Mostly about my backyard chickens. (Boring, I know), but there are a lot of us out here. Mine are only kept as pampered pets. I could eat a neighbor's chicken, but not MINE. There may be a comment on current events only if I get riled up enough. And there will always be a cartoon or a joke to cheer us. I promise to try my very best to respond to comments. Now I have to figure out how this blogger thingy works....
The
Wheelharp is a groundbreaking keyboard musical instrument that gives
the player the ability to orchestrate a full chromatic scale of
sixty-one (61) actual bowed strings at one’s own fingertips, almost like
having a real chamber string orchestra at hand.
With an exotic profile and stunning rosette appointments, the
Wheelharp’s appearance is equally as breathtaking as its audible
character. It is currently available in a Radial Model (curved keyboard)
with a five-octave range.
It utilizes a patented action and bridge to translate the player’s
subtle fingerings into a range of bowing intensities, and comes equipped
with a damper system and electronic pickup system, allowing individuals
to sculpt astonishingly beautiful and complex sounds. For musicians,
composers, and studios that seek to create the natural sound of
classical string instruments while avoiding the frequently sterile
quality of digital string synthesizers and samples, or for those looking
to foray into new sonic territory, the Wheelharp presents a truly
exciting opportunity.
- See more at: http://antiquitymusic.com/wheelharp#sthash.HGD933yx.dpuf
The
Wheelharp is a groundbreaking keyboard musical instrument that gives
the player the ability to orchestrate a full chromatic scale of
sixty-one (61) actual bowed strings at one’s own fingertips, almost like
having a real chamber string orchestra at hand.
With an exotic profile and stunning rosette appointments, the
Wheelharp’s appearance is equally as breathtaking as its audible
character. It is currently available in a Radial Model (curved keyboard)
with a five-octave range.
It utilizes a patented action and bridge to translate the player’s
subtle fingerings into a range of bowing intensities, and comes equipped
with a damper system and electronic pickup system, allowing individuals
to sculpt astonishingly beautiful and complex sounds. For musicians,
composers, and studios that seek to create the natural sound of
classical string instruments while avoiding the frequently sterile
quality of digital string synthesizers and samples, or for those looking
to foray into new sonic territory, the Wheelharp presents a truly
exciting opportunity.
- See more at: http://antiquitymusic.com/wheelharp#sthash.HGD933yx.dpuf
Antiquity Music presents the extraordinarily beautiful Wheelharp at NAMM
Jon Jones & Sons and Antiquity Music have debuted an
intriguing vintage-looking new instrument called the Wheelharp at NAMM
Image Gallery (7 images)
As Jon Jones was regulating his hurdy gurdy
back in 2001, he began toying with the idea of creating a
mechanically-bowed instrument with a full-scale chromatic keyboard. He
went on to build two working models before hooking up with Antiquity
Music's founder Mitchell Manger to work on improving the design. After a
few more revisions, a stunning pre-production Wheelharp was premiered
at the Winter NAMM Show in Anaheim (CA) last week.
The Wheelharp is being made in two different flavors, one
with a curved (radial) keyboard and the other with a flat (linear)
keyboard. Each will be available in three different octave ranges – a
37-string, 3-octave version, a 4-octave unit with 49 strings (shown
below), and a model that spans five octaves and has 61 strings. It has a
beautiful Victorian period-look oak body with rosette appointments, a
laminated maple pinblock and a cast aluminum pulley.
At the press of a key, the instrument's patent-pending action moves the respective string toward a rotating, rosin-edged wheel spinning inside the barrel
of the Wheelharp, where it's essentially bowed by the wheel. The
mechanism is claimed capable of translating the player's subtle
fingerings into a range of bowing intensities.
The left pedal activates and controls Wheelharp's full
damper system, and the speed of the motor that turns the wheel is
controlled via the right pedal. According to Antiquity Music, swells and
decrescendos can be brought into play by the player varying the wheel
speed and key depth.
There's an electromagnetic pickup system above the
strings and a piezo pickup mounted to the soundboard. An optional
microphone pickup system is available, too, and two 0.25-inch audio jack
outputs allow for onward powered amplification. It runs on 110 -
120-volt AC power.
Jones has now entered into an agreement with the boutique
vintage and antique musical instrument retailer, making Antiquity Music
the exclusive manufacturer and distributor of the Wheelharp. Production
is set to start in June and each unit will be hand-made to order.
Introductory pricing starts at US$9,900 for either a
radial or linear 3-octave model, rising to $10,900 for the 4-octave
version and finally topped off by the 5-octave Wheelharp at $11,900.
There's also an optional ATA road case available for $1,450.
The short demonstration video below shows the Wheelharp in action. Update June 5, 2013: Antiquity Music has now turned to Kickstarter to bring the Wheelharp to market.
Source: Antiquity Music
The gang is miserable. Laverne chases and bites Maude and Sophia and they get all flustered and start to squawk. Charlie hears them and then he get upset and chases all of them around. Then they are all upset. Only Shirley doesn't care. She sits in her dirt bath hole and sleeps most of the day.
In the afternoon, clouds started to form:
They were getting pretty big and we could hear a rumble of thunder is the distance.
What is really amazing is that it's done without any government assistance!
The Q'eswachaka bridge
From: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Q'eswachaka bridge (also spelled Qeswachaka, Keshwa Chaca or Keswachaka) spanning the Apurimac River near Huinchiri, in Canas Province, Peru, is the last remaining Inca rope bridge.
Even though there is a modern bridge nearby, the residents of the
region keep the ancient tradition and skills alive by renewing the
bridge annually, in June. Several family groups have each prepared a
number of grass-ropes to be formed into cables at the site, others
prepare mats for decking, and the reconstruction is a communal effort.
In ancient times the effort would have been a form of tax, with
participants coerced to perform the rebuilding; nowadays the builders
have indicated that effort is performed to honor their ancestors and the
Pachamama (Earth Mother).
The event has also been supported by video productions for Nova and the BBC and is the subject of an independent documentary titled The Last Bridge Master
(in-production, 2014). It is becoming a minor tourist attraction, with
some small tolls charged for tourists to use the road during the
festival to walk the newly completed bridge. In 2009 the government
recognized the bridge and its maintenance as part of the cultural
heritage of Peru, and there is now some outside sponsorship..
It's been hot and humid, so I haven't really been doing too much outside except to take care of the gang and put out the laundry. It cools off a wee bit in the evening and that's when we sit out on the deck. This was the temp last night when Hubby & I took our books outside:
Clouds started to build in the early afternoon, but not enough to bring some welcome shade:
They built up on Monday too, but no rain:
The photo doesn't show it, but when the sun set that night, it was blood red and really quite beautiful.
Laverne plopped out a huge egg. That's a red spot on the shell; not a hole.
It was a double yolker again!
I've been cleaning the coop, run and pen several times a day now and chopping up fresh basil leaves to scatter about. If I don't keep it clean, the flies take over even with using the fly paper. I don't want Charlie or the girls to get bitten by those pests.
The weatherman said we might some rain today and break the heat wave. I sure do hope so!
