Bandaging Your Dog

Maestro pulled a shoulder muscle earlier this month. It didn't seem like a serious injury, so brought out his Maestro-sized "ice" packs (frozen A & W take-out ketchup packs), cracked open his first aid kit and attempted to figure out the best way to wrap his leg. Here are some really vet videos that I tracked down to help:

ACE Bandage to Support a Dog's Shoulder

How to Apply a Bandage on a Wound on a Dog's Paw:

This video includes natural healing products, such as honey and aromatherapy:

Maestro isn't too crazy about the bandaging process. However, he seems happier now that I've figured out how to wrap the ACE bandage around his shoulder properly.

Trying to Not Lose Myself Giving Directions

Last week in Japanese class, we were studying how to ask for direction and how to give directions. Asking is so much easier than giving directions! Since I haven't had a chance to catch up on workbook questions, I decided to hunt for some Japanese language videos online to listen to while I am working.

If you are studying Japanese, you may want to check these out.

This is how I learned "left" and "right":

This is simpler than what we learned, so it's perfect for "survival Japanese":

This one shows the kanji and tips on how to remember them:

This is closest to what we covered in class:

THWOMP Interview: On Songwriting

Nintendo® cover band THWOMP has been rocking conventions, parties and bars since the early 2000’s. This is an exciting year for the Calgary-based group, with gigs at the Calgary Comic Convention, Otafest and Animethon 17. This fall, THWOMP will host a CD release party for their debut CD.

Band members Brad Stanton and Dave Marshall took time out from THWOMP’s rehearsal schedule to chat with Suite 101. In this segment, Brad and Dave explain the band’s songwriting process.

THWOMP and Music Transcription

THWOMP's band charts are faithful transcriptions made either by Brad Stanton (lead guitar) or Kirk McVean (keyboards). It's a painstaking process that challenges the musician's melodic and rhythmic dictation skills. The result is a product of their own creative talents.

"I always do it by hand," explained Brad. "One part for every player." Video game themes loop in two-minute segments, which helped in the transcription process. When transcribing the music to "F-Zero" (a racing game), Brad turned on his Nintendo® game console and paused the game just before the engines fired up. "I’ll get a bar, and then I’ll have to wait two minutes for it to come back around," Brad said. "It was an absolutely grueling process. Think of doing that for a drum track, a bass track, two guitar tracks and then eventually doing it for Dave too. It took forever, but it was it was an absolute labor of love."

There are software programs that pull the audio out of the game. "I did not know about that for the first two-and-a-half years," admitted Brad. "You can mute certain ones, you can slow it down. Oh my God, that saved my life a couple of times."

Two programs the group uses include a plug-in for WinAmp and Audio Overload. For some songs, the ability to slow down a track is essential. "Some of those arpeggiated keyboard lines are tough to figure out when they’re going 16th notes at 180 beats per minute," said Dave.

Having the Perfect Skill Set for Musical Transcription

All six members of the band work together at Sak's Music in Calgary, Alberta. Brad manages the McKenzie Towne location, while the other group members work as music teachers.

"We’re so perfectly situated to do this kind of thing," said Brad. "My job for 11 years was sitting in a room with a little kid and transcribing tunes for them so they could learn some tune that they like off the radio. I spent so much time doing that, that I got so fast at it, eventually."

The addition of Kirk McVean to the group gave Brad a chance to take a two year break from transcribing. "I was getting burnt out doing it. He’s taken over doing it and it’s such a blessing." This arrangement isn't without challenges, however. "I can’t believe how slow I’ve become at it," Brad admitted. "Stupid Kirk, being a keyboard player, he writes everything in standard. Now, the two guitar players, us idiots have to read actual notes. It makes us feel pretty stupid."

Why THWOMP Doesn't Play a Lot of Modern Game Music

"We don’t really do more modern stuff," said Dave. "It’s a different kind of music and it doesn’t suit our format quite as well."

Music from newer Nintendo® games are orchestral in nature. "They use a 64-piece orchestra when they record it, explained Dave. "They use straight digital audio. It’s almost MIDI the way it works (the old stuff)."

THWOMP is a Nintendo® band comprised of Calgarians Brad Stanton (lead guitar), Colin Mitchel (lead guitar), Scott Munro (bass), Scott Moffat (drums), David Marshall (keyboards/percussion) and Kirk McVean (keyboards). For more information about THWOMP, the band or to listen to audio clips, visit their website and Myspace page.

Originally published on Suite101.com on July 27, 2010. Updated on April 16, 2013. All rights reserved by Rhona-Mae Arca.

Full interview series: Part 1 – THWOMP’s Origins | Part 2 – Band Names & Niches | Part 3 – Songwriting | Part 4 - Hey! Listen! CD Release | Part 5 - On Gigs | Part 6 - Convention Gigs | Part 7 - Video Games | Part 8 - Fun & Food

Redefining My Practicing Style

My brother and I have our first paid piano/cajón gig coming up. I don't know about him, but I've had to rewire my brain in my approach to this type of gig.

Typically, for solo background music gigs, I would put together a set list to cover the time that I was hired to play. I'd carefully select which songs to group with each other. However, in recent gigs, I've found that sometimes, I have to throw that list out the window and fake it because I what I prepared doesn't match the rhythm and flow of the crowd.

This time, we have picked a bunch of songs, hours more than required. We both have a tendency to gravitate to the ballads (easy to fake). This time, our set list is jam packed with faster tunes. This has presented me with Challenge #1: finding the time to get these faster songs into my fingers - in between teaching, writing and trying to keep up with my studio operations.

We've agreed to earmark a few starting songs and then we'll choose what's next based upon the energy in the room. No problemo.

We are taking turns on the piano and cajón. That's been fun. By far, it's a lot easier to prepare the percussion part: learn a pop groove: CHECK! Learn a rock groove: CHECK! Learn a polka/klezmer groove: CHECK! Learn a tango/Latin groove: CHECK! Listen carefully and have fun.

As a soloist, we subconsciously take more time or speed up in tricky spots. We cheat with our timing. Pianists are as guilty as everyone else. As much as we teachers would like to say that we don't, we do. We all do.

However, when playing in an ensemble, it's much more critical to play in time. Not only that, but to play in the style of the piece. Therein lies Challenge #2 & #3 for me. I get hesitant when I'm not confident in the chords and/or melody. It's human nature. Nor do I have all these styles firmly in my fingertips like my friends who gig regularly do (I'll get there, though!).

To beat that out of me, I've been playing along to Youtube recordings of some of the songs and just hammering out the chord changes. Once those are secure, I start to improvise. Once that's not too shabby, I look at the melody. That's different from the standard, "Learn Part A hands separately then hands together," line we tell our students.

The other approach I've taken is to work on specific musical styles. I heard from a fellow musician that another colleague achieved great success in mastering swing by just practicing swing - and only swing - every day for hours.

Now the gig is just around the corner, so I don't have the time to fully explore this approach. I'll keep the basic boogie, Latin, pop and rock grooves already under my fingers (more or less). I did add a tango groove and klezmer rhythms as the client has asked specifically for these styles.

Once the gig is behind me though, I will explore this in full force. My plan is to spend X weeks on one style - for all the instruments I play (piano, cajón, voice, melodica and conducting). Once that's coming along, I'll add another, and another.

It's a different practice approach for one who is classically trained. It is something that my friends who gig regularly have already mastered. It's going to be a fun project.

About Dog Intelligence Tests

Ever wonder just how smart your dog is? There are several websites that offer dog IQ tests.

Maestro and I tried one for fun. I figured he'd do pretty well, as terriers are pretty smart.

However, my concern with the dog quiz is that it  was extremely treat oriented. A dog who is treat trained is going to score extremely well. Conversely, a dog who couldn't care less about treats may not do as well.

Maestro is praise-oriented, so I used his favourite snacks for this exercise to get him going. However, he is used to hunting for snacks (Hide & Hunt), so any delay that was experienced was due to him thinking "Oh, she could have hid a treat here. Or here. She hid something over here last time. Or last, last time."

He scored 36 - genius level. It took him 5 seconds to answer most questions. Some of our funnier moments included the following:

• During the blanket over the shoulders test, Maestro didn't do anything initially. I suspect it's because I have sometimes placed a blanket over his head when we play Hide & Hunt (He has to sit and wait until all the treats are hidden). I had to encourage him to escape from the blanket. He backed himself up and out of the blanket in 8 seconds.

• For the long-term memory question, there was a slight delay because Maestro thought we were playing Hide & Hunt. He began to hunt but still managed to switch gears and find the treat in 6 seconds.

• Problem-solving: I put the treat in a dark spot under the bed. He whined a little until he scented the treat. It then took him 8 seconds to wiggle far enough to get the treat.

• Language Comprehension question: Maestro cocked his head and looked at me like I was an idiot for saying "Fridge" and "Movies". His expression really seemed to say, "You're not at the fridge. What do you mean?" and "What do you mean, "movies"? We're not at the kotatsu table."

• The final question: He did try to go around the cardstock on the right side. Then he tried to stick his nose underneath. Maestro's solution was to push the lap desk out of the way (to the left of the cardstock, on the floor) and paw at the barrier until it broke. See below:

DSC_0059.jpg

It took him 55 seconds to come up with his plan.

Here is a list of some dog intelligence quizzes that I found. We tried the first one:

• Dog IQ Test pets1st.ca - Resources for you and your pet

• NBC News - How Smart is Your Dog?

• Animal Attraction - Dog IQ Quiz