Special K

OK boys and girls, now you know I don't usually talk about psychedelic experiences but sometimes it's nice to note down feelings and vibes before going off and reading up about what is 'supposed' to happen. So anyway, my last night by myself and I decided to test out the old horse tranq for the first time. Having little idea what to expect I took the prescribed dose and made sure I had the right USB stick plugged into the hifi.

I decided I'd listen to the stuff we'd recorded this week - working title Uvulitis. I can't remember if that falls into the 'real random word' or 'made up random word' category. I had already filed it under 'not our best' although the last two tracks, the ones we recorded Friday afternoon, seemed the cream of the crop.

Anyway.
The effect was not long in creeping in and I found my usual listening chair, sat back and...
1) My body disappeared. I had that euphoric swelling experience (no, not that kind of swelling!) that I usually associate with MDMA or coke but in a very different context. I was vaguely aware I'd closed my eyes, or if they were open they weren't letting much in. As time passed I was aware of the occasional tear and every now and again, I realised I was breathing. Indeed the act of breathing was something I concentrated on for a while, enjoying it, stretching it out, wondering how it related to the passage of time.
2) The visuals were rather different to acid or shrooms. Where acid tends to be geometric, sharp resolution and solid in form, and mushrooms are more organic, fractal, natural-feeling, this put me into a kind of fuzzy, pastelly mush that shifted according to whatever the music was doing. Listening back to the music today it's quite odd and minimal in places but it seemed to suit the experience perfectly. Uvulitis is about an hour long and when it finished, the player moved on to one of the Exoplanets tracks - Lipershey - which also worked effectively. After that I sought out Rory Dow's excellent InSpiral and that was the one that I re-entered reality with.
3) Summing up the experience is not easy. Possibly for the first time I experienced something I'd only theorised in novels - the 'space tadpole' mode of stripped down existence. Viewing the shifting, barely-focused lights and patterns, I had a real sense of floating through or of interacting with some usually unseen substance. It could have been liquid or gas or something else entirely. It was fascinating and for most of it, I was not really aware of myself, the time, the outside world, anything.
I admit I threw myself in. You know how, with some psychedelic experiences, a point comes at which you can cling on to yourself or plunge in and see what's out there, well I felt like a plunge. In for a penny and all that.
4) I don't think I needed any more. The dose was picked to avoid the sweaty, catatonic state I've seen in others and not been drawn to. Mind you I couldn't really have functioned in any meaningful way for maybe an hour and a half. Once it began to clear, I experienced some nausea. Walking was not easy either but I wandered into the front room and watched an episode of Continuum. After that I didn't find anything worth watching so crawled to bed. Still felt a little nauseous but slept it off. Feel OK this morning.

It's not something to do too often. I will go read up on Vaults of Erowid etc. and see how typical the experience was.

Remember - do not try this at home now, y'hear!

In other news, the old V-Synth 'broken scream' has returned. Another main board replacement, hope they are still available! Seem to recall I replaced it myself last time. Only happens in certain patches but... :(

Pat home later. Have missed her lots.

Rookie Errors and a new novel

Yeah, rookie errors in the studio, I admit it!
Somehow, in plumbing up the skinny leads of two separate wall warts, I managed to confuse the P3 power supply with that of the slimline modular case (uZeus thing). As a result the P3 worked perfectly but the modular case worked oddly. Some modules seemed fine. Some didn't work at all (the Rossum stuff I was scared I'd broken). Some worked partially and irregularly - e.g. the Tonestar.
It was removing modules one by one that set me to wondering and eventually sussing. Idiot!

Anyway, Tuesday, spent time with modular, wrote the bulk of the review I had outstanding, played piano a bit, read a few novel chapters in its printed form. Noticed lots of things I should edit but don't really want to get into that now. I have started marking errors for some future time though. Trouble is there are too many, plus too many clumsy sentences, basic things I should have seen, ugly uses of grammar and wordage. Why is it so much easier to spot crapness on the printed page than a screen??? I guess proper writers have editors and folks who are used to this kind of thing.

Later I began work on the one that's been kicking around in my head for a while. I still don't know the ending but that's not too important at this stage. I did chapter one and have started the second. I'm trying to play each scene through in my head fully first, then writing it down as if just witnessed (and probably from multiple viewpoints since my hero is a delusional chump).

Wednesday morning, regretting the late night gin and weed session but glad novel finally rolling. Completed module review and sent in. Need to find something to follow it. Pat's been away 4 days now and I'm ready for her to come home. Best spend the next couple of days wasted.

Election tomorrow so I expect to be depressed again at the depths of human stupidity and capacity for self-harm. Murdoch will get what he wants: an even darker, nastier country. I'd love to be wrong but can't see it.

It's Wednesday night, I'm slightly stoned, slightly drunk and reflecting that today I have read some chapters of the first novel in paperback, made several chapters of edits to Bogus Realities (6x9) and written most of a chapter of the new one. At last my brain feels like it's waking up.  Obviously I must beware not to mix any of the characters up but that seems unlikely. I may finally have a main character that is both likeable and sympathetic. The supporting cast are good too and I have a proper baddie and a pseudo-baddie, an unattainable love interest and lots of stoner dialogue. It's also more down to earth than any of the previous works, which allows me to play with some of the borders. Yep, productive evening/night. Trying to decide whether to drink more gin and do another chapter or turn in.

The cat away

Sunday: recorded some good stuff (sounds that way right now, fresh like), of which this is part

Yep, could be  a good week.

Studio getting closer with the arrival of the new mixer. Have the usual Main/Sub level issues, could use the subs instead but seems daft. Putting FX returns into channels to allow more flexibility in direction, although looks like if I use FX3 return I can send to subs also, will investigate when in a mixer mood. Main thing is it works and does what I wanted. Feels nice quality too, amazing for the money.

As the Microsampler fits in so neatly down there I might plumb it in ready for sampling bit from one of the auxes. Good to fill it with modular noises methinks. I don't need the other FX right now but handy to have the option. Repeater will slot in at some point too, always good to have that in play.

Have not done much with the module review although I have played with it and started to form opinions and jot down notes.

Torrential rain today. Drains coping (phew). Bought myself a lot of stinky food for the week and a very unhealthy amount of beer. Hoping Tim will help me get through it.

Another studio move-around, preparing for a week alone

Yeah, I have wanted to sort the modular corner better for a good while. I ordered a new mixer and will consolidate the 2 small mixers into 1 larger (Behringer Xenyx X2442). I went for this older model not because it was cheaper but because the new one is not rack mountable. In the event, I may not rack it this time but it's an important option to have. I always have other moves ;)

First stage is to get the Digisound back into the fold.
Had hoped for space for the SH-101 but not found it yet. :(

Here's where I'm parking stuff in the meantime. You can see the new piano against the wall. Really hope to have a good long sesh playing it soon. It sounds fantastic! Even made me wonder if I was a cheapskate not buying the full 3 pedal add-on.

And almost there. I have a rack of effects and patch bay to add, plus Repeater and a few other things I might want nearby and ready to use. May also put the 2 303 clones in it and dedicate them to the P3. We'll see how it all looks once the mixer arrives (Monday apparently even though they said today).  And yes, I'm using that old Behringer rack mixer as a stand!

Lots of my friends have said they've ordered the novel, which is really nice but I'm now wondering what on  earth they'll think. Good response from those who have read so far but that isn't a huge selection of people...

Note to self: get another right angled kettle lead. Needed for the stuff against walls. Could find a couple but needed one for the Digisound too. 

Pat off on a riding holiday in Spain on Sunday so I expect a very relaxed week ahead. 

Anniversary and stuff

Yeah, been married 29 years now. Celebrated with a Mexican meal (excellent) and Guardians of the Galaxy 2 (also excellent).

Today I may complete the FAF 'paperback rewrite/reformat'. I have about 20 pages still to do.
It's funny in a way because I've had to tweak because of the evolution of the Aesir/Hazeer in Bogus Realities. I think it'll work a lot better now, as long as I don't kill it by over-editing.

Amazingly, another email about my early cassettes. Bizarre innit. I really must get a cassette deck and see what can be salvaged.

Later...

I was right, I did complete FAF and then got stuck with getting page numbers in (managed it but not perfectly). Anyway, submitted and then saw the pricing options, which were sobering. I know it's long but hadn't expected it to cost $13! Doubt I'll be persuading many pals to buy one but I will and lend it out. :) Getting a print will give me a chance to read and edit again but I should probably stop.
Later (2)
Heh, thought of an important edit overnight, made it and then discovered the minimum price had risen from $13.50 to $13.98!! So I'm definitely gonna stop. I guess the pound ain't doing well because Theresa May was such a car crash on TV last night.

Novel was actually available this morning but it's in review again now cos of my fiddling.

Poor Jasper still having arse problems. Farting horribly also. May need another vet visit, poor old thing. One of his farts woke me up the other morning, I may have mentioned it.

Anyway, today I bought a piano. It wasn't the one I expected either as I tried a cheap Casio and actually liked it better. The keyboard was nice, the speakers beat the similarly-priced Yamaha and I went home and pondered. Then bought the next one up which has more polyphony and the alternate tunings I was keen to play with. Got a decent deal on an ex-demo one, stand too. So the clear half of the attic starts getting full again. Typical! Ordering chair/bed tomorrow.

Review module arrived so that's cool, something to do tomorrow.

Pat on riding holiday next week. Already preparing for creative week on the far edges of reality.

One of the pix I decided not to use, although I liked the nice goldy light on the jacks

The novel cover, pix by Tim - cheers dude! Realised too late I had not put my own website anywhere but Tim's is in there ;)

And it's live. I ordered so will let you know what it's like and whether I recommend you to go mad and blow some cash on it too. (Hint: I probably will)

And..

Effect Chains

As an experiment today, I decided to process the Lyra-8 through a long chain of effects. Specifically a Boss DS-2 Turbo Distortion, Eventide Mod Factor and Pitch Factor, OTO Biscuit, Boss DD-20 and OTO BAM. Good grief!!! Talk about complex, intense old school weird electronica! I mean, go on, talk about it. Talk about anything you like, I'm making weird noises!!

Weirdly, I have almost compiled an ambient album of some kind. A few rough edges, some distortion and level jumps, but good as a background mulch in the 'Exoplanets' vein. Will see if I like it in a week or so.

This retirement thing. It's making me grumpy. I can't decide if it's an extended holiday in which I read books and listen to music all day or something else. Whatever that something else might be, it sure doesn't involve urgency or direction. I'm also not sleeping.

We're getting a new conservatory. I spend lots of time in this one so one twice the size has to be a good thing. Pat scuppered my attempts to haggle with one of her odd outbursts though, not too sure what causes them but I made the mistake of mentioning it this morning. Note to self: keep everything cooped up, write a diary or something.

Another email about the early cassettes. Not entirely sure why this keeps happening.

Lately read two Harry Harrisons (OK, one, the second was just too crap to get through). Anyone else tells me my writing style is like his gets hit. Reading a David Gemmell crime story now, not my usual genre but superbly written, as I have come to expect. I'll never be as good.

I seem to have exchanged SOS writing for DIY, so have swapped challenging and interesting for challenging and not interesting at all. Still, there's a module on the way, not that I'm going into the baking studio any time soon.

Mum's condition starting to affect her life/outlook. She's been listless for a while now.

Funny, I never go back and read these things but writing stuff down does help. A little.

Lots of time for walks when you retire

Weird to wear a suit again... even if Pat did have to superglue my shoes together ;)

Sync sinks

Well here's a revelation. Having the studio not entirely synced can be a good thing. Sync, it turns out, can make you lazy. Due to the Pro 2's stupid MIDI In bug, I've disconnected it. Now the delays are more controllable, feel and sound better, the screen doesn't jump to Filter Env 2 depth (thus fucking up any edits you;re doing, including mod matrix tweaks) all the time. My P3 basically serves the modular now, the OT/A4 are stand-alone. Cirklon still drives the MIDI gear and can be master if you want, but smaller setups are healthy. Otherwise I take my usual contributions from my usual instruments and sound samey. Gosh, Friday afternoon thoughts eh?

Listening to Cluster Konzerte 1972/1977 which is incredible! Totally love it, proper electronic music. Actually not a million miles from what I did earlier, which is this

Ambient tosh, I know. But hey, I'm old and can do this shit if I like!

Been tidying attic, lots of stuff chucked, hope to fit in proper chair/bed for visitors. :)