Melodiosa

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This thing is called a Sextet. What you’re looking at is only part of it. It looks like a paddle wheel from a river boat. It has SIX harmonicas mounted on it. There are little handles on the end of the frame that holds it all together, and you can spin it around to use the different harmonicas as you’re playing a song. They are used for old pop standards from the 20s and 30s and 40s. This sort of thing used to be much more popular than it is now. It’s impressive to see someone really work one of these things over.

Aaaaaaand DONE! “Make Stuff #2” Rolling Ball Sculpture

Finished at last! I forget when I started on this thing, but it seems like weeks ago. I think it was nine days hence, but I was figuring it would be wrapped up in no more than a week, or perhaps even less.

Yeaaaaaah, right. I don’t think it’s likely that I can do something simply and quickly, although that last one wrapped up pretty quickly once I was able to put some time in on it. Okay, it’s possible. Not likely, but possible.

So this one was supposed to be pretty simple and quick, and I suppose, compared to the 30-day builds that I’ve done in the past, this one WAS pretty quick, but not as fast as I’d planned, and, well, really…not as simple. Concept, yes. Execution, no!

Basically there’s a spiral that dumps onto this backwards-facing incline, and then the marble gets carried to the top by inertia where it stops, rolls back again, passes the point where it fell from the spiral, and then continues on through the rest of the sculpture. At its most basic it’s just a spiral and about a foot or so of track. In the real world, not so simple.

But enough of that! Check out the results!

makestuff2lftop

Above you can see the unique aspect to this particular sculpture, the brass ramp. Said ramp is made out of the reed plate of a Hohner harmonica. I removed all the reeds and bent it into a shallow U-shaped channel. The track that it mounts to extends for quite some distance before it is anchored to the base. For this reason, when the marble lands on it, it vibrates a lot and looks like it’s about to fall off at any number of points. It also sounds kind of cool, because it’s brass, gives it a nice little clanky, rattley sound. I would like to get some video of this one in particular. I don’t have a camera, though, nor does anyone I know offhand. I’m wondering if maybe my goal should be to sell several of these so that I can afford a camera. After all, the whole point of these sculptures is that they actually move. It’d be nice to show that aspect to people, particularly when it’s a weird one like this one.

Here you can see the extension of the ramp a little better:

makestuff2side

To the lower left of the above photo you can see some more brass. This is where the non-spiral portion of the track is finally anchored. This is also where minor insanity set in. I’m guessing there are about ten inches or so of free movement before the track reaches that anchor point. This is necessary for the agove-mentioned wiggling and clanking and whatnot. It just HAD to be done that way, or it would have really taken the fizz out of the punch, so to speak.

Getting that brass cut properly and soldered on there was a PAIN! That was an entire day of my life, and after that entire day, I failed quite spectacularly at the soldering. I had to leave it sitting there all blackened and lumpy, go to bed, and come back to it the next morning. The following day I realized that, if I were to have any hope in completing it as I had envisioned, what was going to be required was that I clamp the entire assembly onto a 2×4 board *vertically* so that the solder would flow onto the joints properly. Note: This is the part of the sculpture where things went from simple to “Hey, wait a minute! How did I end up doing all this work!” ‘Twas totally worth it though, kids, as it turned out freakin’ sweet!

makestuff2rtqtr

Here’s the final photo showing some more detail on the curved supports for the spiral. Those turned out kind of nice, though I was torn about them for a while. I made them all and then wanted to scrap them and do something else, but instead I made a few cuts and bends and figured they looked pretty decent anyway. Here you can also get a better look at the upswing on the end of the whole affair. It does a nice job of slowing the marble down and bring it to a more gentle stop where it just kind of settles into the curve and waits to be picked up again.

By the way, didn’t my dad do another killer job on the base? He’s pretty awesome. I should probably get hold of him and ask for more for future projects. I have three left, but by the time I’m done he’ll probably just be finishing up another order for me.

So, fun, right? I thought so, anyway. I’ve never done anything previously with an active element like that wiggling ramp. I think I dig it. I’m going to try something like that with the others, some different kind of element for each one, maybe throw in a little more brass while I’m at it. It’s a bit of a pain to solder, but it looks nice when it’s done.

So that’s it! Pretty cool, eh? I’m jazzed. I hope the next one is as fun as this one. Completing this was rewarding, as it negated all those feelings of frustration that I had while I built it. When those brass pieces refused to solder properly I really did want to scrap that whole part of the plan, but I took a deep breath, called on some patience, and it came through just fine. We all have these moments in our creative endeavors. Remember to “Never judge a fledgling piece of work too soon.” That’s Artist’s Way stuff, kids. Learn it, know it, live it! It’s better than a pile of bent copper wire!

Salty

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Yes, it does bother me that my salt shaker looks that dirty, but not extremely because I pretty much never use it, which I guess is why I never noticed it was so dirty until AFTER I took the photo. Anyway, I love the lighting in this photo, which is the whole reason I shot it. For some reason I like this a lot better than a lot of other pictures I’ve taken that don’t have dirty kitchen items in them. Go fig.

Stained Wood and Swingin’ Music

Man, Tina is going to town on this RBS project I’ve handed to her. Check it out. She’s doing test designs and stain colors on scrap wood for this thing. Honestly, I figured she’d just whip out some nifty little design, draw it out, stain, and bam – we’re done. But no, such is not the case. She’s being meticulous about every detail. Witness the use of the bone folder if you don’t believe me. Feel free to leave her a comment if you like. I’m sure she’d enjoy hearing from you.

Today we also have a first for you here, kids. It’s personal video! Well, it’s not my personal video, but I’m actually in it, part of it. In addition, this is, if not the first, then one of the first blogs containing much about my musical pursuits. I play with a band regularly, and while I’ve been working with the same band for over ten years now, it occurred to me a few months ago that I have some good friends with whom I’ve fallen out of touch musically. Some of these guys are people with whom I formed my first band in college. I thought it no coincidence that, not long after I arrived at this conclusion, one member of that group of friends came to me and essentially said, “I have a line on this gig with these other friends of ours. Do you want to do it?”

Have I ever told you about how I don’t believe in coincidences? I don’t. I think stuff happens for a reason. I think I got the opportunity to rejoin my friends and play with some new folks right at the exact time that I was ready to embrace the opportunity. It was a little unnerving, because I’ve been used to playing with the same guys for so long. New stuff, even old new stuff, can be kind of scary. I spent twelve hours total driving to practice with these guys so that we could do the best job possible. Still, the big day arrives, and you’re a little nervous. Even if it’s just a house party, you’re a little nervous. Will the show set sail, moving gallantly into open waters, waves crashing at its bow as it triumphantly makes its maiden voyage, or will it get about eight feet from the pier, suddenly begin taking on water, and moments later present only the mast above the waterline?

I’m happy to say that she fared well, and an excellent time was had by all. The inside joke on the song’s title comes from the last name of one of the attendees. The guitarist wrote this song especially to mock him, which is what musicians do to people they like. It’s a bit of cheese, but then the whole point was to have fun with it. I’m lucky I have friends who ask me to be part of things like this. It was big fun.