Musicians learning how to play songs by ear is one of the most difficult, yet efficient ways of learning to play music. Over the years the technology for this music learning method has changed drastically.

The advent of the Long Play record, (LP) brought with it a record player with varying speeds. 78 rpm for the old ten inch records of the 1930's thru the late 1950's. 45 rpm for single song records, and 33 1/3 rpm for the LP, and 16 rpm which was almost half speed of the LP setting.

Guitar players put an LP on the turntable, and played it at 16 rpm, retuning their guitar to compensate for the slight variance in pitch, and voila! Fast runs, riffs, and solos were slowed down to half speed and were thus easier to pick out. Drawbacks? Plenty.

The only way to "loop" a section of the song was to pick up the needle and set it back. Only the most dedicated students of music had the fortitude to learn this way. It was so frustrating that most gave up.

In the 1980's the Marantz company put out it's first music study recorder. It was a cassette player with a switch that would play the song at half speed. There was also a pitch control so if the guitar wasn't exactly in tune with the recording, the pitch control would bring the recording in tune with the guitar, rather than having to re-tune the guitar. The unit cost $250.00 and was a huge leap forward for aspiring musicians like me. I bought one and almost wore it out.

Still there were drawbacks. The only looping capability was a rewind key that did not lock down so the musician could rewind for short bursts of time. When the tape was played at half speed, it lowered the pitch of the song by one octave. Treble notes in a guitar solo sounded like bass notes when played half speed. An improvement over the turntable, but still quite difficult to glean solos off of cassette tapes.

Then, in the 1990's, Sabine came out with a product called the "Riff Decoder." it was about the size of a Sony Walkman. You could sample up to 30 seconds worth of music, and play it at half speed or even slower at 1/3 speed! Huge improvement! The biggest improvement of all though, was the fact that the pitch remained the same at any speed. Guitar solos no longer sounded like bass solos. The draw backs with this unit were, it required a pair of headphones to monitor the music, an ac wall plug for power, (no battery) and a cord to go out from a CD player and into the unit. Too damn many cords.

The sampled section of music was played continuously in a loop so the musician could just play the riff over and over until he/she had it down. It was a little cumbersome to use, but worked very well. I still have mine, although I have not used it in about ten years.

Then Apple came out with it's famed iPad. Of course I bought one. The universe of music study apps on the iPad are almost endless, and very affordable. I found one called, Riffmaster. With Riffmaster, you can loop any section of the song--short or long, play it at half speed or any speed between half and full speed. The pitch control provides the capability to play the song in any key. Don't like Wildwood Flower in the key of C? Just adjust the pitch control to any key you like and slow it down to half speed and you have it all at your fingertips with an app that only costs $4.99. Amazing.

Looking back over the years and seeing how this technology has progressed is quite interesting to say the least. We now live in a fascinating time. It will be even more amazing to see what technology brings us in the future. I have learned my first song with the new Riffmaster app. The song is a very complex arrangement of a Celtic tune called, "Pigeon on the Gate." The sense of triumph and personal achievement one gets from learning a difficult piece of music by ear is exhilarating to say the least.

 

Back in October, this was me.......

 

I am about 263 pounds in this picture. I was 276 when I began my exercise regimen. So at this point, I had lost about 13 pounds.

 

This is me today........

 

 

The scale said I weighed in at 227 this morning which would mean I am down 49 pounds from where I started!

 

So can you notice a difference??

:)

 

 

During the 4th of July boat parade on Lake Maud, in the beautiful state of Minnesota, I was driving the boat, when out of nowhere, a gust of wind blew my JB Stetson cowboy hat off of my head and into the water. 

My daughter, Jessica, got on the front end of the pontoon and fished it out of the water for me. By the time it was dried out, it was a completely flattened out mess. I was most depressed for a long time.

I took the hat to the RCC store where I bought it from, and they said they could re-shape and block the hat for me. This made me feel somewhat better. I had to leave the hat with them, as it was about an 8 hour process. They called me and told me it was ready. I picked it up today, and I must say, I think they did a good job.

See what you think......

 

 

And how do you like the new shirt? I just got it today.

My new belt buckle.......

 

The belt is new as well.

 

A friend of mine from the Navy sent me these two pictures from 1982. We were in Beirut, Lebanon with the multi-national peace keeping force. I didn't even know he had these pictures until today.

 

 

 

These pictures are taken on the signal bridge. I was a signalman. (Flashing light morse code and semaphore visual communications)

Today was the anniversary of the marine barracks bombing in Beirut in 1983. Some of our Marines were killed in that blast. Very tragic event. Some of America's best were taken on that day.

Hope you enjoy the pics!

Randy

 

 

 

Meet Ferdinand Basch. 1838-1879.

Ferdinand is my third Great Grandfather going back two generations from my maternal Grandmother, Addrian McKee Clark.

Ferdinand was born in Alsace-Lorraine, France in 1838. The Alsace-Lorraine territory was owned both by Germany and France through the centuries. The area was in French control at the time of Ferdinand's birth. After the Prussian victory in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71, the territory was once again under German control until the end of WWI. The Treaty of Versailles returned the land to France in 1919.

Ferdinand was long gone by then.

By 1847, the population of Alsace-Lorraine was well over one million. Overcrowding was a problem, as well as sanitation. Young people found employment to be very elusive at best. (much like modern day France)

It was about this time, in 1847, that the people of Alsace-Lorraine began looking for other opportunities, Many moved to Paris just a short distance away. Others colonized new Russian territories. Some went to Switzerland and other countries to the east.

The Basch's went to America.

They settled in Missouri in 1851. When Civil War divided the country ten years later, (and divided Missouri even more so), Ferdinand and his brother Theodore enlisted in Company F of the 5th Missouri Cavalry. (Union)  Ferdinand as a Sergeant and Theodore as a Private.

The photo above shows Ferdinand in his Union uniform holding a revolver and a sword. I tried to identify the pistol, but so far I have been unable to. I thought it might be an 1851 Colt Navy, but found out it is not.

Ferdinand lost his trigger finger in the war. Any other injuries are unknown.

Ferdinand married Louisa Wittland, I assume, about 1859 as their daughter, also Louisa, was born to them in 1860. Louisa Basch married Louis Carl Stuve on Feb. 5 1880. their wedding picture is below.

In 1888, Louis and Louisa had a daughter. Wilhamina Louisa Stuve. Born July 22nd of that year. Wilhamina was known by her family and friends as, "Minnie."

Minnie married Martin Jasper McKee, (known by his family and friends as, "Jap") in 1906. Their wedding picture is also below.

Jap McKee bears a striking resemblance to my cousin, Ryan McKee who is about the same age as me. (50)

Jap and Minnie had a son and four daughters. The son was the eldest--Louis McKee born 1907 died 1970. He was named for his Grandfather, Louis Stuve.

The youngest of Jap and Minnie's children was a girl, Addrain. (Pronounced Add-run) Addrain married Francis Sylvester Clark on Oct. 18, 1934. I don't have a wedding photo of them, but this is a photo of them in about 1938 with my Aunt Pat. My mother was born the following year.

Francis and Addrain had four children. The two oldest were girls, My Mom (Sheron) and Aunt Pat. Then two boys, Jeff and Rodney. My mother married Rodney Van Otterloo in 1960. I was born in 1961 and the picture below is Mom, Dad, and I just before my first birthday. March, 1962.

 

So there are the generations of a family going all the way back to an immigrant that fought for the North in the Civil War! I didn't know I had Franco-Prussian ancestry until I discovered Ferdinand Basch.

Kinda cool.

 

 

Yesterday, I was unloading diesel fuel at a drilling rig like I always do. Nothing unusual. Then....I went to remove a three inch hose from its place to attach to the load head for unloading.

I didn't realize that the hose was under pressure. When I got one side of it loose, it blew off at a very high velocity and struck me in the right leg just below the knee. I would estimate the speed of the steel fitting to be about 30 mph.

I howled like a stuck pig.

The good news is, there are no broken bones. Apparently, my fifty year old bones are still pretty tough, The bad news is, I will be out of work for more days than I would care for. There is a good deal of pain, but the doctor said it should heal enough to go back to work in 5 to 7 days.

I can't afford to be off work that long, but, nothing I can do about that.

On a lighter note, my daughter, Kayla, is coming to North Dakota to live with me for a short time until she can live on her own. She is 19 and having problems in Tennessee, so she's coming to live with Dad for a while.

I couldn't be happier about that.

She will be here next tuesday. I'll drive to Fargo to pick her up, and then it's back to New Town. I think she is going to like it here, and I also think she will do well. The job market in ND is wide open. Lots of different opportunities.

Anyways, that is my update. Have a good week all!

Randy