Category: music

Standing up

On By CarynIn Life Hack, music

I received a synthesizer from a neighbor who was cleaning out. It has a “learn” function, something my 1928 upright grand doesn’t. What it doesn’t have is a music stand. (My upright grand has an awesome music stand that can hold many piano books.) I looked up the manual online and saw that the issued music stand was just a thick wire fitted into two holes. Hm. I took an old wire hanger, snipped off the hook, and bent the rest into the right shape. I took a second hanger and made a page stop at the bottom, which does not stop the sheet music from bending and sliding out the open wire frame. Hm.

Photo description: music stand on a synthesizer made from wire hangers

To fix the open frame, I used a grocery bag to make a sheath over the wire. It works, and was a zero cost solution. A little washi tape on the channel works better than the wire to keep pages from sliding.

Photo description: wire and grocery bag music stand on a synthesizer

Sheet music is my crutch. I’m struggling with the teaching method on the synthesizer, since it only shows the note on the staff when it is played, not before.

Confession

On By CarynIn games, music

My content is getting a little thin because I’m currently obsessed with the new update of the Stardew Valley video game. I should be knitting, but instead I’m planting virtual crops and spinning fabric (the “loom” in the game takes raw wool straight to fabric on a device that looks like a spinning wheel). I did the game to perfection before the update, but all the new content from Concerned Ape was worth replaying the game. Like this giant powder melon that grows in winter.

Photo description: screen shot from my Stardew Valley farm with a large blue melon amongst smaller blue melons on a field of snow

I’m getting to the trudging part, where the goal is to get enough money for perfection (either the true game way, or buying it 1% at a time). This is not as fun and I will get easily distracted by real life things, which is good for my blog content.

Of course, the first thing I get distracted with is picking out a harmony part for Bill Grogan’s Goat and singing it through the house. Hm.

Microkits Theremin

On By CarynIn Craft, music

I love musical instruments, and have a collection of sound makers. Newest to the collection is a tiny DIY Theremin.

Photo description: the unboxed parts from Microkits to make a Theremin

The kit was very well assembled and the directions were easy to follow. Within a half hour I had a small working theremin and could change pitch within an octave and control the volume with a motion of my hand.

Photo description: finished Theremin with the wire sensors and exposed breadboard

I have a few ideas for a case, to add to the sound quality and aesthetics, as well as contain all the parts.

Washi music

On By CarynIn Craft, Life Hack, music

I do like washi tape, and have found it does better than cellophane tape on areas that need repeated folding. I prefer my sheet music to lay flat, rather than stapled, because it makes it easier to set on the piano or a music stand. Scotch tape or cellophane tape just doesn’t make a good hinge, as it easily tears lengthwise.

Photo description: washi tape used to hold together sheets of music on the long edges

I start with a 1-2 millimeter gap between pages to allow for the fold, then apply a strip of washi tape on both sides of the gap. I trim the edges with scissors after applying.

As an added bonus, washi tape comes in pretty colors and patterns.

Guess what I’ve been doing

On By CarynIn music
Photo description: the finger tips of my left hand with deep linear indentations

If you’ve read my blog for even a short while, it is clear that I am a dabbler. Many things catch my inquisitive attention, I like a puzzle, and I’m easily distracted. Making music takes more concentration, but I still can’t focus on just one instrument. My latest enamor is the ukulele. My kids gave me a tenor uke for Mother’s Day a couple years back, and I recently changed out the strings to make it a low G ukulele. I love it! I would like to build a small repertoire, to expand past the dabbling a bit, and my fingertips are reflecting the work. I feel that this fits in this blog because music is craft, even though it is hard to capture in photos.