Where. Is everyone?

Well, my wife's up, and I've had coffee and a pre-breakfast snack. I did 2 or3 cryptograms, and, now, my iPad's about outta gas. Enjoy your work and ditties, Mivo. And your cold, soggy tramp through nature, JB. And play a coupla hot, Chromatic tunes, Keith.

But most of all enjoy the Spring -- ol' Winter's over! (It's supposed rain here tonight and tomorrow and Wednesday - ahh, well . . . ). :eek:ld:
 
Have a good day. :) I'll make a pot of tea and get some work done, then I'll noodle a bit. The lady friend will want some attention, too! And I think I'll watch a movie called Cool Hand Luke later in the evening. Thanks for the wishes!
 
What's a sarnie?

I have a coupla Chromatics, but I never could play them well. I'm a "juicy" player, and those plastic flaps inside would get waterlogged and quit speaking. I never could seem to overcome the problem. I even pulled a few of them off, but to no avail. I surely hope that you have better luck. Try to keep your mouth (breath) dry.

I really like the harp. I played them for a long time. Can you draw bend notes? Blow bend? Don't try bending the Chromatic. It'll ruin it. What do you use for music? I think it's best to play by ear.

Did you know that the harp is called the "blind man's instrument" because one can't see what he/she is doin'? I was having trouble reading music with my Irish tenor banjo, so I'd play the tune on a harp or tin whistle to learn it then I'd play it by ear on the banjo. Kinda roundabout, but it worked. I thought I had some sorta "hand-eye coordination" problem, but I read better now. I guess I jes' needed more larnin'.

Well, I've kept you away from your new harp long enough. Have a good time with it. :eek:ld:
Sarnie = sandwich = 2 bits of bread with something between them. ;)

Just learning about chromatics, they need to be warmed up to body temperature before playing, otherwise your moisture laden breath will condense to water on or between the valves/windsavers, & that, of course as we know, stops the reeds from sounding.

Yes, trying to find the right hole was a challenge at first, but getting better at it now.

I did try to bend on my diatonics, but it wasn't very good - mostly been using an Orchestra tuned to play melodies, but I feel it's time for the chromatics again. :)

Music wise, mainly tab, but I'm still trying to learn to read notation, as it will benefit uke playing as well.
 
Have a good day. :) I'll make a pot of tea and get some work done, then I'll noodle a bit. The lady friend will want some attention, too! And I think I'll watch a movie called Cool Hand Luke later in the evening. Thanks for the wishes!

"Cool Hand Luke" is a great movie. One of Newman's best. :eek:ld:
 
He had a couple of things lined up to do, like doing sound samples of those new Aquila strings, & I think he was going to do some testing & demos with the iRig Stage.

Well, I think that it's cool that he offered to do that all stuff but if he hasn't got time then I hope he doesn't feel like he has to go into some sort of self-imposed exile. He should just come back and start posting again :)
 
Ahhh, well, another early rising. I woke up at 0210, got up for a "rest" and couldn't get back to sleep. I tried until 0400, and then said "the heck with it" and got up. I guess my early rising is my own fault though since I went to bed at nine last night. But i was ready to go to bed at about 7 o'clock! Trying to stay up when one is very sleepy is misery. I'm gettin' really tired of being old.

Yesterday, I got this new stringed instrument stand from Amazon. It's a K&M stand, made in Germany and built like a rubber coated tank! It's really heavy and built to last. One could use it to hold his/her anvil! Now I can rest assured that my new Mandobanjo has a safe place to rest for the rest of time.

I got some new Jim Dunlop mandolin picks too. They're sorta round instead of pointed. I like 'em so far.

Keith M has gotten me interested in my mouth harps again. I even played a bit the other day. Unfortunately, I found that I've forgotten some stuff, but maybe I could regain my old artistry. Harps are great little instruments to pass the time with. There are no problems with music or fingering; one just exhales and inhales and listens to an old, favorite tune.

Well, that's enough wind outta me for now. I hope all you Brits are having a nice day. Ta ta! :eek:ld:
 
Hope your day is going OK, Dick.

I just ordered myself a new chromatic yesterday, going to take at least a week before I get it though, someone else must have got in before me, as I got an email this morning saying it was out of stock.

Such is life, but I'm retired, so I've got all the time in the world & don't have to rush after getting it.

How is your harp playing going, are you back up to speed yet?

I left off playing my ukes to get a grip on my harmonica playing, & found out I'd lost a bit of what I had gained, when I posted a uke video last week.
 
You like Chromatics, eh? I thought you just got one about a week or two ago. You must have HAS. Maybe you'd like 10 holers better if you learned how to bend them.

Larry Adler, The Harmonicats, Toots Theilsman and Stevie Wonder are probably all on YouTube, and maybe you learn how to bend (not on your Chromatics though) notes too.

I switched my favorite uke to fifths, and I'm using it to work on Irish banjo stuff quietly -- like in the evening. I live in a condo, so I don't like to be noisy at night.

Well, I'll let you go now. It's about 1600 there - tea time? 'Bye. :eek:ld:
 
Yeah, I do like diatonics, because there isn't any valve problems with them, but chromatics do have all the notes, I have a valveless chromatic which has seen a bit of action over the winter.

I bought a heating pad for the chromatics to warm up the valves, & it does work, but it's more hassle, ho hum.

I will have another go at bending, some time later in the year most likely.
 
I'm currently doing the insomnia thing here on the other side of the pond. Just after 3:00 am local time. Can't get to sleep. I have an episode of Doctor Who to watch - I may go and do that.
 
Hey! I know just how you feel. I always wonder if I should get up and read or do some puzzles or whatever, but it always seems to me that one has a better chance of going back to sleep if he/she stays in bed. But, after a while, it becomes very uncomfortable.

We have Dr. Who over here, but I've never watched it.

It's 1930 here, and I'm not even sleepy yet, but I haven't watched TV yet either. TV is a lullaby to me. I curl up on the couch -- just to be comfortable, mind you -- and then my wife wakes me up and tells me how the program ended.

We usta have a relative who went to bed every night at 1800. Then he'd wake up a 0200 and read until breakfast.
Seems like a kinda good idea to me.
:eek:ld:
 
We usta have a relative who went to bed every night at 1800. Then he'd wake up a 0200 and read until breakfast.

I maintained a schedule like that for a while, though for work reasons. It worked better in the winter when it gets dark early than in the summer when it's so hot. My current hours are going to bed at 2am and getting up at 10am, which is a bit of a compromise. Would prefer to get up earlier, around five or so, but job-wise it's not feasible, at least for now.
 
I wonder what time jollyboy got to sleep. :eek:ld:

Hi DUD :) Thanks for posting your previous reply. It's very sunny here at the moment and I would really like to get into the habit of going to bed at a reasonable hour and then getting up early in the morning. My body clock doesn't seem to like to work that way though. For some reason my brain is always most active late at night. I finally got to sleep at about 4:30 and then woke up at about 10:00 am this morning. I'm going to try to get a good night's sleep tonight.
 
I'm having a lotta trouble with sleep time. Sometimes I'm out on my feet at eight and sometimes not. If I'm not dragging around in the evening, I stay up 'til around eleven. TV puts me out even if I like the program. Everyone says that I should take naps during the daytime, but l never do. I'm anti-nap! Sometimes I, like all old guys, hafta get up in the middle of the night, and then, I sometimes can't get back to sleep.

Being old is really a trial. When I was young, I never even dreamed how old age was gonna be. Ahhh, well . . . :eek:ld:
 
I'm having a lotta trouble with sleep time. Sometimes I'm out on my feet at eight and sometimes not. If I'm not dragging around in the evening, I stay up 'til around eleven. TV puts me out even if I like the program. Everyone says that I should take naps during the daytime, but l never do. I'm anti-nap! Sometimes I, like all old guys, hafta get up in the middle of the night, and then, I sometimes can't get back to sleep.

Being old is really a trial. When I was young, I never even dreamed how old age was gonna be. Ahhh, well . . . :eek:ld:

Yeah, I'm not into napping. I find it really messes up my whole day, and makes it even harder to get to sleep at night.

I'm about to hit 50 and I'm not looking forward to it. I'm aware of having less energy than I used to. Plus lately I've had some dental problems which make me feel a bit like I'm slowly starting to fall apart. I try to keep young at heart - I'm especially determined not to become overly rigid in my thinking and to stay open-minded and open to new experiences. And not to be a grumpy old man :p
 
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