The Holiday Cheer Touchstyle Club

Weed, California November 2008: Hot on the heels of the Mobius Magnificent Layaway Plan ... comes the "Holiday Cheer" Touchstyle Club, with perhaps hundreds of dollars of savings for deserving little girls and- Oops, I meant to say dollars of savings for deserving musicians around the globe.

Yes, the Touchstyle Club, strange visitor from another planet, who came to Earth with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal man; and who, disguised as Kent Clark, mild-mannikin at the Daily Bungle, a grape necropolitan snoozepaper ...

As you can see, things are going downhill fast here at the on-site news center. That's because I stayed up late last night, and then woke up early with yet another set of bonus stuff for anybody wanting to save perhaps Hundreds of Dollars -- oh, did I say that already -- well, perhaps I did.

If you'll take a quick peek, you can see why I've become over-excited. Be sure to *read every word*, from top to bottom, and then let me know what you think, you good little boys and- I mean, you good musicians, you.

Here it is --

The Holiday Cheer Touchstyle Club.

To Maintain A Healthy Level Of Insanity

Ginette Degner's blog, November 2008: The Bloggard has completely stolen this list from Search Engine Diva, even the title, because it made me fall about. Maybe you'd like it, too.

1. At Lunch Time, Sit In Your Parked Car With Sunglasses on and point a Hair Dryer At Passing Cars. See If They Slow Down.

2. Page Yourself Over The Intercom. Don’t Disguise Your Voice!

3. Every Time Someone Asks You To Do Something, ask If They Want Fries with that.

4. At the Office, put Decaf In The Coffee Maker For 3 Weeks . Once Everyone has Gotten Over Their Caffeine Addictions, Switch to Espresso.

5. In the Memo Field Of All Your Checks, Write ‘ For Marijuana.

6. Skip down the hall Rather Than Walk and see how many looks you get.

7. Order a Diet Water whenever you go out to eat, with a serious face.

8. Specify That Your Drive-through Order Is ‘To Go’.

9. Sing Along At The Opera.

10. Five Days In Advance, Tell Your Friends You Can’t Attend Their Party Because You have a headache.

11. When The Money Comes Out The ATM, Scream ‘I Won! I Won!’

12. When Leaving the Zoo, Start Running towards the Parking lot, Yelling ‘Run For Your Lives! They’re Loose!’

13. Tell Your Children Over Dinner, ‘Due To The Economy, We Are Going To Have To Let One Of You Go.’

14. Pick up a Box of Condoms at the Pharmacy, Go to the Counter, and Ask Where the Fitting Room is.

Bloggard Travels to Squidoo

Squidoo.com, May 31, 2008: For those as may be interested, the Bloggard, in his persona as Traktor Topaz, mild-mannered musician at a great metropolitan newspaper, has posted an article at Squidoo.

For some reason, the Squidarians call an article like this a 'lens.' So really, the Bloggard has created a lens. So now we know.

The name of the article is Play Guitar How To: Tap Guitar or Pick Guitar?

It has a story of a poor monkey, and some suggestions for fellows as would like to play a normal guitar. (Not everybody needs to play a Megatar. Different smokes for different folks, we say.)

If you enjoy the article, please put a nice commento on the commento formo. Gracias!

Tiny Flowers

Weed, California, Saturday May 10, 2008: Usually around mid-day, the dogs and I like to take a little walk around the house and the very large vacant lot next door. It's mostly an open field, with some tall and graceful trees at the far end.

If we have walked to the end, and walked around one or more of the trees ... well, we know we've been somewhere.

Today, the air was cool, but the sun was warm on us, and I plodded along after Charlie the dashing young boy, and I was lost in thought, watching my feet, for the now fast-growing grasses can hide gopher holes.

And I saw ...

[Read more ... ]

I Say it's Spring

Weed, California, May Day, 2008: I find myself waking earlier, for the sun bangs upon the blinds, and the dogs grow restive.

Yawning, I stumble outside, following the dogs. There is white frost on the newly-long grasses, and I blink in the light. The mountain is wreathed in clouds upon its shoulders, but rises above, up into a clear pale blue sky, and bright sunlight startles me in the crisp air.

Dogs dart here and there, in a world of fantastic scents hidden in the chill. As we make our way around the house, the frozen grasses crunch beneath our feet.

Suddenly I'm startled by the little tree near the road. I'd been told it was a cherry tree, but now I know.

Upon its twisted branches, pink cherry blossoms.

Yearning has Faded

San Francisco, Spring 1982: In the house on Tenth Avenue that I shared with Quinlan the photographer, I had a dream one night, that I saw Carolyn my high-school sweetheart. I'd like to say she came to me and that she cared for me, but she just passed nearby with a glance. And I was filled to overflowing with yearning. I awoke, and the dream left me with the yearning, as if it had been yesterday.

Last night, I had another dream ...

[Read more ... ]

Best Friends

Kanab, Utah, April 22, 2008 -- Adrienne has gone to the dogs, and it's just great for her. Over the last several years, she took on volunteer work. First she found a 'shelter' for dogs which was actually kind of a collector's nightmare, with scores of dogs kept in small pens, all day, every day. There were ups and downs, but in the end the place was shut down and Adrienne placed 96 of the dogs in homes and in other shelters. A better life for all those jailed puppies.

She's been studying the Secret, and she made a vision board. She was living in a little apartment in Mount Shasta, and not really finding work that touched her heart, and then one day she woke up, and she thought ...

[Read more ... ]

The Amazing Fork Trick

Weed, California, April 14, 2008: This weekend my brother David and his new wife Annie came to visit me. My little brother is now 48 and is working on a larger project in Silicon Valley that involves General Dynamics and the gubbamint. So they kindly drove up to the mountains to say howdy, and I discover that I'm awfully proud of the fine man my brother has become and Annie is just a delightful woman, whose company I enjoyed.

We mostly just talked about happenings in our lives (moves and kinfolks), what we're studying (Tolle, the Secret), and we ate delicious meals and drove around to scenic vistas.

And they showed me the Amazing Fork Trick.

[Read more ... ]

New Mobius Megatar Digs in Weed, California

Weed, California, January 27, 2008 -- In November the Bloggard moved into new property in the historic logging town of Weed, California, and we began moving the Mobius Megatar company into the new shop building.

After setting up the spraybooth, we tested and got it working, then got the place painted, and moved the office and essential computers. All OK?

OK.

In December, disassembling the computer-controlled cutting machinery -- 800 pounds! -- this was a good opportunity to upgrade some electronics -- and the two hired guys flaked out on moving day, so Patrick (shop foreman) and Bloggard moved it ... very, very carefully. After reassembly, with the upgraded electronics it runs faster and better. [Make Tim Allen Tool Time ape noises here.]

In January, we hired a truck and two burly fellows, and 'Everything Must Go!' by golly! Everything moved. Now all the essential systems are re-assembled, and Weed, California is the world headquarters for Mobius Megatar.

Whew!
---

Before the move --



After the move --


[Parts Store A]


[The Bloggard makes tuning adjustments]


[Patrick the shop foreman works on a fretboard]


[Computer-controlled cutting machinery carves Megatars from wood]


[New-cut instruments on the right; finished and assembled on the left]


[Shipping station, and two boxed Megatars on the right head for Cleveland and the UK]

If you'd like to see the entire photo essay of the building of the new factory shop, just go to the Mobius Megatar News section and click on "Open the Mobius MegaBlog."

And now, with all the moving done ... we're happy to be here!

The Return of MegaTapper Newsletter

Mount Shasta, CA, September 25, 2007: In years past, Mobius Megatar published the **MegaTapper News** over several years, and it was very popular, containing articles, lessons, interviews, and news bits of interest to two-handed tappers around the world.

But in the press of moving to the mountains, setting up the shop all over again, installing and programming our new CNC machinery, and getting back into making touch-style basses, the newsletter fell to the wayside.

Well ....

It's baack!

And better than ever. Delivered by email, in an easy to read format, the first issue of the MegaTapper News carries --

** An article on 'motors,' which are simple, repeating left-hand patterns so you can chug along while playing melody or improvising with the right hand.

I remember talking with Frank Jolliffe years ago -- he was once well-known in the two-handed touch-style field, and he's a great improviser -- and he told me that, although it appeared that he was improvising with both hands, in actual fact he was switching his attention quickly back and forth, and he had a lot of left hand 'motors' to keep going while his right hand improvised.

So I made a study of 'motors' and discovered seven different kinds of motors, and breaking it down simply like this, it made it easier to learn one at a time.

I've actually written lessons about these motors, and it just so happens that the first one is being published in the new Mobius Megatar newsletter, first issue going out this week.

** Plus you'll discover an intriguing series called (Easy Touch-Style) 'Chordology', which will make chords, and chord substitution and re-harmonization clear and easy, using a simple and new way of looking at chords and harmony.

** Plus ... Tappy Tips ... and more!

So if you haven't already done so, I invite you to sign up for the free MegaTapper News here!

Here's to speedy learning, music, and fun. It makes life more enjoyable.

He's baack ... on YouTube!

YouTube, September 19, 2007: Over the last two weeks, in my spare moments (hah!) I recorded our 'TrueTapper Eclipse' instrument. This is our most basic instrument, and while it is perfectly suitable for a professional musician to do studio recording, any student with a summer job can afford this instrument.

The video is a demonstration of the features of the Eclipse, and the Bloggard in his guise of Traktor Topaz, strange musician from another planet, plays a couple of songs and explains how the instrument is constructed to make learning fast, and playing easy.

The video is a companion to the previous video which explains the Easy Touch-Style Method of learning to play music using the two-handed tapping technique. The Easy Touch-Style video is the first of several, and in one of the online forums, my very good friend Greg Howard suggested that I make a video playing some music.

So I thought -- Why not?

So, assuming that YouTube is online and streaming just now, the Bloggard presents:



Now, at last, the neighbors can know the source of those strange flickering lights ... late at night ... and the ... peculiar ... sounds. Oh, yes. Yes, now they'll know.

New Truck

Yreka, California, September 1, 2007: The Bloggard has a new truck. It's almost time to move, and I've got to move stuff, so I'll move the stuff in the new truck. Well, new to me, the truck --



And I'll start by hauling a couple of megatars --



But, say ... I could haul *lots* more megatars in this truck!

Nearly Moving

August 29, 2007, Mount Shasta, CA: It won't be long before the Bloggard will be moving to the new home.

I have purchased a house here in Northern California, and the property had adequate space, and so it happened that, thanks to the goodness of the Benevolent Universe, a new shop is being constructed there. Mobius Megatar, where I make wonderful musical instruments, has outgrown it's space at the Secret Megatar Laboratory, and soon will have this new and larger factory shop.

The construction has trampled the once-lavish grounds, but soon our team of avid gardeners will be back on the job. In the meantime, here are some pictures --

(a) The house (left) and new shop (right):



(b) The house (left) and new shop (right):



(c) The view out the windows:



If you'd like to see more photos of the shop construction project, on our Mobius Megatar website, in the News section, open up the MegaBlog, and choose "Factory" to find lottso photos from bare ground up through the current state.

It won't be long before we move our equipment into the new shop, and create even more Megatars for a world thirsty for easy-to-play music.

Bloggard on YouTube!

YouTube, August 7, 2007: Today the Bloggard has completed the first video of the "Easy Touch-Style Method" series for Mobius Megatar. As perhaps you know, the Bloggard (using his stage name of Traktor Topaz) along with reclusive musician Henri DuPont have written a series of method books which makes learning to play music very easy.

These books are called "The Easy Touch-Style Method." The purpose of the video series is to provide a demo of how easy it can be to learn two-handed touch-style play using this streamlined learning method.

The first video -- viewable today -- is an introduction which simply explains what touch-style is, and provides a demo of how one can play by touch. It then shows why having more strings makes playing easier, and shows how clear it is when both hands can move exactly the same. Then, using four simple chords, the Bloggard demonstrates --

• How to arpeggiate chords in both hands using only nine notes


• How to then change that to play roots and harmony notes with your two hands


• How to use those bass roots to play left hand chords


• How to use those harmony notes while playing walking bass inside the nine notes


• How to play dual melody in both hands.


• How to play chords and improvise


• How to play chords and melody.

And so, for your elucidation and entertainment, The Adventures of Bloggard presents --



PS: If you are wondering, the instrument used in the demo is a Mobius Megatar TrueTapper Eclipse. The audio recording was done entirely in Guitar Rig 2 with minimal effects. As you can see, the demo was filmed in the Mobius Megatar Space Station engine room. (Warp Drives were offline for an oil change. Otherwise, it would have been too noisy.)

Posted by bloggard at 19:54:57 [Link] -