Miscellaneous

If (outside of Jazz Fest) I haven?t been blogging as often as before, it?s because some of the time I used to spend on blogging is now spent attempting to learn guitar playing. That?s good news. It?s been three months since I resolved to revive my guitar-playing hobby, and so far I?ve kept my resolution.

One way to keep your resolutions is to spend money on them. At least that works for me; I hate to see an investment go to waste. So even though I already owned two guitars and one amplifier, buying and amplifier and (later) a guitar pushed me to keep on keeping on. Also I?m taking lessons, which I?m paying for. My teacher pushes me; so does the fact that I?m paying him to push me.

At my last lesson (a couple of weeks ago, before Jazz Fest), my teacher, Vincent, gave me some homework: ?Record yourself.? Lacking the equipment to do that, I went to International Vintage Guitars for advice. They sold me a hardware and software bundle from Line 6 that lets me plug my guitar into my computer and record. The bundle include a guitar port (to plug my guitar into the computer), Gear Box (an on-line amplifier), and Riffworks (an on-line recorder). Once I got everything installed, I started playing with it, and I must tell you: This shit is fun!

So I made a recording, just like in a studio (meaning bunches of takes for each 12 bars). I won?t inflict it on you; it?s not for entertainment; it?s for Vincent to diagnose. I just want to say that, if you play some guitar and you want to have some fun recording yourself, give this stuff a try. And if you?re serious about your hobby, spend some money on it.