listening to music; old school.....

I have been doing a lot of that this week as my cello needs more time at the Luthier to repair multiple open seams. Apparently this is quite common with Chinese cellos here. I hope to have it back by the weekend.

I have always enjoyed listening to music, even as a kid I preferred the stereo to the TV. As a result I have a sort of crazy stereo.

This is where it begins, yes a working record player. I grew up with records and still have many of them. I also continue to purchase those of interest to me, especially older classical recordings. Records do what no other playback format can, (except master tapes), sound real, IF you keep your records and cartridge clean. A cd or a mp3 is digital, 1& 0's, and does not sound as natural to me most of the time.
I do have lots of cds, and enjoy listening to them as well. As VERY few modern classical recordings come out on lp today.


These are my crazy horn speakers that are quite large but sound wonderful. The best thing is that they can be powered by low power amp. Low power means better sound most of the time, as long as your speakers are efficient. When I put on a recording of the Bach cello suites they sound just like a cello, they even vibrate like one. A friend helped me make them. They are called the Bigfun horns.

See, even the cats love low power tube amps! this particular one puts out a whopping 750 milliwatts. And I have to really turn up the volume to clip them. I know, pretty nuts.

there are two more of these full of records!

Only one day at the Luthier.

I took my cello to my favorite luthier in the Denver area today. He said i could have i back tomorrow! That is nice surprise as the other guys around town would have said two weeks.

He is also makes violins, viola , and cello's, my teacher almost bought one of his cellos last fall, it was wonderful. Based off of a Goffriller model, and cost as much as a new Subaru, if i could afford i would have bought it. He said he liked my cello, but said it will likely not be the last open seam he fixes on it, since it was newly made in China, and I live in Denver. He thought the set up was quite good, well made and liked the Ruggeri model it is based off of.

Anyway its nice to not have to wait a long time cause my loner is bear to play. I do need to practice on the orch music this week, and we don't meet. I want to have made some real progress by the following week. Our concert is not till May, but i want to be prepared.

Contrapunctus 9 kills my cello...

So thur morning before going to work i was getting in some practice on the most difficult piece we are doing in the orch, Bach Contrapunctas 9. I'm sawing away, and i hear this loud crack, d string goes way flat and my cello sounds really weird.
Upon further inspection that evening i found a open seam right near the endpin block. Well now i know what that sounds like. Hopefully this doesn't happen often. I keep it in a humidified room but have been carting it around to various places lately, since joining the
university orch. I'm borrowing a old cello from my teacher but it's not my fave, and hard to play, but better than nothing.

The whole orchestra thing seems to be getting a little bit more comfortable, even though i screw up all the time. It took me about 4 trials the other night to come it at just the right time.... sigh. Good thing everyone is supportive and helpful, otherwise i'd probably just quit.
I still need lots of practice on the material, this was made clear by Conducter who knows my teacher, said after wed rehersal," show those to M , I know she'll know what to do."
sigh.....i thought that was kinda funny.

I have been trying to practice the real fast passages very slow, as is recommended by so many teachers including my own. It is hard but i am making a concerned effort to slow down! Get it right then increase the tempo, and use only a short bow stroke.

Life in hell...or first time playing a bloody cello in a very small orchestra..

I used to play the clarinet in jr high orchestra. That seemed easy.. Playing the cello, when your not very good, in and adult "orchestra" is far from easy. Last night while "playing " a piece in E Flat major i could not seem to locate A fricken flat. Conductor man is like HELLO, cello guy KEY signature...... anyway I eventually found it. (oh G#) duh..... I have hardly encountered that key yet in my cello life. Good thing it is a pretty tolerant group!
Anyway...... I will most likely have to spend 99.99%of my time on the "orchestra" music as it is quite difficult for a 1.5 yr cellist. The Vivaldi in bk 5 will have to be put on hold for a bit. Hopefully I will be able to reach a point of balance between the two. I have been working a little bit on Nina by Pergolesi, i like that piece. I have a great record of Nathaniel Rosen and Arturo Delmoni playing it. I do mean a 12" lp, some of us still listen to those and have working turntables, that do indeed sound way better that a cd. Anyway that is another topic altogether!

So on the recording front, there is not much, as I am too frustrated with the computer interfaces working sometimes and not others. I have to decided to get something that does not need the computer. Like maybe a cd recorder or video camera.

Profanity Alert......

Just in case anyone is reading my blog.

Fucking blood Hell. I just joined the University i work for CU orchestra called "Melomania." Actually its more of a hodge podge chamber ensemble: 2 violins , 4 clarinets (i used to play the clarinet and should have stuck with it, it was way fricken easier than cello. However it had I am a dork written all over it). 1 trumpet, 1 trombone, 1 french horn, 1 flute, and 3 cellist including myself. (nowhere to hide ) I am by far the least experienced. The conductor is a french horn player for the co sym.
He jumped right in today at full speed..... Fricken yikes! I can't keep up yet AT ALL. I'm totally freaked out, hopefully i will be able to pull it together.

i have to go meditate !

more later if i survive

One Taste

From Ken Wilber's above titled book :

"Swallow the Pacific Ocean in a single gulp", and that's the easiest thing in the world, when inside and outside are no longer two, when subject and object are nondual, when looker and looked at are One Taste. You see???

Dynamics, phrasing, vibrato.......markings etc..

These seem to be the focus of most of my lessons lately. There is always the usual stuff like intonation, and rhythm issues but they seem to have taken a back seat for the time being. T points out that the appropriate dynamics, vibrato have there own set of technical solutions ( as opposed to just playing the notes.) Typically when I work on a etude from Popper or Schroeder, I have just tried to play the correct notes, rhythms etc. Adding musicality to it is another set of challenges that are difficult but also make working on those exercises more interesting. On a positive note T said last week my vibrato was sounding quite good on the Vivaldi at the beginning of book 5. Personally I think it can be a little electric at times as I find it is easier to vibrate fast than to get a even sound with slow vibrato, but I'm working on it.

I have moved through the Suzuki books sorta fast given that I have been a dedicated student for a little over a year. My teacher ,however, does not really adhere to the Suzuki method but does use the material. I have never memorized anything from any of the books, and typically spend enough time on a piece to get it down pretty good but not perfect. Then we move on, it is a style that seems to work for me.
I am able to practice a lot, my wife and I have no children and she is a ceramic artist at night so I pretty much play as much as I want. More often than not I have to remind myself to not over do it.

Ultimately I would like to play in some sort of community orchestra. However, all the ones I'm aware of in Denver and the surrounding area require auditions. There is no way I am going to win a spot with my current chops. Maybe in 5 years, 10, who knows.

Actually, here is our family.....don't all cellists have cats?????? Here is Go-Go and Wagner.