I spent the better part of the weekend working on a promotional video for 80s Invasion. At this point I’m probably 50% finished with it. This project is one of the more complex multi-track audio / video edits that I have done to date; I have 20 cascading audio tracks (one for each song segment) and 7 video layers. Most of the general blocking is complete and within a week I expect to have a rough edit ready for review by the band. It’ll clock in at around 8:30 and will be a good promotional tool for us. In the process of putting this project together I have set up a number of new transition effects for the video layers, and those will be useful additions to my library. Once I have a final version completed (mid-November), I’ll upload it to our site for review.
Oh, and extra points for recognizing the Buggles quote. David, I figure you are already singing the song 🙂
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Music,
My Bands
During the paleolithic period, primitive man made tools out of stone and everything “electronic” used vacuum tubes. We’re talking all those ancient computers, televisions, radios, audio amplifiers, spacecraft and so on. Vacuum tubes were everywhere and you could find a tube tester in pretty much every grocery store, along with a stock of tubes in case you needed a replacement. Most importantly to guitarists, vacuum tubes were the lifeblood of guitar amps, delivering amazing tone and the occasional burned fingertip. Noble, savage, paleolithic rockers reveled in the awesomeness of tube tone, crafting epic rock anthems to commemorate successful mammoth hunts and the discovery of fire. Thousands of years later, a competing tribe of lab-dwellers invented the practical-yet-soulless transistor and lots of guitar amps went over to the solid state dark side. Many purists feel you just can’t get great guitar tone without tubes. Not that I have a strong opinion on it. I’m just saying…
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This morning we awoke to discover it was quite chilly in the house. Attempts to adjust the thermostat were unsuccessful and we decided to call in a service technician to diagnose and (hopefully) fix the problem. Our furnace is probably 25 or 30 years old. We know someday we’ll have to replace it but are hoping that it won’t be today… with any luck we can nurse this beastie along for another year or so. Dang.
UPDATE: Apparently our furnace just needs a $500 thingy. It’s just expensive enough to be really annoying but not expensive enough to justify replacing the furnace. Fortunately, the repair technician located the part we needed and managed to install it immediately. So we’re back to living in a heated house again. Overall, not so bad I suppose.
It’s been well over a year and I still haven’t landed a good tapping instrument. My top choices would either be a newish Chapman Stick (with the adjustable tailpiece) or a Warr Guitar. I’ve played a Warr Guitar on and off lately, and it’s fabulous. I can’t seem to get the owner to part with it and I’m continuing to explore some alternatives. The design of those two instruments is particularly attractive to me. The Stick has a classic streamlined appearance and I love its minimal design. And the Warr Guitar is simply stunning with its exotic woods. Since I’m planning to approach the instrument as an ultrawide bass+guitar, I want to string it from low to high – unlike the common Stick approach with the bass strings inverted. As a bassist I want the lower register arranged in perfect fourths, and as a guitarist I want the upper register tuned as the top five strings of a guitar. The part of the equation I haven’t settled on is the interval between the two groups. I’d be willing to try a continuous tuning from low to high, and also willing to try two groups separated by a wider interval to minimize the likelihood of hands colliding.
My playing involves tapping and cross-fingering on both bass and guitar, although I also play both instruments in a more conventional approach as well. So the tapping instrument would provide a good wide-range platform for those instances when I really want to cover more ground or generate those percussive tones. If anyone has a spare Stick or Warr Guitar they’d like to part with…
Last night I finished up my take-home project in welding class. My original idea for incorporating smaller design elements proved difficult to accomplish. I just haven’t developed the skill to make those tiny welds. So instead I went in a slightly different direction and made a couple of arguably pointless (but fun) doodads. As expected, welding is a lot of fun. I’m pretty certain a MIG welder is in my future.
My friend Bill put together a couple of pretty useful things in class. His degree in art gives him a pretty serious advantage over the rest of us. I’m glad he was available for consultation during the construction of my project.
All in all, a great class and I’ll definitely take the next on the in series.
Last night was the first meeting of my MIG welding class, which continues through Thursday. I had a great time making my first welds and within an hour it seemed pretty natural to me. My friend Bill and I decided to enroll in the same class, so we’re learning together and will soon (dramatic pause) WELD THE UNIVERSE! Or at least the parts of it that can be welded by a couple of boneheads. Bill has the unfair advantage of (1) having welded once before and (2) actually having artistic skill and training – talents of which I am thoroughly unburdoned. Nevertheless, arcs are flying.
I’ve wanted to learn how to MIG weld for a long time, largely because I have ideas for projects around the house or yard, and in order to address them I need this skill. I’m delighted that it’s relatively easy to learn the basics and that it’s considerably less dangerous than it sounds. Our final class will be focused on our “take home project” and I haven’t yet decided what I want to make. It would be wonderful to put something together that we could actually have on display but until I develop more skill my welds will be of the functional-but-unhandsome variety. Likely it will be a curious yard object, suitable for ivy to grow upon.
Over the course of the past few weeks I’ve been playing a lot of shows with various bands. Maybe it’s my recent birthday, but lately I’ve been especially aware of the overall stage volume and the need to have better monitors. And so I have put some effort into ensuring the best balance of what I need to hear and NOT hear onstage. My two main goals for live performance are:
(1) Block out some of the extraneous noise. Between the drums, amps, stage monitors, and general cacophony of the stage, it can get pretty loud up there. Constant exposure to that level of volume is bad for hearing. Turning down amps and monitors is a good idea in general (your soundman will thank you), but it’s difficult to “turn down” the drum set.
(2) Isolate my instrument and vocals without having to turn them up. It’s helpful for guitar and crucial when playing fretless bass since I am still developing my technique and don’t yet have “perfect touch” for intonation.
Most professionals address these requirements by using “in ear” monitors, essentially the same as using earbuds to listen to an iPod. The systems involved can be expensive and present some additional logistic challenges. I’ve recently purchased a new wireless in-ear monitor system and will be implementing it as part of my live setup. My system came with a fairly decent set of generic earbud drivers. The best solution would involve custom-molded ear pieces that exactly fit the unique contours of the listener’s ears. I have a pair of Westone earplugs that were custom molded to my ears, and they’re great for helping to protect my hearing. Eventually I’ll probably get a similar set molded to house audio drivers. In the mean time, I’m going to be hearing myself much better and hopefully, protecting my hearing in the process.
Well, have successfully completed forty five trips around the sun. We celebrated last night with wonderful friends and family, and it was great to see everyone. Many thanks for the kind wishes and silly cards. I hope the next forty five years are even more fun.
Lame. My tootheache is now officially gone. It’s been replaced by a general pain in my entire head. Root canals suck.
Dang. Something has been bugging one of my teeth for the past week and I am starting to really have a hard time ignoring it. Good thing my dentist is available to see me today. Meh.
