Quick update, Saxophone Wall Display/Johnny's pic.

[Michael Bishop]

Thanks to all the AWESOME members here on Johnny’s site for the encouragement and messages 🙂 I made this quick update video showing you our progress, setting up my room for recording, as well as something an Instructor from UALR turned me on to during our first private lesson…funny thing was other members here on Johnny’s site had talked about these line of MPs before…I became a believer in them 🙂 It was a very, very encouraging first lesson with this instructor who is a TRUE pro. He tested me on a variety of things, brought to my attention what he likes/doesn’t like. It made me feel really, really good! He provided some valuable insights…small things make a BIG difference guys! 🙂 I’m very, very happy to have found him. I looked for a qualified teacher for over 2 years and always came up empty handed…the folks where I finished my degree at helped me locate him and the rest is history 🙂 The difference is like night/day v.s. the instructor I was meeting with through the local music shop. If anyone thinks all this time I’ve just been staying at home and trying to learn the Saxophone alone all this time, that is totally wrong. I don’t know of anyone who can learn to play a Saxophone all on their own without anyone teaching them, you would have to be CRAZY gifted to be able to pull of the feat LOL By Spring I’ll be meeting with him once a week. Our next lesson is scheduled for the first Monday afternoon in Feb.. I wish I had to funds RIGHT NOW to meet with him every single week! No worries, setting that aside with my tax return. Looking forward to getting back to regular upload here to Johnny’s blog very, very soon. Thanks for the friendship/encouragement guys. Good things coming, stay tuned 🙂

[Anonymous]

Hi Michael, I love your Sax wall of fame idea – smashing!
I’m looking forward to your recordings on that new mouthpiece – So when? What are you doing this afternoon? Ha, ha!

May I make a few video suggestions. When recording video try to keep the object of interest very still, and flood the room with the maximum amount of light. When the light is low the depth of focus is reduced so the image blurs more easily, more light means a sharper image. When panning the close-up shot move slowly to give the auto-focus sufficient time to adjust.

[Anonymous]

Well done Michael – welcome to the club – group of people finally realising they’re going nowhere without having lessons on the Sax.

Now you can appreciate why i only use a very experienced qualified Working Pro to get my knowledge from – at my age, i just don’t have the time to read/watch and try to justify that what peope say or record on the internet is vslid or not. All this time wasting hassle can be avoided simply by taking lessons and getting advice from someone who knows what they are talking about.

Your recording studio looks awesome man – i haven’t got room in my house, so i’ll just have to make do with using someone elses recording studio.

Great video – the only tips i can give is to keep topics short and to the point, and at all costs avoid rambling on about something – viwers tend to have short attention spans and will switch off.

The samething applies to improvising on the sax – keep it short. The average person walking down the street won’t remember anything being improvised on a sax , however if you play a melody instead, it ends up stuck inside their head, and they walk away whistling it.

good luck in the future!

[john]

Haha, I’ was laughing Michael, great to see me on a wall with one of my all time faves King Curtis! Very cool.
looks like you’re diving in deep on the mp scene, it;’s gotta be done.
I agree that the ebonite’s are much better than the hard rubber, actually there’s no comparison as far as I’m concerned.
but then again, it’s another world when you get to the high end metal mp’s. I’ve been thru all this comparison stuff you’re talking about and I’m so glad to see you doing it too… live and learn, it’s the only way.
The mp is our biggest weapon, your time is not wasted!

[Michael Bishop]

JEFF: Thanks for the tips man…that was just done with my daughter’s mobile, quick and last minute on the spot. I made this video because I got “tired” of responding to many e-mails, just don’t have the time so here’s a video for everyone LOL What I mean is on facebook alone, over the last month, I’ve made almost 1,000 friends in the music world alone…yes, I said 1,000!!! I posted the video collab I did with my guitar friend on there and the requests started coming, freaked me out! Just yesterday I got booked to do a benefit concert for the Challenged Outdoorsmen of American in June 11th here in Arkansas for folks who have disabilities; THEY contacted me…can you believe that?!? My new Sax instructor set that up for me, he said he had connections. I don’t expect ANYONE to do my ANY favors. Very cool and encouraging that these people actually WANTS to hear me playing, wants to hear the Altissimo, the Blues, etc.. LOL Seems like no matter where you go, people just can’t get enough of hear Blues, Rock, etc.. on the Sax…there’s very little other kinds of music that can compare with it (in my little opinion anyway LOL) With my webcam that I use to make videos–I don’t use the mobile, it’s real “shaky” as you can see–I have the ability to control all of those things you brought out….they’re a must as you mentioned. In terms of when uploads are going to re-start (I was doing them pretty regularly before), Wayne and I we’re working on a Collab together as he was having some technical issues with technology and I was trying to help him with those issues. As soon as my reeds come in the mail–ordering them next week–then I’ll start to upload again, probably around late this month. Speaking of uploads Jeff, would love to see you upload something too..we all need the encouragement. Sorry if you uploaded something and I missed it.
JOHNNY: I’m tempted to call the FBI LOL I wouldn’t say I’m diving deep into the MP scene, but my new Instructor (looked LONG AND HARD for one locally, always came up empty handed) took one look at me playing and basically said along the lines “I got just what you need” I connected with it instantly 🙂 I told you about his take on the “Good, Bad and Ugly” of my playing in my e-mail to you LOL For the most part, he just didn’t like the MP I was using–which the more I used it I came to the realization it wasn’t working either. He said I had a lot to be happy/proud about in terms of how far I’ve come, but brought out regardless of how many things a player can do on his Sax, despite the fact that I have 2 Trevor James Saxophones, without the right MP you’re NOT going to get a good sound…period. But he assured me that my playing was NOT bad by saying that LOL . The good news is that the few things he brought out hadn’t become bad habits, but without the proper help the COULD have become bad habits. I’m just really, really glad I found him when I did. Being THE MAIN instructor from UALR, I was afraid he was going to be an intellectual, die-hard jazz/classical theorist….please no one misunderstand where I’m coming from when I say that; there’s nothing wrong with Jazz/Classical music guys! That’s not what I mean at all. I just meant that, taking in mind where I’m at and where I want to go, I was afraid we would not “connect”. He just assured me that he does what he does because it’s a job, but that DOESN’T mean that’s who he is as a person. He then took my Sax and played and just KILLED it in front of me. I then realized I was in good hands 🙂 Speaking of private lessons Johnny, if you ever decide to open that up again, please contact me. I had intended to do more with you but this past year just had so, so much going on with helping my bro-in-law, moving into a new house, etc.. I’m amazed I even got regular practice in.
SXPOET: I’ve always recognized the value the having a good teacher…if anyone thinks for one moment I just stay at home, learn to play alone, etc.. they are COMPLETELY wrong. I don’t know of ANYONE who can pull that off, and if you can like I said above you’re crazy gifted!!! If I remember right, Johnny even needed help in the beginning..that’s just the way it is. As the saying goes “A blind man can’t lead a blind man: But if I may kindly suggest something–and this is something that was said to me through my new Instructor–DO NOT hold back from recording yourself, uploading to youtube, sharing videos with friends, etc.. As he compared it to a “mirror” and the mirror is never wrong! It reveals things to us that we can’t see ourselves when practicing and playing. It has NOTHING to do with “proving” anything to anyone..it’s all about ENCOURAGING others. The fact is that we learn A LOT by watching/hearing other players…can you imagine if Johnny never uploaded anything?!? Where would the rest of us be?!? Most of us wouldn’t even be on this site! I could have MOST CERTAINLY used your help/encouragement when I was going through the Altissimo course. I don’t hold back from hitting those notes, even it’s not always perfect! I upload them for other members to see, so that they can get the encouragement/help they need. For those of us who struggle with things, need help with things, etc.. one of the absolute best things we can do to HELP others on this site is to upload videos of our playing. But more than anything, it’s a ‘mirror’ for us, and the mirror ALWAYS reveals the truth 🙂

[Anonymous]

Michael – thanks, i completely UNDERSTAND and i have got the POINTS you have made, and the points you have made in PREVIOUS comments. There’s no need to use bold letters, i hope i am not that stupid. lol

i need to make myself a lot clearer to you, i have lost complete interest in doing uploads regardless of the benefits to me or other people. I have got rid of my youtube account to put uploads on, and will not be doing any more uploads in the foreseeable future. I’ve also got rid of my Pc recording software etc.. Please don’t be offended by my actions, just accept the path i choose to go down.

Any feedback/mirror i need of my playing, i now prefer to get from my sax teacher, as the work/grades i’m doing are getting far more complex (to me anyway).

In terms of getting kicks out my playing, i hope to be doing that next month when i restart playing in a church band. i’m not interested in being a studio recording artist, putting stuff on youtube for people to comment on. Instead i want to get out there and play, like i did years ago on my guitar, thats where i get my fun, playing live.

Like your teacher, my teacher wants to fit me up with some blues bands he knows, but at the moment i haven’t got an itch for playing the blues.

Above all keep going, i wish you well with your good intentions, you are a great guy, just don’t be put off by my choices of what i want to do. Like they say different strokes for different folks.

[Author]

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