Author Archives: Gandalfe

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About Gandalfe

Just an itinerant saxophonist trying to find life between the changes. I have retired from the Corps of Engineers and Microsoft. I am an admin on the Woodwind Forum, run the Pacifica Big Band (formerly the Microsoft Jumpin' Jive Orchestra) and participate in other ensembles. Mostly enjoy time with family and friends.

Gandalfe’s Fav New Musicians going into 2007

Posted on January 16, 2007 by Gandalfe

Have you ever found a song on MySpace, YouTube, or Soapbox that you just can’t stop listening to. For musicians like Suzy and me this is a very common occurrence. So I thought I share some of my new favs … Continue reading →

Posted in Music | 7 Comments

Amber’s Music Lessons

Posted on January 12, 2007 by Gandalfe

 Little Amber cried the first time she heard me playing sax. But she can be forgiven as she was barely one year old. And she has never done it since. She probably hears Suzy and I playing almost everyday now. … Continue reading →

Posted in Music | 6 Comments

Rating Your Music Skills – How do you rate?

Posted on January 10, 2007 by Gandalfe

New musicians, usually late bloomers, often ask me where they rate as a performer. They also ask their instructors to help them determine that. Now I’m not going to get into the dynamics of a person’s need to be rated. … Continue reading →

Posted in Music | 2 Comments

Beginner Clarinet to Sax Instruction

Posted on January 7, 2007 by Gandalfe

The company I work for had a charity auction so I auctioned one hour of my time as a beginning to intermediate instructor. My emphasis was stated as evaluating equipment including mouthpiece selection, intro to music theory, learning to enjoy … Continue reading →

Posted in Music | 5 Comments

Niven’s Laws or “How the Universe Works”

Posted on January 6, 2007 by Gandalfe

Niven’s law was named after science fiction author Larry Niven, who has published them when I first saw them as "how the Universe works". The rules are: a. Never throw shit at an armed man. b. Never stand next to someone … Continue reading →

Posted in Books | 1 Comment

How to get a performance video of your band

Posted on January 5, 2007 by Gandalfe

I have been toying with the idea of joining the band wagon and getting nice videos of some of the various bands that I play with. Right now I have anyone available take the movie and then another guy translate … Continue reading →

Posted in Jazz | 4 Comments

For you power blogger wannabe’s…

Posted on January 4, 2007 by Gandalfe

  Guy Kawasaki wrote this very interesting treatise on improving the value of your blog. Last year in a post called "The 120 Day Wonder: How to Evangelize a Blog" he provides a fair framework for making your blog a … Continue reading →

Posted in Technology | 4 Comments

What the heck is a Bis Key and why should I care?

Posted on January 4, 2007 by Gandalfe

The bis key on a saxophone allows you to roll the finger used to sound B so that you can play Bb with one finger. When I went to school, I was taught to use the first finger of each hand … Continue reading →

Posted in Saxophone | 1 Comment

New Year’s Eve Plans

Posted on December 31, 2006 by Gandalfe

Suzy and I wanted to do something different for this special day, the last of 2006. So we purchased tickets to see Bye Bye Birdie which was voted Seattle’s best musical production of 2006 by Footlight Awards. It has the added … Continue reading →

Posted in Theater | 5 Comments

Bass Sax Spit Valve and Case story

Posted on December 28, 2006 by Gandalfe

Always more projects than time, we went to see Paul Woltz at Kennelly Keys again. This time he shortened the bass sax neck 3/4ths of an inch, put a shim in to reduce the inside diameter of the neck to … Continue reading →

Posted in Saxophone | 2 Comments