Music Rig Update:

Desk cleared -- Check
Sound Card re-installed -- Check
Side Panel Back On -- Check
Just have to get my MIDI rig going.

I've hemmed and hawed over what software to use and I've finally settled on Sonar. I like the fact that you can use ACID loops natively and it has very robust MIDI support. The coolest thing is the active controller technology or ACT that is built into it. No switching patches on your control surface. Basically you make a Sonar component active, map your controls then save. Then you move on to the next component. So when you have a component active like the mixer, your controls control only the mixer. If you switch to a soft synth or effect the controller is "re mapped" by Sonar. Very cool for speeding up work flow.

I also have an independent record label in the works. More on that later.

Ink Jets Rock -- Really

So whats a techie to do with their old Ink Jet Printers? Turn them into a musical instrument of course. That's Lesley Flanigan and Andrew Doro. I think it's pretty cool. Now if we could figure out who is printing documents worthy of a Grammy nomination we could take that drug addicted Amy Winehouse out of the running.

Main Music Rig Being Re-Built

Well,

The creative process has come to a grinding halt while I re-build my main music making machine. I'm totally re doing everything. I've got a brand new SATA drive that getting a fresh install of Windows XP Professional. I'm not quite ready to take the plunge into Vista yet. The OS Really doesn't have anything to offer me quite yet.

I'm adding a couple of new hardware pieces to my rack as well. I picked up a MOTU Midi Express XT 8 in 8 out Midi interface. I decided I wanted to run the bulk of my gear with USB and Midi as Midi so when I decide to gig out it will be easy to get everything to communicate instead of having a daisy chain of USB hubs. I also picked up a Pocket POD for my guitar sound sculpting needs. I was using a Behringer V-Amp but the POD sounds sooo much better. At least I think it does. Both have their merit but there seems to be more support for the POD products.

Creativity will be resuming soon as I add back on the Music software and various VSTi's and what not. I'll keep you posted. In the meantime, some of my newer stuff can be heard on my myspace page if you are into that. http://www.myspace.com/idtmusic Add me as a friend.

Green n’ Sexxy!!

When I go green, I want to look damn good doing it. Think I'll pick up one of these puppies. Fisker’s Hybrid sports sedan. Screw you hippies in your Toyota Prius. I'm all about un-adulterated Green Materialism here. Sleek, Sexy, and Fuel Efficient. Gotta Love it.

Public Schools: “We make things gooder.”

Thank goodness she looks good. She should have at least said "world peace" or "end hunger."

Alternate Commuting Methods

What I wouldn't give for a pneumatic tube from house to my desk. I would just step in at the front door and *foomp!!!* off I go. And then on the other end *foomp!!!* "Hey everybody!"

It's all about time really. The other morning it took me 1 hour and 45 minutes. School is back in so the time it takes to get from my house to the interstate seems to increase exponentially.

I've tried leaving the house earlier but I'm, not that guy. I loathe the morning. Always have. Even when I was a kid mom would have to drag my sorry ass out of bed almost every morning. I never ate breakfast. That was 10 or 15 minutes of sleep I would "lose" in the morning. Get up (eventually), shower, catch the bus just in time and go to school.

Yesterday I left later. Well, I trimmed 15 minutes off. An hour and a half. Today I left even later. I left at 9:20 and got here at 10:05. Better but traffic was still pretty thick in places. That just means I have to stay till 6:30 or so. The drive in the evening is usually shorter but I won't get home till around 7:30 probably. Then eat, watch a bit of TV, pay bills then bed. So where is "my time"?

That's why I want the pneumatic tube. My commute will be a matter of seconds as opposed to hours. Plus I think it would be loads of fun. I could even go home for lunch. I would even have the luxury of using my own bathroom. No public toilets for me.

I'm not sure about the physics behind it but I don't really care. That's an SEP. Just make one and I'll install it.

Since it's just air I doubt I would even have to dry my hair after my shower. That would save an additional 5 minutes.

The Death of Reading?

I remember back in the day when the first Harry Potter book came out. I was amazed to see so many kids reading. They weren't playing video games nor were they watching TV they were reading. I was amazed. I haven't read any of the books myself and probably never will. I'm not a big fantasy genre fan. I prefer history, techno-thrillers and just about anything involving submarines. Any way I digress...

I've heard rumors that the beloved Harry could possibly meet his untimely demise in the last installment though it would seem unlikely to me given the fact that there are still a few movies left to be made. I just wonder that if Harry does end up ten feet under what will that do to the millions of kids and adults who only read Harry Potter books?

I could imagine all of J.K.'s myrmidons turning on her and storming her estate with pitchforks and torches. Imagine a bunch of LARPers, pre-teens and adults in business suits marching across the moors to exact the same brand of justice that Harry received at the hands of some nefarious evil. More than likely if Harry dies, he may well slip in the shower on his Hogwarts soap on a rope. It's soap on a ROPE Harry. You wear it around your neck so you don't drop it. It does make washing your feet kinda difficult though.

More than likely they'll bitch and moan on forums an blogs then just stop reading all together.

I see the death of Harry as the death of literacy. We've had good run. Farewell.