Tuesday Tunes & Luthiery Log 04/2019

Tuesday Tunes

“What is this, a cross-over episode?”. Yes. Instead of publishing two blogs on the same day, I have combined them into one, all-powerful mega-blog. Today you get both my (mostly) weekly song recommendation and my guitar building progress. I figure since it’s a guitar centric blog, let’s have a guitar centric song. Also - I have a Gig coming up on the 26th. Check the SHOWS page for the details.

The Song
Song: Sandmonster
Artist: Nick Johnston
Album: In A Locked Room On The Moon - 2013 - No Label
Method of discovery: Spotify Discover 2016

Personal thoughts: I enjoy lyrics. I enjoy the development of ideas they convey. It’s meaningful, then, to recommend a song devoid of lyrics completely. Even ‘Baba Yetu’ has lyrics, albiet in Swahili. It’s so much easier to tell a story with words than an instrument. Where many pure instrumentalist’s pieces tend to strike me as flexing grounds for their chops (I confess ignorance of deeper context), this particular song reminds me of the Hero’s Journey. Nick Johnston seems to possess the ability to state an idea musically, evolve the idea, morph it into something else, and bring it back, changed yet the same.

Theory: Instead of doing only music theory, I’m going to double down on the Hero’s Journey / Monomyth idea by listing parts below (with corresponding Chords). For sake of simplicity I’m going to use Christopher Vogler’s 2007 version. Feel free to listen to the song while reading this and see if you can hear what I hear.

0:00 - Ordinary world (G# - A)
0:16 - Call to Adventure (G# - A)
0:27 - Refusal of the Call (C#m - A - E - #A)
0:42 - Meeting with the Mentor (G# - A)
0:54 - Crossing the First Threshold (C#m - A - E - #A)
1:09 - Tests, Allies and Enemies (C#m - A - E - #A)
1:22 - Approach the Inmost Cave (|:A - D#:|x3 A - G# - B)
1:36 - The Ordeal (G# - A then D# - E)
2:04 - Reward (G# - A)
2:18 - The Road Back (C#m - A - E - #A)
2:30 - The Resurrection (C#m - A - E - #A)
2:44 - Return with the Elixir (G# - A)

… or maybe I’m reading too much into it all.

Research: Because I’d like to keep the blog short, and still have guitar stuff to do, I’ve linked a 16 minute documentary that says more than I can about Nick Johnston. Link where the Links are.

Give it a go: If you like the idea of the Monomyth, or if you enjoy guitars

Give it a miss: If you really can’t listen to a song without lyrics.

[links]
Spotify: Sandmonster, Nick Johnston, Tuesday Tunes
Nick Johnston: Website, Documentary, Sandmonster Video, ‘Artist Spotlight’ Article
Wikipedia: Hero’s Journey

Luthiery Log 04/2019

I’m building a guitar, and logging the progress on the 7th of each month. Here are Months: One, Two & Three.

Session Twelve
I’m going on Holiday in a few weeks, so I’m wanting to get the most out of my sessions before departing. When the Dish comes out again, I attack the protruding supports with gusto. Or maybe just with my guts-o. In the second picture you’ll notice the previously-glued-in supports over the right hand inside edge, on the other side they’ve already been sanded flush. Then out come the advanced tools; chisels and a plane the size of my thumb. I talk about the tools I’ve purchased and promise to bring in my planes next week so Trover can have a look at them. Then I get stuck into bringing the supports down to size.

Here’s where I make a mistake.

I take the firt two supports down to the size marked on the laminated plans, instead of the revised measurement Trevor provided. They should be 8mm, now they are 6mm. I am genuinely worried, but prepared to re-do some steps, starting with removing the old supports. Trevor says to put it away for now and he’ll spend the next week reflecting on whether or not we need to correct it. I leave the session very emotionally low.

Session Thirteen
It’s been a busy week at work, and I’m nervous to see if we need to fix last week’s mistake. Trevor is quick to put me at ease, it should be plently strong enough, but we won’t do any shaping on those two supports, just in case. I breathe a sigh of relief and get stuck into today’s work, most of which is just like the supports for the Back: Measure, measure again, cut, mark for sanding, sand roughly, finish sanding with the dish, grab the next piece, repeat.

After all is ready, I notch the ‘X’ supports to slot together. We glue it in. We speak about our relationships with our Fathers, and with Religion, and with Tools. Trevor sets up my Number 4 Plane. I finish the night by taking a curved piece of metal and sanding a slight curve into the Fretboard. I don’t finish before Trevor calls time, but I leave much higher than last week.