Hi there Stick friends,

It's Free Hands Friday, thank goodness. Here is my long overdue 2nd installment of Bach's Minuet 1 in G minor.



I also included some news on upcoming events as well as some details regarding the announcement of the 12-string Railboard. I tell you, it's a great time to be a Stickist! Events in Provence France and Gabriola Canada, 2018 is looking up.

All the best for a great weekend, cheers.

oh i missed those FHF !

tnx Gene

(not sure if it's only me but the vid. stucks a lot)

it was "stuttering" for me too, as a point of reference. i'll take it though don't know if it was net congestion or ?? The audio was fine , the video was "skipping" ?? i'll take it in any form though , thanks !

I like the mic. Makes a big difference. I have to learn that tune. I’m trying to learn Bach Invention number 1 on my SG I started it on railboard a while ago. Bach sounds great on stick. Thanks for the nod Gene.

Bach's counterpoint, so pure, so spare, spelling out all the chord progressions and bass inversions. Both parts moving, with leading tones, passing tones, the complete conception of the song, modestly and concisely stated.

Like Gene said, Bach sounds good on The Stick.

I am experimenting with OBS (Open Broadcaster System), which is free multi camera recording software. I really like it, but I had it optimized for recording and not streaming. I thought it was my system, turns out, it was the way it was recorded. Another learning opportunity.

This last session was also an opportunity to try out the new mic. Next stop will be reconfigure OBS for streaming, acquire another camera boom for my Q8 so I don't haver to use video on my Mac and run a test before the next recording. Another option task is to add text and links using youtube creator studio, but that's really for another day (or month). By next Friday? We'll see.

Rob, once I have all of this in order and the quality is generally acceptable, I will share what I know about the 1st invention. There's not easy way to start, just plow in start learning each part a few bars at a time. I've stalled a bit on the 8th invention, but I am slowly getting back to it.

Thanks for the feedback, much appreciated.

Gene! This rocks! I really like the multi-camera setup, it's nice to see you and what you're playing.

I always wanted to figure out if one could use autoaggdevice to go from a mixer to the audio of any broadcast. That way the listeners would get the best audio quality. I’m not sure exactly how to do this. I was always disappointed when not being able to hear some of your guests’ stick playing clearly. It would be cool if this were doable and if someone could share in a video on how to get the best audio quality possible. The mic set up you have sounded really good to me. I guess I’m referring to other guest who use the mic of their headphones or computer. Then the stick playing sounds garbled

"Ah, Bach!"

—Walter "Radar" O'Reilly

Great work as usual Gene and I just haft to comment about your Graphite because of the
oddity of you having that Stick. First it is a great instrument, as a Stick of course. But also because it is graphite. Something about that material that does sound and feel different. I wonder, were those Sticks precursors to the Railboard? Of course they were...

I am surprised that Stephen was willing to let that one go because those are rare and it sounded really good and hey why didn't he contact me . Yea, no .

Here is the real trippy part; first I got that Stick as a trade with someone on this forum. Then, You, (Gene) and I made a "trade" for two different Sticks some years ago, the same wood but a 12 to 10 string trade. Everyone is happy . The 12 string that I got in that trade has linear inlays, yours has dots...

Many, many years ago, probably 2005 I got my second Stick (if life could be that simple) that was a graphite with 'linear' inlays, love that contrast . So reciently I just wanted to play 10 string and I cleand an polished the Graphite. It had a Midi pickup on it that had long since given up the ghost so I took that off, new strings of course and I am in love. For the time being I too am a 10 string guy.
(Just a side note; I used to have trouble with switching between 10 and twelve strings but Greg
assured me that it was "no problem", and it is true, so one does not haft to be 'either or', so Gene get a Railboard ).

What this all comes down to is that we are playing brother instruments, again. same material
mine with lines and yours with dots. How cool is that? Nice work on the Bach too.

jRj
*j*
.~