Ethnography

Metacognitive Analysis

Omar Reyes

Professor Sean Pessin

English 114B

May 1, 2013

Metacognitive Analysis

Over the course of a few weeks I have had the chance to experience the making and updating of a blog. A blog is a website where one shares their opinions and ideas to a worldwide audience on a regular basis and they can be about pretty much everything you want it to be. The subject of my blog was something I do feel strongly about and it was guitar maintenance, along with a few summaries/analysis about the problem with the arts in public schools and how their budgets are being cut. Guitar playing is something I have held and still hold near and dear to my heart so I decided to make guitar care my main subject.  After I had gathered the sufficient amount of information about guitar care I was then told to write a “hybrid essay.” A hybrid essay is not an ordinary essay because it uses poems, pictures, and several other things that aid in the actual essay without the use of formal text. So, I decided to use pictures in my hybrid essay, and the subject was about how the parts of a guitar function like a human body. The various intricate parts are vital to each other as human organs are. I showed example of what the functions are and why they are important for a guitar to function properly. I emphasized the fact that if one part is not working then the whole guitar itself begins to fall apart, literally. The way I used the pictures was to show what the parts looked like and what some aspects of it represent, along with captioning under it to show why I put the picture there to begin with. I used many types of pictures such as, guitar designs, famous guitar players, logos, electronic schematics, and many guitar parts to show a reader how they look like without actually explaining the whole thing. I also provided examples of what a specific guitar part represents, for example in my essay I compared the electronics in the guitar body to a human brain. They are similar because it is where the main electrical components are and both are intricately designed to do various things for specific parts. Although the human brain is obviously a lot more intricate than the wiring of a guitar, it was just a small comparison between the two. Now again I really emphasized the fact that all the parts of a guitar are vital to each other like a human body’s. For example, the truss rod is like the back bone of a guitar because without it a guitar’s neck would warp, be out of balance, perform horribly, and would just “kill” the guitar. A guitar without a truss rod would affect various parts of a guitar like the neck, bridge, headstock, strings, and sometimes the body, like a human’s body would fail if it were missing a vital organ but it will affect other organs as the “organs” of a guitar affect each other. I concluded my essay by stating that one who is a dedicated guitar player should care for their guitar and run maintenance regularly to maintain all the parts in working order, which was the whole reason of my blog on guitar care. Overall this was a great learning experience because not only did I get to experience the making of a blog but I also learned many guitar care tips and tricks that I had never heard of before. I enjoyed sharing different pieces of information about guitar care whether people cared or not and I supplied enough information to get a newbie started in maintaining their guitar. 

Hybrid Essay: Not so Different

Omar Reyes

Professor Sean Pessin

English 114B

April 24, 2013

NotSo Different

In my blog I discuss the various parts of a guitar. I show their importance as well as their functions. A guitar is an instrument that functions almost like a human body. If one thing from theguitar doesn’t function or is broken, then the guitar is deemed useless in mostcases. From aiding in support to the actual sound of the guitar the wholeanatomy of a guitar is sometimes intricate to most people. The various partswork together and keep the guitar running just like a human body. If you arecareless about your guitar and don’t maintain it, your guitar works at minimumperformance and it eventually wears out. Like a human body, if you don’t takecare of yourself your body feels tired and you get sick and it “wears you out.”Various parts and tools symbolize different body parts like bones, organs, face,etc.

The neck, it providessupport, the ability to mix chords, and aids in keeping the tension of thestrings held together with the headstock and its tuners that hold the string inplace. Without the neck the guitar is useless and it is one of the most vital“organs” of the anatomy of a guitar.

The body is like thehead of a guitar. If the body is not present, the guitar is not considered aguitar. It holds the many important electronics that allow the sound to beprojected using an amplifier. It is also holds an important feature to many,which is the finish and the shape of the body. The body is the most artisticpart of the guitar and shows its beauty.

The bridge, located onthe body, aids in the elevation of strings, support, and tension. Without thebridge no sound is produced and as always useless. Its metal alloy materialmakes it strong and the bolts on each side hold it in place. There are manytypes of bridges but they all do the same thing which is to maintain thetension, support, etc.   The main source of the tension created is in thethree springs located inside the guitar body (the back). These springs regulatethe height of the bridge and carry most of the stress that the strings put onwhen tuning/restringing.

Think of cleaning a guitarlike taking a shower, if you don’t clean your guitar it gets mucky and itactually even begins to smell a certain way due to the grimy metal pieces.These go hand in hand with a human body although it is obviously worse forhumans.

Restringing your guitaris like a monthly or yearly body flush, where you release all the unwantedchemicals in your body that hold you and your health back. A new set of stringsrepresents a new cycle for the guitar and a fresh start like a body would feelafter the flush. The tuning of your strings daily can represent your daily doseof vitamins and minerals that keep your body healthy. If your guitar doesn't get that tuning done often it wears the wood and the sound of your guitar wouldbe very bad such as a unhealthy body would.

A truss rod is like thespine of the guitar as it holds the neck at a certain angle to keep it nice andcurved to get the best sound of your guitar. Just like a over curved spine, anover curved truss rods causes problems to the whole guitar like the spine wouldaffect the body.

The pickups are themagnetic force on the body that helps project the sound of a guitar onto anamplifier like the vocal chords allow us to talk, speak up, and gives us ourown unique voice. With aid of the volume knobs that represent the control youhave of the volume of your voice.

Frets on the guitarneck guide you to play the specific notes or chords and it allows theimagination to flow using the different mixture of notes that the frets allowyou to memorize and write down easily with either notes or tabs.

The wiring in the bodyof the guitar can represent the brain because it is the main source where thespecific electrical components of the pick-ups are located as well as theelectric components for the volume knobs, input jack (jack where you plug inthe instrument cable), and tone knobs.

The hardware locatedall over the guitar, which are the screws, nuts, bolts, washers, etc.), arelike the bones of the guitar because they give support to the guitar and ifthey were not present then the guitar would fall apart. As well as the glueused in various places throughout a guitar like the neck, piling of the wood toactually make the guitar, headstock, etc.

The finish of a guitaris the first thing that catches a player’s eye. There are various intricate andplain designs that give a guitar its own personality. It may as well be one ofthe most artistic features of a guitar, from its designs to its color it givesa guitar that aesthetic touch almost all people love.

The brand of a guitarrepresents the way a human being is raised they in a way go hand in hand witheach other. If a guitar is badly made and rushed then it will not sound as goodas a guitar that is made with “love.” The guitars that are made well using thebest wood as well as made slowly and carefully end up being the most beautifulsounding guitars and most expensive.

Amplifiers are like thevehicles that drive the sound through the speakers as well as sends differentsignals that create different sounds. With the aid of an instrument cable ofcourse, this can represent the key for the ignition because without it nosignal or sound will be projected through the amp. It also has a complicatedset of electronics inside that represent the motor of a car because of itsintricate wiring that if damaged is very difficult to repair without aprofessional.

But the most importantpart of the guitar is the player. The player is the main source of note making,control, and maintenance in general. The player provides all of the above andmore, you could think of the player as the doctor, the source of creativity andsound production of the guitar. It is like the face of a person because of allits features. The body is like the head and with the finish its face is seenwhich can be beautiful, horrifying, or in middle just like people see otherpeople.

There are various aspectsof a guitar that makes its anatomy a similar to that of a human because oftheir functions that are necessary for a guitar to keep its “health” to topperformance and its vitality running over the course of years. This whole thingmay seem a bit exaggerated but it is only symbolism of how a guitar works andhow its parts work together to keep it running like an organism’s body does. Thisis why maintaining a guitar is important because just like a human body orother organism, if the body is not taken care of it performs “unhealthily” andeventually gets sick, worn out, and dies. So if you are a dedicated guitarplayer take the time to really care for your guitar because they are veryexpensive at times, taking these tips in mind can really save you money, andyou will have yourself a rocking guitar.

Work Cited

“Anatomy of an Electric Guitar.” Cyber Flotsam. DaveDixon. n. d. April 23, 2013.

“Basic Anatomy.” Manatomy. Human Anatomy. n. d. April23, 2013.

“Anatomy of an Amp Build.” Classic Tube Amps. n. d. April23, 2013.

Bye!

So, over the course of a few weeks I have supplied several amounts of information about guitar maintenance as well as the struggle the arts face in schools. I hope to have achieved my goal which was to inform you with easier practices and repairs to perform on your guitar. I supplied information in favor of those who are self-taught beginners like I had once been. This is my concluding post to this blog as I believe I have supplied enough basic information to get a beginner rolling in guitar maintenance. I really hope those of you who plan on playing guitar in the future, if you don’t already, to use my information along with finding your own as there are many other people that supply similar pieces of information like I did. 

Fretboard Cleaning

This video basically demonstrates one of the maintenance procedures I was talking about in one of my older posts which is the cleaning of the fret board as well as a string change, which I already covered before. This man made up his own way in cleaning his fret board by using a tooth brush and a cleaner specifically for the purpose of fret board cleaning. I have never seen this method before as most people use only cloth. His method seems to be very good because he gets a lot of the dirt on the fret boar4d that has been accumulating over time and you can see the amount of grime he scrubs out. I actually look forward in using this same method in the future because of the effectiveness it seems to have. Aside from this he does mention a procedure I forgot to mention before which was “pre-bending.” Pre-bending is when you pull on the strings after a restringing to get all of the excess slack remaining on the head stock. This helps keep your guitar in tune and aids in better performance while playing because your strings will be nice and snug after you do this. This was a good demonstration video but one problem was that he removed all the strings at once which is a big NO as I explained in my older post. Other than that his methods were excellent and I hope to use a few of them in my future set-up.

More Simple Precautions

Here are some more procedures you should follow in order to keep your guitar in the best condition possible. The first one is to WASH YOUR HANDS, like I explained in my other post your body secretes oils that attract dirt and grime, and washing your hands can be beneficial and promotes longer string life. Never get a zip-up gig bag. Invest in a case although they are expensive it will be worth your while. Always put it in its case because it protects it from temperature change and other environmental “hazards” to your guitar. Also before putting it away make sure you wipe it down with a damp cloth to get rid of the dirt and hand oils. I’ve said this more than once, “strings are vital,” make sure that you adjust your guitar’s neck and bridge to be suitable for the gauge of the strings you are using and don’t change gauges too often. Also when restringing never remove all of the strings at once, remove them one at a time at a steady pace to keep the guitar neck healthy. Change your strings regularly, again as I said in my other post, changing strings can protect the finish and hardware of your guitar, so change them every so often to prevent high cost repairs. Lastly, you need to play your guitar! Leaving it alone, abandoned, then deciding to play it is not good for it so play it once in a while to keep it happy. J

http://www.electric-guitar-review.com/2007/05/08/10-guitar-maintenance-steps-you-should-always-follow-but-probably-dont/

Your Environment is Vital

There are many hazards that many people are not aware of that can harm your guitar. One of these is very important for your guitar’s performance. You should never let your guitar go into extreme changes of temperature because this causes many problems and you can ultimately “kill” your guitar. One example is traveling, if you live in a mild area and then all of a sudden decide to go to Antarctica with your guitar, your instrument will not be the same and you will need to have it set up again because the neck will morph. Another thing is never leave your guitar in your trunk the summer heat, if you live in in a place such as L.A., will damage your guitar externally as well as internally because of all the electronics within the guitar. Also a basic procedure to take if you travel is to make sure you latch your case because it will take a tumble if you don’t, this has happened to me a couple of times and it is saddening. Strings are vital, never over tighten the strings on your guitar because it creates a lot of tension and may not end well. Last but not least is if you travel by plane; make sure you loosen all of the strings because the change in pressure can damage the neck with the change of the tension of the strings. These are some of the many precautions to put in mind and “save” your instrument.

 http://www.ovationguitars.com/support/care_maintenance/care_maintenance

Finish Cleaning +Info

Regardless if you use your guitar for hours or if it has been sitting in a case for months, a guitar needs to be regularly maintained. Your body secretes oils that attract dirt and grime; this is a problem when you are playing your guitar. The strings get mucky and a new set of strings will be desperately needed for higher quality playing. Changing your strings can be really helpful because the dust and grime accumulated in the strings can damage the finish and fret board of your guitar and it may be a costly repair. Aside from the strings, the same oils secreted can damage the finish on the guitar as the fluids may be acidic at times. Also the guitar’s actual hardware, such as screws and bolts, can actually corrode and again these repairs can be costly. When cleaning the finish of the guitar you will need cloth that is one-hundred percent cotton because of the softness, which can prevent scratching.  You will need two pieces of this cloth one dry and another one damp. The dry one is to be used to clean of the dust and other particles that obstruct the finish, this should take you about five minutes, so take your time to get the filth out.  The damp one is used to wax it down. Also the motion in which you scrub the finish is vital. You should always keep a clockwise circular motion to really get that slick shiny look on the finish. 

http://guitarmakersonline.com/guitar-maintenance-and-cleaning-guide/

No offense to art majors...

Articles Opposing the Arts

In the past few years there have been major threats on the arts education in schools. These arts include music, visual art, dance, drama, and several others. There was an act introduced in 2011 called the “Setting New Priorities in Education Spending Act” that threatens education of the arts. The purpose of this act, also known as HR 1891, is to terminate 43 federal education programs which include the Arts and Education program. There are 57 active programs within the Arts and Education program in which have given over 210 grants to students interested in the arts. This act has received votes and support by many Republican as well as Democrats due to the massive amount of funds needed to maintain these programs. I believe the arts are important and should be vital in schools because it boosts creativity in students and also provides a less dull ambience in education.

http://innovativeperformanceandpedagogy.wordpress.com

U.S. politicians have deemed that the arts are wasteful as well as deeming funding of the arts “evil.” Also they state that jobs related to the arts are “wasteful” and “not real jobs.” There is very little funding, about half one hundredth of a percent, in the arts while hundreds of billions are being spent on other problems, such as bank bailouts. It is true that these are more important matters than art programs, but there is such a massive amount of money being spent that a small percentage of the money could ultimately benefit art programs tenfold. What is being proposed is, why are the arts not acknowledged as a part of the economy? What can be done to achieve that said status to consider a job in the arts a “real job?”  The answer to these questions may offer a solution to this conflict between politicians and artists.

http://createdigitalmusic.com

Arts programs are slowly being eliminated by politicians that believe the arts are not needed in public schools. If in the future they manage to eliminate all art programs, students will have a narrow curriculum that can make school for a lot duller, especially for elementary school students. As well as cutting art programs, physical education programs are also at risk because politicians also deem these jobs as “unnecessary.” The main concern is removing programs like these in elementary schools because if they are not introduced to art programs or it will be very unlikely that they develop an interest in these subjects in the future. Students will also lack to develop creativity and critical thinking. I believe students should at least have the option of being involved in art programs because you’ll never know if that student can make a difference in the future as an artist or athlete.

 http://news.university-bound.com

Poll

The Worst

Truss Rod Adjustment

If there is one thing vital to a guitar, that thing would be the truss rod. The truss rod is a metal rod within the guitar neck that makes the guitar neck bend slightly to prevent fret buzz and other problems. Weather and temperature changes can cause the rod to move by itself over time. The truss rod can be adjusted using an allen wrench, although some guitars require special tools to adjust the rod. The truss rod must be turned a quarter of a circle at a time to have the wood from the neck ease and bend toward the direction you wish. These are some signs of a needed truss rod adjustment: if the neck bows outward between the seventh and twelfth fret, which are the spaces where you press your fingers on to make chords or play a specific note, and it is difficult for you to press on with your finger, the truss rod needs to be tightened clock wise until the desired “feel” is met.  If the neck bows inward between the same frets and cause a buzz, which can ultimately affect your playing, you need to loosen the rod by turning it counter-clockwise. This procedure can be tedious because it can be difficult to get the neck to bend the way you want, but it is a lot more efficient because getting It fixed at a guitar shop can range from 60-100 dollars. Learning yourself can make you a more experienced guitar maintainer.

http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/

Ideal Bridge

There are many forums discussing the different types of guitar bridges, which are the metal, or wooden for acoustic guitars, mounts where a string is put in through to create tension on the bottom of the guitar. Some guitars have fixed bridges, which are actually bolted onto the guitar to maintain stability. These are by far the easiest to have because you just put a the guitar string through  and the tension is equally distributed automatically whereas on a Floyd Rose (floating tremolo) you need to clamp the strings to the top and balance the tension with the bridge and the head-stock to use it to its full potential. I myself two guitars with these types of bridges and the Floyd Rose is by far the most complicated. I encourage a beginner guitarist to buy a guitar with a fixed bridge because it is easier to handle. The price for a fixed bridge is a lot less than that of a Floyd Rose due to the Floyd Roses’ intricate design. Another piece of advice is if you really want to use a Floyd Rose make sure you get a “Original Floyd Rose” because the “Licensed Floyd Rose” is even harder to handle because they are cheaply made and they are mass produced more than the “Original” but expect to pay over four-hundred dollars for the “Original.”  A Floyd Rose is so difficult to work with that many guitarists pay a specialized guitar tech to set it up for them. 

ultimate-guitar.com/forum

Hypothesis

What I aim to do is to inform potential guitarists on how to maintain their guitars as the procedures can make a difference on the appearance as well as the sound of a guitar. Although there are hundreds of videos showing different techniques, I hope to give you my feedback from my experiences when doing these repairs on my own guitars.  I have seen several horrible videos that I just ended up breaking my new set of strings in the past. I have pricked my finger, I have been slapped in the face by broken strings, and I have chipped one of my most favorite guitars, but it’s all in the past and in my blog I hope to teach you how to avoid this painful path. Now over the years I have developed some of my own techniques and have grown wiser with the decisions I make when I do these repairs because if done wrong you risk damaging your guitar. I have had about two guitars which have some obvious damage to them because I used to follow amateur advice from some videos I have seen and I hope to guide you away from those and lead you to a better, easier, and safer way of repairing a guitar. I will demonstrate my own procedure of how I myself repair my own guitar, while considering the information I give you, with a video of my own. I hope you enjoy my opinions and feedback in my future posts.

Basic String Change

This video is just a demonstration of a simple string change which is needed every so often. The man in this video has an excellent work station because he’s a professional guitar expert. At home you most likely don’t have a station like this so a table with a towel over it should be good enough. He uses a couple tools such as a pair of wire cutters, a string winder, and a stand to keep the guitar slightly elevated from the top. He also has a specific technique on how to lock the strings into the tuning peg (where the string is put through so the guitar can create tension from both sides), there are many ways to do this with variations of string slack (the amount of excess string you need) and it differs with what type of tuning pegs you have and what gauge (size) of strings you have. This video is very informative for a beginner guitarist who chooses to make this an ongoing practice. Again this is a common procedure that most guitarist do to maintain a beautiful sounding guitar and all these things vary with the type of music you play as different music uses different sized strings for the sound the musician desires. A fresh set of strings can give a guitar a better sound because you get rid of a lot of the “gunk” that interferes with the sound of the strings and you will be surprised of how different it sounds.

Cleaning Your Guitar

If you plan on keeping your guitar and plan on being a decent guitar player it is very important to maintain your guitar in tip top shape. There are several accessories that are essential in the process of taking care of your guitar. Some of these accessories are hard-shell cases (exterior protection), electronic tuners (to maintain a more accurate sound), a guitar stand (to prevent a guitar from falling over and damaging it), etc. A guitar also needs to be clean. Dust is your worst enemy, because it gets in between small crevices and can be a pain to clean. Dust can affect your guitar’s sound and performance so it is encouraged that you wipe it down every so often with a soft cloth to prevent scratches.  Polishing the guitar body, as well as the fingerboard, is also essential because it makes your guitar look good and makes playing a lot easier, when you polish the fret board. Using a good brand of guitar polish such as “Gibson” or “Ernie Ball” can really make your guitar shine.  Also when you need to remove stubborn stains off a guitar don’t scrub it down and risk damaging the finish, a better solution is to use mineral spirits or other lighter fluids because they can take off stains without the harmful scrubbing. All of these items can be found at your local guitar shop so stop by your local guitar shop if you feel your guitar is lacking in any of these aspects.

http://www.repairmyguitar.com/