Idea

Yes, I actually had one and it's a cracker. I was reading the Philip Jose Farmer book supposedly written by Kilgore Trout and feebly attempting some of Vonnegut's wry humour. Anyway... it occurred to me early in the proceedings that it suffers from the same problem as much of my own work - it's just a series of words the author enjoyed putting together, probably while drunk. It's empty, pointless, directionless - but not in a good/clever/funny (e.g. Hitch Hikers) way.

My idea is this: I'm going to complete the plot before writing the next novel. Radical or what? Furthermore, I'm going to write two novels - maybe simultaneously: (i) my usual wordy indulgence (ii) a shorter, snappier, reader-friendly version that is done after the wordy shit is laid down. Both will follow my plot and chapter plan but the first will probably be first person perspective (easier to write fast that way) and the second will be as if I were submitting it to an editor such as Debbie, who would not want to get bogged down in my usual insanity. Yeah, simple man!
I am enthused. This just might work. And since I've done very little on my 'Zombietime' sketch, I can test it out with that. Which means I'll have to crack on with the plot, which fortunately I have been thinking about.
Some vinyl arrived today - a remix of a track I did in the early 80s. Sounds like it featured an MS20, DR-55, Octave Kitten... shame I can't play it cos my deck won't power on.
Very hot today. Been up since 03:10 with Jasper, who has arse problems again. Very hot - too hot for studio. And that's a real shame as the new Digitone update is awesome - finally I can do the weird and totally wonky FM sounds that previously were denied us. Nice one Elektron!!! Combined with the Randomise page feature, I knocked up half a dozen cool patches very quickly, before the studio became an oven and I had to retreat. Am itching to get back there but gonna be hot tomorrow too.
Jasper looking better after his jab. Back on antibiotics tomorrow.

Played with OP-1 and realised I'd be an idiot to sell it. Still fancying a JD-XA though so might just get one. That and an Octatrack would make a fantastic composing/performing setup. I keep wondering why there aren't many knobby multitimbral synths around these days but the JD is that.
Got interest in the Tanzbar and think I should keep that too. And I should try the Microsampler on that old laptop before I give up on that too. Heh.

Summer! Another Friday.

It's been a wet and grey start to summer but I'm not writing off the year just yet. We'd planned to go to Martin Mere but not nice enough so had an expensive lunch at that new place in Cuerden Valley instead. Followed by a fab Thai green curry courtesy of local chippie and its awesome Thai cook. No wonder the place is packed most days now.

Scored a couple of old sci-fi books from the shop at St Catherine's. One is a 1951 first edition of Asimov's Foundation trilogy. Not in the best nick but seems to have all its pages.

Listening to Jon and Vangelis. Funny how some songs take you places - in the case of 'find my way home' it takes me back to the social club at Whittingham, playing snooker with Dave Thompson, another friend lost to fucking cancer.

It's Wednesday and I guess I could go to the gym. Think I'll potter in the studio instead though.
Oh, we got Amazon Prime and I see they have the complete Buffy the Vampire Slayer / Angel on there, along with more walking dead than you could hack to pieces with a samurai sword. I guess stocking up with so much telly means I may, actually, be writing off the summer after all. Just not writing off Buffy Summers.

I edited Mushroom Disco, losing a couple of monotonous parts and then splitting into tracks. I like bits of it and other parts seem weak, so I may toss it onto bandcamp as another 'pay nothing' deal. Assuming I get into the mood to do a cover.

DONE

Hmmm. I made the mistake of starting to read Bogus Realities and realised I still don't much like 'From Beer To Eternity'. The parts that don't work are those that focus on the AI Curio, so I want to fix them at some point. Bummer.

Tim took his modular for a bonding session and it died. Shitsville.
I got more Minilogue oscillators - all excellent A square one first but the good ones were sync and wavetable - a far better wavetable than those 8 oscs that make up the Plaits ones. Started a new thing in D that might go somewhere.

TD's In Search of Hades is wonderful. Shows so much more of their range. Sounds like Headshock too sometimes - more fun hearing them searching for a path than when they found one. Good to hear music that you are interested to hear where it's going. More of this kind of thing!

OK, so I relented...

... and brought the Behringer Model D back into the Studio of Light.
I kinda stuck to my 'one in one out' rule by taking the DD-20 away. I wasn't really doing much floaty ambient stuff in there and I needed space on the shelf for it.

I had spent absolutely ages trying to get a decent sound from the Analog Four yesterday and listening back, it's still the weakest, naffest sound in the mix. So I'm not fighting it any more. The A4 can be a single MIDI channel of pads, plus provide an audio input plus delay for the Model D. We'll see how long it lasts this time but it's either that or ditch the A4 completely, with no obvious replacement. It's around now that I really miss my Radias but, like an eejit, I got rid of it when I hadn't used it for a while. Never do this children!

Actually I'm thinking of selling more stuff - the OP-1, the Microsampler to start with. And I know that's probably a dumb idea but they're the things sitting around doing nothing for longest (unless I count that Prodigy that's been in a box for a few years now and the Virus Polar that I got back thinking it'd be a good keyboard only to find its keyboard sticky with fag residue and not working great).

Result. Swapping that A4 track that just didn't work for the Model D inspired whole new thing, probably the best layer.  Very different track to yesterday, sent to Don even before I got unstoned or sober or anything. See what you think >
https://soundcloud.com/smokyfrog/aquamarine-v2

The end of May

Which I've been waiting for since she, inexplicably, got handed the job of PM. I think there's one of the hundred or so hyenas hoping for the job who doesn't appear to be a twat. That, in itself, is very surprising. Corbyn continues to be that old man who desperately wants to have a conversation about radishes even though nobody else wants to talk radishes. I still haven't got my Irish passport sorted. I daren't begin to hope it won't be necessary.

It's Friday and I think I should start a new Octatrack project. Keeping the current instrument lineup though so will just copy 'Stars', delete all the samples and arrangements and start afresh. Prob won't need the modular today. New modules arrived for review and was surprised that one of them was the obvious star - not the one I expected. Actually I'd played the 1u version in Berlin but didn't figure it out then. About a minute with the manual and everything's obvious! Oh, I sent in the Pipe review at long last. Wrote it in one go, added a bit of an intro and conclusion the following day, minor edits the next. Quick for me, left in a few feeble attempts at humour that David can keep or kill as he deems fit.

I took a few pix when Tim and I wandered down to the Conti, but since I have an iPhone I can't just stick a USB cable and grab them. This is the one I emailed to myself and it evokes feelings of mystery and suspense. Ish. Can't remember what the others looked like.

Started a track with promise, new project: colours. The first is Aquamarine. With a very tiny tidy up it'll be spot on. Might even leave the wrong notes for now as they are growing on me :) And Don always manages to weave fab stuff around my wonkiness. Good reaction to it.

Sun, sun, sun!

Funny old day so far. I got accused of being homophobic by joking you could lure Nigel Evans (our MP) to support a cause using a trail of rent boys. Next thing, Nigel himself pops up in the conversation, proving my point and perhaps dismaying his 'outraged' pals. I tried to explain a few basics of cognitive bias but it was a tough Tory crowd. Still easier than the US gun nutters though. One of them did wish I were not alive amongst them though so I made my excuses and left.

It does remind you how people leap in with offence even before they fully understand what they're offended about. It's almost a race to the bottom. Hey, glad I didn't put it that way. :)

Pat is off for a few days and the sun is shining. Doubt there will be much studio time but you never know. Worked in garden and might do more of that. Ah, David talked me into a couple more reviews. Well, I mentioned them so I guess it's my fault too.

Did this https://soundcloud.com/smokyfrog/hoozle-mp3

Watched T2. Not bad actually, considering.

Everyone was angry almost all the time. They rushed to judgement based on almost no data, aided by a generous dollop of cognitive bias. Nobody asked for clarification, nobody really wanted a debate; they just wanted to be irrevocably outraged, often on someone else's behalf, or for some cause, or business reason.

Those who recognised what was going on tried, at first, to lighten the mood, to reason, to probe and ask a few exploratory questions. Inevitably, this led to even more outrage, led to calls for a closure of public forums, or removal of undesirables, experts and traitors from society. Altogether, and by any means. By that time, the few remaining moderate officials, pundits and Tweeters who hadn't been removed, vanished from sight.

The Divide was in full swing by then.

I've been working on a zombie novel for a while now and that is part of its intro. I've a horrible feeling that real life is way, way ahead. Kittens, anyone? Had a weird online exchange with Tory arch-twat, our MP.

Tony Sawford sent me a copy of my Mushroom Disco which I'd totally forgotten about. It has some good stuff in it, including guitar from, I think, Andy Boland. I'm 25 mins in and wondering how I forgot this one, much better than a lot of stuff I did release. Heh. Hope it features that track with the Jeff Bridges samples, been wondering where that went for a while. Used the Monowave for the bassline IIRC.

I released 'into the light' on bandcamp to quite a good reception. Knocked up the cover, which inspired the title, as it was uploading.
Went to see the Rutles - they were really good.

(Just before the Continental.)

Did I do the link? https://paulnagle.bandcamp.com/album/into-the-light
Now this, I know, I know https://soundcloud.com/smokyfrog/modfx1-mp3

New Case

I was slightly miffed to note my new Makenoise case is slidey fecking nuts. I really dislike them and it took way too long to install the modules I wanted, then more time when I instantly wanted to change a few. I guess it means I won't be shifting the contents around much. That buffered mult will probably become a Pico DSP though :)

Heh, that wasn't even the last tweak. I replaced Chance with the Marble Physics, much more fun as a modulation source. Oh, took out the Vermona too and put in a 4-way mixer/VCA and Wasp filter. Mad eh? Actually very happy with my reduced-choices setup. It totally works.

The MN case may be a PITA when it comes to sliding nuts but its mod bus is brilliant, exactly what I wanted.

Started a thing in F. Recorded first impression of it.

https://soundcloud.com/smokyfrog/teensybitstonedyoudneverguesstho

Deleted following morning cos it was shit. Sorry.


Should probably tidy up at some point.

Bank Holiday Pootles / Superbooth Reflections

I tried watercolour for the first time today - instantly gained a new appreciation of it! After my attempt, in which I made numerous discoveries, I watched a short Youtube thing and discovered some answers - about how to mix primarily. Turns out my tried and tested technique of roughly sketching that works so well with oils and moderately well with acrylics is a bit of a curse for watercolours. I discovered that you probably shouldn't start the sky until you're ready to paint it all as it changed within 5 mins and drastically within 10. My sky was terrible, even worse than my foreground bush that fails completely to be in the foreground.
Even though it was a botched effort, I quite enjoyed doing it and the next one should be better. When I look at Tim's paintings though, I realise how far I have to go. I must learn to mix colours properly!

Today (Wednesday) I mostly spent looking at birds in the garden. We have baby sparrows, blackbirds and starlings - in large numbers. Watching them bounce around, feeding, jostling, arguing, taking dust baths and generally demanding attention was an afternoon delight. Also keeping an eye out for cats. Saw a sparrowhawk fly by scouting the area.

The pre-Superbooth hype has begun. Nice to see Elektron finally added portamento to the Digitone - too late for me to try as I only read the message after powering off the studio for the day. No hurry though. Hope they addressed the clicking and incorrect envelope pickup with same notes.

Superbooth

OK, so this isn't going to be much of a report. I did play with quite a few things and some I even liked. Mostly what I took away was the need to get away from being swamped by Eurorack. Therefore I've ordered a small, portable case in which I am going to put a selection of modules and place them in the Light Studio. This may sound strange (and I might later regret it) but it's the only way I'm going to do anything useful or creative. Reduction works, for me.

As for my thoughts, well, I thought Behringer had buggered their SH-101. A year after I first played it and the LFO doesn't work correctly (this one was restarting for every note!). I didn't play anything else on that stand, couldn't get near the Odyssey to see if its sliders felt better than my Korg.

I liked the Empress Zoia modular effects pedal, really liked the Jupiter 1 synth (despite the foolish decision they made to take the envelopes from the Jupiter 4), quite liked the blue thing with the stupid protruding keyboard.. what else?  I actually liked the sound of the Moog One, but the interface didn't appeal. The Matriarch sounded fab, annoyingly. There was a very cute, flat, grey SH-101 clone for silly money.

Anyway, had a good few nights out with Colin and co. Ate a few good meals - thai, vietnamese especially, plus an expensive curry made with reconstituted chicken. It wasn't hot but I did have a very strange gut episode the following morning that took 4 shits to clear. You needed to know that, right? The new Sequentix HQ is awesome - a massive space ideal for partying as well as, presumably, working. Made the mistake of going to a club wearing a Sequentix t-shirt and got accosted by some twat who claimed he had been waiting for a Cirklon for four years. Popped half a pill and was glad as Ross, who did a full one, looked quite spaced out when we crawled off to our hotels. Took some acid that didn't work, except very, very faintly.

Got my Pipe back plus an Ether to mess with. Resisted getting any Euro to review, although Dan's amazing distortion was there. Some fab Instruo modules too, really tempting but don't want to pile any more on the 'not doing' pile. Maybe the new case and reduced options will help my focus but I saw lots of Euro performances that were fumbling and amateur and which people seemed to love. Weird how it came around from perfect laptop performances to these raw, live things. I think it's healthy actually, almost like people are starting with electronic music all over. I guess the new case would allow me to take part, should the urge arise.

I missed most of the music and was so exhausted that my sightseeing really fizzled out, especially as my first port of call (Dali museum) was closed. Some pix