TFP moving to Wordpress

In order to take advantage of the options available on my new iPhone (i.e., blog posting and managing), I've moved my blog to WordPress. You can read it here.

Disney's Painted Basses

I've painted, metal flaked, and otherwise damaged more than a few basses in my life as a musician. Now, Disney has produced a series of painted basses to benefit the Grammy's education programs.

String basses with a New Orleans theme, an Enchanted Princess, Dumbo's Pink Elephants, a Cheshire Cat grin, and a Genie were introduced at the Grammy Museum on Thursday. The next time the instruments stand side-by-side will be in the summer when they are auctioned at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas to benefit the Grammy In The Schools music education programs of the Grammy Foundation.

Artists from the Walt Disney Animation Studio were invited to present ideas. Once concepts were selected, they donated their time in creating the final works.

"I want one," said Stanley Clarke, Grammy winning jazz bassist and composer, on hand to speak to how education is enhanced by learning how to play an instrument.

One bass will be on display at the Grammy Museum while the others will be dispatch to different venues for a tour. Stops will include Planet Hollywood locations in Las Vegas and New York and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.

Animator Brian Kesinger recalled how he was mulling over the final design and was toying with an idea of adding a layer of clear coat. When his car broke down in front of an auto body and paint store, he took it as a sign and told the owner about his project. "His eyes lit up," said Kesinger. The store owner also donated his time to add a final sheen to his Genie string bass.

The upright bass that will be on display at the Grammy Museum has not been selected, but keep in mind that "Aladdin" won two 1993 Grammys and was nominated for a third (Friend Like Me). The Genie may be a downtown resident until summer.

Picture This Film Festival

The Picture This Film Festival is taking place in Calgary February 8-10.

Picture this…film festival is an international disability film festival. It is a non-profit annual event initiated by the Community Development department of Calgary Scope Society, a registered non-profit society.

The Calgary Scope Society provides services to adults with disabilities and is one of the charities recently in the news regarding the budget cuts to service providers for people with disabilities.

Crisis Camp Haiti

Here's an upcoming event for those tech savvy individuals interested in helping aid agencies working in Haiti.

Crisis Camp Haiti:
On Saturday February 6th, 2010, we will be hosting CrisisCamp Haiti Calgary to bring together volunteers to collaborate on technology projects which aim to assist in Haiti's relief efforts by providing data, information, maps and technical assistance to NGOs, relief agencies and the public.

Copyright law and the most famous 6 seconds of contemporary music

I'm working on some research regarding copyright laws in the music industry, with a focus on genres when they are emerging (i.e., considered underground). Copyright laws are all about providing incentives for creative development and productive research. One of the big questions about copyright laws, particularly in the arts, is whether they have any retroactive power regarding things created (and not copyrighted) in the past that are being currently adopted and used (often without remuneration).

One of the people I'm working with on this sent me the video below regarding what is likely the most famous 6 second drum break in contemporary music. Its originally by a band called the Winstons and was written in 1969. This 6 seconds made its way through rap and hip-hop, helped found drum & bass and jungle music, and has made its way into advertising.

January 13, 2010: a rough day for music

Yesterday, three prominent musicians died: Teddy Pendergrass (soul, R&B), Ed Thigpen (jazz) and Jay Reatard (punk, garage). Rough day across all genres of American music.

Where Not To Go for Musical Instrument Repairs

As important as positive recommendations are, its also important doubt places you shouldn't go. In the past, I've written positively about Ross Hill (luthier), P.J. Tan's Violin Shop, and the String Emporium(e.g., here and here). Given the recent grief me and friends of mine have run into lately, here's a couple of warnings.

1. Guitar Connection: This used to be the place for amplifier repairs. Boy, how things have changed. A friend recently brought in a Fender Reverb for repair. Whenever the amp was turned on, all that came out was very loud white-ish noise. He was told a week for the repair. After a week, still not ready. Second week, still not done. Finally, after three weeks he decides he's just going to go pick it up and take it elsewhere. After calling the store, he's told it will be ready that day. Goes in that day and is told by the owner how great it sounds, how he had been playing it for a couple of hours to check it out. As compensation for having taken so long, the owner tells him the repair is free. My friend gets to rehearsal, turns it on, and once again white noise.
   Exasperated, my friend takes it to Long and McQuade and gets it repaired in an hour. Turns out the guys at Guitar Connection (if they did anything) used the wrong types of wires and failed to replace a bad power tube.

   
   Lesson: Avoid the Guitar Connection for amplifier repairs.
   

   
   

2. V.A. Hill Strings: The stories from this place about. Basically the stories revolve around the staff at Hill Strings not really knowing much about instruments. My favorite (recounted to me by a luthier in Edmonton) is someone who bought a cello for $800 in Edmonton and was told by V.A. Hill Strings that the cello was worth $3,000. She then sold the cello to V.A. Hill for $2,000 and went back to Edmonton to buy another cello for $800.

   
   My experience with Hill Strings is equally odd. I brought in a 1920's King double bass to get some cracks repaired and the fingerboard planed. I was going to sell the bass in order to get the funds to upgrade to a carved bass. After a couple of days, I got a call from the owner telling me that they didn't think the bass was worth fixing and that the cost of the repair ($650) was more than the instrument was worth. I told them to to ahead and repair the bass. When I picked up the bass, they had put a new bridge on the bass without having fit it appropriately. The fingerboard and cracks were repaired adequately and I paid for the repair. After cutting the bridge myself, I sold the bass the following week for $2,500.

   
   Lesson: Be wary of the repairs and prices at V.A. Hill Strings.