Well that's annoying

 Two years after the reversing collision, the insurance company declaring nothing to answer, we get a threat of a court claim from one of those shady accident compensation solicitors. They want well over £3k! We will, of course, contest it but I must admit it's knocked the wind out of my sails - had just started painting and immediately lost interest in doing it. Moped the rest of the day. Well, after doing a drawing of what actually happened. 

Tim and I had a good Saturday sesh. Later I went to see Here & Now at Conti along with Jez and Sonic Trip Project - good night although it rained heavily later and poor Rachel was upset again; really hope they don't move as they're darn good neighbours. United Utils confirmed (surprise surprise) the tree roots are back in the culvert - I tried to explain that's how trees work. They really don't want to do a proper fix but will keep pressure up (again). 

Sent our reply to the court but there's no doubt it's unsettled the general vibe around here, although I have to say Pat and I worked well to get all the info together and write the letters/emails. Tried to do some stuff with Cirklon, changed setup a bit to add GR-1 and 404 and a looper, to make it more interesting. Still got fed up fairly quickly, will dig into Colin when he comes as I could do a lot better with something else, maybe a Digitakt or Deluge in its place. Triggering 404 from Cirklon works better than the 404's own sequencer though now I've sorted out the channels (and the chromatic channel) assignments. 

Oh and I've made a start on Epilogue II and even seen a good way to make it third person and the first wasn't working for me. 

The week went better than it might have. Some contact with Direct Line who promise a solicitor will be in touch within 7 days, seem happy with what we've stated without committing themselves too much. Thursday I didn't walk and Tony came around. Made the mistake of occupying the conservatory all day, which left Pat unhappy about her ongoing lack of personal space. With no solution in sight, I proposed we do some structural alterations to the house, namely a proper staircase, two more velux windows on the north and Pat can take the smaller of the two studios. The fallout from this was a sleepless night from me as I wondered how the hell I'm going to store/move all the gear. Note to self: don't make any great suggestions about long-standing issues after an afternoon getting shit-faced with Tony. Anyway, I think I'm going to solve another issue one way or another - that of setup 3 never quite doing it for me. If I move the bulk of setup 4 where it is then voila! Yeah, lots to do, including finding a builder who can come and do it - will maybe ask neghbours who did theirs. Also the issue of actual stairs giving William access so I'm gonna need some security - one reason Pat doesn't like doing her jigsaws in the conservatory is that the little scamp will just destroy them to amuse himself; not a jape I want replicated in my studio. Indeed, there's a very good reason he's never been up there yet. 

If we do, indeed, need to move then stairs will make the upstairs rooms a much better sell than a loft ladder. 

Did something odd yesterday but I think there's a good mix waiting to happen, if I can be arsed. Think I'll sell the Minimoog as it takes up so much space - my Prodigy will do nicely. Maybe the System 8 could go too as the Super 6 needs to fit somewhere. Darn, no need to think about all this yet...

right, it's Saturday and I assume Tim's still in Wales. Some synth beta testing to do, as it happens. And, oh look, we just passed the 13:00 drinking threshold! 

Livestream

The Morphic Resonance thing went ok, even though I deviated from my own (loose) script. Ended up doing three sequencer pieces rather than the two I'd envisaged, with the new Fm one replacing the Em one. I should have ended with but, instead, selected the Cm one, starting it before I'd even unmuted the P3 tracks - silly boi! A bit rusty, eh? Still, all things considered, a fair start - will look at doing two camera angles for future. Cocked up audio recording slightly cos I forgot to start it - managed to splice in first 8-10 mins from video so all is not lost. Sound and mix was fine.

Video still editing as I snipped the pre-start noises and went straight to how the performance actually started. Amusingly, the Synthi point blank refused to do that nice little tune thing it's been doing for a week or two now, so I had to go with ominous drones and weebles. Hey ho. Might put audio on bandcamp but that false start of the third sequencer piece could maybe be replaced, assuming I can be arsed (seems unlikely). 

Nice walk with Pat down Tockholes and off to see John this morning (Wednesday). May even have sold the Tanzbar, which would make the Synth DIY weekend more bearable. The two Behringers aren't really a replacement but they are easier to program, although I really must clear all the shite from the RD9; spent a while the other day trying to decide if the thing had gone faulty - was making a terrible noise that originated in stupidly fast tom repeats!

Sent off the Tanzbar, actually had misgivings about it since it really is the best-sounding analogue drum machine I've ever had. But programming it stinks and I'm too old to remember all the things it does. Back on even keel money-wise so that's something. May be tempted to see if Tony will sell me a pair of his SEM clones...

Was Thursday, Pat away, recorded this https://soundcloud.com/smokyfrog/ot3-vrikle-70

having rolled a '4'. Got out the JP6 to hopefully lure Tim into doing some live stuff, not really thought how it'd work yet but maybe can find space to set up more of his stuff. At some point I could maybe take down that dividing wall, dunno. Heard guy happy with the Tanzbar so that's good. Friday morning now, Broc and I gonna have a decent walk before it rains. Watched John's film last night (Possum) but wasn't keen and, despite what he said, had worked out pretty much exactly the whole thing well in advance of the big reveal. Also sketched first version of Epilogue ii.

One of those was an accident but I like it anyway!

Party Time!

 Went to a fab party at my sister's, got to hang out with her friends and hear about new job. Like a mini festival so it was. On Sunday there was a huge holdup on the M6 due to a tanker hitting central reservation. My drive home from Longridge took an hour and 40 mins - wish this shit didn't keep happening. Tim came round later and, against the odds, we knocked up an ambient masterpiece, or so my memory tells me - Tullan is its name. Will give it a blast in the morning as Pat deserves my attention tonight. We ate the last of the Legendary Cheesecake and I'm pining for it already. 

Hmm, Tuesday and I think I upset Pat yesterday by being less than enthusiastic about possibility of more grandson visits. Really must learn. Cars in for MOT this week and I have that Morphic Resonance live thing on Saturday, just doing the kind of stuff I've been doing in Setup 1 for quite a while now. 

Have provided a load of tracks for David Law to distribute, turns out he still has lots of customers who only want their music on CD or CDR. Should get back to painting, feel like it's overdue but just wish Pat wasn't so down all the time as that always dampens the artistic spirit.

Hah, I see David Law still adds an 'e' to smokyfrog. He also very quickly asked for the Binar titles. 
Thought for the day: the  music of Schoenberg is like a porn film with no money shots - so it's totally fine if you don't need completion. 

Wednesday was spent at leisure in the studio and I didn't have one good idea. Thursdaywe're going up Pillar! Except we didn't. Combination of Tony's weather fears (unfounded as it turned out) and my carsickness - had forgotten all those up and down windy roads needed to get to Wast Water. As if often the case saw some wonderful woods but didn't get into them. Did see those stone circles we'd tried to see in the past, which is something. I'm gonna need to do a complete tour of the Lakes by myself sometimes visiting all the places I've noted but which aren't on Tony's agenda. Friday, gonna be hot so I doubt I'll do much prep for this livestreaming thing tomorrow. Winging it should be fine, will just find a P3/JD-XA combination I like and work around that. Went to Worden Park first thing, which was nice. Pat in a better mood. 

Success!!!

 Yes, after I had Zoom Japan stress-testing their drivers and HP Support on the brink of a conversation, I followed a guy's helpful instructions from a Facebook comment. Didn't work at first but then I installed the two OBS alternatives - one was good (Prism Studio) and one was annoying shite (Polypop). Weirdly, it was the former's simplistic audio setup that got me in business - every input enabled revealed audio to be coming in on Desktop 2. Even better, when I went back to OBS and got rid of all those 'disabled' audio ins there, I suddenly had two versions of the Zoom audio (Desktop 2 and the proper one Mic/Aux). Muted one and all was then well. Yippee!! Then went online for a couple of hours to test quality. 

Hard to believe it's sorted until I repeat the success tomorrow. Below is the recording that Twitch did itself, so no need for me to write in OBS either! 

Pat has been sneezing pretty much constantly all evening, poor thing. She's burning up too so coluld be another cold on the way in this household. 

Friday's frolicks  

Janet's party Saturday, Tim sesh Sunday, a few fun days ahead. Here was Skiddaw2

Draft #3

 Tony has finished novel, enjoyed but thought the start too similar in style to old me - but that it changes to improved/what I wanted after a chapter or so. I'm actually happy with that as it will provide a  transition from first - although first still needs wading through. He thought the ending was weak, which is true and which I've been pondering myself. The new epilogue might give it a better sense of completion because I really don't want to extend it - actually, will be looking at ways to speed up narrative as I go, while also adjective pruning and repetition scrutinising. Will see what I can do as this resonates with my thoughts. Cool enough (Saturday) to get into studio at last!

https://soundcloud.com/smokyfrog/goblin-capers-80

Where I failed to get the audio working - for my livestream experiment. Recorded the above at the end. Out of frustration. Worked fine yesterday in front room!! Arse. 

Wasted Monday morning navigating the updates of Windows 11 on new laptop. Keep stalling, restarting and generally looking like a bag of shite, so that's nice. Wasn't available with Windows 10 sadly. Oh look, it's now rewriting the BIOS for the laptop. Still failing to get audio working from Zoom on new machine - would be tragic if I had to use old one after all! 

Continuing to struggle with Virginmedia - email buggered which means I'm not able to set up software, join forums or any of the things that require email id confirmation. Very frustrating, must sort out a change of provider ASAP. 

Wednesday and I just wasted another morning trying to get OBS to see both my Zoom's video and audio at the same time. I briefly managed to get it to see the audio by setting the onboard audio to disabled and making it the system default but that quickly stopped working again. I am totally fucked off with the whole thing. When I've cooled down I may try another audio interface and forget the Zoom audio after all - which rather negates the whole point of buying that fucking camera. I should find another app that can access it and see if that's any better but for now I'm pissed off. Doing Blencathra tomorrow in the blazing heat, what idiots!

Sunday, guess what, wasted time with OBS/Audio/Shite - this time trying to incorporate Tim's Motu M2. For a start the install/restart took ages - and I couldn't get the Moto app to recognise its own hardware and, of course, OBS couldn't see it. I later wondered whether it was because the Zoom was still connected. Removed that and audio was seen by the system - but still not OBS. What a pile of shite that is - still nothing from the forum. Next time (!) I'm gonna totally uninstall the Zoom drivers as I suspect they are some contribution to my problems - wish I'd never bought the thing, especially after support started talking about not guaranteeing it supported OBS. Actually wish I'd never started down this road at all - would have saved £1k on laptop and whatever the Q8n cost (£350?). Do I really give a shit about list streaming?

Still Scorchio

 Which means I'm not doing much. I got some Nurse With Wound recommendations to listen to and I'm working my way through - seems like it was a pretty serious head wound, probably on the way to art college with a rucksack full of items to make collages with. It's sorta mad but interesting, I guess. 

Have pretty much identified a laptop that should suit my needs, seems best price is bought direct from HP, which, soon, I might commit to. I have very little enthusiasm for the whole thing, as you can probably tell but blowing a grand appeals more than blowing two. 

Pat's latest thing is to replace the conservatory roof with some plastic tile stuff which will supposedly keep the heat out and warmth in, a bit like a thermos flash. I'll miss sight of the sky and for £6k we need to really know how much time we're losing to the heat - and add it to the time lost in the attic. Then we can see whether solar panels and air cond might be a better idea. 

Yesterday's walk was the same shit walk we did once before - steep initial climb followed by lots of other climbs and a very long walk back. Oh well, at least today I can faff around with the new laptop, or could if it weren't so hot I don't want to do anything. Again. 

Hot hot hot

 Yeah, positively scorchio so ain't in the studio today (Saturday). Listening through an album I bought and reflecting that a quick audition online ain't a good way to trust someone's recommendation. Anyway it's The Clandestine Gate by Bell Witch and, fuck, is it tedious. I'm praying for it to end but it's been playing for hours. OK, I checked and it's been playing for 59.5 mins.... ah, as I type it winds down, such power I have! The organ at the end sounds like the organ at the start that I'd liked. Just need to chop the 55 mins of overblown nonsense in the middle. Hey, this is why I don't review albums!

Contemplated doing some painting, choosing a Macbook to buy, clearing more of the garden... guess what I opted for? Yes, beer and a good book. Just need something decent to listen to.

Thursday and got some studio fun in the morning before it got too hot. https://soundcloud.com/smokyfrog/ck-inteza-126

Friday, Pat was away at her pal's so I took Broc for a walk. Too hot for studio later so Tim and I recorded a few pieces Al Fresco, which sound pretty good on first listen. Nicky in the UK early next month, quite near Cambridge too but too late to change her times to early August when it's Synth DIY. She suggested I go to New Zealand instead, yeah, can see that going down well!

Here's a couple of Tony's excellent pix of me from our travels

Watched Avatar: Way of Water - what a bunch of depressing shite! More than three hours (felt like six) of absolute nonsense you're meant to endure cos of the pretty pictures. Never again!

Still haven't chosen a new laptop but edging towards another HP Envy, assuming I can get some time to better test Reaper (so far it's good) which I hope to use for arranging some of the BB sessions one day. Seems it can do most of the things I do on Wavelab already but not easy on this small screen - hence new laptop may need to be 15" or 17" even. Should try out alt monitor and HDMI option too, although that less appealing. Still so darn hot that I'm doing very little of anything. Matt's party cancelled. Oh yes and I heard that while Pat and Marg away at Edinburgh tattoo, I'm loooking after both Broc and Benji. So that's nice. 

Haven't done any prep for this live online thing but, fortunately, I can just sit at Setup 1 and make shit up.