Jonjb profile picture

Jonjb

About Me

I've been into music as long as I can remember. I took private lessons in violin for several years, along with Classical Guitar for one semester for college credit. Basically, I'm self taught when it comes to folk acoustic and rock guitar. I also taught myself to play flute, harmonica, didgeridoo and a few other instruments. More than twenty years ago, I started writing my own songs but those were few and far between. In the past eight years, my list of original songs has grown considerably. Also, I've performed at open mic nights and earned myself a reputation as performing music that is "different," with a generous dose of humor.NB: Myspace asks for a band website. I do not have a band website per se. My websites consist mainly of how-to projects. You can make your own instruments and I try to show how you can do so by explaining how I made mine.Now here's a little video showing one of my more recent instruments. It is basically a circuit bent Vtech Alphabet Appletree with two extra wires soldered in. The two knobs on either side of this particular toy are drawer pulls. The extra wires are connected to the knobs by way of eyelets and bolts. Grasping the knobs or tapping them with moistened fingertips warps the default voice and tunes... width="425" height="350" ..

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 10/18/2005
Band Website: http://www.geocities.com/jonjb2a/
Band Members: Jonjb. That's my screenname and nickname. Plus, I am the band itself. In other words, I am a one man band.
Influences: Jethro Tull, Donovan Leitch, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, the Beatles, Eric Clapton, Muddy Waters.
Sounds Like: Jethro Tull, Donovan, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, maybe a few other bands.
Record Label: Not applicable--yet?

My Blog

Another success (though almost gave up)

Here's my latest. This is based on "Herbie the photovore," the third project described in the book "Junkbots, Bugbots and Bots on wheels." Last week I accidentally shorted out my first attempt. Tonigh...
Posted by on Thu, 11 Sep 2008 20:41:00 GMT

Bots and the like

I've been trying to build little robots and the like, based on the book "Junkbots, Bugbots and Bots on wheels," by Dave Hrynkiw and Mark W. Tilden. So far, I've built six little gadgets called Symets ...
Posted by on Wed, 10 Sep 2008 20:57:00 GMT

Ocarina video

Here's a short demo video clip I recorded yesterday, using my Mac. There are six finger holes and one thumb hole on this instrument. I have yet to paint the ocarina; as of the time I recorded the vide...
Posted by on Fri, 05 Sep 2008 20:51:00 GMT

playing the flute

Well, I finally discovered how to play the flute shown in the default pic. After struggling to get sound out of the instrument, and consistently good sound at that, I realized I needed to blow gently ...
Posted by on Tue, 15 Jul 2008 21:00:00 GMT

pennywhistle

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3059/2547060944_91b2ae21fd.jp g?v=0Here's a link to a photo I took today of an freshly made instrument. If the link posted in today's bulletin to the same photo doesn't w...
Posted by on Mon, 02 Jun 2008 18:51:00 GMT

flutes again

I spent a couple of hours last night reshaping the mouthpieces of eight flutes. Unfortunately, as of this morning, only three passed muster. So I gave five up, saying they could be used as tomato sta...
Posted by on Mon, 03 Mar 2008 18:48:00 GMT

new computer

I now have a new computer--a mac instead of a pc. what a world of difference!
Posted by on Fri, 29 Feb 2008 07:25:00 GMT

New flute

Native American Cedar Courting Flute   Here's a flute I made from a kit yesterday. I used to be a member of a flute- making newsgroup. That's partially how I learned to make various kinds of flut...
Posted by on Sun, 18 Nov 2007 02:10:00 GMT

birthdays

Today I'm fifty years old--or fifty years young, as the case may be. The fact hasn't sunk in quite yet. Supposedly, age is but a number and perhaps even a state of mind. I guess one reason why I look ...
Posted by on Mon, 22 Oct 2007 07:40:00 GMT

Thanks to a source of musical inspiration

..> Add Bruce Springsteen to your page..>" target="_self">Go, Boss, go!
Posted by on Thu, 18 Oct 2007 16:32:00 GMT