[Tomás F. Calvo]

Howard, I agree with your assessment:

One of my passions is how and why people create music and what internal, external and establishment forces impact on the final product. In this regard we are fortunate that Papa Rudi has managed to create the perfect environment for his adorable twin daughters to apply their creative abilities in such a perfect, unadulterated way, to produce the gems we constantly receive from them. My hat goes off to him! Along with the amazing ‘mumager’ Michaela, they are the perfect team and what I consider to be the perfect role models for what a healthy family can be. More power to the MLT I say!

The whole family works very hard and with very high standards. Something that is very rare indeed. The music industry is not set up to foster that, quite the contrary, so seeing them succeed is doubly wonderful to me.

Now as to the Stones vs. Beatles, I can’t see any criteria other than personal preference being of any value, and I think we know how that will turn out. As for the the riffs video, nice guy, but the Twins could give him a few lessons on how to play the guitar, let alone Beatles songs. He was much more at home with the Stones, I think.

[Tomás F. Calvo]

Thank you guys.

I thought I had answered Jung and Howard, maybe it didn’t post, sorry. Howard, I’ve heard Bologna is one of the most prestigious universities in the world, so congratulations on your niece’s accomplishments.

It’s quite amazing to me to see how quickly she learned the finger picking, because it’s not that easy, even for a child that learn faster, to get that coordination. She’s very dedicated though and practices a lot. We’re keeping on with the lessons over Skype and she also has a tutor in Spain.

Heading for Spain. Clouds in my eyes as the story comes to an end.

Epilogue: The younger one got a Violin for her birthday. Both happy with their new instruments.

[Tomás F. Calvo]

The whole family just left after being over for a week. We had a such great time and I got to know the 2 little ones that I had never met in person. We did so many things I ended exhausted but very happy. The picture above by the old tractor was from a pumpkin patch we visited.

I let my niece practice a bit on the guitar before doing the final “test”. I know she practiced a lot before coming over too.  As the uncle it’s very hard for me to be objective. I think she’s so sweet and growing up so fast, how can I say “no”? I know I’m absolutely biased, but still I think she did fabulously and she really surprised me. After all, she’s only been playing the guitar for 6 months.

I recorded her and got permission to post the video here, but please don’t share it outside this group.

http://calvo.us/Luli-TheWideWideLand.mp4

I know it’s far from perfect, but do you think she did OK?

[Tomás F. Calvo]

The saga continues…

When I told my sister that I wanted to give the Crown guitar to her daughter, her response was that I can’t give it to her “just because,” she has to earn it. As I’m giving her lessons every week, to earn the guitar we agree that she must learn one song properly. Of course I ‘m going to be very lenient, since at this point she’s only been playing for 4 months. While all this is going on, my sister confirms that she’s coming over to North Carolina for a visit. It’s the perfect time to hand over the guitar. The pressure was on for my niece, Lucila (Luli for short), since the countdown to performance had started and the clock was ticking.

Here’s a picture of my sister and her family. Luli is in the pink shirt.

[Tomás F. Calvo]

Right now, for me, the best Beatles song is Here, There and Everywhere. Well, they all are, always, ? but you know what I mean.

[Tomás F. Calvo]

I’m kind of amused by the ongoing argumentive debates going on here between Tomas/Jung/Howard…. It’s entertaining as long as it doesn’t get out of hand and causes harm…. It’s not worth to get to an argumentative point where one gets so riled up in anger, etc…

Thanks Jacki, I was wondering how it may look from the outside, personally nothing on these subjects could upset me. I’m here because it lifts my spirits and talking about this for me is a pleasure, even if I’m disagreeing with what is being said. I think though Howard may come across sometimes as a prickly pear, he has a big heart. He couldn’t like the MonaLisa Twins otherwise, right?

[Tomás F. Calvo]

And this is after repairs:

The problem is that I can’t ship it internationally because of CITES.

[Tomás F. Calvo]

Here it is from the back:

[Tomás F. Calvo]

Thanks Howard.

I couldn’t really justify this Crown guitar for me, but I thought it would be perfect for my niece. She’s 11, and had just picked up playing the guitar. Once a week I have been giving her lessons over Skype. She’s Australian, but the whole family is spending a sabbatical in Spain. The “F” chord is an impossibility for her, especially on the cheap guitar she has been playing with. This guitar has a shorter scale (24.9”), and with light strings and low action, I thought it would be much easier for her small hands to attempt barred chords.

I went ahead and bought the guitar not knowing what would arrive, though the price was low enough. Old guitars can have a myriad of issues that sometimes become too expensive to fix. I was very happy with what arrived. It had it’s issues, like a shrinking pickguard (standard for the period), worn frets, some uneven frets, some gunk accumulated, but no cracks and overall good, including the neck. I cleaned it up, dressed some frets, adjusted the truss rod, changed the pickguard and it’s looking very snazzy. More importantly, the back and sides seem to be Brazilian Rosewood. I’m not an expert on the matter, but I’ve put it up against my Brazilian Rosewood guitar and the East Indian Rosewood one I’ve got and it’s clearly in the Brazilian camp. Since there are so many variations in wood patterns I can’t be 100% sure. Whatever wood it may be, it sounds lovely.

Here it is mid repairs:

 

[Tomás F. Calvo]

This is great Jung, and I relate to it a lot. There’s a quote by Robert Schumann that’s a favorite of mine:

To send light into the depths of the human heart — this is the artist’s calling!

Original in German:

Licht senden in die Tiefen des menschlichen Herzens — des Künstlers Beruf!

Clearly the MonaLisa-Twins do this in droves.

[Tomás F. Calvo]

I think I’m going to disagree with myself here. I don’t know how I can put the Rickenbacker 360/12 together with the Rickenbacker 325. So here’s my revised list:

1. Gibson Les Paul

2. Fender Stratocaster

3. Gibson ES 335

4. Fender Telecaster

5. Rickenbacker 360/12

6. Gretsch Country Gentleman

7. Epiphone Casino

8. Gretsch Duo-Jet

9. Rickenbaker 325

10. Paul Reed Smith Custom 24

Better?

[Tomás F. Calvo]

Hi Howard,
I don’t think I was defending anything. I do like the Beatles, you like the Stones, and that’s great. I’m not imposing my views on anybody. Like I’ve said there are a handful of amazing Stones songs that move me. “Angie” being one of them. My sister came to visit with her family for 10 days recently and she’s a big Rolling Stones fan, the first day here she was wearing her Stones shirt (I’m always wearing a Beatles shirt). We had great banter. You may be underestimating my knowledge in music, I don’t think you want to put the Beatles up to the Stones side by side in an objective way, preferences aside.
I don’t think Paul’s career was as great as the Beatles, but he did some amazing solo work. “Maybe I’m Amazed”, Band on the Run, Ebony and Ivory, are all as good as the Beatles period. Plus, it’s Paul all along, he was doing Hey Jude, Let it Be, Yesterday. His career includes the Beatles, as a songwriter an performer, there hasn’t been anyone more successful in at least 100 years. I understand that music is subjective. Sales and rankings are manipulated, especially nowadays.
As to the article you quoted, I had read it some time ago, and I noted the publication date. I’m sorry to say that in my humble opinion it’s pure garbage. He substantiates his wild claims with vague convoluted opinions, nothing else. I’m afraid Professor Leroi doesn’t get out much. I feel for his students if he still has any. Saying that the Beatles music is irrelevant, really? Count me out of the list of those who think that at 17 there was a musical revolution going on. At 17 (1984) I thought the music was crap. I’ve always been a Beatles fan and I know what I’m talking about. We talk about the 60’s revolution (Stones included), not the 70s or 80s or 90s. None of his arguments make any sense to me. How can you say the Beatles music is irrelevant when it transcends generations. Beatles music is at the top of the charts today, 50 years on.
When someone puts a title before their name, especially when the article is in a field unrelated to the specialty of the author, it raises a red flag for me. This makes me look closer at the claims they are making, and more often than not, they are nothing but nonsense or manipulations. I’m not one for titles. I know someone that managed the fortunes of many celebrities and she was a high school dropout. I understand that to build a house you need an engineer, to ensure soundness, but a title doesn’t give wisdom, only knowledge. Leroi mentions the amount of nonsense written, while clearly contributing to it.
Just my opinion.
Tomás

[Tomás F. Calvo]

AC/DC is a great band, one of the greats for me. Though it’s true that they didn’t diversify much.

There are several musicians out there that talk about Beethoven as the Heavy Metal of the classics, and I can see their point.
You have Bach that was all harmonies, polyphonic voices, 100 years later Mozart has all these lyrical melodies and Beethoven follows with stuff like the 3rd and 5th Symphonies.

Here’s a video of a talk about it, but there are a few out there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4wwCGypbzY

[Tomás F. Calvo]

Now to the subject of the thread. I’ve confirmed some info that I had in the back of my head. People usually put down Paul McCartney’s solo career because it is less than the Beatles, but it’s an incredible one. For example The Rolling Stones had -8- #1 hits in the US over their entire career. Paul in his solo career had -9- #1 hits.

[Tomás F. Calvo]

That’s great Howard. True, ask Giles Martin for the real story, he knows better than anybody as to what is recorded in Beatles tapes. I tried it and recorded something very close, almost what Randy Bachman is describing, but maybe different shapes to the chords. One thing I realized is that it’s not just the notes played, but the instruments and amps used and the recording technique. Those things drastically change the sound too.
As to AI, those promoting it as the new tech to deconstruct songs, write hit songs, or write the next “Beatles” song, well, they may be scientists, but they must also be deaf.