tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86966952009-06-27T10:38:11.302-04:00Bluesman Doctor Oakroot speaks out on blues, experimental music, oddball instruments, life, death, politics, and just about anything else that crosses his mind.Doctor Oakroothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02811813008116374212noreply@blogger.comBlogger104125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8696695.post-33324907916253239382009-06-21T16:19:00.000-04:002009-06-21T16:20:31.546-04:00

Here's a trial run of my new electric cigar box kazoo and banshee mask. It's actually just a low quality microphone made with a piezo disk attached to a plastic diaphragm. Mounts on a mic stand. Offers some cool possibilities on stage.

Doctor Oakroothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02811813008116374212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8696695.post-78538002849647763542009-06-21T07:08:00.002-04:002009-06-21T07:42:18.013-04:00

So, I've been working with horses for while at Heads Up! Therapeutic Riding and we own three ponies - two retired from Heads Up! (yeah, I'm a soft hearted sucker, lol) and one an ill thought-out gift to (step-daughter) Rachel from her dad... but had never riden a horse - for one thing, all the ponies I know are too small to carry my 287 lbs. - until yesterday.Recently, Heads Up! acquired some new

Doctor Oakroothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02811813008116374212noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8696695.post-75024075434560994452009-06-07T14:23:00.002-04:002009-06-07T14:28:10.597-04:00

Recently, I've been attending the biweekly blues jam at the Broad Street Cafe in Durham, NC. I've been playing bass on the Kickin' Bass - which works out fine, and also acting as band leader while playing guitar on the Cyclops and singing...That's led to a few problems:First, and most shocking, I found that some of the other players don't know much about blues before about 1970... so when I

Doctor Oakroothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02811813008116374212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8696695.post-12781536164480659832009-06-07T07:39:00.001-04:002009-06-07T07:40:41.619-04:00

Living without faith is like driving in the fog...Living with faith is like driving in the fog... and knowing it's OK.

Doctor Oakroothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02811813008116374212noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8696695.post-35953034983308700702009-05-16T16:53:00.004-04:002009-05-16T17:01:00.120-04:00

Habitat for Humanity is organizing a Memorial Day shindig in Pittsboro, NC... and I've agreed to play a set of cigar box guitar music...And teach a workshop on building cigar box guitars.But, whoops... I'm pretty much out of cigar boxes.So Rebekah and I headed off today and found our way to K&S Tobacco on NC-55 in Cary, NC and lo and behold, they had a bunch of cigar boxes.I picked out the 17 in

Doctor Oakroothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02811813008116374212noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8696695.post-71662580512278418072009-05-09T15:49:00.002-04:002009-05-09T15:57:58.615-04:00

I was at a show the other night and got to talking to an elementary school art teacher there. She was interested in how she might apply what I was doing with instrument building to a project for her class.So, I suggested wrapping 5 rubber bands around a cardboard cigarbox and sliding a pencil under them for a bridge. Putting the pencil at an angle gives each rubber band "string" a different

Doctor Oakroothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02811813008116374212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8696695.post-70512013042269922232009-04-28T09:19:00.004-04:002009-04-28T09:24:58.328-04:00

So this guy got caught shoplifting... but was released without charge when he offered this defense: "Sure, it's illegal, but look at all the great stuff I got!"Wait! No! I got that wrong...It wasn't shoplifting... He got caught torturing prisoners! Guess that defense works for war crimes.Wasn't he the same guy who was criticizing liberals for situational morality?

Doctor Oakroothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02811813008116374212noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8696695.post-17578790281536025132009-04-25T17:12:00.002-04:002009-04-25T17:23:41.828-04:00

Yeah, I heard on the BBC a few days ago that most people tie their shoes wrong... The basic issue is whether you're tying a granny knot bow (wrong) or a square knot bow (right). Click here for the BBC report.Now, I learned to tie my shoes when I was 5 years old... I learned the difference between a square knot and a granny knot when I was a teenager. So I didn't get it right at 5 and been tying

Doctor Oakroothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02811813008116374212noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8696695.post-24177908511583219022009-04-22T10:59:00.002-04:002009-04-22T11:14:21.208-04:00

You know, that old story about the itinerant beggar who filled a kettle with water, put a stone in it, and started cooking "stone soup".I heard this story again on WUNC - my local NPR station - the other day as a lead-in to a review of some cooking books.Of course, the story continues with everyone in the village contributing something they had been hoarding and there was enough soup for

Doctor Oakroothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02811813008116374212noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8696695.post-7150532143258203492009-04-16T11:10:00.010-04:002009-04-16T13:53:12.226-04:00

Valerie is a mother who is concerned about her son illegally sharing music files online. Here's her question: I have a teenage son who tells me his pirating music is no big deal. Since he is a musician himself, I point out to him that someday that’s going to be his money people are stealing. But he remains unphased. He tells me the record sales make money for the record label, not the

Doctor Oakroothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02811813008116374212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8696695.post-26141919256958258192009-04-05T09:00:00.003-04:002009-04-05T09:56:01.630-04:00

What? A wall painting? What's Oakroot on about now?Ever look at an Egyptian painting? Looks like it was drawn by a 4 year old... All the figures are in profile, but their eyes look straight out at you. It's just not realistic.The Egyptian artist drew each part of a figure from the point of view that showed it best, without respect to realistic perspective. He presented fragmented features of the

Doctor Oakroothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02811813008116374212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8696695.post-21842778444248900492009-04-04T09:01:00.001-04:002009-04-04T09:01:57.367-04:00

Yes, Satchmo played cigarbox guitar.From Jet Magazine July 9, 1981:July 4, 1990 - Not unlike jazz itself, Daniel Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong was born in a back-of-town part of New Orleans. His musical ability became evident early. As boy he took time out from fighting in the streets and swimming in the Mississippi to sing for pennies and to form part of a strolling quartet in which he played

Doctor Oakroothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02811813008116374212noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8696695.post-18092905499064637012009-04-01T15:43:00.003-04:002009-04-01T16:03:21.846-04:00

Star Trek, Star Wars, Star Gate, E.E. Smith's Lensmen, Ensign Flandry... All require faster than light travel for the stories to work. (Sometimes it's moving FTL, sometimes a worm hole or other extra-dimensional path, but it all amounts to FTL).But, modern physics seems to really be confirming that moving faster than light is not only impossible, but the idea actually doesn't even mean anything.

Doctor Oakroothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02811813008116374212noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8696695.post-17123252179991398772009-03-28T14:02:00.002-04:002009-03-28T14:25:10.541-04:00

So, I've spent the morning building a drum set out of found objects and homemade instruments... but I'm not building it physically. I'm building it inside the computer as a .sfz file.Then the .sfz file is loaded into the Dimension LE program that came with my new sound interface and, voila, instant found objects drum set.Here's a sample: Download Drum Sample So what's making those sounds? Most of

Doctor Oakroothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02811813008116374212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8696695.post-27060765153126392362009-03-20T05:55:00.005-04:002009-03-20T10:04:42.063-04:00

OK, so I've been using a lot of found object - or junk - musical instruments to support my cigar box guitars recently. (You can hear examples of this on my page at Cigarbox Nation.)So, I went looking for other junk music out there... found stuff like this - a lesson plan for K-3rd graders on making music with found objects. Now, it's very cool that someone might be teaching youngsters to express

Doctor Oakroothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02811813008116374212noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8696695.post-53125721705826303332008-10-03T13:21:00.000-04:002008-10-03T13:21:30.874-04:00

On the way up to Oneonta NY yesterday, we stopped in York PA to pick up a cigar box guitar I bought from Shane Speal - as you can see, Shane is alive and well and gainfully employed (That's his work place behind us.)So there we are with the guitar I bought, and one string bass by Gerry Thompson that Shane gave me, a bag full of Uncle Enos mags to sell at the Fingerlakes Fest, and Shane is

Doctor Oakroothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02811813008116374212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8696695.post-3000569751326810202008-10-03T13:13:00.000-04:002008-10-03T13:13:47.406-04:00

So the tour continues. Yesterday, we drove up to Oneonta where I'm playing tonight at the Autumn Cafe on Main St.On the way we spotted a beautiful rainbow covering the sky over the mountains. That inspired the Mountain Rainbow cigar box guitar - the giveaway for tonight's show.

Doctor Oakroothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02811813008116374212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8696695.post-75417249058784902492008-10-03T13:07:00.000-04:002008-10-03T13:07:52.936-04:00

So we (Doctor Oakroot and Rebekah) set out on tour Tuesday... it was a long winding journey to DC. Seemed to be going really slow - like a turtle.Also we kept seeing turtles on the road - unlike the turtle in "Odie's Turtle Moan", still alive.Well, that inspired me . For the giveaway guitar for the New Deal Cafe show in Greenbelt MD, I drew this "Punk Turtle."The show went great - I'm sure I'll

Doctor Oakroothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02811813008116374212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8696695.post-61573583182311272532008-09-09T19:36:00.004-04:002008-09-09T20:00:32.892-04:00

Here are the Jack of Diamonds and the Ace of Spades cigar box guitars. They will be the give-away guitars for the Sept 13 show at the Cave in Chapel Hill and the Sept 28 Carrboro Music Fest.These cigar box guitars are half spike lutes - similar in general design to many African lutes, including those played by the Griot. The neck runs part of the way through the body with the bridge (to which the

Doctor Oakroothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02811813008116374212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8696695.post-65622054226941326272008-09-08T12:05:00.004-04:002008-09-08T12:08:55.815-04:00

CBG Fest, Canandaigua NY, Oct 3-4, 2008. Be there!

Doctor Oakroothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02811813008116374212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8696695.post-85784325738182592042008-09-04T09:34:00.003-04:002008-09-04T09:39:15.576-04:00

"The difference between a hockey mom and a pitbull... lipstick." ~ Sarah PalinWell, honesty too - dogs are impeccably honest and never abuse their power to try to get their estranged brothers-in-law fired.

Doctor Oakroothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02811813008116374212noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8696695.post-9934929701688016542008-08-11T08:27:00.003-04:002008-08-11T08:36:26.878-04:00

If you listen to the recordings in the previous two posts, The Works of God and Lyre Lyre Pants on Fire, you may notice some reverb on the lyre... but, there's no post production reverb there at all (or any other effects aside from a little compression).As you can see in the picture, there's a spring mounted inside the lyre's sound box. One end is attached under the bass foot of the bridge. The

Doctor Oakroothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02811813008116374212noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8696695.post-48148581103557288092008-08-10T11:01:00.003-04:002008-08-10T11:14:26.205-04:00

Still thinking about what kind of music can be played on an instrument limited to six notes like my new lyre.Well, the ancient Greeks - back in Homer's time - played a 4 string lyre. Earlier Mycenean Greeks seem to have borrowed the Sumerian 7 note scale, but the Iron age Greeks wiped it out from Greece. Then Pythagoras borrowed it from the Sumerins (or Assyrians by that time) again, and we still

Doctor Oakroothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02811813008116374212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8696695.post-48390174101785022182008-08-09T12:20:00.002-04:002008-08-09T12:42:00.198-04:00

Rebekah recently opened a new pressed flower art shop in a Sanford flea market - and while there helping her set up, I found a six-in-line guitar tuner set (probably half of a 12-string set) in one of her neighbor's shop.That inspired me to build a Hutton Soo style lyre from a cigar box. (The pic is an early test assembly - before the pyrography was done.)Our friend Robin wasn't familiar with the

Doctor Oakroothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02811813008116374212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8696695.post-30824579132417883872008-07-06T13:29:00.002-04:002008-07-06T13:45:27.390-04:00

Just finished a new cigar box guitar - of a type I'm calling pandulcea. Basically, it's a cigar box guitar with diatonic fretting - like a dulcimer, but with a new twist.Most dulcimer music is in one of four modes, ionian, dorian, mixolydian, or aeolian... but with diatonic frets, the traditional dulcimer can only play in one mode in any given tuning. The modern dulcimer adds an additional fret

Doctor Oakroothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02811813008116374212noreply@blogger.com0