(no subject)

...a few more hours says I want to not go to bed and keep playing with the new gear, but my sleepy self says otherwise.

(warning, synth geekery.)

The ion is like the Prophet Plus. So far the architecture pleases me so. I still feel like I have to learn it, but it's a fun climb instead of a frustrating one, and I feel like I'm getting a halfway decent feel for what it can do already. I think all the people who were excited about my getting this were right on the money. Still need to delve into a bunch of stuff (like effects and LFO tweaks and what exactly the pre and post filter adjustments can do for me) but damn if this thing doesn't feel like it makes a whole bunch of sense, especially for someone so weaned on the ol' sequential circuits. Multi-function buttons that are easy to use! LED's that give useful information! Tap tempo! Two mod wheels! Rubbery 360 degree knobbiness! Big red volume knob! Graphical envelope editing that doesn't suck! A knob specifically for noise, and you can even choose the kind! I still think the analog drift parameter is kinda silly, but kind of in an endearing way.

(end of synth geekery.)

I need to record something soon, for many many reasons.

That boyfriend of mine that I haven't seen enough lately now has to work all weekend, so maybe I'll get something down soon. They're never going to get me to buy an Apple at this point. Damnit, Jobs, I want S4 to have a freaking weekend day off. I'd even blaspheme enough to request two. In a row. Sometime. Christ on a cracker.

r4c rocked out, as did S4 on the visuals. Sadly, my sleepy self went home before Hecate, but my badass bandmate still claims I get extra points for showing up after all the travel *and* with a new LED-laden temptress at home.


Ah, shit. It got all late...

More on music.

I'm not so good with lyrics.

After never getting leads in musicals in high school or getting solos in choir as a kid, I'm coming to grips with the fact that when I put my mind to it and I'm not super scared to do it, that I can actually sing pretty well. That's a tricky one to overcome. But I also have just as difficult s time getting over the "having something to sing" part as the fear that is having your voice out there. I find the buffer of a physical instrument very comforting on stage- there's something extra naked about singing. So, my vocal stuff is often just textural- because I'm a musician and not a vocalist, I tend to dislike that words in songs most often become the focal point, especially to people who listen to words more than music. Which, I think, is most people.

But I woke up with the beginnings of lyrics in my head this morning.

We'll see what happens with that.

I have more to say, I think, but I need to find my shoes. And a hair tie. And go to work.

Random

This just appeared in my inbox at work. As I now know (by transplant or proxy or Burning Man) several people this might actually apply to, I'm passing it along.

Mobilization made a 40 channel recording of the Einsturzende Neubauten show last year in San Francisco. If anyone has any audience recordings from this show, Neubauten would like to use these to help produce a 5.1 recording of the event. Please contact me or
webmaster@neubauten.org if you have any recordings from the San Francisco performance at the Fillmore.

Thanks!

-Ethan
Ethan Port, Ph.D.
Mobilization Recordings
www.mobilization.com
(650) 619-3695
Ethan@mobilization.com

HEY, autodidactic!

There's a call for entries that just came in from the Minnesota Center for Book Arts for an exhibition called "Spot On: The Art of Zines and Graphic Novels". You should totally submit. Entries must be received by March 19. They're online at www.mnbookarts.org. Lemme know if you need any more info.

Feeling full of the slack today.

It is so nice out and I'm antsy and I wanna go get my motorcycle.

(But if I do that, we're sure to get another 8 feet of snow next month.)

Made the call to the longtime family friend who has a used car lot. He says he'll find us something reliable and cheap. Cool. I'm so torn on the car front. I wish the twin cities had a subway.