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After owning both the DP-004 and the DP-008 there is no contest. All the complaints I had about the DP-004 are fixed in the DP-008 such as:

-Backlit display
-Easy access to the SD card
-XLR inputs
-Reverb (and good ones by the way) for each track
-EQ for each track
-More cut and paste options for tracks
-More dedicated buttons such as for the metronome and tuner
-Auto punch in and out
-Footswitch input for punch in / out

This is an awesome piece of equipment! If you’re just looking for instant feedback and playing along with practice tracks the DP-004 is fine. But if you want to do anything more, then go for the DP-008. I got mine for $214 from a store on eBay named Unique Squared.

After using my Tascam DP-004 for a while I decided to upgrade to the DP-008 8-track version. Ah yeah!

Another school year has come to a close. This year was a busy one. It was my first year as vice president of our teacher’s association and I was also on the negotiation team for our new contract. Oh and I taught too

Each year I reflect on how I can improve what I did for next year to give my kids a more positive experience. I also recharge by reading books, practicing, and hitting the gym a lot!!

My goals for next include tweaking my rehearsals to be more productive for longer stretches of time and working to stay refreshed throughout the school year. That’s tough. How to not get a little tired at some point. But I figure I’ll change things the moment I feel stale or start playing more with the students – they know I love to play the bass.

I’m currently reading Talent Is Overrated by Geoff Colvin – I highly recommend it. Despite it’s business focus it uses many music examples from throughout history.

One of my summer goals is to be more active on posting here. If you’re reading this and would like to be a guest blogger, please let me know.

“It doesn’t matter where you sit in the orchestra. What matters is that you are in the orchestra!” – a former student!!!

Check out a short article I wrote on classroom technology tips at iSchoolBand.com.

I’m expanding my career experience into the realm of life coaching.
More information is available here.

Looking for a great way to capture your music ideas? Check out the Moleskine music notebook!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_Wqy1R0Ve8

Looking for great prices on batteries for your equipment? Check out Thomas Distributing.

I like these 9-Volts.

I found the perfect case for my Tascam 4-Track – a leather pouch from North Star Leather.

Two great sounding pedals!!

• When doing spiccato, bounce your bow as high as possible – it’s impressive.
• Count rests out loud, that way people know that you can count.
• Don’t wait for the lower string tuning note. You’re better than that.
• Be sure to snap the string when playing pizz – it adds a nice percussive sound to help the cellos and violas.
• Talk whenever you want – you’re far enough back that you never bother anyone and the conductor can’t see you anyway.
• Be 5 minutes late – the winds are tuning anyway so who cares?
• Bombard the maestro with useless questions – you’ll seem like you really care about the ensemble.
• Don’t practice – you want to be ‘fresh’ for the gig.
• Befriend the tuba player so you can make fun of everyone else.
• Leave your case right behind you. It will make leaving the gig quicker so you can get to the bar before the brass section.
• Dynamics? Ha! You need everyone to hear the tempo – play loud!
• Remember, pops concerts are 45 minutes of G – D then a run that’s impossible.
• Don’t sweat all those excerpts in Beethoven. The cellos double you anyway.
• Speaking of cellos, ignore their bowings. Hmmm… No really.
• Don’t bother bringing a bow tie – someone always has an extra.
• Talk during the gig – rock stars do.

Hi readers, sorry for the lack of posts but I’ve been on spring break. Although I didn’t visit anywhere exotic I did spend plenty of time with my fiance and enjoyed the great weather that Chicago had. Remember to enjoy life too!

How do you pronounce Bach? Debussy? Schoenberg or Lutoslawski?

Unless you met the composer, it is probably slightly different than I or someone else says it.

We americans tend to be very pretentious about our pronunciations. I’m all for accuracy and being correct but if you’re more worried about the aspirated ‘ch’ in Bach than in practicing his music, there’s a problem!

I have played with people from other countries and they generally say the composer’s name in their accent. In one ensemble in graduate school, I was the only American. Names were pronounced differently but if everyone understood, it was fine and we moved on. So why can’t we say names with our accent? It just happens to be an American English accent rather then French or Italian. And did you ever introduce yourself to someone from another country? You say your name and they say it with some linguistic rules from their language, but it’s not a problem.

A few years ago I had a student from Poland. I asked her how to pronounce Chopin and it wasn’t even like our pretentious way of saying it. So, in this case, the correct Polish pronunciation was different than how us Americans are trying to pronounce it. So who is ‘right’?

Now, what should we do?

• Try to be somewhat faithful to the original language. For example, no one pronounces the ‘J’ in ‘Janacek’ like ‘jello’ – it has the ‘Y’ sound. But then again, we probably don’t get the vowel and accents correct – but the effort is there without overdoing it.
• Listen to the classical music station as they tend to me very well informed people and see how they pronounce it.
• Right or wrong, don’t dwell on it. Say the name and move on – unless there’s a compelling reason not to. For example, I was once corrected on the pronunciation of Poulenc. I asked how he knows and my teacher responded with, “Well, when he introduced himself to me.” Touche. He wins.
• Focus more on your playing and musical skills. They speak volumes.
• Listen to the people around you and go with the general consensus – even if it is incorrect (like Chopin!). It will make life easier and you can concentrate on your playing.

Thanks, and as Gyorgy Ligeti didn’t once say, “Go Practice!”.

“Not every end is a goal. The end of a melody is not its goal; but
nonetheless, if the melody had not reached its end it would not have
reached its goal either. A parable.” (Nietzsche)

Do you underuse or overuse your tuner?

Most younger players underuse theirs and never develop a solid pitch center.

Most experience players overuse theirs and neglect their pitch independence. Instead of playing scales with your tuner, try this:

Play the first note of a scale
sing the 3rd while playing the 1st degree
play the 3rd
sing the 2nd while playing the 3rd
play the 2nd
sing the 4th while playing the 2nd
etc. etc.

Other ways to improve intonation:
Use a drone pitch -i.e. play a G scale with a constant G playing

Use a recorder for instant feedback on your intonation.

Sing Sing Sing!