Midi Assistant

Well, today I used the midi assistant to make a recording of "Here's that Rainy Day" on the LL324 at Bristol Glen. It was kind of freaky to sit back and watch the organ play back the song just as I played it (stop tabs moving and all the little mistakes.) It nice although, to sit in the middle of the room and hear how the balance sounded... not bad. I will have in find out what song I play well enough to make a second recording for posterity (or at least the residents of Bristol Glen.)

Jesse Crawford's Organ Course

Michael's Music has reprinted Jesse Crawford's Advanced organ course and also have other theatre organ music which is no longer available elsewhere. Check it out!

http://michaelsmusicservice.com/catalogue.html

Anyone Can Whistle

I just heard a haunting tune played by Simon Gledhill. It is a Stephen Sondheim song called "Anyone can whistle" from the show by the same name. If you have not heard it, why not give it a try?

Good-bye MusicPad Pro

I am slowly phasing out the use of my MusicPad Pro over to my new HP touchsmart laptop with the musicreader software (www.musicreader.net.) I have doing this for several reasons.
1. Freehand no longer even has it on their webpage and support is non-existent. I can see the writing on the wall.
2. Using a laptop is better than having a dedicated machine just for music. Now when I travel with my laptop, I will have my music with me.
3. The page turns are MUCH quicker.
4. The software (although it has some quirks) is much better on the musicreader. One thing nice is there are many more fields to search your database with.
5. Although the MusicPad pro's screen is a little bigger (not by much), the 12.1" screen of the HP is sufficient.
6. The process of converting the Freehand files to MusicReader is painless (if they were scanned in and not purchased electronically and directly downloaded.)
7. The process of scanning the music into the MusicReader has fewer steps than the MusicPad Pro.
8. Customer support on the MusicReader is by email (they are in the Netherlands) but they are great! They have been VERY helpful to me, even before I purchased the program, and continue to be.

Scotch & Soda

Noooooooo I am not talking about a drink. I am talking about a song from the 1950s by the Kingston Trio. It is a laid back blusey type song. I will have to work on the rhythm some but it will be great when I get it worked out. You can hear the Kingston Trio sing it on youtube.

LL324 Dedicated

The Allen LL324-Q that I donated to Bristol Glen retirement village was dedicated this past Thursday night. There was a wonderful concert played by John Baratta. He played a concert, played for an 18 minute Laurel and Hardy silent film and led a sing-along. A good time was had by all and the many aspects of the organ were displayed.

Chromatic Runs

While playing the the 324 at Bristol Glen today I noticed that I was able to do parallel chromatic runs in thirds (with two hands) for a closing. It sounds great on the tibia. When Walt Strony was here I watched him do fast chromatic runs with one hand.. not sure when I will be able to attempt that. Right now I am proud that I can do it with two hands