Weekend of semi-freedom, the musical dice game

 Pat and Margaret went to Edinburgh tattoo and I was mostly by myself, with the exception of two dogs. Actually they got used to me fairly well and I took Benji along for a decent morning walk. Actually by Saturday morning I felt he was up to a walk down by the river - and he made it just fine all the way. Had a horrible dry sushi from Sainsbury's, one of yesterday's and supplied wihout soy sauce as they replaced all the little packets with ginger. Won't be touching that again. As beer has gone up drastically, investigating Aldi's pale ale. Tim coming today for some noodles and I'm sure dogs will cope. Another curry this evening - yesterday's manchuri chicken was a bit less spicy than usual so I may have to resort to a naga tonight. Or jalfrezi or pathia or balti jalpuri. Mmmmm. 

Audion wanted to review Drone Wars, which was a surprise - didn't think they liked my stuff much (I guess I was too melodic/normal for their tastes once upon a time). Still wondering whether I processed too much of the life out of it and whether the raw recordings without overdubs were the best. The experience of going back to Logic/Wavelab reminded me why I decided to be computer free - will see how it sounds after leaving it a bit. Fairly happy with the cover anyway, the use of parts of a painting and a copy and paste job of a couple of drones. All for the bargain price of £2. 

Worked more on Epilogue II and now starting to spoil it and bloat it out. Will leave then sit and write again from scratch now I know everything I want to include. 

 The Chuckle Brother in action (from Thursday). 

Sunday afternoon I trimmed some of the bloat from EPII and it's starting to get where it should be. Was able to slip in lots of the ideas I have for the next book (if I write it) as well as set up the Big Ending, which I (and Stephen King) often fluff. 

Today (Monday) I'm listening to the Diabelli Variations and wondering if the world is ready for my Beer Belly Variations. Had a very pleasant walk with Pat and dogs at Cuerden, Benji pretty good at coming back today except when there were too many dogs to tempt him. Weather turning this afternoon it seems so it's studio for me, heh. 

Nice walk up Pen-y-ghent yesterday, think I was ready for it although it wasn't very high or difficult. Contacted guy about accident statement and made appointment to set it all down. Not sure if I'll get to speak in court but I hope to. Our photograpic evidence should help show what really happened, so glad Pat thought to take the pix. 

Refined my dice idea for generative music a bit. A lot of it is based on the Osmose and Cosmos combination but a further strand will come once I work out a good set of rules for the BB polymeters.

As before a 4-sided dice can determine which setup I use but after that I've added a 10-sided dice to determine the number of notes in my scale, from 4-8 (I considering a wider range but think that could be counter-intuitive for the kind of material I'm generating). Having decided how many notes I then roll a 12-sided dice to determine the actual notes, with 1 representing A, 2 representing Bb and so on. If there are duplicates then fine, no roll again, which I guess could mean I end up with 4xEb or something but if so so be it. Tried ordering some actual note-printed 12-sided dice but the only ones I could find were on Etsy in the States and the delivery cost was stupidly high. Will give it a run through this afternoon, using my 4-cell of BB routine recently developed. A means of determining recording length to be decided, probably once I get the 505 going again and there are 5 lengths there to consider also. Was reading about the Mozart musical puzzle thing which may well have been created as he was interested in musical toys, auto-playing organs and so on - he devised lots of musical phrases that could be assembled in different ways, although there's no guarantee he actually intended to assemble them using dice, as far as I can tell. Anyway, it will be interesting to see how it goes - the P3 and Cirklon have user scales that could be edited to fit the selected notes, if I want to branch into sequencing. 

Thwarted Drone

 Yes well. I spent a while setting up the corner - MS20, Synthi, Lyra and some modules. Once in a tranquil state I began recording and went live on OBS. Pat stuck her head up and told me she was off to see her mate. Later she rang to ask me to close the back door. When I returned from doing that I noticed laptop has rebooted itself - as it fucking well does all too often. Windows 11 has been a nightmare so far, a total mistake. HP should rethink forcing it on people until it is stable. Grrrr. Anyway, recording is kinda ambient but has random noises and clashes - not ideal should a coder wish to code to it. This is a concept I recently discovered and may try to control my dynamics in future. Anyway, recording sounds ace despite the wonk. 

In the end I got three pieces, long, medium and short, which I am already mentally framing with other pieces. Listening back through much of the music I've recorded in the last few months, there's a lot of mediocre rambling nonsense, I can't deny it. Oddly enough, the best of it has been made under the focus of playing online to camera, even if I don't tell anyone. However, I think I might drop the whole going live in favour of recording direct to the camera. The quality of audio taken from OBS isn't as good as I'd like. 

I also think it's time to look at a more linear approach again as the discipline feels like something I should try and regain. Hopefully this doesn't mean computer-based though but Cirklon still isn't up to it and won't be for some time. Have some ideas in mind but I know of no hardware that will do the job I want. An Atari ST running Cubase would probably suffice ;)

Today (Monday) I took the three 'thwarted drone' fragments and gave them some breathing space using short sections from two other recent recordings. I imported to Logic and let it play through, adding some overdubs that were needed. I did a quick bounce so I can listen through tomorrow to identify any final tweaks but it was sounding good just on the strength of the original drones and fixes to where they went awry. 

Tuesday, the structure is right but the sound has changed too much - not sure if I left the compressor on when bouncing in Wavelab or whether it's the filter in Logic changing the sound too much when open. Either way, a promising start but has lost the vibrancy of the original recordings so that's today's thing to fix. Worth doing though. 

Well, I messed around with it but maybe lost what it was I liked about it, just listening through - the 'Heaven & Hell' choir and mayhem isn't terrible but the processt reminded me how little I enjoy sitting at a computer and trying to make something work when just playing a new thing is always better. Oh well. I'll let it sit a spell. In the meantime, replacing KX-8 with Casio piano seems to work, or will once I get stand situation better sorted out. No controls, mod wheel or PB but not a major issue given how rarely I use Logic these days. Can always draft in a small keyboard with mod wheels if necessary. Sorta wish I hadn't given the Novation Remote 25 to Andy M now but it'll be fucked after so long, or at least will stink of tobacco. Pleased the Casio just took over USB input and drove Logic as the Yam did.

Today (Wednesday) I heard the sound of the Pobblebonk (Eastern Banjo Frog) for the first time. I simply have to get it into my Octatrack for percussive use ASAP. Oh, I ordered a Cat and it's coming today. Also, the BlackBox has a beta version that finally does the big thing I wanted - 

• When record quantization (Rec Quant) is anything but none, you will always record a clip and the length in beats will be embedded in the WAV file for future use.
• You can now create clips that are non-power of two length. Use recording quantization as desired and Length: Custom to capture. The result will default to Clip Mode and automatic playback (RecToPlay) will work as expected.

Excellent!!! Will be trying that out today. 

And it works - very nicely. Hard going if not clean multiples of bars though just in terms of stopping when you want. Fnal step needs to be you can specify the length prior to recording but it's a huge improvement. As Tim would say, I'm stoked. At least I think that's it. 

Cat arrived but after tea so I'll play with it tomorrow. Good build quality though, nice sliders. Will also work on my new piece tomorrow once Pat on the way north. Have advertised KX-8. 

Well, after a firmware update to fix the hanging and missing notes, the Cat is now sounding very good indeed, very beefy. Has some wackiness (the undocumented sync modes) but generally I think I like it. Cross mod in particular is wild plus you can source S&H from a VCO which is always good fun. Repeating envelope a bit pointless I always thought but there you go. Later Tim came round and we must have sat in the sun for  a while as my nose is red. Or maybe it's just cos we drank like bastards. Recorded a short cat duet too.
Tony has sorted my gear - DRM1 was simply wrong-quoted fuse for its real load so nothing hugely wrong. RC-505 needs new power supply, nothing more and it seems the TT-78's power supply is also inadequate - so will need to find a replacement. So all good really, nothing major at all and I can pop the TT-78 where the RD-9 currently sits and save some desk space, if necessary. 

Today is Friday. Gonna walk the dogs soon then plan an afternoon of nonsense. Fave beer has gone up though so not buying on principle. We'll see how long that lasts!

Hot again

 Yeah August has started with lashing rain and the heat cranked up. Epilogue II is looking good - brief but covering a thousand years in a few paragraphs, which feels like a decent way to end. We'll see. Need to sort the artwork and pull my finger our to do a last draft for print. 

Been struggling to read the Neumusik book - some of the photocopying is actually worse than my old printed copies so I may have to dig them out to read, which is somewhat annoying. Nice to remember those days though, when the scene was new and fresh and without the gear/modular obsession that arrived around the time of one of the EMMA gigs. Anyway, I've probably moaned about the whole narrowing of scope thing before - so no need to do it again. Old man shit. 

Friday again and I'm hoping attic not too hot - seems a tad cooler than yesterday so we'll see. Gonna do a mix of yesterday's thing without the drums, which is clearly didn't need, although I'll keep the simple DFAM pattern. Next weekend Pat's away in Edinburgh but my debauchery will be limited somewhat as I have two dogs to look after. Ah well. 

Friday was a loving JDXA and Osmose day and getting stoned. Did this

I think yesterday's thing was pretty good. Didn't feel like going out though so missed Matt's DJ thing at the Ferret. We watched more Succession instead, how sad is that? Sober listening on Saturday morning suggests a darn good session but I think I need to start being stronger and unplugging the drum machine prior to hitting record. That said, it surfaces quite briefly in the 29 minute track and doesn't really do much harm, other than to take you out of the space for a time before dropping you back in. 

Did a few tweaks of Epi2 while drunk so hopefully didn't take it in any unnecessary new directions. Thought of some additions while out with the dog - will see if I can remember them when I open up the document again. Next weekend is Pat's Edinburgh tattoo so I might well get the epi finished. It's meant to be short so I don't want to work on it too long. 

Saw Dune at last, went to Cambridge

 Well, it's on Prime, which is perfect for someone so stay-at-home. Zimmer's score was good too, with the possible exception of the bagpipes. Wasn't sure about the matador connection, might be time for me to read the whole Dune series again, if I can face it. Glad they didn't try and do the whole book in one go, the pace was just right. 

Recorded a thing yesterday that was better than the thing from the previous day. It was exclusively Super 6 and used the subtle detunes now possible. Can't really tell you more as I signed an NDA - not even putting reports on the 'official' beta list, all of which is quite an odd way to do it. I still think the Soup would be one of my keepsie synths though as I can't think of anything I'd like better for a general polysynth role. Let's face it, nicking a fair chunk of the Jupiter 6 layout was a masterstroke - an even greater one would have been nicking everything from the Jupe!

Drawing up a list of things I'll probably sell. Strangely enough the Minimoog was one of the easier decisions, especially as we bought it out of our savings and the cash should go towards whatever stairs and new windows will cost. 

I think Colin's here next week. 

It's next week now. Done quite a bit on Epilogue II. Wednesday we were going to walk but it was miserable and I fancied the studio instead. This is what I did. It may be shit, will hopefully get chance to listen to it today. 

https://wilyepeyote.bandcamp.com/album/blackish-boxes

Well, Synth DIY came and went. Tony and Colin good company as usual. We all went for a curry on the Thursday night then continued the trend in Cambridge eating some great food and drinking (too much) beer. Sent Tony off with three repairs (all power-related I think) and Colin with the usual list of suggestions. Interestingly my main one is also Mr Twin's main one so I guess that should give it extra weight. Another one, which should be a darn powerful addition, is going to be easy - allegedly - so may even be quick. Going to order some end cheeks from Rubadub and move Cirklon to a position directly above the Sys8. CVIO issue traced to my board being a very early one - currently reverted to older firmware so my analogue stuff plays in tune again. 

Some Cambridge pix - weather shit on Saturday which meant no fun walking around town - didn't even go to Fopp. 

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.