Would this be good for a teenager?

When Shawna told me that her teenage son Justin was interested in learning how to compose and mix his own music, using his computer, I was quite surprised! I had no idea that there would be any kind of software available for a regular computer that would allow a beginner to do things like that.

Shawna told me that Justin was telling her that he might like to learn more about the sony acid music studio software, and see if that would be a good idea to get. I was trying to help out by finding some reviews on the product, but so far I haven’t seen any. So, if any of my readers out there have tried this, I’d like to know what you think – would this be a good program to buy for a teenager that is just starting out?

All the little parts that you need

My sister recently got interested in going to a karaoke bar every week with some friends. Her husband decided to buy her a little karaoke machine to use at home. She was hoping to get a wireless microphone to use with the machine.

The microphone that came with the machine has a cord, and she likes to dance while she is singing. She finds herself almost tripping over the cord when she is dancing. The problem seems to be that she doesn’t know all of the different parts that she will need for the wireless microphone to work.

I am trying to help her find out, and have been trying to understand if the wireless microphones we have been finding have their own amplifier or not, and what she would be able to use for speakers. Can she use her current karaoke machine at all for any of that? Or her TV set? We are feeling pretty stupid right about now!

Keeping Your Child Active During the Summer

Once school is out for the summer, children don’t get as much play time. Sure, they might get to the park once in a while, but it isn’t a daily activity like playing in the schoolyard. Luckily, there are a few things that you can do to ensure that your child gets enough exercise when school is on hiatus.

Summer Camps

There are a number of different summer camps in Battle Creek MI that meet this purpose. These camps are aimed at not only keeping your children active, but also educating them in the process. There are a few different types of camps available, so have a look around to see what you can find.

Play Dates

Setting up a few play dates with your child’s friends works wonders because it allows them to get some exercise. If you are seriously committed to the cause, you can take turns hosting the event and allowing the other parents some time away.

Daycare

Even if you are a stay at home parent, putting your child in daycare for a few hours per week could be beneficial. Not only does it allow the child to interact with other kids, but it can also get him outside more often than he would at home.

Beautiful Sunday

Finally! A weekend with decent weather. This was the first Sunday with weather that let us get outside and enjoy ourselves without it being too hot or ruined by late afternoon thunderstorms. This summer has been unbelievably hot. Although it did get close to 90 degrees again today, with the clouds blocking the sun and a little breeze, it did not seem so hot.

We took advantage and went outside as much as possible. We even took a drive over to the lake and fed some ducks and geese a few pieces of stale bread that we had brought with us.

Guess I never thought about that before

Even though I grew up in a family of musicians, my own personal “hands-on” experience has been limited to childhood piano lessons. I used to watch my other family members play their instruments, and I enjoyed singing and dancing to the music that they played. I never really payed a lot of attention to the logistics of tuning any of their instruments. I guess that is why I was mildly surprised when Chuck was telling me that he was teaching Jack how to tune a drum set this weekend. I never really ever thought about having to tune up a drum!

Less is More

Chatting with a musician friend, they gave me a little insight into how to play the melody and not over-arrange a song.

“I had a band leader tell us once they did not hire to get paid by the note but by the song. Stuck with me ever since. Less is more.”

County Fair

Last week was the end of the big Williamson County Fair and this week is the start of the huge Wilson County Fair. I thought about going to the Williamson County Fair, but to be honest, it was way too hot for me to want to go stand in long lines and be surrounded by thousands of sweaty smelly people.

This weekend is much cooler and I’m planning on going all day tomorrow. If I bring my church bulletin with me I can save $2.00 off the admission price!

Reduced learning curve

Did you know that traditional banjos have four or five strings? Today I learned about a musicians friend banjo that has six strings! I think that is a great cross-over instrument for people that have learned to play the guitar and now want to learn to play the banjo. I enjoy watching people play the banjo, but never learned anything about what notes the strings are. Now I’m wondering if the six strings on this special banjo are the same notes as on a six string guitar!

Unique guitars

Have you ever seen a guitar without a big hole in the middle, behind the strings? I never had, until I saw a picture of an Ovation guitar! When I saw a picture of the guitars without a big hole in the body, I was fascinated! So I decided to learn a little about the guitar, and learned that it was designed by an aeronautical engineer who was fascinated with guitars and decided to redesign the guitar. I went onto YouTube to try to find a video that explained more about the details of the different designs, but after watching several videos about the company, I finally gave up.

Guitar lessons were too boring for me when I was a kid

When I was a young teenager, my parents gave me an acoustic guitar for a birthday gift. I was sure I wanted to learn to play the guitar! And they signed me up for music classes. Unfortunately, the music teacher didn’t seem to appreciate the fact that young teenagers don’t want to spend hours and hours every day learning ONLY to read music and play the “mary had a little lamb” types of songs. Young teenagers ALSO want to learn a few “quick and dirty” songs that they can play fairly quickly. And no one had explained how much it would hurt my fingers to put pressure on the guitar strings when pressing them down on the frets!

So I abandoned the classes fairly quickly – they were boring and my fingers hurt. I wanted no More painful, boring hours of practice alone in my room playing songs I hated! Sometimes people ask me if I wish I had kept at it, and when I hear gifted musicians play, I do find myself wishing I could play that well, too. But, my tolerance level for pain was too low, so the answer to that question is “no.” I’m not a big fan of pain!