SteveyDee68

You are not the only one! 🤣 That’s the problem with whole class music instrumental tuition - there’s no ‘differentiation’ for ability, usually because there is a fixed “end point” (usually a performance) towards which the class is working and which the tuition is judged by. And how sad that you would have been left feeling ‘left behind’ by your experience learning the recorder. But if you started with “C” (probably middle C) then it is no wonder that was the case! I have to teach Year 2 children and we start with B (first finger and thumb of left hand) as that is the easiest note to play on the recorder in terms of fingering - but with a wrist band on their left wrist to remind them which is their left hand! Steve S

Especially sports fans. Because they individually wait to follow other singers, which develops cumulative delays the larger the group. The “sheep” effect. Problem is, the “sheep” gene is already strong in sports fans already - look at how they all follow a team and mob together into a great big flock. Baaaaa! 😉🤣 (Am guessing that will ruffle a few fleeces feathers!) Steve S

Much like many traditional hymns - play them at “Church of England” tempo and they are dirges! However, play them at Methodist or Salvation Army tempo and they have life and are much more uplifting! Personally, I have a major issue with the continued use of badly written hymns (those which only the lyrics of the first verse properly fit the melody, and thereafter are “best fit” guesses for the congregation). In classical music, for example, the majority of surviving music is “good quality” as anything of poor quality was discarded long ago. Pop music could likewise “discard” poor tunes when recorded songs were deleted from the publishers catalogue of recordings. (Sadly, digital recording means that far too much dross is now with us forever, but that is another argument!) But hymns seem to be sacrosanct (no pun intended) because they praise God! For example, this particular hymn has no discernible structure to its melody, meandering along until suddenly we discover the verse has ended, and the second verse starts up and we vaguely remember the melody of the first phrase but then afterwards are back into “hunt the note” territory (because it has no discernible melodic structure so is difficult to remember) compounded by the syllables no longer fitting the melody properly. Oh, hang on, its verse three - I know that because I recognise the first line again but once again it’s like finding your way through a forest with no map (satnav to younger readers) to guide you. Now, if the above were a pop song or even an instrumental piece of music, it would die a natural death in due course (I’m not singing/playing that - it’s carp!) but because it is a hymn then it is held in reverence and - like the undead in horror movies - refuses to lie down and die! I’ve had this argument about scrapping bad hymns many times, and am often faced with the argument “but you miss the liturgical point it makes!” Yes, you are right, I do, because I am concentrating on trying to bl@@dy well sing the tune right and somehow fit the lyrics! The hymns that are well written allow the congregation to sing together easily and gets its message across because the words fit the tune! (Best examples - although there are usually the odd exception - carols!) But sing them at Church of England tempo and you kill all the life in them! Steve S

I seem to remember a brief discussion in the first year of my degree by “Clever Trevor” (so named because he did music analysis with us) about some experiments done in the late 1960s/early ‘70s with non-music-reading children which showed that the human eye/brain could “chunk” graphic information presented on a five line stave but adding additional lines (as opposed to ledger lines) almost immediately reduced the efficiency. I don’t remember any real details, but do remember it came about due to a question from our year’s resident genius composer Matthew Hind (who had been writing music since the age of 6) along the same lines as yourself. He wrote music you could enjoy listening to, but could also do “experimental” stuff and his question arose I think from some ideas he had about notating the latter. He even wrote something using coloured music notes to represent dynamics (volume) to see if that worked better than traditional ways of notating (it didn’t, but was fun trying it out!) Matt should have won the Composition Prize in our final year, but his music was simply too melodic (he refused to write anything other than what he wanted to hear himself) and it was instead awarded to someone who wrote avant garde “stuff”* that had no melody, discernible aural structure or point (to most listeners) but her efforts “fitted” with the academic leanings of the composition department. (Myself and my best mate similarly wrote “tunes” instead of “plinky plonk bang crash” monstrosities, and were marked down for that!) Yes, there is a mathematical/physics basis to the “octave” which is a fascinating rabbit hole to dive into for a few hours, especially now that some very good YouTube videos explain it all in an entertaining and far less academically dusty manner! You are quite right about the old Joanna’s white keys being confusing starting on A but everything referencing middle C, but that is because “middle C” sits on the ledger line exactly half way between treble and bass clefs! Seen separately, middle C in the treble clef sits on the first ledger line below the stave. Middle C in the bass clef sits on the first ledger line above the stave. Place the treble stave above the bass stave (as for piano) and there is just one ledger line separating the two staves - write a note on that line and in treble clef it is the middle C and in bass clef it is also the middle C … hence the name “Middle C”. (In practice in order to show which hand is playing which notes, notes can be shown on more ledger lines above the bass or below the treble stave that could/should be easier to read written on the appropriate clef!) On a traditional piano, middle C was close to the centrally placed keyhole for locking the lid, so once the pattern of white/black keys was established, it was easy to direct anyone learning to the middle C key - “Look for the keyhole, now look for the closest pair of black keys, and middle C is the white key directly to the left of the lower of the two black keys” (plus, of course, being physically shown that whilst being explained and most people can find a middle C on a piano!) Of course, keyboards don’t have a keyhole … 🫢🤣 Steve S * Personally, I simply can’t call such assemblages of apparently random notes “music” even if it meets the philosophical criteria of “organised sounds”

May I ask how you made the filler handles on the top of the wagon? I have zoomed in on your photos but cannot tell if these are a single piece of wire or made up from multiple pieces! EXCELLENT upgrade - am following keenly! Steve S

Thanks for showing your work on upgrading the Presflo wagon - I picked up several made up versions cheaply off eBay a while ago with intentions to improve them, and invested in a Bachmann model to act as a ‘template’ to aim for, but seeing how you are doing it step by step is far more helpful than me simply staring at the Bachmann model and saying to myself “That’s different … and that … and that!” Is there a way for me to save/download your blog entry? (Was well and truly bitten by the RMWeb Server Disaster as many ‘upgrade’ threads I was following lost all their images and haven’t been restored!) Steve S

From the comments it would seem you have clearly shown how you went about upgrading the Lima GUV/CCT but the RMWeb Server Disaster has left your blog entries without images! Is there any possibility that you might restore them through your blog entries, please? (I have no idea if that is possible on blogs - sorting out missing images on threads is difficult enough!) Steve S

I’ve found this thread really interesting but also inspiring. My dad suffered from dementia and Alzheimer’s towards the end of his life and one of the results of this was discovering that he had “organised” a number of 7mm coach kits into boxes of similar parts, ie all bogie parts in one box, coach sides in another, sprues full of whitemetal castings in another etc This “sorting” is a common side effect of dementia and he had done this in his early stages so in all likelihood before we became aware of his condition. So it all went on “under the radar” so to speak. It was only once he had died that I discovered what he had done, as all the kit boxes were together neatly in a storage box with no clue as to the mess inside! Furthermore, no instructions or part lists to assist gathering kits together! So I guess when a listing appears for a ‘deceased relative’s estate’ there is always a chance that those sorting through the remains of their relative’s hobby are faced not only with dealing with things beyond their knowledge, but also which may have been further complicated by the effects of dementia etc - and as that is apparently an ever-growing and more common issue, I suspect we shall see more evidence of it as time goes by. The inspiration in my first statement comes from the fact you are managing to sort your boxes of bits out - and as I now have the part lists downloaded, I should be able to do the same as you and gather my dad’s kits back together once again. Steve S

Would the welded-in plates be slightly proud of the windows, or slightly inset? If the latter, I guess that would be easier to model (or even inadvertently get correct) Steve S

You are quite right, it’s the U.K. National Anthem (not the English). I thought “Three Lions” had become the English national anthem? 🫢🤣 Steve S

The march of the same name was the very first brass band piece I ever played in a band! @J. S. Bach - I would expect you to play no less than the pipe organ with a user name like that! Interesting instrument, the pipe organ - multiple keyboards including a (foot) pedal board, and enough stop combinations to make operating a double track mainline junction mechanical signal box look like child’s play… there’s a theory that organists have a second brain located at the base of their spine to enable them to play the organ, a little like certain dinosaurs 🦕 @Dave Hunt - absolutely agree that the U.K. national anthem is a dirge; I often find myself supporting opposing teams to England just because I like their anthems more! @bbishop - the bassoon, a double reed instrument so immediately bl@@dy difficult to play, and then one of the least attractive (to youngsters and/or their parents) instruments to play and yet one of the most versatile of the orchestral wind instruments (not to mention busy). Shame you were discouraged - there is a national shortage of bassoonists in the U.K.! @Willie Whizz - you were warned! @New Haven Neil - the development of the five line stave and associated symbols representing pitches raised or lowered by a semitone in Western music developed over centuries (although Guido of Arezzo was the fellah who really kickstarted notation back in the 11th Century) and as a visual language conveys massive amounts of information in a succinct and efficient way that at the same time is still open to individual interpretation. At its heart is the idea of seven pitch names (A-G) which with the use of sharps/flats gives access to the full 12 notes of the chromatic scale over the octave. I think the biggest “problem” with learning to read music notation is (a) the perception that it is “hard” to do, (b) the fact that many (many) commercially successful (pop) performers don’t read music, and (c) that music can actually be made without being able to read notation! Take (c), mix in a bit of (a) and recognise that (b) demonstrates that you can be a successful musician without putting in the effort to learn to read notation and of course the majority of people can’t! Today, YouTube is full of videos showing how to play various songs on various instruments (usually keyboard, guitar or ukulele) without reference to notation (teaching by rote) and apps are available that do the same; but equally there are videos and apps that tie in learning to play the music with reading the notation at the same time. As human beings are predominantly visual in our means of communication, notation should actually be easier than learning, say, to write in proper English! After all, the alphabet has 26 letter names, music notation only seven basic pitch names! Time for bed said Zebedee!

If you click on the underlined this in the original post, it took you to the original eBay item. I normally also put the link text in bold, but somehow missed doing so in my last post. Meanwhile, this has now caught my attention. Is it just me, or does the seller studiously avoid showing the ends of the carriage (given the somewhat ‘melted’ appearance of the corridor connection). Description = “in good order” Hmmmm 🤔 Steve S PS Thanks to @petethemole for clarifying about the “Pullman” mk1 brake coach being a Bachmann Collector’s Club item - I guess that it must have been modelled on a real vehicle, then?

As someone whose second ever loco was a Triang Hornby Class 31, I welcome both these new entrants into the market as I simply daren’t risk investing in a Hornby model given its reputation as suffering from Mazak Rot to replace my childhood loco! Then again, I have lots of pre-ordered shunting locos to fund … Where did I put that credit card? Steve S

I missed this when reading before… When we hear ourselves speaking or singing, we actually hear our own voice mainly through bone transduction to our ears via our jaw bone and skull, with only a fraction being via our ears (which of course also modify the sound waves as the folds of our ears ‘scoop’ sound into the ear canal). When we listen to recordings of ourselves speaking (or singing) we hear our own voices differently, as now the sound reaches us almost entirely through the air to our ears. Most people cringe when they hear themselves. Remember, though, that even then we do not hear ourselves as others hear us, as the sound we receive has been modified and shaped by our own ears! If a recording of a live musical performance sounds okay, it would have sounded good in real life. If it sounds good, it would have sounded great, and if it sounds great it would have been absolutely amazing heard live! Because recordings are limited firstly by the microphone recording the sound and then by the speaker producing the sound and then by our own ears! (This also explains those performances on TV talent shows when the TV audience at home goes “meh” and the studio audience and judges go wild!) So in all likelihood @BR60103 your singing was/is better than you think! (Unless you are my ex-SiL, who really couldn’t carry a tune even in a galvanised bucket) HOURS OF MUSICAL FUN!

Very subtle, sir, very subtle! 😆 Can only imagine you are referencing the brass family of instruments, as most kids think players are “blowing raspberries” into the mouthpiece! 😉🤣 Although in Monsieur Pujol’s case, the embouchure was not ideally placed to actually play an instrument! 😉 HOURS OF F…..UN!

God forbid she played a rusty trombone*! 🫢 Hat, coat, exit stage left in shame… Steve S * A few years ago a trumpeter friend referenced this and when I didn’t get the joke suggested I looked it up on an ‘urban dictionary’. For those of a nervous disposition, don’t… you have been warned!

Now, this isn’t “madness” per se, but I am wondering if anyone can tell me if this is an actual Bachmann model or whether it has been adapted from a Bachmann model? Tellingly, the seller shows the box but not the end panel (which would give all the manufacturer provided model description details on a label). Also, is this a flight of fancy or did BR really paint up one of their Mk1 brake coaches to match Pullman coaches to provide ‘visual integrity’ to an all-Pullman train? If so, I imagine it might be for the later Mk1 Pullman coaches in use on the Eastern Region? Steve S

Well, that sounds like whole class learning (the same instrument) which I actually think is not a good way to teach anybody an instrument - and yet I do that as part of my day to day job! Go figure!! A colleague was able to change my mindset when he said he struggled with this type of teaching until someone said to him it wasn’t about training new musicians, it was about the children having the opportunity to work together as a team towards a common goal and it just happened to use music as the facilitator for that to happen. Also, assisting a colleague to teach clarinet to a Year 6 class was an eye opener - the clarinet is an absolute b*st*rd of an instrument to actually assemble, even if the playing bit is relatively easy! (Says he who cannot get a sound out of one; I did equally as badly with a flute!) Which should be some comfort to @Northmoor - I might be able to produce something approaching a good sound from most brass instruments, can strum four chords on a ukulele (just), and have learnt to fool most of the people some of the time with my self-taught piano playing, but nearly every other instrument is beyond my ability; I remember word for word what was said to me after a three hour lesson* on a cello from a friend who wanted to practice for her teaching diploma - “Steve, promise me to never - ever - try to play the cello again, please, for everyone’s sake?” My point is, everyone can actually play a musical instrument - the trick is discovering which one is your ‘natural fit’, but the process can be disheartening. I was lucky that my dad borrowed a cornet for me to try when I was finishing primary school; it was awful, I couldn’t get a sound from it properly, the mouthpiece was just too small. When offered the chance (with 29 others) to have cornet/trumpet lessons at secondary school, I declined (knowing I couldn’t play it) and instead volunteered myself to learn trombone (because it was bigger). By sheer coincidence I chose the best ‘natural fit’ brass instrument for me to play, as the trombone places the bell closest to my left ear - which is incredibly useful being totally deaf in my right! Meanwhile, as TNM is for discussing anything, I may as well “blow my own trumpet” (see what I did there?!) as tonight I dragged myself to the NODA Region 5 Awards evening, having been nominated for Best Musical Director for a swing revue I created last April; I may have been off work for the last two weeks, but I’d paid for the (expensive) meal in advance so was determined to attend, even if I needed power naps between courses! Long story short, I only went and won my category which means I am now in the running for Best Musical Director for the North West of England for 2023! Was pleased to have been nominated, but even more surprised (due to the other nominees) and utterly chuffed to have won. Meanwhile, my friend and colleague only went and won ‘Best Actress in A Drama’ against a field of well established actresses, after acting for the first time since qualifying as a teacher some 20 years previously! All in all a great night … Having had to drive there, I ended up as ‘designated driver’ and therefore unofficial (and unpaid!) Uber driver to several of our party tonight, so the adrenaline has kept me awake longer than expected hence this rambling post at silly o’clock in the morning! I’ll probably pay for it by being totally knackered tomorrow, but I have a half term holiday to finish recovering and be ready for the new term up to Easter, so all is good. Thank you, and a very good night to you all! Steve S * It was supposed to be half an hour, but I was so bad she tried every single teaching trick in her repertoire to try to help me make some kind of decent sound - but all to no effect! I may love the cello, but I am resigned to never being able to play it!

Not to mention a good few other plays, several of which were adapted into films. However, what I found most interesting about Arthur Ridley was his actual war service/experience … From Wikipedia - Ridley was a student teacher and had made his theatrical debut in Prunella at the Theatre Royal, Bristol when he volunteered for service with the British Army on the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914. He was initially rejected because of a hammer toe. In December 1915, he enlisted as a private with the Somerset Light Infantry, British Army. He saw active service in the war, sustaining several wounds in close-quarter battle. His left hand was left virtually useless by wounds sustained on the Somme; his legs were riddled with shrapnel; he received a bayonet wound in the groin; and the legacy of a blow to the head from a German soldier's rifle butt left him prone to blackouts after the war. He was medically discharged from the army with the rank of lance corporal in May 1917. He received the Silver War Badge having been honourably discharged from the army due to wounds received in the war, and was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal for his service. Ridley rejoined the army in 1939 following the outbreak of the Second World War. He was commissioned into the General List on 7 October 1939 as a second lieutenant. He served with the British Expeditionary Force in France during the "Phoney War", employed as a "Conducting Officer" tasked with supervising journalists who were visiting the front line. In May 1940, Ridley returned to Britain on the overcrowded destroyer HMS Vimiera, which was the last British ship to escape from the harbour during the Battle of Boulogne. Shortly afterwards, he was discharged from the Armed Forces on health grounds. He relinquished his commission as a captain on 1 June 1940. He subsequently joined the Home Guard, in his home town of Caterham, and ENSA, with which he toured the country. He described his wartime experiences on Desert Island Discs in 1973. I was aware that several members of the Dad’s Army cast had actual experience of serving in WW2, not to mention WW1 and the home guard itself - I wonder how much the writers consulted with the actors, or whether they offered up memories from their service life that got incorporated into the scripts? Ian Lavender was superb as Pike in Dad’s Army - and how lucky was he to be part of such an ensemble of talented and experienced actors.

Oh my goodness! I find myself agreeing with @Captain Kernow but also with @Watto1990 and also @HExpressD As a self declared shunting loco addict, I can see a few “hits” already* in the images posted! And to think I’ve been manfully resisting the drip fed adverts and subliminal temptation of the NCB Port of Par loco! Now I am just keeping my fingers crossed that RAPIDO haven’t inadvertently duplicated PLANET INDUSTRIAL’s next project! 🫢 Steve S * 965002 (quasi PLA livery), 965007 and 965010 - did I say a few?! 😆

Good luck with the guitar. I’m a trombonist by training, but find myself teaching ukulele to Primary School Year 2 and 4 classes for my day job. I’ve never even begun to be able to play the guitar, and four chords on a ukulele are my absolute limit, not helped by a dose of “trigger finger” in my left hand. However, what I’m actually here to suggest is what I’ve done for one or two left handed children who absolutely could not manage to play the instrument “the right way around” - turn the instrument the other way (so the neck is in their right hand) and re-tune the strings in reverse order (as turning the instrument over reverses the string order). For a guitar, I would suggest you would also need to re-string the guitar. Doing so would mean your left hand is then left to simply strum - your weaker ring and ‘pinky’ fingers would only show up should you want to do “classical” guitar pieces or finger picking type patterns. Just a thought should the finger exercises prove less successful. Steve S

Why? What can you do with it?! (Being serious - what can you do with something banana shaped and full of Mazak rot other than send it to landfill?) Oh, silly me, of course… You can put it up for sale on eBay for £16.00 a la Go$turd 🙄🤣 Steve S

I took a very relaxed wander through the local Swedish blue and yellow store in search of some items to allow my work space to be relocated from the loft to the dining room (these past weeks of recuperation enforcing a reevaluation of where my home “office” is located - the loft - and its effect upon my general health) and took a long, hard look at the shelves upon which Rob creates his miniature works of art (or ‘layouts’ as he calls them)… The longer I stared at it in its “virgin” state, the more I marvelled at what Rob creates upon them! I very nearly purchased one so I could push some medium radius Peco points around on it to see how it works ‘in the flesh’, but prudence told me to wait until next visit. (Focus is not my middle name.) Must admit to being a teeny bit (oh okay, a lot) jealous of @GMKAT7 acquiring Rob’s “Christmas Quicky” as I would have put an offer in had I not been so slow to see the post suggesting it might be available ill. Having the track already laid and wired (and tested!) in a Sheepbloke design … wow! What an auspicious beginning! Do remember, Nigel, to provide us with a link here to your new layout thread when you start/name it in due course. @Tortuga - “Ply Plank of Poor Progress” - I do like that, although to describe my own ‘workbench’ I would have to add an extra descriptive word - also beginning with ‘p’ - between “of” and “Poor” 🫢🤣 HOURS OF FUN!

Thanks for the instructions/hints about correcting the ride height/spacing of Triang mk1 coach bogies. Just purchased three more off eBay for my own use, although a book I picked up on Diesel Hydraulics in the West Country seem to show Warships with a minimum of 8 coaches behind, so I may end up adding them to the 6 coaches I’ve got for my mate already. As these are maroon livery, I really will have to master repainting into chocolate and cream! Having taken my first Triang mk1 apart, I now see why the separate sides make them ideal “chop shop” fodder! As a matter of interest, how do you go about cutting them up? Razor saw or many passes with a modelling knife? Is masking tape a good idea? Middle of Lidl the other week had “Japanese Saws”, which apparently cut in both directions (?) and I did wonder if they were fine enough for modelling work (as the packaging said they had more teeth than a normal saw) although I couldn’t tell how thick the blades were due to the packaging. Delighted to find in my late dad’s library of reference books Keith Parkin’s “British Railways Mark 1 Coaches” and the “Supplementary Volume” - being stuck in bed has given me plenty of time to read it cover to cover. It’s fascinating how many variations of mk1 carriage were produced, and yet all using standard ‘panels’ had such a unity of design. HOURS OF FUN!

Possibly Blue Pullman owners out there with the factory fitted chips might be able to answer me this… The instructions say F1 for table lamps and F2 for cab lights. Coach lights are on all the time. Is there a way to turn coach lighting off? Or does that require an upgraded chip/s from those supplied by Bachmann? Just picked up a set off eBay like new, but reading in the thread that the original cost was £280 means someone made a cool 50% markup (if that was what they paid!). In any case, I am very happy to have acquired it (thank you eBay credit!) There was a set for sale on eBay a few days ago at a reduced price of £375 (or best offer); it appeared literally minutes after I’d made my purchase, but has now sold so possibly somebody got themselves a real bargain - especially compared to some prices now being asked on eBay, or even for brand new sets. I have to say that I thought my Bachmann 4CEPs were difficult to link together, until that is I put the Blue Pullman together to test it! Definitely a model which you want to assemble and then leave ready to run on your layout rather than packing it away between operating sessions. On testing, I thought it was a superbly smooth runner and the close coupling is superb. It appeared to tilt (like a Pendolino) into curves, but maybe that was just the severity of the curves themselves (Radius 3). Steve S