You May Also Be Interested In…
*A Montecristo Cigar Box Guitar!
* Why ‘Signature’ And ‘Replica’ Guitars Are For Losers
* I’ve Decided To Learn The Banjo
How To Make A Bottleneck Guitar Slide.
The Amazing Wheelharp!
This is a Wheelharp:
Despite looking positively Victorian, The Wheelharp is a a new keyboard controlled instrument with 61 strings (a full chromatic scale) which are bowed with actual bows! The Wheelharp also allows for different bowing intensities as well as having fully fitted damper and electric pick-up systems!
So how exactly does it work?
When the player presses any key (or keys) on The Wheelharp, the action moves the selected key (or keys) respective string(s) toward a rotating wheel with a rosined edge, thereby bowing the string(s).
With the right pedal, the player controls the speed of a motor that turns the wheel, which varies the bowing speed of the wheel against the string and thus changes the dynamic effect. For instance, the wheel speed and the key depth can both be used to create swells and decrescendos. The action for each note can easily be removed as necessary for maintenance or string replacement.
The left pedal controls a full damper system that extends across the strings. An electromagnetic pickup floats above the strings and a piezoelectric pickup is mounted to the soundboard, allowing for the player to fully control the amplified timbre of The Wheelharp.
Here is a demonstration video of The Wheelharp in action:
The Wheelharp has been developed by Antiquity Music and manufacturing is expected to begin in June 2013.
How much will it cost?
Pricing (Linear Model or Radial Model):
* 5-octave range: $11,900
* 4-octave range: $10,900
* 3-octave range: $9,900
It’s already been described as a “Steampunk version of an orchestral sound library” which in other words means that if you want one, you’d better get one before either Tom Waits or The Flaming Lips buy the lot of them up and connect them together and end the entire World!
For much more information on The Wheelharp, including its history and musical demos, please visit the Antiquity Music site which is right HERE.
You May Also Be Interested In…
* Stop Motion Animation …On A Vinyl Record!
* Amazing Snippets From Les Paul’s Wikipedia
* Neil Young’s Sound
The Victorian Statues In Glasgow’s George Square.
Regarding the moving of the Victorian statues from Glasgow’s George Square…
In THIS article, Herald columnist Catriona Stewart writes:
“For those shedding molten copper tears over their loss: name them.”
We don’t have to name them Catriona in the same way that we don’t have to know the names on every tombstone in the City’s Victorian graveyards or the names of the architects who designed each building.
BECAUSE IF THEY’RE LEFT WHERE THEY ARE WE CAN GO AND LOOK AT THEM WHENEVER WE FLAMING WELL PLEASE CAN’T WE!?
…But since you asked,
Rabbie Burns, Sir Walter Scott, James Watt, Robert Peel, Wullie Gladstone, Queen Victoria, Jimmy Oswald, Lord Clyde, Thomas Graham, Prince Albert, Tam Campbell, John Moore, some soldiers and those big Lions.
You May Also Be Interested In…
* Glasgow’s George Square Is OUR Rectangle!
* Photos From The “World War Z” Glasgow Set
* Glasgow Cathedral At Sunset From My Window
Glasgow’s George Square Is OUR Rectangle!
The six new shortlisted designs for the revamp of Glasgow’s George Square have been unveiled and I’m almost speechless at how terrible and charmless they all are. ALL of them.
Luckily, I’m not completely speechless and I’d just like to take this opportunity to say this:
George Square Is OUR Rectangle! Leave those Victorian statues EXACTLY where they are!
The moving of Glasgow’s many Victorian statues like gigantic chess pieces is nothing new and it’s not that I or the many other people who live close to the square are against change. As a matter of fact, everybody I’ve personally spoken to is all for a revitalisation of George Square but, and listen carefully, as a PUBLIC and VERY GREEN space!
The statues that surround George Square have been discreetly moved over the years more than once but c’mon! They look so settled where they stand today. And everybody knows it except for the people in charge who very shortly are about to completely ruin George Square as we have come to know it.
Let’s take a look at the six new shortlisted designs for the Square and as always, click on the images to enlarge them.
Design One:
Design Two:
Design Three:
Design Four:
Design Five:
Design Six:
Design Six is apparently the current “most popular” design with Glaswegians. The best of a bad bunch I’d say.
I’m not very good expressing myself when I’m angry without using extreme profanities so here are some photos of how George Square has looked in the past…
1878:
1880:
1929:
1975:
Fireworks Night 2012:
…and here are two panoramic shots of how George Square currently looks today…
Don’t tell me what you think.
Write to Glasgow City Council and/or a decent Glasgow Newspaper you trust.
So not The Daily Record.
Keep right up to date with everything by visiting: Restore George Square.
You May Also Be Interested In…
* Future Glasgow
* The Glasgow Alphabet By Rosemary Cunningham
* Al Cook’s “Necropolis”
Behind Al Cook’s “Necropolis”: Blood Test.
Whenever I get an illustration commission I occasionally get asked to provide ‘idea sketches’ to show what the finished piece will look like. This type of request usually results in me turning down a lot of artwork job offers because I almost never ever produce any ‘idea’ sketches and if I do, they never really resemble the eventual illustration and I tear them up just as soon as I’m finished with them. Besides, I think that sample and ‘idea’ sketches could subliminally put someone off of your work.
Is that crazy and paranoid?
If it’s not crazy and paranoid it’s probably arrogant of me but I’d rather turn down an illustration job than waste my time churning out sample sketches just to please someone who doesn’t have the faith in me to just let me get on with things.
That said, sometimes I do produce ‘working’ sketches for my horror comic-strip to help me place where characters and objects will be in the panels and today I’m going to break my own rule and show them to you.
All of these working sketches come from the “Please Give Blood” installment from my comic-strip, Al Cook’s “Necropolis” and as you will see, these were never meant to be seen…
* Working Sketch:
* Eventual Illustration Panel:
* Working Sketch:
* Eventual Illustration Panel:
* Working Sketch:
* Eventual Illustration Panel:
* Working Sketch:
* Eventual Illustraion Panel:
* Working Sketch #1:
* Working Sketch #2:
* Working Sketch #3:
* Working SKetch #4:
* Eventual Illustration Panel:
I decided to upload these scribbles because aside from my own, I like to see work in progress. Be it a building being built or a half finished song, I’m interested and so I hope those sketches were of some interest to you.
You can view “Please Give Blood” in full HERE.
You May Also Be Interested In…
* Al Cook’s “Necropolis”
* Graham Humphreys: “Zombie Flesh Eaters” Artwork
* Sketches For Nobody #6
