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July - September 2011
July 2011
- (07/06/11)
Another birthday. Generally birthdays aren't something I make a big deal over. It's not that I don't like birthdays. I'm just somewhat indifferent to them. Even so, it gives me a reason to take a moment and be happy about the fact that one year shy of 50 and I still have no complaints.
So the re-write of the synthesizers article is complete and posted. I like this version much better. The last one was not bad but there were some sections that I felt I allowed to become more confusing than they should have been. Plus it was the very kind of confusion that prompted me to write the article in the first place so I felt like it failed to a small degree. The next writing project is hopefully a thorough dissection of Absynth. I've been digging into the software quite a bit and I should be ready to start mapping out a plan soon.
I picked up a new MIDI keyboard controller. I still have the huge 88-key Roland unit but I also had a small Edirol unit that I liked to keep on my desk when playing around with software synths. That has now been replaced with a somewhat larger Roland A-500 Pro unit. So far so good.
We're in the home stretch for Interlochen. Basically that means that most everything else has to go back burner for a few weeks while I practice Stick and start preparing my class materials.
- (07/09/11)
Excitement in the air! Ok ... that is a little over dramatic. But I have a line on a mint condition Juno-60. I've come to an agreement with the seller and I should be able to have it in the next week or so. Back in the 80s I made a ton of recordings with a Juno-60 that ended up in my lap for the better part of three or four years. Then the real owner decided he needed cash and said I'd either have to buy it or let him sell it. I opted for the latter which was a decision I've regretted ever since. I've been threatening for years to pick up another and was just waiting for the right one to come along. Low and behold!
- (07/14/11)
We know two different couples who, in the last couple of weeks, have lost young sons pretty close to the 20 year old mark. I'm not sure how to even articulate the rotten feeling I have in my stomach over this. Some things just aren't right.
Last minute details for the Interlochen seminar. We're pretty much a go at this point. I need to consider merchandise and, of course, I still need to finish putting my course together.
Been practicing Stick and playing a lot of keyboard this week. The Juno-60 should be shipping out just about any day now so I'm hoping on having it by this time next week.
- (07/21/11)
Ok. I took delivery of the Juno-60 yesterday and it's pretty much everything I remembered. The sound of the unit is really incredible and if you ever want to really hear the difference between analog and digitally simulated analog, grab a potentiometer on an anlog synth and mess with the filter cutoff and resonance while you're playing. Smooooooooooooooth! Right now my short term objective is to get all the Factory presets programmed in. The guy who I purchased from replaced the battery and warned me that the Factory presets were gone. I found a WAV file online to simulate the original cassette method of loading presets but just couldn't seem to get it to work properly. So now I'm punching them all in by hand based on the notes in the original manual. That's actually a good exercise as you get to see exactly what went into the creation of the various presets.
Unfortunately I have to try not to get too bogged down in the Juno-60 right now as Interlochen is looming and I still have a lot of preparation that needs to be done. So I'll tinker a little but the most of my time has to be spent preparing my class and practicing Stick. After I get back, I'm actually hoping on doing some studio re-arranging and setting up a nice "keyboard corner". More on that later.
August 2011
- (08/03/11)
My head is swimming just a bit. First, Interlochen was amazing. The weather actually agreed with us this year so there was plenty of time to walk around outside and we even managed to take in our lunches down by the shore of Green Lake. As I'd hoped, there was music everywhere. Kids practicing in every nook and cranny. In "Charlie's Shack" right next to where we were, there was a high school jazz ensemble practicing in the morning and a full orchestra rehearsing in the afternoon. During lunch, there was a kid practicing the pipe organ in Kresge right above our heads and the sound was gigantic. Of course, our workshop was wonderful. Greg and Bob did an amazing job with their classes and I, as well as everyone else, left energized and ready to play.
Once we wrapped up, I stuck around until Monday just kind of unwinding. We went to the beach to swim twice on Sunday. Other than that, I pretty much lazed around as the workshop schedule caught up to me and wiped me out. On Monday I came home.
Back at home, I am taking care of some workshop odds and ends and then putting some focus on my studio. I'd like to re-arrange some things in order to make the space more keyboard friendly and hopefully create a corner with easy access to the analog keyboards, the MIDI controllers and the computer. Of course, all this has to be done without subtracting from the ergonomics of my Stick space.
Took delivery of "Absynth 5" and am really enjoying the new sounds so far.
Also joined the iPhone generation after my Samsung flip phone literally broke in two last week.
- (08/08/11)
It took the better part of a week and several failed iterations but I finally arrived at a studio setup that stays conducive for recording and Stick playing but adds a corner where I can play around with my various keyboards. Once it was in place, I fired up everything and did spacy keyboard stuff for quite some time. Good fun but I still need some work. I'm thinking an outboard effects processor for the Juno would be nice. Plus I just need to get the hang of playing this multi-key setup.
Which kind of leads me to this. I was playing around with Absynth 5 and simply marvelling at some of the new sounds created by various 3rd parties out there. It got me to thinking about different things musicians do. Historically with a fixed set of instruments, musicians have created in the form of rhythms, harmonies, melodies, etc. But with electronics, musicians can also develop skill at creating brand new sounds and some of these people are incredibly good at it. It's a skill like any other skill associated with being a musician and one that I am afraid still does not get its due.
- (08/10/11)
What an absolutely amazing couple of days! Once the keyboard setup was in place, I fired it all up and noodled. Nothing real inspiring occurred. I even tried running through my Echoplex and that was just plain noisy. Then I started messing around with how it all hooks together. Instead of using the soft synths as standalones and running the hardware synths through an amp, I fired up Mainstage on my iMac and ran everything through there along with the various effects that are part of Mainstage. Then instead of the Echoplex, I downloaded a copy of Mobious and created a looper channel in Mainstage that both hardware and software synths can optionally run through. Then I fired it all up again and that's when the magic happened. I played for quite some time. Played some more the next morning before work. During lunch. After work. Etc. Mostly I am using Absynth for the sounds but I am slipping in some patches from the Juno-60 and the SH-01 also. It is a tremendous amount of fun!
September 2011
- (09/15/11)
No updates in a while. Truth be told, I am once again in one of those places where I question the usefulness of keeping this blog. It's not that I haven't enjoyed it but every time I go more than a month without updating, I feel like the message I'm sending is that I've abandoned the website.
I have been a busy boy though. For the last month I've actually been playing a ton of Stick. Mostly it's been plugging into my little Fishman amp and doing clean tunes. I'm hoping to secure a few appearances next summer up in the north country and need to adjust my repertoire just a bit. I may even record some of this stuff over the next few months.
Last weekend we had an Ann Arbor Stick get together of sorts. There were a fair number of Michigan guys at Interlochen this summer and when that workshop wrapped up, Oz suggested doing a one day informal get together back in Ann Arbor. That event happened last Sunday. All in all we had a blast. It was real informal and involved more jamming than anything else. The best part though was that there were a couple of guys who showed up whom I hadn't seen in quite a while and it was really nice to see them still at it.
This Saturday, Coup Detroit will be playing at the Miami in Detroit. It is one of our rare appearances. We rehearsed a couple of weeks ago and the rustiness was pretty bad so we added another practice last night. What a difference a couple of weeks makes. Last night we nailed everything we did.
In unrelated news, hockey season is here. Beau moved back into the house a couple of weeks back and the Whalers have been on a heavy practice schedule. This last week he was invited up to the annual NHL Prospects Tournament in Traverse City as a walk-on for Carolina. Next week their season officially kicks off as does my own beer league season.