Category: Music

Posted on

Cory Wong in Oakland

After a bout of COVID in November of 2022 stopped Erin and I from seeing Cory Wong in San Francisco, I’ve been eagerly awaiting his next tour. He announced tour dates last August and I immediately jumped on tickets and invited friends along. It was a magnificent concert, easy to enjoy, fun, funny, thoughtful, and precise.

Cory is a musician’s musician, but straddles the line of speaking to a knowledgeable fan-base while creating music and entertainment for a broad audience. His Cory and the Wongnotes variety show dives into musical topics in collaboration with amazing musicians. His On the One series discusses details of music production and what decisions go into making a finished piece of music. Meanwhile, Wong on Ice is impressively absurd.

I’m not a huge fan of musical artists in general. I never followed anyone closely growing up, and don’t have a strong knowledge of any particular band’s discography. I don’t often go to live music. But something about Cory Wong continues to capture me, and I’ll continue to see him whenever I get the chance. I’m rooting for my fellow Minnesota boy.

Posted on

Starting on Guitar Maintenance

An uncle on my dad’s side has been a guitarist on the side for years. We don’t talk about it too often, but now that he’s getting older and preferring instruments with better ergonomics, he offered me a Stratocaster that he really enjoyed but wasn’t playing anymore. I happily took him up on the offer.

It plays beautifully, with a well-maintained neck that feels comfortable and fast. However, some of the metal hardware has begun rusting.1I don’t know how long he had this guitar, but it was definitely purchased used. My guess is that dealing with this aging hardware simply wasn’t a high priority. My plan is to use this as a first step in understanding how to maintain my guitars. Until now, I’ve changed the strings and left further setup to professionals. They do an exceptional job, but you pay for it. Considering this guitar was free, it seems appropriate to determine what I can learn to do for free.

Maintaining your own tools both helps you use them better, and provides a better sense of ownership over them. The first experience with this I can remember is oiling up my baseball gloves each year. It’s a small task, but a necessary one to extend the lifespan of the leather. More recently, it was working with computers and operating systems, gaining comfort with technology and understanding how far I’m willing to go to get the result I want. I plan to develop a sense of those boundaries with guitars as well, particularly electrics because they’re sturdier and simpler than acoustics.

I’ll write up something once I complete the process, with some before and after pictures. I figure the worst that could happen is I mess it up slightly and end up bringing it in to a shop, but if I can at least manage cleaning it, the cost of anything else is reduced.

  • 1
    I don’t know how long he had this guitar, but it was definitely purchased used. My guess is that dealing with this aging hardware simply wasn’t a high priority.
Posted on

MuseScore and the Democratization of Document Creation

I find music scores to be absolutely beautiful documents. In middle school I was engrossed by creating my own music and, more importantly, writing it down. There’s video evidence of me being jazzed about receiving a “Lyricist’s Notebook” for Christmas around that time. I also recall purchasing a journal of staff paper for ambitious ideas I had. Yet turning musical ideas into something that can be shared, let alone something that would look good, felt out of reach. When the itch to create music struck me again last week I remembered a new-to-me program, MuseScore, that changed everything.

Continue reading “MuseScore and the Democratization of Document Creation”
Posted on

Dean Town

I’ve been working on learning Dean Town by Vulfpeck on guitar. It’s been a great experience because it takes me back to when I was first working on playing an instrument, both excited by each little step that showed I was better than before, and amazed that anyone could play what I just did so much faster. I want to savor those experiences more.

That being said, the song is an absolute jam. Go watch the original version, and their performance at Madison Square Garden. I’m not sure I’ll ever have the technical chops to play it at speed but I enjoy the process of getting a little better.

Posted on

Multi-Effects Guitar Pedal

Years ago when I got my first electric guitar, a used Squier Stratocaster in white, my guitar-playing uncle was nice enough to pass along a multi-effects pedal.1For those not in the know: effects pedals allow guitar players to change the sound in a huge number of ways. The defining sound of many guitarists is a mix of their guitar choice, the string of pedals they implement, and the settings of their chosen amplifier. A multi-effects pedal provides a digitally-processed version of a large number of these sounds—both individual effects and combinations meant to mimic famous guitarists—and gives you access to them in a single pedal with a straightforward interface. The budget version I have would almost certainly not be used by a true professional, but is perfect for being at home and noodling around. For hobbyist playing on my own, it was a fun toy that gave me new sounds and allowed me to attempt imitating the sounds in songs I was trying to play.

This memory popped back into my head the other week as I was tooling around with my much-improved Fender Telecaster I bought last year. Despite my excitement about having a guitar with a simple, clean sound, I found myself wishing again for more ways to have fun with playing. While flows like plugging into an interface and using Garageband are viable options, that requires more connections and isn’t any less expensive than where I ended up. After doing some research, I found that reputable multi-effects pedals were way less expensive than I originally imagined.

I decided to purchase the ZOOM G1X Four. It has 40 built-in effects with the ability to add more from a computer, the tools to create custom effects strung together, and niceties like some rhythm options, audio-in for playing along to tracks from my phone, a tuner, and good headphone output so I can play silently. It’s been huge fun having it available, and encourages me to keep practicing the songs I love. I’ve yet to dive fully into everything it has to offer, having mainly stuck with the built-in effects, but over time I plan to see what sounds I can get out of it.

  • 1
    For those not in the know: effects pedals allow guitar players to change the sound in a huge number of ways. The defining sound of many guitarists is a mix of their guitar choice, the string of pedals they implement, and the settings of their chosen amplifier. A multi-effects pedal provides a digitally-processed version of a large number of these sounds—both individual effects and combinations meant to mimic famous guitarists—and gives you access to them in a single pedal with a straightforward interface. The budget version I have would almost certainly not be used by a true professional, but is perfect for being at home and noodling around.
Posted on

Rediscovering Guitar: The Purchase

To satiate my recovered and expanding interest in guitar, I decided to use some money from my bonus this year to purchase a nice electric guitar. While I love playing acoustic—they sound beautiful, are easy to pick up, and always feel comfortable to me—electric guitar opens up a new world of effects, sounds, and styles. Plus, with a pair of headphones, you can have the full experience without much noise for everyone around you. Not wanting to waste my money, I dove into research

Continue reading “Rediscovering Guitar: The Purchase”
Posted on

Rediscovering Guitar: The Passion

I started learning piano in 2nd grade with an unweighted 61-key digital piano, and an assortment of self-guided piano books. Putting time into piano allowed me to join the percussion section once I started 6th grade.1They didn’t want to teach you how to read music alongside the several instruments you had to learn. Armed with a reasonable knowledge of music, the free time that childhood offers, and experience learning new skills on my own, I began playing guitar in 7th grade.

Continue reading “Rediscovering Guitar: The Passion”
  • 1
    They didn’t want to teach you how to read music alongside the several instruments you had to learn.