Listening through a selection of the new tracks and trying to find some kind of narrative or identify the kind of material missing. Really liked one of Tim's 'old chemical' pix - indeed I thought it was a painting. Would make a great cover for something.
Yesterday the maintenance kick won out - only amounted to going round the house perimeter sealing the gap between house and concrete, already thinking about winter and heavy rains. The new airbrick covers seem to work - surprising considering how they are attached. Just need a barrier for the front door/porch now, which I think I'll have to make myself. Tony dropped round to tell me about his new van - good job we didn't go walking this week though as the M6 was closed for several hours yesterday, yet another big crash around junction 32/33.
Some phone shots from my walk up Tockholes (Thursday). Almost makes the image of a seal in the watery one, lucky bubble catch. Very weird going up there without Jasper though, some days it's still painful.
Sunday now, listening through several versions of 'Shantung' that I recorded and realising none quite hit the mark. I thought the best was when the Zoom filled and crapped out but that's not right either. Giving up and will start something else - can't force 'em through if they don't want to come. Today I have to tell my mum I can't come next Sunday as taking Marg to hospital. Will do another day instead, prob Saturday.
Had a weird dream last night in which I was in a shop looking at a slimline new Virus synth (with 39 keys!) - looked like a cross between the Gleeman see-through and that new ultra-thin 101 clone. Just shows I'm no better at directing dreams to go where I want.
Monday, weather turned a bit grey. Not sure what I'm up to this week yet. Have a feeling I should find a way to start using my middle setup more. Have barely touched that MS20 since I got it.
We walked on Wednesday but it was a bit grey and couldn't see a thing from on tops. Shortened walk but still managed to do one weird loop. Good old us! Tony's new van jolly splendid.
Thursday and I did a thing so all peachy. Wrote more of my 'feathered serpent' fight scene, hopefully got it right. Friday tomorrow so here's a few shit pix from yesterday:
Those were some of the photos from John's visit. It being Friday there may be more nonsense posted later, we'll see. Had nice stoned video chat with Ann and her chap, all very pleasant. More nice Super 6 stuff.
The 'gas giant' album still not moving - quite amazing that this one is still waiting for artwork but nothing I can do as he's on a new project. Frustrating and no idea how long it's going to take.
Thursday again. Not many people interested in the EP, perhaps because you can only squeeze a tit so hard before you no longer get milk, also possibly because Memory Alarm wasn't one of our better songs. At least I think the idea of keep doing more EPs seems to have fizzled out, which should save some cash in getting videos done. Will try and knock up some noodles for Don and see if we can come up with new material. Anyway, Lined up to play on this glorious sunny morning I've got Hannah Peel followed by Vaughan Williams. Then a short walk in the woods, a visit to Sainsbury's (to see if the good sushi man is there), followed by either a studio afternoon or some house maintenance stuff (I think I know which will win that contest - unless it's hot up there).
No Lakes walk this week with Tony as he's sorting his van.
I sent my wishlist to Udo, along with suggestions how user config tweaks could be made without compromising the UI.
Listening through my recent tracks I almost have a new thing. Not that I need one.
It's Sunday evening and Pat's watching the tiny bit of Olympics not sold off to the highest bidder. I just played back what Dean did to my latest remix - as always he turned it into gold, using some bass guitar from Don and some new chords, groove and arrangement. I was not sure of its value before but now I'm chuffed. Taking Marg to hospital again in the morning, this the 4th appointment so far. Pat tried to book an emergency appointment for her too and the best they can do is August - 2022. Hopefully I won't miss delivery of my Super-6. Also hopefully it won't be so hot I can't get in the studio... Right, got a 500 word thing for SOS to write...
Tuesday now Spent the morning with the Super 6 just in case it warms up this afternoon. Easily the most inspiring synth in a very long time - like having a modern Jupiter 6 but with a whole new list of features to learn and exploit. I've been making loads of new patches to replace the factories and appreciate a few little touches such as the very logical way you can compare any patch with the current edit buffer. The sliders are starting to ease up a bit but some of those grey selector knobs feel a bit wobblier than I'd like. The filter FM sounds fabulous and I tried out the weird Nick Batt-inspired LFO waveform thing, which has potential. Would love to change a few things of course - the switch thing I've mentioned elsewhere but also I'd prefer the DDS2 tune to be a fine-control more than its current wide mode which isn't always easy to find zero with. Have asked Ben if I can get on the testing/ideas collective.
Weirdly, I just 'found' a long jam from February this year that has some darn good stuff in it. I'm not even sure which part of the studio I did it in but I was obviously in a good mood. The fact it's called '2021_feb11_work1' suggests that it was recorded into Logic and is possibly Cirklon-sourced, at least this seems consistent with the instrumentation. Ah yes, just heard some obvious Perfourmer and I think the drums are DRM-1. Double-weirdly there's a 'work2' from the same day, where I appear to have shifted to the Digitone end - it's all odd sequences and granular wibbles. That must have been quite a day!
Friday today, am anticipating a glorious, indeed Super, afternoon. I've already rewritten the first 64 patches and have started on the second half. Hardly used the sequencer or arpeggiator yet - feel there are some usability improvement to be made there but apparently some are scheduled for the next update. I've been added to the beta list so hopefully will have input in future. Yesterday I recorded a few more ambient noises into the BB using just the Cosmos and the Super 6, all jolly lovely. I need to start jotting down review notes on the Cosmos now I've got my head around it properly.
Hmmm it's another week, month, whatever. I should probably have started a new entry but then again wtf ;) Monday went for a walk up White Coppice. Wednesday Hardknott and Harter Fell (bloody hot and we got lost coming back down).
Lakes pix
Oh, John came on Tues and we drank beer and pottered in the studio. He took some photos but I think I've posted enough already. That dreary Michael Johnson keeps popping up on sporty programs; pretty sure he'd never be given a job at the Samaritans...
New EP out tomorrow. Will post links and vids and stuff all over the place, no doubt.
Well, it hasn't yet but it is doing. It's Wednesday morning and I'm itching to get into the studio and try the new Cosmos Drifting Memory Station. Alas, the only times the studio is cool enough for a few hours of fun are the times I'm out horse walking. I'm off to Paul's tonight, back early in the morning though so might get a chance then. Will clear that SK20 out of the way, although I'm sure it's not posh or lovely enough for his amazing studio. With it gone I think there is floorspace for the air cond I have still yet to decide on. I have a list though, just need to understand all the specs and read a zillion reviews.
At least yesterday I stocked up on curry from RK Dining so ate well last night. And tonight and Thursday night too, yay. Would have been nice to get some music done - especially as I have promised a track to Sequences and there's that remix to do. Oh well.
Got a message on Twitter from someone who likes my books. Kinda amazing but lovely, especially as I have no idea who it is. She's even recommending me to her friends which possibly explains the improved Kindle sales lately. Astounding but very cool! Doesn't take much praise to get me going.
Went to Paul's and did, indeed, really like the Super-6. They only cocked up with the lack of continuous keytracking for the VCF - switches for that suck imho. Its digital waves sound brill too, which was a real plus and the oscillators and filter are superb. Played a few other things including the Moog, which sounded nice but, I dunno, somehow lacking in terms of the effect an envelope could have over the filter. I suspect it was my unfamiliarity though rather than any issue with the synth. Drank too much.
Pat's home tomorrow. Will have to get my shit off the floor, clear the painting stuff away, do some tidying up and see what I've broken or dirtied. She'll be glad to see me though so all will be well. Tim coming later to do album cover photo. Insanely we're gonna do it in the attic against the oil lamp backdrop.
I mean it. Saturday again and we did another good track. Pat will be away next Friday for a week and I'm already getting in the mood for long studio sessions. Bejaysus! Today's was called Rodrup.
Another of these appeared:
What else? It's Monday again, raining; I doubt I'll be walking anywhere this week as Tony's away and I need someone to prod me or I stay home.
Sequencer guy came and took away his baby. Showed me the progress so far and we talked strategy and direction and this and that. I hope I helped him, although at this stage in the project I think he might need Bjork posing with it on some TV program to help it take off. Or a video from Vlad. ;) Which reminds me, the Cosmos should be on the way soon - hopefully not incurring lots of tax for it to enter the country. Today (Wednesday) we're off to an ambient pub afternoon - hope it's not crammed and unpleasant. Tim contemplating some live stuff so we should at least show our faces.
Having agreed with Ron about the CD release, Matt's not sure about the Species Gap title and reminded me the original story was called something else. I'm sure we'll come up with something.
It's stupid Pat's been gone less than 2 hours and I'm missing her. Consoling myself by listening through recent Headshock tracks and writing down my thoughts. We should do something with this stuff.
BTW when we went into town we had a nice thai meal. The thing at the Ferret was broken though as Joe was self-isolating and it started at 8pm. not the 4pm Facebook claimed.
Monday morning, still hot and it's becoming clear I'm not going to get a lot done this week. Morning horse walk cancelled but I'm off to post office soon to send the modules from this week's eBay sale. Meeting John at lunchtime and will get some RK Dining food in to sustain me until Friday. Still looking into the whole studio cooling thing but I feel reluctant to go the whole hog and get air cond, while I worry about the damp/mould effects of evaporative cooling. Simon Posford has one of the Dysons but he says it's little better than a fan, as I kinda suspected. That said, my mum has bought one of the small ones and the air it expels does seem cooler than the ambient temperature, although its effect on the room is more about airflow than cooling. Oh well.
One thing that occurred to me is I could find something completely different to do when it's too hot for the studio. And, indeed, I've been writing again. Did the first decent square in my trip-tych, and I reckon the idea of small patches and the fewer brush strokes is starting to sink in as a good thing. We'll see.
Yeah that's me in a kind of pot-bellied greek god pose. I was sorta hunched over the painting and catching my reflection in the mirror leaning against the bookshelf. Hence the lean and the moobs.
Right, almost post office time, should find some pants...
Yeah we did! Tim was here and we did groove-type stuff in the studio of light. Football is on later and I'm pleasantly chilled, ready for being more chilled and watch more Godzilla if Pat heads off to bed early.
Yeah baby!!! That's a selfie, I've done one!
I remembered this morning that I'd promised a track for the Sequences anniversary edition - so I'm making myself listen through recent things and rating them. There's quite a lot of it!
Last night (Sunday) we sat through Prime's The Tomorrow War - utter nonsense that made me pine for the three hour Godzilla King of Monsters that I watched, in sections, over the course of the week. Definitely one of the sillier time travel movies with a plot so full of holes we stopped even thinking about them. Godzilla, on the other hand, turns out to be some kind of Earth Policeman, along with other Titans who wake up when humanity need culling. Alas, they can be misled by a giant, three-headed flying dragon alien. I think that was it and not a million miles from my lizardy overlord theme, I guess, so obviously I rather liked it. Did need a fair amount of magic smoke though.
Got an email from Herve Picart this morning saying he was taking my advice and putting his album on bandcamp (was formerly on Youtube as he has had bad experiences with record labels). Just playing now and it's great that he's back after more than 40 years!
Yesterday I began a track the random word generator called Ctesiphon. Ooh look it has the power to change my font! Anyway, it made me think, a little, about structure and why my stuff sounds so odd and why, to an extent, the BlackBox is helping me curb some of the worst excesses. I *think* it boils down to my long history listening to classical music and looking to make some kind of new electronic classical music that's slightly more unusual than 4/4. My polymetric stuff has always been a deliberate attempt to make looping material more of a brain-fuck. I don't count bars; or, if I do, I count them strangely.
Free from the very obvious vertical slices that DAWs have displayed since the first Atari Cubase, I like to have bars that don't always go in regular chunks. I did it way back when I used Korg SQ-10 sequencers, ARP sequencers etc. but really found my way with the P3's playlist function in which I could lay out patterns that could be (e.g.) a 3x7, 4x8, 5x9 type looping structure on one track running against something quite different on another. The BlackBox is currently limited in its loops to regular 4/4 multiples - but you can fool it in a number of ways. For example, if you aren't bothered about changing tempo, you can make a loop of a manually-set length that works fairly well. You can take liberties with that too - so for example if I recorded a drum loop of 37 bars and then went back to treat it like a clip, you can specify a length or allow it to be 'auto' which has some very peculiar effects, especially when combined with the quantize parameter. But generally I've been using more normal lengths and just shunting the starts around during playback until I find combinations that loop in fun ways. I can hear that this is rendering my stuff more like 'normal' music in places but I don't feel like it's screwing my process too badly. I occasionally listen through the ANT tracks and there are places where a playlist shifts around and perhaps isn't suited to the short song pop type format. Another influence, I just remembered, is Bo Hansson as some of his albums have a surprising, jazzy start/stop nature that you have to hear a few times before it sinks in. I always liked that kind of thing - the need to work at listening until something clicks. I suspect this kind of requirement infuses my music and my novels and leads people to think, rightly, why the hell should I put in the effort? Perhaps it's a good thing that, with the BB, I can do more normal things, if I want.
Hmmm, not sure why I launched into that pointless explanation/justification. I've had my first coffee so that's no excuse. I also realise I didn't leave the house yesterday and wonder if I will today. Right, coffee #2 then maybe I'll get back to Ctesiphon and see where it's at. Iraq, that's where it's at, or where it was at; yeah it's a place. Sorry, end of entry.
Hey it's Friday again. Stephen McKeown did a vid to one of my tunes.
Actually, now I look there's another too:
So that's nice.
Anyway, just taken delivery of hamster for a 2-week stay, which also means no walking for two weeks - so here's pix from yesterday.
Finally, this, from the other day, seems better than I first thought. Might do a finished version if I get my shit together. https://soundcloud.com/smokyfrog/ctesiphon
The year has peaked and so did I, apparently in the 1980s. Good walk this week, further afield around Buttermere. I guess next week will be similar.
We just had a painter guy in all week who made a good job but now things look rather zen-like, at least until we move everything back. I can see the beauty in minimalism, at least until I clutter it all back again. Pat has booked both cars in for services and I have that bloody tax bill next month. Hopefully we'll get through all that without begging Gary for more cash!
Yesterday Tim and I recorded 'Smooms' - an ambient, droney Synthi piece with respect to Peter Zinovieff who died in the week. I think it's rather good, but then I usually do.
Well now, more time has passed. It's been an expensive few weeks, what with the painter guy, the cars, the credit card bill and, to come, the tax bill. Cost over £800 to do the cars - mostly because of my brakes being screwed but not helped mad cost of a service for both. That was basically £300 for changing the oil and air filter, if I understand the concept of a car service correctly. Hoping PRS will cover tax bill which at least is only due at month end.
Yesterday I recorded 'Eocine' which I'm listening to as I type and thinking it's not bad at all. More of the sort of thing I was doing for the Gas Giant album - indeed I probably have enough for a second one already. Sounds like a dodgy connection somewhere though, hopefully a lead and not another channel of the new mixer. Will have to do another mix anyway, which is annoying - hope the dodginess wasn't recorded as I didn't save any of the 505 looping..
Cooler today, might get something done. Still feeling very productive (note I resisted writing 'super productive' there). Here are photos from this week's walk - almost 11 miles in sweltering humidity; we gotta be daft.
