Wednesday, July 31, 2002

bad snare, truck work, and whatnot

Here's a cool article on the physics of the violin, and speculation on why Strads are so highly sought.

Here's an article on the physics of snare drum batter heads!

I was asked to play in the Lobster Festival Parade with a group from Montpelier. You know, all dressed in colonial garb, tri-corner hat, playing a drum kind of thing. Well, it seems only one of my marching snares is suitable for playing on a sling--the other one needs to be on a harness. So my buddy Barry will be playing that drum. It's that 70s stainless Ludwig marcher that Chick gave me. It's got gut snares, and I just can't make it sound good. I may switcj over to metal snares.

I'm picking up White Lightnin' tonight. New ball joints, emergency break cables, exhaust, and some rust fixed. It should be stylin' when it's done.


According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Monday, July 29, 2002

Crazy Ebay Stuff

Some strange things have come up for sale on eBay. Why, you can find:
An ***-kicking.
Someone's Soul.
An "Air Drumset."

Note to self: that thing you want to download is here.


According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Saturday, July 27, 2002

Crutchfield and $50!

I bought Susan a new CD player for her car a couple of months back. (Mother's Day? Birthday? I don't remember.) I bought just a cheap-o unit from Crutchfield. But when you buy from them, they include the faceplates, brackets, and wiring harness at no charge. The last time I installed a CD player, it was in my old F-150--the Blue Turd, as she was known. It was such a pain, that I decided if I ever needed it done again, I'd pay a shop to do it. And, that's what I did, when I bought my Clarion head for the new F-150, or White Lightnin'. But, in an effort to save money, I went the Crutchfield route. And with all the widgets they give you free, it was a snap. So, I filled out my comment card, and mailed it back to them saying so.

I got a letter yeterday from Crutchfield. They want to use my testimonial in one of their upcomming catalogs! And, they'll give me a $50 gift certificate if I mail them a picture of me and the new equipment. Sweet!

Also, I played the Be-Bop at the gig in Bangor last night. Oh my! It sounded, and looked, really good!

(On a side note... Last Friday night, Blind Al was spoting a new Johnson. A Johnson amp, that is. Now, Blind Al is a bigger gear whore than I am. He changes amps faster than I buy snare drums! So made some comment that I bet it wouldn't last a month, and he'd have it traded Well, last night (one week later) he was playing a new Fender amp. But wait, it gets worse! Friday morning, he buys a new Telecaster copy in Bar Harbor. Hen then drives to Waterville, and decides to trade that same guitar for an ES-335 copy! He didn't even own the guitar 8 hours! But, the new 335 copy sounds really good!)


According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Friday, July 26, 2002

Arthur Anderson, my big mouth, and a snare dum

Did you know the Edmund Fitzgerald was named after the president of an insurance company? I didn't. And then I found out that her sister ship, the one right behind her on the night she was lost, was the Arthur Anderson! Could it be? Nope. That crazy accounting firm spells it Andersen.

A new life lesson learned. I once commented on here about some web work I did, and how I didn't feel I charged enogh for my time. Well, it seems someone looking for that business found my page, and my comment. Now, I said nothing other than that in the future, I wouldn't quote someone too low for doing a webpage for them. But my client said he didn't think it reflected too well on his business. So, I've learned that in the future, I should keep my client list a little more private. Or, make sure that what I say about myself can't be misconstrued. (I've also pulled down the original comment.)

I've also made a little page about my Ludwig Be-Bop. You can see it here.


According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Wednesday, July 24, 2002

Pictures of my Be-Bop snare, pre-refinish

This is my Ludwig Be-Bop before I refinished it. Also, here.


According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Electric Valve Trombone

This is a blatant Google bomb. I hope you won't mind. Electric valve trombone is a lyric from a Dave Frishberg song. It's not reperesented on Google. I tried to do it once, and succeded. But now, Google has dropped me from the ranking. I need to get back in--won't you help!


According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Blind Albert photos

Wanna see some photos of The Blind Albert Band at the Blues Festival? Warning: they're big!


According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Monday, July 22, 2002

Drum Parts, New Kitty, and Zoot Suit

This is my third time trying to post this. Mozilla keeps crashing. I've not had any problems since I switched to Greymatter, so it's a little strange to have to keep doing it.

So I bought some WFL claws in nickel. Now, all I need are 8 nickel t-rods and a 16" nickel hoop, and the WFLs will be done.

We got a new kitty for Julia today. We picked the names of our last 3 kitties (Jennyanydots, Growltigger, and Rumpleteaser) from the Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats. Julia wanted to name her Lollipop. So we comprimised. Her name is Lil' Nell Lollipop. Pictures will come later.

As you should remember, I played the North Atlantic Blues Festival. I got a lot of compliments on my Zoot suit. One guy said "That's the best thing I've seen all night." Another said "That's the Dick Tracy-est suit I've ever seen." You can see me in it (though not well) here.


According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Saturday, July 20, 2002

I'm famous, I'm famous!

Get in the thick of it Rockland Village Soup "Blind Albert Kicks Off Blues Festival Look at that gut! Yikes. And there's a stain on my shirt. Smooth.


According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Friday, July 19, 2002

Genova hangs wid me before the long weekend

Genova is here hangin' wid me at the end of the day. He's moving in a week or three. I will miss him a lot.
###
Those are tears. Soon, I will have a post about Mike, why I love him, and why I will miss him. I will wax poetic, and you all will cry.

Tonight starts a big weekend for me. I play a gig aboard the Monhegan. It was a last minute gig. Jimmy and the Soul Cats were supposed to play, but the lead siger had a family illness, so they had to cancel. That's gets done at 1am. Then I work here at Midcoast at 9am. I need to go to the North Atlantic Blues Festival at least for a little bit tomorrow. I need to see James Cotton and Jimmy Vaughan. Tomorrow nite we play Market on Maine. Done at 1am. Church on Sunday. Sunday afternoon, it's back to the blues fest to see Bo Diddley. Then back to work Monday.

And happy birthday to my nephew Eben. He's 5 tomorrow. And, of course, I'll have to miss it. I always do.
###
More tears.



According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Wednesday, July 17, 2002

All things clown

How Ron found this is beyond me. (How Ron finds most things is beyond me.) ClownPoetry.com He also sent me StopClownPornNow.org, but I'd already seen it.

Like the muted sound of 70's drums? I think this guy does! Mmmm, Mmmm! Yoummy resonance! See what I mean here. (Note: Big picture. Not for modem users.)


According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Tuesday, July 16, 2002

Pro-Life and Poem Tags

So, I was at Disturbing Search Requests posting about how someone found me looking for chocolate covered bacon. From there, I found Maria, and I went to look at her page. She posted on the Poem Tag Project. Of course, I joined up (as you can see on my poem tag, left hand column, towards the bottom). I was looking at other people's poem tags, and somehow came across the I'm Pro-Life page. So I've added a button for that as well.


According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Monday, July 15, 2002

Today's Boring Update

I'm using the Mac at the radio station. You know, the one we're not supposed to use for personal Internet reasons? Well, I'm donating the bandwidth, so I'll do as I please, thank you.

I called and ordered wrap for my drums today. Silver sparkle for the Luddy piccolo, and Tony Williams Yellow for the Gretsches. Sam didn't have enough yellow for the floor tom, so he's sending what he has, and will follow up when he gets the rest.

Someone other than a midcoast.com customer has linked back to me!

"Player, collector and all round good chap Billy Rhythm get's his kit out for you to see....."

Thank you, Andy!


According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Friday, July 12, 2002

Some crazy alphabet thing.

A. Animals/Pets: Hermit Crab named Ben Kenobi. Two fish: Moto, and Colostomy Jones.
B. Best Friend: Susan
C. Cohabitants: Susan and Julia
D. Desire(s): To play the Buddokahn and Wembley Stadium. To meet Ringo.
E. Eye Color: Blue
F. Favorite Food(s): Yikes! Chocolate. Original Recipie KFC. Pasta.
G. Games: Trivial Persuit. Spades. Quake III.
H. Habit(s): Looking for drum porn on eBay.
I. Interests: Hi-Fi/Home Theater. Drums. Richard Brautigan. Poetry. Macquariums.
J. Job: P/R/Marketing/Customer Service/Tech Support
K. Kitchen (Wonder or Blunder?): Wonder
L. Languages: English. Two years of high school Latin. A college semester of Spanish and Chinese.
M. Most Valued Possession(s) (an item, not people/pets): A Winchester 94, made in 1897, with 5 serial numbers, nickel steel receiver, hex barrell, and crescent buttstock. Handed down from my neighbor to my grandfater to my father to me.
N. Name (Named after?): My dad, William Rogers Batty, Sr. (I was almost named Timothy. I much prefer Bill.)
O. Outfit You Love: Jeans and a long-sleeve shirt, sleeves rolled up.
P. Pizza Toppings: Sausage and Onions. Hamburger, minced garlic, and roasted red peppers.
Q. Question Asked To You the Most: Are you that guy I see on the TV?
R. Relationship/Partner: Susan alone since 1989. I liked her so much, I married her in '94.
S. Sport: (Playing) Volleyball or Bowling. Or English Match, but they don't call it that any more. (Watching) Baseball, Football
T. Television Show(s): Anything on the Food Network; Tales of the Gun; The Discovery or Learning Channel.
U. Unsavory characteristic(s): I have a bit of nail fungus on one toe.
V. Video (Favorites): Star Wars. A New Hope is my favorite.
W. Webpage (Favorite--not your own): eBay.
X. Xylophone (or other Instrument?): Drums. A little bass and guitar (enough to play in a country band). Even less piano.
Y. Year Born: 1971
Z. Zodiac Sign: Sagitarius



According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Senses Census

the senses census

what is your favorite...
1. ...sound? A snare drum. Thunder. Julia's giggle.
2. ...sight? The cute pictures of Julia that Susan takes.
3. ...smell? Cumin.
4. ...taste? Chocolate.
5. ...feeling (tactile)? That little spot on the small of Sue's back.
6. ...feeling (emotional)? Happiness.

what is your least favorite...
1. ...sound? PA System feedback.
2. ...sight? An eyeball somewhere where God didn't intend it, e.g. outside of someone's head.
3. ...smell? That smell at the dump when FMC dumps their fish waste.
4. ...taste? Bile.
5. ...feeling (tactile)? Dirt.
6. ...feeling (emotional)? Rage.



According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Thursday, July 11, 2002

Rolling Snare, Dean Props, and whatnot

At the end of WWII, this soldier comes home and decides to celebrate by buying a new car (a Buick) and a new set of drums. He drops off the drums, and takes the new Buick for a cruise. While he's out, he rolls the Buick over, and breaks his back. He never gets to play the new set! And yet, he hangs on to them. So this guy has, literally, a New Old Stock (NOS) Slingerland Rolling Bomber set. Here is a picture of the snare. The cool thing about the Rolling Bombers? During the war, metal was rationed, and drums could contain only 10% metal. So, lugs and rims were made out of wood. See those beautiful rosewood lugs? Very nice. I want one of these, mostly for the oddity reasons.

I want to thank Dean from Textism. I was having some problems with my fonts is OS-X, and he hipped me to a cool little tweak called Tinker Tool. It's cool. If you're running OS 10.1.X, you must have this.

Funny. I spoke in an earlier post about the Ludwig Las Vegas model, and how I'd never actually seen one except in pictures. Well low and behold, one shows up on ebay!


According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Wednesday, July 10, 2002

Honest to Goodness Ludwig Tivoli

This Ludwig Tivoli set is a rare find. It looks to be in great shape too. And, the seller is top notch. I think Tivolis only came in 2 size configurations, and only one color. Perhaps some rare custom ones exist, but I've never seen them. The lights mostly work on this one, and that's important.


According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Tuesday, July 9, 2002

Killer Drum Solo

Check out the drum solo in the Tunes section. The kid is 15!!!


According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Musicians Bible Story

Chapter One

And so in the dark of night the Lord summoned Noah, and spoke to him.

"Noah, awake and heed my words!"

And Noah, did cry out, "Who goeth there?"

"It is the Lord of All Things." And the Lord did say, "Noah, build me A
Band. For the earth will be visited by a plague of club dates
followed by forty days of Bridal Expos and forty nights of Showcasing."

And Noah did say, "Command me, Lord."

And the Lord did say, "First, thou must find me a Leader."

And Noah did bow his head, saying, "Yes, my Lord. And what will this
Leader play?"

And the Lord said, "It mattereth little, whether he play or not, or
whether he be proficient or not. For his Job shall primarily be to
talk to the Brides and their Mothers, and to count off Tempos wrong, and
to inquire as to whether Overtime will happen, and to try to segue tunes
that should not be segued and delay payment to the musicians as long as
possible. If he playeth any instrument, thou must always have another
player of that instrument on the bandstand, just to be safe. The leader
shall also remain forever befuddled by the P.A. system so it may produce
horrendous feedback forever onto the end."

And Noah did shake his head in wonder, saying, "Lord, thy ways are
Strange and Mysterious. What more shall I do?"

And the Lord said, "Next, find me a Drummer. This Drummer must have
imperfect time, so that whenever he playeth a Fill --and he shall play
many--, he must always emerge at a different place, sometimes early and
sometimes late, but thou may not guess which. He must also be Supremely
Discontent, always hoping for the Big Break so that he despiseth
Jobbing. Most importantly, he must always be convinced of his
Righteousness, in all things, including Time, Volume, Tempo and Feel, so
that he argueth always with the Bass Player."

"And shall the drummer sing?" asked Noah.

"NO!" declared the Lord. "He shall remain silent even if he sings better
than the others. Unless no one else knows "Hot Hot Hot" may he then
utter a word."

And Noah did say, "As you command, Lord."

"Next shall be the Bass Player, but only if the job already has seven
musicians booked before him. And he shall be Bored, for the limitations
of his instrument and the music he must play will decree it."

And Noah did say, "Of course. And next, my Lord?"

"Next shall be the Keyboardist and he shall play as if he has twenty
fingers, and he shall play Substitute upon Substitute, until no man may
recognize the tonic. He must also play bass with his left hand at all
times and it shall be muddy and indescript."

And Noah asked,"What if there are more than seven and a bassist
playeth?"

And the Lord cried out: "Then he of the keyboards must play louder and
busier so that no man shall hear the real bassist."

And Noah did wonder aloud, "Lord, Great is thy Wisdom!"

"Next shall be the Guitar Player and he shall be Loudest of all. And he
and only he shall sing 'Old Time Rock n' Roll' and "Johnny B Goode."
Also his instrument will be designed so that he shall not know The Page,
and so must rely upon his Ears, which have been damaged by exposure to
High Sound Pressure Levels."

And Noah did say, "It shall be done."

And the Lord did say, "Next thou shall call upon the Saxophones. And
they shall play Bop licks, often and many , yea, even on the Celine Dion
ballads. And they will not need to understand rhythm, yet will read well
therefore causing dissention between them and the guitarist."

"I understand," said Noah.

"Next shall be the Trumpeters. And of Changes they shall know
nothing."

"Shall there be others, my Lord?" asked Noah.

And the Lord said; "There shall be the Trombone Players. On second
thought, they aren't really necessary."

And Noah did say, "Mighty is the Lord!"

Then the Lord commanded; "Finally, find me the Singers. And they
shall be Three, one a Male, and two Females. And the Male shall be
filled with pride and swagger and know of little.
"And of the Females, one shall be Black and one shall be White. And
the Black one shall always sing the R&B and the White one shall always
sing the Pop, and Country Songs. And both shall be Late, and know not of
Keys or Form. And they shall leave every gig having never touched a
piece of Equipment. And they shall be paid much more than the Sidemen.
Ask not why."

And Noah did say, "Lord, Thy will be done."

And so it was...

And it's been hell on earth ever since.



According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Go, Sherrif!

A sherrif in Massachusettes has started charging inmates $5 a day to offset the $100 a day the taxpayers fork out. "''If they've got money to buy things from the canteen, they have money to pay their own way,'' Tom Hodgson said. I'm all for it! He's started charging them for haircuts, medical co-pays, and car far for trips when they have to go somewhere. Let's get this guy elected to something bigger. The prisioners all hate it, which tells me it must be a good thing!


According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Wasses Hot Dogs, and Maxine Waters "Solomon Barney Frank"

Lunch today? Wasses Hot Dogs! There's nothing like them. Fried in peanut oil, with lots of onions. I'll be eating these things till after supper!

I want to get in on this--did you hear Maxine Water's statement about the evil-dooers of that investment house? Solomon Barney Frank! I kid you not! Hell-o? Are you home? And it gets worse! Look at her web-page! Just awful! I mean, her front page has had 8500 hits since 1997. My front page has had 6200 hits, and I've only been in business since last March!


According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

August and Everythng After LP

I own a Counting Crows LP. It's their August and Everything After LP. It's an import on vinyl that my buddy Jim got me for Christmas one year. I get quite a few hits looking for this album, and yet, there's not a lot of info on the web about it. So here's the definitive answer: It does exist. It's on the Geffen label. I think it was tagged for 6.50 British pounds. It's sold on ebay every couple of months. It fetches over $200 each time. I'm not selling mine.


According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Monday, July 8, 2002

The snare is here!

Well, the snare arrived today. The auction called for a 14" inch snare. But in doing some research, I found the Ludwig 14" piccolo (called the Downbeat) had 8 lugs. The one I bought had only 6. So it should be 13" in diameter. There were 2 drums 13" in diameter that Ludwig offered with piccolo style lugs: the BeBop (what I really want) and the LasVegas. The BeBop is 3" deep, and the LasVegas is 4". I've never seen a LasVegas, except in catalogs. And I still haven't. I got a BeBop! Yea! It's what I really prefered--it's the true size piccolo snare. The finish is a little beat, but it's in better shape than the pictures would have you believe.


According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Friday, July 5, 2002

Vacation Update

Friday of vacation. It goes by fast. Monday and Tuesday we took Julia to Storyland. She loved the maze, and, of course, Cinderella's Castle. She also had to do the Dr. Geyser ride twice, and the the safari ride twice. Thanks to Unk, cousin Jen, and Cousin Sarah for comming along.

Wednesday I decided to work on the deck. It was 93 degrees. I didn't last long. For 3 1/2 hours work, I sure didn't get much done! It took me an hour and a half just to recover! I laid in the bathtub, shower on, drain closed, and let the water fall all over me.

Yesterday, we did the parade thing. It wasn't as well attended as usual. We had a picnic with Sarah, a friend of Julia's from school. Again, the heat was getting to me, and I got a wicked headache. Fireworks last night.

Today's plans? Dump. Grocery store to get some coffee (we're out!). Bank. Post office. Jim and Rachelle's in Brunswick to say hi.

Don't forget Billy Rhythm at The Black Bull in Rockland tomorrow night!


According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Monday, July 1, 2002

Vacation has started, and new snare!

It's my first day of vacation! Suck it up, all you hosebags back at the office. (Really, now, they're a bunch of good guys [and Gina].)

So some of you know about the super-secret snare I was checking out. For those of you who don't know, a Ludwig piccolo snare of some form was on my Snares To Get list.

A Ludwig piccolo snare--this is a must. They came in a bunch of different sizes. The one I really want is the Be-Bop. weighing in at 3" by 13". I would consider the very rare Las Vegas model at 4" X 13", or the relatively common Down Beat at 4" X 14". Also cool would be the Porto-Pak, a student model 5" X 13".

So one of these snares shows up on ebay last week. And I got excited. Why? Because it was listed as a WFL Snare. Nothing else. No mention of Ludwig in the title. No mention of Down Beat, or Be-Bop. What's this all mean? It means bidding is going to be low, because people looking for Ludwig snare aren't going to get this one in their search. So, I watched it all week. I watched the bidding go up. And yet, it never did get as high as this one. (It is in better shape than the one I was looking at. But, there's still a couple of days left on that auction.)

So, I wanted to bid. Bad news: I was going to be away at a gig when the auction ended. So, I used a little service called esnipe. You log into esnipe (which is free for the first two weeks), tell it your username, and the item number. It will automatically bid for you, right at the end of the auction.

And so, I got a "new" Ludwig piccolo, at what I think is a really great price. (Note: The aqua and gold duco color is a little funky, so I think I will rewrap it. I'm thinking Silver Sparkle would look real classy, and would fit with just about all drumkit colors.)


According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

 
About me: