A few weeks ago, I bought a pair of "bamboo" drumsticks. I bought the "Boso Natural 7A" drumsticks. They're:
Although I have a pair of "Zildjian Anti-Vibe", a pair of "Vater Sugar Maple", as well as sticks made from other woods, I wanted to find Drumsticks which were even lighter. Since I only play "electronic" drums, I don't have a need to use wooden sticks which are as indestructible as steel. Plus, I'm concerned about damaging the mesh heads, rubbers pads and various sensors which make-up these drums. Here's the link to the Boso drumsticks: http://www.bosodrumsticks.com/collections/7a/products/boso-natural-7a Drumstick Coatings Last week, we bought a can of:
Using 2-coats from each spray can, sprayed a few days apart, I painted my Boso Drumsticks with the Chrome paint and my "Vic Firth: American Classic, hickory, 7A" sticks with the rubber. The Chrome coating feels slightly grippier than the rubber. Both are better than the clear "Plasti-DIP" coating I used on another pair of sticks a few months ago.
My goal with all this was to have a consistent grippy coating on all of my drumsticks, no matter which "brand" or "model" I purchased. I thought about, but never purchased, drumstick "tape", "wax", and other "designed-for-drumsticks" coatings as well as drummer's gloves. I even experimented with some tacky "lip balm" that Sylvia and I have purchased, which does work but it leaves too much residue on my hands. I want something which will provide the tackiness while I'm playing but affect my hands when I set those sticks down. Yes, some drumstick manufacturers do offer rubberized coatings on their sticks and they are pretty good. However, besides wanting grippy sticks for "playing" I also want grippy sticks for "twirling".
Right now, I'm still experimenting but the "Chrome" coating seems to work just a bit better than the "LeakSeal" rubber. Neither is as grippy as I need for twirling but the sticks ARE tacky enough to remain comfortably in my hands. (Keep in mind, I've only been testing these coatings for 2-days.) Besides ending-up with a consistent grippy coating, I prefer to have that coating be "clear". This will allow me to paint my drumsticks "purple", Sylvia's favorite color or a gradient of "blue-to-purple", which is our band's colors — Sylvia's "purple" and my "blue". Plus, I can then print out our band's logo on clear, self-sticking paper, cut them out and attach it to my drumsticks. When finished, each stick will be colored, show our logo AND be tacky.
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Although Sylvia and I have owned a Novation "Ultranova" synthesizer for several months, I was having a difficult time wrapping my head around its various sections and how they interconnect with each other. My synthesizer background has been with the:
After reading through it more closely, I discovered that one aspect of my confusion was from the cryptic titles printed on the screen, indicating the different functions. For example: "01WTInt" stands for "Oscillator 1, Wave Table Interpolation". Then, reading its details helped me understand that this feature adjusts the movement between certain Wave Tables from "Stepped" to "Smooth" when activated. I also more-clearly understood that certain functions are not as complicated as I thought they were. They're simply "routed" or "accessed" in a way that's different from what I'm used to with other synths. For example: the Ultranova does offer "Ring Modulation" but there is no dedicated "button" or "knob" for this. Instead, it's selected in the "Mixer" — because it's a mixture between Oscillators 1 and 3 or Oscillators 2 and 3. Your choice. At first glance, the Ultranova seems to have a lot of "menu diving" but after my recent working with it, I now see that most sections only have one or two "screens" worth of adjustments. At a retail price of just $600, this synthesizer is well-worth the money. Although I talk a lot about "synthesizers", I'm really a "Drummer". (However, I also like doing Sound Design.)
About a week ago, I was doing some research on the different ways Drummers keep their drumsticks from slipping in their hands when their hands begin to sweat. I looked through ideas on:
At one point, while in the middle of all this confusion, Sylvia mentioned: "Why not use that extra tube of "lip balm" that's on your desk?" So I put some on my hands and then coated the drumsticks with it. It's a bit too tacky but it does work. Today, when I started to practice my drums, I noticed that the lip balm coating had worn off. Since that tube had been finished, I used another tube from a different manufacturer. However, this brand didn't work at all. It almost made the drumsticks slippery. I even tested a 3rd brand that we had and it didn't work either. So here's the score:
Just thought I'd pass this along, in case it helps others in the same situation. For March, Sylvia and I have selected a very powerful Modular Synthesizer, for this month's "Review" and "Drawing", on our crowd-funding page.
For details on this very capable, musical tool, visit its product page: pittsburghmodular.com/news/2017/1/11/introducing-the-lifeforms-foundation-4-and-lifeforms-foundation-evo For more information on this crowd-funding project, please visit our Patreon page: www.patreon.com/infinity_band To hear our album, "Perfectionately Yours" for free, visit our BandCamp page: infinity4.bandcamp.com/releases A few days ago, we watched a video-review of the "Korg Volca FM" synthesizer by someone we didn't know much about. He goes by the name of: "Cuckoo" and the review we watched was very good.
We've always enjoyed the thorough reviews by "SonicState" but "Cuckoo" brings a slightly more hands-on, and exploring, approach. Here's the link to the SonicState review of the Volca FM: www.sonicstate.com/news/2016/04/22/sonic-lab-korg-volca-fm-dx-in-a-box/ Here's the link to the review by Cuckoo: www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFfdOq9rvLc Here are 2 more Cuckoo reviews on the Volca FM. This first one explains "FM Synthesis" in general: www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJrTk4cgFiQ In this video, he lets us hear the Volca FM "Patches" that he created: www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6D9jafo5_I Ever since Korg introduced their version of the 1970s "ARP Odyssey" synthesizer, many Musicians (Sylvia and I included) have been wondering when Korg would reveal their version of the "ARP 2600" synthesizer. They had former ARP Engineer, David Friend, give a Talk during the Odyssey's unveiling and, I guess, Korg obtained special permission to manufacturer this new instrument. So I assumed they would move to the next plateau in the ARP lineup and build the "2600".
Now that it's been at least 24-months since the Odyssey's release, we still have no "ARP 2600". The other day, I was thinking about this and then I thought:
Just some thoughts. Here's the link to the "Korg ARP Odyssey": www.korg.com/us/products/synthesizers/arpodyssey/ Here's the link to an "ARP 2600": www.vintagesynth.com/arp/arp.php Here's the link to an "ARP 2500" page: www.vintagesynth.com/arp/2500.php Ok. We did it. We just finished tearing down our "Patreon", crowd-funding page, for our album, and created our new "Monthly Music-Gear Drawing", crowd-funding page.
For March, we've selected the "Korg Volca FM" synthesizer. Although we already own this $159 product, we thought we'd start off small and with something we're already a bit familiar with. Keep in mind that Sylvia and I, and our Band ("Infinity"), are currently unknown. This means "getting the word" out is an uphill job for us. So if you or someone you know is interested in Music Gear, and would like a chance to win one, please give them the following link. More details can be found at the link below. Here's the link to our Music-Gear Drawing page: https://www.patreon.com/infinity_band Here's the link to the Korg Volca FM page: http://www.korg.com/us/products/dj/volca_fm/ Since Sylvia and I had to work today, but only for a half-day, we went to the local "Guitar Center" store when we left.
Almost 2-weeks ago, we came up with a new idea on:
So far, the very few people we've described this to, including the Music Store Manager, have expressed positive Comments about it. I don't want to release any more information than that, until we're closer to Launching this idea.
When Sylvia sent me the pieces for "Night Of A Thousand Years" (through the "Veil”), the largest section was its Orchestral foundation. She later guided me as to how this "Streamed" piece should be edited and used under the full version of this Song.
When Sylvia and I were assembling this album, we talked about including this “foundation” Track but decided against it. Because this is a "Concept" album, with an interwoven series of Songs and a flowing base of emotions, adding this particular Track, even at the end, would take-away from that experience. Instead, we decided to include it as a "Bonus” Track. So we now have that "unedited", "just as I received it from Sylvia" Track on our BandCamp page. Anyone who purchases our "Perfectionately Yours" album from BandCamp, will now recieve the album's downloadable Poster and this Bonus Track as a "Thank You" for supporting our work. Here's the link: infinity4.bandcamp.com/releases Although Sylvia and I are doing our best to get "crowd-funding" started, this aspect of our music business seems to be stuck. We don't like doing "Social Media" and with possibly "hundreds" or "thousands" of new songs being made available every day, it's no wonder our band's tiny island is still unknown.
On our Patreon page, there's also a video of me explaining why we need this money. Here's the link to our Patreon, crowd-funding page: www.patreon.com/infinity_band While we're waiting for funding, for CD manufacturing, Sylvia and I decided to make this album available through "BandCamp". So "Perfectionately Yours" can now be purchased… AND anyone can listen to all the Songs for free from that same site. These are the full songs. Just as Sylvia wrote them. When this album is purchased, a Bonus file will be instantly available. It's the "PDF" version of the "Perfectionately Yours" Poster. This 18 x 24-inch creation contains all the Lyrics for all the Songs. It also contains some background information on some of the Songs as well as a list of the Music Gear we used. Be sure to scroll down, below the Song List, in order to read the background of how this album was created. Remember, this is a "Concept" album. All of the songs, together, tell a complete story. It's "our" story… the story of how Sylvia and I are now working "across the Veil". The songs take the Listener from the beginning of Sylvia and my "physical" (and temporary) separation. The energy and style of each song re-creates those emotions I felt just after our 3-weeks in hospice was over and brings you through to the present day. So the beginning of this album is very "chaotic"… very "stressful" and "confusing". The songs then move through "anger" and on to "hopefullness". Here's the link to our BandCamp page: https://infinity4.bandcamp.com/releases |
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