In The Meantime...

I suspect that any "anticipation" built from that last post has long since faded- I will return to it at some point, I promise (myself). The unfortunate fact of the matter is that I've been consumed with work this past month. The project I've been managing / lead developing ends tomorrow, which means I've had plenty on my plate, none of it music related. Once again I've been stuck looking forward to a calmer, gentler future filled with buttons, knobs, and the requisite bleepbloops. This is how we pay the bills, I suppose.

Heading into that future, however, I've got another show scheduled for this Friday! Same deal as the others: Unknown Theater (Los Angeles, CA), $5 at the door, 10:30pm start time. If you're in the area please come by! If you're not: I might try to record this one for posterity, though I don't have much time to un-rust myself (sounded better than "lube myself") in the one day between project completion and show. Nevermind that though- it'll be good to jump in and keep pushing the "having fun" approach to performance. Last time I had Barack to celebrate; this time I'll have the freedom to not work weekends for a while! It truly is the season to be merry.

Back In The Saddle Again

It's with great relief that I announce the end of my DAW troubles- I'm now the proud owner of a legitimate copy of Ableton Live!  Special thanks to Opax on the KVR forums for the good deal and the quick license transfer.  As a result, my almost two-week flirtation with Logic has come to an end for now, and though I found a lot to like about that particular package, I think I can definitely say that Live is where the heart is.  At least for me.  For now.  For sure?

Apparently the legal software bug bites hard, as I also picked up a second-hand copy of Native Instruments Komplete 4 on eBay today.  Who says you need a job to drop the big bucks, right?  I've been fiddling with a "demo" of Reaktor 5 for a while now, and considering the depth of that package alone Komplete should be totally worth the price.  Other than that instrument (and despite the significant cache of Absynth and Kontakt), I'm strangely most excited to finally get my hands on decent piano and organ emulations.  Probably not going to be the next Jimmy Smith, but a tonewheel or two will do me good.  Just gotta clear some space on the 'ole HD for the ~50GB Komplete install... yikes.

Shopping spree aside, with the DAW drought at an end, today I finally got back to the song I was "almost finished" with.  After a solid nine hour day of work, it's a lot farther (further?) along... and a lot farther from done.  Typical me to gauge progress by the amount of work I've created.  But that's just the way it goes with these things, and I'm willing to keep it under wraps for a while longer if it means a final product I can be happy with.  Or not unhappy with, which is probably a more achievable goal.  It'll be ready when it's ready.  I just hope "when it's ready" is soon.

More news on the band name when we return...

He's Alive, or "What's in a name?"

Fancy meeting me here, huh!? The project was delayed but not forgotten- I had a ten day visit from a special someone (that'd be Jess for the uninitiated), followed by a somewhat impromptu trip to Southern Mexico with Nick and Oliver that ended with our triumphant(ly bug bitten) return this Monday night. I'm just now getting back into the swing of things, but I think the break did me good; I feel energized and ready to get back to work! Music work, that is.

Quite a few new projects in the works right now, and even a finished track! Though that one was for a special occasion (Jess' birthday), so maybe it doesn't really count. I'm reconsidering the whole "secret respository" thing- might just throw up a myspace page with some rotating tracks to make things easier. But if I were to do that, I'd probably need...

A name.

I've struggled for a long time with the idea of an artist name- part of me likes the idea of having an alias that I can assume, but another part feels like that'd be the equivalent of a five year old playing dress up. Or even worse, a self-absorbed twenty-something who thinks he's way cooler than he is. You know, like those kids that start calling themselves "DJ Awesome!" before UPS has even delivered their shitty new belt drive turntables. Hmm, maybe I'm being too harsh- that came off sounding a little jealous didn't it? Not very mature of me to judge others, even if they're named DJ Awesome!. On second thought I kinda even like that name. Ahhh! Now you see what a struggle this whole question has been for me.

So, any suggestions? One caveat though: I'm really not interested in a "DJ" name, since I don't consider myself a DJ. At least not for this project. If you're not convinced, here's a little six-minute impromptu "DJ set" I recorded God knows how long ago, found on my computer this afternoon. If that's not party-rockin', I don't know what is! So we'll leave the "DJ" prefix out for now I think.

All your favorite club hits!

More soon, I promise!