Wednesday 30 December 2020

Not a regular Friday

 Which is a shame really as I have an idea for a piece I'd like to try out - a reworking of an old one which should fit in perfectly with the current 'teenage angst' album-in-progress.
A mountain of chocolate has arrived, along with various other items such as biscuits and sugary sachets of something or other. It's what happens at this time of year, even here in Humbugland. Hopefully I'll get some studio time tomorrow. Hitting the whisky early. And later, the whiskey. 

Listening to some animated thing reminded me of some of my old tunes - stuff I wrote as  a kid but never really did justice to.There was a melody quite similar to one of them on this film. I always thought they were too simple and naive, which they probably are. As I was learning organ at the time I used a lot of sevenths, which I now interpret as 'French'. 

It's Saturday. Started well - two successful poos from Jasper, the weekly drain check all clear; nothing to stop me getting into the studio this afternoon. It doesn't get much better than this. Oh, I'm getting more into Bruckner now I've adopted the multiple-listens-before-moving-on approach. For some reason I've assumed the odd-numbered symphonies are going to be the best. 

Sunday. I tried (too hard) to cobble a sequence together as it was needed to complete the thing. At least I convinced myself it was. I seem to have stumbled across a simple solution to the whole thing, which is to swap parts 2 & 3 around. Suddenly it feels more balanced. Not totally there - my notes have several corrections suggested - but much closer. Really does capture the Jeffrey Hill vibe too. 

Monday, the sequence one from yesterday has a great bassline. I did a recording of it in its current form and started another one with two unusual Ody sequences fighting each other. Sequencing and generally recording large chunks of Odyssey is proving to be a source of much goodness. Need a simple melodic part to go with that odd seq and it will be a short, neat piece a la Sorcerer. Walking tomorrow so will tackle again on Wednesday. NYE could be drinkies day, seems appropriate to my mind. Then it's Friday again. Some people might be thinking I'm finding my life boring and repetitive at the moment. Not so. It's closer to the experience of the late 70s and early 80s than any other time of my life - hence the constant musical inspiration. I may have mentioned this before. 

Hmmm, Wednesday and didn't manage to do much music. Pat's horse at dentist so she's downstairs and somehow I'm failing to write any music knowing she's listening to each idea as it emerges. Should probably have tried headphones as something was happening at first, or seemed to be. Poor thing is upset about new tears and restrictions and goodness knows what else she's absorbed. (I had been in blissful ignorance but not any more.) Only needed a simple, non-developing theme to go with the quirky sequence but it stalled then died. Oh well. I did a simple bass pulse which works well enough. Don't think I'll use the drum pattern, just the noise sequence. 

Today I trimmed the ivy (neighbour allowed me to fill his garden bin too) and made a bollocknaise. Anyway, here are some of yesterday's photos. A different selection from posted elsewhere, just because.









Thursday 24 December 2020

Finally - a use for the RK-005. Nope. And a For Sale list takes shape...

 OK, I used it previously to clock the arpeggiator on my Juno-6. Now, I think, hope, whatever, that it can provide MIDI clock to that weird little USB input of the Particle 2. Being able to use its delays synced would make it much more useful so fingers crossed. 

Well, I spoke too soon. Could not get any recognition that clock was being sent via the RK-005. I then configured the TRS control input to act as a MIDI Port, although I'm hoping for guidance there as it doesn't work either. I emailed poor Sylvie who helped out the other day. Afraid this pedal is going to be a bit of a waste of time as what it does the Pitch Factor does already, but without head-scratching. Oh well. 

I'm making a list of things to put up for sale/swaps. Photos soon. 

The three Doepfer Eurorack cases and almost all contents, such as:
SE Quadnic, Korgasmatron II, Waldorf NW1, MI Stages
MN Erbe Verb, Vermona twinVCFilter
Roland Demora (with box and cables)
MN Optomix & LXD, RE Natural Gate
Doepfer A-113 Subharmonic Generator
Pressure Points (x2) & Brains
Orgone Accumulator, Doepfer A-134-1 Panning Module
Doepfer R2M Ribbon to MIDI interface

Then there's the regular stuff I could move on:
Korg Minilogue xd, Novation Mono Circuit
MN 0-Coast, Korg Volca FM, Roland Juno 6
Electrix Repeater, All 303 clones (TT-303, MB 33 II, Freebass)
DSI Pro 2, Red Panda Particle 2 (brand new)
Meeblip Anode, genoQs Nemo sequencer
Korg Microsampler

Of them, only the Juno 6 feels like a mistake (done it before, see) so that's probably the one that will go first. 

Things I'd consider in part ex:
System 8, another BlackBox

Oh, I see I was in the middle of another brain dump with this one. Right, where am I?

December 24th. Yesterday Wavelab woudn't boot so I got in touch with Philippe who, very graciously, suggested what to try, even though I left the beta program years ago due to not upgrading me mac. Anyway, tried today and it worked first time. Very odd. It allowed me to compile version 1 of the Accidental Hermit, which is no longer the ambient mulch it started as. OK, large chunks of it are but I've added three sequencer-type pieces, one the manic Odyssey odyssey from yesterday. I think it fitted in perfectly but I'm now thinking the shape is wrong and I need a late peak before the final descent. 

I fucked up with the weekly walk. Had emailed Tony suggesting today but as he didn't reply assumed he was doing normal people stuff instead. Was surprised when he turned up on the doorstep at 10 am. By then I was committed to solving the Wavelab problem and unprepared. So I missed a good day's walk, which is sorta frustrating. There's something wrong with email sending between blueyonder so in future he's gonna use the direct virgin one, or phone. Useless we are. Both former IT professionals too.

Saw an FX pedal that looks really cool the Chase Bliss Audio Mood thing. Can't really justify it until I get rid of this Particle thing, or see if John can pass it off to one of his guitarist mates. 





Oh yes, copies of the album arrived. It is very beautiful!!


Friday 18 December 2020

The never-ending arse squeeze (several days in the life of a turd midwife)

 A difficult few days with Jasper. After he shat in the car yesterday he also shat in the front room while I was doing a bit of vaccuuming. Admittedly I don't vaccuum very often but still, couldn't have been that traumatic. Actually I'm not sure he even know he's doing it any more. This morning he slept in until 09:00 and has been wandering around looking lost ever since. Pat actually thought he'd died in his sleep and I was thinking how wonderful that would have been for him compared to the harder option we both know is coming sometime in the new year. It's quite the mood-setter for the piece of music I have in mind for this afternoon.

Lunchtime I enjoyed Bruckner's 7th Symphony. 
Then recorded a waily bleaky one which may be a good ender. Made a 1 hour mix of recent stuff, some possibly too challenging but maybe not. General title/vibe - the moors, the lonely places

Tuesday, tree men meant to be coming but have had no confirmation. Using the time to listen through the mix I made and note adjustments needed. Will draw from some of the earlier pieces too - in particular the one using the backwards piano and the one with the bell sound and mellotrons. It feels like it's not far off but listening through this kind of material is quite soporific. A sunny day too, would have been good to walk or go see John. Jasper OK today as I'm sat with him. 

Tree men came and did their thing. I made another mix, this time including the reverse piano one and the belly one and the one with a groove. That might prove a step too far but it's something to listen to. I removed some of the more edgy Synthi parts and trimmed a few tracks that were similar. Thinking about a cover now, something bleak and empty would do. 

Listened through this morning (Wednesday) and made quite a few notes. Some trimming of repeated ideas will make it better. There's good stuff in it and I have a cool title now. In the afternoon I recorded some stuff but I don't think it was great. 

Thursday morning, off to see John for a park walk and to pick up the Particle 2. Listening to a bit more Bruckner - but realising all his symphonies last ages. For example, the first movement of this fecker lasts 20 mins. I am getting it though and starting to enjoy. Wondering whether to go Dvorak or Prokofiev next. This is one reason I almost never watch youtube vids or listen to music links on the laptop - I'm already listening to something. I have half a dozen tabs open for things to check out, plus a file somewhere of about a dozen bandcamp links to audition and purchase from when I get round to it. 
The Particle 2 didn't like a couple of power supplies but found another, regulated one after support told me the meaning of the pink LED. Sounding promising in the short time I played with it, especially the pitch shifting mode. I made a nice sequence using the Digitone, changing the ratios for each step to make some really cool harmonic switches. 

Hmm, Friday morning and I have no new pix to post. Had to deal with another Arsequake using my (now familiar) birthing skills involving calm words and warm water. Have gathered sushi and Desperados to set up an afternoon of, hopefully, getting a decent performance of that new one recorded. 

Bought some new downloads - one from Bob Hedger and the other from rozz3r, both excellent. 
Excellent day. Did a thing, two versions of which I uploaded then deleted as they're already starting to feel like part of something larger. 

Some pix





Sunday now. I started a thing yesterday but don't know what it's like as I didn't record yet. I'm starting to think of wistful melodies, must be all this thinking about my teenage years and isolation. Reckon I'll go and sit and play and see what happens. 



Saturday 12 December 2020

A remix remixed

 I did an Octatrack jam using some bits of the next single then arranged it in Logic. Dean liked it and did a proper production job on it - sounds brill now. A rare treat for me to still have lots of my noises in a final mix!

Wednesday we walked - this time no chance of getting lost as it was an old stomping ground of mine. 






Thursday got news of a decent PRS payout in December, quel surprise! May treat myself to another BlackBox. Recorded a groovy ambient thing with the Synthi and GR-1 into it. Uploaded to bandcamp but deleted this morning, as per usual. Actually I wiped all the recent uploads as they're starting to look like a dark ambient creation already. May see if I can persuade Tim to do a brooding cover as my artwork is never gonna make me happy. 

Friday, have eaten lunch and contemplating the afternoon's sesh. I expect I'll continue from where I left off yesterday. More Synthi, has to be more Synthi. And putting back some of those BB recordings through the granular process a second time. 

Well, Saturday now and I'm listening with delight to yesterday's recordings - four of them. Each sorta similar/different and based on the same BB preset - which has gained four or five new recordings and lost the two obvious drum loops. I kept the one with the wonky delay as it could be useful to whip out. 

I thought I'd deleted all the bandcamp stuff but it seems three more appeared yesterday, presumably the stuff I just did. One in particular was interesting as my mum rang while I was recording a 64 bar ambient string part. Since I broke off but left it recording, it resulted in a big gap in the middle - which is fab! I recorded an overdub of the same length but only played during the gap - and now when I start them I can choose to run them together or start one half-way and so get some of the chords interacting. Sounded nice when I did it anyway. 

Right, what am I doing today?


Sunday 6 December 2020

Sorry, mouse

 The latest mouse was a real tiny one (no wonder they're not setting off the traps). Unfortunately it was also a bleeder, meaning it wasn't a quick kill, leaving me feeling guilty. So much so that I tried moving the washing machine as that's where they hang out. It snagged on the vinyl floor and I ended up hurting my left hand trying to wrench it free. This morning (Monday), it seems I've done something to my back too. Jeez, what an old crock!

Yesterday I didn't go in studio, just watched a load of the things I'd recorded off Sky Arts (my new favourite TV channel). Tim came Saturday and we sketched a few amorphous noodles of the mellow variety, just because. I realise I've become adrift and directionless. Would love to get novel out but still awaiting Ben's artwork. Makes me think I should start painting again as it's the talent I've not fed over the decades. I fear it's as lifeless as that poor, surprised mouse. 

I've only reached Bruckner's 4th symphony. Nothing wrong with any of it so far but I think I should probably have tried to absorb Dvorak's symphonies first - at least I know a couple of them and they are far richer. Oh well. Maybe I wore myself out on Shostakovich and those Beethoven string quartets. I can't help but notice it takes me a lot longer to assimilate even a single symphony now - even ones with immediate appeal, like the Sibelius. Maybe I'm full!

I was going to paste in a thing I wrote for Splitradix about how I love the P3 but it starts to sound more like a focus on where I think Cirklon is lacking than anything else. I think I ended up by the wise summary that P3 is for live, fast, spontaneous sequence creation and Cirklon is for composition, structure and arrangement (OK, even though it still lacks a timeline arranger type thing). You see? Stephen's videos are awesome - everything I should have done but just never got my shit together enough. Judging by our drunken 'live ANT' thing on Saturday, videos are something I'm now officially worse at. 

Hmmm, seems I'm in a funny mood this morning. Not even going to start with my modular thoughts, which have been bubbling in the vat for a while. I must sell all that shit while it's still worth something.

Not a productive day. Back sore, hand too. Moved a few things around - put Pro2 where I can play it and record into BB. Shuffled a few modules around but don't like the result yet. For some reason that Livatera MIDI interface doesn't produce clock that the Steppy likes. Put the 101 back where it can be sequenced from Cirklon, in theory. Had no ideas except the one I had early on and squandered by faffing. 

Pat went to bed early. I'm watching some horror film and drinking single malt to celebrate being on Radio 6 again. Pat rubbed my back and the Tamnavulin is helping a little. Hope my back's better so I can walk this week. 

Wednesday and I didn't walk. In the end, the pain was still there, although eased, but I can't risk putting it back given William's gonna be spending a day here Saturday. Need all my strength to  keep up ;)
Pottered in studio but achieved nothing. OK, I think I'm getting a for sale list together. Going to take that ER-1 out of my ambient/drone end and probably the 0-Coast too. Overkill is not helping, plus I'm missing the Lyra. John won a granular FX pedal in a competition. Have agreed to buy it, hopefully will find a use for it but if not will add to the sell list and split any profits with John. He needs cash for some Spirfire library, which is fine by me. 

Hmm, it's Sunday morning and I have ten minutes before I ring my mum and head her way. A few things have happened, none of consequence (you'd guessed that, right?). Firstly, there was an Ocatrack update addressing two of the big omissions - tempo per pattern and full bank select. So far it's been fairly good - a few oddities but very happy at the functionality. I have a remix of the next single to attempt and may do it in the OT. Later today I'll load up the stems and choose the bits I want to chop into pieces small enough for the OT to easily manage. Oh, and I discovered a load of music and fragments I put together for that 5.5 hour Glad thing of many moons ago, the time where I couldn't play very loud cos the Noise Police kept coming round. Usual farce - there had been no permission for live performance, just 'ambience'. Hey ho. Some of it sounded OK when I was playing it so must remember to go back and find out.

Yesterday we had a day of the wee man. Must admit I could look forward to visits if they were a day rather than four. This afternoon I'll fire up the Mac and attempt some work. This is becoming quite a long entry so I'll end now. Oh, I discovered the review part of the Audion thing - unsurprisingly they weren't keen. I guess that's consistent and part of the reason I lost contact with them as my stuff never impressed. As a review writer I could review the reviewing but I won't. Instead, here's a poem I once wrote with Audion in mind.

Nurse With Wound
Dog With Vomit
I'm going to the Moon
With Wallace and Gromit

Yeah, that's telling 'em! Actually I don't mind indifferent reviews. I should perhaps have suggested more than one listen but I know it would be futile. 





Well, mum doesn't want me to visit given our lax security yesterday. So let the remix begin!