11/05: Rumours of my death
… are somewhat overstated.
… and this thing is… releasable, I guess. Things Break (5:07, Ogg, MP3 — 4.7M, 15M respectively).
… and this thing is… releasable, I guess. Things Break (5:07, Ogg, MP3 — 4.7M, 15M respectively).
18/12: Another revision
No, actually, I don’t have time for this.
I did anyway. Meditation/G Minor again. (3:50, Ogg, MP3 — 3.6M, 12M respectively).
I did anyway. Meditation/G Minor again. (3:50, Ogg, MP3 — 3.6M, 12M respectively).
16/12: Strings, piano
RoseGarden/FluidSynth thing: Meditation/G Minor (2:12, Ogg, MP3 — 6.7M, 2.1M respectively). Piano, bass, cello. I happened to be sitting in the dark, next to a fire, and it seemed the thing to do.
15/04: Resisting Arrest redux
… now with 80% more feedback squeal.
The occasion is: I’ve installed Rakarrack, a guitar effects processor for Linux, and it really did seem I could do so much more with that lead line.
Mind, what I really have to do is re-record that lead—or at least bits of it—tighter to the rhythm. But in the meanwhile, here it is with a Rakarrack effects chain beefing up the signal out of a plain ole’ soundhole pickup. MP3, Ogg (3:40; 4M, 16M respectively).
The occasion is: I’ve installed Rakarrack, a guitar effects processor for Linux, and it really did seem I could do so much more with that lead line.
Mind, what I really have to do is re-record that lead—or at least bits of it—tighter to the rhythm. But in the meanwhile, here it is with a Rakarrack effects chain beefing up the signal out of a plain ole’ soundhole pickup. MP3, Ogg (3:40; 4M, 16M respectively).
07/04: Twenty-first century pigeon
I dunno how common this is, but when I transferred in Newark, inside the very crowded terminal A, between coffee shops and restaurants and tired travellers flaking out on airport chairs, there was a pigeon wandering around on the carpet.
I’ve seen songbirds inside terminals before—believe the last time was up in the high ceilings of Dulles—but Newark’s terminal A near gate 26 seems so much less the sort of place for an avian encounter. It’s a low, crowded, carpeted departure lounge. I almost stepped on the little guy, zipping through.
But hey, maybe s/he was just waiting for a flight, same as me. And how very species-ist of me to be at all surprised.
Anyway, this bit—a slightly modified twelve bar blues at 130 bpm done on a virtual acid house rack on my Nexus*—is hereby named in honour of our fine, feathered commuter. Allow me to present Twenty-First Century Pigeon. 4:17. Ogg, MP3. 16M, 4M, respectively.
… and I’m back now. At the hill. There’s a few things still open. May try to get in a few runs tomorrow. It’s all over Monday, apparently. Another victim of this part of North America’s freakishly warm March.
(*/Yes, Caustic, again. Don’t leave home without it.)
I’ve seen songbirds inside terminals before—believe the last time was up in the high ceilings of Dulles—but Newark’s terminal A near gate 26 seems so much less the sort of place for an avian encounter. It’s a low, crowded, carpeted departure lounge. I almost stepped on the little guy, zipping through.
But hey, maybe s/he was just waiting for a flight, same as me. And how very species-ist of me to be at all surprised.
Anyway, this bit—a slightly modified twelve bar blues at 130 bpm done on a virtual acid house rack on my Nexus*—is hereby named in honour of our fine, feathered commuter. Allow me to present Twenty-First Century Pigeon. 4:17. Ogg, MP3. 16M, 4M, respectively.
… and I’m back now. At the hill. There’s a few things still open. May try to get in a few runs tomorrow. It’s all over Monday, apparently. Another victim of this part of North America’s freakishly warm March.
(*/Yes, Caustic, again. Don’t leave home without it.)
05/04: Yeast Frog
You know the score. It’s the the usual deal. Strange beds, strange time zones…
So this happened, in the throes of insomnia. Also using Caustic. I’m calling it Yeast Frog (2:17, Ogg, MP3 — 6.6M, 2.2M respectively).
So this happened, in the throes of insomnia. Also using Caustic. I’m calling it Yeast Frog (2:17, Ogg, MP3 — 6.6M, 2.2M respectively).
02/04: Chicago/Houston/Phoenix
So I’m on this crazy trip to Phoenix—a trip which somehow has managed to stop in two additional cities en route.
Next time, I must remember to look a little closer at the itinerary the travel tool spits out, yes.
Anyway. Following this tradition I’ve now established—and thus continuing my series of pieces composed and sequenced entirely while airborne—I hereby present not one but two new entries. As, hey, if you’re stuck in the air that long, you really might as well*.
First—done on the leg between Chicago and Houston—behold ‘Overpackaged’ (2:33, Ogg/MP3—7.4 and 2.4 MB respectively).
Second—done between Houston and Phoenix—we have ‘Walkabout’ (2:34, Ogg/MP3—7.7 and 2.4 MB respectively).
Both of these I did entirely using my phone—such are the wonders of ‘Caustic‘—a clever little bit of ‘ware that makes possible such peculiar endeavours.
Next time, I must remember to look a little closer at the itinerary the travel tool spits out, yes.
Anyway. Following this tradition I’ve now established—and thus continuing my series of pieces composed and sequenced entirely while airborne—I hereby present not one but two new entries. As, hey, if you’re stuck in the air that long, you really might as well*.
First—done on the leg between Chicago and Houston—behold ‘Overpackaged’ (2:33, Ogg/MP3—7.4 and 2.4 MB respectively).
Second—done between Houston and Phoenix—we have ‘Walkabout’ (2:34, Ogg/MP3—7.7 and 2.4 MB respectively).
Both of these I did entirely using my phone—such are the wonders of ‘Caustic‘—a clever little bit of ‘ware that makes possible such peculiar endeavours.
(*/Making this a sensible enough tradition, I’d add—given that airborne time tends to be downtime anyway—especially on flights—like these ones—without wi-fi—somewhat easing my guilt at spending time on something like this.)
25/01: Rough
This happened mostly on the plane back from Phoenix. Rough. 4:19. MP3 , Ogg. 4 and 14M, respectively.
How it happened: I got to thinking about Pachelbel’s Canon, and that (yeah, kinda tedious for the cellist) endlessly repeated bass figure, with the variations all above it, and got to thinking: good idea… let’s see what happens when you do something like that with RoseGarden.
… and then it sounded like maybe it needed a piano, and some percussion… and anyway, here we are.
And yes, I suppose I probably should be forced to resign my bow or somethin’ for using synthesized strings when I’ve a near orchestra of perfectly serviceable and very non-virtual instruments in the place. My only defense is: I didn’t have any of those with me on the plane…
(/And what with said plane landing sometime ‘round 12:40 AM local, folk might have objected, even if I had.)
How it happened: I got to thinking about Pachelbel’s Canon, and that (yeah, kinda tedious for the cellist) endlessly repeated bass figure, with the variations all above it, and got to thinking: good idea… let’s see what happens when you do something like that with RoseGarden.
… and then it sounded like maybe it needed a piano, and some percussion… and anyway, here we are.
And yes, I suppose I probably should be forced to resign my bow or somethin’ for using synthesized strings when I’ve a near orchestra of perfectly serviceable and very non-virtual instruments in the place. My only defense is: I didn’t have any of those with me on the plane…
(/And what with said plane landing sometime ‘round 12:40 AM local, folk might have objected, even if I had.)
So I hadn’t really been in the market for a new laptop. Quite liked the lovely little X41 I already had for personal use. Sure, it was six years old, but it was tiny and efficient and had that wonderful Thinkpad keyboard going for it. And I’d done all sorts of unnatural and perverse things to it, over the time I’d owned it, including, of all things, putting in an equally tiny SSD, making it even quieter and cooler to operate. And it was kind of insane what I could get the tiny lil’ single core to do. So why change? Old is good, in so many ways. Slower, sure, but if you want Linux to behave on a laptop, a little older has some advantages. Given a bit of time, drivers will have been written and refined and smoothed out, issues will have been resolved. Stability, reliability, these are good things. I do like a machine on which when you press power, it just comes up, no issues, no complaints.
But then I finally tripped over its power cord one night, managed to pull it onto a tile floor, and despite the X series’ legendary toughness, managed thereby to crack its screen. And apart from the dead pixels that ensued, well, it developed some odd twitches after that.
Pity. I really liked the little thing. Or make that ‘like’. Present tense. It’s still around, tho’ yeah, suffering. And the logic of replacing the various broken bits in a machine of that vintage, it becomes a mite questionable, when, sure, for the same kind of money, you can buy a fair bit more horsepower.
So I browsed ‘round, started looking at one of its only-slightly-later successors—the X61—as a candidate for taking over its duties. And since it turned out X61 tablets aren’t usually going for much more cash than the non-tablet version, I figured, hey, why not throw that option in, too?
My current verdict is: good call. I’m writing this on just such a thing. And Debian went on with no great drama*, and my kids love using it for drawing in the car—fold over the screen, turn it into a slightly thick circa-2007 tablet, and it’s really a nice little thing for that sort of activity. And unlike so many modern touchscreens, you can rest your hand comfortably right on it while using the stylus—just like writing with a pen—and it’s really only a little larger than the lamented X41. And that extra thickness means you still get a typically awesome Thinkpad keyboard in the deal, ready to go for the more text-based activities in which I do also tend to engage from time to time.
… and 3G broadband on a tethered phone works fine and wireless works fine and with a little effort I even got it to rotate the screen and controls nicely and automatically when you fold it over…
… and you really have to try writing music on a tablet like this sometime, if you’re into that kind of thing. Being able just to point at the staff with the stylus, tap gently, have the notes appear right under the nib, it’s just… geez, but it’s such a natural thing, for those of us also still comfortable with pen and paper.
And speaking of: done exactly that way, in bits of downtime on the X61, mostly while waiting to pick up children from various activities, we now have Test Pattern. MP3, Ogg. 2:07, 2M and 6.2M respectively.
But then I finally tripped over its power cord one night, managed to pull it onto a tile floor, and despite the X series’ legendary toughness, managed thereby to crack its screen. And apart from the dead pixels that ensued, well, it developed some odd twitches after that.
Pity. I really liked the little thing. Or make that ‘like’. Present tense. It’s still around, tho’ yeah, suffering. And the logic of replacing the various broken bits in a machine of that vintage, it becomes a mite questionable, when, sure, for the same kind of money, you can buy a fair bit more horsepower.
So I browsed ‘round, started looking at one of its only-slightly-later successors—the X61—as a candidate for taking over its duties. And since it turned out X61 tablets aren’t usually going for much more cash than the non-tablet version, I figured, hey, why not throw that option in, too?
My current verdict is: good call. I’m writing this on just such a thing. And Debian went on with no great drama*, and my kids love using it for drawing in the car—fold over the screen, turn it into a slightly thick circa-2007 tablet, and it’s really a nice little thing for that sort of activity. And unlike so many modern touchscreens, you can rest your hand comfortably right on it while using the stylus—just like writing with a pen—and it’s really only a little larger than the lamented X41. And that extra thickness means you still get a typically awesome Thinkpad keyboard in the deal, ready to go for the more text-based activities in which I do also tend to engage from time to time.
… and 3G broadband on a tethered phone works fine and wireless works fine and with a little effort I even got it to rotate the screen and controls nicely and automatically when you fold it over…
… and you really have to try writing music on a tablet like this sometime, if you’re into that kind of thing. Being able just to point at the staff with the stylus, tap gently, have the notes appear right under the nib, it’s just… geez, but it’s such a natural thing, for those of us also still comfortable with pen and paper.
And speaking of: done exactly that way, in bits of downtime on the X61, mostly while waiting to pick up children from various activities, we now have Test Pattern. MP3, Ogg. 2:07, 2M and 6.2M respectively.
*Tho’ with, truth be told, some modest configuration tweaking necessary to make the tablet stuff work properly.
03/12: And so it begins
I’m in Tremblant again. Down a dark road, next to a river. This missive comes trickling to this site ultimately over a slow cellular connection.
And what else to do whilst sitting in the dark next to the fire I’m keeping going until morning but to muddle around with a sequencer and some soft synths?
We did get up to the hill this morning. It was pretty limited, with some six trails open, some of ‘em heavily shrouded in the haze from the snow guns—the resort is doing what it can to get things bootstrapped notwithstanding this bizarre late winter—but it was still nice just to get out there, burn through some vertical, blow off the cobwebs.
Anyway. Again. As I am here sitting in the dark, and there’s gear around that can do such undemanding things: Various Heresies. Another RoseGarden thing. 4:13 of electric piano, synth, bass, drums. Ogg here (3.9M), MP3 here (13M).
And what else to do whilst sitting in the dark next to the fire I’m keeping going until morning but to muddle around with a sequencer and some soft synths?
We did get up to the hill this morning. It was pretty limited, with some six trails open, some of ‘em heavily shrouded in the haze from the snow guns—the resort is doing what it can to get things bootstrapped notwithstanding this bizarre late winter—but it was still nice just to get out there, burn through some vertical, blow off the cobwebs.
Anyway. Again. As I am here sitting in the dark, and there’s gear around that can do such undemanding things: Various Heresies. Another RoseGarden thing. 4:13 of electric piano, synth, bass, drums. Ogg here (3.9M), MP3 here (13M).
