May 30 Video Update

During the last week there were times when I played the Carulli Fandango and then thought to myself “I wish I had the camera running.” Sometimes it went very well. You should’ve heard me last Thursday morning. Don’t believe me? That’s okay, I probably wouldn’t believe your story about the one that got away either.

Of course, for the video included with this post, the Fandango went so-so. I’ve little patience with video equipment, and I wanted to do a “one and done” shoot. The first take went okay, and included a shot of my cat Fiona, who was indifferent to the whole process. But viewing the video, I found the sound level to be terribly off. I tried different camera locations and settings, all for naught. By the time I shot the video you’ll see below, I was disgusted with the process and wanted to be done with it. So don’t expect a cheerful rendering. Maybe I should experiment with the camera a bit more, so next time I’ll be able to set up and shoot much faster. But don’t count on it. Néstor Almendros I’m not.

At the moment, I’m ambivalent about where I am. On the bright side, my right hand feels strong, much stronger than it’s ever felt before. You know how players like John Williams or Pepe Romero can fill a hall with a big sound? My hand is starting to feel like that. If your right hand is lying on the beach, my right hand will kick sand in its face. On the bad side, my rest stroke alternation is still very slow. How slow? Sunday I played a gig, and had to do all alternation with i and a. My i and m alternation just wasn’t working.

So a mixed bag. Today’s a holiday, and I don’t feel like writing. On top of that, “Blogger” was a real headache to work with today—for some reason, it wouldn’t let me embed my video directly to this post the way I have in the past. (I finally figured out another way.) So I’ll let my video tell the story.

Sorry you couldn’t meet Fiona.




——[My next update will be June 6, 2011]——