January 23, 2007 3:13am

The first thing you probably notice in the above pic is the black rectangular thing with a cable coming out of it. The tiny cylindrical object at the end of the cable is the microphone itself. It's tiny but highly sensitive. The rectangular thing is the power module which operates on a single AA battery. The signal coming from the microphone is very weak so the job of the power module is to make it stronger so that the sound system has something to work with. I don't want to get carried away with a technical discussion about audio. But you get the idea.

Next, we have the fresh set of guitar strings. Normally I change strings about once a month, but occasionally they break in the middle of a show so I gotta have the needed replacement string ready to go. Although I am pretty quick with changing a single string---haven't really timed myself but I'm guessing 2 minutes--sometimes the show has to go on without a pause so I just make the necessary musical changes to adapt to the fact that I'm missing a string. When I'm working with dancers and I have to change a string between numbers I'll just have them do a palmas demonstration or if I'm doing a solo performance, I'll talk about flamenco theory.

Continuing clockwise around the pic we come to the tuning fork. What the fork does is provide a standard tonal frequency for tuning the guitar. You can get a tuning fork for various frequencies but usually musicians get A-440. The way you use it is by holding the fork by the handle (the part with ball on the end) and strike one of the prongs against something--usually your knee will do. The prongs will begin to vibrate but you need to touch the ball end of the fork against the soundboard of the guitar. What happens is that the vibration of the fork is transmitted to the soundboard and the tone will be audible through the guitar for the standard tone of A. Then you play the equivalent note on a guitar string and adjust the tuning until it matches the tone of the fork. Then you tune the guitar based on the in-tune note and voila! The guitar is in tune to the standard tone!

Next we have the capos. You know how guitarists sometimes place their whole index finger against the fretboard to raise or lower the pitch of the strings? Well these devices called capos do the same thing. The traditional capo (or cejilla as the say in Spain) is made of wood and leather and uses a nylon string which is wound around the peg to tighten the tension of the capo. The modern capo is made of steel and has a strap made of nylon (I think) and has a plastic handle on the end used to secure the strap tightly for a snug fit. One thing you don't want is for the capo to be loose because it will result in a buzzing sound which occurs when the string is not pressed all the way down against the fretboard. As you see I have plenty of spares in my case. These things are easily lost and misplaced. I don't know how many times I've gone to flamenco parties where one of my friends will ask, "Hey MIguelito, do you have a capo I can borrow?" At the end of the night my friend will accidentally forget to take the capo off his guitar, put the guitar away in the case and leave the party. Then when I'm packing up for the night, at that moment I'll realize, "Oh shoot. That dude took my capo. Ugh!" So I got these fancy capos from Spain so that I can easily identify the ones that are mine. Then again they're so beautiful that someone might actually want to steal them anyway.

January 23, 2007 3:15am

The electronic device pictured here is a digital audio recorder. I use this thing mostly for recording footwork patterns that I need to study on my own outside of dance class. Its small size makes it very convenient for me. I can even keep it in my pocket during class, press record and the loudness of the footwork itself is strong enough that the microphone will still pick it up. Other times I use it for recording musical ideas that might come to me when I don't have time to write it down. Or maybe I might record the letra or falseta from a recording that a dancer wants me to learn. Then of course, I've been using it for recording interviews with local artists for my website. It holds up to 72 hours of audio---more than I'll ever need! If you're interested in buying one yourself, it's made by Olympus and the model number is VN3100. I bought mine at Radio Shack.

Next we have the nail glue. Usually salons will use this to attach an artificial nail. I use it by applying a layer of the glue atop my nail, and after letting it dry in a few seconds it becomes hard and makes my nail stronger for playing the guitar. Of course, the layer of hardened glue does eventually chip off but usually stays on long enough to last a show or two.

The last two items are pretty common that they don't require much explanation. Although I have to say that I use the nail clipper for emergency repairs. For example if a nail is torn and is beyond repair, I just clip it off. It's a lot quicker than trying to file it off.

Since I got my new guitar case, the compartment is very neat and clean with only the necessary items. But I'm pretty sure I'll start to accumulate some extra doodads as time goes by. I've been known to throw into the compartment everything from coins, sticks of chewing gum, scraps of paper with telephone numbers of potential clients etc. I used to keep a supply of safety pins--don't know how many times dancers have asked me for safety pins as if a guy like me would just happen to have some handy. But I like to support my dancers, so this one time I got a small bag of them and kept it in my case. Of course, the bag spilled open and one day I reached in the compartment feeling around for something and OUCH!

It's getting pretty late, even for a vampire like me. So I'm going to sign off and get some sleep now. Good night!