Okay, what happened since the fiasco of a gold-and-silver pattern I tried to do on a bodhrán shell?

Well, this.

Sanding,

Fully sanded...

Staining,

Fully stained...

Re-marked...

Repainted -- it was unfinished by this point, but still. And those are actually two different colours -- perhaps later pictures will show the difference.

Final details. And yes, in case anyone needs physical proof that I toiled on those drawings, and that they are all different colours, here it is.

In case anyone has no idea what's going on, I'm going to explain this as briefly as possible:

Right, so Seán recently got an 18" tunable bodhrán, and in the vein of his father's bodhrán, he wanted some designs on the frame. He and I planned for it, and first settled on gold and silver twirly lines. Let's just say, that first painting bit started off beautifully but worsened dramatically as it went along, so Seán sanded it down and restained it, and I started all over again. This is the close-to-finished product, missing a few touches here and there. Oh, and the tuning mechanism's been taken off too, if you're wondering what the holes in the frame were for.

Full sets of pictures here, here and here.

This was Seán's bodhrán that I did. 18", tunable, hence the screws on the shell. It started out beautifully but worsened dramatically as it went along.

We're having it sanded down tomorrow.... I'm going to have to start over. It's just.... I do feel a little disappointed, because I believed in the finished work, and it turned out horribly, very much unlike what I imagined. Is it really good to believe in myself...?

Here are some pictures of the work in progress:

Hey everyone. As I mentioned in my previous post, a Work in Progress and Reject Reel is due. This one dates to the date of writing, i.e. 3 February 2014.

Please be sure to be logged in to leave timed comments!

Also, if for some reason you missed out on the very first Work in Progress and Reject Reel, it is here.

I have hit yet another period where all I can ever churn out are works in progress; almost never finished works. I have begun recording Dance in the Emerald Forest, but I haven't had much luck putting it together or continuing.

As such, I'll be releasing another Work in Progress and Reject Reel over the next week or two.

I don't know what will inspire me to continue from here on out. T_T This is a time where I dream of a finished debut album, where I dream of going live, but haven't got the means to do anything. Someone very dear to me suggested that I go on Kickstarter, but I don't know what I can offer in recompense that will be of use to anyone...... I feel as though my musicianship is in shambles.

This is what happened within the last two weeks, which has led me to decide on the idea of my first recording of the year:

1. My original tipper (the beater for the bodhrán) broke! You've noticed how light-coloured it was; it was one made of pine, so it was relatively soft. When I went to Stonyhurst on a conference not too long ago, the second night was a dance night -- a céilidh night -- and I brought the bodhrán. To avoid it being abused, or to avoid huge amoungs of people finding out that the bodhrán belonged to me, I took the tipper with me, and had it with me when I went dancing. Sadly, it fell... and someone, I don't know who, accidentally trod on it. It snapped in two, and Seán tried gluing it back together, only for it to come out again. I still have the "halves" of the tipper, for lack of a better word.
2. I was given an 8" bodhrán. It really sounds quite high and tinny, but I can still play it alright. Thing is, that 8" was a souvenir. The minimum recommended size for a performer's bodhrán is 12". But hey: if I can still get a sound out of it, it's worth using!
3. I've got a new tipper... a rosewood one. It's heavy, it hurts my middle finger if I don't hold it correctly, but my word, it makes a marvellous sound. It's bringing out the bass more than ever.

So let's see what I've got for this recording.

• 18" bodhrán, rosewood tipper, for the bass.
• 8" bodhrán, pine tipper (I THINK), for supplementary rhythms.
• The two halves of my first tipper, which I can click against each other for supplementary rhythms.
• Bells. You've heard them in one of my previous improvisations.
• A guitar. I have a good mind to learn a few chords, to begin with. If I can't, I'll use a few notes.
• Voice.

Sounds like fuel for a medieval-sounding piece, eh?

With all these, I would like to bring to light a composition from one friend here on NG, who has loads of potential and wonderful ideas in his head. Bardash's first ever piece is Dance in the Emerald Forest -- and I'd long wanted to make a rendition of that piece and share it with all of you.

I'm not sure when the recording will be out. But I'll try and get it out by January. I have to accept the prospect that sometimes, it may not even come out at the time that I hope. However, I want to do my best with it.

So, I hope you're buzzing for it as much as I am! ^_^

Ta for now,

T. x

To begin, I wish everyone a blessed New Year 2014. 2013 has had its ups and downs, but we have pulled through -- and let us hope and pray for greater things to come.

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The bodhrán solo I've been recording is now out! Oof, it really tuckered me out. I enjoyed it very much though, and I hope you do enjoy it as much as I do! By the way, no idea why it exported in 16:9 as opposed to 4:3, which was the camera size...

On that note, Seán (the friend who recorded this) is a fellow bodhrán player, and he and I talked about christening (in other words, naming) our instruments. I don't know if it's an Irish thing or not, but in his own words, "it's an inanimate object; it's meant to have a woman's name." To this point I only knew that ships and planes, and wreckages of ships and planes, were referred to as "she" or by some close-to-feminine name.

Technically my instrument has already been christened -- I had my bodhrán blessed close to the end of 2012, as I said in the video -- but I will gladly go through the formality of giving her a name.

The next time you see me ever mention the name 'Siobhan' (pronounced shi-VAHN), I'm referring to my instrument. Siobhan is the Irish form of 'Jeanne', a name I wanted to take at my Confirmation years ago.

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As for updates, I will be posting periodically as always, so do stay tuned to hear, and perhaps see, new stuff coming from this low-key end. See you all soon!

Have a blessed New Year,

T. x

Two people have effectively requested, over FB, that I do a piece of music in response to all the chocolate, wine and whisky I received over the early days of Christmastide. Trouble with this, I told them, is that this piece is going to sound heavily Irishified.

Yep, there's going to be a bodhrán solo coming up.

Didn't think there would be one since April, now, did you?

.........yeah. I am really, really nervous.

Truth be told, I would like to have this done over video, but I don't know if it'll be feasible over the next few days. Reason as to why I would like it done on video is because

1. we've got fine-looking Christmas lights.
2. I really, really want to rock one of my intended stage outfits while sharing this piece with you.
3. I would love for everyone to partake in this passion of mine, not just through what they hear, but also through the expressions they see.

I'll try, but if push comes to shove, it's going to be yet another audio recording. We'll see what happens.

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, and I am very much looking forward to the great celebration that is Christmastide. It's just... I've been given great joy over Christmases in years past, and I do not doubt that it'll be the same this year.

It's been a wild, wild December so far. Carol services, crib-making, composing special songs, doing special drawings, handling my really important case, and meeting friends... oh my!

On the subject of crib-making... a friend received these yarn figures from his mother, and he and I decided to get together and make a crib for two young children who are very dear to us. Now my camera's broken and I have to take pictures by estimation, but this is what I've managed to capture...

See the full list of pictures here.

* * *

My Audio Secret Santa submission is near complete, and so is the Newgrounds Christmas/Holiday Art Worm. I'll be updating links to both when these get uploaded on NG. Once again, thanks a lot to TurkeyOnAStick for first asking me to come up with something for the project. The track for the Art Worm, In Anticipation, has been listened to by the members of the project (sometimes even for hours on end) -- I did it through hours of uncertainty, but I'm just glad it's touched you guys.

In addition to these, I'm uploading three bonus songs, all Christmas carols -- A Solis Ortus, What Child is This and Gaudete. As with the major projects, I'll be posting links when these are ready. They're not the best renditions out there, but I do know I poured myself out for these.

* * *

Those of you in Preston Centre, Lancaster or the surrounding areas: if you would like to meet me anytime soon, I invite you to come meet me at Saint Wilfrid's Church for the Christmas Vigil Mass tomorrow at 8:00 p.m. Not only will it be the meeting to make this time of the year memorable. I'll be singing there too! ^_^

That's it from me for now.

A blessed Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

T. x

This is only the traditional half of it. Black Sharpie, magic pens, standard A4 paper. There's still quite a bit of editing to do yet on GIMP. I actually dread it, not because of how tedious it is -- but because of how much slowdown this will cause. Still, though, I enjoyed doing this WIP.

I have been listening to a bit of Genki Rockets lately, and hence the motivation for this piece came. I enjoy their music, but really can't stomach their lyrics. Japlish galore.

To see the rest of my WIPs and attempts at improving, do visit my art thread.

Okay, long story short. My firmware version is 6.20 and that's the version needed to run Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. I would like to do a Let's Play of the game, but in order to have a video out, Remotejoy's the best bet.

I have next to no idea on how to install it. Help please?

EDIT 15.12.13: I'm putting this question out there again. ANYONE EXPERIENCED WITH USING REMOTEJOY, ESPECIALLY ON A LATER FIRMWARE VERSION? I need help installing it into the PSP. Thanks.