My old harmonium

I saw the picture in a Facebook fleemarket group. A white coloured harmonium, with the text "Simplify" painted in the front it. The original colour is of the instrument is dark brown. 

People give away a lot of things they don´t need. And you can find things you need from these groups for free.

Did I need a harmonium? Not as far as I know. 

For some unknown reason I told, that I will come and pick it up. The harmonium was pretty heavy, so it was a little project to get it home. 

I love stories. And every old item has a story. The owner of the harmonium had passed away, and the house where it was had new owners. It looks like nobody has been playing it for a long time.

Well, here it is now. In the corner next to my electric piano.

I had to find out where it comes from. The label says "Halonen ja kumpp, Jyväskylä".

Some history

The harmonium has been made in Brother´s Halonen reed organ (harmonium) factory in Jyväskylä. The factory was built in 1910. The building is designed by the other founder of the factory, Antti Halonen. His brother, Aapeli Halonen was the harmonium builder. Aapeli Halonen lived upstairs in the building with his family, leading the factory until his death 1928. His son, Seppo continued with the work. Harmonium production ended in 1960s.

Aapeli Halonen also made picture frames for his brother, painter Pekka Halonen

The musicians (for example Oskar Merikanto and P.J. Hannikainen) liked the sound of the harmoniums from Brother´s Halonen. 

There is nowadays a restaurant in the old building, Restaurant Harmooni

Maybe a place to visit next time in Jyväskylä.

What the past year has taught me

Looking back, there are things that have changed. The pandemic has challenged all of us in many ways.

Over a year ago I started working from home. No travelling to work, or very much not anywhere. It wasn´t that hard first, I guess. When one week followed the other it became a bit harder. 

Any lessons learned?

• Routines are very important to keep going and get anything done. To keep on doing the same things in the morning. Waking up nearly the same time every morning. In our family it means before 6 am on weekdays.
• Setting small goals every day.
  I need to do this. Even if it's only 2 or 3 things. This helps me get things done. 
  Otherwise they would pile up very quickly and make me stressed.
  The little things take you forward step by step, towards bigger things.
• Finding the right time every day to do certain things, take breaks and to stay focused when needed.
• Learning something new all the time is important to keep me going. The past year has taught me to try new things and find information, to keep trying and searching.
• Leading myself better.
• Finding happiness in simple things. 
• Reminding myself to stay hopeful.
• To not stress. I had to keep on telling me this for example when my dad was in hospital, and due to Covid there was no chance to visit him. There are certainly things we can´t control, and just do the things we can.

It's easy to make lists. The very much harder thing is to keep on doing something you have planned. It takes a lot of self-discipline.

It sounds so easy to make a list and follow it.

Well, it might be some days. 

What have you learned in the past year?

Have a great week!

"Happiness is where we find it, but very rarely where we seek it." - J. Petit Senn

 

Recording a podcast

To be honest, I haven't listened very much to podcasts. They are very popular and easy to listen to while jogging, driving or cooking. And it's quite easy to make your own. All you need is a microphone, computer, editing program and a platform. Plus a calm place where the recordings are made.

In February and March I set up a table and a microphone for four days in our home studio to record a podcast-series with four episodes. After that I did used Pro Tools for editing the podcasts and did a jingle on my keyboard.

It was quite fun, and something I could do also in the future. Also it would be fun to come up with an own podcast.

My studio setup for recording podcasts

Many times a lot of things are best learned by starting to do something. What worked and what didn't? Every episode needs a plan: what to talk about, what are the questions you are asking and how are you keeping it all together. In the beginning it's good to have music, and maybe the same music in the end, that brings it all together. It would be good to decide the length of the episodes. 

I used my Motif 6 -keyboard for making the jingle

The microphone I used for recording was audio-technica AT4047/SV 
The microphone

Coffee and ProTools

Is it important to avoid mistakes while speaking? Or is it better that the person sounds real? I think the talk should be real, not trying to be too perfect. If a word is said two times, who cares? It's good to speak like you would speak to another person and remember that a podcast can become better all the time.

What do you need for making a podcast?   

• a good idea and a concept
• equipment

Questions to think about:

• What topic is so interesting than you can make a lot of episodes of it?
• What could the listeners want to hear?
• What is your target group?

Tips:

• Ask people you know what they would like to hear about?
• Be real

Equipment needed: microphone, computer, editing program, platform

A calm place where you can record

Don't forget marketing the podcast.

What do you think is important to remember while recording a podcast?

Spring is here

What is your favorite season?

Mine is absolutely Spring.

The increasing amount of light, melting snow and sound of birds and new life.

It brings new energy and hope.

Hang on there. New things are coming.

In my next posts I will tell how my part time entrepeneurship has started.

For now, enjoy the light!

Hello March!

It´s been a while since writing here. Now I´m starting to update this blog again monthly. For a while I have been writing about travelling, and now the theme is changing a bit. There are new things and ideas, that I want to share with you.

Studies

I have been doing studies at Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences, learning to make webpages and e-commerce. There are still some courses going on, and it has been interesting to learn new things. Sometimes it´s really good to move out from the comfort zone. So, I have been learning about coding with HTML, CSS and Javascript and using Wordpress.

Amkoodari studies

Part-time entrepeneurship

I also started as a part-time entrepeneur. First I wasn´t quite sure what I actually would be doing. One idea was to write content. 

Airbnb hosting

Another idea, that came up was to start airbnb hosting, since we have an "extra house" in our yard where friends have stayed overnight. So, why not?

Villa Garage Tuusula

Podcasts and recording

We have a home studio in the basement. And nearly two weeks ago, I found myself recording and editing a podcast for the first time and also doing a jingle for it. The podcast was for Järvenpää Plus 

Last week my husband recorded a song for a local band in the same studio. Very interesting, we ended up thinking about a name for our studio (Kallberg studio). There is no webpage yet. 

Since we have the equipment, I also started about thinking about an own podcast. What could it be about, do you have any ideas?

YouTube channel

My husband is building something all the time, and there came the idea of a YouTube channel about diy-things. The whole family (except our youngest not yet) is doing some diy, so it will be our family project. This is also something new, so ideas are welcome. In the beginning the videos will be far from perfect.

Kallberg DIY

Is this all? I´m not sure. There are some own music projects waiting too.

I feel very excited.

Boat cruise in December

 We usually take the boat to Sweden a few day before Christmas every year. Now it wasn't possible because of the pandemic. Instead we went to Estonia with M/S Victoria, a boat that usually cruise from Tallinn to Stockholm. This time we stayed on the boat and watched Tallinn from the harbor, while it was a quarantine free cruise. 

It wasn't a bad experience at all. There was plenty on space on the boat. We had time to eat in the restaurant, meet Santa, do shopping, spend time in the playroom, take a massage, try the hack the boat -game, eat breakfast and stay in sauna and jacuzzi. Quite many things! 

Archipelago in November

 Cottage life is best to experience in Summer. Still it's not that bad in November either. We went to a friend's cottage in November by boat when it was completely dark outside. Something extreme. And the water was also a bit cold for swimming.

Can't wait for Summer when it's warm again!