Hello

[smueske]

Hello everyone:

I'm new here. A bit about myself. I've been playing guitar for about thirty-four years (am 42 now). Two years ago, I switched to playing 7-strings from 6-strings, exclusively. For three years or so I've been writing and recording electronica. I have six of those compositions posted on MySpace at http://myspace.com/stevemueske

My goal is to eventually hybridize several different genres into something new. I also developed a ken for buying a touchstyle instrument and recently bought one of Traktor's amazing toneweavers. I very much look forward to reading and participating here and posting a few soundclips when I get more proficient at playing my instrument. I'm very new to touchstyle playing so I anticipate that it will be awhile before I can come up with anything worthy of public attention.

Anyway, just wanted to say hi!

Steve

[smueske]

Wow. I spent the last few hours going through many of the posts here and researching some of the comments made in various threads. I sort of feel like I landed in the middle of a warzone.

I just want to say that I am not here to participate in any mudslinging. I'm here because I've started a new adventure.

[rpmartino]

Hi Steve, welcome (and thanks for your comment on my MySpace page)!

And please don't be scared by my last post on the other thread! Sorry if I contributed to a negative perception of this community. You should be able to find helpful info here and other tap related forums on the internet, sometimes little things flare up now and then but people are generally behaved. :)

Look forward to soundclips and any discoveries you're making along the way.

[smueske]

Hey Rob:

I don't scare easily. :)

I do want to say that I got interested in playing an extended range instrument after seeing your original version of One Cloud on Youtube. From there I read and listened to everything I could find on touchstyle playing. There are so many talented players out there. One of my current favs is Trey Gunn. I'm very grateful you are here.

Steve

[haimeh]

dude, you need to put out a CD already!

[traktor]

Hello, Steve,

Thanks for your kind words. And I think you will discover that the vast majority of two-handed tappers are fairly mellow. Rob Martino is but one excellent example.

Most of us have an instrument preference and/or a tuning preference. However, though we may argue about some of these things, that is, about what is *the best*, in general most folks agree that there is value in the various and differing designs (and tunings), and generally disagreements are gentlemanly.

One especially exciting aspect of this particular forum is the way that a cadre of home-brewers has emerged over the last few years, with some really cool designs, lots of new ideas, and more and more choices.

During a time of rapid evolution, changes are rapid. We're experiencing a multiplication of viewpoints and new ideas, but your hands and your ears will guide you.

Not to worry. It may be (occasionally) slightly rowdy, but these are good people. (And I include those whose views vary wildly from my own.)

You'll see.

[smueske]

Haimeh:

Thanks for your kind words. I'm working on it! I only have 9 electronica pieces (which amounts to a little over a half hour of music) so I need to finish about four more first. Right now I'm licensing the existing tracks for video productions and such.

Traktor:

Thanks for the welcome. I'm looking forward to my time here. I have a lot of experience on message boards so I know how to read the tone and subtext of a lot of messages. I wasn't referring to instrument preference and such. That's to be expected. I'm referring to what seems to be a historical sense of bad blood. That's okay, too. I just wanted everyone to know that I'm not going to post with any agendas in mind. I have personal opinions and such but that will always be confined to any offline discussions.

[K Rex]

Hey Smueske,

Welcome to the family!! I think we're all pretty fair here, and as Traktor said, we have opinions and preferences but we do have respect for all tap instruments. The music is what matters, and I think you'll find it is a pretty accepting and open-minded community of musicians here.

Look forward to reading your posts. Pardon the occasional rowdiness.

K Rex

[smueske]

KRex:

Thanks for the welcome! I really appreciate it.

Steve

[PhoBucket]

Welcome aboard. Always glad to have a new contributor. Would love to hear any Toneweaver clips.

Ben

[smueske]

Thanks, Ben. I'm working on them! It will be awhile, though, before I get anything worthy of being posted. I have a few more electronica pieces in development. Right now I'm devouring everything out there. Trey Gunn is one of my favorite tappers. I've worked through most of his catalog in the last month. Untune the Sky is a dynamite multi-media experience. I also dug his collaboration with Fripp that came out recently.