Stepp dg1... More information.

I promised to post some more about the stepp dg1. There have been quite a few hits from interested people from as far away as Japan. If you have never seen one up close I hope you find these photo's of interest. Initially, it could only be played with a metal pick but that problem was soon solved with a software update. It has two sets of strings, both made of stainless steel. I still have the original strings from the late eighties.
On the second photo I have removed the cover to expose the sensors on the "body" strings. These sensors help determine which strings have been plucked, and at what velocity. The strings are of all the same thickness and tension is adjusted to suit the individual player. I had a problem of "phantom triggering" caused probably, by static electricity. I was able to overcome most of this by holding strings I wasn't playing. There is an allen key under the head cover for adjusting string tension.
The body is quite thin, similar to a Fender Telecaster. It does generate some heat but it's not uncomfortable.
The guitar plugs into the stand which they refer to as the life support system. This is a really cool instrument and I'm looking forward to playing it once again, especially in the studio. As I think of more features etc. I'll post more on this. I hope you find it useful.

Savannah, Georgia.

Today we went to Savannah. It was cool, around 50deg and a little breezy. Still it was comfortable walking weather. Hopefully this visit will help with the song. The port seemed busy with a few large ships heading out into the Atlantic. Also a quick trip to Tybee Island, then to Fort Jackson right before it closed for the day. About 15 years ago I drove down to Savannah with my bagpiper friend Mark to attend the Highland Games at Fort Jackson. It's located right on the banks of the river. While I was watching the Highland dancers, I happened to turn around and see an old fashioned paddleboat go up the river. "An interesting combination", I remember thinking.

Here we are in Hilton Head. This is the view from my window.
A side trip is planned to Savannah for the purpose of completing the song that has been bugging me since I started it in 1999. This will be on the new album as well as the song Harbor Town. On the way down here I noticed the temperature is 30deg. warmer than home. Today is overcast but still very nice. More later...

Here is the Beef Baron after everyone went home. Last week was my last weekend there. This past week has been my first week off in, well I don't remember, but it felt good. My next booking is on Valentine's day. I intend to do less "one nighters" this year and more of the specialty type bookings. Tomorrow I'm going to the coast for a vacation. I'm still working on the new album and hope to complete the words to the rest of the songs while I'm gone. I will try to periodically update the blog, but it won't be at the same rate as in the past.
I did notice that the posting about the Stepp dg1 created some interest and I'll try to post more about that soon. Thanks everyone for your interest. More soon...

Brody and the Porcupine.

The Porcupine Quill Blues is coming along. This is a song I wrote about a hike up Goose Creek trail. As you can see, Brody was the unfortunate recipient of a gift from the porcupine.
I'm encouraged by the progress I'm making. These songs are about England, the coast of South Carolina and Georgia, and also of New Mexico and certain famous visitors there.
I would also like some more songs about Colorado, and there's still time to do that..... Who knows where this third cd will lead.

Philip John Brooks - Solo album #3

Here we are in 2007. I sense this will be a very good year. After having relaxed for the last couple of weeks, I'm back in the studio and doing a bunch of tedious technical reading plus some recording. Actually the "2480" is quite amazing in it's depth and scope. Unfortunately this requires a lot of non artistic work. The Neumann U87 is incredible in it's clarity. I'm recording these new songs three at a time and hoping to have most of this album done by the end of the month. There's still some writing to be completed and two of these new songs I find particularly interesting. So far "Dodging the Waves, Deep Peace and Country Girl" are coming along nicely.

31st, December 2006

Well 2006 is almost over and for me it's been a very good year. I've appeared in new venues, and states. Up here on Lake Burton in the beautiful mountains of Northeast Georgia, it has rained all day and sometimes quite hard. This county, so I'm told, receives more rainfall than any other in the U.S. At around 85" per year I can believe it.
I have two more weeks at the Beef Baron in Baldwin then I'll knuckle down to some concentrated recording time. In February I head out (via Dallas)to Red River and hopefully to Pimentels to pick up the new instrument. R.R. seems to be getting a good bit of snow right now and I hope it lasts for I'm looking forward to doing some snow shoeing and maybe another try at cross country skiing.
I wish everyone a happy and prosperous new year.

My new years resolution.... To get two new albums out in the new year.....

Recording

This past week I have spent most of my time recording. After learning much about the workings of the Roland 2480, I think I'm ready for some serious work. Today I arranged to have a Neumann U-87 delivered. Hopefully this will enable me to get a better vocal sound. The SM-81's do a good job of recording acoustic guitar. I'm also learning my way around the Cort fretless bass. So far I have not cheated by taping markers on the neck. After starting work it became obvious that this album would be in the folk vein and 99% acoustic. I like that. Almost time to start thinking about a title...

Third Solo Album

I've spent nearly all week writing and attempting to arrange new songs. I hope to start recording on Monday. Once again this next one will be nothing like it's predecessors. I don't know if that's good or bad. We shall soon see.
Tomorrow I'm at the Beef Baron and Saturday at Chickasaw Point, South Carolina, on Lake Hartwell.

cdbaby.com

I have been in the music business for a long time, and I mean a long time........ So much has changed, some for better and some for worse. Let's just talk about the better stuff. Today digital recording has put the creativity back in the hands of the artist, which is where it should have been all along. Monster record labels do not hold all the aces, and they can see their sales slumping. They seem to think it's due to piracy and maybe some is, but I happen to think it's mostly due to the fact that they are driven almost entirely by dollars and originality has slipped by the wayside. My twenty two year old son agrees. Today almost anyone can make an album, and if they write their own music the large record companies are left out of the loop. No royalties for them to collect. When it comes to marketing, once again technology and entrepreneurship have left the big companies high and dry. This is where sites like cdbaby.com come into the equation. They don't discriminate against anyone. All a musician or vocalist has to do is produce the music and send it to them. It's almost immediately available worldwide. This lets the public decide where they want to spend their hard earned money. When artistic endeavors are considered, success is not measured by the amount of sales but by personal satisfaction and accomplishment. Once again this makes these independent products quite different. cdbaby.com is just one company, and I'm sure there are others but you owe it to yourself to lend an ear to these hardworking independent musicians.

Sam and the squirrel.

I just came across this picture and thought you would enjoy it. We had collected pecan nuts from the garden in this little white basket. It was discovered by a cheeky squirrel and he is seen checking out his haul. All this activity is being observed very intently by my very best friend Sam the cat. After seventeen years Sam is no longer with us, but the squirrel and his many offspring still reside in the yard.

Stepp DG1 digital guitar.

I understand that this is quite a rare instrument. I flew to the NAMM show in Chicago about 15 years ago to check out the Synthaxe digital guitar and while there met a gentleman called Glenn Thomas. He was the agent for the Stepp dg1. We arranged for him to ship one to me on approval, which he did. It is a very interesting instrument and there are two different sets of strings on it. The ones that are strummed are not connected to the ones that are used to define notes and chords etc. The digital synth is built into the stand to which it is connected by a thick cord.
I still have it, although the synthesiser part has not worked for a long time. Recently I located a place in England that provides service and has spare parts. Of course I will have it repaired and hope to use it once more. When in tune mode, lights flash up and down the neck. This always caused a quite a stir.

Pimentel Guitars, Albuquerque, N.M.

The weekend is here once more. I can't believe it's December and almost Christmas. This year seems to have evaporated...
The Pimentel guitar I ordered last June should be ready in the next couple of months. I'm trying to coincide my winter visit to Red River with a trip to pick up the guitar. It's my third handmade Pimentel and they are all so different. The latest one is a nylon strung jazz guitar with a one and 3/4" fretboard. It has two offset sound holes, and in the middle of the rosette will be a Coyote with a yellow moon in the background. I'm still trying to decide on the colour of the body but I'm leaning towards an orange. Pimentels are my favourite guitars and many years ago at Philmont Scout Ranch someone loaned me a Pimentel student model. I was so taken with the tone I decided I must have one. Well, one thing leads to another and so on...and so on.
It's 3:00pm and time to sort out equipment for the Beef Baron. Have a great weekend.

Fritz and Fagan, and Philip

I'm hoping I have finally managed to upload this cutting from the Red River Miner.
The photo shows me at the Aspencade Festival, 2006. (Thank you Fritz and Kerry for allowing me to reproduce this article)
In one ear is Fritz Davis and in the other, Jeff Fagan. Yes they surprised me. I had no idea they were there until that fuzzy beard appeared to my right. So here we are, Fritz, Philip and Fagan in action once again. The article was written by Fritz and the photo was taken by Ray Seibert of Dallas, Texas. Aspencade is a very nice festival celebrating the turning of the Aspen leaves to their beautiful yellow. At this time of year it can be a little cool, especially at 10:00am., the time I started. This year the weather was quite nice and Red River is such a great place to be during the fall.

Thanksgiving 2006

We had thanksgiving at the lake. There were fourteen of us and we had a great time.
Philip and Nora stayed over through Sunday and we managed to hike one trail and part of another. Friday and Saturday at the Beef Baron went well even though there must have been quite a few people out of town. On the way back to Athens we listened to Georgia Public Radio as Dr Barbara Brown Taylor talked about her new book.

Salida, Colorado.

Well, I sold my little house in Red River but still have the other one. My plans were to purchase a place in Salida, Colorado but that hasn't happened. I was looking for a little Victorian on E. through G. street but they seem to be in short supply right now. As you must already know, Salida is my favourite Colorado town. I'm taken with the number of cyclists, the local tolerance for them and the totally flat area the town is located upon, plus all the opportunities that exist for recreation.
I'll miss the little house in Red River but I know the new owners will enjoy it as much as I. I'm still looking in Salida. If you have never been there you need to take a look.
Today I talked with my friend Ray Seibert in Dallas. He makes incence sticks using the resin from pinion pines collected after it has fallen to the ground. It is collected by the inhabitants of Taos Pueblo. The sticks smell great and take me right back to Red River. I ordered some to see me through until January.

At the lake

I'm at the lake and have been here since Tuesday, except for going to Atlanta for one day and work at the Beef Baron. It is so peaceful here and I sleep well. Cornelia has got to be so noisy lately with trains, sirens, lawnmowers and leaf blowers, neighbours dragging out their trashcans at 6:30am and car alarms that fire off for no particular reason. I had forgotten how peaceful the countryside is and how we have all taken noise pollution for granted. It would be nice to move back to sanity and a simpler, quieter life.

Saturday at the Beef Baron

Saturday was a really nice, busy night at the Beef Baron. I got to see a lot of friends I hadn't seen in a lot of years. It was also the busiest night they'd had since the re-opening. When I arrived at 6:45pm every parking place was taken. I'm pleased for Fred things are going so well. If you're in the area, stop and say "hello". I'm there almost every Friday and Saturday through the end of the year and start at 7:00pm. I'll try to remember to take some more photographs.

Schaefer westernwear

Here I am about to leave the studio and head over to the Beef Baron.
Something that concerns me is the loss of manufacturing jobs here in the U.S.A. The shirt I'm wearing was made in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, by Schaefer Ranchwear.
It seems that if they can make a profit with American labor then so should the other companies who have shipped their jobs overseas. Thanks Schaefer for quality, American made products.

The Beef Baron, Baldwin, Georgia.

Here I am at the Beef Baron in Baldwin. I shall be here every Friday and Saturday for a while. My thanks to the folks from Toccoa and Six Mile, S.C. for making the effort in driving over to see me. Last night was quite busy and the weather was so awful. Rain and thick fog, not a nice combination. Today is sunny and breezy. That's an improvement and it's appreciated.