Category: Music

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Offerings of Good Drums

My sister and my niece have been staying with me for a few months now since it is more logical due to the financial crisis we both are experiencing. I only have a 2 bedroom home so my sister and I ended up making the garage into a play area or hangout area for my niece, since she has been asking about having her own space.

When we finished it up, we talked about purchasing some good dynasty drums for her to play around with since her old drum set was ruined by their dog at their previous home. I searched around on the net to see what I could find and that was suitable for her and our pockets. I came across a really cool site that offered good dynasty drums for an unbelievable prices, and was excited for my sister to see. When I finally got her to sit down and take a look, she was amazed at the prices and immediately ordered one we both thought she would enjoy.

In no time it had arrived at the house and was ready for us to set up in my nieces new hang out room. When my niece had come home from school she walked into the garage and was shocked and ran over to the drum set and immediately took to it. She is enjoying her new drum set and hang out room to the fullest. I couldn’t be any happier or more thrilled and I know my sister and niece are too without question.

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A Karaoke Birthday

My birthday is right around the corner and everyone in my family is asking me what I want this year, so I have been thinking about it and I have decided my top pick would have to be a home karaoke machine. Ever since I was a young kid I’ve always find myself turning up some of my favorite music and singing along (quite loudly, mind you) with it, dancing around the room with a spiral hair brush in my hand pretending it is my microphone. Most of my girlfriends did the same thing and when we would all get together we would spend most of it listening, singing and talking about music. Man didn’t we have some great times, all based around the magic of music.

And the sleep-overs, I swear I don’t think I ever spent a weekend along. I was either at one of my friends house or one or more was sleeping over at my place. Most of the time we were at my house, it was always so kid friendly and a safe place for all the kids of the neighborhood and all the other kids that wanted or needed a place to hang and have fun. My parents made a huge effort to make and keep it that way for as long as possible. They still have people come to the door that used to come over  and play that just wanted to stop by and say hello and see if our family was still calling the house our home. My mother really gets a kick out of seeing how much they have grown and changed and hear all of there stories.

shure sm58
The Shure SM58 Mic

Well back to the subject of a karaoke machine I searched around on the Internet for some idea of the prices that they are asking for today’s home karaoke machines, and where to buy a microphone that I would like with it and had found a particular website that offers so many awesome karaoke machines for outrageously low prices. I sent out an email shared this sites URL with my close family members that have asked me for any ideas that I might have for a birthday gift this year.

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Doomed From The Beginning

As far as any one of us were concerned, our musician friend Eric had flown the coop to San Francisco and had no plans of seeing him again any time soon. He and his buddy, Josh, left right after Christmas, they loaded up their cargo van with all of their musical instruments and equipment and a few things that they would need once they got there and got settled in and left town with the biggest grins on their faces. A Kodak moment to be sure, too bad no one had a camera and didn’t think to use any of the cell phones that we all had that could have captured the moment, sigh.

So imagine my surprise to answer the door last night to find Eric and Josh both standing on my front porch looking pretty ragged and tired. I got them in, fixed them some grub and brought in the six-pack that I had just purchased on my way home and settled in to hear their tales of woe.

They were doomed from the beginning with getting two flat tires even before leaving the state and of course they only had one spare. That held them up an extra day and put a hurting in their budge right off. Then one night when they were in a restaurant/bar some body broke into their vehicle and stole a bunch of their equipment, including Eric’s brand new apogee quartet that he had just gotten for Christmas, which broke Eric’s heart and his spirit enough to were they never made it out to California at all. How depressing this whole adventure turned out to be.

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Generations

Weird how some things get passed down through the generations and some things don’t. I come from a family that is over flowing with musical talent of some type. There are singers and dancers galore, as well as many types of musical instrument being playing played all year through, while I can’t do any of the above. If I start to sing, people start leaving as soon as possible. I had piano lessons while I was a kid. The lady next door was my teacher, she was a great piano playing and a a good friend to my mother. But no mater how hard and long as I practiced I just never got the hang up if and I insisted that I don’t want any more lessons, ever.

One major trait that I did inherit is hair and lots of it. Hair everywhere in the usual places and more. I remember riding the bus in elementary school and the kids started calling me gorilla arms. I can’t tell you how embarrassing that was. I took it as long as I could but then I just plain had enough of it and came home, found my mothers razor and shaved both of my arms and have continued doing that for the rest of my life. Up until now that is.

There are so many products out there to help with people that have extreme hair issues and I’m ready to start looking at them. I’m tired of shaving my arms every day. It’s bad enough to have to shave my legs and arm pits almost every day. So I have been looking into purchasing an epilator to do the job. For the past week or so I have been looking online and have found a great site that gives us epilator reviews and guides that has been very helpful. If I am going to dive in and give one of these epilators a try I want to make sure that I am buying the right one and paying the right price for it as well.

interesting epilator
Emjoi AP-18 Emagine 72 Tweezer Head Epilator

This particular one is listed as an Emjoi AP-18 Emagine 72 Tweezer Head Epilator. It isn’t cheap but I think it just might be the right one for me. I think I will go ahead and order one. I’ll keep you posted on how it works out for me.

 

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Cheap Gift Ideas for Guitarists

Last Christmas was made so much easier by utilizing the Internet for all that it is worth. I actually purchased every single present online this time. I didn’t have to go to the mall or to Walmart or Target for anything, 100%. Except of course for any of the groceries or items that are sold at the grocery stores. Now that is what I’m talking about!

I did all of my research online as well. There is so much good information out there – it just amazes me. By using sites that offer advice, like the one that I used to find a cheap gift for guitarists which gave me good info that I actually used to help decide a couple of gifts with. I don’t think there really is a music store here in this town. Other than what Walmart and Target have to offer, and that isn’t much at all. So online is the way to go unless you want to drive over an hour to the next town over that has a small music store in the old town district.

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Really Green PRS Custom 24 Flame Electric Guitar

Although I am not one bit crazy about the weird green color of this good prs custom 24 flame electric guitar, I am happy with the price that I came up with. I’m just grateful that it isn’t me paying for it and that I just had to do the leg-work to find the darned thing and send the link to my parents so that they can get a better look at it and decide if they are really going to buy it for my pain-in-the-butt little brother Eric, who always has been spoiled rotten ever since the day he was brought into this world.

prs custom 24 flame
green prs custom 24 flame electric guitar

You see my dad really wanted a son and after having 3 girls in a row he was so happy to finally spawn a son that he totally went nuts and just spoiled the brat something fierce and still does. So I’m sure that they won’t think too hard about spending the just under $3,000 price tag that is attached to this particular electric guitar. Me, I’d rather spend that kind of money on a car or something that I really need. I’m sure that after a few months Eric will be tired of his new toy and it will end up under his bed or in the closet with all of his other stuff that he receives and gets bored with so quickly. My mom blames it on his ADHD but he isn’t fooling us girls any, he is just a spoiled brat, plain and simple.

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Marching Bands

While looking online at various musical instrument sites, trying to find a good deal on an electric guitar to get for my nephew for Christmas I came across some exquisite Atkinson french horns that brought back a flood of memories from my days back in high school. One of our favorite things to do was to go to the Friday night football games, man those were some extraordinarily good times. The half time celebration was always a blast. I knew a lot of the kids that were in the marching band that always played during this exciting half time. To this day I get goose bumps whenever I see or hear a marching band play like in a parade, or on TV or in a movie, or even on YouTube!

I am still on the look out for a good guitar and with Christmas only a couple of weeks away I’m starting to get a bit nervous about the whole ordeal. It’s a good thing that I got a lot of my Christmas shopping done way ahead of time.

atkinson french horn
Atkinson A800 Pro Double French Horn
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Blank Music Sheets

Bless her heart. My niece Feori is asking me to order her some blank music sheets at musicians friend again. Her mother is really struggling with fiances right now. Being a single mother isn’t an easy job and I like to be able to help out when I am able to. If Feori needs something that her mom can’t get for her, it’s the least I can do for her. This girl is really talented when it comes to music. We aren’t quite sure where she came up with this type of talent. No close relatives on either side can dance, sing or play any type of instrument that I can figure out.

But I do know that she is a good kid going through a tough time and if music keeps her busy, happy and out of trouble, I’m right there with her on that. Now all I have to do is figure out what I am going to get her for Christmas.

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For My Listening Pleasure

The jbl speakers at guitar center that I found and ordered came in yesterday. That was quicker than I would have thought they would be, but that is a good thing. I was seriously considering giving these jbl speakers to my brother for Christmas but I hooked them up to make sure that they work and now I am really thinking about keeping them. A good set of speakers can make a huge difference in one’s listening pleasure!

Maybe I’ll make a decision in the next couple of days. I have plenty of time, Christmas isn’t for two more months.

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The Beatles

I was really surprised to find so many Beatle songs that have been done over by other artists. I guess it’s a good thing though, it might help to keep their music alive and going even though we seem to be losing them one by one through out the years. God Bless The Beatles!

Beatle Album Cover
The One and Only Beatles