Newsletter Vol. 2 # 77 – March 28, 2004
Welcome to the latest issue of Guitar Noise News.
In This Issue
- News and Announcements
- A Word (or Two) From Paul
- Thoughts and Feedback
News And Announcements
Greetings!
Welcome to Guitar Noise News!
After flooding the place with news last time, I thought to myself that maybe a “Spring Break” was in order. So it was my plan this week to tell you that we had no news. Of course, even when I think we could use a bit of a rest, Paul has the final say-so. So, let me launch a new bit of the column that we’ll hopefully see on a recurring basis. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you:
A Word (Or Two) From Paul
If you’re just opening your email this morning and haven’t had time to browse over to Guitar Noise yet this will come as news to you. We now have a great new logo and slogan gracing all the pages of our site.
Even those of you who spend most of your time on the forums should be seeing and talking about the new logo by now. The new logo does a really good job of expressing what Guitar Noise is all about. All of us here are very passionate about music, and enamored with the guitar in general, and the new design captures that. More importantly, the logo and our new slogan “online to onstage” reveal a lot of what GN is all about. It is a place with something for everybody, whether you are the absolute beginner or seasoned pro. Better yet, it is the place to be if you are an absolute beginner who wants to one day be a seasoned pro.
This new design is something we can all be proud of because we worked on it together. As GN continues to grow in popularity and scope it is becoming more and more difficult to manage. Thankfully, in recent weeks our calls for help have not gone unanswered. We are relying more and more on the help of volunteers, not just to keep GN growing but simply to keep it going.
I want to personally share my thanks with everyone who has been helping us in some way. First of all, a big thanks to Alan for designing the new logo. Alan runs his own graphic design service called Voodoo 9 in the UK and I have to say, I was thrilled by his creativity, ability and willingness to work hard at satisfying our demands. Here’s a word from Alan on Voodoo 9:
Voodoo 9 was launched in March of 2004 as an online graphic design service. We can take on many design projects, from business cards to logos, flyers to band posters. Don’t hesitate to ask.
All projects can be completely done via email so there is no problem in dealing with clients World-wide. (We already have some happy customers from the US)
Check out the site at www.voodoo9.co.uk and drop me an email for a chat to help you with your requirements.
Alan may be helping us out with future graphics and designs on the site so you can look forward to seeing more of his work on Guitar Noise. If you ever need help in this area you really ought to check out his site at www.voodoo9.co.uk and tell him you saw his work on Guitar Noise.
There have also been others helping out with designs on Guitar Noise and I want to mention their efforts here too. Fellow web designer Rick Lindberg offered some suggestions and improvements a couple weeks ago to improve the home page. If you’ve noticed the page is looking smoother in some way but don’t know why, it is because of Rick’s attention to detail.
We also have some cool new graphics to let people know about our Guitar Noise CD. We have GN contributor Matt Heger to thank for that.
Those of you visiting GN with Netscape 7 or Mozilla browsers are now being treated to a new website icon thanks to fellow designer and GN reader Raf Van Baelen.
I also want to say thanks to all the other designers who took a crack at designing something for GN.
There is always a lot of work going on behind the scenes here. Some of it is exciting so if you have special skills or interest in web design, graphics or programming feel free to contact me. We can always use extra help.
Because there is so much going on behind the scenes, I just may have to rear my head again in a few weeks with even more news. I won’t give away any secrets if I say it will be good news for many of you.
Thoughts & Feedback
A year and a half after taking over the duties of writing this newsletter, I’m afraid to say that I’ve still not gotten a handle on the sense of timing involved. Let me try to explain:
Depending on where you are in the world, and where (and when) you decide to read this, it’s probably Sunday, March 28th or Monday the 29th. While you’re (hopefully) enjoying your read, catching up on the latest news and lessons or checking in on this week’s goings on at the various Forum pages, I am trying to get the lion’s share of next week’s (April 4) newsletter finished. I may not even have gotten the finishing touches done on the lessons yet!
If I had nothing else to do with my time, it would take me two or three days to write up a lesson. That’s one day to record and do the notation and TABs and such and another to do the actual writing. Sometimes I need the better part of the day to get the sound files sent to Paul over the ether (as I’ve often mentioned, you wouldn’t believe how “primitive” my computer setup is.)! And goodness knows I could spend any amount of time checking and rechecking my work. Recent case in point being the use of the Eb Mixolydian scale instead of the Eb Lydian scale in the column Preparing To Climb.
Sometimes I’ll record a series of lessons at once, but that’s dangerous in that it may then be quite a while before I get around to writing out the notation and then I end up spending more time on it because I don’t remember exactly how I played something and I have to sit and listen to it and write it out until I get it right. It doesn’t always pay to be ahead of the game!
On top of this there’s the reading and editing of new articles, listening to a CD four or five time for the purpose of writing the review (to be fair to the artist, I try to do little else save taking notes while doing this) and then writing the review.
Making more than occasional sweeps of the Forum pages in my capacity of Moderator, while enjoyable as anything, can eat up hours without my knowing it. This is especially true if I have to start acting as a Moderator, so remember if you’re someone who’s stirring things up because not only do you think anyone who plays a different guitar than you do or likes a band you don’t like is an idiot, but then you go and say so, well, guess what, you’re likely keeping a lesson from being written for the site. Another reason to be civil, I hope!
And then there are the emails. I love reading and answering email although I’ve made a big botch of it since my move here (and whoever wrote me about the John Denver song The Eagle and the Hawk, please write back! I can fax you the sheet music if you’d like…), I think that I’ve finally gotten my act together. Hopefully nothing more will be lost!
And, of course, there’s this whole “making a living” thing to deal with, no? Who came up with this idea anyway?
So, anyway, the whole point of this is that, try as I may to make certain you have new material to read and learn every week, sometimes I fudge things up. Or, if you prefer, think of it as “Spring Break!” Emphasis, naturally, on the “break!”
But I’m taking a big gulp of air and diving back into the depths and while you’re reading this, I’m probably furiously typing away at next week’s newsletter. I wonder what I’m going to say? I definitely know how I’ll close it:
I hope you all have a grand week. Stay safe.
And, as always,
Peace
David
