I’m currently working on two collaborative projects. One’s a bit ahead of the other and should be finished soon, and we’ll have to figure out whether to put it out ourselves or shop it around. The second project is going a bit slower for various reasons. Also, here’s a pic of some gear. :-)
I now have a presence on Subvert, a Bandcamp alternative which launched a couple of days ago.
From a listener / fan standpoint, you may find that it’s about the same. From an artist standpoint though, it’s quite different as it’s a co-op. So, it’s owned by the artists. Bandcamp, sadly, is owned by capitalists. Their most-recent owners fired almost the entire staff. They don’t love music, they’re just in it for the money. A common experience, but not something I’m on board with.
So, I’ll certainly continue to have a presence on Bandcamp, but future releases will also show up on Subvert, as well as another alternative, Mirlo. I’ll slowly fill in my back catalog on those two sites as well. Links to both are on my website.
I released an EP yesterday which is a Subvert exclusive. Take a listen if / when you have the time.
Continuing my effort to fill out my options in outboard gear, a new compressor arrived yesterday from Golden Age Project. The Comp-2A is an Opto compressor, which are often used to smooth out transients and kind of glue the various elements of your mix together, making it sound more cohesive. I actually used it on Day 1 as part of an effort to add some nice analog warmth to a track that I’ll be releasing as part of an EP at the end of the month.
Thought I’d share a track which I did in January. It was done for the Disquiet Junto, which encourages artists to respond to a simple prompt sent once per month. January’s prompt was to record the sound of ice in a glass, and go from there. When I finished the track, I could no longer discern the sound of ice in a glass, but I liked where the track ended up. I hope you do, too.
For me, it is quiet, contemplative, textural and mysterious.
Also, an image I made which was inspired by the audio.
My new mic preamp from Golden Age Project arrived today. I say new, it’s really used via Reverb. Great price, great shape. A clone of a Neve mic pre, it should add a lot of warmth and character to whatever I put through it.
Figured since I’m paying for this blog (albeit at the paltry sum of $1 per month), I might as well use it for more than music posts. So, here’s what I’m reading this year.
In progress
Redefining Black Power, Joanne Griffith / Critique of Everyday Life, Henri Lefebvre / Looking After Your Autistic Self, Niamh Garvey
Finished
Socialism… Seriously: A Brief Guide to Human Liberation, Danny Katch / Ocean of Sound, David Toop / The Captive Mind, Czesław Miłosz
In the queue
From Marx To Gramsci, Paul Le Blanc / Rebel Girl: My Life as a Feminist Punk, Kathleen Hanna / The Power of the People, Václav Havel / Revolution at Point Zero: Housework, Reproduction and Feminist Struggle, Silvia Federici / Selected Poems, Federico Garcia Lorca (Tom Verlaine book) / Lives On The Left, Francis Mulhern (editor) / Hard-boiled Wonderland and The End of The World, Haruki Murakami / José Carlos Mariátegui - An Anthology, Harry E. Vanden and Marc Becker, editors & translators / The Flowers of Evil, Charles Baudelaire / From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation, Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor / We Will Rise Again, Karen Lord, Annalee Newitz, Malka Older, eds. / Big Sur and The Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch, Henry Miller / We Created Chávez, George Ciccariello-Maher
what about you?
Today, I experimented with using earth magnets attached to kitchen pots and making them resonate using Ferrous, a handheld instrument with rotating magnets of it’s own. The results were wild and a bit loud! Somewhat hard to control, but I can see becoming better at that with practice. Low frequencies sounded like a tuba, while upper ones sounded more like a horn / trumpet.
#experimentalMusic
Highlighting a recent studio addition: ADAT lightpipe. I’m befuddled by how this technology works, but somehow eight tracks of audio can hop on a beam of light (literally), and go from my DAW (computer recording interface) to my mixing desk.
I got back into music-making eleven-plus years ago, doing everything via software. About five years ago, I began transitioning from software synths to real ones, but kept my recording / mixing tasks in the computer (referred to as in the box). Then a little over a year ago, I began transitioning from software to hardware for that.
So, this is the latest addition. Always learning.
I can’t remember what year (decade?) I last had a blog, but having a way to keep peeps up to date with all of the scintillating (boring?) stuff I do and have it be available both on my website and on Mastodon seems to be a no-brainer. Especially cuz it’s inexpensive and is put together well.
It occurs to me that no-brainer, inexpensive and put together well is a 66.6% accurate description of me.
Nevertheless, follow along if you like. I’ll try to keep things short and interesting.