The strange, silent house

 Without the clicking of pooch paws on laminate floors, without the wildly enthusiastic greeting when you come in, without the roar of unfettered delight when a tin of dog food is opened, without the constant companion who follows you from room to room, forever under the feet but always welcome, always loved. Without. 

I deliberately didn't take a 'last' photo, but here's a set from last October that seem to fit. 

Friday now. I buried him deep and under stones to prevent anything digging down. Had a walk with Tony this morning which was nice. It's still early enough to drink and hopefully ease the back pain I can feel. I might write some soppy, sentimental music (from which Tim would recoil in horror). Ultimately, I'm a soppy, sentimental kinda guy. 

It hasn't been easy. I keep checking when I open a door to see if he's lurking on the other side, curious to know where I am and get to me. I've seen him running through long grass in dreams, I've half seen him when I look up sometimes. My pal Tony's 15 year old lab came to the end too, so I guess we should go for a walk and be miserable together.  

Time has passed, I still haven't finished this blog entry, not sure why. In the meantime I've got Rick's first string part - cello and viola over the piano / wind thing I was close to abandoning. Did my first mix of it yesterday and it's good - wish I'd taken more time over the notes now as this was an afterthought really and sometimes sounds like it. I have ideas for a couple of harmonic touches on Minimoog that could give it some extra interest. We'll see. Oh, Martin's theremin and subtle guitar worked really well, did I tell you about that, dear diary? I expect so but my mind is mush. Maybe still needs some flute and manic guitar from Mark, although he says he no longer plays. 

Did a thing yesterday that sounds promising. That was before taking delivery of a Vermona DRM1, which I swapped for a couple of modules and which I've fancied since reviewing it. 

I think that will be the album cover - no text. Fits the idea, plus it's a photo I took on Jeffrey Hill and all the trees have since been cut down. Going with the faded/sepia look to squeeze out max nostalgia. Rick says he'll have the violin part on Monday - that's the one I spent a little longer on and the blend with synth strings should work nicely. 

Farewell old friend

 Well, Pat pointed disapprovingly to my belly and suggested I was drinking more beer than usual. So that's nice. Good she looks out for me though, I'll hide the bottles in future ;)

The conservatory has a small leak. It explains the wetness over quite a long period that we'd put down to all sorts of nonsense without really investigating. Pension dude reckons my tax bill is about right, which is sobering but I think I understand. It will probably mean we pay very little next time due to their dodgy estimation algorithms. Anyway, rather a drag having to get cash at this stage (especially after we just did our annual 'legacy' thing) but has to be. I'll maybe keep some of the PRS back in the coming year rather than blow it on toys. That's assuming it keeps coming, of course. 

Possibly the BB is coming today but no delivery info yet. Went shopping but it was the shit sushi woman so didn't buy any. 

Friday again, yay. I'm thinking of a couple of places in the Accidental Hermit where some Rick Curran violin (and cello if poss) would really enhance it. The BlackBox slotted in perfectly, as I knew it would, and in a Cirklon environment I can do things like close the filter smoothly over loop transitions, for those times I was noodling too far away from the BB to see the loop coming to an end. I do sometimes forget to end with a similar sound to how I started but automation from within a Cirklon pattern is the perfect solution. Pointed out a few simple flaws in recording, say, a 32 bar Ck pattern in terms of visibility but at least I do finally have a use for Cirklon's A/B knobs - recording my tweaks. The MIDI Learn of the BB was as easy as I hoped too - and I see how using Cirklon's sequencer to trigger samples is going to be a logical next step. 

I think some cello over the windy piano track (the one Tim isn't keen on) might lift it from so-so to go-go. Will offer to pay Rick something though, only fair. 

Where are we? Could be Tuesday. The book about Klaus Schulze arrived and I had a mess with the oil paints. Realised the canvas boards I bought are way too large for a 'getting reacquainted' session so abandoned the woody one in favour of a smaller self-portrait. I can come back to it, of course. So far I'm much happier than I was using acrylics, although I'd forgotten how messy I get when using oils. Will definitely need more paint and a couple of extra brushes, and some more turps than the wee bottle they sent. Still, pretty happy so far and it's better than sitting on my arse. 

It's raining and it was sulky sushi lady's turn at Sainsbury's today, so none of my favourites prepared. Woe is me!

It's a rainy Thursday and we've decided Jasper has suffered enough. Had an awful few days with him - he's barely managed to crap at all. I suspect I'm going to blub but I think we need to go through with it this time. The periods where he is able to function normally are getting smaller and smaller. Made a start on a painting yesterday but don't feel like doing much today except sitting around. Bad news about conservatory too - was made with several important errors. No wonder they went out of business!

Nearly done

 A few bursts of inspiration, some ruthless deletion and I'm at version 1.4 of Accidental Hermit and it's hanging together fine. Three tracks of 20-23 mins, just need to be sure all sections work then get it mastered and do some artwork. I ordered some oil paints and a couple of boards and even a palette knife just cos I've never tried one. 
I sold my 0-coast and bought another BlackBox - to attach to the Cirklon rig and hopefully make it more productive. It'll fit in where the RC-505 is now and be able to sample from the two mixers in that area using a bit of bus routing and spit. I am hopeful this will spawn yet more groovy shit!

Tax bill is larger than last year when my earnings were more. Depressing but we'll need to grab some more pension money to pay it. New single / EP is out.  to almost universal lack of response despite the Marc Riley 'exclusive' that resulted in us pulling it from bandcamp last Friday when the release was meant to happen. 

Had a walk and took some pix. 

Think I'll put the 1.7.4 beta on the BB when it arrives and see how it handles. 

HNY

Another year. I will start to compile the stuff needed to do my tax return. Not so much this time as there's almost no SOS income. PRS still higher than I'd expected but I doubt it'll be high enough to cost me too much. I really should advertise some stuff. Had contemplated selling the Pro2 but sometimes could see myself keeping it. I do like its keyboard feel/length for one thing and I was getting some fun stuff from it yesterday despite its hated envelopes. Thing is I rarely use it in recordings, replacing it at the last minute. 

Gear combinations of the moment: Odyssey & Tapographic Delay. Also: Blofeld and Magneto. Adding crinkle to its PPG noises and mellotrons is very cool. Thinking the only good use for my modular is to grab a few individual modules for processing other things. 

Recorded a few things, ambient and much more the kind of thing I want. Parking idea of new album for a bit and see what else appears. 

Just noticed it's Friday. 

Just pix from evening poo walk. All I have right now. 

Wednesday now, Jan 6th, little to report other than fear and panic all around. Ordered some slightly more expensive whisky. Walked with Tim this week, missed going with Tony but may catch up tomorrow morning. Must see John next week, feel I'm letting him down. 
Our new EP will be out on Friday. 

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.

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!!

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.