Bandcamp Site

I now have a page with Bandcamp.  I will slowly put my songs on their as they are finished.  To start they will all be instrumentals as I still am struggling with how to get crisp vocals.  This is my recording "Holy Grail."  Take a look.  The address is http://jonathanwangsgard.bandcamp.com/.  Have a great day!

Drought

Well, for while there was a lot of flow here.  Now the drought has arrived.  I started teaching again a few weeks back.  There has barely been time to even pick up a guitar, a paint brush or power tool, let alone write about them.  I am sure I will get back to doing something interesting enough to post again but for now this may be a very dull blog.

Plumeria #2

This is my second Plumeria painting.

Hawaiian Cowgirl: Acrylic Painting

We went to Maui last year with my wife's sister and her husband (not to mention a few other wonderful people).  This is a painting of my sister-in-law in her incredibly funky pink/orange cowboy hat.  It looks a lot like my sister-in-law which is nice.  Pretty girl that she is.  This is also the first time I have been satisfied with my depiction of waves.  I'll bet you can guess who is getting this painting.

Last year my wife and I were able to go to Maui.  She took pictures of nearly every flower we saw.  It has given me a great amount of material to paint.  This painting of plumeria is one of my favorites.  I took video of each step of the painting so that you can see the process.  I hope you enjoy it!

Jazz Piece

This is the result of playing around with some jazz chords.  Enjoy!

Homemade Reflection Filter or Microphone Isolation Panel

I have had my problems with recording vocals.  One of them is simply my vocal ability.  However, I figure that if I limit the other issues, I can focus on improving the ability more easily.  A reflection filter eliminates the ambient noise in a room, allowing you to control what sound gets into the microphone.  It isn't as good as an isolation booth in a real studio, but it works.

I made a reflection filter instead of spending the $100 to $300 for one.  I have certainly been pleased with the results and also the price tag ($15).  If you have had similar issues with home recording, this should be helpful to you as well.