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Piper Flyer Feature - Springless String Tension Holder

The springless string tension holder for the bar string is a must! It's so easy, improves the sound of the instrument by allowing the player to easily choose the tension on the string and as the string stretches over time, you don't have to re-adjust the knot in the string (you know what I'm talking about).

You can also maintain an endless ball of string on one end of each set of bars so that as the string wears, you can just pull it through the bars and cut the old string off. I keep a ball of string in a small felt bag hanging on the low end of the instrument.

My mic set up in my little home studio

Here's my mic set up. You can see the specially designed plexiglass PZM boundary I had made many years ago. It's shaped in a stereo configuration. I really like the concept of PZM. Here's what I know about it. I think the "PZM" (pressure zone microphone) was discovered in the 1980s. You can research it but I got my information from crown engineers. Crown owned the patent or patent rights. I'm writing from memory so it may not be completely accurate. The way I understand it, the "pressure zone" was discovered in the '80's. Here's how it was explained to me.

Easy way to build your own Sound Baffles

I was fixing up one of the rooms in my house to be a dedicated room for drumming. As I started building the sound baffles to help control the sound, I realized that this would be a great "Quick Tip" video to share with others. So, I started recording and explaining as I went. I spent the day putting this together. It's only my second video like this and I learned a ton about editing and camera placement (I learn from mistakes seen here). Regardless of the clamp above my head, the poor editing and camera work, I hope it's useful. It was definitely a great practice video.

Inexpensive way to improve the sound on video recordings

All consumer video recorders, or camcorders, produce good to excellent video, but usually terrible audio. I have an inexpensive Kodak Zi8 camera, which has an external mic-in port. I can get sort of ok audio when I use a good condenser mic plugged into the camera, but I've been hunting for an inexpensive way to improve that even more.

Looking at Gary's pictures : venues in America or Europe

Hey Everyone,

But in the 1th place :
Hey Gary,

I have seen you perform in France this year,(Coutance Jazz), and I've been following the pictures you post of your tour.

My impression is, that the kind of places where you play, are totally different in Europe then in the states.

I get the feeling in Europe you (but also other artists) play more in concerthalls, places which are designed to perform on a stage, for a huge crowd.
While in the states it looks more like clubs, or more specific places.

I get the same impression with, for example, John Zorn.