I have an extensive collection of a few hundred cowbells, ranging from tiny to gargantuan, which makes the famous Saturday Night Live skit “More Cowbell” ring a bell with me, so to speak. I even incorporated a Dharma Cowbell into the Woodstock Chimes line, so popular it’s out of stock at the moment! It’s funny… Read more »
Woodstock Chimes headquarters is in the heart of New York’s Ulster County, a destination for people seeking natural beauty, cultural enrichment and fun with the family. Whatever the season, there are plenty of good reasons to visit the area, and in 2019 even more are on tap. After years of planning and meetings, a major… Read more »
Garry Kvistad with Tuned Sleigh Bells
Diane and I recently attended a performance by the four comedians from the TV show Impractical Jokers. It was my birthday present from Diane but like many good presents, we both got to enjoy the gift. I knew they were really funny and popular but I was amazed at just how popular they are. There… Read more »
I can’t help myself. I am addicted to music and collect objects of musical beauty. I am especially drawn to mechanical musical instruments and have been fortunate to add many to my collection over the years. In fact, you could say I invented my own by creating the first musically tuned windchimes, which are mechanical… Read more »
Diane and I have been campers ever since our daughters were very young, for 30 some years. We started camping on our honeymoon in 1977 in central Saskatchewan, using a small pup tent and traveling by canoe on a huge lake for a week without seeing a soul. When the kids were young, we upgraded… Read more »
NEXUS Percussion recently record with So Percussion, but Josh’s other group, NYU Steel, is a longtime performer at my biennial Drum Boogie Festival in Woodstock, NY. I had a blast talking with Josh about music in this two-part podcast, part of which featured a fun tour of my studio at Woodstock Chimes headquarters. Check it… Read more »
It’s been a busy month in Lake Wobegon – I mean Woodstock. Our group NEXUS performed several times and recorded three pieces of Steve Reich’s music with the members of So Percussion and other amazing musicians. One of the sessions was a four-camera video recording at Princeton University of Reich’s Drumming, which is over an… Read more »
Have you seen the Spielberg movie Lincoln? It brought to light all the backroom deals that were cut to free the slaves and establish the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863. While our country is still divided in many ways today, we all experience moments of liberation and unity. One such experience was shared by the 175… Read more »
That’s what our 2-year-old grandson, Lucca, calls me. Lucca now has a baby sister, our second grandchild, Siena, who just came into the world. When our daughters were born back in the 1980s, everyone said, “Enjoy it while you can because they grow up so fast.” It is so true and I understand this fully… Read more »
Those were the words given to us by our “high school” orchestra conductor, Thor Johnson, when we were playing a difficult new work by a Japanese composer in the mid-1960s. If you say each word on four beats, fitting the syllables equally in each beat, it helps create a rhythm of 2 + 3 +… Read more »
Music Is Healing Of course, many of us have known this for a long time, but research is coming out more frequently to tell us how and why it is true. Certain sounds can lower your stress level, increase your creative focus and make you more productive! I’m often told that the music of Woodstock… Read more »
My day job is making Woodstock Chimes but at night I come out to play. I recently had the privilege once again to play timpani with the Northern Dutchess Symphony Orchestra and the local Mendelssohn Club Men’s Chorus. We were joined by student guest performers from the Anderson Center for Autism. The Anderson Center students… Read more »
Watch the video HERE.
