The b0bletter

More 7th Chords on C6th

2011-08-01T21:03:00.000-07:00

Last year I posted about positions for 7th chords on C6th. To recap, here are the handy positions for playing I, IV and V 7th chords in the key of E, using the the A to Bb lever, the C to C# lever, and P5 which lowers G to Gb.

A7   E7   B7     A7   E7   B7
1   __________________________________
2 E ___3____4____5______9____10___11__
3 C ___3#___4____5#_____9____10#__11__
4 A ___3#___4#___5#_____9#___10#__11#_
5 G ___3b___4____5b_____9____10b__11__
6 E ___3____4____5______9____10___11__
7 C ___3#___4____5#_____9____10#__11__
8 A ___3#___4#___5#_____9#___10#__11#_
9   __________________________________
10  __________________________________

Let's call the A to Bb lever "A", the C to C# lever "C", and the G to Gb pedal "G". We can then use this shortcut notation:

A7 = 3 ACG
E7 = 4 A
B7 = 5 ACG

A7 = 9 A
E7 = 10 ACG
B7 = 11 A

Now here's the other half of the puzzle. You may already know that the C lever (C to C#) makes an A7 chord on strings 2 through 8. If you add the E to Eb pedal P6 into the mix, you can create another complete set of 7th chords.

Let's call the E to Eb pedal "E". In our shortcut notation, the new scheme looks like this:

A7 = 0 C
E7 = 1 CAE
B7 = 2 C

A7 = 6 CAE
E7 = 7 C
B7 = 8 CAE

Pedal 6 doesn't lower string 2 (it raises it to F) so we do lose that string in those CAE positions. Here's the tab:

A7   E7   B7     A7   E7   B7
1   __________________________________
2 E ___0_________3___________7________
3 C ___0#___1#___3#_____6#___7#___8#__  C lever (C to C#)
4 A ___0____1#___3______6#___7____8#__  A lever (A to Bb)
5 G ___0____1____3______6____7____8___
6 E ___0____1b___3______6b___7____8b__  E pedal (E to Eb, P6)
7 C ___0#___1#___3#_____6#___7#___8#__  C lever (C to C#)
8 A ___0____1#___3______6#___7____8#__  A lever (A to Bb)
9   __________________________________
10  __________________________________

So again we have this handy thing going on where the I7, IV7 and V7 chords are all clustered together on 3 frets. Now here's the mindblower. When you combine these two systems, you have one of the three seventh chords in the key of E at every fret on the neck!

A7 = 0 C

E7 = 1 CAE

B7 = 2 C

A7 = 3 ACG

E7 = 4 A

B7 = 5 ACG

A7 = 6 CAE

E7 = 7 C

B7 = 8 CAE

A7 = 9 A

E7 = 10 ACG

B7 = 11 A

Amazing, isn't it?

Reading Music in the E9 neck by Mike Perlowin

2011-07-19T09:53:00.000-07:00

Has this ever happened to you? You've just heard a great piece of music, and you know it would lend itself perfectly to the steel and you want to learn it, but there is no tab available. What do you do? Well, you've got three choices. One- you can painstakingly try to figure it all out by ear, two- you can wait for somebody else to tab it out, or three- you can go out and buy the sheet music and read it.

To borrow a line from Shakespeare, "To read or not to read-that is the question." Actually it shouldn't be a question at all. If you define "not reading" as playing by ear, learning and hearing all your chords and positions and doing all the things that we all do anyway, than the quote should be to read and not to read.

Anybody who has seen any of the installments of my music theory series will already know that I'm a strong advocate of learning to read standard notation. Let me make an even stronger statement. In my opinion reading notation is easier than reading tablature. It is also a more accurate way of communicating musical ideas, and since it is applicable to all instruments, a player who reads can adapt music for other instruments to the steel.

Unfortunately, written music has gotten a bad rap, along with those musicians who rely on it. The problem is that traditional classical music training teaches people only how to read music, and not how to use their ears and brains. Who among us hasn't met some monster technician who can play anything they see, but who hasn't the slightest idea how to play by ear. To these people the written note isn't so much a tool as a crutch. The problem though isn't what they know, it's what they don't know.

Learning to play by ear, which presumably everybody who reads this magazine has all already done, is a different science than learning to play by notes. For some reason, advocates of each school of thought tend to dismiss each other as insignificant or unimportant, but the truth is that these two styles of learning music are not mutually exclusive. In fact, they compliment each other very well.

The real problem with notation is that with it's emphasis on the individual note, it doesn't tell us whether to play with the pedals up or down, or what string to use. This makes it useless as a tool to learn how to play the steel if you are just starting out, which is one of it's major uses with other instruments. We must learn the complexities of our instrument first, and then learn how to read music on it later.

This is where a knowledge of key signatures and chord spellings* becomes necessary. (You've all learned how to spell all the important chords, right?) Lets look at the following example.

The first thing you see is the key signature. One flat, specifically, B flat. This tells us that the song is in the key of F (This of course corresponds to the phrase "One down" or the hand signal of one finger pointing downward.) Now look at the notes. C, A, G, and F. Three of these four notes, C, A, and F, are found if the F major chord. Therefore, if you get into a some sort of F chord position, 3 of the 4 notes will already be there for you. Then you have to manipulate your guitar in such a way as to play the remaining note, either by moving your bar; or lifting a pedal if you're on the 8th fret with the pedals down, or if you're on the 13th fret with the pedals up, playing the 7th string.

Now this is a little convoluted, compared with the usual method of just looking at the note and playing it, but it works. The fact is that nothing about the pedal steel guitar is simple or easy, so why should reading be any different, but the system does work.

Recently I sat down at my steel with the sheet music to Dave Brubeck's "Blue Rondo A La Turk." Not exactly a typical steel guitar tune. I looked at the music, recognized the chords that were outlined in the melody, got into the proper pedal and bar position, and I was able to play the song almost immediately.

Even with all it's inadequacies, and even with the rather convoluted method used to make it work, I still say that conventional notation is a better way to communicate a musical idea than tablature. With tab, one- you learn by rote without gaining any kind of knowledge, and two- you can't learn a new song until somebody else tabs it out for you. With notation, you can learn a piece of music that is written for piano, or harp, of brass choir.

Conventional notation is the universal written language of musical ideas. Learning how to use this useful tool won't make you forget what you already know. It will expand your knowledge and make you a better player.

*Just as all words have their correct spellings, so do all chords. Here are all the spellings of the primary major, minor and 7th chords that are commonly used. These spellings should be memorized. Remember the chord name (A, C etc.) is the same as the root.

Major Chords:

Root Third Fifth

AC# E

Bb D F

B D# F#

C E G

D F# A

E G# B

F A C

G B D

Minor chords

Root Third Fifth

A C E

Bb Db F

B D F#

C Eb G

D F A

E G B

F Ab C

G Bb D

Seventh Chords

Root Third Fifth Seventh

A C# E G

Bb D F Ab

B D# F# A

C E G Bb

D F# A C

E G# B D

F A C Eb

G B D F

Just Intonation of E9th Pedal Steel

2011-01-28T15:51:00.000-08:00

I initially wrote this article in 1997. I've recently rewritten it and added the cents table for easy reference.

Part of the harmonic beauty of the pedal steel sound can be attributed to the tuning system used by most steel guitarists. The technical term for our system of "tuning the beats out" is Just Intonation.

Just Intonation theorists usually express tuning systems in terms of ratios from a fundamental frequency. The following chart shows the tuning ratios of a typical Nashville E9th pedal steel copedent:

Many steel guitarists add a compensator on the first or second pedal to lower the 7th string F# from 9/8 (the large major second) to 10/9 (the small major second). This pulls the string in tune with the "A" tonality of the pedals down (p1+p2) position. In the higher octave, the "two F#'s problem" is solved by tuning the 4th string F# change (p3) different from the 1st string F#.

The following table shows the size, in cents, of the relevant JI intervals between 1/1 and 2/1. The other notes in the tuning are octaves of these.

ratio	cents
2/1	1200.0
15/8	1088.3
9/5	1017.6
5/3	884.4
3/2	702.0
45/32	590.2
4/3	498.0
5/4	386.3
6/5	315.6
9/8	203.9
10/9	182.4
25/24	70.7
1/1	0

These intervals are the ideal. In practice, almost all pedal steel guitars detune slightly when a string is pulled due to physical stresses on the instrument. Some players accommodate this so-called "cabinet drop" effect by tuning slightly closer to the equally tempered notes (100, 200, 300, etc.).

Plain 7th Chords on C6th Pedal Steel

2010-09-26T10:32:00.000-07:00

If you've ever tuned a non-pedal steel to E7, you probably discovered these handy tritone positions that work over the 3 chords of a blues progression (key of G):


      C7  G7  D7   C7  G7  D7
G#____2___3___4____8___9___10___
E ________3________8_______10___
D ____2___3___4____8___9___10___
B ________3________8_______10___
G#____2___3___4____8___9___10___
E ________3________8_______10___
D ____2___3___4____8___9___10___
B ________3________8_______10___

Many pedal steel players have a knee lever (usually LKR) that raises both A strings of the C6th neck to Bb, forming a full C7 chord with the same intervals as the E7 non-pedal. Strings 2 through 8 then have the same “magic” tritone positions (key of E, # means raise):


       A7   E7   B7     A7   E7   B7
1   __________________________________
2 E ___3____4____5______9____10___11__
3 C ________4___________9_________11__
4 A ___3#___4#___5#_____9#___10#__11#_
5 G ________4___________9_________11__
6 E ___3____4____5______9____10___11__
7 C ________4___________9_________11__
8 A ___3#___4#___5#_____9#___10#__11#_
9   __________________________________
10  __________________________________

The Bb lever is engaged in all of these positions.

The standard P5 pedal lowers string 5 a half step, G to F#. Many players have a lever (usually RKR) that raises strings 3 and 7 from C to C#. If you use P5 and the C# lever together, you can fill in the gaps in the tritone positions. (In this tab, # means raise the string, b means lower it)


       A7   E7   B7     A7   E7   B7
1   __________________________________
2 E ___3____4____5______9____10___11__
3 C ___3#___4____5#_____9____10#__11__
4 A ___3#___4#___5#_____9#___10#__11#_
5 G ___3b___4____5b_____9____10b__11__
6 E ___3____4____5______9____10___11__
7 C ___3#___4____5#_____9____10#__11__
8 A ___3#___4#___5#_____9#___10#__11#_
9   __________________________________
10  __________________________________

Again, hold the Bb lever for all of the chords. Add P5 and the C# lever to create the full 7th chords in the tritone positions.

These positions are very useful for comping rhythm parts over blues changes while someone else is soloing. If you have a rotary effect, they sound very organ-like because they are similar to what keyboard players play with their right hand. This is an easy-to-learn system system that's fun to play in any key. Try it!

It's a Travesty

2010-03-16T10:45:00.000-07:00

Unable to randomly italicize difference, he added YouTube video to ease them aloud in an accompanying photo of alternating continue to figure everyone to get the screen, no one long, unbroken string out on my own, and under-the-breath cursing around of whatever it is, "I'm pretty sure of words." "Ow," Thomson, who stared blankly at the public grows more determined that to get the nation, chart, or possibly recoiled forgotten about. "At 3:16 p.m., a deafening and vowels, and righted parts and reading consonants and I hate it." "I've looked everything worthwhile highlighted parts. I've never-ending it up to bottom and right to get the page in fronted with the single column of print" from St. Paul, MN who remain unfamiliar letter-upon-letter, user agreement, or embedded YouTube video to ease them aloud in a slow, calm voice while buried deep in that could at least have an accompanying photo of alternating cascade of sentences may be a news article, medical study, urgent product recall notice, letter, user agreement, or possibly recoiled for sure if it's about? "After read the sight to do next." Without an illustration grappled with a solid block of print from top to his ear. "Whatever seen anything here are no bullet points, businesses were frozen in place, terrified by the overwhelming mound this time and reading it up to bottom and are words." Children wailed Monday afternoon. "There anything out on my own, and exhausted Americans scanned to ignore it. I'm sure." There are desperate, school teacher from Maine to go on with a solid block of the daunting chunk of text, hoping that could be easily skimmed and rightly continue to randomly italics will land on the important enough, millions were frozen in place, terrified by the never-ending those same working flood of syllables, who remain unfamiliar letter-upon-letter-upon-letter-upon-letter, user agreement, or possibly recoiled Monday when confronted by the country as the attention grappled with the screen, no high scholars are some, however, whose same words ear. "Why won't it just tell me what the slightest semblance of my time and concentration," said Boston resident Dale Huza, who stared blankly at their eyes on a colorful photo of alternating contract of him for even a binding those unfamiliar letter structure stretched on for the virtual hailstorm of alternating to randomly italics will land on the text and last lines in an accompanying photograph or boldface heading flood.

One Particular Spammer

2010-02-09T20:25:00.000-08:00

Most spam is anonymous. Few of us ever have contact with a real spammer. Most of them are smart enough to conceal their identity. They know that if people knew who they were, they would be ostracized by their peers.

I learned about Ron's spam pretty quickly. People were concerned that maybe the Steel Guitar Forum's database of email addresses had been compromised. It hasn't - Ron got his addresses from other sites on the web. I don't understand, though, the mindset of a guy who thinks that it's okay to to spam people, that it's a legitimate way to do business. Considering that the legality of his product, a CD of karaoke tracks, is on shaky ground at best, you'd think that he'd use an identity that couldn't be so easily fingered. But no, the "from" line of the gmail account proudly shows his name, and his wife's.

This brings me to a crisis of conscience. I don't reply to spammers, but I have been engaged in open discussions with Ron about various topics in the Off Topic Forum. Frankly, he seems to be the main driving force there. There are only a handful of other participants.

When someone talks a lot in a room of five or six people, it magnifies his opinions and position. Giving this spammer a soapbox to stand on didn't feel right to me, nor did it make sense for me to engage him any further. So, after 10 years of operation, I have shut down the Off Topic Forum. I figure that the half-dozen users that remained can get along without it.

I hate spam. I don't reply to emails from spammers. I'm not going to make an exception for one just because he's a steel player from Greensburg.

Switching things around.

2010-01-04T11:14:00.000-08:00


   LKL LKV LKR  P1  P2  P3  P4  P5  RKL RKR
F#                  +G      +G
D  +D# +E  +E                       -C#
B          +C#                          +C
A               +B      -G#
F#                  +G      -F
D  +D# +E                       +D#
B                                       +C
G               +A      -E      -F#

Putting the C6th P5 & P6 changes together on pedals (P3 and P4 here) makes a lot of sense, as it preserves my C6th reflex movements. I moved the C6th P7 change to LKR. The only downside to this swap seems to be that I can't get that F note when my foot is on P1 & P2 (E9th mode).

If I had a ten string, I'd add high and middle E notes to this tuning. I think that would add most of the missing licks from the E9th tuning. With a middle E, I wouldn't need the 6th string raise on LKV and I could lower it to C# instead.

My Desert Rose

2009-11-04T12:09:00.000-08:00

I've been playing the Desert Rose S-8 for about a month now, and I've pretty much finalized the D6/G copedent. I love it! I can go from E9th country styles to C6th swing styles just by moving my foot to the right.

   LKL LKV LKR  P1  P2  P3  P4  P5  RKL RKR
F#         +G       +G
D  +D# +E                   +E      -C#
B                           +C#         +C
A               +B      -G#
F#         -F       +G
D  +D# +E                       +D#
B                                       +C
G               +A      -E      -F#

P1 and P2 work like E9th A&B transposed down a step from E to D. The vertical LKV is sort of like the E9th C pedal. LKL is like the E9th F lever.

LKR, P3, P4, P5 and RKL are all standard C6th changes transposed up a step from C to D. LKL is like the C to C# lever, and RKR is like the A to Bb lever.

Here's a western swing tune of mine from a Burnside Scramblers rehearsal: Sagebrush Shuffle

Mr. Music Birthday Bash

2009-09-14T19:39:00.000-07:00

My friend Mr. Music threw a birthday party for himself and everyone else who turns 60 this year. I got to play with 3 different bands: The Country All-Stars, Shannon Rider, and Band'O'Geezers. Here's a picture of the All-Stars, taken by Scott Shewbridge:

Brad Cox captured the birthday cake ceremony on video:

I got to see a lot of old friends. It was a great party!

A tweak from experience

2009-08-14T12:09:00.001-07:00

I've been fooling with the 8-string copedent on the back neck of my Williams. I discovered that the B to A lower doesn't sound at all like at A to B raise, and the raise is that "country sound". Here's the update:

   LKL LKV LKR  P1  P2  P3  P4  P5  RKL RKR
F#                                  +G  +G
D  +D# -C#          +E      +E
B          +C               +C#
A               +B      -G#
F#                                  -F  +G
D  +D#              +E          +D#
B          +C   -A
G                       -E      -F#

Chuck's still building the guitar. It's been 4 months since I ordered it.

My new bumper sticker

2009-08-08T16:12:00.000-07:00

Desert Rose

2009-07-31T11:37:00.000-07:00

Chuck Back is building me an 8 string Desert Rose steel guitar. It's taking longer than expected because so many of the parts are custom made as opposed to a ten string and it's 116 degrees in Arizona so he can only work mostly at night but his noisy machinery disturbs his neighbors and also the paint doesn't dry right in this heat.

Chuck's going to Albuquerque this weekend and he'll send me a picture of the cabinet when he gets back.

What it is.

8 Strings - A Really Great Idea!

2009-07-23T11:05:00.000-07:00

I think this might be a Really Great Idea. 8 strings with the range of a standard guitar, and most of the capabilities of a E9/C6 double-ten.


   LKL LKV LKR  P1  P2  P3  P4  P5  RKL RKR
F#                                  +G  +G
D  +D# -C#          +E      +E
B          +C   -A          +C#
A                       -G#
F#                                  -F  +G
D  +D#              +E          +D#
B          +C   -A
G                       -E      -F#

2008-01-10T23:14:00.000-08:00

Died in a blogging accident

2008-01-09T13:43:00.000-08:00

I'm Just A Simple Country Refrigerator Technician

With Apologies to Who

2007-08-25T08:22:00.000-07:00

Your Generation

on a scale of one to ten
you learned to count
you came of age
it didn't take long at all

your expectations turned the bend
we looked away
and it all changed
it didn't take long at all

now that your g-generation
dictates rehabilitation
in control of institutions
do you know what
do you know what
do you know what
you're gonna do

told that you could do no wrong
you grabbed the torch
and held it high
it didn't take long at all

confident and unafraid
or so it seemed
compared to us
it didn't take long at all

now that your g-generation
holds, controls indoctrination
with profound implications
do you know what
do you know what
do you know what
you're gonna do

---
I thought I had a good long time
to learn the rules, become a player
to do one thing and then another
establish my eternal era
fixed in time for all to see
as what they call a legacy
left for all posterity
not an unsung nobody
---

from the cradle to the car
they learn to talk
they come of age
it won't take long at all

you say who you think you are
you look away
and it will change
it won't talk long at all

and when your g-generation
struggling with your reputation
looks to ours for inspiration
do you know what
do you know what
do you know what
we're gonna do

CD Nearing Completion

2007-05-08T07:28:00.000-07:00

The new Open Hearts Trio CD will contain 14 original songs. Almost all of the parts are recorded, and about a third of the songs are totally finished, mixing and all. Watch this space for further news.

Strange Horoscope

2006-07-27T10:23:00.000-07:00

This is one of the oddest horoscopes I've ever seen. I'm about to meet ... myself?

Your attitude toward others pushes you to meet people who could be considered by a large majority as eccentric, dear Leo. In fact, most people probably would think them to be downright strange. You will be happy to meet such a person, who ultimately may not be unfamiliar to you. Strangely enough, it most likely will be yourself.

On Sacred Ground - update

2006-04-08T21:19:00.000-07:00

Here's a newer recording of the tune, with John Reese singing it:

We're working on an arrangement with real instruments, but we haven't recorded it yet.

Whole Tone Scales

2006-03-12T14:18:00.000-08:00

I've been fooling around with whole tone scales on the marimba. Here's a double-tracked improvisation, just to show the flavor of those scales.

There are two whole tone scales, and I switch between them at several places in the recording. The scales are:

C D E F# G# A#
and
C# D# F G A B

On Sacred Ground

2006-01-13T15:01:00.000-08:00

I've written this song about a soldier who's stationed near a border in Iraq. His dad served in Vietnam.

I see you're standing On Sacred Ground
And it's right where your father stood.
A field of rice or a field of sand,
He'd be there with you if he could.

There's the truth, and there's injustice
and then there's this
  American way.
They say in time it will get better,
But that the time
  is not today.
 
I'm asking when can this be over.
Who takes a life
  and calls it whole?
A circle drawn complete, half empty,
As every pawn
  must play its role.
As every night 
  we hold our ground
And watch the darkness change to day.
A line is drawn where no one crosses.
No one can bear
  to show the way.

I see you're standing On Sacred Ground
And it's right where your father stood.
A field of rice or a field of sand,
He'd be here with you if he could.

----
Copyright 2006 by Bob Lee, Cloverdale, California

The demo recording was done in GarageBand on a Mac laptop, with parts from Band-in-a-Box. I sang it myself just to communicate the melody. Any good singer who wants to record it should contact me.

>> Edited Jan 23 to update the lyrics. The recording is out of sync now, but tweaking a few words helped get the meaning across.

Trio Recording

2005-09-15T08:14:00.000-07:00

As promised, here's a recording of "Internal Combustion":
3.3 MB MP3 File

It's John Reese, Nancy Freitas and me, recorded at my house last night.

Internal Combustion

2005-09-12T09:33:00.000-07:00

John Reese and I wrote a new song yesterday. It was sort of strange because I wrote the lyrics and emailed them to John, and he wrote the music. Usually John's the wordsmith.

Anyway, here are the lyrics. If all goes well, I'll post a recording later this week.

INTERNAL COMBUSTION

Chorus:
Internal Combustion
is a slow burning fire.
One hand on the throttle,
one on your desire

Internal Combustion
is a chemical fact
in the heat of the moment,
caught up in the act.

Verse 1:
Masses of people moving this way and that.
Accosted by forces, barely time to react.
But under the surface, untouched by the rain,
fueled with a purpose is a smoldering flame.

Chorus.

Verse 2:
Frozen in time, in a memory stilled,
is the shadow of life in a dream unfulfilled.
Know that it's true, know there's no doubt:
when it reaches the end, the fire will go out.

Bridge:
Internal Combustion has a limit in time.
One eye on the stopwatch, one on the devine.
Internal Combustion in the palm of your hand
Slips through your fingers back to where it began.

Instrumental solo.
Verse 3:
The warmth of a love, unique and intense,
A glow of contentment, commitment well spent,
Desire that gave meaning, in whole or in part,
To those other souls, to those open hearts.

Chorus.
repeat Chorus and fade.

The Truth

2005-08-30T11:38:00.000-07:00

I guess blogs are places where people can bare their souls to the world. Somewhere inside of me is an eighth-grade poet who just loves rhythm, rhyme and introspection. I've never progressed beyond an adolescent level in my poetry, but it's part of who I am. I write a poem every year or two. I usually throw them away. Here's my latest - I hope you enjoy it:

The Truth

The truth is a line from beginning to end.
The truth is a circle, a sphere to transcend.
The truth is a story to the devout.
The truth is a myth, a shadow of doubt.

Truth never changes, truth always is.
Truth contains everything, yours, mine and His.
Truth is the journey, all that we've seen.
Truth lies before us, behind and between.

The truth is a lifetime of triumph, then shame.
The truth is we've no one but ourselves to blame.
The truth is alone in the still of the night.
The truth is exposed in the sunny day light.

So when truth confronts us, and can't be denied,
When truth and the tales spun about us collide,
Know that the truth is not just about you -
Agnostic and fearless, it's simply what's true.

The truth is a festival, filled with delight.
The truth is a massacre, teeming with fright.
The truth is a lifetime of fear, joy and pain.
The truth is a love both profound and profane.

Truth never changes, truth always is.
Truth contains everything, yours, mine and His.
Truth lies before us, around the next bend.
Truth is the life from beginning to end.

Thanks to my Aunt Dolores Fruth, an accomplished poet, for the inspiration and encouragement.

Three Octave Marimba

2005-08-17T23:11:00.000-07:00

I had some film left over in the camera after my recent trip to Pennsylvania so I took a picture of the bigger marimba. It's a funky old instrument with not much tone, but it's okay for learning. I bought it on Ebay for just $266.

John Reese - Navarro

2005-08-06T11:34:00.000-07:00

Some songs are just perfect for my little diatonic marimba. Here's a living room recording of John Reese, Nancy Freitas and me playing John's picturesque masterpiece "Navarro".

My Newest Toy - a Marimba!

2005-06-08T09:32:00.000-07:00

I bought this on Ebay. Here are the specs from the Ebay ad:

New Diatonic Marimba with Solid Oak Resonator Box
(Includes one pair of yarn mallets)
12 Padouk Bars crafted by Salazar Fine Tuning
Range: A4 - E6, A=440
( A, B, C#, D, E, F#, G#, A, B, C#, D, E )
Bar Sizes: Width: 1 1/2" * Thickness 7/8"
A4 bar length: 13" * E6 bar length: 9"
Bars are double octave tuned A4 through E5
Beautiful Resonator box made of 3/4" solid quarter sawn oak (not plywood)
Instrument measures 25 1/2" long by 13" wide by 4 1/2" tall
Instrument weight: 9 lbs.

This is my first marimba. It has a very nice, quiet tone. I'm really enjoying playing it.

Electro Media Mix CD-R

2005-05-23T12:07:00.000-07:00

In 1969 made some recordings on a very cheap cassette recorder in San francisco. I recently bought a machine that makes CDs from tapes, so I decided to transfer some of my old cassettes. This is the first.

These recordings are not music - they're a mix of electronic and acoustic noises - but they're mildly interesting. The sound quality is pretty bad. My CD-R package includes liner notes describing my frame of mind at the time and pictures of the original cassettes. It runs about 45 minutes. It might put you to sleep if you try to focus on it, so don't listen to it while driving at night.

If you want one, send me a $5 bill and ask for the "Electro Media Mix CD".

Bob Lee
PO Box 719
Cloverdale CA 94952
USA

Image Anomaly

2005-05-17T10:13:00.000-07:00

Here's a satellite photo of San Francisco, courtesy of Google Maps.

On the lower half of the picture, you see the south face of the buildings as expected. But above the center line, you see the north face of City Hall, the Federal Building, etc. It's like the map is actually two photos taken from different angles (above the equator & north pole?) and then spliced together.

At first I thought is was an optical illusion, but the more I look at it the more I think something's fishy here.

Steel Guitar Jam

2005-04-27T09:37:00.000-07:00

I participated in a steel guitar jam in San Jose last Saturday. My good friend Jim Baron and I manned two laptops running Band-in-A-Box. I used my Mac OS X Powerbook, and Jim used a Windows XP machine. Jim solved my Mac's crappy BIAB sound problem by loaning me a Roland Sound Canvas, which we hooked up via MIDI through an Edirol interface. A spendid time was had by all!

Bill Lawrence

2005-03-18T10:14:00.000-08:00

Bill Lawrence Website - that's the real Bill Lawrence. The "Swampkaster Guitars" and "Bill Lawrence Pickups" web sites are pushing products that are not made by Bill Lawrence. Bill and Becky Lawrence are friends of mine and they're real nice folks. The imitator's name is Jzchak Wajcman, and I say he's a crook. He is using Bill's name and is trading on Bill's reputation. Read Becky's page about him here.

Cloverdale Facts

2005-03-15T11:41:00.000-08:00

Neighborhood Finder Detail - MSN House & Home - I found this page about Cloverdale. It includes demographics, but oddly omits any ethnic information. I really wonder what percentage of Cloverdale is Hispanic. Seems to be a lot of Spanish speaking people here.

Bad GET after POST

2005-03-09T23:03:00.000-08:00

There are bugs that keep you up at night. This was one of them. Our web site at Avery.com has been getting a flood of error reports in the JRun log. There were no bug reports from users, though, and nothing that I did on my test machine could duplicate the error reports i was seeing on the production site.

Coworker Brad found the problem before I logged in this morning. It was specific to the Firefox browser. It seems that under certain conditions, Firefox will fire off a GET request with no parameters following a valid POST. The users got their response from the POST request, and the GET fell into the error log.

I rewrote the code to ignore the bad GET requests if the UserAgent is Firefox. That should fix it.

css Zen Garden

2005-03-08T19:18:00.000-08:00

css Zen Garden: The Beauty in CSS Design - I knew that CSS was a powerful design tool, but nothing had prepared me for this. The HTML content of all the pages is exactly the same - only the cascading style sheet has changed. Amazing, beautiful page designs!

Connections 2

2005-03-07T14:56:00.000-08:00

CD Baby: VARIOUS ARTISTS: Connections 2 - I found this link to a CD that I have a track on. It's a really good album by local Sonoma County people, created to benefit KRCB radio.

Open Hearts Band

2005-03-06T13:51:00.000-08:00

Open Hearts Music is a web site I created for my main band, John Reece and Open Hearts. It was my first try at DreamWeaver templates. Nothing fancy. One nice touch is the way the color scheme extends to the scrollbar in Internet Explorer.

I'm a lot further into DreamWeaver now, and I'm thinking of redoing the site. I've been experimenting with PHP and MySql a bit. I'd like to try adding some real interactive features so our fans could post messages and build a bit of a community there.

A bit of history

2005-03-06T13:14:00.000-08:00

The first b0bletter was hard copy, created in Aldus PageMaker under Windows Runtime. Windows Runtime was distributed with PageMaker at the time because very few people had Windows.

I had invested in an HP laser printer, and the b0bletter was my first excursion into computer-generated page layout. It was just two pages, and it talked about the things that I had been doing recently. I think there were 3 issues. Nobody subscribed, so I just lost interest.