Verisoph

Yum! Nice collection of guitars! Telecaster with three pickups, including a humbucker, that IS a rarity. Do you think it's a custom job? I do a lot with electricity myself. My B.C. Rich is a solid body electric with a Floyd Rose whammy. I've played some really nice sounding Washburns, I even owned a Washburn resonator (dobro style guitar) at one time. It ended up in a pawn shop. I'd love to hear some samples, but my browser doesn't handle streaming audio very well. Thank you. I was pretty careful to call it "New Agey." I guess because when I listened to it, it sounded reminiscent of some of William Ackerman's stuff. He's the owner of Windham Hill, one of the original New Age labels. "Lite Classical" works too, the intro and outro parts are sort of a very loose variation on a theme by Bach. I ran the output of my guitar through a preamp and straight into my PC. I used Steinberg's Wavelab to record it, and I added some EQ and chorus, built into Wavelab, after it was recorded. I would have gotten much better results with a mic, but the only mic I had thinks that the sound of my air conditioner is the most important sound in the room - and it was too hot to turn off the AC. I've since purchased a Shure SM-58 microphone (also from eBay). I'm getting GREAT results with it. It picks up all the harmonics, overtones, and nuances of an acoustic guitar, and it doesn't pick up anything that isn't close to it... like my AC.

Thanks. Yeah, I wouldn't have bought a guitar without trying it first were it not for the fact that hurricane Katrina wiped out or shut down all the music shops and most of the pawn shops in the area... and I was wanting a steel sting guitar very badly. warmoth.com - that's cool! Alvarez classical/electric Gibson Epiphone semi-hollow body electric B. C. Rich electric And you?

Thanks. It's an Alvarez AD70SC Acoustic/electric, dreadnought with a cutaway - used. I got it off eBay for less than half the price of a new one. I really don't like the idea of buying a guitar that I haven't tried first, but in this case it worked out great - I couldn't have picked out a guitar more suited to my playing style - not within my price range, anyway.

I got a new guitar last week! This week, I've got sore fingers and a new song to go along with it. If you'd like to hear the new song on the new guitar, just click the link below to download. Sorry, I don't have any way to upload the experience of sore fingers for you... although, if you're really interested, you could try extinguishing cigarettes on the tips of your fingers.... As for the song, it's kind of a meditative, new agey number. It's an mp3 in a zip file, so you'll have to download it and unzip it to play it. It's a little over 3 mb, which means that even on a dial-up connection, it shouldn't take too awful long to download. Of course, comments, criticisms, etc are welcome. Click Here To Download - secondsnowfall.zip

The Sirens of Titan ~ by Kurt Vonnegut This book, Kurt's first, was published in 1959 and unlike most of his other books, especially the later ones, it's science fiction through and through. But, like all of Kurt's books, it's filled to the brim with his humor and his unique perspective on humanity and society. This book is rather visionary in that it contains a scathing, satirical commentary on the dangers of too much political correctness, 35 years before anyone else even began to view PC as a problem.

November 18, 2005

Well thanks for asking! Its coming along. Progress has been slow with self teaching, but I'm taking a couple of lessons now! That keeps me motivated to practice, so that there's noticeable improvement between lessons. (The fact that I have a HUGE crush on the guy teaching me doesn't hurt either. ) Constantly learning new stuff is what's always worked best for keeping my interest peaked. Of course I never had a crush on a guitar teacher. I can see how that could work, too.

I confess, I'm totally turned on by music theory geeks. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Wow! Beauty, brains, personality, great tats, and a sucker for a guy who knows how to shift from Dorian mode to Mixolydian in a single musical phrase. You've got it ALL, girl! Next time you're in Mississippi, feel free to stop by for some private lessons. Yours, Soph BTW: How's the guitar playing coming along?

Hey, that's cool...on both counts! Knowing these things, I think I may have been a little harsh in my earlier statements. Perhaps they can actually do something to raise awareness of the plight of poverty stricken regions of the world.

Story Here I bet tickets won't be cheap. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Way Cool. That will make it worth while to get the DVD from that fundraising event. Too bad it will likely be a one-time reunion, unlike the numerous times Hell has Frozen Over for the Eagles!! <{POST_SNAPBACK}> You may be right about this being a one-time deal, the "bad blood" between Roger Waters and the rest of the band is a lot more serious than that exhibited by members of The Eagles. Not only did Waters attempt to sue over the use of the name "Pink Floyd," but at the end of the VHS and DVD versions of Floyd's Delicate Sound of Thunder release, this juicy tidbit appeared: And yet, Gilmour now says, "Any squabbles Roger and the band have had in the past are so petty in this context..." The context is, of course, relief of world poverty, and he's right. But let's face it, this concert will do little, if anything, to eliminate world poverty. I'm sure they realize this, too. Besides, there have been plenty of other worthy causes in the last 20 years. Perhaps it's just wishful thinking on my part, but I see this as a sign that they're mellowing with age, and a Pink Floyd reunion tour might be a possibility... And if not, then at least, as you've said, a DVD worth owning.

Story Here I bet tickets won't be cheap.

I confess, I'm a music theory geek. Although, it's really a good thing that I'm fascinated by the technical aspects of music - it helps me compensate for having a naturally lousy ear. Soph

You did well, it sounds great! There's nothing quite as exhilarating as the spontaneous creation of music. For the past few months, I've been devoting several hours a day to developing my improvisational chops - it's beginning to pay off, too. Again, I'm looking forward to the next one. Regards, Verisoph BTW: I've been playing around with your tuning, and I think that the best name for it might be F#9. I know that the lowest tone in a chord is usually considered the root, but in this case, the F# seems to have more gravity than the C#. The intervals in the tuning are almost identical to "Open G" (D G D G B D) and you might notice that the lowest note in Open G is not G, but D. The interval between D and G, and the interval between C# and F# is a fourth... a rather weak connection. However, the interval between G and D, and the interval between F# and C# is a perfect 5th... that's the strongest connection that there is between two notes. So, if you accept that F# is the root in your tuning, then you've got the root on the 5th string, followed by a perfect 5th on the 4th string, then the root again on the 3rd string, and a perfect 5th to that on the 1st string. You also have low octave of the 5th on the 6th string. This leaves only the 2nd string to consider. G# is the 9th tone in the key of F#, which is why I called your tuning F#9. However, I've given it this name for simplicity. If you strum all six strings, with the idea that the root is F#, the chord that you produce would technically be "C#/F# 5 9 -7" or "C#/F# 9 -3 -7"

Excellent! I don't know how many songs you've written, but that's without a doubt the best one I've heard. You've been practicing, I can tell. Your guitar playing is becoming formidable. I also couldn't help but notice that you've added a little extra instrumentation in this one - that's good - it fattens up your sound without having to resort to effects (which I know you don't much like). Is that a keyboard violin? It provides a terrific accompaniment to the guitar and vocals. I can hardly wait for the next one. Regards, Verisoph

Hey there, watch your head! When you're finished trying that, try to bite your teeth.

it's stuck, I tell you yackety yackety yak ceaseless through the head

from her slender neck to her curvaceous body I love my guitar!

Alto! greedy monk will hurt if he slams into the dirt encumbered with gold

Nice work, GM! greedy monk can fall along the side of a wall with nary a squall Verisoph BTW: Personally, I think the soundtrack beats the book AND the movie.

Yikes! That one sounds like a suicide note. dashing through no snow bashing our gay apparel hashing over eggs Yeah, I just got up. I'm sure things will improve by noon.

don't seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise just seek what they sought

lush food for the soul just dancing madly backwards through dreams we're a whole Verisoph

long fast done for now savoring each mad moment glad she's back in town

Excellent, RevBill! Encore!

What a joy it is for me to be able to read the works of two such expressive poets! Please, don't stop now - I'm getting a much needed education. Regards, Verisoph