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Friday, December 27th, 2019
I've been practicing for the open mic on Monday at Hat City Kitchen, where I'll be playing cello and singing. I was pretty satisfied with my plan to play "Tombstone Blues", "The Raven Rag", and "Jagged Nickel", but then I thought why not make it all originals. I decided I can sing "Rainy Day Woman", so I'm going to open with that. Sylvia is planning to come along, and assuming she does, I will ask her to film the set. I've invited several people -- this is just about the first time I've done that for an open mic. Real Tom said he will come, and John from Traficantes also said he may. Jerry will try to make it.
The songs are all in G*. Oh well, I haven't got a huge range vocally. Also it is easy key (G minor*) to improvise in on the cello.
I made a couple of changes in "The Raven", the bird is now going to have "he" pronoun instead of "she" and is "a jet-black bird" rather than "pretty". If I can make it work, the last two verses will be a good deal slower than the rest of the song and with extra measure on the first and third line. (Similar to Richard Fariña's version in "The Falcon".)
I am hoping there will be a bass player there who wants to back me up and can work out/follow my changes, they are quite simple but I don't have a chord sheet to give.
 *...Wait no, duh, D minor! Not G -- I've been rehearsing these songs in G but I can sing them much better in D. Glad I realized this today (Sunday) & not tomorrow.
posted afternoon of December 27th, 2019: 1 response
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Saturday, December 21st, 2019
the "the raven" rag for tin-can cello:
posted evening of December 21st, 2019: Respond
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Thursday, December 19th, 2019
 Yesterday I ordered a wok. I'm starting my next metal soundboard instrument, a da gamba tenor violin with carbon steel soundboard1. A rough sketch of the design:
parts:
- wok (14" diameter)
- neck + dowel (I'm thinking I will use cherry)
- dowel stop (a small piece of wood that will ride on the bottom of the dowel, as a spacer for the tailpiece)
- back -- arched maple. Thinking I will use some very pretty wormy maple that I've had in my shop for years and years. It is flatsawn but I think it would resonate. Back will be attached with a kerfed lining which I'll need to make. Soundholes will be on the sides of the back.
- tailpiece -- likely will use a 1/4 size cello tailpiece. May need a cork spacer to raise the angle of the tailpiece.
- bridge -- maybe a viola da gamba bridge? or a fractional cello bridge? or a viola bridge?
- strings (steel) -- the tones I am thinking of are G2, D3, A3, E4 (and possibly B4). Maybe use 1/4 cello strings? The scale length will be something like 20". Or another possibility, tune in fourths E2, A2, D3, G3, B3.
- fingerboard
- pegs
posted morning of December 19th, 2019: 1 response
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Sunday, December 15th, 2019
I decay; idk
wtfruok?
posted evening of December 15th, 2019: Respond
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Happy holidays all! A new take on an old carol.
The "angels we have heard on high" rag for tin-can cello:
the "silent night/joy to the world" rag for #tincancello:
the "god rest ye merry" rag for strings + tin-can cello:
the "herald angels" rag for strings + tin-can cello:
 The "angels we have heard on high" rag for strings:
↻...done
posted morning of December 15th, 2019: 3 responses
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Monday, December second, 2019
posted evening of December second, 2019: 1 response
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Tuesday, November 26th, 2019
For a while I have had in mind making a viola da gamba type of instrument with a steel wok as its soundboard and an arched maple back. An interesting question is how do you attach the wood to the metal -- I have had in mind screwing it together. Just now I had the thought that a thin wooden lining could be glued to the metal (I guess with Gorilla Glue?) and then attach the back with hide glue. This way I can make the back much thinner, like a violin back, and not need thickness to screw into. No need to drill holes in the metal -- much better.
posted evening of November 26th, 2019: 1 response
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Sunday, November 24th, 2019
Atman does not call himself "I"; Jiva does.
Jiva also calls himself "you," believing
that he is speaking to Atman.
 Here's another one from TMK's Imaginary String Band.
↻...done
posted afternoon of November 24th, 2019: Respond
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Saturday, November 23rd, 2019
Introducing The Modesto Kid and his Imaginary String Band:
(Imaginary String Band appearing courtesy of @Noteflight)
Outlaw Blues score
 (update, now they're working on a Xmas record as well...)
posted morning of November 23rd, 2019: Respond
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Friday, November 22nd, 2019
Never believe that Republicans are completely unaware of the absurdity of their replies. They know that their remarks are frivolous, open to challenge. But they are amusing themselves, for it is their adversary who is obliged to use words responsibly, since he believes in words. The Republicans have the right to play. They even like to play with discourse for, by giving ridiculous reasons, they discredit the seriousness of their interlocutors. They delight in acting in bad faith, since they seek not to persuade by sound argument but to intimidate and disconcert. If you press them too closely, they will abruptly fall silent, loftily indicating by some phrase that the time for argument is past.
posted morning of November 22nd, 2019: Respond
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