Recording the Drums - Tuning

When deciding what kind of book I should read for this project, I had trouble deciding on what new thing I should learn because I'm pretty much filthy at everything already.  I came to the conclusion that instead of learning something new, I should build on something I am already dope at. Once I realized this, it became clear what I should do. Since I've been drumming for so long, I think its time I learned how to get my drumming into recordings. That way I could give you all the gift of my tasty drum fills straight from my drumset to your earholes.

The book I choose to help me understand the subject of creating a home recording studio, was "Recording Drums: the Complete Guide" by Mike Major. The First thing the book tells me I should do before even getting the recording equipment out, is make sure my drums tuning's are top notch. Before reading this book I thought I had knew about everything needed to tune a drum and make it sound good, But apparently it is way more complicated than just tuning diagonally  across the head and  making sure everything is in the right pitch. My guy Mike Major  says that tuning a live set is very different than the what is needed to make a audio recording sound "phat"(his words not mine). To make you're toms sound good in a recording, they should be tuned to slightly match notes on a scale, " You can mix and match intervals. I find that you need a wider interval between the lower toms but you can get away with a closer interval between higher toms. for example on a kit ranging in 5 toms ( 8-10-12-14-16) [inches] try a tuning that goes (from bottom up) C-F-Bb-Eb-G." (Major 10)  By tuning the toms to these intervals it helps give them a good sound distinction between them without them sounding too dissonant when hit together or ringing out. after you get the basic tuning of the notes for each head, you've got to fine tune them to make them sound sexy.

"To start, multiply the frequency of the desired fundamental note by 1.75 and tune both top and bottom lug-pitches to that frequency. Then, measure the fundamental pitch of the drum and adjust the pitch of top and bottom heads accordingly"

After hours of fine tuning i have finally come to a sound that I believe gives that "phat" feeling Major was referring to. Of course because I am not using any recording equipment yet, it will sound really crappy when just heard through the microphone of an iphone so chill.

By the end of the book I'm hoping to do a drum cover of a popular song and post it, so if you want to you can comment any song I should do a drum cover for and hopefully i can do it! 

Kyler Jergenson - Extreme Sports Drawing

Hi, I am Kyler Jergenson and I am doing my quarter 2 IRP blog on Extreme Sports Drawing. This seemed very fit for me to do because I am really bad at drawing and I have loved extreme sports since the age of 6. Instead of being miserable during this entire quarter doing this project I thought that I could actually use this project as a time to get better at drawing.

The book that I have chosen to use for my project is "Learn to Draw: Extreme Sports" by AV2. The book begins by trying to simplify drawing for beginners like me. The book states, "Drawing is easier than you think. Look around you. The world is made of shapes and lines. By combining simple shapes and lines, anything can be drawn." (AV2 4) The first thing to draw in the book is a Formula One Race Car so I started with that. On the pages introducing the formula one car there are descriptions of the car, "An F1 car has wings on both its front and back ends." (AV2 6) These descriptions really helped me visualize what I needed to be drawing.

First, I started out simply with a stick figure frame of the car, as the book told me to do. "Start with a stick figure frame of the car. Use lines for the body and circles for the tires." (AV2 8)

Second, I filled in the details as the book told me to do. "Add details to the car, as shown." (AV2 9)

Lastly, I colored my drawing to look like the one displayed in the book. Shown below is my drawing (Top) and the final product shown in the book (Bottom)

So far, this book has simplified drawing for me very effectively and allowed me to draw something that looks somewhat like the example.

What do you guys think? Will I be able to improve my drawing skills with the help of this book? Is there anything that I should look to improve in my next drawing? What should I draw next, a Formula One Powerboat or a Moto X Bike? Thank you for reading and please leave feedback.

Baking Challah Bread with Kenny Goliff

Growing up in a half-Jewish/half-Christiann household, I have become very familiar with a few traditional Jewish and Christian customs alike. One of these customs is the making of challah for "the Jewish Sabbath and other holidays" (Suzuki 32). However, I had never experimented with making challah until I got my new recipe book. The experiment was, like my apple pancakes, mostly a success. According to my aunt, making the bread made me "an honorary Jew."

However, there was just one small flaw in every one of my loaves.

After a short period of slowly adjusting and improving the recipe in the book by adding personal favorites like garlic butter or cinnamon sugar toppings, I realized that I was still terrible at making the one thing that makes challah what it is- the braid.

Towards the end of summer vacation, I went to visit my aunt and uncle in Oregon. My uncle, a master of the braid, attempted to teach me how to make one that didn't look like someone tied a bad, loose knot out of a very frayed rope.

He failed.

When I realized that a challah loaf was not complete without a fire braid and that my skills were clearly the opposite of fire, I decided to turn to the book for help. I had neglected to use the book because in the informational section of the recipe, the author said even she had feared the braid more than any other part of the process (Suzuki 32). Reading this somewhat scared me away from the braid because I thought that if a professional baker such as herself (that came up with some of the best recipes I've ever had) was intimidated by the braid, there was no way that I would be able to do it.

But then, when I actually went through the recipe again, this time trying the suggested braid, it turned out to not be as bad as I thought. It was actually a lot simpler than I thought it would be from just reading it and the product turned out pretty well.

The one on the left here was made by me.

I've been thinking about what I should bring from my book to class at the end of the unit. If I were to bring a loaf of challah for the whole class to share, what kind of topping/toppings (if any) would you want to be on it? Think big, the possibilities are endless!

Sierra Garcia: Crate Training

When we were first assigned this project, I had no idea which topic to choose. At first I was thinking something along the lines of baking or cooking, but then I realized that I really had no interest in that at all. I kept searching for a topic until my parents surprised me with a puppy as an early birthday present. Then it came to me, I would train my dog.

Here's a little background information on me. I've grown up surrounded by animals my whole life. My mom had found a Tuxedo cat (whom she named Ebony) under her dad's truck. Ebony was just a kitten, yet it seemed as if she had already be trained. This astonished my mom because she was so young and already knew some of the most common things that most cats have difficulty learning. I also had an English Bulldog named Topper. Although Topper was one of the best dogs I have ever encountered, he had no manners. My family and I tried to teach him certain things as a puppy but they never stuck with him. He only grasped the simple things like commands such as sit and heel.

Now that I have another dog, I understand that I have to train her while she is still impressionable. Her mind is a blank slate that I will now try to fill with positive training so that she can behave properly. 

So far, Rosie has been pretty manageable for a puppy as young as she is, but she does have problems with her crate. Dog crates are used as a place where one can feel safe. Not only this, but they are also used to keep them from getting into trouble when they are home alone.

As I put Rosie in her crate before I leave for school or even when I try to get her accustomed to the idea of it, Rosie shows all signs of discomfort. She either runs away, or if I can manage to place her in it and close the door, she cries for long periods of time. 

Throughout the week, I used the method of giving Rosie treats each time I placed her inside of the crate. "Once the puppy is in the crate, calmly close the door while he's in. Ignore him by turning your back by looking away for a few seconds. Immediately open the door and give the puppy a treat" (Swaim 84). This technique of rewarding your dog doesn't make them feel like they are getting disciplined but allows them to feel as if they did something good along with giving them the feeling that they are safe. 

Rosie after the week of crate training. 

She's Kinda Weird.

I chose to teach some tricks and train my dog, Shasta, because all my family does is complain about her and she honestly doesn't do much. She's kind of weird. She is around 6 years old and we rescued her about 3 years ago after she had spent some time getting abused and neglected,  and thrown out into the middle of nowhere in Idaho.
When we got her she was very scared of everything. She would scream at the slightest touch and was always afraid we would leave her. Three years later and she has gotten better. But she doesn't play with any toys and has not really been trained. So I decided to take the privilege of teaching her into my own hands.
Also, as the book says, this will help us bond as well.
The book I have chosen is "Tricks for Treats." by Jean M. Fogle. For my first post I chose to start with an easier trick that she has a bit of experience on, just to start her off. This trick would be... shake. Dun dun dun.
When I started off trying to teach her this, she was very weird about it. She would get confused and  slowly start to lay down and just plain give up. But soon enough she started to get the hang of it and understood what I was trying to tell her. Her favorite part was obviously the treats.
"Choose the right treats. Don't be tempted to use your dogs dinner kibble; find a treat that will really motivate him, and use it only for trick training."(Fogle 6)
     Fogle, Jean M. Tricks for Treats. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.
This quote from the book has helped me learn an easy way to motivate, Shasta. Instead of using her regular dog food (Well actually, she eats cat food. She's kind of weird.), it is more tempting and motivational for the dog if you use dog treats or some chicken or cheese.


The picture that I took for this post was my beautiful Shasta completing 'shake'. She ended up licking my hand as well while I was taking the photo. But like I've been saying, she's kind of weird.
Do you think that she will start to overcome her intense fear of everything the longer I spend training her?

Running Through The 6

Isaiah Eller

This Saturday I went on my first run while reading my book. My 'how-to' book is called Brain Training for Runners by Matt Fitzgerald. On Saturday I went to the Soos Creek trail, near Kentridge, and ran a measly 6 miles. "Few runners know that one of the major differences between top runners and average runners is that top runners are actually able to use a much higher percentage of the muscle fibers in their "running muscles". The most effective way to increase the number of usable fibers in your muscles is to run at maximum intensity, and the best time to do this type of running is early in the training process." (Fitzgerald 9) This quote really motivated me to work hard on my runs now so that I will be able to run faster once the Track and Cross Country seasons hit. To show this I ran the six miles on Saturday in approximately 40 minutes and 1 second, for an average pace of 6:40 per mile. This was difficult for me, but I know in the long run it will pay off. This week I plan to run on the Lindbergh track prior to swim practice and continue to focus on putting in maximum effort. I consider this run a key workout of mine. "Key workouts are runs that are challenging enough to result in a high level of fatigue. They administer a greater training stress and provoke a stronger adaptive response than less challenging runs. Key workouts are therefore critical feature of any effective workout plan." (Fitzgerald 15) Because of this I am planning on doing two or three tough 'key workouts' that will help me with my training plan and later success. What kind of runs should I try this week? Are there any nice trails or places that you guys like to go work out on?

Trent DeLucia: Training Your Dog

I chose training my dog because I thought it would be fun to incorporate him into a school project.  His name is Bear and he is three years old.  None of my family members have taken the time to teach him any cool tricks or train him in any special way so I took it upon myself to accept the challenge.

I had no idea where to start after I read the book, Do as I Do, by Claudia Fugazza.  It gave me a few ideas on what tricks I could teach him, but also brought to my attention that Bear has a few bad habits he should change.  Begging at the dinner table has always been annoying, but nothing has been done to stop it.  In fact, my family has been encouraging Bear by feeding him from the table to make him go away and stop growling.

Last Sunday, I decided to focus on getting rid of the bad habit of bear begging at the dinner table.  The guidelines from my book have definitely helped because he has not begged in three days. I used the plan:

"The main cognitive variables involved are:
1. Motivation
2. Attention
3. Memorization
4. Replication (Fugazza 20-21)."

Fugazza, Claudia. "Imitation." Do as I Do: Using Social Learning to Train Dogs. Wenatchee: Dogwise, 2014. 20-21. Print.

I used this 4 step guided plan to help Bear stop begging:

1. I motivated/encouraged Bear to not beg by giving him a dog treat after dinner and not giving him any more people food.

2. I switched his attention/distracted him from delicious smelling food to toys.  I would throw him a toy that I'd keep on my lap when he would come near the table.

3. I helped Bear memorize/recall his learning through telling him "No!" when he started to beg.

4. This was replicated/put into action in only four practice days and the outcome has been no begging since!

The past few days my family and I have been able to enjoy our dinners more from not being annoyed by Bear.  My mom said, "Finally, I don't have to share my food!"  Training Bear so far has been fun and effective.  Do you think that focusing on reducing bad habits will please my family more than cool tricks?

Before: Bear begging when it's dinner time.

After: Bear with his favorite toy during dinner.