASH NOTE ? A short letter from Alan Alda. |
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2080 Mash Note...