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My MalletKat came back on Wednesday with the KS v7 upgrade.

I am now officially a super MalletKat Fan.
Having the internal sounds really helps very much.
Especially these PC3 sounds.

A few things I want to mention.
1. I still have to get used to the rubber pad feel.
2. The pads are much wider than the bars on my M44 making playing in general much easier.
3. The vibe and marimba sounds are really very good. Keep in mind I'm not a purest by any means.
4. The head phone output volume needs to be louder so you don't hear yourself hitting pads.

This year Gary Burton - Joe Locke - Warren Wolf are all playing at the festival, woo-hoo!! I'm hoping to meet them. I met Joe the last time he was here with his Milt Tribute band. Joe took time after his set to chat with me for a few minutes and I got a pic with him. It was a real thrill for me. Of course Joe's just a regular guy who happens to play the vibes, I've found that out about all the pro's here. This is what's so great about this site. Everyone from the novice to the pro coming here sharing, learning and encouraging.

This is a performance of a composition from a great friend of mine from Germany Matthias Schmitt.
While not vibes, it is a mallet piece with choir which in our idiom (jazz) seldom to hear.

I hope you enjoy it.
-Todd

BTW - anyone can start the vibe diary. I personally think it's pretty cool for someone to start talking about what they're doing and then all the rest of us join in.

I was glad to finally have a day where I don't have to practice other peoples music. i do have a session tomorrow but the music is not that tough. And I do do a bunch of gigs with Diane Monroe, but I think I got a handle on all that!! We will see.

David talked at the Delaware 2011 workshop about the time when he wanted to work on wide intervals... So he grabbed paper and would just write anything on paper and then play this etude. Just dots, and then he'd make the rhythms on the fly.

Here David talks about solo playing and makes the point about syncopation. Why play the same rhythm with both hands? Play another rhythm with the left hand.

A few years ago, I did a lesson where I talked about minor surround tones. I feel like surround tones are often discussed over dominant and minor, but not major as often. So I decided to talk a little about how to surround chord tones on major chords, enjoy!

Behn

Right across the way from us is a GREAT xylo workshop with the great Bob Becker teaching 10 percussionists from all over the world about the world of ragtime.

Here's a piece that features a great Philly percussionist Harvey Price. He's also the head of percussion at Univ of Delaware and the reason why vibesworkshop does it's summer workshop in Delaware. Harvey Rocks and is a great friend of mine and is a great percussionist and xylo man!