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Location: Upper Left USA | Black is beautiful baby! And more strings is betterer too!
For the record, Art is the master of fast shipping... it arrives before I've mailed the check. |
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | Originally posted by MWoody:
For the record, Art is the master of fast shipping... it arrives before I've mailed the check.  |
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Location: Newington, CT | Nice!
There must be corresponding situations in which the check arrives well before the guitar -- just to balance the universe out.
The nice thing about that is that every time that's happened to me, the guitar was WELL worth the wait! |
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Location: Upper Left USA | That, and Art knows a couple of OFCers round here that would form a lynch mob in a heart beat..
Alan - still waiting for some pics and recordings on the DBWNSHEW! |
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Location: Newington, CT | Originally posted by MWoody:
That, and Art knows a couple of OFCers round here that would form a lynch mob in a heart beat..
Alan - still waiting for some pics and recordings on the DBWNSHEW! Lol! You're so right! I've been working on the playing...haven't had a chance to do the pictures yet.
Just to let you know where I am on that: I tuned the DBWNSHEW(*) (translation: the custom Woody I bought) to Open G, and have found some REALLY fascinating and beautiful chording...However, this is the very first time I've played ANY alternate tunings ever! It's been a "wow-a-whole-new-world-is-opening-itself-to-me" kinda learning experience!
On a side note, as a result of this fun, I went back and tuned my '01C to Open D, 'cause I read here that it would significantly reduce the strain on the bridge (that apparently has a tendency to let go unexpectedly!). As a result, the '01C's a TINY bit jangly, but, I gather, its structural integrity is a whole lot sounder. And the sound is really very nice! It has a kind of hawaiian/country/laid-back flavor now.
Soloing on the Open D is VERY interesting...I feel as though I'm able to play a LOT faster than I normally do, but can't seem to hit any correct notes! So, the tune that's going through my head as I solo, is constantly NOT being borne out in the notes I hear from the guitar. It's kind of a constant Elliot Carter discordant guitar argument going on! Interesting. I don't entirely dislike it, I have to admit. I recorded one such session once, just out of curiosity, then went back some days later to play it, having forgotten that I had used the '01C. As I listened, I was thinking, I can't DO that stuff! Then I remembered, and realized that all that furious tonal jumping about was being generated by playing the Open D-tuned guitar as I would have on a standard tuning. With the time separation, I was kinda liking it!
Soloing IS a WHOOOOOLE new and different ballgame, and I have had to practice more than a little to get some muscle memory locked in. This has been MUCH more successful on the Open G, than on the Open D, but then, I've played the Open G a lot more.
That's what's occupied my time on the DBWNSHEW.
MWoody, it'll happen soon...got some good (at least I think so) ideas for a song 'er two.
(*) Guitar made by MWoody, with an Adamas-style body, NIIICE wideneck and an iDea pre-amp. Woody can tell you what "DBWNSHEW" stands for, 'cause I've forgotten!
Oh, I almost forgot...it has a VERY nice slothead headstock, with a SWEEEET "Josh White" signature on it! (I don't think the autograph is REALLY real, but I can have my fantasies, can't I?)
I like its sound a lot, and it has GREAT resonance. It's NOT a 2080, but, then, it was never intended to be one. I deliberately left references to sound mainly out of this. They'll be in the post with the pictures of it, or with the announcement of a first recording with it. |
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Location: south east Michigan | Alan.... I think your paragraphs have too many words.
Less typing leaves more time for practice and recording.
Just a suggestion. |
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Location: Upper Left USA | Hence my use of the the acronym "DBWNSHEW".
M(DeepBowlWideNeckSlotHeadEliteWoody)Woody |
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Location: 6 String Ranch | Yeah, no problem. We figured that one out. |
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Location: Newington, CT | Originally posted by Slipkid:
Alan.... I think your paragraphs have too many words.
Less typing leaves more time for practice and recording.
Just a suggestion. I wish! I wrote all that stuff during lunch at work. I get precious little opportunity to practice at that time (the scoundrels!)! |
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| Originally posted by AlanM:
Originally posted by Slipkid:
Alan.... I think your paragraphs have too many words.
Less typing leaves more time for practice and recording.
Just a suggestion. I wish! I wrote all that stuff during lunch at work. I get precious little opportunity to practice at that time (the scoundrels!)!
The question is do you ever read it? |
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Location: Flahdaw | Originally posted by AlanM:
Just to let you know where I am on that: I tuned the DBWNSHEW(*) [/QB] I hope a picture of that made it on the OFC calender...you should proudly display it at your office at work. |
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Location: south east Michigan | Alan sent in a bunch of pics. Hundreds. But there was just not enough time to go thu them all so none were used.
My advise.... less pics. |
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Location: Flahdaw | I'm picking up on a general theme here....."less is more" |
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Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | paragraph seven hundred and ninety two of the slipkid manifesto
db, don't you take the time to read anything? |
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Location: Flahdaw | Think about it....
#1- Slipkid
#2- Manifesto
why would ANYONE read it? |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | This whole thread is just a joke, right ? |
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Location: closely held secret | Aren't jokes supposed to be funny? |
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Location: Indiana | I got it... and I'm a fudiot. |
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Location: Blue Ridge Mountains | I think your paragraphs have too many words.
Less typing leaves more time for practice and recording.
Just a suggestion. A picture paints a thousand words..... |
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| A buddy of mine, one of the finest string players I know, is fond of saying, "Yes, you can play a thousand notes a second, but can you play one and make it mean anything?" |
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Location: Newington, CT | Originally posted by G8r:
A buddy of mine, one of the finest string players I know, is fond of saying, "Yes, you can play a thousand notes a second, but can you play one and make it mean anything?" And well said too...I guess this is just another mini-installment in the "Fast vs. Slow" dialogue.
I might add a corollary to the question: "Can you play 1,000 notes per second AND make them mean something?" In other words can you be a technician AND a musician at the same time. Both take time, and loads of practice. John McLaughlin, Tommy Emmanuel, Martin Tallstrom, and many, many others can and do.
But, first they had to learn to play fast.
There are several incontrovertible truths...(1) to make a note "mean something" in the context of playing 1,000 per second, you STILL have to be able to play 1,000 per second. That takes time and practice. (2) Someone who can play fast has at least the possibility of playing slowly; someone who can play only slowly can't play fast.
Casting no aspersions whatsoever on playing slowly here! I point again to Phil Keaggy's "March of the Clouds" for an incredibly tasty example of both fast and slow, melding together in spectacular fashion. It never needs to be "Fast vs. Slow." The two can co-exist without at all being at odds.
For my part, one of the most satisfying feelings I can have is when I start a fast run where I want to, rip through it as I want to -- cleanly and confidently -- and nail the finish just when and where I want to. I do it once in a while, and, unfortunately, rarely when recorded (different story altogether!) and it's a sublime feeling! For me, that is. I recognize that's not everyone's cup o'tea, but it's mine. Or one of 'em.
At an Ovation get-together in New Jersey a coupla years ago, Matt Smith said something like the following: "I spent 25 years learning how to play fast, and the next 15 learning how to play slow." The numbers might be wrong, but they're close.
He didn't at all seem to be saying that he considered the time spent learning to play fast wasted. On the contrary, in fact, it seemed as though, while paying homage to tasteful slow playing, Matt was indicating that the time he spent learning to play fast was a necessary part of his development toward being a more complete player; one who could both play fast and make the notes mean something, and play slow.
With ALL that said, nothing can diminish the sheer gorgeous yumminess of Mark Knopfler playing "Local Hero." Not a fast note in there, but, just as G8r says, EVERY note has meaning, expression, purpose and feel.
JMHO, but there is the possibility for HUGE appreciation for the blistering pizzicato runs of Al DiMeola as well as the soulfulness of Mark Knopfler. And guys like Phil Keaggy who skillfully blend both are just wizards.
And THAT's why I keep practicing the fast stuff, and submitting the recordings to ning to take the ribbing that YOU all dish out!
So, yes, G8r, I DO try to make the notes mean something, and occasionally, some of 'em do! One day I hope to produce a recording about which at least some of you (hopefully the pickier, more acerbic ones -- G8r, Gallerinski, you know who I'm talking about!) say that I accomplished it... in the meantime, more practice! |
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Location: Marlton, NJ | Well said Alan! There's a place and a mood for both styles. Just keep doing what you're doing.
BTW - I just watched Local Hero the other night... great movie, which contains an Ovation in all of the band scenes. |
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Location: Newington, CT | Thanks, Mike! I'm very much looking forward to watching the movie! Best to you and your family!
Alan |
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Location: Upper Left USA | "This whole thread is just a joke, right ?"
No David, it is a celebration of who we are. A virtual Barber Shop of comraderie and sarcasm. A weekly poker game where the chips are never cashed in and the stories get better every time I tell them.
This is our way of stepping aside from our so called life and basking in the three chords and the truth reality that is the essence of the OFC.
And now for some Political commentary... |
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Location: Newington, CT | Originally posted by MWoody:
"This whole thread is just a joke, right ?"
No David, it is a celebration of who we are. A virtual Barber Shop of comraderie and sarcasm. A weekly poker game where the chips are never cashed in and the stories get better every time I tell them.
This is our way of stepping aside from our so called life and basking in the three chords and the truth reality that is the essence of the OFC.
And now for some Political commentary... Soooooooo...can I get a hair cut? |
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Thanks to OMA!
